It is Memorial Day weekend. This is one of those times I don't like being "old". As a child and then a teenager/younger adult we always had something fun planned for Memorial Day weekend. The only exceptions were the springs that were wet and pushed planting into the end of May. Here I sit today, a non-farming adult, with absolutely no plans for the weekend.....and dh has no intention of making any either. (((sigh))) So here we sit. The boys are mowing the yard.....I canned 6 pints of cherries this morning and did the normal housekeeping duties. Dh took a nap.
Abby is growing well. At her 2 week appt. she had already gained over a pound, weighing in at 8 lbs 8 ozs. She sleeps really well at night and is becoming more alert during the day. I swear she must be deaf though because she very rarely even flinches when the chaos is swirling around her. LOL
I am feeling really well with the exception of the headache I have had for 4 days now. My incision is healing well with just a little pain on the left side after I have been doing something I probably shouldn't. LOL
I am very glad that Lee is done with school for the year. It is very nice to have all my children home together for the summer. Of course, with camps and such we won't be together all summer, but that's ok.
I hope that the beginning weekend of summer is a fun/safe/happy time for all of my friends!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Our Miracle - Abigail Caroline
So here is her birth story.
We got to the hospital for her induction (scheduled due to the fact that they think she weighed heavy) at 6 a.m. May 11, 2010.I was immediately hooked up to pictocin and all that jazz. The dr. came in and broke my water about 8 a.m. He became concerned because her arm was above her head and instructed the nurse to watch it.
*****sidebar - 2 of my nurses for the day had been nursery nurses at St. Anthony's when I was born 6 weeks premature 32 years ago and they remembered me. I was there for 4 weeks then and that was pretty rare. LOL One even brought in a picture that she had of me right before I was dismissed. It was great!*******
Around noon the contractions were fairly intense and every 2-3 mins. apart. The nurse kept coming in and pulling the baby's heart rate sheet off the monitor but I didn't pay much attention.....I was otherwise occupied. LOL The nurse decided to check the babies position and how much progress I had made. Big problem....baby's arm was still above her head and BIGGER problem was that every time I had a contraction her heartrate went from 150 to 50. Every 2-3 mins. She called the doctor. He got there about 1 p.m. checked me and immediately called for an emergency c-section. He said that if I would have been a 10 he would have delivered me but I was only dilated to a 5.....her arm was the only thing coming out. LOL
So.......I quickly signed papers, got shaved, got my catheter, met the anesthesiologists, etc. Was wheeled down the hall......crying. I told my mom I loved her (only 1 could come back to OR with me). Norman donned his scrubs. They gave me a spinal block which wasn't nearly as bad as I might have imagined although he had to do the actual needle stick while I has having a contraction (they had turned off the pitocin but I was still contracting although not as frequently). Norman was brought in, cutting was started.........Abigail was born at 1:21 p.m. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and her arm was delivered last. LOL She rated a 9 on both apgar scores. I was stitched up and returned to recovery. I didn't really have any problems with the spinal. After 1.5 hrs I was moved to my regular room. Norman brought her in to me after I got settled in recovery. She is beautiful. She has the longest little feet and toes :)
C-section recovery is not fun. Although all the baby books tell you that you will stay an extra 2-3 days in the hospital after a c-section, that isn't so in Effingham. LOL I was booted out exactly 48 hrs. after her birth. The pain is excruciating. And this is from the lady who delivered the first 3 without any pain medication. LOL Norman says I have a very high tolerance for pain. So I have been sitting mostly. Getting out of bed is agony. Friends say to walk and I am trying but I am bent over at a weird angle and it is terribly painful. I am hoping for improvement.
Abigail is wonderful. She is the most precious gift from God. I am so thankful for L&D nurses who were watching that monitor and knew what they were looking for. We could have lost her so easily. Also, the nurses in OR were great.....although I didn't find out until afterwards they kept having to give me epinephrin in my IV because my blood pressure kept going low. The OR was such a calm place though....you wouldn't have ever known that there was an emergency or that anything was wrong with me in there. That really helped with my anxiety level.
