...and I'm already a blogging slacker. Awesome. I blame lack of sleep.
My little angel who was sleeping a 6 hour stretch, followed by a 5 hour stretch (BLISS!) Decided to be difficult to put down last night, and then had a couple of wake-ups, which is unusual. I'll spare you (or myself since I don't think anyone else reads this!) the details, but suffice it to say that it's not easy to go from continuous sleep to broken sleep.
He'll be turning 2 months old tomorrow, so I'll make a 2 month post then (hopefully!).
Today, I'm going over to a friend's place for coffee. (Yay!) It will be nice to get out of the house and have some adult interaction. I love my little guy, but am getting a little stir crazy. Unfortunately, it's raining, so that sucks. But a nice warm coffee will be lovely.
Little man is stirring, so ending this for now. 2 month birthday post coming up tomorrow!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Birth Story
Ok, so I want to chronicle Jack's birth story.. so that I won't forget it!
So my OB kept telling me she thought I'd go early. But did she move up my due date? NooooOOO. So why would I believe her? This is my first child. NOBODY has their first child early, right?
So right around 36 wks, I had some (sorry about the gory details!) gorey, mucousy spotting. So I think mucous plug! But really? Mucous plugs can grow back. And I'm only 36 weeks. And it's my FIRST. So yeah... no biggie, right?
I go in for my 36 wk appt, and I'm 2cm dilated and my cervix is "very thin". My OB says "I don't think you'll make it to 40 wks, but we'd like to keep him in there for at least another week!" I'm freaking out. Really? This can't really happen, right? At my 37 wk appt (which actually happened at 37w4d), I was 2-3cm dilated. I get the lecture again about what symptoms should cause me to go to the hospital, etc. That was a Thursday.
I spotted that night and the next day. Friday at work I did a lot more walking than I had in the last couple of weeks. I remember thinking "Man, my back is killing me!" and trying to sit whenever I could. That night, at home, I told Hubby that my back was killing me. His response? Just get through tomorrow. I have contractors coming in to work tomorrow. After that, you can have this kid whenever you want. Haha... the best laid plans!
So that evening, I had what felt like constipation pains. Hard to describe, but it was the sensation like you have to have a bowel movement, but in my lower back. To the point where I was googling 3rd tri constipation. I sent Hubby out for prune juice! Drank some, sat on the toilet, and felt a little better. He went to bed. Around 10:00 that night, the pains started getting more intense.. but because I was a couple of weeks early, I still wasn't putting two and two together. I know, right? How stupid can you be?
Contractions weren't really time-able until about midnight. But it was still just rounds of back pain. I had the worst back labor ever, and never did feel uterine contractions in the stomach area. Just back pain. Started timing around midnight, but they were extremely irregular. (8min between, then 14 min, then 5 min, etc). I was able to fall asleep in between, so I kept ignoring them. Finally, at 2:30am I woke Hubby up. I figured he was going in to work in the morning, and if it ended up being real labor, I didn't want to be sitting home alone. (He works 45 min from home). So I thought we should go in and get checked out. I was still kind of thinking they'd tell me I was just dehydrated, give me iv fluids, and send me home.
Got to the hospital at 3am. 37w6d. I remember telling Hubby to drive slower, because bumps set off my pain. It was a combination back pain/feeling like I needed to urinate. But the hospital is literally 5 min from the house, so I wasn't worried. We walked into the ER (where you do admitting after-hours), only to find that my pre-registration info that I had sent in 8 WEEKS PRIOR wasn't in the computer yet. I remember giving her name, insurance info, doctor's name, etc while doubled over in pain. And finally she said "Let me get you a wheelchair." Umm...THANKS!
So they wheel me to triage. They're hooking up monitors. They want to monitor baby's HR and contractions for 30 minutes to determine if this is "real labor". The problem is... I"m having BACK LABOR. So I'm only comfortable sitting completely upright. When I'm not having a contraction, the monitor is reading fine (but they keep thinking they're hearing a "mixture" of mine and the baby's HR.. this will factor in later!), but when a contraction kicks in, I'm only comfortable COMPLETELY upright. i'm talking 90 degrees. And when I lean over, the monitor loses the baby's HR (damn belly fat!). They keep trying to move it around for about 20 minutes. Finally, the nurse tells me I'm just going to have to deal with the pain and keep leaning back. Which I try to do, but am not able to. They go ahead and bring in the OB on call to check me. He does a quick manual check, and says "4cm, having bloody show, you're in labor. Congratulations." Yay!
