Well, our daughter is here. It was a long road at the end, but of course she is worth it!
On Monday night, I said goodbye to Oma, Opa and Katarina and Nick & I went to the hospital. I got there and they made me change into my gown, hooked me up to the fetal monitor and took my vitals. I was having contractions again, but just mild to medium ones every few minutes. They put in my heplock. Dr. G came in around 7.30 and put in the Cervadil. He told me that since things were starting on their own, I didn't have to keep it in the whole 12 hours. The first two hours I had to lay there - no getting up. Nick stayed for a bit, then he went home to put Katarina to bed. The Cervadil caused my contractions to be one on top of the other and I was getting pretty uncomfortable. When the nurse came in around 9.30, she took the Cervadil out and gave me some Nubain in my IV to help me sleep.
Nick arrived Tuesday morning. I was still having contractions. They started the Pitocin in the IV. Contractions started to get more intense. I think I spent the morning just watching them on the monitor. My nurse, Alice, wasn't happy b/c I "wasn't in enough pain" so I wasn't in real labor. I was also only about 2 cm dilated when they started things. Around 11, I was 5 cm dilated and the pain was getting much more intense. A little later, they gave me a little more nubain because I still wasn't dilated enough and the pain was getting unbearable.
All of a sudden, I was still out of it, but I had the need to push. Everything seemed to happen very quickly but I was still so loopy I don't really know what was going on. I do know that Kathy, the midwife, showed up and everyone was giving me directions. Unfortunately, I wasn't mentally ready to start pushing and a little freaked out that it was going to be happening. I started pushing. In my mind, it felt like I pushed forever and it felt like this baby was stuck and I was never going to get her out. I just kept on pushing, contractions or not, because I wanted the pain to stop. Now, the nurses and Nick tell me that I did great and I had 2 contractions and pushed a total of 5 minutes. Much different than my perspective!
Finally, the big moment came and they said, "it's a girl" and they put a baby on me that looked exactly like Katarina as a newborn. Nick cut the cord and gave me a kiss. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open and had to go through the gross post-delivery stuff. They took our little surprise girl and cleaned her up and Nick took pictures and I drifted off.
Madeline was born on June 24th at 12.50 p.m. She was a whopping 8 lbs and 11 oz and just like her sister, was 8 days overdue. So far she has been a great baby - good eater, good sleeper, a beautiful baby. And now, this blog is done and since Madeline has joined our family all updates will be in the regular family blog.
Thanks for reading this for the past 40 weeks!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Stick a Fork In Me...
I'm done. Today my hips have been killing me, I'm cranky, I'm tired, my hands are swollen. I'm ready. They can get this baby out of me. I'm very, very pregnant. I'm ready to move on from dealing with pregnancy to dealing with a newborn and recovering from the hardest thing my body will ever do.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Another NST
I just got back from another NST. Alice, the nurse from Monday, was disappointed to see that I was back, but not for delivery. This time, I only had a few contractions, so my body didn't even do as good as it did on Monday.
She told me to have the baby Monday/Tuesday because she's on duty then. Since she was great last time I delivered, I would love if she could be a coach this time again too.
So, now nothing until Monday night. Unless of course Baby S 2.0 decides it wants to do something on it's own.
She told me to have the baby Monday/Tuesday because she's on duty then. Since she was great last time I delivered, I would love if she could be a coach this time again too.
So, now nothing until Monday night. Unless of course Baby S 2.0 decides it wants to do something on it's own.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Appointment #16
Change of plans! I am not going in for the induction tonight. Poor Oma & Opa drove down here and unpacked their car for the stay and we came back from seeing Dr. G and told them things had changed. But both Nick & I are much more comfortable with things this way.
