Daniel's Birth Story- Part II

So continuing on from the last post.....

Overnight I had another dose of the Cervadil and they monitored me off and on every two hours, so it wasn't exactly restful.   The nurse did take pity on me and offered me some crackers, peanut butter and apple juice.  I was thankful to have it because I thought I was in for a really long day and I couldn't imagine how hungry I was going to be (given that I was already hungry just from being there overnight).

I woke Jesse up at about 5 am to watch the sunrise with me (did I mention the room had an amazing view of the mountains?)  We hung out together for a while.  Contractions were starting to get stronger but they weren't unbearable.  We started a game of cribbage (which I was re-teaching Jesse how to play after not playing it for a long time- because I'm a bad loser ;) ).  We were also listening to some music. We had a Pandora station going on the Iphones that was soundtrack music.  At one point Jesse had the march from Star Wars playing and was making jokes about having them play that as they were moving us from the Delivery Room to recovery- gotta love my husband's sense of humor.  My parents got there

Right in the middle of the game the Nurse shift change happened at 7 am. Our new nurse was named Sara.  She was a very nice lady (seemed really young) but she did a great job.  We were sitting there and the contractions starting getting more intense and closer together.  I couldn't concentrate on the cribbage game anymore.  All the sudden I had to throw up and I was regretting those crackers and peanut butter.  Jesse was great- he held my hair and got me a cool rag to put on my neck.  At that point I was contemplating the Epidural because it was just so painful!  When I threw up again I told the nurse that I wanted the Epidural!  She called the Anesthesiologist and while we were waiting she checked me.  I was at 5 cm- so there was progress being made :)  I was excited about that but hoping the Epidural would make things a little more bearable.  While all this was going on I kept feeling like my water had broken (like maybe a little trickle of something).  I got up to go to the bathroom and there was some pinkish fluid.  When the nurse checked it hadn't broken.  When the Anesthesiologist got there I threw up again- bleh!  He got the consent ready for me to sign (I hate to say this but I didn't read it before I signed- that makes me crazy!)  After that we needed to get me positioned to have the Epidural put in.  I stood up and my water broke all over the floor, the nurse's shoes, pants etc....It was way more fluid than I would have imagined!  It took a lot of towels to mop up- Ew!  It made me glad it happened there though and not in my car or at work like I was afraid of.  The one towel I had on the seat of my car wouldn't have cut it :)   After that Epidural went in and things were better almost immediately.

After all of  that I was relegated to the bed and they had to put in a catheter- not a pleasant experience....but necessary I suppose.  The contractions were getting harder and closer together.  The nurse started acting concerned because they were so strong and so close together.  The Dr had changed over night now to a man as well.  He seemed nice enough although generally I prefer to have women Drs.  At this point the contractions were really strong and the Epidural wasn't getting all of the pain anymore- I had one muscle in my back that hurt a lot!  Jesse rubbed my back and held my hand, but I was still in a lot of pain.  The Anesthesiologist came back a couple of times to adjust the medication but it still didn't cut it.

The other Dr sudden came into the room and was watching the monitors really closely.  The decided they needed to put in an internal monitor for both me and Daniel.  After the monitor went in they were able to get a better read on how strong the contractions actually were and how Daniel was tolerating everything.  After monitring for a little while they noticed that the contractions were making Daniel's heart rate decrease- ALOT  and they weren't giving him much time in between to recover.  After that they decided they would put back some of the fluid I had lost (Saline) back into my Uterus to give him a little bit of cushion to tolerate the contractions better.  After a few minutes of monitoring after that, Daniel's heart rate was still decreasing to almost below 60 with each contraction.  The Dr. looked at me and said that we should start discussing the possibility of a C-section.  Although it scared me and it wasn't what I had wanted I thought we needed to do it, just because it was becoming really scary.  They went ahead and had me sign consents for everything- again no chance to read anything and that drives me nuts but what could I do?

In the next several minutes they had Jesse putting on scrubs and they were doing a lot of stuff to get me transfered to the operating room.  Kathy (my Step-Mom) held my hand the whole time.  I was starting to cry because I was so scared....I didn't want surgery- this wasn't what I wanted...but I couldn't see another choice.  They rolled me out of the room and all I could think was where is Jesse?  Why am I going down the hall without Jesse?

We went into the Operating room and they transferred me to the table- which was a really strange sensation.  I had never been in the hospital before and now I was going to have major surgery!  I was really nervous.   When they finally got everything started Jesse was allowed to come into the room and sit on a stool next to me.  He had his phone with him and he showed me pictures of our pets and talked to me.  I was so glad he was there.

Then sudden we heard the most beautiful sound- Daniel's cry :)  I started crying and Jesse started crying....he was here finally!  Jesse went over to the warming table and was with him.  I couldn't see very well what was happening because the drape was in the way.  Somewhere in there Jesse left with the baby when they took him to the other room and cleaned him up.

