First post as a mom!

First off, thank you to everyone for all of your support and love through this. It definitely was not what I expected right from the start. Being told that you'll be getting sleep while you wait for the meds to kick in and then being given Pitocin right away is definitely a big change, for example. And pushing out a baby was also not what I imagined...well, I guess I hadn't let myself imagine it. And now I know why. But I am so grateful that I was able to have a vaginal delivery. The contractions were definitely awful and I didn't enjoy not being able to move my legs after the epidural, but after 8-10 hours of labor without pain medication I was so over that. And once they started the Pit my body was ready to take over, so even when they backed the meds down to give me a break I kept having intense contractions. I progressed double in the hour without Pit what I progressed in the 8 hours with it. That epidural was a Godsend. I did have them back down the amount of my medication though, because I couldn't stand not being able to move my legs, and decided that I would rather have a little more discomfort an the ability to move. At the end though...wow. It was hard to back up my previous decision. The epidural was working wonderfully on my right side but my left side had feeling, and feeling sucked. But I made it through it, and somehow managed to make it through my contractions and push him out. I thank my husband and mother for that, because they were able to keep me focused on something other than the considerable pain, even if it was just my breathing. And they were both with me. It was amazing how quickly things progressed. Less than 24 hours after being induced my son was born, at exactly 1730. But they checked me, said I was at an 8-9, immediately reached for the water breaking stick, and I was complete as soon as  it broke. Things went very quickly from there, although I did have many severe contractions before I was allowed to push. I think I pushed through six-ish contractions, three pushes each.

I have to say, feeling the head coming down was a singular experience, and then my little linebacker decided to come out with both of his shoulders at the same time, which felt like pushing out another head. *TMI Warning* I tore on both sides getting this little guy out. He wasn't put immediately on my chest, like I had hoped for, but in the moment I was glad of it, because I was still in quite a bit of pain and because of my double tear and something having to do with clotting the doctors spent quite a bit of time between my knees after the birth. *TMI Warning* He came out with a splash. The catching doctor was fairly covered, which isn't really surprising considering how much amniotic fluid I had. I continued to have contractions afterwards, and then just cramps, I guess. I was able to hold him as soon as he was wrapped up, and managed for quite a while, but I was very pleased that he was content to be passed from family member to family member for a while, because I was in too much pain to enjoy holding him, and therefore didn't want to.

So now he's here, sleeping in his rolling bed next to me. I am waiting for David to come back to attempt to breastfeed, as I didn't want to wake Hunter up without some back-up. And here is so, so here I go! I can't believe this little guy is mine!

And the survey says..!

Baby boy, 7lbs 6 oz, 19". Very healthy, VERY active. 

Off to Neverland...

Chelsey is relaxing and catching much deserved sleep again after having her epidural medication weened a little. She did feel some discomfort about 20 minutes after the reduction, but not enough to stop her from getting a 2nd dose of much needed rest. She still cant feel her legs at all, but she is in high spirits having been able to rest already once today.

No Pain No Gain

Chelsey has asked the anesthesiologist to actually lessen the epidural medication so that she can have some feeling (her legs are COMPLETELY numb. But the anesthesiologist made the call to slowly take her down so that she doesnt drop too far and start feeling the pain from the more intense contractions that are still 2-4 minutes apart once the pitocin was started again. But all is well and we are just all anxiously awaiting the big moment to start happening.

...Afternoon Delight

So after both mommy (and daddy) enjoyed a nap while grandma's were out getting St Louis Bread Co (You're awesome mom), Hunter managed to progress ever so slightly. He is now a solid 6cm, 90% effaced, and only a -1 station. So definitely progress. They haven't broken the water yet since the doc can still feel hunter's head move (which isnt safe since the cord could drop into the area first). But both grandma's and Rachael are here right now giving Chelsey lots of love and support. Hopefully Hunter steps up his game and makes a leap from 6cm to like... say... 10... and 100% effaced and ready to POP... How's that sound Hunter? Well, (its also an order so :-P )

Bring on the relief

Chelsey is now able to more comfortably relax now that the epidural is in. She is still feeling the contractions, but it is a lot less than what it was earlier in the evening. And the staff here is talking about breaking her water soon (as well as get the pain better managed)

Morning Update

Well, we were just visited by the morning on-call Doc who went ahead and checked to see where Chelsey was and he says that she is now 4cm dilated, 80% effecated, and at between -1 and -2 for how close the baby is to the cervix. She has been given the go-ahead to receive the epidural so they are prepping her with fluids and everything. Hopefully it will take the edge off more than the Stadol did but still progress the induction

Dilation

Chelsey is currently dilated to 3 and since she hasnt progressed yet, the nurse went ahead and eased her off the pitocin so that the contractions would come less frequently (since the body can get used to them which can hinder progression). This will also allow her to eat here in about an hour which should be enough time to stave off the contractions. She has been a real champ through all of this

Further Along

Well, things have slowed down a hence the lack of updates. Chelsey did get started on Stadol due to the intense contractions she was feeling. She has also been slowly upped every 30 min until she got to 20mL of the pitocin. Unfortunately with the progression of the pregnancy and the inducing, sleep really isn't an option any more for her, despite being exhausted.