Nick & I went for our appointment. I got checked by Dr. G and there wasn't really any more progress made from my last internal. We discussed the induction and Nick asked some questions about it, and from those questions you could tell he was questioning the whole thing. Not because of the induction, but because now they had moved my due date to 6/18 so technically, I'm not really overdue by very much. Just a day. Dr. G (Katarina's delivery doctor and the one I like the best out of the group) agreed. He said that he would even say he was comfortable with letting me go until NEXT Thursday/Friday. We did discuss concerns about the baby getting too big. So, we compromised and decided that we would push the induction back to Monday/Tuesday. That way it gives my body a little more time to go into labor on it's own, or at the very least progress a little more without the drugs.
So, sorry everyone, no baby yet!
Nick & I went for our appointment. I got checked by Dr. G and there wasn't really any more progress made from my last internal. We discussed the induction and Nick asked some questions about it, and from those questions you could tell he was questioning the whole thing. Not because of the induction, but because now they had moved my due date to 6/18 so technically, I'm not really overdue by very much. Just a day. Dr. G (Katarina's delivery doctor and the one I like the best out of the group) agreed. He said that he would even say he was comfortable with letting me go until NEXT Thursday/Friday. We did discuss concerns about the baby getting too big. So, we compromised and decided that we would push the induction back to Monday/Tuesday. That way it gives my body a little more time to go into labor on it's own, or at the very least progress a little more without the drugs.
So, sorry everyone, no baby yet!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Well, It's Almost That Time
Hard to believe. I have to say that the first 8 months went super fast, but this last month has gone very slowly. The time is finally here. By this weekend, I will have a new baby in my arms. It's crazy to think about!
My contractions have pretty much stopped, so I realized last night that I was definitely going to be induced. I'm ok with it. I wish I just went into labor on my own, but I'm ready. I've done a lot of reading about inductions and gotten some good stories from the girls on my message board. I'm feeling much more confident about the whole thing. Still scared to go through the whole delivery part of it, but I made it once, I can do it again!
Tomorrow Katarina is staying home from Miss Barbara's and we are spending our morning together. Oma & Opa are arriving in the afternoon so I can give them a rundown of what is to happen while I'm gone. I'm a control freak, you know, and I need to know that things will run smoothly! ;-) I have my final OB appointment in the afternoon to just do one more check if anything is happening. As of the last appointment, the game plan was for me to check into the hospital after dinner, around 6:30. Nick will go with me and stay for a little while. They will be giving me Cervadil to get me to efface more. And an IV, which I'm dreading. That was the worst part LAST time.
In the morning, they will start Pitocin. And hopefully by later morning/early afternoon, we will be spreading the word on our new family member!
So, that is the rundown for those that read this blog and wonder what is going on. You probably won't hear from either of us until Friday afternoon. Just cross your fingers that all goes well and we have a beautiful, healthy baby!
My contractions have pretty much stopped, so I realized last night that I was definitely going to be induced. I'm ok with it. I wish I just went into labor on my own, but I'm ready. I've done a lot of reading about inductions and gotten some good stories from the girls on my message board. I'm feeling much more confident about the whole thing. Still scared to go through the whole delivery part of it, but I made it once, I can do it again!
Tomorrow Katarina is staying home from Miss Barbara's and we are spending our morning together. Oma & Opa are arriving in the afternoon so I can give them a rundown of what is to happen while I'm gone. I'm a control freak, you know, and I need to know that things will run smoothly! ;-) I have my final OB appointment in the afternoon to just do one more check if anything is happening. As of the last appointment, the game plan was for me to check into the hospital after dinner, around 6:30. Nick will go with me and stay for a little while. They will be giving me Cervadil to get me to efface more. And an IV, which I'm dreading. That was the worst part LAST time.
In the morning, they will start Pitocin. And hopefully by later morning/early afternoon, we will be spreading the word on our new family member!
So, that is the rundown for those that read this blog and wonder what is going on. You probably won't hear from either of us until Friday afternoon. Just cross your fingers that all goes well and we have a beautiful, healthy baby!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Still Here
It sure doesn't look like anyone is winning the baby pool. I'm still here. My contractions this morning were more intense and I thought this might be it, but this afternoon, they've pretty much stopped again. So, here I sit, in limbo, waiting.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Non-Stress Test
This morning, i had another NST. I was hopeful some good news would come from it since I was feeling crampy this morning. It was the same nurse that helped deliver Katarina, so it was nice to talk to her. She remembered me completely and made me feel special since she remembered details of my childbirth from 2+ years ago!
