Baby is here!

Baby is 3 weeks old today!  I have been super busy and haven't had time to post, sorry!  She's adorable and perfect. Born 11/17 at 12:22pm via c-section. 10lbs 2oz, 22", 15" head.

She and I are doing well, the c-section recovery has been pretty easy so far.  I'm down 20lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight 

Here is the birth story

My CS was scheduled for noon and I arrived at the hospital at 10am. I was checked in through the maternity welcome center then taken to pre-op room. Once there I was changed into a gown and hooked up to heart monitor, oxygen, IV was inserted (2 tries, they had to put it in my hand, boo) and baby monitors were hooked up. They took blood and I had to sign a bunch of papers and answer a bunch of questions. I had one nurse who was my nurse through the whole thing which was kind of nice. My doctor came in and talked to me, then the anesthesiologist- I told her I was nervous about the epidural not working or wearing off during surgery, she was great and told me to keep up a conversation with her throughout the surgery and she'd make sure I was comfortable. They then came in to put in the epidural, that part was very easy, a shot to numb which hardly hurt at all then pressure from the placement. They had me tell them if I felt pressure on the left or right to get it placed properly. Once it was in it took probably 15 minutes to take effect, my legs felt like they were waking up from being numb but when they pricked me with needles I couldn't feel it. They then took me back to the operating room and got me on the table. I started getting nauseated from the epidural and she gave me 2 different nausea meds through the IV, she said she'd also be giving me blood pressure meds throughout as my blood pressure was on the low side and would probably drop (it did). She said to tell her what I felt (nausea, dizzy, etc) and I did and she adjusted meds throughout, I liked her :)

For the actual procedure we got back to the OR a few minutes after 12 and baby was out at 12:22. They are talking to me through the entire thing and when they start to get the baby out my husband said that two nurses had to push on the upper part of my stomach while baby pulled with the vacuum assist. I heard my doctor say "Wow, that's a big head" then a pause and "look at those shoulders! its a good thing we did it this way!". She's kind of short and was up on a stool pulling at one point my husband said. Then baby was out and they brought her up to me for skin to skin, we only got to do that for a couple minutes though because she was gurggling and coughing a lot, they were afraid she'd inhaled some fluid on the way out. They took her away to the side of the room to suction her. Her oxygen was a bit low so they sent for someone from NICU to come down and take a look. They suctioned her nose, mouth, stomach for several minutes and everything came back to normal. She was never blue or anything, she was purple in fact. Her apgars were 8 & 8. I'd had a lot of nausea meds at this point and felt kind of disconnected and tired. They finished up with me and the three of us got to go back to the same pre-op room for recovery.

She was 10 pounds 2 ounces, head was 15 inches around and she was just at 22 inches long.

We stayed in the hospital from Tuesday through Friday afternoon, she lost 9% of her body weight but my milk had started to come in already and she was making enough wet/dirty diapers so they were not concerned. We had a weight check the day after we were released and she'd started gaining back already.

My husband didn't stay at night in the hospital and because of the c-section I needed help from the nurses but they were really great. I didn't send the baby to the nursery at all the first night though and as a result got basically zero sleep and was wrecked the next day. I ended up sending her to the nursery between feedings a few times and felt guilty about each one.

Since coming home we have had a few issues with breastfeeding (engorgement issues when my milk came fully in) but are getting the hang of it for now (everyday is something new). The first few nights at home were kind of hellish to be honest, she won't sleep lying flat, she has a lot of gas and spits up a lot. So for now she sleeps in a swing that lays almost flat. Last night was the first night I actually slept in a bed between feeds and feel amazing for it.

I'm recovering well from the c-section, they left the epidural in place until Thursday morning in the hospital, it was on a pump system, it was delivering a continuous dose of meds but I could push for additional dose, I did the additional dose 3x total. After they took it out they put me on oral Vicodin, I took 3 of those and moved to 600mg motrin. I take the motrin still when I remember because it does help. Lactation consultant said it would help with engorgement too and it seems to. The pain is not so much pain but burning and is only when I try to sit up in bed too fast or twist the wrong way, 80% of the time I could forget I had surgery a week ago which makes my physical restrictions very frustrating.

Otherwise I think my biggest challenge so far is the hormones. I cry and cry and cry, I'm not sad though I am feeling housebound and hate the restrictions from the surgery and want some semblance of normality back (want to go to store, etc). I'm not an emotional person so bursting into tears for no reason multiple times a day (especially when breastfeeding) is hard for me. My husband is AMAZING he took a week off work and has waited on me hand and foot and keeps telling me how proud he is of me. I've never loved him more.

40 weeks!

