Here He Is!

Nathan Richard. Born 7lbs 5oz, 20.5 inches

What a whirlwind this week has been! I don't even know where to begin.

The little guy was born at 1:09am on December 28th 2010 after 18 hours of labor! Phew! Ten of those hours were not bad at all though, the doctor didn't come to break my water until almost 4pm (we had gotten to the hospital at 5am). I barely dilated at all until she broke my water. I did end up getting an epidural. The ptosin contractions were rough but tolerable. What made me decide to get the epidural was since my GBS was positive they weren't checking my progress very often after my water was broken. It's hard to breathe through pain when you don't even get to check the "fruits of your labors" (pun intended). If they would have been able to check and if I was able to know if I was getting close or not, would have given me more motivation. With no idea how long it might take, I opted for pain management.

The epidural was pretty neat. I thought I was going to be dead weight from the waste down, but I was still able to (pretty much) move both my legs and wiggle my toes. They just felt tingly, like when your arm falls asleep. Most importantly I didn't feel any pain from the contractions. . . . until about 4 hours after that is. For some reason I started feeling really really bad contractions again. My legs were still tingly but on the pain scale I was about an 8+ still feeling the contractions. The anesthesiologist came back in and rebolised (I really am not sure if that is the correct term) my epidural. That's when I went dead weight from waste down. It was super freaky. I would look at my toes and think, "move toes!" and nothing would happen. Of course it was right after this that I became fully dilated, but the baby still hadn't dropped low enough yet so I had to sit up and labor down for about two hours. Then came the fun part, pushing. It was impossible to push and not feel down there, but we did make some progress after about an hour. The progress stopped because the baby was stuck by my pubic bone so they gave me about 30 minutes to rest. It was at this point that the epidural started wearing off again, thank God. My legs began to tingle and I could feel the contractions. They weren't as painful as before and I was just happy to be able to feel something down there to focus on. It made a world of a difference. After only thirty minutes of pushing, out popped our little miracle!

I was a little sad that I didn't get to try natural child birth, I know it's not a big deal, but I did feel a little bit like a wimp getting the epidural. The ptosin I'm sure didn't help my labor pains, I'm told ptosin labor is a lot worse then natural contractions, so there is also that too. The labor and delivery nurse told me she thought if I would have gone natural my labor probably would have been very short since I did so well. If there is a next time around, I think that will be my plan.

So now we have this perfect bundle of joy. Breast feeding is finally going well (that's another blog post). He's healthy, but has a little jaundice. We had to take him to the pediatrician today for a repeat biliruben test, and we have to go again tomorrow for another. With my milk coming in and an increase in nursing time today I'm hoping that tomorrow it will be better or at least the same. Cross your fingers! I'll try and post more pictures tomorrow.

Happy New Year! I will be up all night with my new hot date. :-D

This is IT!

I can hardly wrap my head around the fact that tomorrow. . . not in a month, not in a week. . .tomorrow. . .Jared and I are going to be parents.

I probably won't sleep a wink tonight. It's going to be that really annoying insomnia where you feel so physically tired but you can't shut your brain off.

We took down all the Christmas decorations and cleaned a little bit today. We also went to the grocery store and bought the makings for some simple meals. Last week I froze some lasagna and soup in case we get really hungry and don't feel like cooking; I also bought some frozen pizzas. I did all the laundry today. We are ready to go. Right? Who knows.

I'm sitting on the couch blogging, Jared is on love seat playing Fable 3. This is the last time (in the next 18 years) it will ever be just the two of us. Crazy. I can just picture the little guy playing on the floor, or snoozing in the swing while we all relax together. I like the way that this new piece will fit into our family puzzle. . . . Hm. . . Although he might have colic and not give us a moments rest for a while. . . but in my head, I like to picture the first scenario better. Heh.

Please God just make him a healthy baby, that's all I really want.

