Saturday, August 21, 2010

A Much Belated Announcement

She's here!  Technically she's been here for just over a week, which is why this post is way belated.  I wanted to get her birth story down before I forget the details.

Early Wednesday morning I got out of bed with the incredible urge to use the restroom.  As soon as I sat down it was as if I had lost control of my bladder.  Two thoughts crossed my mind and I'm not sure exactly which one came first.  1. There was a child in there putting a ton of pressure on my bladder.  2. My water just broke.  I was pretty sure I knew which one it was, but since it was 2:30 in the morning and Mason tends to be a worrier, I thought I would make sure.  So I walked to my dresser to grab my pregnancy books and then dashed back to the bathroom with my knees together.  Okay, so by this point I was 90% sure it was my water.  But again, this was a completely new feeling for me so I wanted to be 100% sure.  By the time I was able to get up and walk back to the bedroom it was 3am.  When I told a very groggy Mason why I was waking him up he shot out of bed and went into high speed mode.  Gathering all that we needed that hadn't made it into the car yet and getting food ready for the dogs.  Off we went to the hospital making our phone calls along the way.  I was most looking forward to waking up my sister since I'm quite sure I owe her a few years worth of being woken up. 

By the time we got into our first room to confirm that it was indeed my water breaking and then moved into labor and delivery, it was almost 5am.  Since I wasn't having contractions, they wasted no time in inducing them.  A couple hours later I was informed that I was having contractions every four min, but I couldn't feel them at all.  So they upped the dosage and when they became two min apart, I could feel them.  Each hour they became more intense.  By the time I got the epidural they weren't seriously painful, they were just seriously annoying.  Leaving virtually no time to relax in between.  Not to mention I had a room full of people.  Finally after 18 hours of labor with very little progression and a baby that was refusing to drop, they took me in for the c-section.

Apparently my legs are immune to the epidural.  While I couldn't feel anything, I could still lift them.  So they added more and more.  The strong epidural made it near impossible to keep my eyes open which was so very frustrating because I wanted to be awake for this moment.  I spent the majority of the surgery fighting the sleepiness that overcame me and the shakes that were taking over.  Every part of me that wasn't numb was shaking uncontrollably as if I were freezing cold, and trust me I was trying to control them.  That's the part that bothered Mason the most.  He told me later that he was used to seeing me as a strong woman, and seeing me with no control over my body really shook him.  But anyway, back to the birth of my little peanut.

Since I was in and out of consciousness, this part might be a little discombobulated.  I do remember the first time I heard her cry, and Dr. B told her she wasn't allowed to cry because she hadn't been born yet.  Mason told me that her head was out and they had just suctioned out her mouth and nose, which she apparently didn't care for at all.  Moments later, at 11:50pm Elina was here.  I forced my eyes open as they walked her past me to get cleaned up.  She had hair!  Dark hair!  Where did that come from?  Mason and I were both bald and blond.  I was sure she would be the same.  I mean I would have bet money on the fact that she would be bald and blond.  There is nothing about this little girl that hasn't been a surprise.  Including the dimples I saw from across the room.  Eventually Mason brought her over to me and laid her on my shoulder so I could look at her beautiful little face.  At one point I'm sure Elina and I took a nap together while I was being stitched up.  But then I had to make Mason take her away because I was about to throw up.  Dr. B was sewing up the inner lining of my stomach, and when he finished, I went ahead and emptied the contents of my stomach.  Which was pretty much nothing.  But then my baby appeared on my shoulder again, and all was right with the world. 

Fortunately my shakes and my lethargy ended while I was in the recovery room and the lady in there was way impressed with my ability to move my legs.  This is also when they took my baby away to be cleaned up and measured and my husband ran off after her to watch.  Shortly after the shakes stopped I was wheeled off to my room with a short little pit stop to see my baby.  This is where it starts to get a little fuzzy, because I had been up for more then 24 hours, but eventually they wheeled in my baby and all of my visitors followed.  Or the visitors came in and the baby followed.  All I know is that by this point, I was exhausted.  I'm pretty sure it was 5am before I finally feel asleep. 

But there she was.  All 7 lbs 5 oz, and 19 3/4 inches of her.  With her beautiful brown hair and her sweet little dimples.

Thanks to my sister for this great picture.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

So Close, Yet So Far

Since my doctor wants to keep a close eye on my blood pressure, I've been seeing him twice a week for the last few weeks.  So far there has been nothing to report on that front.  All my extra fluid makes it look like I am going to have a giant baby though.  Anyway, at our last appointment my blood pressure was up, still in the normal range, but it was a high normal.  And since my normal is on the low end, this raised a little flag.  So Dr. B took my blood pressure two more times, each time the numbers were lower then the last.  I was then sent to the lab for some blood work done "stat," although the paper work lady in the lab didn't seem to know what stat meant as she took her time entering me into the computer. 

Off to work I went, patiently waiting for my phone to ring with the test results.  Would I have to leave work and head back to the hospital?  Or would I be able to finish out my week and enjoy what may be the last weekend of so called freedom?  The phone rang while I was in a meeting so I stepped out with a racing heart so they could tell me that my test results were negative.  I had mixed feelings while returning to the never ending meeting.  It would have been so nice to not have gone back to that meeting.  But I wasn't quite ready to check into Labor and Delivery either.

Here I sit, three days later with a watermelon for a stomach, 20 pounds of extra fluid and sore hips.  While I don't know if our next appointment on Monday will be the day or not, I can at least find comfort in the fact that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I will be able to meet my little girl very soon.  Meanwhile I have been doing everything I can to help her hurry up.  On Thursday, we ate at a Mexican restaurant where the owner swears that pregnant women go into labor a few days after eating there.  And I'm hoping I can convince Mason to get Chinese for dinner tomorrow.  But most importantly, I made plans for next weekend.  Plans that involve tickets.  What better way to have a baby then to make plans and get tickets to go do something fun with your neighbors?  Thankfully they were free tickets, so I won't have to feel too bad if I have to give them away.