She hooked me up to the monitor. Baby S 2.0 barely moved at all the entire time. BUT, the good news is that I am having contractions that are 2-3 minutes apart! The nurse thinks that things are looking good for me to be coming in prior to the induction time. That was nice to hear. There are steady contractions going, she did a very rough internal, and a full moon is around the corner. All those combos and she said maybe even tomorrow. I'm not going to get my hopes too up, but Nick is also doing acupuncture so here's hoping that it all works!
Speaking of acupuncture, I really wish I could describe what happens. When I say that the baby is barely moving these days, I'm not exaggerating. More than once I have worried that something is wrong. But, when I sit down for acupuncture and Nick sticks the needles in me, I can't be comfortable anymore because the baby gets all worked up. I am so uncomfortable with the large movements. I feel like the baby is trying to punch it's way out of my stomach or something! And then the needles come out and he/she is back to being nice and calm. It's really strange.
Well, think good things and hope this baby plans on coming out soon!
She hooked me up to the monitor. Baby S 2.0 barely moved at all the entire time. BUT, the good news is that I am having contractions that are 2-3 minutes apart! The nurse thinks that things are looking good for me to be coming in prior to the induction time. That was nice to hear. There are steady contractions going, she did a very rough internal, and a full moon is around the corner. All those combos and she said maybe even tomorrow. I'm not going to get my hopes too up, but Nick is also doing acupuncture so here's hoping that it all works!
Speaking of acupuncture, I really wish I could describe what happens. When I say that the baby is barely moving these days, I'm not exaggerating. More than once I have worried that something is wrong. But, when I sit down for acupuncture and Nick sticks the needles in me, I can't be comfortable anymore because the baby gets all worked up. I am so uncomfortable with the large movements. I feel like the baby is trying to punch it's way out of my stomach or something! And then the needles come out and he/she is back to being nice and calm. It's really strange.
Well, think good things and hope this baby plans on coming out soon!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Appointment #15
This is going to be a long one. I have a lot to say!!
Nick & I went in for my appointment today. Once again, we were meeting with Dr. L - one of my original doctors from last pregnancy. He came in, started talking about being overdue and all that kind of stuff and Nick got politely forceful with him and explained again that we do not think their due date was correct and that we didn't want to start talking about induction for early next week.
We went over, point by point, yet again, as to why we didn't agree with 6/6 being the due date. Dr. L started pulling out the old u/s paperwork, then his little due date wheel. Then, he made some comments under his breath and then finally said, "wow, you may be correct" and went out to talk to another doctor. When he came back, he looked through a little more of the paperwork and yes, indeed somewhere there was a mistake in the transcription and I was measuring where I should have been!!! I almost wanted to get up, find the first doctor I had "argued" with this about (he was also in the office today) and shout, "in your face! I was right!!!" Of course, I did not, but still. I feel like I had told all 5 doctors in the practice at one point or another that I thought there was an error that maybe one of them, including Dr. L. , could have given me the courtesy of actually doing what he did today.
So, now that we got the due date straightened out, we still had to come up with a plan of action. Dr. L. showed me the report from Monday's u/s. Everything is measuring good, but he is slightly concerned about the weight (especially in light of the new due date). Not that the baby is big, but he said if I had it right now, it would probably be just under 8 pounds. His concern was letting me go another week and a half to the 25th (if the baby doesn't come on it's own) and how big the baby would be. I agreed, and quite frankly, I don't want to wait that long, especially with not working now, and so it was agreed upon by the three of us that if the baby doesn't come on it's own, I will go in Thursday night for induction. I'm ok with that decision. Again, not something I want to do, but I'm more open to it and I hope that it will come on it's own - that is another week almost!
