Liam's Birth Story

Disclaimer: this is going to be a very long post, consider yourself warned! 

 

Last Monday (May 16th) was one of my work from home days, but once again, my blood pressure had been acting up over the past 2 days & was higher than it had been the whole pregnancy. I went to the doctor on Monday morning, where it was high in the office but the baby was fine on the NST. The doctor decided to increase my medication dose and gave me 2 choices: go home, take the medicine, don't do anything at all the rest of the day & take my blood pressure a bunch to see if it goes down OR go to the hospital to start the new dose & be monitored there. I chose the home option. I got home around noon and at 1pm, the doctor called to make sure I made it home ok (he knew I was coming home to an empty house), to see what my blood pressure was & to make sure I had taken the extra dose already.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on my left side, doing close to nothing and even took a nap at one point. My phone rang at 4pm & it was the doctor again, wanting to know what my pressures had been doing; I read them all back to him (they hadn't come down at all) & he said he just didn't feel comfortable letting me go unmonitored until the next day with them being so high...so, I had to head to the hospital after all. I called Brian, gathered up my hospital bag & headed out the door.

Fortunately, they were able to rule out pre-e pretty quickly, so that was a huge relief. My dr. was delivering a baby, so a resident came in and told me that she still had to talk to my doctor, but her best guess was that they would keep me for the next 24 hours, increase my meds again and do a 24 hour urine catch just to be absolutely certain that I didn't have pre-e or that it wasn't developing. She left the room & Brian and I were able to discuss this, all seemed well. Fast forward about 10 minutes and the same resident returns & says, "Well....I talked to your doctor and it turns out he has a different plan for you. He wants you to have a baby tonight!" I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped open and my mind started racing as I was crying. It seemed way too early (I was 36 weeks, 5 days) and I was really concerned about what that would mean for the baby. NICU? Underdeveloped lungs? Problems with eating?

The resident did her best to reassure me that he was so close to being full term that we really didn't have anything to worry about, and let us know that even though my doctor was recommending induction, it was ultimately our decision...if we really weren't comfortable with it, we could still try the 24 hour monitoring. His concern though, was that the best we would be able to do was maybe get a few more days from the increased dose, then we'd be right back where we started & possibly dealing with pre-e at that point if we let this go on any longer. He said we had been chasing this problem so long & fighting an uphill battle, and he really felt that it was best for me and the baby to go ahead & deliver.

We talked about it for a little bit, but decided that we trusted the doctor and it was probably the best decision. So reality sunk in...it was baby time!!! I was really excited and super nervous. Another thing I should note here is that they examined me and I was 3 cm dilated, 60% effaced....I was having contractions the whole time while I was there, and by the time I got to my labor & delivery room, they were consistently 3 minutes apart & getting stronger. The doctor commented that even if I had decided on the 24 hour monitoring, I probably would have gone into labor on my own at some point while there.

They started me on a low dose of pitocin since I was already contracting on my own, stripped my membranes & broke my water to get things started around 9:30pm. They started me on an IV of labetalol to bring down my blood pressure and got my epidural in place once the contractions got a bit stronger. It was SO nice to not have to be on that magnesium drip this time...it was seriously like a completely different experience!!!

Things progressed nicely on their own throughout the night, and we were able to get a bit of rest. My mom & Brian had been with me all night, and Brian's parents arrived around 4am after getting the surprise phone call & driving all night to make it there in time. My epidural worked nicely and I was numb on both sides, but extremely numb on my right side for some reason; that leg was just complete dead weight. It was a weird sensation, but I'm glad that it took!

I started feeling some pressure through the epidural around maybe 5am and I was 9 cm. Around 6:30am, the doctor checked me again...TEN! :) I said my goodbyes to everyone while the room was prepped, and then the doctor commented on my right side being so dead & seemed concerned that I wasn't going to be able to push with it being that numb. Not what I wanted to hear!! This was around 6:45am and he said he wanted to do one practice push before we started the real thing to see if I could remember how to push, and if I was physically capable at that point. A contraction came on shortly after that, I pushed and the doctor said "whoa, ok.....you can definitely push, there's the head! Don't push anymore, I need to get dressed and prepped!" HA! Take that, epidural! :) I held off on the next contraction, pushed through one more contraction & our beautiful baby boy came screaming into the world!!! (total elapsed time: 8 minutes)

Because my blood pressure had been so high, I still wasn't allowed to hold him right away, but Brian did get to cut the cord this time (he didn't get to do that with Jake) before the swat team of doctors came to take him away & make sure everything was ok. It was, he was perfect, scored 9's on his Apgar and weighed in at 6 lbs, 13 oz, 20.5 inches long-not too shabby for being more than 3 weeks early!!