See you guys (hopefully) soon!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

39 Weeks - Belly Parade

It's almost over folks, I can't believe it. 39 weeks pregnant today! One more day of just the two of us. It FLEW by. Here is a photo look at our journey.

6 Weeks Pregnant

14 Weeks Pregnant

17 Weeks Pregnant

18 Weeks Pregnant

23 Weeks Pregnant

24 Weeks Pregnant

25 Weeks Pregnant

28 Weeks Pregnant

29 Weeks Pregnant

31 Weeks Pregnant

32 Weeks Pregnant

33 Weeks Pregnant

36 Weeks Pregnant

38 Weeks Pregnant

39 Weeks Pregnant

38 Weeks + 6 Days - Nothing Much

Last night was my last weekly OB appointment (woo!).

Sadly I really don't have anything to report. At this visit I was 100% effaced, baby is dropped down where he should be, but I'm still only 1-2 centimeters dilated. I suppose that makes sense. I'm not having any contractions (besides the 2 hour weird menstrual cramps on Sunday) so why would I be dilating more?

Are you wondering if I have my birth plan worked out yet? No not really. Which is very strange for me since I'm such a planner. It's because I don't know what is the right decision to make. We are still set for the induction. I talked to my doctor about my concerns about doing an induction, but also wanting to try things as natural as possible. She hopes that with all the progress I've made (with out having any big contractions) that we will need minimal drugs to get things going, and hopefully it will all go pretty quickly. That made me feel better, but who really knows how it will go?

Although she's been telling me I would go into labor on my own for the past 2-3 weeks (but predicting birth is a guessing game I suppose). . . .but I do hope she's right about the labor. I am happy I made it this far. I want the little guy as cooked as possible.

So here are some of my pregnancy stats:

- Weight gained: 29lbs (as of last night) - not too bad! I believe 25-35 is recommended.

- Stretch Marks: Nope!!! Thank you Mom for your wonderful genes.

- Morning Sickness: I was queasy a couple of times (it never lasted long), and I never puked!

- Best Part of my Pregnancy: Hmmm, being spoiled by Jared, not having to do much house work, and feeling the baby move/kick. It's such an amazing feeling.

- Worst Part of my Pregnancy: (don't hate me for this) but I had an amazing pregnancy I really can't say there was a "worst" part. I guess if I HAD to pick something it would be the first 6 months when my skin was breaking out like a teenage boy, but even that wasn't horrible. Just hard on my vanity.

- Any Aches or Pains?: I had two days where I over did it at work where my back was killing me, but I felt better after about two days. Around 25 weeks I had a little sciatic pain while sleeping, but once I bought a maternity body pillow that fixed that. Other then that, no pain or discomfort!! (again, don't hate me! :-)

- Swelling: None to minimal.

- Nervous About Labor?: Heck yeah I am! Who wouldn't be?

- Am I Ready to Be a Mom?: Uh, I don't think I'll ever be "ready." But I'm excited to start this next phase in my life! I will say I'm ready for a family, but. . .I'm nervous if I'll be a good mom or not. That's where the not "ready" part comes in.

- Food Cravings?: Pink Grapefruit jelly fruit slices, chicken pot pie, chili, and spaghetti (probably the most frequently eaten meals in the past 9 months), and now lately oranges

- Was the pregnancy planned?: Yup! I really didn't think we would get pregnant so fast (it took my parents 7 years to have me) We tried for 2 months, although since they moved my due date 2 weeks, I really have no idea when we conceived.

- Any Huge Body Changes?: Well of course the weight gain. I got that line down my belly (linea negra), and my boobs got a lot bigger (this could be a pro or con depending on your opinion). I think that's it.

