Bump Watch - 40 Weeks

Yes, I realize I don't have a bump now! I just thought I should go ahead and finish out the 40 week timeline for here and my scrapbook. It just makes sense to me.Weight gain: My total weight gained was 27 pounds according to my doctors records and the hospital scale. According to my scale at home it was 23 pounds. Either way, I made my goal and I am extremely happy about that. I need to lose 2 more pounds to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight....seriously. It all just melted off. I am back in my normal clothes and everything.

My Dolly

Thank you Mike and Terra for my dolly! I love it. I only have that look on my face because I just spewed all over myself.

Love, Chloe Jo

Wordless Wednesday

Pictures

Mommy, Chloe and Daddy

I love this picture!

My precious little angel.
Mommy, Chloe and G-Jo

I can't resist posting more pictures of my little dream come true. She is so precious! Mommy-hood is wonderful. It's hard when I don't know what to do when she is crying, but it is also has been beautiful. We had our first doctor appointment today. She weighs in at 5 lbs 14 oz. So she has lost an ounce since leaving the hospital but the pediatrician was thrilled with that. My milk is starting to come in so she should start gaining weight. She is such a great little breastfeeder. I'm so glad I decided to breastfeed even though I'm very sore right now. Everything else was great. Her color is really good and the doctor is thrilled with her progress. That's it for now. Thanks for all the congrats and well wishes!

My Birth Story

Caution: This post is long. I journaled the entire story for my scrapbook and didn't condense for the blog. Also, it contains everything that happened...good, bad and ugly so if you get queasy, stop reading now.

Chloe Jo joined us Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 11:54 p.m. She was 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.