So we are very thankful to be through this and so very thankful that we are safe and healthy. Everyone is adjusting and Norman is taking wonderful care of all of us. We have been very blessed and protected by God this past week.
We got to the hospital for her induction (scheduled due to the fact that they think she weighed heavy) at 6 a.m. May 11, 2010.I was immediately hooked up to pictocin and all that jazz. The dr. came in and broke my water about 8 a.m. He became concerned because her arm was above her head and instructed the nurse to watch it.
*****sidebar - 2 of my nurses for the day had been nursery nurses at St. Anthony's when I was born 6 weeks premature 32 years ago and they remembered me. I was there for 4 weeks then and that was pretty rare. LOL One even brought in a picture that she had of me right before I was dismissed. It was great!*******
Around noon the contractions were fairly intense and every 2-3 mins. apart. The nurse kept coming in and pulling the baby's heart rate sheet off the monitor but I didn't pay much attention.....I was otherwise occupied. LOL The nurse decided to check the babies position and how much progress I had made. Big problem....baby's arm was still above her head and BIGGER problem was that every time I had a contraction her heartrate went from 150 to 50. Every 2-3 mins. She called the doctor. He got there about 1 p.m. checked me and immediately called for an emergency c-section. He said that if I would have been a 10 he would have delivered me but I was only dilated to a 5.....her arm was the only thing coming out. LOL
So.......I quickly signed papers, got shaved, got my catheter, met the anesthesiologists, etc. Was wheeled down the hall......crying. I told my mom I loved her (only 1 could come back to OR with me). Norman donned his scrubs. They gave me a spinal block which wasn't nearly as bad as I might have imagined although he had to do the actual needle stick while I has having a contraction (they had turned off the pitocin but I was still contracting although not as frequently). Norman was brought in, cutting was started.........Abigail was born at 1:21 p.m. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and her arm was delivered last. LOL She rated a 9 on both apgar scores. I was stitched up and returned to recovery. I didn't really have any problems with the spinal. After 1.5 hrs I was moved to my regular room. Norman brought her in to me after I got settled in recovery. She is beautiful. She has the longest little feet and toes :)
C-section recovery is not fun. Although all the baby books tell you that you will stay an extra 2-3 days in the hospital after a c-section, that isn't so in Effingham. LOL I was booted out exactly 48 hrs. after her birth. The pain is excruciating. And this is from the lady who delivered the first 3 without any pain medication. LOL Norman says I have a very high tolerance for pain. So I have been sitting mostly. Getting out of bed is agony. Friends say to walk and I am trying but I am bent over at a weird angle and it is terribly painful. I am hoping for improvement.
Abigail is wonderful. She is the most precious gift from God. I am so thankful for L&D nurses who were watching that monitor and knew what they were looking for. We could have lost her so easily. Also, the nurses in OR were great.....although I didn't find out until afterwards they kept having to give me epinephrin in my IV because my blood pressure kept going low. The OR was such a calm place though....you wouldn't have ever known that there was an emergency or that anything was wrong with me in there. That really helped with my anxiety level.
So we are very thankful to be through this and so very thankful that we are safe and healthy. Everyone is adjusting and Norman is taking wonderful care of all of us. We have been very blessed and protected by God this past week.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Tomorrow
I was dilated at 2 cm at my appt. today so tomorrow morning 5/11/10 we are to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. for induction. Prayers for a safe and speedy delivery are appreciated. Thanks a bunch!
Saturday, May 08, 2010
38 weeks 2 days
That's how far along I am.