The Anthesiologist told me I should try and get some sleep while they finished up the surgery.  He made a joke that I probably wouldn't be getting much sleep for the next 4 or 5 years so I should enjoy this little nap :)  He was a pretty nice guy and it made the waiting and uncertainty a little easier.   They finally finsihed the surgery and moved me over to a bed.  That was a little uncomfortable because I had no feeling but felt like I was going to fall.....very weird.

I was in recovery and finally got to hold Daniel and see Jesse again.  It was a perfect time.  We tried breast feeding and Daniel did ok with it.  I remember it being so peaceful which made me happy.

Anyway, that's my story.  Here's some pictures.  We were in the hospital until Wednesday and then went home....there will be plenty of posts to follow and hopefully they won't take me nearly as long to get up as this one :)

Daniel's Birth Story- Part I

Well he's here!  Daniel Ellis Keene was born June 26, 2011 at 12:13 pm.  He was 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long.  He's perfect!  He got a lot of Jesse's mannerism and his checks.  He's got my nose. And of all things Blue eyes! (Jesse and I have brown eyes so we're not sure where they came from).  I know it's been more than a week but I've been recovering from a C-section and trying to get used to being Daniel's Mom (still makes me grin every time I say it :) ).  I wanted to get his birth story down some place he could read it down the road :), so here we go.

As you can see from earlier posts I was about a week overdue (40 weeks and 3 days).  I was extremely uncomfortable and ready to be done being pregnant.  In previous Dr visits I had been 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced and so I was hopeful that the visit on the Tuesday after my due date that I would have made some more progress.  Jesse and I went to the appointment in the afternoon and I saw a Dr I hadn't seen before.  When she checked me again nothing had changed.  I sat up from the exam and started bawling!  How could this be!  I had been contracting a little bit at home and I resembled a whale!  I couldn't possibly be pregnant longer!  The Dr felt really bad for me, I think and told me I wouldn't be pregnant very much longer.  I was still pretty upset but at least we could do something about it.  We did some additional testing in the Dr's office to make sure he was moving well and had plenty of fluid around him.  Everything checked out ok so the Dr came back with an appointment for us at the hospital to check in Saturday evening to be induced.   We walked away feeling very relieved Knowing this was going to be over soon and knowing we had a date we would meet our son was the best feeling! I had been working from home the past week and a half and was excited that I finally had an end to that as well.  Although people meant well it was frustrating to keep having folks ask every time I logged on if we had a baby yet.  Umm....if I had had the baby would I really be logged in?

So Saturday we made the best of our last day before we became parents.  We slept in a little bit.  We had a good breakfast (Eggs, Bacon, the works :) ).  Then we went out to a movie.  Jesse and I enjoy going to movies and wanted to make sure we did that one last time before we had this new person to take care of.  We saw bridesmaids (which was a pretty raunchy comedy) and it was fun :)  We came home after that and then I rested for a while.  My friends had all told me that I should sleep as much as possible because I was going to be really tired after we were all said and done.  Jesse made his spaghetti for dinner which was excellent :) and we ate together and really enjoyed the last little while as a family of two.

After we were done with dinner we each got a shower and organized the rest of the stuff we needed to take with us to the hospital.  I totally overpacked but that's my nature- I just didn't want to be without something I might need or want when I was stressed out.  We spent some time with the dog in the backyard and made sure all the animals had what they needed for at least overnight.  We got everything loaded in the car and got ready to go.  We stopped at Starbucks (for Jesse) on our way out.  The woman at the drive-through was really nice.  She asked us what we were up to and we told her that we were on our way to the hospital to have a baby :)  At first she was a little confused but when we explained we were going to be induced.  She laughed and gave us a coupon for a free drink later on.  That was kind of fun :)  As we drove up to the hospital we reflected on how things were about to change.  We were going to be parents!

When we finally got to the hospital we went up to the third floor and got buzzed in (it's a locked unit for security) right on time for our 8 pm appointment.   The walk down the hall to Room #6 seemed like it took forever.  We were carrying all of our stuff and they got us all set up.  The room had a beautiful view of the mountains as the sun was setting.  I changed into the hospital gown and they started getting me set up.  They put in an IV which was new for me as I had never been in the hospital before.  I they had a little bit of trouble getting it started in my left arm (which was where I wanted them to put it).  The veins kept "clamping down" for them after they got through my skin.  I got a pretty ugly looking bruise on my left arm (which is still healing).  They also put me on a monitor that was looking at the baby's heart rate and my contractions.  Everything looked great.  The Dr. came in and gave us all the particulars about the medication I was going to get to and talk abut the risks of induction.  She did say that I had an increased risk of C-section but I guess that didn't register with me because I just wanted the baby to come...plus even if we had decided to wait there was no guarantee  that things would start well on their own in a time that would be good for the baby.
They checked my cervix (still only at 1 cm- no progress after three weeks!!) and administered Cervidil which was supposed to soften my cervix and hopefully get some good productive contractions going.
We settled in for the evening and watched a movie together and also got a little bit of sleep- although the nurse had to keep coming in and checking the monitor and giving medication and taking my vitals so it wasn't the most relaxing time I've ever had...but that's ok.

