Labor and Delivery

So as most of you know, little Oliver finally made it into the world! It was a bit of a rough road but absolutely worth the wait!
Willy and I went to my doctor's appointment on the 23rd as scheduled. They had us monitor the baby for about a half hour. I was having pretty consistant contractions but they were still pretty mild. When the doctor checked me out she thought that I was probably leaking fluid so we ran some tests. She came back and asked if we were ready to have the baby. If you have been following my posts on facebook, you would all know the answer to that question! Of course we were ready! We had already packed our overnight bag and everything:) We went to the Family Birthing Center and got all checked in. The nurse started an IV of potocin, which is used to induce labor. My contractions became more regular and a little more intense. About 3 hours later ( we checked in about 10:30am) the doctor came in and completely broke my water. They warned me that the contractions were going to get worse, so to be prepared. At this point I was dialated to a 6. The contractions definately got worse. I have had people tell me that labor was hard and that the contractions hurt but it was seriously like no other pain I have ever felt! I asked for an epidural after about an hour of contractions. I know I am a weeny but whatever:) When they do an epidural they try and wait for in between contractions but the problem with that was, my contractions were only about a minute apart, which didn't really give him enough time to get it in. Something went wrong, he kept hitting a nerve and sending shooting pains down my right leg. Now that pain was comparable to labor pains. It was the only time during all of labor that I screamed and cursed at everyone in the room. He ended up having to do a spinal instead. Now this would have been ok except he put it too high in my back. My hands started to go numb but I could still feel the contractions. They were definately more tolerable but I was still in a lot of pain. Unfortunately there wasn't much else that they could do. This all happened in the early afternoon. They continued to monitor my progress and everything was going pretty well (other than the pain.) At about midnight we were finally dialated to a nine and we thought we were just about there. Then for some reason I stopped dialating. We were stuck at a nine for almost 2 full hours when the doctor came and said we could not wait any longer. Apparently once your water is broken you only have so much time to deliver otherwise there are too many risks to your health and to the baby. She told me we were going to have to do a C-section. I was a little nervous about it but honestly at that point I had been in pain for so many hours, it was kindof a relief to know I didn't have to do the pushing thing:) Plus since I already had the spinal in I was already ready to go. Willy got to go with me which was really nice. And also let me mention that he was the best husband through all of this. I couldn't have done it all without him. They got me all set up and within a few minutes we had our little baby boy! They pulled back the cover and let me see him as soon as he was out and then went to clean him up a bit. I got to hold him for a few minutes while they were stitching me back up, but then they took Oliver and Willy and left the room. I asked "Are you done yet because my son just walked out the door and I am pretty sure I need to go with him." They kindof laughed and said they were almost done. That was pretty hard for me. I didn't want to miss anything! If I could have felt my legs they might have been in trouble because I really wanted to follow them out of the room:) When I finally got back to the room they told me he was 7lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. He was so perfect!You cannot describe the joy you feel when you hold that baby for the first time. It removed all the negative things that had happened at least for the moment. It is AWESOME! The next few days were a little frusterating. because of the epidural/spinal incident, I had to stay flat for 12 hours afterward as to avoid getting what they call a spinal headache. It was hard to hold Oliver that way and really hard to breastfeed him. Not to mention I didn't get to participate in his baths or anything that involved him being away from my bed. Again, that was really hard for me. I wanted to be a part of all of that. I knew they couldn't wait but I still cried. It was nice when I was finally able to sit up. We had to stay for a few days to make sure everything with the C-section went ok as well as to make sure I didn't get the spinal headache (which I didn't) He was born on a Thursday and we got to go home on Saturday. We were pretty anxious to get the little one home. When we left the hospital I had a moment of panic. I knew we would be fine but that is when all these questions start coming up, like do we have everything we need for him? or is the house clean enough for a new baby? or what if something goes wrong, we don't have a call button for the nurse anymore? I got over most of it pretty quick but there was a good 15 minutes that I was really nervous about taking him home. Now that he is a week old and we have all survived, I think back to how silly that was:)
Willy and I are very happy that we FINALLY got our baby boy. We have been waiting since 2008 for the little guy and he is really here! We love him very much and are very excited to have started this new adventure!  We are very blessed and very happy! We are thankful to both sides of our family for all the support through everything as well as the continued support. Also really thankful for all of our friends who have been around to help us out. We love you all very much!
It just goes to show that the third time is the charm:)

Nearing the end of the beginning.