- What is your secret to having such an amazing pregnancy? LUCK! But seriously. . . no idea. I was in good shape before I got pregnant. I worked out about 3-4 days a week. I drank a TON of water through out my pregnancy. I have a 32oz water bottle, and I drink at least two of those a day. (I think this helped with the no stretch marks and no swelling too) I also rubbed coco butter on my belly every night, but I don't really know if that did anything. I stayed active through out most of my pregnancy too. Up until about 23 weeks I was going to the gym, walking a ton, and doing a pregnancy workout dvd. Around 25 weeks I stopped going to the gym and just walked and did my workout dvd. At 30 weeks I stuck to just walking. . . .slowly my motivation went away, haha. I'm still trying to walk a lot, although it's harder now that the weather is so cold. Hmmm, what else? If I ate fresh produce (mainly apples, stuff you eat the skin on) I would always buy organic. I also ate dried apricots a lot, they are a great healthy snack and help keep you "regular" . . . . if you get my drift (apparently clogged pipes are another common pregnancy symptom). Other then those things I really didn't change any of my habits. I tried to eat better, but in the end comfort food (peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese, etc) would usually win out for what I ate.

I really wanted to post a collage of belly photos but I have no idea how to make a photo collage. Does iPhoto do that? If you know how to do that, please leave a message. If not maybe tomorrow I will just upload all the photos again, but that will be a huge pain.

Merry Christmas Eve folks!

Simple Pleasure

Erin recently posted about simple pleasures in life, so it has gotten me thinking about that a lot lately.

One new simple pleasure I've been indulging in lately are those small oranges "Cuties." My mother bought two giant boxes and she's been pawning them off on me (I'm not complaining!); I've been scarfing them up.

I think they are just so much fun to eat!

I love it when you first stick your nail into the skin and get that tiny spray of citrus zest. Then you start peeling and the fresh citrus smell hits your nose. I like to take my time and peel/rub all the white stuff that's under the peel so you are left with this perfect sphere of yummy goodness that is sectioned into cute bite sized pieces. When you start eating, it's just heaven! So sweet (usually) and juicy with no seeds. After you are done, if you peeled it with your hands, you have that delicious smell on your hands for a while.

Mmmmm, maybe I will have one for breakfast. . . . .

This is my Cutie snowman. He doesn't fear warm days, just my appetite. hahaha

p.s. I have total pregnancy brain, my doctor's appointment is today, it wasn't yesterday. So no news there. I walked for 4-5 hours yesterday around two malls and NOTHING, no contractions, no cramps, nada. . . .stubborn little baby. :-)

Thoughts

Since I'm no longer working I'm alone with my thoughts a lot these days.

Some of them are happy day dreams:

When will the baby come?

What will he look like?

Will he have hair?

Will he look like me?

What will life be like as a family of three?

Seeing Jared hold his son, and holding him myself. . . smelling that wonderful baby smell

Some of them are concerns:

Will my white coat syndrome rear it's ugly head in the hospital?

If I go into labor on Christmas will the staff be attentive? (this is a big concern for me, working in health care I am all too aware of how human we are, being in a hospital on a day nobody wants to work makes me worry about them rushing my labor or making mistakes)

Do I really want an induction or do I want to just wait and take the risk of another doctor delivering my baby (and also potentially going in labor on another holiday, new years, referring to the above concern again)?

So I guess you can say I still haven't made up my mind about my birth plan. I do know I want to try and do things as naturally as possible. . . .don't get me wrong though, I'm ok with medical interventions too, I just think you should have a go at the natural way first. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday, so I guess we will see where I'm at and then talk to my doctor about my concerns then.

In the mean time I'm going to try and focus on my happy day dreams instead.

Still Here

Well Sunday was an eventful day. Since Jared's choir concert was all done we decided to do a bunch of errands/walking to try and stimulate labor.

We started the day going to our favorite breakfast restaurant. I got this delicious omelet with bacon, avocados, and sour cream . . mmmmmm, so yummy. Next we went to one of the out door malls near us and did a little shopping/walking. Yes, being in Chicago it was quite cold out, but we bundled up and the wind wasn't blowing too much so it was actually pretty nice. Plus cold weather makes the crowds minimal.