I couldn't get over how perfect his features looked, and how much he resembled Jake at birth. He's since taken on some characteristics of his own, though I still see a lot of Jake, especially around the mouth and chin. His hair seems to be my color for right now, and his legs are so skinny; he loves to curl them up around himself at all times.



So it turns out that I had nothing to worry about in terms of him being not quite full term...aside from having a drop in his body temperature on the first day (which was solved with 2.5 hours of skin-to-skin contact on me & Brian) he had absolutely no problems in the hospital. He had to pass a "carseat test" before we were able to be discharged (basically, he had to sit in a carseat for 1.5 hours without having any change in his oxygen levels) which he passed with flying colors.

Though he was super sleepy the first 2 days & showed little interest in breastfeeding, he has since perked up & is eating like a champ. We did have a little scare on Friday; he had been spitting up quite frequently, but then it started coming out of his nose and it was yellow (like bright, mustard yellow) We had to go to the pediatrician's office for a weight check Friday morning anyway, so we mentioned it then (and he did it in the office, so the doc was able to see) He had gone from 6 lbs, 13 oz at birth to 6 lbs, 6 oz when discharged, down to 6 lbs even the next day. The doctor was a bit concerned about the bright yellow fluid, so he sent us to get an xray just to make sure there wasn't any type of partial abdominal blockage. Of course, I was kind of a wreck...who wants to have to take their 3 day old to get an xray?? Thankfully, it was clear and after getting his weight checked again the next day, he had gone up to 6 lbs, 3 oz. The yellow spit up has since disappeared (though it still comes out of his nose sometimes) so the doctor thinks it was just his system getting used to everything (my milk had just come in when all of this started).

PHEW! So, that's our story....I have lots more to tell and I'll be sure to post some funny one-liners Jake has had since his baby brother arrived, but I think I've typed enough for one day! I leave you with some pictures:

36 week ultrasound, updates

First things first, the fun stuff!!



Doesn't he look pouty in that second picture? I guess having his picture taken at 7:30am this morning wasn't on his agenda....

Everything looked great according to the tech, in terms of fluid levels, placenta, all that fun stuff. He was measuring 6 lbs, 3 oz (give or a take a pound in either direction) which put him in the 46th percentile. You may remember from my 32 week ultrasound that at that time, he was measuring in the 81st percentile. First, I panicked because that's a huge drop....but, the dr did seem to think that the last ultrasound was a gross overestimation of his size. So, I guess I'll wait to see what they have to say at my appointment tomorrow in terms of his growth.

I had a scare this week with my blood pressure...to sum up, it was elevated most of the weekend & was still up by the time I got to my scheduled appointment on Tuesday morning. I had swelling in my legs and face, hyperreflexia, and my fundal height belly measurement hadn't grown in over 2 weeks. The good thing about the appointment was that the baby looked great on the NST, so that was a huge relief. I left with the instructions to get some more bloodwork done at Magee and a spot urine check to determine the protein level. I was supposed to stay home from work the next day & not do much of anything until we got the results of the tests back.

Fortunately, the bloodwork (which is to test organ function) came back fine, and my protein level hadn't yet hit pre-e stage. It was 220 yesterday; 3 weeks ago it was 176...so it's rising, but still under 300 (which is when they diagnose it as pre-e).

I had discussed options with the doctor yesterday, as far as what we would do if this wasn't pre-e yet, what steps we would take to try and keep my blood pressure under control for as long as possible. I dread hearing the word "bedrest" though I know that it could come to that. Obviously, if it were absolutely necessary, I would do anything to keep the baby safe....but if I don't have to, I would rather look into other options. Mainly because going on bedrest puts you onto short term disability for work; going on short term disability means you start eating away at your maternity leave. doing that, obviously means less time with the baby :(

After discussing all of that with my doctor yesterday, we determined that for now, we'd try a combo of two things to keep it under control: increasing my meds just a tiny bit (I'll be going from 500 mg, 3 times/day to 625 mg, 3 times/day) and working from home 2 days a week to cut down on the time I have to commute in & out and be in the office. She's hoping that by being able to rest on my left side a lot of the time that I'm working from home and just resting more in general on those days, in combination with the increased meds, will make a difference & get me a little bit further along....3 more weeks is the goal!