Tomorrow is the day, we are less than 24 hours from having a baby!!!  Here is 40 weeks of belly changes (click on image for bigger view). I've gained 10.8lbs as of this morning from pre-pregnancy weight.

I'm excited and nervous about tomorrow. Which one I am more changes moment my moment.  I'm nervous about the c-section and nervous about being a new mom but super excited to finally get to meet our little girl.    I'm off work today and have just been trying to get some last minute stuff done around the house so that when we come home I'll be comfy. With the c-section I won't be up doing much for awhile so I wanted to have as much done as possible.

That's all for now, see you on the other side of the bump!

Single digits!

8 days left!!! I am....large.

I hit 10lbs on the weight gain this morning so baby needs to come out now! :D

Not much news, just waiting now. C Section is a week from tomorrow. This is my last week of work, trying to get stuff wrapped up so other people can manage for the next 12-15 weeks is challenging. 

My feet have been swelling pretty bad again, it looks weird when my feet are swollen but my toes are not. 

I'm ready for baby to come out now, the waiting is making me anxious and I'm very physically uncomfortable. As big as she is I don't know how but she's still doing gymnastics and kicking me in my organs. I have a lot of trouble breathing these days too.  No real signs of labor, my doctor wouldn't even check my cervix at my appointment last week she said "baby is not coming out that way, it does not matter". Well lady, it would be nice to know if there is any progress. I was irritated.  She is out of town this week so I see the other OB in the practice that I really like this Wednesday.  

C-Section Scheduled.

So last week I had my 36 week ultrasound to check her growth, well she had defiantly grown, her estimated weight was 8lb 1oz and her head size and abdominal size were in the greater than 99th percentile for her age.  Even with the 15% margin of error on the estimated weight this is a big baby with 3 weeks left to grow. The margin of error on head size is very low and that is the part that concerned them. Based on all of this the high risk doctor recommended a csection at 39 weeks. I had my appointment with my OB the next day and she agreed about the csection but said we could wait until 40 weeks. So my csection is scheduled for the day after my due date 11/17.  It is not what we planned but it is what is best for the baby and that is all I really care about.

I had my 37 week checkup yesterday. 1cm dilated, 50% effaced and my cervix is soft, so a little progress but not much.  Doctor said baby hasn't moved down at all. She did say that my pelvic bones, the little bony bits that stick out inside that are the smallest part the baby has to pass through are tight and this reinforces her decision about the csection.   I was feeling bad all day yesterday, backache, headache, upset stomach.  We had our last labor/child class last night and I went to bed as soon as we got home but started cramping almost as soon as I laid down and cramped all night long, maybe from the cervical check, who knows, still cramping some today but its not regular.

Baby is still moving around a lot, she still makes pretty big movements but they feel slower and more like pushes than jabs for the most part anyway. She does love to kick my stomach after I've eaten, I think my eating expands my stomach and takes up her room and she does not like that.

I stayed home from work today because I was exhausted and needed to keep my feet up, they resemble the stay-puft man these day.  Here is last week vs this week, everyone says I'm getting bigger by the day, hard for me to say, I don't know how much bigger I can possibly get but then we have 19 days left to go before the c-section.

I also asked a bunch of questions about the csection answers are:

• no can't do delayed clamping
• yes, can do cord blood donation
• no, can't do immediate skin-to-skin but Matthew can
• I can breastfeed as soon as I'm in recovery
• no, I can't watch the c-section
• I get to eat the same day as long as I'm not vomiting
• I will get to sit up in chair the same day and be up walking the next day
• I can't drive for 2 weeks after
• I have to limit stairs to once daily for 2 weeks
• Lift nothing heavier than the baby for 4 weeks

I think that's about it, here is a bonus picture of my feet!!! (lucky you)

Catch up, 36 weeks

Okay, I've been horrible about posting!   To make up for the lack of pics how about a progression from the beginning until now?

wow, that's a lot of pictures!  :D

Okay, so is going on.  Let's see, I'm 36 weeks, I have a growth scan tomorrow to see how big she's gotten.  When I was at the doctor last week my cervix was closed but "a little" thinned and baby was breech, she turns really often still though so I'm not really worried about that.  I spotted and cramped after the check for 2 days, had to call about that since I've been cautioned to call about anything out of the ordinary but they said that's normal.  I had my group b strep test and that came back clear which is very good.

Oh, yeah, I broke my foot.

Fell down a single stair and my ankle gave way, broke my heel and sprained my ankle. I lasted a week in the boot before I had to ditch it as it made my hips and back feel like they were coming apart. 

Much progress has been made on the nursery, its pretty much done except organization, here is a bad pano of it.

