The last few days

So much has happened in the last week or so that it seems crazy looking back at it all. I posted last week about our false alarm that took us to the hospital and then back home again. So Monday of this week I went in to have my growth ultrasound and to see my ob. She ended up doing both the ultrasound and the doctor visit. She checked me and determined that I was still at a 3 and had not really made any change. We talked about everything and about giving birth and after doing the ultrasound she determined that the baby was about 6 lbs and maybe 8 oz and her lungs should be fully developed and she should be good to go if she was born this week. And she said that I seemed to be ready to have her, which at that point I was. The false alarm had gotten me to the frame of mind where I was finally ready for her to show up. So my ob said, "Well I am scheduled to be on duty at the hospital tomorrow night so if you can get contractions started and come in I can strip your membranes and that will get things moving and we can deliver you that night. But if you can't get contractions started then come in on Thursday morning and I will strip your membranes and you can deliver that night." I left her office trying to decide what I wanted to do.

On the one hand Kevin and I were planning to go on a date on Wednesday and I was really looking forward to that. We have only had two dates the entire year and I was so excited about having one more before the baby came. However, if I went into labor on Tuesday then I would be guaranteed to have my doctor deliver me, which is what I really wanted. I sent an e-mail to Kevin's mom that night (Monday) updating her on what  was going on and the decision I was trying to make. She sent back a recipe for using castor oil to induce labor. So Tuesday Kevin had a doctor appointment and Davy and I went with him. While waiting for his appointment to be over I checked our bank account on my phone and discovered that we did not have enough money to go on our date. We had been buying things to get ready for the baby (since the false alarm made us realize just how unprepared we really were) and the extra money we were going to use for the date was gone. When I realized that there was no chance of a date I decided that I wanted to try and get contractions going that night rather than wait. So before we left the town Kevin's doctor is in we stopped at a  health goods store and got some castor oil.

When we got home we put Davy down for his nap, I made up the castor oil concoction and after drinking it I started working out on our elliptical. After a few hours I started to feel contractions really get going. Kevin and I had been getting things together in preparation for going to the hospital, and so by the time things really got going we were ready. We finished things up, got things out to the car, got Davy out to the car, took him over to my parents house dropped off him, and his over night bag, filled up on gas, dropped off a redbox video and headed up to the hospital.

When we got there they took us directly into a labor and delivery room and started asking questions, they brought in the doctor who checked me (I had progressed a little) and also stripped my membranes. Then they let me continue naturally. Things moved slowly, as they seem to do with my labors, and Kevin and I relaxed and slept a little, the contractions began to get stronger and eventually I had them attempt an epidural on me. My epidural with Davy failed so I was worried that this one would too. However the anesthesiologist did a really good job and taped me up really well and it worked like a charm. I began to not be able to really feel my contractions and so when they gave me pitocin to speed things up I barely even noticed. I actually fell asleep and was waiting for things to actually start moving. Then around 3 am something changed, the nurse came in because she was seeing something strange with the baby's heart rate. I had an internal monitor on the baby at this point (they attach a monitor to the baby's scalp), but the monitor was not giving them very good readings, so they switched to the external monitor, but that was not great either because the baby moved so much it was difficult to keep a good track of her heart rate. Anyway after some time of watching and trying this monitor or that we came to a conclusion of what was happening. Every time I contracted the baby's heart rate was dropping and when the contraction stopped the heart rate would go back up. They called in the doctor and kept trying different monitors, but it still wasn't giving them consistent readings. Either way the doctor was worried about what was going on. So she had the pitocin stopped. The heart rate still continued to drop during contractions and rise after they were done. She checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm.

At this point she talked to me about it all. She said, "The baby's heart rate keeps dropping during contractions which makes me worried that something is wrong. If you were at an 8 or a 9 we would probably just proceed forward and have you deliver naturally but because you are at a 6 I think we should do an emergency c-section." It was not what I wanted to hear. But the entire time they were talking about the heart rate dropping I knew that a c-section was a strong possibility. I was really scared, scared for myself but more scared for the baby. Kevin could tell because he kept saying "You are going to be ok, it will all be ok." I told the doctor that I really didn't want a c-section but that I was fine with it if the baby was in trouble. So she brought out the consent forms and I signed them and they moved me to the operating room.