Yet another update....

After that bump in the road last week, I have good news to pass along....all is well at this time with me & the baby! Since my blood pressure was acting up last week, I made a special guest appearance at the dr last Wednesday; it was still up at the office and I was spilling protein in my urine again. The dr. requested that I do a 24 hour urine catch to get a better idea about the protein level. Good times! I was to get an ultrasound the next day, too, then some blood work done on Friday.

So, Thursday I took the day off of work to do the 24 hour catch (I'm sure I could have done it at work but well, the idea of toting that around here all day & keeping it on ice just didn't seem appealing to me for some reason) Instead, I spent the day bonding with the DVR & Gracie. We went to the ultrasound in the morning and everything looked great (those were the 3d/4d pics I posted a few days ago) More on the u/s results at the end of this post....

My bloodwork came back fine, and my protein level from the catch was 176; it was 160 about 2.5 weeks before, so just a slight increase, but still nothing to worry about. They did change my weekly visits to twice-weekly, with a nonstress test each time. So while it's kind of a pain, it also provides me with reassurance, so it's fine.

I went back today for another checkup and NST, and everything looked great again. My blood pressure was 128/87, which is pretty much my normal at this point. The baby was moving around great during the monitoring session and I had lost a pound since last Wednesday; I look much less swollen than I did at that time, so I'm thinking I was toting around an extra pound of fluid :)

The dr. discussed my u/s results with me in more detail & said that she does feel they're overestimating his size (he was 4 lbs, 2 oz-which put him near the 80th percentile). She doesn't believe he's teeny-tiny, but said that all of the factors considered, she would be shocked if he's actually that size. She measured my belly & it hadn't grown any in a week and a half (it was around 31 weeks, so about 1.5 weeks behind, I'm 32 weeks 5 days)---nothing to worry about at all as it's not always the best indicator, but just something that we'll keep an eye on. I'll most likely have another growth ultrasound at 36 weeks anyway, so we'll have everything checked then.

She's still talking induction around 39 weeks, so as long as this little one can stay put between now & then, he'll be served an eviction notice in approximately 6 weeks!!! :)

32 week ultrasound

After my bummer of a post the other day, I have something much more fun to talk about today---our 32 week ultrasound! He was once again going crazy in there, kicking the ultrasound wand every time she tried to put it on my belly. clearly, he was not amused to be poked & prodded first thing in the morning. He was also practicing his breathing (which I guess is something they don't do all of the time), which prevented her from getting the belly measurements that she needed right away.

So, while we waited for him to stop his practicing, she flipped over to 4D mode to give us a new view of the baby....normally, I find these things to be freaky, but since it was my own kid, I was kind of in awe once we got a glimpse. (though admittedly, still a bit freaked out by the details) These pictures aren't the best (she printed some out, so these are pictures of a picture from my camera):



I think he resembles Jake in some of those shots.

He settled down after that, stopped moving around so much & had stopped his practicing, so she was able to finish up & get the measurements she needed. the baby is HUGE! 4 lbs, 2 oz...the tech said that puts him in the 81st percentile, but then when I came home, I googled what the average weight of a baby is at this point & it said they should be around 3 lbs, 12 oz. So it doesn't seem TOO far off to me, but whatever. She said my doctor would take a closer look at the measurements & discuss everything with me once the office receives the report. But either way, it was a relief to find out that he's growing just fine in there.

Frustration.

I hate to turn this blog into a place where I go with negative thoughts, but at the same time, it's a nice outlet to just get it all off my chest. So bear with me.

As I've mentioned before, part of my frustration with being put on "limited activity" (which means that I'm not on bedrest or anything, but that I'm really just not supposed to be doing any more than I need to do in a day) is that I am a control freak & I can't get stuff done if I'm not supposed to be moving around a bunch. I'm not going to lie, this definitely bothers me.

I have to pause here to give a shout-out to Brian; we may have different ideas of what "needs" to be done around a house on a day to day basis thanks to my OCD ways, but he has really stepped it up in an effort to keep me relaxed. He's taken over pretty much all of the housework and he does it without me having to ask. After Jake goes to bed, he takes over with whatever needs to be done so that I can park myself on the couch....kitchen clean up, packing lunches, picking up stuff around the house, putting in laundry, etc... I'm really grateful for this, though a small part of me inside hates that I can't just do some of it myself. But I digress.