So I'm able to walk to my L&D room. They get me all comfy in the bed, but I'm still not able to lie back because of the back pain. They start my iv. I had a positive GBS test a few weeks prior, so they want to get 2 bags of penicillin through my iv prior to me actually having the baby... yeah, that didn't happen, but they hook up the penicillin. No biggie. They ask if I want an epidural, to which I think I said some version of HELL YES! and tell me that there are 3 girls in the hospital currently in active labor, so they don't know where I"ll fall in line. I think they were trying to hold off to get the penicillin through my iv. The nurses leave the room for a few minutes, and I start having SEVERE pain. Then my water broke. Felt like a really forceful pee.
So now it's like 5:30 and my nurse comes back in with the nurse anesthesiologist to give me the epidural. I magically jumped to the front of the line! I told Hubby while they were bringing in equipment to make sure I didn't see the needle. As it turned out, by the time they came to give it to me, I was in so much pain I didn't care. I honestly don't remember that much how it felt, just that it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be.
And then....relief.....BLISS. I HEART the nurse anesthesiologist. The epidural was the BEST THING EVER. They laid me down and checked me again (it was now 6am) and I was fully dilated. They called my OB, and told me that if I could feel the contractions, I could do a few "practice pushes". My doctor got there at 6:30 and confirmed that I was fully dilated. I started pushing. I can't say enough how PERFECT the epidural was. I was able to tell when I was having a contraction, but had absolutely no pain.
At 7:35, I felt a contraction, pushed, and my Dr. said "He's here!" Then I held my breath for a second, and heard him cry. It was heavenly. I didn't even feel him come out. They put him on my chest and I'll never forget that feeling. He was crying, flailing his arms. I remember that he peed (I know, you remember the craziest things!) And I was just in awe. The next few minutes were a blur with Hubby cutting the cord, them cleaning him up, Hubby taking pictures. And all the while I was being stitched up (I tried to ignore that part!). They then wrapped him up and gave him to me - this perfect little bundle. 6lb7oz and 19.25" long.
He's still perfect, but a little bigger now! I'll be continuing with everything I remember from the hospital stay, and his first few weeks in future posts. But for now, I think this is long enough. I'll end with some birth pics of my perfect little guy. Enjoy!
So my OB kept telling me she thought I'd go early. But did she move up my due date? NooooOOO. So why would I believe her? This is my first child. NOBODY has their first child early, right?
So right around 36 wks, I had some (sorry about the gory details!) gorey, mucousy spotting. So I think mucous plug! But really? Mucous plugs can grow back. And I'm only 36 weeks. And it's my FIRST. So yeah... no biggie, right?
I go in for my 36 wk appt, and I'm 2cm dilated and my cervix is "very thin". My OB says "I don't think you'll make it to 40 wks, but we'd like to keep him in there for at least another week!" I'm freaking out. Really? This can't really happen, right? At my 37 wk appt (which actually happened at 37w4d), I was 2-3cm dilated. I get the lecture again about what symptoms should cause me to go to the hospital, etc. That was a Thursday.
I spotted that night and the next day. Friday at work I did a lot more walking than I had in the last couple of weeks. I remember thinking "Man, my back is killing me!" and trying to sit whenever I could. That night, at home, I told Hubby that my back was killing me. His response? Just get through tomorrow. I have contractors coming in to work tomorrow. After that, you can have this kid whenever you want. Haha... the best laid plans!
So that evening, I had what felt like constipation pains. Hard to describe, but it was the sensation like you have to have a bowel movement, but in my lower back. To the point where I was googling 3rd tri constipation. I sent Hubby out for prune juice! Drank some, sat on the toilet, and felt a little better. He went to bed. Around 10:00 that night, the pains started getting more intense.. but because I was a couple of weeks early, I still wasn't putting two and two together. I know, right? How stupid can you be?
Contractions weren't really time-able until about midnight. But it was still just rounds of back pain. I had the worst back labor ever, and never did feel uterine contractions in the stomach area. Just back pain. Started timing around midnight, but they were extremely irregular. (8min between, then 14 min, then 5 min, etc). I was able to fall asleep in between, so I kept ignoring them. Finally, at 2:30am I woke Hubby up. I figured he was going in to work in the morning, and if it ended up being real labor, I didn't want to be sitting home alone. (He works 45 min from home). So I thought we should go in and get checked out. I was still kind of thinking they'd tell me I was just dehydrated, give me iv fluids, and send me home.