Evolution of Induction

So in reflection on how tonight was going to play out, Hunter decided to keep everyone on their toes and set everyone to HIS schedule. Essentially we were expecting to come in, Chelsey was to get the Citotec and then wait 6 hours before any kind of further progression. However, from the moment the 3rd year Resident checked how she was doing, he immediately progressed her to the Pitocin/Oxytocin which from my understanding now helps create more contractions regularly and to intensive them which means a progression. So far she has already been upped from 1mL to 7 (and can go as high as 20 if need be). The contractions as of right now are 2-4 minutes apart and are increasing more steadily throughout the night. I will say from my own personal observation, if I was constantly pushing a 130-176 heartrate all the time like Hunter is, I would be the best athlete the world has ever seen.  Chelsey has adjusted to lay on her side to be more comfortable, but with her ever increasing progression, they dont expect her to get much sleep if any (which she isnt crazy about. lol) But everything is looking great and we are just counting down the time till Hunter graces us with his worldwide debut.

Contractions

Well, she just finished off her first set of antibiotics that will help Hunter and the attending nurse told us that Chelsey is having regular contractions every 2-4 minutes.

More peeps.

Just met with the Chief resident on staff tonight (they are the top dog of the residence medical personnel). Only people above her are the Low Risk Doctor who is in-house tonight, and the High Risk doc who is on call (at home).

Updates

So i( David) will likely be doing the updates since the penicillin and all the other induction IVs cause Chelsey to have painful burning sensations. So far the nurse and the 2yr Resident say that everything looks great (as noted by the earlier post). We are still hopeful for a 24 hour turnaround time and have hunter with us by tomorrow night. (Fingers crossed)

Go for Induction

I am at the hospital! They just started the pitocin. When they checked me I was 60% effaced and 2.5cm dilated, so they skipped the cervadil type medicine and went right to the pit. Lucky me! Now it's just a waiting game. Time to try to get some sleep, but I will be keeping the blog as updated as possible so that people can come here instead of FB, since not everyone on FB will be interested in my labor. 

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone!

Growth Spurt!

My baby has grown 30% in the past month. Not only has he grown in general, to a whopping 7lbs, 9oz, but he has gone from a steady 55th percentile to being in the 85th percentile now. So my doctor has moved up my induction to the night of the 22nd. We could also see plenty of breathing on the ultrasound, so I imagine they aren't terribly worried about his lungs maturity. So that means in 9 days I'm going to have a son! David is arriving on the 21st, so we are going to have less than two full days before Hunter comes into the world. I can't believe it's so soon! Before I know it I'm going to be walking into the hospital, crawling into a hospital bed, and having a baby. All of a sudden the days will have passed and it's going to be delivery day. Holy wowzers.

I have pictures to post, but I'm not sure where the camera has made it to. Now I'm going to write thank you notes for my baby showers. I was able to get a lot done to clear off my floor while Zach was here. One closet has been emptied and partially filled. Now I just need to get the other closet emptied so my wardrobe and boxes have somewhere to go. And then things will be pretty ready. I need to pick up some storage baskets, but other than that things are coming together. It's exciting! I can't wait to have my boys here with me, finally! I wish I had more exciting things to talk about, but I'm really just doing normal day to day stuff to get ready for the baby.

My ankles and feet are so super swollen. I'm been having problems with my right ankle around my scar. Whatever underlying problems with the tissue have remained after I broke it are much more obvious and sensitive now. I'm going to have to have someone take a look at it after the baby has come. I had my PCM in Colorado look at it, but he did a preliminary physical examination and dismissed the whole thing. There weren't x-rays or anything, so I have no idea how he came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong. I'm in pain, obviously something is wrong. But at this point I'm just complaining, and if I want to complain about pain I'll go off on my upper abdominal pancreatic pain. Because that is hurting like the dickens right now. My pain medications don't help much and the Ambien apparently hasn't kicked in yet. Ok, holy crap, it's really hurting, I'm going to wrap this up now so I don't keep going on about how much I hurt. Hopefully after the baby is born the pain will be lessened. I can only hope.

Birth Plan and Bags Packed

Oh my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Well, my bags are mostly packed, I suppose. I have two bags packed, although not the way it is suggested to pack them in my books and classes. I don't have one bag for labor and one for post-partum, I just have two bags packed the ways things fit in them. In my blue, suitcase type bag I have all of my clothing items, including my robe, slippers, nursing bra, and going home outfits for myself and Hunter. I still need to pick his out. Mine was easier. I also have massage tools and lotion. All of my toiletries are also packed in that bag. I have a white, canvas tote that contains my paperwork, which includes all of my lamaze handouts, my birth plan, and meditation exercises for my mother to read to me. I'm also packing a bunch of magazines and "the Nursing Mother's Companion." Items that are unable to be packed in advance will be put in the white bag, including my laptop and whatever book I'm reading at the time. Other items that will need to be grabbed at the last minute are my toothbrush, camera, pillows, and labor ball. 


My birth "plan" is more along the lines of my birth "preferences." The more detailed your plan the more opportunities you have to be disappointed, so I'm trying to keep it pretty basic. And everything depends on what I want in labor, which I think is impossible to predict before it happens. Here it goes. 

• I want to bring my own pillows and music.
• I want to be able to use a birthing ball

Ok, I just woke up. I fell asleep with the lights on sitting on my bed. I even fall asleep while typing  couple of times so that I had long repeats of certain keys and some very upset kids. And yes, I realize what I just wrote. I'm leaving it that way because I have no idea why I wrote it, it's a testament to how very tired I am and the fact that I've had to take more pain meds than usual due to this pancreas crud. Anyway, I meant to say that I couldn't type. My Army Wives episode was over without me remembering it. Anyway, so I'll finish this is in the morning.