All of the household stuff aside, what has truly been bothering me lately is feeling like I'm missing out, or going to miss out on stuff. I have less than 2 months to go of having just Jake. He is my world and I have twinges of guilt from time to time about turning his world upside down soon with a newborn (even though I know he will adapt & be a fantastic big brother---I still can't help but feel guilty about how his way of life is going to change soon). Add to that guilt that already exists, the fact that sometimes I have to tell him, "Mommy isn't feeling well right now & has to go lay down on the couch, play with daddy for a little bit" because my blood pressure is going crazy. I hate it, I hate feeling like I can't play with my own kid & enjoy the time that's left of just Jake & mommy while I can, because i have this stupid issue to deal with.

Another source of frustration is the uncertainty/randomness of my blood pressure. For instance, on Sunday, I started out the day just fine, but by late morning, it was running around 145/95. For no apparent reason, I had actually spent most of the morning just hanging out since Brian had taken Jake out to run errands with him. It came back down in the afternoon when I was banished to the couch, but after dinner, it was right back up to that range again and all I had done was sat outside (with my feet propped up even!) and helped Jake dye easter eggs. But so far today, it's been fine.

It's a vicious cycle; I feel guilty about the things that I can't do with Jake right now, then the next minute, I feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself. I have a healthy baby and I'm doing whatever it takes to keep him that way; many people have issues much more serious than mine, so who I am to complain about what's going on with me?

So, I'm trying to adapt. As I mentioned in my other post, we went to the zoo this past Saturday; I was swollen when we got home & probably overdid it (You can insert Brian saying "I told you so" here). In an effort to spend time with Jake and get the rest I needed, I asked if he wanted to watch "Toy Story 2" with me. We don't watch movies all that often, so he thought that it was really special to get to do, and I loved snuggling with him on the couch. So, it was a win-win for us. I might not be able to change what's going on right now, but I can make the most of it & enjoy the time that I can spend with Jake, rather than feeling guilt-ridden about it all.

30 weeks

It's been quite a week here for the baby...last weekend, my blood pressure shot up. Again. *sigh* All day on Sunday, it was running around 145/95, with a few higher readings in between. Off to the doctor's office I went first thing Monday morning, where I spilled some protein in my urine. Between that, some facial & leg swelling & my blood pressure at the office (140-something over 96), I was shipped off to Magee for bloodwork and some monitoring.

I have to pause here to say how efficient Magee was; I walked in at 10:30am, registered, went to get my bloodwork, went up to labor & delivery, registered there, was immediately taken back to a room for the monitoring. Elapsed time for all of that: 35 minutes. Bravo, Magee!! And the best part about having to be there? The triage rooms are all private...I had my own TV! People may say it's a baby factory, but it's one well-oiled machine!

Anyway---I was hooked up to monitors & a blood pressure cuff that went off every 10 minutes. The baby looked great on the monitor, so that was a huge relief. My protein came back as 160; I still don't fully understand this whole protein thing, but the dr. said that I started out the pregnancy with a level of 120 based on tests they did. That day, it was 160; you are considered to have pre-e when it hits 300. So I was well under that...he also said that it's not something that necessarily increases all of the time; it might increase, or I might have a level of 160 the rest of the pregnancy, there's really no way of knowing. But I'm in the clear for now, phew.

The only bad thing was, my blood pressure didn't really go down in the 1.5 hours I was in the room. So, I'm now up to 500 mg of Aldomet, 3 times a day (that's an extra dose in the middle of the day from where I was before). I had a follow up appointment this morning & my BP is running consistently mid-130's/mid-80's. So still high, but under control for now.

No restrictions in terms of activity or needing bedrest or anything at this time, the doctor just said she'd feel comfortable if I agreed to take at least 2 thirty minute breaks where I do nothing but lay on my left side throughout the day and to not do much more than I need to do at this time. I will fully admit-I'm a control freak who has trouble sitting still sometimes, so that last part is hard for me! But, being shipped off to Magee on Monday was enough to scare me into doing whatever it takes to bake this baby longer. Please keep us in your thoughts!

On a lighter note, here is an updated belly picture, 30 weeks!