I am so thankful that the epidural worked because now that was exactly what I needed for the c-section. I am scared to imagine what that Wednesday morning would have been like if the epidural had failed. They got me prepped and made sure I was completely numb and then they brought Kevin into the room. He stood by my head as they operated on me and took the baby out of me. All I felt was tugging and pulling and pressure, thankfully I did not feel or see anything they were doing. What they discovered was that Evangeline had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and her body so every time I contracted it tightened the cord around her neck and her body and was cutting down on the oxygen she was receiving  Once Evangeline was born they had Kevin come over and cut her umbilical cord and he was able to stay with her. They brought her over to me for me to see, she was crying and so I reached out and stroked her face and talked to her, the moment I touched her she calmed down and stopped crying, it was beautiful to see my little girl. As the surgery continued and they put me back together and stitched me up I was finally able to calm myself down and get myself to a point where I was calm enough that I almost fell asleep. Evangeline was born at 4:25 am, she was 6 lbs 1 oz, and was 18 3/4 inches long.

After they were done they took me to a recovery room where I had to wait until a certain amount of time before they would take me to the postpartum room. During that time I slept a little because I was so tired and also drowsily just waited. After a little while Kevin came in with Evangeline and I was able to nurse her for the first time. She took to it like a pro and latched on right away. After nursing for quite awhile she fell asleep and was taken to the nursery to sleep for awhile. Kevin and I were then taken to our own room. We slept most of Wednesday, I nursed Evangeline when she was brought in but mostly we all slept. It took awhile for my pain meds to wear off and for me to get to a point where I needed some more. The incision pain was not too bad at first but got worse over time. Thursday was also not extremely eventful, mostly I was focused on passing gas. At first I wasn't allowed to eat real food until I passed gas, but my doctor came in and vetoed that and soon passing gas was instead what I needed to do before we could leave the hospital. However, I think the castor oil cleaned me out so well that it took forever for me to get any gas out. By Friday I was getting desperate because I was told that I could leave once I passed gas. I began to call it "The fart of freedom" because that is all I needed was one little toot, one fart and I could go home.

We spent Friday walking and rubbing my belly and trying anything we could think of to get me to pass gas. And it wasn't that I didn't have gas, oh I had gas, I could feel it roiling around inside of me. In fact it got to the point where the gas pain was my worst pain. And here is the crazy thing, the gas pain traveled up to my shoulder and gave me shoulder pain to such an extreme that it hurt just to breathe. Finally on Friday night after over an hour's worth of walking I finally passed gas. However, we were not yet free. Earlier in the day Evangeline had gotten the green light to go, however, because of me we were there long enough that they did another vitals check on her in the evening and thought that they had heard an irregularity in her heartbeat. So they ordered an EKG on her and had a pediatrician come and look at it. He said he didn't see anything wrong with her and finally gave us the good to go. We finally got out of the hospital around 11:30 pm and got home around midnight. It feels good to be home finally.

I am currently on many different restrictions. I can't lift anything heavier than 10 lbs for 6 weeks, I can't drive a car for a week, I can't do housework for two weeks. I feel pretty useless, because of my incision I can't bend over to pick things up, I can't move quickly, I have to avoid stairs when possible. It is crazy, but it is so that I can recover correctly. Today has been our first day at home with our entire family and it had been busy but good. I am so thankful for Kevin and for everything he has done to support me through all of this. And I am grateful to my parents for watching both Davy and our dogs while we were in the hospital.

Looking back on it all I sometimes find myself wondering if I was being selfish by inducing myself so early. But then I think back to how wrapped up in the cord Evangeline was and I wonder if I had waited if she would have made it or if something bad could have happened to her. If I had started contracting really bad while at home I would not have had a monitor to tell me that something was wrong. Though I wonder if I should have waited the fact is Evangeline is here healthy and safe and alive and that is the important thing. We are so thrilled and happy with our new little girl.

False Alarm

So on Tuesday night, while I was actually typing up my thoughts on my last post, I started to have contractions. I thought that they were coming rather often so I decided to start timing them. So I downloaded a contraction counter app onto my phone and started timing. The app timed how long the contractions were and how many minutes between contractions there were. All very good to know because I was asked those questions when I got to the hospital.

So I called up my parents and Kevin and let them know what was going on with me. Kevin came home from work early and I called my doctor's office and talked to the nurse on call for the night. After talking to me and asking me a bunch of questions she told me that I needed to go in to the hospital. So Kevin and I hurriedly packed stuff and then waited for my parents to come over. Once they got here I waited a little longer to see if the contractions continued, when they did we took off for the hospital. When we got there the  person at the ER desk put me right in a wheelchair and took me straight up to Labor and Delivery. There I was put in a triage room where they checked me and told me I was at 1 1/2 centimeters, they told me they would wait 2 hours and then check me again and if I had changed they would keep me. Well two hours later I was at 3 centimeters. So they took me into a delivery room. They started me on antibiotics since I have Group B Strep and told me that once I had been given all my antibiotics they would check me again. At about 11 am I had gotten all my antibiotics and so they checked me, but this time the person who checked said I felt like a 1 1/2 to a 2. Which was smaller than what I had been, which didn't seem right. So they called in my doctor who checked me and said that I felt like I was at a 3, but that since I hadn't changed much that she was going to have me take a 1 hour walk and if nothing had changed after that then they were going to send me home.