After shopping we made a random decision to go out again and pick up a new phone for me (my early Christmas present). The last phone I had was a Motorola Razer, remember those? It broke about 8 months ago and since then I've been using my friend's old Blackjack. This was fine until the phone started freezing up a bunch lately. We had 75 dollars in store credit at the Apple store from returned gifts, so we decided to pick up an iPhone 3GS (30 bucks after tax for a new phone, not too bad!). I hate spending money on phones, but it was needed.

It was about this time I started feeling funny. It was hard to describe, kind of like menstrual cramps combined with pressure you have when you have a bladder infection. It wasn't super painful, just uncomfortable, and I didn't think it could be labor because it didn't come in waves, it was just. . .sort of constant. Right when I decided that this might mean something I got a text message from one of my good friends (that has a baby) asking how I was doing. I asked her if labor can feel like menstrual cramps and she said that her early labor felt exactly like menstrual cramps! Yikes!

When she told me that I started feeling pretty antsy. After another conformation from my sister in law (mommy of 4) that indeed menstrual cramps could mean active labor would come soon, I scarfed my dinner at Panera and ran out of the restaurant to go home. I hadn't showered yet that day and really wanted to shower at home before I went to the hospital.

The cramps continued but didn't get any worse as Jared and I got cleaned up and rechecked my hospital bag to make sure we packed everything. I really thought that this was it! I've never seen Jared so excited. Just to make sure that this was the real deal we decided to wait another 30-45 minutes to see if it felt better or worse. Much to Jared's disappointment after I sat down on the couch and relaxed a bit the cramps slowly got better.

So here I am, still at home, no baby yet! I've been trying to stay active again (I'm doing laundry, walking up and down the billion steps in our house) but I've been feeling pretty good, only an occasional cramp.

I think it's funny that my pregnancy has been so uneventful, but I've had about every pre-labor symptom in the book. I joked in my 38 week post that I didn't think there were more signs that the baby was coming soon, but apparently there is! I wonder what is next?

He Waited for His Daddy

I honestly feel like a ticking time bomb.

Tonight was Jared's choir concert. We both had serious doubts that we were going to be able to make it. He missed the dress rehearsal on Thursday night because of the insane amount of time we spent at the OB with the NST and waiting for my BP to come down. I thought I was going to be admitted to the hospital later that night. Nope not yet.

Then last night happened and I lost the plug. Again I thought for sure we would be heading to the hospital late last night or early this morning. Nope not yet.

I stayed off my feet all day in hopes that we could still make it to the concert tonight. Well it worked! I still had the occasional mild contraction during the day, but nothing more alarming then that.

The concert was fun. My hubby is so talented. I'm so glad I was able to go and see him sing.

I wonder how many more seconds? minutes? hours? days? are on the baby bomb clock?

38 Weeks - Last Hurrah

Good morning bloggy friends! It's so nice to be playing on the computer and not working on this lovely sunny morning.

Jared came home from work last night with some Chipotle for me. . .mmmmm, Chipotle. . . .and after I had rested all day I told him I thought we should go out. You know, since it's probably going to be one of the last times we will ever be able to randomly decide to go out together with out lugging a baby or finding a sitter. I suggested a movie since it was still going out, but not too physically strenuous. We decided on a 9:30pm showing of Tron Legacy.

The movie was. . . .eh, just ok. We didn't see it in 3D because 3D movies tend to make me feel cross eyed or give me headaches. I think if you did see it in 3D it would give it a little more pizzaz. I will say I was really uncomfortable throughout the whole movie. Bean was rolling and kicking so much; I can officially say I have painful kicks now, not just to the ribs but in the bladder as well. He's been SUPER active the past two days; guess he's exercising for birth.

I'm going to give you a TMI warning here. . . .so if you don't want to read a little grossness, stop reading now!

The gross stuff happened after we got home from the movie. As we were walking out of the film I told Jared that I definitely think the baby is coming soon. I just feel different, it's hard to explain.