My water broke at 7:00 a.m. on Friday. I was exactly 39 weeks along. I hadn't had any contractions so I knew I had a while to go. I told Russ that he could go ahead and take a shower and I hopped back into my shower to shave my legs. I had a list of reasons why I thought I was going to be in labor on the 9th and I think it is extremely funny that I did go into labor on the 10th. We had a full moon and thunderstorms during the night and my OB was out of town. Also, Russ and I had planned on going to a baseball game. I didn't believe in the full moon superstitions until now. Chloe came a week early even though my OB thought she would be late and he would have to induce. I was taken completely off guard when my water broke. Russ and I waited for three years for our precious Chloe and all of the sudden she was coming. We made it to the hospital at 8:00 a.m. I told the triage nurse that either my water broke or I had peed on myself. They took me to the back to check me and the whole time I was back in triage, I kept gushing amniotic fluid. Finally, a nurse determined that it was in fact amniotic fluid and I was admitted. Unfortunately, I was only dilated 1 cm and 60% effaced. I knew I had a long day ahead of me, but that was better than the 0's I had been on Wednesday at my doctor appointment. Another nurse came in to help me get over to labor and delivery and to get settled in for the day. I had an IV placed and they started me on pitocin immediately. The nurse was confident in her skills since she had worked in L&D for 19 years. She was loud, but encouraging. After I got settled into my room, Russ went to start calling people. Dad was ready to come right then, but we did convince him and Mom to wait and they did until around 2:00 p.m. My progress wasn't very fast during the first part of the day. Also, Chloe's heart rate was up and down. I had to use the restroom shortly after being admitted, but I could only use a bedpan since I was on the pitocin. My nurse helped me up onto it but I just couldn't go. I've never had to do that and my body just wouldn't let me. At that point, Chloe's heart rate went down so the nurse ended up having to put in a cathater instead. We couldn't risk Chloe having fetal distress. I also had to have an oxygen mask which I had to wear through the majority of labor. My nurse eventually decided to place internal monitors to keep a better eye on Chloe and my contractions. I couldn't feel the contractions at first, but the more my nurse upped the pitocin and the more I progressed I did start feeling them. At that point I started having major anxiety and my nurse convinced me to get an epidural. When the anestesiologist came in, they decided to do the epidural with me laying down because they weren't sure Chloe could take it with me sitting up with her heart rate being so erratic. One of the med students was going to place it. She started, but my back is so sensitive that I couldn't hold as still as I needed to be. I kept twitching. Her supervisor had to take over and he was able to place the epidural. I hurt so badly and my anxiety went through the roof at that time. The supervisor wasn't even sure he got it in the correct spot, but they went ahead and left it to see if it was. 20 minutes later I could still feel everything and my nurse started talking about them coming back to redo it. I was so upset about it that I started crying. I just couldn't help it. The supervisor did come back and I was extra sensitive the second time. I wasn't able to hold completely still since I was so panicky. My nurse finally gave me a double shot of meds to help calm me down. The second epidural was placed and fortunately worked. It was a little off. I could still move and feel some on my left side but I couldn't do anything with my right leg. A little while later Dad and Chelle and Chris came in to see me. Mom was already there. I was completely loopy from the anxiety meds. I thought everything was funny and I had no filter for what I was saying. After they left my nurse checked me and I was at a 5. She upped my pitocin again at that time. At 7:00 p.m. there was a shift change and another nurse took over caring for me and I was assigned to a different doctor also. When my new nurse checked me at 8:00 p.m. I was at a 6. She upped my pitocin again and by 9:00, I was fully dilated and effaced. My nurse had me labor down for an hour and at 10:00 p.m. I started pushing. My nurse was a wonderful labor coach and with the epidural I was able to push well. She told me that Chloe had lots of dark hair and asked me if I wanted to see. This was so exciting that I did want to see and I was able to look in a mirror during a push and see her little head and she did have lots of dark hair. Even though I was pushing as hard as I could, Chloe was turned and she wasn't able to make it past my pelvic bone easily. Her heart rate was still irregular and my contractions weren't regular either. The doctor finally came in and decided to help open my vagina with "massage" to help Chloe come out. He was really great about not taking me straight to a c-section. My nurse had said that most other doctors would have done that. I continued to push and the doctor continued to stretch me out. Chloe did finally turn the right way. At 11:50 p.m. Chloe's heart rate really plummetted and my doctor decided to cut an episiotomy because she needed to come out. I pushed one more time and Chloe Jo arrived at 11:54 p.m. The ambilical cord was wrapped around her neck and one of her legs. They took her straight to the warmer to work on her. She let out the most beautiful little cry and was just fine after such a traumatic day. She got an 8 out of 10 on her apgar. They finally put her in my arms and I got to meet my precious baby girl. After my nurse got me all cleaned up and the doctor finished stitching me up, Mom went to get Dad and Chelle and Chris to come see us. They looked at Chloe and congratulated us and told us they would be back later. I was able to try to breastfeed then and Chloe latched on without too much difficulty. After she was done the nursery nurse came to get her to do tests and to give her a bath. I was then moved to my post partum room. I was able to rest for a few hours and Russ stretched out on a couch in the room. When I woke up around 3:30 a.m. I had to use the restroom. 2 nurses had to come to help me because my right leg was still completely numb. I almost collapsed a couple of times but the nurses were there to support me. When I got back in bed I was wide awake. At 4:00 a.m. I was missing my baby so badly that I called the nursery to bring her to me. Russ was asleep on the couch in the room and did wake up when Chloe came in. I was able to feed her at that time and just held her for a few hours. I rested for a while and then the nursery came to get Chloe for the doctors to do rounds. After we got her back we just stayed with her and rested until Mom, Dad, Chelle and Chris came to meet her and hold her. We also had a few couple's from church come and one of my cousins also came to see us. Sunday morning we were discharged. I was so overwhelmed. We waited 3 years for this beautiful little girl and we were finally able to take her home. I cried the whole way home. It was mostly because I was so happy to be taking Chloe with us, but also because I was leaving the safety of the hospital and the people who knew what they were doing. We have been able to stay with my parents for a few days so Mom can help me with Chloe. I am very nervous about doing this on my own, but I know it will be wonderful and I will eventually get over my nerves. I am so blessed to have this little girl in my life.

Introducing....

Chloe Jo

Born April 10th, 2009
Weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz and measured 19 1/2 inches long.
Welcome to the world gorgeous baby!

And One More Thing...

This is a conversation I had with a customer today and before you get defensive for her because I was snippy, she had already yelled at me for 10 minutes and threatened to sue the company I work for.

Customer: "You people shut off my power and I need it on!"

Me: "Ma'am we recieved a call from your husband two days ago to shut off the power."

Customer: "My husband is working."

Me: "Ma'am this was two days ago, though. Not today."

Customer: "He has been working all week. He couldn't have called you people!"

Me: "Does he not have access to a telephone at work?"

Customer: "He is out of town and doesn't have any access to a phone. He's in Arkansas."

Me: *trying my hardest not to laugh out loud*

TP Thursday and a New One

I am 38 weeks 6 days and 11 TP squares around.

I have noticed that some of my blog-o-friends do a post every Thursday entitled TMI Thursday. For those of you who aren't up with the times, TMI means Too Much Information. Well, this sounds like a ton of fun, but it took me a while to decide if I wanted to participate because my family *gasp* reads my blog. I finally decided that it is just too fun to miss out on even though I may do this one and never do another because I'm going to be tied up for the next 18 years or so.