Ultrasound #2

There's really only one perk to being considered a high-risk patient during pregnancy---extra ultrasounds! Here's the little one on Saturday (27 weeks, 3 days):



Everything looked great, his estimated weight was 2 lbs, 13 oz (I looked back through my pregnancy book from jake when we got home, around the same time with him, he was 2 lbs 8 oz) Baby was head down, directly on my bladder, which explains a lot.

We took Jake with us & he enjoyed looking at his little brother (and even asked to wear his "big brother" shirt to the event) Our ultrasound tech was a young, pretty girl, and Jake spent most of his time in the room flirting with her and cracking jokes. She commented that he was just a one man show...yep, that's him! My favorite line was after 10 minutes or so of looking at the screen with the baby, he said "Ok, let's watch one of my shows now". :)

I had an appointment last Monday, where the dr. decided to double my dose of medication. So I'm up to 500mg of aldomet, twice/day. (I had quite a few high spikes prior to the appointment). It's only been a week since the dose change, but so far so good. She also sent me for some bloodwork, just to check on how my organs are functioning & all of that fun stuff, and all of those came back just fine. I have to start going into the office once/week just as a precaution, and starting at 32 weeks, they will begin doing the non-stress tests during my visits. Less than 3 months to go!

No real belly shot to post, but here is a pic of Brian & I last week on our way to a wedding reception (hey, hey...we had a date night out, go us!). This would have been 26 weeks:

25 weeks

For as sloooooooowly as the first part of this pregnancy went, I am happy to report that I feel it's been picking up the pace lately. I'm almost in my 3rd trimester!!

25 week belly shot:



And a picture to melt your heart-I wasn't going to do anymore bare belly shots because it's getting to be not-so-cute looking, but as I was leaving for work yesterday, Jake asked to "hug the baby", and proceeded to pull my shirt up & give me a big squeeze. My heart melted on the spot:



I had my every-two-week check up this morning & all was well. I've had a few blood pressure spikes here & there, but the dr. wasn't worried at this point and said that it seems like that might just be my normal at this time. I'll continue monitoring it on my own 3 times a day and have appointments every 2 weeks at this point. I'll get an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth at 28 weeks (yay!)

No protein in the urine, heart rate was 141, belly measuring right on track and weight gain right on track (it was the first time I was a little anxious about the weight gain---I mean, I just spent 3 days in NY eating bagels, burgers & cupcakes!) But all was well.

3rd trimester-here I come!!

23ish week appointment

I went on Monday for my 23 week appointment, just a few days shy of 23 weeks (I wasn't supposed to go until Friday, but my pesky blood pressure spiked again over the weekend, so they had me come in early). Everything was fine, baby's heart rate was 151 and my blood pressure was ok while there. Since it only seems to be spiking at random times, they don't want to mess with my medication yet, but I'm just supposed to keep a close eye on it (monitoring it myself 3 times/day) and if we start to see a pattern to the spikes or if it happens more often, they will either adjust my dose again or switch me to a different medication to see if that helps. The only thing that changed was that they want to see me every 2 weeks as opposed to every month, just to keep a close eye on my blood pressure & make sure there's no protein in my urine.

I received my prescription to have my glucose test done in 2 weeks (blah!) and the doctor let me know that when I come back for my next appointment in 2 weeks, they will probably write me a prescription at that time to get a 28 week ultrasound done to check on the baby's growth and the amniotic fluid...yay to seeing the baby again!!! :)

On another baby-related note, here is the latest conversation we had with Jake about the baby:

Jake: mommy, where is the baby going to go when he comes out?
Me: Well, he'll stay in the hospital a few days to make sure he gets nice & strong, then he'll come to our house.
Jake: He's going to live here? I still go to school?? (slight note of panic in his voice, like he wouldn't be able to go to school anymore)
Me: Yes, he'll live in here in our house & you'll still get to go to school. Then, after awhile, your baby brother will go to school with you, won't that be fun??
Jake: (sour look on his face) That baby should stay in your belly. Tell him! Tell him that, mommy! He should stay in there!

The panic didn't seem to set in until I talked about the baby going to school....and Jake calmed down a bit when I reassured him that the baby would be in a different classroom than his, with all of the other little babies. Perhaps he was worried that his style would be cramped at school if he had his little brother tagging along??

Halfway there!

Well, the baby is half baked at this point, I was 20 weeks on Wednesday! (bare belly shot ahead, watch out! Also, note to self: STOP TAKING THESE SHOTS IN THE MORNING! You'd think I would learn....)