So we went on a one hour walk around the Maternity unit, which I must say was exhausting. My hips hurt so bad after I was done. But I hadn't changed and so I was sent home finally. But my doctor told me that in her estimation I was in early labor and that she would not be surprised if I had the baby within the next few weeks. She said that if I was still pregnant come next Thursday that she would strip my membranes and see if I went. I am hoping I deliver before she goes on vacation. Crossing my fingers.

On Vacation

Yesterday when I went to my OB appointment I learned from my doctor that she will be going on vacation around the end of the year and will be getting back to work on my due date. My hope is that little Evangeline will stay inside until my doctor is around. There are a few reasons why I would like my own doctor. I know that another doctor would probably be fine, but I would prefer my own.

1. I know that she has my best interests and the baby's best interests in mind. I know she will not try to push me into a C section unless I really need one.
2. If I end up tearing or needing an episiotomy I know she will do a fantastic time stitching me up. She did great last time and I know if I need stitches this time she will do a great job again.
3. I just feel more comfortable with a doctor that I know, having some random doctor that I have never met deliver my baby is going to stress me out a good deal.

There was a part of me that was sort of kind of hoping that Evangeline would get here before the end of the year so that we could get tax write offs. But when it comes down to it I would rather have a safe baby and my own doctor delivering her than a tax write off. Also I wouldn't mind if Evangeline's birthday was a little ways away from Christmas. We will see what happens though. Hopefully everything works out.

The best husband for the job

I keep finding myself wanting to write about this, mostly because I have heard about husbands in the labor and delivery room who make the experience awful. Specifically I keep seeing commercials for the TV show "One born every minute" which follows women through the labor and delivery process. For the teaser clip they show a few scenes of the women in the labor and delivery room waiting for the baby to come and it shows the husbands and what they are doing and saying, and they are awful! One man plays around on his phone while his wife has contractions, one man tells his wife that he is bored and that the baby needs to come now. And it causes me to reflect on my experience.

As I mentioned before my epidural failed during my delivery, and it failed right as the transitional contractions were underway. Which means that I was dropped from a relatively pain-free experience right into the worst of it all. Kevin was the first one to realize that I was experiencing pain. And he realized it from the expression on my face. The moment he realized I was in pain he was immediately at my side holding my hand and saying comforting things to me. The next few hours were filled with pain, pushing, crying and a severe wanting on my part for the baby to be out of me so that the pain would stop. And all through it Kevin was at my side, holding my hand, saying comforting things to me. One of my favorite things he said, and kept saying was, "You are so beautiful." And he meant it, I could tell from the expression on his face when he said it. I have heard about women cursing at, screaming at, yelling at, punching, calling names, and many other things to their husbands, but when you have someone sitting there holding your hand, stroking your hair, and telling you that you are beautiful how can you get mad at that person?

As we got into the pushing I had to lean forward with each contraction, grab my legs and push for all I was worth for a count of ten. I was exhausted though, and could barely keep my eyes open let alone lean forward, and grab my legs. Thankfully both Kevin and my mom were there to help me. Kevin stood on one side and my mom on the other and together they would lift me up so that I could grab my legs, then they would help me lower back down and hold my hands after the contraction was over. They both kept telling me to squeeze their hands, but I hardly had the energy for that, I guess I did squeeze their hands hard at some point because I broke open the skin on my mom's hand with my nails at some point, and I almost did the same to Kevin. I probably could have made it through labor without my mom and Kevin, but I don't feel like it. They were a big necessity for me during the whole process. The doctor and the nurse kept telling me to get mad so that I would have more energy for the pushing, but I just couldn't get myself angry, yes I was in pain, but I had such a great support group there helping me that I just couldn't find anger in myself. Either way I got the job done and little David is here. It seems strange to think he has been here a week already. And even stranger to realize that yesterday was his official due date. It is good to have him here, I am so grateful for that little guy.

The I gave birth, before everything really got started Kevin went out to get some things. He came back with two dozen roses and a vase for them. He took of all the thorns when he got to the hospital and then set the flowers up for me. Everyone who came into the room stopped to smell them. The next day my parents came with flowers as well. It is one thing I remember clearly about my mom giving birth to my brother and sister, she got flowers. I am so thankful to both Kevin and my parents for remembering that and making sure I had flowers. They are so wonderful!