First, I have to put a disclaimer. If you are a male, you may not want to read on. If you are a female who would be completely grossed out by....gross stuff, you may not want to read on. Really, this story is the most embarrasing story that I have. I am having to dig down into the recesses of my mothball encrusted brain to even bring this out because I have buried it so deeply.

The summer between Russ' 1st and 2nd years of school, we traveled extensively. One of our trips was to worship and visit with a wonderful little church that was helping us out financially. We were invited to stay with the preacher and his wife for a weekend and we accepted. At this time, we had been trying to get pregnant for two years and I had unfortunately started my period at the beginning of that trip. I was distraught and hormonal on the trip up there. So, we get to this couple's house and they have two dogs. One of the dogs' names was Rascal. Can you see where this is going? No where good, huh. When we first got there, we were immediately drawn to Preacher and his Wife. They were our type of couple. We loved hanging out with them and they were very gracious hosts. They took us around the town and took us to see the capital on Saturday and we ended at their home playing games. During one of the games Wife says "Rascal! What do you have!?!?" I look down to see, to my utter horror, that Rascal had drug out one of my used (YES! USED!) pads from a trashcan and was proceeding to tear it to shreds with his teeth. Wife was one step ahead of me and realized a second before I did what was going on. She jumped up and scooped the whole disgusting mess into her BARE hands and disposed of it. I was mortified. If I could have sunk into the earth and died, I would have. Wife was so great about the situation. She just calmly went and washed her hands and closed the bathroom door so Rascal couldn't get in there. During this whole embarrassing episode, Preacher and Russ were blissfully ignorant to what was going on....or they acted like it. I don't think my face had ever been or will ever be that red again.

When? When? When?

I went to see my doctor again yesterday. I am getting down to the nitty gritty now. 8 days is what my ticker says. We'll see. I'm beginning to think that his assessment last week (that I'm going to have to be induced) is going to be correct. He checked me. No change. Nothing. Nada. Zip. I haven't had contractions...that I know of. Actually, I can't tell. Is that stupid? Yes. I always thought I would just know if I was having contractions. But lately, I've been second guessing myself. Chloe had moved down, but at times the very top of my bump gets really tight. I thought it was just Chloe snuggling up to my ribs, but I'm wondering if it's contractions. They aren't consistent so it's not like I'm in labor and don't know it. They don't hurt. It's just tightness at the top of my stomach. I asked my Mom what she thought and she thinks it's just Chloe moving around still. I trust her judgement since she has had four kids. Maybe I'm just wanting some kind of progress so badly that I'm making up reasons to think I am progressing. Okay, enough about my insecurities. Moving on. My blood pressure was high again. 146/90 this time. My OB isn't concerned about it at this point, but we're keeping an eye on it. No protein in my urine still which is good. Weight gain is non-existent for some unknown reason. I actually lost a pound some how. With all of the ice cream I've been eating, this is very surprising to me. Again, Doc isn't concerned about it. I just find it odd that my last three appointments, my weight has been the same and now I've lost a pound.

The greatest thing about my appointment yesterday was that I was in the exam room on time. My OB came in and started the appointment. A couple minutes after he came in, his nurse came in and told him he had a phone call. So he leaves the room and his nurse comes back. He had to go catch a baby....in the middle of my appointment! HA! About 30 minutes later, he gets back. I was amazed at how fast it was! He told me that he loves births like that because the mother was in minimal pain and it went quickly. He was beaming. I just loved how I got to see that side of him. I've always liked him as my doctor and I look up to him for advice about my medical side, but now I see how human he is and how much he loves what he does. I loved it when I saw that side of Obi-Wan Kenobe (my infertility doctor) and it's just as nice to see that side of my OB (whom I never did give a really great nickname to).

I had convinced myself that April 9th was going to be the day and April 9th is almost gone so I guess I was wrong. Humph. Here is a list of the reasons why I decided this:

1. It's the full moon tonight.
2. We have plans Friday evening to go to a baseball game.
3. My Mom and Dad went out of town to see my Aunt.
4. It's my nephews birthday
5. My doctor is out of town this weekend.

I guess Murphy's law only goes into effect when you aren't ready for it.

