Delivery!

It has been nearly 3 months since I had my little man but I have been so busy with him and life I haven't had a chance to sit and write down his birth story! 

I had one other Dr's appt before I had him and it was just like the previous two, no dilation, baby was head down (super low as usual on my bladder!), my vitals were great, NST was great. 

On monday February 11th I had a normal day of cleaning, I decided to wash some bottles and get some more stuff together for the baby. I had contractions all through the day and some lower back pain. None of this was unusual or any worse than normal for me so I went about my day. I made dinner and my husband, my 6 year old and I were sitting at our dinner table. We were talking about when the baby might come and on what day each of us thought he would come when I felt what I thought was my water breaking. It was very light, not like the gush I had with my previous son, but when you have felt it before you remember the feeling. 

I'm sure I got an odd look on my face and looked at my husband said calmly "I think my water just broke." "What?" he said, "Are you sure?" I got up from the table took a few steps (out of view of my son) and pulled down my pants to check. "Yup, pretty sure." I said and began to waddle to the bathroom. By the time I got to the toilet I was hollering at him: "Yup, it definitely broke!" All I could think was "Dangit!" Because it was 5 weeks early. I was instantly worried about him not being able to breathe on his own, not being able to take him home, etc. I of course had hardly anything packed. I had packed the baby's bag after washing all the baby items and put the baby stuff away, but I had pretty nothing packed for myself. 

So we set about calling family and friends who would be watching our son and got all my things together. My contractions were very regular and coming closer together, so I knew I was definitely having good labor patterns. It took about 30 mins to get everything packed and everyone called. We headed to our friend’s house to drop off our 5 year old son. When we got to their house (a short 10 min ride) I waited in the car while my husband ran him inside. My contractions were coming stronger and closer together. We quickly headed to the German OB hospital (another quick 10-15 min ride) and were met at the door by one of the midwives and brought back to an exam room. I have her my mütterpass, which is a small German OB medical record book and let her know what all had happened. On the way to the exam room she informed us that since I was early I wouldn’t be able to deliver early at St. Elizabeth’s because they did not have a NICU and I would have to go over to Heidelberg.  She did a quick pelvic check on me and let me know it was safe to drive over to Heidelberg and that she would not have to call an ambulance. I asked her how many centimeters I was dilated and she said "3". "ok" I replied. "How many did you think you were?" she asked me. "Around there," I said. So we headed back out to the car and headed to Heidelberg which luckily wasn't far, however we weren't sure which part of the hospital we needed to get to. Eventually we pulled up to the front entrance we, which had only two parking spaces for emergencies and my husband turned to me and said maybe I should go park in the parking garage. "Don't you dare!" I said as my contractions had started to come every 3 minutes on the way to Heidelberg. We managed to wind our way through the hospital and get to the OB floor. I believe we got there around 8:45pm. We were placed in a exam room that was large and dimly lit with an exam table, and a few chairs and a sink. I found out later from one of the midwives that I labored in one of the triage rooms because they were so busy that I never had enough time to make it into a laboring room. I initially laid on the table when I got into the room and I quickly realized that laying made my back and stomach pain much more intense and got back up. After being in the room for a short bit someone came in to do an ultrasound to check on the baby's position to make sure he was head down. To me it seemed like it was a half an hour after we were put in the room, but when you are in labor time becomes very distorted. I eventually found that sitting on a rolling stool was very nice to get me through my contractions. Between the waves I would rest my head on my arms that were on the counter or place a wet paper towel on my forehead and when a surge would hit I would rock back and forth on the stool. I went into a zone and though yes it was painful, it was not unbearable. I began moaning through the contractions, somewhat unbeknownst to myself and one of the midwives came in and said she would like to check me. (I now realize that this can be an indicator that labor has progressed!) I climbed on the table and she checked me and said I was complete! (We had only been at the hospital for an hour and a half at this point) I was so glad to get off that table! And as soon as I did a surge hit, and I didn't know what do without my stool. I tried going from foot to foot and the midwife told me to sway my hips. The midwife let me know we would be moving to a labor room down the hall. Once the surge was over I started walking to the door and she had to wrap a blanket around me. I was ready to walk our pantsless, not a care in the world! I could tell my baby was about to come! as soon as we walked the short distance to the room another surge hit right as I climbed on the bed on hands and knees. The midwifes (another one had joined us now) got me facing the right way as I asked if I could push. They said yes, bless them. I will spare some details here except to say that with 2 contractions my son was born! He was so tiny and looked nearly identical to his brother. He was born at 10:44pm and weighted 5lbs 11oz, 17.32inches. I got to hold him for just a minute and then the midwives took him to the NICU. He was breathing just fine on his own and was nice and healthy, just tiny. His labor was very short at only about 4 hours, and I needed stitching. I asked the midwives to show me my placenta after it was delivered and there was one small clot on it which could have been left over from the hematoma. My placenta also was not perfectly round and the attachment point for the vessels was a little unusual. Nothing super rare or unusual, but interesting none the less. 
After I was tended to I walked down the hall to the NICU and saw my baby boy. He was so adorable and tiny. It was hard going to my room that night without him. I will skip many details here... Baby boy stayed in the German NICU for 3 days and then was transferred to the pediatric hospital to gain weight. All in all he was in the hospital for 10 days. His big brother did not get to meet him until he came home. The days splitting my time between the hospital and home were difficult and yet so cherished because when I was at the hospital with him all I did was just hold him and love him. Just him and me.  