So we are at 38 weeks this week...........All I can say is, that is amazing! I am surprised every day that I haven't had this baby:) He was never suppose to make it all the way, and look at him now! I keep telling my husband it is because we are growing a super genius. The truth is, he has a couple of pretty stubborn parents so he is probably just taking his time and doing it his way.
The last few weeks have been pretty frustrating. I had my cerclage taken out on May 4th. We had our hospital bag and everything ready because the doctor had told us that there was a good chance that I would go into labor when they did the procedure. I did come out with a lot of contractions, but once I was re-hydrated and able to feel my legs again ( I had to have a spinal) all the contractions stopped so they sent me home. We had to come back on the 7th because they were not actually able to get the entire stitch out. Apparently, they got the stitch apart but the string was stuck. So we went in again with our hospital bag packed and ready and excited that we could have the baby. It was a very similar experience. We had a few good contractions after they were done but they all came to a stop. Now, from what I understand, most women are pretty anxious at this point in the pregnancy as it is. When you are told from day one that your baby will probably not make it full term it is hard to be patient at 38 weeks!
The last doctors appointment that I had, (which was between the cerclage and today) they monitored the baby and my contractions. The baby sounded great, and was moving around A LOT! The doctor came in to the room and said "are you in labor?" I was having contractions but not painful at all. Just a little tightening of the belly. She then said I would probably not make it another week. Well here we are a week later and still no baby:( We are going in today for another doctors visit so we will see what the prediction is today. I am still trying to convince myself that he is not coming until his due date or later, but again when you have been expecting him since week 32 its hard to wait that long.
So here is to my stubborn super genius: Oliver I love you and can't wait to meet you!

It has been a while.....

So it has been a while since I wrote anything on this blog and it started to make me feel bad. Things are looking really good though. Our baby is growing bigger and bigger every day:) He is actually in the 80th percentile in size for his age. All the doctor keeps saying is "This is gonna be one big baby!" We are pretty excited!

I have had to deal with some other things. First, about a  month ago when I had an ultrasound, they found that my cervix had gotten shorter. It went from being 3.1cm to 2.7 cm. This created a little bit of a scare (although at the time I was truly freaking out). I had to go to the hospital and be put on all the monitors. I know that my doctor is just looking out for me but man its hard sometimes not to just cry. It turned out fine. The baby was doing great and so was mama:) The result of this however, is that at the rate that my cervix is shrinking we may have to take the cerclage (the stitch in my cervix) out earlier than expected. At that point it could be hours, days, or even still weeks before the baby arrives. The goal is to make it to about April 19. I think I could handle a month early. We are both so anxious for the little guy to get here that I think we would be ok with that. Not to mention how big he is going to be. A few weeks early and a little smaller, yea I think I like the sound of that! We do understand that it is better if the baby makes it full term but given my history we are happy we have made it this far!

The second thing I dealt with was a kidney stone. Just so everyone is clear, kidney stones are the WORST things in the entire world! I spent a few days in the hospital dealing with that. I have had several kidney stones in the past, but I promise it is worse when your pregnant. I have found it interesting, how many more questions you have to ask when you are pregnant and in a situation like this. Like how the treatment is going to affect the baby and so on. When before there was no question. Just fix me up doc. Do whatever it takes. Its not quite that easy when you are pregnant. The wonderful nurses at the Family Birthing Center really made it so much better. They are amazing people. It was nice to be waited on hand and foot for a few days even if I was in pain:) Needless to say it has all passed. I am kidney stone free for now;)

The last thing that I had to do this month is testing for gestational diabetes. I went a few days ago and they gave me a sugar drink. It tasted like really flat 7up with an extra tablespoon of sugar. It was really just gross. Anyways, I drank the drink and waited an hour for them to draw my blood. It came back just barely negative. So she wanted it to be below 140 and I was at 137. Now, I have to have a glucose test done every appointment. If my glucose test ever comes back over 99 (that is on the test at the office) then I have to go back in and take the dreaded 3 hour glucose test. We talked about adjusting my diet slightly as to try and avoid this being the case. I definately have to cut back on some of the sweet stuff that I love so dearly:) I guess that means Willy has to as well. He always brings home candy for me, and I love him for it, but if its here I will eat it, so I had to tell him no more. It should be an interesting challenge for the both of us for sure.