The epidural, it does nothing!!

The last few days have been rather wild. Wednesday was nice. We ran some errands, ate out for the last time without a baby, and then went over to the hospital to check me in for delivery. That night they started my antibiotics for the Strep B and put in the suppository that would thin out my cervix. I slept in the hospital be and Kevin slept in the chair they had for visitors. It was a rough night sleeping for both of us. In the morning I discovered that my suppository had come out on its own. Around seven or eight am they started me on Pitocin which starts the inducement. I started having serious hip pain and got the epidural started at 11:30 am. Around 1:30 pm or so my doctor showed up and broke my water for me. The contractions started and at first I couldn't feel them. Then it seemed that the epidural started to wear off. I began to feel a little pain at first, and then I began to feel the contractions a little and then a little more. Soon I was feeling the full contraction, as if I didn't even have a pain killer in me at all. It hurt, a lot. Kevin was there for me from the beginning, he held my hand and stroked my hair and told me I was beautiful. He was awesome. The anesthesiologist came back and gave me three more doses, which worked for a bit and then faded again. Around 5 pm or so my doctor showed up again and the real fun started. I was feeling the full contractions, except they weren't natural contractions they were pitocin induced contractions. They were so painful. Eventually they got to a point where I felt like I was needing to push. Kevin and my mom helped me by holding my hands and lifting me into position when I needed to push. The nurses seemed surprised at how much I pushed, they called me a "super pusher", I just wanted it all to be over. I got to a point where I kept saying, "I just want him out of me" or, "Can you just grab his head and pull him out?" I really just wanted it all over. I was so tired that I could hardly keep my eyes open during it all. After a lot of pushing David finally came out, it was such a relief. My doctor had to cut me during delivery so that I wouldn't tear, so after everything was done she also had to stitch me up, which I also felt even with the pain killer that the doctor gave me.

While the doctor stitched me up Kevin and my parents took pictures and held David. Eventually all the stitching was done and they allowed me some time with David before they took him for his bath. While he was gone they took me to my post natal room. I got a little bit of sleep last night, and a little bit of sleep today. Looking forward to getting a little bit more if I ever get the chance. Either way Davy is here and we are happy to have him. You can see a link to his birth announcement below.
http://community.babycenter.com/announcements/6f24e0dfe18054a878acaa9a4551930d

Natural or Induced?

Went to the doctor today and my protein levels were up in my 24 hour urine test. And I had some pre-e symptoms on Sunday. However, the rest of my tests were good and my urine test today came back negative for protein. My doctor said though that she doesn't want to let me go to my delivery date because so far we have been lucky with the pre-e that is has been not really bad, we have been able to get the baby to full term without the pre-e getting bad. So she stripped my membranes which can sometimes start labor. And she scheduled me to be induced on Thursday morning.

So unless I go into labor tonight I will be going to the hospital on Wednesday night to prepare for the induction. Bags are all packed, I am pretty much ready for the hospital, just need to get everything into the car, get the car seat installed in the car and go there tomorrow at 8 pm. I am excited for it to all happen, and yet I am also pretty scared about it all. Tomorrow night the pain begins and doesn't end for quite awhile. Pray that it all goes well. I will probably not be posting again until after the baby is here.

Appointment and Tests

Yesterday I had another doctor appointment and I had tests run. I got a pee bucket to fill again. At my doctor appointment my urine came back with a +1 protein again for the second time this week. So my doctor said that she is going to look at my 24 hour urine test and if it is getting worse aka. more protein then she is going to induce me. I will be 38 weeks tomorrow and am currently "full term". So next week we should see whether I will be induced or allowed to go into labor naturally. Either way I am fine. I am feeling more ready for Davy to come. This is the update for now.

Contractions

So Friday night I started to have some stronger contractions and they happened more frequently than usual. Turns out they were Braxton Hick (practice contractions) but they still sort of freaked me out. I spent Saturday getting things together for the hospital. Didn't get everything together, so worked on packing and finding more stuff on Sunday. My biggest problem is that the pajamas nightgown that I got especially for the hospital is nowhere to be found. I have checked every clothes box that Kevin has brought me and looked through all the suitcases that we used for moving clothes from one house to the other. I am going to next have to go through all the clean clothes that Kevin has washed since we have been here. Everything is in such disorder that I feel like I can't find anything, and I am not allowed to move any of the boxes, so that just makes me more frustrated. Last night I finally just got so fed up I grabbed the edge of a box and pulled it off the box it was sitting on.