As we were getting ready for bed I went to the bathroom and had this odd feeling after I peed. I went to wipe and came up with something so nasty looking! I called Jared over to show him, haha, and we both concluded that we think I lost my mucus plug. I won't get too descriptive, but it sorta reminded me of a giant booger. . . like when you are really sick giant booger.

So I suppose that's just one more step in the "baby is coming soon" direction. I don't think there is much else that can happen other then my water breaking or having stronger contractions. My next post may be to tell you I'm on my way to the hospital!

37 Weeks + 6 Days - Contractions!

37 Weeks and 5 Days Pregnant!

If I had just one word to describe yesterday, it would be rough.

I started work at 7:30, which means I was up at 6. I had a full day of patients scheduled, and no breaks scheduled. Yup, you read that right. No lunch, no 15 minute breaks, just me and back to back patients for the whole day (which ended at 2). . . .did I mention I'm 9 months pregnant? Sometimes I think they forget that at work, I'm not sure how, but they do. I did eat breakfast around 6:45, so that was ok. Work was horrible, all my patients showed and I had two difficult ones in a row which lead me to be 45 minutes behind schedule (which is a whole appointment). I ended up not finishing my day until 2:45 because of that. The whole day at work all I was able to eat was a 1/2 of a yogurt and a handful of chocolate covered almonds, so nutritious I know.

I got home from work around 3:15 and I had to rush out again because Jared and I had a pediatrician interview at 3:45, and then my weekly OB appointment at 4:30.

The pediatrician interview went pretty well. They were very prompt which I loved. They also have lots and lots of nurses to answer phone questions which is important to us as first time parents. I'm sure we are going to need lots of hand holding.

Then we got to the OB's office. She was 45 minutes behind schedule (I think that's a common hazard for an OB/GYN). When they finally saw me my BP was elevated, of course. I'm still 1-2 centimeters dilated, but she said I was about 90% effaced this time. Then the doctor wanted me to wait around till my BP lowered, and she also wanted to put me on the fetal monitor. While the waiting for my BP to come down was nerve wracking, it eventually lowered enough to where they said I'd be ok to go home. The fetal monitor was the cool part. They strapped me up with the two bands with sensors on them and we got to listen to Bean's heart beat and wait for him to move around. (I think what I technically had was a Non Stress Test) I think it's so hilarious to watch Bean with sensors on my belly because I think he hates them. He almost always kicks the doppler wand, and the fetal monitor was no different. It was like he was doing all he could to roll to the other side of my belly away from the sensors. The bitchy nurse practitioner was watching the paper and said he looked really good. Every time he moved his heart rate would elevate like it should. She said that means he's getting plenty of oxygen. That's when she told me I was also having regular mild contractions.

Who knew?! I did feel sort of tense and icky all day, but I had no idea I was having contractions. At that point the doctor came in and said "No work for you tomorrow!" It wasn't an issue because I have Fridays off so I asked her if I could go to work on Saturday. Her response was, "Let's see how Friday goes first." Then she said she felt pretty confident that I was going to have the baby this weekend!

At this point it was around 7:30pm, and I was so exhausted and hungry. I woke up this morning for a bathroom break around 3am and laid awake in bed thinking about having the baby. That is when I decided to start my maternity leave a week early. I don't want another day like Thursday, it was awful. With the end of the year approaching and people wanting to get in to use the remainder of their insurance I feel pretty confident all next week would be like yesterday. I don't feel refreshed after my night of sleep like I normally do either. I'm having a little bit of swelling in my ankles (it's not too bad), and my lower back is hurting still. I think it's all from over doing it yesterday.

So here I am relaxing on the couch with the cat waiting for my contractions to get stronger and merit a visit to the hospital or my water to break. I think I'm still having some (it's so hard to tell) but they aren't regular so I think I'm ok. Everybody keeps telling me I should be resting, so I hope you guys are happy! I'm finally giving in. :-) I will say I'm very proud of myself for working a very physically hard job up until a week before my induction. Go me! hahahaha

Stay tuned, we might have some fun posts soon!