I don't know if I mentioned in the last entry, about my wonderful baby shower! My great friend Rikki put it all together for me. It really turned out so great! Better than I could have expected. I don't know if everyone who was there reads this but if I haven't said thank you in person, just know that we are so grateful for all the wonderful, supportive people we have in our lives. Also, to anyone who was not there but have given us things, we thank you as well. This pregnancy for us is such a blessing, something we were not sure was ever going to happen for us and without the help of our family and friends, both financially and emotionally it wouldn't be happening for us. We are truely blessed!

I am gonna leave it all at that. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!

HOLY CRAP BATMAN!!!!

WOW!!! So I have made it to 23 weeks! This is very exciting for us! We have entered into the unknown:) Everything that we are dealing with now, we have never had to in the past. It is a learning experience. I am definately starting to look pregnant (without being able to hide it). Not even my T-shirts hide it anymore. I can feel the baby move..........ALL THE TIME! He is a crazy man in there. Willy was able to feel him for the first time yesterday which was fun. My mom and sister Emily got to come with me this last week to see the ultrasound. It was amazing! It is really weird to see how much bigger he already is than he was at 17 weeks. Also, good news is that my cervix is still ok. It hasn't gotten any smaller so that is a great sign. The baby is growing the way he is suppose to and all his organs seem to be developing in a timely matter. At the last doctors appointment they gave me all the hospital paperwork (pre-registration) as well as info on birthing classes. Again two things we have not had to do in the past. I am excited about the birthing class. Mostly to meet some people who are getting ready to have kids too. I did meet a few at a nutrition class I went to last week and it was really fun. It is nice to talk to people who may be experiencing some of the same things. I was also blessed with a wonderful baby shower this last week. Yes it was a little early but we did it so my mom and sisters could be here too. I got a lot of great things for the new baby! I am a lucky girl to have the family and friends that I do. The only problem is now I just want to go shop for the baby and I don't really have the money to do that. I decided to start my own baby shopping fund:) I figure if I save $5 here and there in a few months I will have a little bit to go and spend! My other problem is that I am a sucker for baby clothes. We still need some other stuff before I can just buy him clothes. I should probably make a list and cross things off as I go. It is exciting to plan all of this! Gosh I just feel so blessed and happy about this pregnancy! I am thankful for everything!

Still Pregnant

Well we are approaching the half way mark:) This makes me incredibly excited! I will be completely honest I didn't think I was gonna make it this far. We did have a bit of a scare the other night but it turned out to be not such a big deal. I was having what I thought were contractions. We figured we would go in and get checked out just to be safe. When they did the ultrasound, they found that my cervix has gotten shorter but still not to a dangerous length. In other words, if I wasn't a high risk pregnancy they wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. They also saw that the cervix had beaked. I am not sure that is how you spell it but it means that the cervix has opened. This is what happens before you start to dilate. For me, it has not opened up to the cerclage yet so we are still ok but we definately have to keep an eye on it. They kept me overnight just to make sure we were not actually going into labor and then let me come home. I am going in for a follow up today, but she said that she was thinking bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. I really don't do well with just laying around all the time. I can't help but get up and do something. It might not be very much but its something. When I was in the hospital, I was going absolutely crazy! I have been writing down some ideas for projects just in case she does say bed rest but I am still a little worried. I will figure it out I am sure.

Going back to the fact that we have nearly made it to 20 weeks! Yay! I am definately starting to look pregnant and not be able to hide it. After a certain point it is impossible to suck it in:) Because my uterus is getting so much bigger it causes some back pain. If I can give any advice to someone who is planning on getting pregnant, it would be to work those core muscles! Abs and back. It will help tremendously I promise. It gets pretty painful at times. I was thinking about taking a picture of how big I was getting but then I felt a little weird. I don't know why. I see people do it all the time. For some reason I just thought it was weird. Maybe in a month or so.

I really want to write more but there are too many other things going on at my house right this minute so I will have to continue later. I will update after my appointment today:)

17 weeks! YIKES!!