Last night we did get a lot done though. We finally got our bed up on the frame. It had been laying on the ground because one of the wheels on the frame got lost in the move. Thankfully replacement wheels were cheap. We moved my dresser from one side of the room to the other, and brought the bassinet in. I organized my bedside table, charged both the camcorder and the camera, got them packed and ready to go. All the baby stuff is ready to go as well, except for the car seat. Now it really just comes down to me. I have changes of clothes in there, but I still need change of underwear, probably some socks, and I need to get all my toiletries together. I have most of them together but there are a few things still missing. I also need to get the baby stuff packed in a bag of some sort.

I am a bit nervous that I will go anytime now. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment. She is planning on checking the growth, and doing an NST as well as a vaginal exam. I wonder if I have dilated further. I need to ask her a bunch of questions about labor and delivery. Like what frequency of contractions before I got to hospital, what is the exact address for the hospital, is there someone there I can ask about parking and so forth, can I pre-register, etc. Then I really need to see about going on a tour of the hospital. I am hoping I might be able to do that tomorrow. Also I need to get the paperwork together for maternity leave. Ugh and I need to send in the paperwork for the short sale/deed in lieu. Blah, so much to do, so little time. Is it any wonder I want this baby to wait?

Week 37

Week 37 starts tomorrow. In week 37 I am considered "full term" which means that all of the baby's organs and stuff are fully developed and that the remaining weeks will be used for packing on the ounces of fat.

Last week my doctor had me do a 24 hour urine test (again) to see if protein is still showing up. Protein is still in my urine for the 24 hour tests, but when I go in to see the doctor my urine tests are showing negative for protein. I was also tested for Strep B, and the doctor gave me a vaginal exam. Turns out I am dialated 1 1/2 cm. Strep B results came in this week, turns out I have it, which I kind of figured I did after being told I had it earlier in my pregnancy.

This up coming week I have two appointments with my doctor. The first is on Tuesday and will include an ultrasound (to measure liquid and growth), an NST to check the baby's heartrate and an OB visit that will probably include another vaginal exam.

I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions lately, my doctor said they are normal and shouldn't be a point of concern unless they begin to get regular.

This morning I put together a birth plan that I can take to the hospital with me. I made sure to choose one that said straight out that I have Strep B. Strep B will require that I have antibiotics administered when I go into labor and I want to make sure that the nurses know it. Baby Davy has been moving around a lot, it will be fun to meet him when he comes out.

Plans for the next three weeks:
~I need to pack my hospital bag with all the essentials for labor and delivery.
~I need to make sure I have everything ready to go before the baby comes.
~We need to move the dog kennels out of the baby's room and into the spare room.
~I need to wash the baby clothes in prep for the baby coming.
~I need to look at the e-mail I got from HR regarding maternity leave and look into preparing for that.
~I am not going to be able to make it to the birth class I signed up for so I need to see about touring the hospital before the birth.
~I need to see about cleaning the baby's room before he comes, it is currently a bit of a mess with all the moving.
~I need to clean our room so that we can get the bassinet in there.
~I need to get a baby book set aside so that I can get the baby's foot prints at the hospital. (I am thinking of doing a digital baby book and am wondering about printing off a page for the foot prints)
~I need to put together a list of things that I need to make sure get done while I am in the hospital (things like: naming baby, registering for baby's SSN, meeting with lactation counselor, etc.)

My sister, her husband and my niece Sydney visited these last two weeks, it was fun to see them all but I caught a cold from them. So I have been a bit out of it all. Hopefully I get better before the baby comes. In the meantime I am getting lots of rest (as much as I can) and drinking fluids.

Birth Plan

Today I looked over week 26 information for my pregnancy. This week my baby is as long as an English hothouse cucumber, again, why do they compare the baby to food? In the info for the week they mentioned putting together a birth plan.

So I started looking at birth plans out there and some of the interactive ones. A birth plan is basically your preferences when it comes to labor and delivery and post delivery. Having one does not ensure that it will be followed, but it does help the doctor and the hospital know what you want without you having to tell them every step of the way.

I sent myself a few links to some of the interactive ones. There is one that is very explainatory that I like and think I may use. It covers Strep B, which is one of my biggest fears, and the explainations help me understand what I am putting on the plan. The plans cover almost anything under the sun when it comes to giving birth. It makes me happy that I looked into them because I often feel like I just don't know enough yet for this major event that is coming up.

I also looked again at classes offered at the hospital I will be using. For $75 I can take a class that offers everything that I am currently looking for. I may also see if I can take a dog class at another hospital to learn how to prepare the dogs. I need to list off the classes that I want to take and their times for myself so I don't miss them. So much to do, and so little time! It feels so crazy!