Breastfeeding Class

I was looking forward to this class the most. It stunk, though. I don't know if it was the fact that it was very, very basic...like if you have ever seen a woman breastfeed, you would have gotten more out of watching that than the stupid class or if it was the couple up front that thought everything was hilarious. Seriously, grow up. Or maybe it's just the fact that I'm exhausted and between the lack of real information and the everything-is-hilarious-couple, I was irritated throughout the whole class. My lamaze instructor did a little bit on breastfeeding and I got just as much out of her 10 minute spill as the two hour class tonight. And there's a part 2 next week if I want to go to that. Oh goody. I didn't sign up for it so I won't be gracing that class with my presence. I'm so annoyed right now...mainly because of the couple up front. If you are going to take a class like this, then you need to be mature enough to not laugh when the instructor whips out the fake boob. Also, we watched a video that, naturally, had a lot of uncovered breasts and they thought every one of those breasts were funny, too. The poor instructor was being laughed at every time she said something remotely "embarrassing." The highlight of the evening was when the instructor told us that "you don't need to drink cows milk to make people milk." Wow. You don't say. Because I always thought that cows drank goats milk to produce their own milk....

Bump Watch - 38 Weeks

Sorry this post is late. Our internet was down yesterday and this morning. Well, as you can see, I'm getting bigger. I'm doing good, though. I'm still swelling a little and my blood pressure is a bit high, but other than that, no complaints...and those aren't really complaints, more observations. Chloe has dropped this past week. I thought she had and then my Mom said something about it Monday and then a few of the girls at work have made comments about it. It's exciting that there is progress being made and she is obviously getting ready to vacate the premise. The oddest symptom I'm having right now is numbness on my tummy. It's just a small patch (about the size of a baseball) at the top of my bump. It's an odd sensation. It isn't numb all the time, just here and there.

I went to a book store last night and bought the book "Baby-Wise". It was recommended to me by a few people and I decided I could get that for some reading material while I oh-so-patiently wait for these last couple of weeks to pass. Russ and I attended our last lamaze class today. I really enjoyed the classes. They were informative and I'm glad to go into this process feeling a little more prepared for what is to come...as prepared as one who has never done this can be anyway. I have my breastfeeding class Tuesday evening and then we have tickets to a baseball game on Friday. After that we just wait.

Weight gain: 23 pounds.

That's all for now. I'm going to go take a nap. It was a long week with work being super busy and with all the other evening activities we have had. I hope you all are doing great and as always, thank you for reading about my life.

Busy, busy, busy

A lot has been going on this week! First, though, it's TP Thursday! YEA!

I am 37 weeks 6 days pregnant and 11 TP squares round.

Also, I saw my OB again today. I'm still closed up tight. His professional opinion is that I'm going to go over my due date and he is going to have to "evict" the child. Seriously, he said "evict." My blood pressure was high today at 148/88. If you've kept up with my blog since my infertility days, this isn't that unusual for me. I'm surprised I've been able to keep it under control this long. Doc isn't worried about it yet, though. We'll wait and see what it is next week. My urine is still protein free so I'll just keep drinking the water like I have been. I do think that the amount of water I drink is adding to my swelling issues. My feet seriously look like sausages and I no longer have ankle bones. What makes me think that it's water weight is that I drink over 100 ounces of water per day, but don't urinate much out. Or at least I don't seem too. Maybe my perception is off, though. I have not gained any weight the last three appointments. It's so odd how much I watched my weight durng most of this pregnancy and I worked out. Well, now I have stopped working out and haven't even taken a walk in a week, I've stopped watching what I eat and I haven't gained anything in three weeks. Oh well, I guess my body is just funny.

Russ and I attended the Infant CPR class on Tuesday evening. I really enjoyed it and it was so informative. There was a lot of information about car seats that I was so glad to get. I had been wondering about LATCH vs. seat belts and what the safest seat was for the baby and this course addressed both issues. I did go ahead and reinstall the base with the LATCH system. I had installed it with both, but that is apparently a no-no. I was going to research the issue before using it like that, but hadn't gotten around to it before the class. Anyway, I ended up actually sitting on the base and squishing it into the seat to get it as snug as it needed to be. I just didn't have the strength to do it without my whole body. I also switched it to the middle seat instead of the seat behind shotgun. I just hope Russ' long legs have a little room to drive...though, it's not looking so good. The CPR part of the course was also great. I'm glad I know how to do it, but I hope to never ever have to use the knowledge. Even doing CPR on the weird silver alien babies was a bit much. Surreal.

That's it for now. I'll do my normal bump watch post tomorrow evening after work. For now I leave you with this funny story.

Scene: Russ and I in bed trying to go to sleep. I had my frigid feet on his very warm legs trying to get them to thaw out.

Russ: "Your socks are really itchy."

Me: "....I'm not wearing any socks...."

I haven't been able to reach my feet comfortably to give myself a pedicure lately, but, by golly, I sure found a way after that comment!