Ok- I think I'm going to break this post into a couple of parts because this is getting long- so more to come soon :)

The End is Near!

So we finally have an end date for this pregnancy :)  We went to the Dr this afternoon and I was still only 1 cm dilated at 40 weeks and 3 days.  I haven't been sleeping well and I'm very uncomfortable....I can hardly sit in my chair at home to work.  When the Dr told me I was only 1 cm dilated I sat up and started crying.  How could I be past my due date and only dilated 1 cm???  We had tried everything to get labor going: walking, mexican food, going for a ride on a bumpy road, being intimate with each other and a weird one my roomate told me abut squeezing my achilles tendon.  I was so frustrated that I didn't know what else to do.  She told me that I wouldn't be pregnant for very much longer and sent us to do some additional tests including an ultrasound to measure the fluid around the baby and a non-stress test to make sure that his heartbeat was ok.  Everything came out ok, so the Dr decided that we should induce labor on Saturday.  I'm totally relieved to have a date when I know this is going to come to an end.  I am excited to meet my son and start the time where Jesse and I can work on being parents together.  We are going to enjoy the next few nights together and Jesse is going to take Friday off work to relax before we start this ride.  The induction will start at 8 pm Saturday evening with some medication that's supposed to work overnight and then we'll see what happens from there.  So we decided to come up with a creative way to tell our friends on facebook.  Here's that and a picture of me from today- I can't believe how big I've gotten (I'm ready for this to be over!)

Daniel's Room

So now I figure I better catch up with my posts since it's clear I'm behind on the important things!

I finally finished up Daniel's room over Memorial Day weekend.  We had trouble getting the crib taken care of because the company we bought it from took forever to get us the parts- well we finally gave up and got another crib which just about matches perfectly and we got everything put together.  My step-mom helped me organize everything I'd gotten from the shower and I finally got all the stuff up on the walls :)  So here's some pictures- can't wait for the little guy to get here so we can finally use his room.

 

Thankful Thursday- Drywall!

Hello friends- sorry it's been a bit since I posted last.  Pregnancy and getting ready for the baby has kept me really busy the last several months.  Things are going well and we are right on track for the due date- in 16 days!  I finished up Daniel's room over the memorial day weekend and need to finish up the thank you notes from the baby showers I've had.  That's a whole different post though :)

So today I'm thankful for Drywall- more specifically I'm thankful for a bathroom that's being remodeled.  About a year and a half ago we noticed that there was stuff starting to leach up from a tile in the bathroom near the tub and the toilet---not good.  I decided that I would pull the tile up and try to replace it and see if that would fix it.   When I got the tile up we found water and it just got worse from there.....needless to say the entire bathroom came out all the way to the studs.  We were going to do it ourselves but then things came up and it became evident that we needed to hire someone to get it done before the baby was born.  We had to save the money to do it.....lots of money but we finally got there this last month (while saving for me to be on maternity leave).  It's very exciting because now we'll have a fresh clean bathroom to start off with Daniel and with all the friends and family coming to visit it will be nice to have a fresh clean non-leaking place for them to use the restroom.  We picked out some nice finishes and I'm excited about how everything is going to look :)  We'll finish this and then we have a bathroom in the basement that needs to be redone....fortunately we have time to work on it and it's functioning ok right now (except for the shower) so we'll get by :)

Here's a photo of where things stood this morning and I can't say how impressed I am about how fast they moved yesterday- from studs to this :)

Baby News

I'm late, but I figure better late than never :)

It's been just about two weeks since our 20 week ultrasound.  And just in case you don't follow me on facebook- It's a boy!  I'm so excited to be able to have a pro-noun to attach to this little guy instead of "it" or "the baby".  I was pretty convinced he was going to be a girl but it wouldn't be the first time that I've been wrong about something.   He was pretty cooperative so we got some good pictures of him.

 The more exciting thing is that Jesse and I were able to start talking names.   We wanted to find the right name because there is a lot of pressure to make sure that it was something he can live with and wouldn't get made fun of.  Of course I know kids will take whatever name there is and do something with it but we could at least start with a good one :)

We also had a little bit of pressure from family.  My middle name (Hale) is supposed to be the name of the captain of the boat that brought my family over from England.  It was supposed to be given to the first male grandchild of every generation but my mother bucked tradition and gave it to me.  Despite it being a family name I've never liked it.  I got made fun of for it and have always had to explain what it was and why it was part of my name.  I decided I didn't want to pass it on.