I am still not dilated really, but he said that there is a good chance that things will happen naturally with some of the other signs. And Nick will continue doing acupuncture. And maybe the baby will decide it does not want to be late and come earlier in the week. Anyway, it was a long appointment, but I am happy with the outcome of it, as is Nick.
My NST was moved to Monday.
Nick & I went in for my appointment today. Once again, we were meeting with Dr. L - one of my original doctors from last pregnancy. He came in, started talking about being overdue and all that kind of stuff and Nick got politely forceful with him and explained again that we do not think their due date was correct and that we didn't want to start talking about induction for early next week.
We went over, point by point, yet again, as to why we didn't agree with 6/6 being the due date. Dr. L started pulling out the old u/s paperwork, then his little due date wheel. Then, he made some comments under his breath and then finally said, "wow, you may be correct" and went out to talk to another doctor. When he came back, he looked through a little more of the paperwork and yes, indeed somewhere there was a mistake in the transcription and I was measuring where I should have been!!! I almost wanted to get up, find the first doctor I had "argued" with this about (he was also in the office today) and shout, "in your face! I was right!!!" Of course, I did not, but still. I feel like I had told all 5 doctors in the practice at one point or another that I thought there was an error that maybe one of them, including Dr. L. , could have given me the courtesy of actually doing what he did today.
So, now that we got the due date straightened out, we still had to come up with a plan of action. Dr. L. showed me the report from Monday's u/s. Everything is measuring good, but he is slightly concerned about the weight (especially in light of the new due date). Not that the baby is big, but he said if I had it right now, it would probably be just under 8 pounds. His concern was letting me go another week and a half to the 25th (if the baby doesn't come on it's own) and how big the baby would be. I agreed, and quite frankly, I don't want to wait that long, especially with not working now, and so it was agreed upon by the three of us that if the baby doesn't come on it's own, I will go in Thursday night for induction. I'm ok with that decision. Again, not something I want to do, but I'm more open to it and I hope that it will come on it's own - that is another week almost!
I am still not dilated really, but he said that there is a good chance that things will happen naturally with some of the other signs. And Nick will continue doing acupuncture. And maybe the baby will decide it does not want to be late and come earlier in the week. Anyway, it was a long appointment, but I am happy with the outcome of it, as is Nick.
My NST was moved to Monday.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Last Day of Work (Until September)
Today was my last day of work before maternity leave. I was glad I could finish out my time and not leave loose ends or anything. I'm way too much of a control freak at work to have felt ok with leaving abruptly for three months. Everyone was sad to see me leave, they all said they'd miss my giggle and my sense of humor. (I must have a really strange laugh because both residents & co-workers commented!) A few of my co-workers even started crying when they said goodbye, which of course made ME tear up. Believe me, I'm excited to not have to deal with the b.s. of work for a few months, but I will miss the camaraderie of my co-workers and the residents.
So, now it begins. My maternity leave. Crazy! Now that work is done, I'm ready for baby. I don't feel like being in limbo for the next however many days. I just want to have the child arrive and start figuring out life as a family of four. Nick tells me to just enjoy the next few days and take it easy (and actually, he's given me some projects to get done like clean my mail pile now that I'll be home), but I'm a planner. I want to know when Baby S 2.0 is arriving so I can make arrangements! I want to just get through the tough part of labor & delivery and be done with it. I want to start working out a routine that will change as soon as we figure it out since that is what babies do. But, since I have no control over mother nature, I will just try and relax. I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I'm sure we'll go into details about the dreaded "i" word and I also have a non-stress test. Nick is going with me for moral support and back up and hopefully we can come up with a plan that is satisfactory to everyone.