Got to the hospital at 3am. 37w6d. I remember telling Hubby to drive slower, because bumps set off my pain. It was a combination back pain/feeling like I needed to urinate. But the hospital is literally 5 min from the house, so I wasn't worried. We walked into the ER (where you do admitting after-hours), only to find that my pre-registration info that I had sent in 8 WEEKS PRIOR wasn't in the computer yet. I remember giving her name, insurance info, doctor's name, etc while doubled over in pain. And finally she said "Let me get you a wheelchair." Umm...THANKS!
So they wheel me to triage. They're hooking up monitors. They want to monitor baby's HR and contractions for 30 minutes to determine if this is "real labor". The problem is... I"m having BACK LABOR. So I'm only comfortable sitting completely upright. When I'm not having a contraction, the monitor is reading fine (but they keep thinking they're hearing a "mixture" of mine and the baby's HR.. this will factor in later!), but when a contraction kicks in, I'm only comfortable COMPLETELY upright. i'm talking 90 degrees. And when I lean over, the monitor loses the baby's HR (damn belly fat!). They keep trying to move it around for about 20 minutes. Finally, the nurse tells me I'm just going to have to deal with the pain and keep leaning back. Which I try to do, but am not able to. They go ahead and bring in the OB on call to check me. He does a quick manual check, and says "4cm, having bloody show, you're in labor. Congratulations." Yay!
So I'm able to walk to my L&D room. They get me all comfy in the bed, but I'm still not able to lie back because of the back pain. They start my iv. I had a positive GBS test a few weeks prior, so they want to get 2 bags of penicillin through my iv prior to me actually having the baby... yeah, that didn't happen, but they hook up the penicillin. No biggie. They ask if I want an epidural, to which I think I said some version of HELL YES! and tell me that there are 3 girls in the hospital currently in active labor, so they don't know where I"ll fall in line. I think they were trying to hold off to get the penicillin through my iv. The nurses leave the room for a few minutes, and I start having SEVERE pain. Then my water broke. Felt like a really forceful pee.
So now it's like 5:30 and my nurse comes back in with the nurse anesthesiologist to give me the epidural. I magically jumped to the front of the line! I told Hubby while they were bringing in equipment to make sure I didn't see the needle. As it turned out, by the time they came to give it to me, I was in so much pain I didn't care. I honestly don't remember that much how it felt, just that it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be.
And then....relief.....BLISS. I HEART the nurse anesthesiologist. The epidural was the BEST THING EVER. They laid me down and checked me again (it was now 6am) and I was fully dilated. They called my OB, and told me that if I could feel the contractions, I could do a few "practice pushes". My doctor got there at 6:30 and confirmed that I was fully dilated. I started pushing. I can't say enough how PERFECT the epidural was. I was able to tell when I was having a contraction, but had absolutely no pain.
At 7:35, I felt a contraction, pushed, and my Dr. said "He's here!" Then I held my breath for a second, and heard him cry. It was heavenly. I didn't even feel him come out. They put him on my chest and I'll never forget that feeling. He was crying, flailing his arms. I remember that he peed (I know, you remember the craziest things!) And I was just in awe. The next few minutes were a blur with Hubby cutting the cord, them cleaning him up, Hubby taking pictures. And all the while I was being stitched up (I tried to ignore that part!). They then wrapped him up and gave him to me - this perfect little bundle. 6lb7oz and 19.25" long.
He's still perfect, but a little bigger now! I'll be continuing with everything I remember from the hospital stay, and his first few weeks in future posts. But for now, I think this is long enough. I'll end with some birth pics of my perfect little guy. Enjoy!
Yay! Blogging!
So after much contemplation, I've decided to start a blog. I wish I had something brilliant to say... some noteworthy reason to be documenting my life. The reality is, though, that I just like to read other people's blogs, and thought to myself: "Self? Why not start your own?" So here it is. I'd like to document my son's life, the trials & tribulations of motherhood, and all of the wonderful anecdotes that pop into my head on a regular basis. If you're reading this.. well... you might consider getting a life. Just sayin'.
...but speaking of lives...here's where I'll document mine!
...but speaking of lives...here's where I'll document mine!
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