I love being pregnant, really I do, but at this time in the game I am done. D O N E done. At the last ultrasound 2 weeks ago, baby Abby weighed an estimate of 6 lbs 11 ozs. I do realize that is an estimate and that it can be off +/- .5 to 1 lb either way. EITHER WAY. So she might not have been that big......or she might have been a giant. One way or the other. Dr. Schulties is generally not impressed with my baby growing skills. At last week's appt. he said that this Monday (May 10th) we would be scheduling the induction. Now, you would think that the over-cooked pregnant woman would jump at the chance to be induced. You would be forever wrong. You see, I have been induced all 3 other times I was pregnant. Lee and Greg were induced at 40 weeks (on their due dates) and Bear was induced 11 days early (high fluid levels). I've never went into labor on my own.....never had the excitement of rushing to the hospital......never been able to labor for even part of the operation in the relative comfort of my own home. I would really love this time to be different. I also dread a long labor. Here are my stats so far - start to finish - Leland no dilation or anything 28 hrs., Gregory no dilation or anything 15 hrs., Bear dilated to 3 cm upon arrival at hospital 6 hrs. I am also one of the dummies that refuses pain medication. LOL Now you understand my reluctance to have a long drawn out labor. I would really like to have a repeat of Bear's delivery (minus the hour or so it took them to stitch up things that shouldn't need to be stitched up afterwards - without pain medication again I might add - although I would have gladly taken the pain medication at that point - but the nurses were too busy dealing with bad lighting and excessive bleeding on my part). Sooooo.....when we go to the appt. on Monday, if I am dilated, I will be agreeable to whenever the dr. wants to induce.....Norman would prefer Tuesday. LOL If I am not dilated I am going to beg and plead that we wait for Friday the 14th.....just to give little miss an opportunity to assist a little in the process. I will note that I have been having contractions of varying strengths for about 3 weeks now......3 WEEKS. Yeah.....and probably it is my luck that I have made NO progress. I guess we will see Monday. So there ya go. Probably way more information than you wanted. I bet ya like my logic though.....don't ya???? LOL
Oh, and the viagra comments have stopped, thank goodness.......now I have comments about various herbal supplements and modeling agencies. Like anyone would hire me at a modeling agency. (rolling eyes)
I love being pregnant, really I do, but at this time in the game I am done. D O N E done. At the last ultrasound 2 weeks ago, baby Abby weighed an estimate of 6 lbs 11 ozs. I do realize that is an estimate and that it can be off +/- .5 to 1 lb either way. EITHER WAY. So she might not have been that big......or she might have been a giant. One way or the other. Dr. Schulties is generally not impressed with my baby growing skills. At last week's appt. he said that this Monday (May 10th) we would be scheduling the induction. Now, you would think that the over-cooked pregnant woman would jump at the chance to be induced. You would be forever wrong. You see, I have been induced all 3 other times I was pregnant. Lee and Greg were induced at 40 weeks (on their due dates) and Bear was induced 11 days early (high fluid levels). I've never went into labor on my own.....never had the excitement of rushing to the hospital......never been able to labor for even part of the operation in the relative comfort of my own home. I would really love this time to be different. I also dread a long labor. Here are my stats so far - start to finish - Leland no dilation or anything 28 hrs., Gregory no dilation or anything 15 hrs., Bear dilated to 3 cm upon arrival at hospital 6 hrs. I am also one of the dummies that refuses pain medication. LOL Now you understand my reluctance to have a long drawn out labor. I would really like to have a repeat of Bear's delivery (minus the hour or so it took them to stitch up things that shouldn't need to be stitched up afterwards - without pain medication again I might add - although I would have gladly taken the pain medication at that point - but the nurses were too busy dealing with bad lighting and excessive bleeding on my part). Sooooo.....when we go to the appt. on Monday, if I am dilated, I will be agreeable to whenever the dr. wants to induce.....Norman would prefer Tuesday. LOL If I am not dilated I am going to beg and plead that we wait for Friday the 14th.....just to give little miss an opportunity to assist a little in the process. I will note that I have been having contractions of varying strengths for about 3 weeks now......3 WEEKS. Yeah.....and probably it is my luck that I have made NO progress. I guess we will see Monday. So there ya go. Probably way more information than you wanted. I bet ya like my logic though.....don't ya???? LOL
Oh, and the viagra comments have stopped, thank goodness.......now I have comments about various herbal supplements and modeling agencies. Like anyone would hire me at a modeling agency. (rolling eyes)
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