Here was my 20 week shot with Jake:



I think I mentioned in another post that my blood pressure had started to creep up again already, so they doubled medication last week. It wasn't really working for the first few days, but thankfully, it seems to have come down at this point, so the doctor is happy with it for now, I just have to continue to monitor it twice a day.

On a lighter note, he moves around in there like crazy...I feel him some during the day, but from about 8:30-whenever I drag myself to bed, it's like a party in there! He can be felt from the outside & on a few occasions, I've even seen my belly move/twitch. :)

Monthly check up

I had my monthly check up with my doctor yesterday (19 weeks). After a brief scare from the tech trying to find the heartbeat on the doppler (turns out the little bugger just doesn't like to cooperate for medical personnel-he was burrowed waaaaaay down deep), everything with him was fine, heart rate was 155. The doctor had reviewed my ultrasound from last week and said everything looked great there, too, so that was a relief.

The only downside to the appointment was that my blood pressure had gone up. I already knew that going into the appointment (I had started to be able to feel it over the weekend & started taking it with my cuff at home, it was running around 140/90). At the office that morning, it was 137/100. :( Boo!! I was pretty upset over the weekend, considering that even though it spiked with Jake, I wasn't on meds then so it was to be expected, AND it happened much later (I think I was around 7 or 8 months along at that time).

But, the doctor said there's no need to panic yet...she wants me to go from taking my medicine once/day to twice/day and she feels confident that it will help it for the time being. I'm supposed to take my blood pressure at home everyday and call in immediately if the bottom number goes over 100. Otherwise, I'm to call in all of the readings on Monday so that she can make sure that's going to be a good solution.

So crisis averted for now....main goal for me is to keep my blood pressure under control, stay OFF of bedrest if at all possible and avoid the dreaded pre-e this time around. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Jake's Birth Story

 

I know this is way late, but I keep thinking that I should write down his birth story somewhere before I forget the details...but my handwriting resembles that of a 2 year old, so typing is much easier for me. Thus, I'm just going to post it here if I'm going to type it out! So cuddle in close kids, it was a wild ride. (this is very long!)

I've had high blood pressure for about 5 years now, but in my first 2 trimesters, it dropped so much that I didn't need my medication. However, right around my 7th month, it started creeping back up...slowly at first, but then went pretty high, followed by mass amounts of swelling in my face, legs and feet, and an unbelievable amount of water weight (one time I gained 4 pounds in 3 days!) After a scare in Magee triage being monitored one night, I started going to the dr twice a week for non-stress tests (for those of you not familiar with these, they basically hooked my belly up to a machine for a half hour or so and made sure Jake was moving around and that his heartbeat was ok) Thankfully, it always was and they sent me on my merry way. This went on for about 3 weeks and I had a few ultrasounds done in that time to check his growth and my amniotic fluid, which was always perfect as well.

Other fun activities during this time period included urine spot checks, home blood pressure checks 5 times a day, and being constantly worried about the baby and what my crazy blood pressure was doing to him.  And sometimes it included not being able to fit my feet into any shoes at all.  No really, sometimes they were so big that they physically wouldn't fit.  Or they would fit in the morning, but by afternoon, I was rolling around my office in socks. 

Here is the last belly picture I had, it was new years day, so I was around 37 weeks pregnant (I'm kicking myself that I didn't take one on our way to the hospital when I went into labor!)




Fast forward to Monday, January 14th...went in for my 8am non-stress test as always...only this time my blood pressure was through the roof and Jake was very slow to respond on the monitor. (even after they had me chug about 30 ounces of Coke...that always got him going!) So...it was off to the hospital for further monitoring...fortunately, he was fine when they examined me there (the monitor was also showing contractions as 10 minutes apart but I couldn't feel them), but it was decided that he was going to be served an eviction notice. First, they told me they wanted to induce by the end of the week...then they called me back and said nevermind, we want him out tomorrow night!!! I almost peed myself (well let's face it, I almost peed myself every day at that point in the pregnancy, but that really came close!) I was so excited and nervous and the fact that I now KNEW when I'd meet him made the whole thing seem so real.