As for me physically, well, the heat is harder for me to take than it usually is now that I'm carrying around a little extra weight and my hormones are already in flux. Yesterday, my ankles started swelling so now I have cankles going. This morning, I woke up feeling just very short of breath and light headed. Nick gave me acupuncture last night but it got the baby so riled up that I was uncomfortable the whole time and wanted the needles out asap. I couldn't sit there and relax because I was getting kicked, a butt was going up into my ribcage, it felt like the whole baby was just rolling around inside of me. I haven't felt movement that aggressive in ages. We're going to test things again tonight because I have felt very minor movement today so we'll see if the acupuncture gets him?(her?) going again.
Lastly, I made it! I WILL be able to go on vacation with the family in September. All that worrying and it is ok. Whew!
Ok, Nick just did acupuncture. Let me reiterate how little the baby moved today. About 1 minute after putting in the needles, the kid was moving all around again. It's really rather freaky!
So, now it begins. My maternity leave. Crazy! Now that work is done, I'm ready for baby. I don't feel like being in limbo for the next however many days. I just want to have the child arrive and start figuring out life as a family of four. Nick tells me to just enjoy the next few days and take it easy (and actually, he's given me some projects to get done like clean my mail pile now that I'll be home), but I'm a planner. I want to know when Baby S 2.0 is arriving so I can make arrangements! I want to just get through the tough part of labor & delivery and be done with it. I want to start working out a routine that will change as soon as we figure it out since that is what babies do. But, since I have no control over mother nature, I will just try and relax. I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow where I'm sure we'll go into details about the dreaded "i" word and I also have a non-stress test. Nick is going with me for moral support and back up and hopefully we can come up with a plan that is satisfactory to everyone.
As for me physically, well, the heat is harder for me to take than it usually is now that I'm carrying around a little extra weight and my hormones are already in flux. Yesterday, my ankles started swelling so now I have cankles going. This morning, I woke up feeling just very short of breath and light headed. Nick gave me acupuncture last night but it got the baby so riled up that I was uncomfortable the whole time and wanted the needles out asap. I couldn't sit there and relax because I was getting kicked, a butt was going up into my ribcage, it felt like the whole baby was just rolling around inside of me. I haven't felt movement that aggressive in ages. We're going to test things again tonight because I have felt very minor movement today so we'll see if the acupuncture gets him?(her?) going again.
Lastly, I made it! I WILL be able to go on vacation with the family in September. All that worrying and it is ok. Whew!
Ok, Nick just did acupuncture. Let me reiterate how little the baby moved today. About 1 minute after putting in the needles, the kid was moving all around again. It's really rather freaky!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Belly Pic
Ok, here I am at 39 weeks. Or 3 days overdue. Depends on whose due date you are going with!
Ultrasound
Today was my "post date ultrasound". Nick threatened to go with me to warn the tech not to tell me the sex, but I was on my best behavior and told the tech myself. She had to take some basic measurements of things. The baby is so big at this point that you can't really make out much (despite my best efforts!). I did see the baby's cute little head first and foremost. The baby looks as cute as it's sister! She took her measurements, made the baby move around, watched the baby breathe. I wish I could say it was very exciting, but it wasn't. It was nice to see the little guy or girl, but as I said, you can't make out a whole lot.
From the measurements, the baby's due date is 6/17. Hmmm...who has been right all along?! The size of the baby is approximately 8 pounds, 5 ounces. That is a plus/minus of a pound. Since they told me last time Katarina was around that size and she ended up being less than 8 pounds, I'm hoping they are guesstimating big.
So, now there is nothing going on until Friday when I have another NST and doctor's appointment. Unless of course this kid decides to come earlier!
From the measurements, the baby's due date is 6/17. Hmmm...who has been right all along?! The size of the baby is approximately 8 pounds, 5 ounces. That is a plus/minus of a pound. Since they told me last time Katarina was around that size and she ended up being less than 8 pounds, I'm hoping they are guesstimating big.
So, now there is nothing going on until Friday when I have another NST and doctor's appointment. Unless of course this kid decides to come earlier!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Nearing the End!