Am I artsy?

I had another craft day on Sunday! A good friend of mine is also pregnant and she saw the canvases and letters that I painted for our baby's room and decided that she wanted to do something similar in her nursery, but wanted a little help.

We decided to go with larger letters which made the painting a lot more fun having more room. The bedding that she likes has a patch work floral pattern that's super cute. First we printed off a picture of the quilt and cut apart the patches and she picked her favorite "patch pattern" for each letter. Two of the patterns were a little more complicated so I started penciling in the pattern, while she took the simpler patterns to free paint on the letters. We were lucky to have an additional set of hands to help paint (paint by numbers expert, Bestie). It took us a couple hours to finish, but I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The two end letters are the ones I drew and partially painted, and the center two are the ones she free painted.

I think they turned out fabulous. Maybe I am an artsy person after all? I was thinking my two art projects turning out so well were a fluke, but I think three nice projects in a row may mean I have a little talent!

Anybody else want some personalized letters for their nurseries?

36 Weeks + 5 days - Dr News

I went to the doctor on Thursday night and we got some fun news. We picked the induction date! December 27th will be "B-Day" as I like to call it (baby day, or birth day either works).

The doctor also did an internal exam and told us that I'm 1-2 centimeters dilated and about 80% effaced. While she told me that some women can walk around for weeks in this state, she felt pretty confident that I won't make it to the induction date. This makes me a little sad because I'm still feeling awesome and enjoying this pregnancy. I love the December 27th induction date because I don't want to be in the hospital over Christmas.

Another really ironic thing was my blood pressure. The doctor has said if I wasn't going into labor on my own we could use my blood pressure as an excuse to have the baby this year. . . so the one time we were counting on my pressure being high it was 124/60. Ah well. I will say that I'm (I can't believe I'm going to type this) excited for my next visit. Things are actually changing and progressing and I want to make sure that Bean is doing ok. I really didn't believe it when I said my excitement would take over my phobia, but I think there might be a chance.

So cross your fingers that he sticks around till the induction date! But either way I just hope his entry into this world is as wonderful as this pregnancy has been.

36 Weeks - Ready or Not!

9 Months Baby!

Did you know that 36 weeks is actually 9 months, but a "full term pregnancy" is 40 weeks (which is 10 months)? I didn't. I was so confused when I started reading pregnancy books and they talked about a 40 week pregnancy. 40 weeks is 10 months, not 9 months people. So why does everybody on this planet talk about the 9 months of pregnancy? When did this all change? So to all my friends thinking about having a baby, guess what? It's 10 months, not 9! :-)

So while I thought I'd be done at this point, I still have 4 more weeks (give or take) to go.

Honestly I'm still feeling really really good! I hope I'm not jinxing myself. . . .no swelling, no stretch marks, no back pain. Sleeping is ok-ish. It's more of the getting in and out of bed that's the hard part, and with all the nightly bathroom breaks that does become annoying.

I'm going to the doctor weekly now (boo!). Believe it or not at my last visit my belly was measuring 37 centimeters. To my readers who don't know baby jargon, the size of your belly in centimeters is supposed to correspond to the number of weeks pregnant you are. At the time I was 35 weeks (almost 36). I told the nurse that I was almost 36 weeks, and her response was "close only counts in horse shoes." She was kind of a bitch (for lack of a better word). The staff at my doctor's office are really nice except this one nurse. If you go by my original due date that would mean we conceived the month before! They bumped me up 2 weeks at my ultra sound, and 2 weeks more if you go by the size of my belly. . . .yikes. I hope we don't have a giant baby. I had them double check my glucose test to make sure my sugar was ok, and it was (they say women with gestational diabetes have huge babies). Guess he's just a big boy?

So, that's where I'm at! Hopefully we will know more about when he's coming into this world at my next doctors visit. I will keep you posted.