I went about my business that day but by late afternoon, I noticed that my contractions were about 8 minutes apart and I could actually feel them...they weren't painful, but definitely noticable. Though I was totally in denial that this could possibly be labor (even as my mom hinted to it) I must have had some type of instinct that it was the real thing because I did what any logical pregnant woman does and started cleaning the house. I tried to relax later on that night by watching TV but I was so distracted from timing the contractions. We decided to try and go to sleep around 11, but within minutes of going to bed, they started getting painful...at that point they were 5-7 minutes apart and about a minute long. I called the doctor who said come on down! I was the next contestant on "time to have a baby!" So...around 11:30, we loaded up the car, said a tearful goodbye to Gracie (well, it was tearful for me anyway-Brian had to drag me out to the car)


Getting to the hospital is not at all like it is in the movies...there was no rushing me back to a room, no one yelling "STAT!" or anything like that....nope, we sat in the waiting room for about 40 minutes until they took us at the registration window. It was at that point that I first asked for my epidural....I was informed that I had to be admitted first. which would possibly occur once I was examined. (Much love to those women who choose to go naturally....I couldn't even make it a few hours into labor without it!) Once I made it into the triage, they offered me Stadol to take the edge off...sweet relief! Once the dr made it in, he determined that I was 3cm dilated (I was 1.5 that morning) and 100% effaced, so they admitted me! (this was around 2am)

Once I got settled into my labor and delivery room, I inquired about the epidural...this time, they said ok! I was very nervous for the epidural after hearing horror stories of the size of the needle they use...I didn't even look at the needle, but I honestly didn't think it was that bad. A big pinch and a burn, followed by a LOT of pressure in my lower back, but not too bad (either that, or I was so grateful for it by that point that I just didn't care!)

While all of this excitement was going on, they were also continually checking my urine for signs of pre-eclampsia...unfortunately, shortly after my epidural was in place, they came in with the bad news that I had developed it. I remember tearing up when the doctor was explaining it to me, because I had gone all these months without getting it and here I was in the home stretch, only to be told that there could be complications for my baby. When you develop pre-e, they give you a magnesium drip through an IV to prevent seizures during delivery. The doctor warned me that I would hate the drip and she was right...it made me feel so loopy & completely out of it. I'm pretty sure I was drooling on myself at one point.

After that drip was put in, it was pretty much a matter of sitting around and waiting for progress! My water never broke on its own, so she came in and broke it, though I'm not sure what time that was, but I know it did help to speed things along. Around noon, I started being able to feel my contractions....no pain, but just the sensation of having them, so I asked about getting "topped off" on my epidural. Shortly after that, I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up and got the chills...the nurse told me this was a good sign that I was probably close to being ready to push...she went and got the dr and I was 10 cm! It was time for the real thing, kids!! Much to my dismay, the dr said no more epidural for me! (boo, hiss!) She said due to the mag drip make me so out of it, she wanted me to be able to feel the contractions so that I would stay motivated to push.



 I won't lie, the mag drip was just as awful as everyone said it is.  It made me groggy (so much so, that at one point in between contractions, the nurse yelled "we're losing mom, she's nodding off on us!"...yeah, that's just a whole different level of grogginess if you can nod off in the middle of pushing out a baby), and it also messed with my memory.  The whole time period after I got it is a big blur, I have relied on Brian and my mom to fill me in on things, but I just can't remember much of it myself.

I'll spare you the rest of the gory details and skip to the best part of this whole story...I pushed for about 45 minutes and every single minute was well worth it to see the most perfect thing I have ever laid eyes on come out screaming into the world. I could not get over just how beautiful he was. And tiny! I just remember thinking that he looked so tiny and fragile! The nurses told Brian that he received the highest scores in complexion (whatever that means) he didn't have a single bump, bruise or red mark on his body. he just had this fuzzy hair, big feet and the most alert eyes. Here are some of the first pictures of him (6 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long-I'm not sure what the numbers on the scales mean in the picture below)




The next day or so was kind of a blur; I had to stay on that drip for 24 hours after delivery, so I was bedridden and still quite groggy from it. (and STARVING, I couldn't eat real food until they took it out!) the first thing I did was order a late lunch when they finally took it out, here is me enjoying my first taste of food in almost 48 hours:



The other negative aspect of the mag drip was that Jake was exposed to it as well, which meant he felt similar side effects.  I know all newborns are sleepy, but he was even more so, with no interest in eating at all.  With the help of a lactation specialist, we were able to get on a pump/syringe feed/breastfeeding training regimen in  the hospital that we then continued for a few days at home.  Thankfully, he got the hang of it after that!

In the end, the pain, stitches, starvation and grogginess were well worth it. Jacob Charles was the greatest gift we could have ever received and we have been grateful every day since!!