We had a wonderful baby shower and my brother came down. We got so many wonderful things at the shower and before and after including sooo many beautiful handmade things that just overwhelm me with joy. 

We had some maternity pictures taken, here is one I love by Carlagraphs 

My right foot was already swelling more than my left but since I broke it it swells A LOT more! It jiggles when I walk by the end of the day. 

I've got the hospital bag almost packed, we need to put in the car seats. I have puppy pads everywhere I sit often in case my water breaks.  We have 2 more classes left on our labor, breastfeeding and newborn series.  

Here is a pic of my belly all distorted when she flips around. 

Yesterday she was in a weird position putting strange pressure on my bladder where I felt like I couldn't pee right all day then last night right before bed I was folding laundry when all of a sudden, I pee my pants. Oops, then had to play the "pee or amniotic fluid" game. I went pee and it didn't happen anymore so I decided pee and went to bed. She's moving around like normal today so everything seems fine. 

That's about all I can think of right now, weight is holding pretty steady, I'm at + 4 pounds for the pregnancy so far.  Will try to remember to post again after scan tomorrow.  

33 weeks

I haven't posted in awhile but everything is good, just been crazy busy.

Our girl is doing well. We had a growth scan last Wednesday at 32+2 and she was measuring at 5lbs! that is 59th percentile for weight!! She's on track to be a big baby! I have another scan at 36 weeks to check again. Look at those chubby cheeks!!!

As for me, well the back pain gets bad some days and I still don't sleep well, its really hard to get comfortable.  I'm looking very pregnant these days and I think I'm starting to waddle.  I can't stand up for more than about an hour at a time otherwise I start getting braxton-hicks pretty bad.

I've also reached another milestone and that is reaching my pre-pregnancy weight.  Here is me at 4 weeks (just got positive test a few days before) and me at 33 weeks, I weigh the same in both of these photos.

Here is another belly comparison (sorry/not sorry for all the naked belly pics). Since I was overweight before becoming pregnancy my belly hangs down a bit at the bottom (one of the reasons my back hurts I think). Here is a comparison of my belly with no support and me with my hand pulling it up a bit from the top which is basically how my support band keeps it positioned. 

We started our childbirth classes last week, its a 6 week series that includes newborn care and breastfeeding.  It was pretty interesting but makes for a long day.  I'm supposed to have my labor support bag packed by next week, ack!!!

What else...

We've made a lot of progress on the nursery finally! Still got a lot to do but most of its organization at this point. 

I had to start taking magnesium because of horrible leg cramps that won't go away, it  helps a lot!

Baby shower is this coming weekend, my brother is coming down for that and we'll video conference in the family birthday party going on in Minnesota.   I'm excited for that. 

Crazy dreams still abound, I give birth just about every night as I sleep now. 

Braxton Hicks

I started experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions last week. The first one was such a shock and left me kind of excited, a new milestone had been reached!  Then I had another, and another and my belly got kind of sore and I was over the excitement.

I had 3 that first day then no more for over a week, then another last Wednesday night and several yesterday.  The more tired I am the more they happen.  Yesterday I finally was able to drink a big glass of cold water and lie down for 20 minutes and they went away.

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and she said as long as they continue to stop they are nothing to worry about, they are just "practice contractions".

Nothing much to report from the doctor's appointment, she measured my belly but didn't tell me what it was only that it 'had grown from last appointment' and baby's heartbeat was in the 150's and 160's on the doppler.

A few nights ago I was in bed asleep when Matthew came up to bed. He put his hand on my belly (I kind of half woke up) and she started kicking like mad. This is the first time she's done that in response to him touching my belly, he loved it!

I've not been sleeping well and have been very irritable.  We did make progress on the nursery last weekend though, got the closet organizer in and I was able to put away some stuff.

It's just too bad the rest of the room still looks like this

I've gained several pounds in the past month, I'm only a couple pounds down from pre-pregnancy weight at this point but I guess that was bound to happen.  Speaking of weight gain, a funny cravings story. 

My one consistent craving has been red hots, the cinnamon candy. I eat a box of them maybe once a week or every two weeks because I know they are not good for you. Wednesday night I wanted Red Hots, I had to go to camera club meeting so I stopped at pharmacy on my way because they always have the movie theater size box of them. Well guess which ONE candy they are out of!!! Dammnit! Yesterday I had to go to the grocery store after work to pickup stuff for company coming in town this weekend, first stop, candy asile. I stand there for a good 10 minutes getting myself into a highly emotional state (and having BH's) because there are NO red hots!!! I'm about to cry when on the bottom rack pushed way to the back is TWO bags of red hots! I was giddy! I didn't eat any last night because baby girl decided to sit on top of my stomach but I brought a bag to work with me today :D