So it has been a little while since I have updated my blog. The truth is right now I am freakin out! Maybe not really but kindof. This is around the time that we have miscarried both times. First time was around 16 weeks and second time was 17 weeks. So far I am still pregnant. My doctor has taken me off work but I might be able to go back after my next appointment. So far everything looks really good. The baby is growing like he is suppose to and moving around like crazy! I haven't felt him yet but when we watch him on the ultrasounds he is doing flips and kicking and waving his little hands everywhere:) It is fun to watch. I kindof wish I had an ultrasound machine at home so I could just watch him! My cervix has gotten a little bit shorter but they said it isn't at a dangerous length yet. We sort of expected my cervix to get shorter just because that is what has happened in the past but this time we were prepared with a cerclage. As long as we don't shrink so much that it gets to that stitch we should be ok. My doctor is awesome and is keeping a great eye on me. I have everyone at the doctors office rooting for us it is kindof fun:)  I have battled some serious colds this year which hasn't made being pregnant any easier. I didn't know that one person could produce so much snot!
Something that I have been thinkin about lately is the fact that I don't really know how to be pregnant after 17 weeks. I feel like these first 17 weeks I am a pro at it. Ok so not really a pro but I at least know what to expect. All the symptoms that I have experienced I was expecting to happen. Like any new mother to be, every time I get pregnant I pull out the baby books. I have read the first few chapters of each of them like a million times but I don't really know what happens next. So obviously I am going to get bigger but that is about all I know. I am a little nervous about this but at the same time really excited to move on to something new! It will be nice to move on to the next chapter of my baby books! Thanks for reading! See you all next time!

Try not to Stress

It is always interesting how life throws these weird curve balls at you at the most inconvenient times. When I went to my follow up appointment after the surgery there were a couple of problems. The surgery itself was fine but I had lost more weight. I really don't know how this is even possible. I feel like I am always eating. She is concerned though. She started to ask me questions about work and is now wanting me to either move to day shift or stop working. She thinks, and I agree with her, that working graveyard is starting to take too much of a toll on me. I have been doing it for several years now and so it seems like I should be use to it and it should be more natural. Unfortunately, since I became pregnant it gets harder and harder. No matter how much sleep I get during the day I am dozing off at night. Forcing myself to stay awake when my body is saying its tired is too much stress. So now we are faced with an interesting problem. I can go to my bosses, which I plan to do, and ask to be moved to day shift. I know this isn't possible. I know this because of 2 things. 1. Everyone at this point is fighting for hours because we are in our slow season. and 2. I am the newest hire so I don't stand any ground taking someone elses hours. Not to mention that I was hired for graveyard specifically. So that leaves me with not working. I am scared not to work. That is the easiest way to explain it. I don't like not being able to pay my bills or put gas in my car or buy groceries. That stresses me out. I know we will be fine. Willy and I have survived some pretty crappy situations together so I know we can make it but it is still scary. What happens when he gets sick and neither one of us can work? Then how do we pay the bills? I took this week off to try and decide what I was going to do. I still haven't come to a complete decision but here is part of my thought process. Every parent struggles for their kids. I know my parents did. I know they worked harder for us than anything else. They did everything in their power to make sure we were healthy and fed and taken care of. I know I am not holding a baby in my arms yet but I still believe this baby deserves that from us. If I have to stop working and we have to struggle for a little while to make sure that this baby is healthy and taken care of then that is probably what I should do. I mean when this happens for us we have years of struggle ahead right? Isn't that how most parents feel? Not matter how much money they have? But I don't know many parents who would say it wasn't worth it. So my other argument to that is, they say pregnant women lack rational thought. Is this really a valid thought or am I just sounding crazy. I am sure there are a lot of people who would think because of where Willy and I are in our lives we should not even be considering having kids. We are no where near being financially stable. We don't own a house. Our truck is great but not exactly in the best shape. Not reliable enough to leave town, not to mention not really a family vehicle. Some people might even call us irresponsible for trying to have kids. So that is how I convince myself that I should just buck it up and continue working and just get over myself. What really sucks about all of this is that my doctor left it up to me. What she said was "I would love to take you off work for the rest of your pregnancy, but I am going to leave it up to you."  So I am open to any advise or suggestions anyone may have about this. I want honesty even if it may be harsh. Thanks for reading my rambling:) Love to all!