Tomorrow starts my last 4 days of work before maternity leave. I can't believe it's finally at the end! I'm not really not doing much at work anymore, I've sort of wrapped up all my projects and the temp seems to have a good grasp of things. But, being at work is better than sitting around the house not doing anything.
Today, the baby hasn't moved very much at all. It's moving, but very little. I have read that could be a sign of impending delivery. I don't remember anything like that with Katarina, but who knows. Nick is going to start doing acupuncture on me this week too. I really, really, really don't want to be induced so I figured let's just get things moving along. I don't know if the acupuncture helped last time or night, but I didn't have to get induced with Katarina so it can't hurt to try!
Tomorrow we have an ultrasound to check the baby's size and fluid levels. Nick is insisting on going with me because he doesn't trust me to not find out the baby's sex. He knows me too well because I probably would try and look/find out!
Oh, and we still have no idea on a boy's name. We keep coming up with some and then one of us shoots it down. Who knew this was going to be so hard?! I keep joking that it will be a girl just because we've wasted so much energy on boy's names.
Today, the baby hasn't moved very much at all. It's moving, but very little. I have read that could be a sign of impending delivery. I don't remember anything like that with Katarina, but who knows. Nick is going to start doing acupuncture on me this week too. I really, really, really don't want to be induced so I figured let's just get things moving along. I don't know if the acupuncture helped last time or night, but I didn't have to get induced with Katarina so it can't hurt to try!
Tomorrow we have an ultrasound to check the baby's size and fluid levels. Nick is insisting on going with me because he doesn't trust me to not find out the baby's sex. He knows me too well because I probably would try and look/find out!
Oh, and we still have no idea on a boy's name. We keep coming up with some and then one of us shoots it down. Who knew this was going to be so hard?! I keep joking that it will be a girl just because we've wasted so much energy on boy's names.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Appointment #14
I just got back from my doctor visit and my non-stress test. Nothing exciting to report!
I am 80% effaced and not even finger-tip dilated. The baby is also still very high. At the non-stress test, no contractions at all, despite having some crampiness yesterday. So, the nurse said she didn't have high hopes I was going to be seeing them again in the next few days!
I am 80% effaced and not even finger-tip dilated. The baby is also still very high. At the non-stress test, no contractions at all, despite having some crampiness yesterday. So, the nurse said she didn't have high hopes I was going to be seeing them again in the next few days!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Two Weeks
We are going to have a new baby in no more then 2 weeks. It is crazy to think about! It is so close now, yet still feels so far. Technically this kid could join us at anytime which is even crazier to think about. I can tell everyone is getting excited. Nick is just very pumped up about the whole thing, Katarina is ecstatic about it, Opa's emails everyday giving me updates about how to reach them cracks me up, and I noticed that Mom-Mom's and Aunt Dee's IM "messages" are both about new babies. Everyone has baby fever!
At work, I love to see the shocked looks on everyone's face when they ask me my due date. When they hear the baby is due Friday they look like I'm crazy for still being at work. When they ask me my last day and I tell them NEXT Thursday they really think I'm a tad insane!
I can't even begin to describe everything I'm thinking right now. Nervousness, excitement, paranoia, I think I run the gambit! I just cannot wait to meet this little creature inside of me. I really can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl! And it will be very interesting to see what name it ends up with!
At work, I love to see the shocked looks on everyone's face when they ask me my due date. When they hear the baby is due Friday they look like I'm crazy for still being at work. When they ask me my last day and I tell them NEXT Thursday they really think I'm a tad insane!
I can't even begin to describe everything I'm thinking right now. Nervousness, excitement, paranoia, I think I run the gambit! I just cannot wait to meet this little creature inside of me. I really can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl! And it will be very interesting to see what name it ends up with!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Tired
I have reached the point in my pregnancy, combined with the heat, where I get tired very easily. I went grocery shopping last weekend and was completely exhausted after getting home. Just doing laundry the other day wiped me out for a bit and today a trip to the zoo - in about 85 degree weather - was just too much. I need to just take the next (2?) weeks easy.
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