We sifted through lots of names and right now the front runner is Daniel Ellis Keene.  I love the way it sounds.  Daniel means "God is my judge" which is something I want him to carry with him.  The fact that God is the only one that has power to judge is important and if he can remember that he'll avoid a lot of insecurity.   Ellis comes from Jesse's family but is a name that I hope will impart a value that's common to both our families-the value of knowledge and education.  Ellis was Jesse's paternal grandfather.  He was an educator.  We actually have educators all through our family.  My Paternal Grandfather was an engineering professor at University of Michigan, my paternal grandmother was a library, my maternal grandmother was a math teacher.  None of my grandparents had anything below a bachelor's degree and my parents both had at least a masters (my mom has a PhD).  Jesse's dad although not educated beyond high school is an incredibly intelligent man and loves to learn and read.  Because Jesse and I came from this background we both love to learn and read and it's something we want Daniel to carry with him.

I'm still feeling pretty good. I've had a couple of mornings that weren't so fun which has kind of been a surprise.  I wasn't expecting to have morning sickness this late in the pregnancy but I think my pre-natal vitamins might have had something to do with it.  I'm definitely looking pregnant but it's not so bad.  Jesse and I have been working hard to get the house ready for Daniel.  I finally got the futon out of the bedroom we're using for the nursery.  A friend from work bought it and she came and picked it up a couple of weeks ago with her son.  I'm waiting for furniture to get here but once it does we'll be in business and I'll be able to organize things as we pick them up.

Well that's about it.  We're at 22 weeks now- 18 left to go :)

Anticipation!

Can it please be Friday already?  We have our 20 week Ultrasound on Friday afternoon and I'm counting the seconds!  At this Ultrasound it's possible that they can tell us the sex of the baby and I'm hoping that he/she cooperates to show us what pronoun we should be using :)  I hate calling the baby "it".  I have a ton of plans of things that need to get done and I was hoping to find out the sex of the baby so I can crank on getting the nursery done and starting to shop for various things.  I'm such a planner (it's part of my personality), that having to wait is starting to make me nuts :)  Talk to me in June when I'm waiting for Baby Keene to make his/her appearance (I might need to be locked up).  Tick, tick, tick....hopefully time goes fast today :)

Conquering fears!

So if you haven't already guess, this pregnancy thing has me way freaked out!  There's so much to decide and things I never even thought about to make decisions about what I want to do.   This weekend I went to a baby shower and although there was some good discussion it got me freaked out again that I am behind!  All of the thinking about preparation for the baby I hadn't really thought about actually giving birth!  I know that sounds silly but maybe I was trying to block it out because I'm scared?  Women tend to be very helpful, but at the end of the day the decisions that have to be made are about what is best for Jesse, Me and the baby.  This is not very clear what the right way is that drives my accountant driven mind crazy!  I'm so Thankful I have lots of friends who have been down this road before and got some great advice about books to read and placces to go for more information.  I've just got to hang in there and trust that we're on the right road :)  At least if I take a deep breath I'll know I can get through and enjoy what's coming.....Baby Keene!

By the way, Friday of this week we have our big ultrasound and will probably get to find out the sex of the baby.  Needless to say I'm really excited because it will help some of the decisions.

Life Changing Couple of Months

I'm kind of at a loss as to where to start, so I'll just throw the big thing out there.  I'm Pregnant!  Back in Mid-October I had an ear infection and was at the Dr.  I changed jobs back in August and now I'm working for a large combination insurance and healthcare provider.  I was getting asked a lot of questions including when my last cycle was.  I told the nurse and she said "you couldn't be pregnant could you?".  I of course poo-pooed it but then the wheels started turning.  A couple of days later my period still hadn't come so I decided to take a test.  So at 4:30 in the morning I was up and took the test.   My cycle has never been regular so I fully expected it to come back negative.   Well boy was I surprised!!  There were two lines on the test.  It took me a minute to process what the heck that meant (I had to look at the box to double check).  I went back upstairs to talk to Jesse (my husband).  I had to wake him up and turn on the light.  I told him that I was pregnant and we sat there for a while taking in the news together.  Our life was going to change big time!

The last six weeks have been crazy.  We've had two doctors appointments, seen the heartbeat, seen a clearer picture including a fully formed head :)  I haven't been sick much but I sleep all the time!  It makes me crazy because I walk around our house and see all of the things we need to do to get ready for the baby but I can't seem to get up the energy to even get started.   We did find out that my due date is June 18 so we have a while but I am the type that likes to get things settled fairly quickly.  I go through waves of panic and worry about how we're going to pay for everything (including daycare) but I'm trusting that everything will work out.

Anyway, things are going to change but we're so excited to welcome our new addition :)