31 weeks

1/9/13
31 weeks

Happy New Year! We had another great appt today! I am 30 weeks and 5 days today, less than 10 weeks to go! I can't believe it. We had an ultrasound, and yes it is still a boy!! We don't have a name picked out, but both my husband and I have made a list and we are trying to compromise, also I want to see what this little guy looks like before we totally settle on a name.

We had an ultrasound today and he is measuring right on target and is estimated to be 3lbs 12oz. He had a round little tummy and short legs :) (his tummy measures 31-32 weeks and his femur 29 weeks). My Dr commented on the fact that he is right on my bladder, which I am very aware of! We did not get any pictures this time because the baby is so big that it is hard to get a good shot and with him being head down he kept turning his face away from the wand.

We also did another NST (non-stress test, which monitors for contractions and the baby's well being) and it came out excellent again. The Dr. said he is a very active boy, which we already know!

My cervix is still closed, but the Dr said that the baby is low, which confirms what I have been feeling (pressure in my pelvis). I think this is why I have been having a lot of hip pain this go round.

All in all I am feeling good, I have had some return of my morning sickness-just feeling nauseous a bit in the mornings. I have also been having some insomnia, which it totally abnormal for me, so I have been very tired. I also seem to be starting the "nesting" phase, which is kinda new to me because I was on bedrest with my first at this point. Trying to balance resting and getting things done that I want is a challenge. I got a little worried the other night because I had contraction severy 5 mins or so for about an hour and a half. I made sure to lay down and rest and they slowly went away thank goodness! That's about all that is going on!

Next appt is in 3 weeks, jan 31st.

 

(I really need to figure out a way to get pics and videos up here, I will have to take the time to upload to youtube or something...)

29 weeks

12/27/12
29 weeks

(still catching up on my backlogged entries)
Well we had a good Christmas and survived my son's 9 day stomach bug, only for my husband to come down with it on Christmas morning! :( My poor boys!
In the preggo news, I am still feeling good and everything seems to be coming along well. It amazes me how different this pregnancy is from my first. I didn't realize how easy of a pregnancy my first was! This time around I have every pregnancy ailment they speak of in the books! The hardest to deal with has been the hip and back pain. I have been trying to sleep with a body pillow at night and the days that are more painful wear a belly support band, but neither make it go all the way away!
My 29 week check up went really well. They started doing the NST's (non-stress test, the baby's heartrate and contractions are monitored. It's used as an indicator of baby's well being and to detect pre-term labor, which we know I am at increased risk of developing). The NST was excellent and I only had one contraction. I have been having a lot of Braxton Hick's and some are them are a little painful. The baby was what they call reactive, meaning he had normal accelerations and decelerations of heartrate. He was very active and kept moving around, even my Dr. commented on how active he was! My Dr. also did a digital cervical check (a pelvic exam) and my cervix is nice and closed, and the baby is head down already. He also did a vaginal sonogram to measure the length of my cervix, which was also good, still long thank the Lord! The rest of my bloodwork came back and was all good, even my iron (yay!). So we are just plugging along and the hematoma seems to be gone, gone, gone! Thank the Lord. I am struck by these moments where the beginning of my pregnancy just seems like a bad dream. I am so thankful that everything has worked out so well, and pray for the women that it doesn't work out well for. I can only hope that my story helps someone else who is going through something similar!

(Still no pictures or video this time)

25 weeks

1With the holidays and craziness I was bad and didn't make any posts, so here is a little catch up!

1/30/12
  I had my 25 week appt and things are looking very good. I had to do a glucose tolerance test that screens for gestational diabetes. I had to drink a ton of the not the greatest drink after having fasted for 10 hours and then have my blood drawn. I will hear if I passed it in about 4 or 5 days. (it ended up coming back normal) I seem to be finally catching up in the weight department and have gained about 15 lbs if you count all the weight I lost and then gained back. Because of me being high risk for pre term labor (from going into labor with my first pregnancy at 32 weeks and having it stopped, plus having had the hematoma in the begining of this pregnancy) my Dr was very thorough and checked my cervix both digitally and by sonogram. It is nice and long and closed still which is fabulous because I have been having quite a few braxton hicks contractions, some of which are painful. The baby is head down already, at least for the moment. He is very very active!!! My stomach looks alienish from all his movements. All in all there is much else to talk about, I'm just getting bigger!

  For some reason I'm not able to put a picture of video in like I usually do, but I will continue to try!

21/20 week anatomy scan

I'm 22 weeks now and a week and a half ago I had my 20 week anatomy scan US. The Dr had been called to do 2 emergency surgeries and was very backed up. Even though he was so backed up I wanted to see this busy peanut and get comfirmation that it's a boy! I waited 2 hours by the way, with a busy 5 yeard old!
Everything looked good, still no hematoma seen on the ultrasound and the placenta looks really good. Found out for sure that it is a boy! He looked really good and was measuring well. We had a hard time getting a picture of his profile because his face was towards my back and he kept turning away from the ultrasound. It was really an uneventful visit, which is fine by me!
I haven't had any bleeding now since about 17 weeks, I have been having braxton hicks, but that is normal. The baby is extremely active and making my belly look crazy with his movement.
I really don't have much else to say except that I feel so very blessed to be where I am today. I have started buying baby things, and it seems more realistic now with this big belly.

 smile!

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little mover:

19 weeks and 6 days

So I realized I never updated from my last appt (17 week appt)! oops! The appt was quick and everything was great. The Dr. checked my cervix and it was closed, fundus was where it should be and the heartbeat sounded great on doppler. I was hoping for an ultrasound because I had spotted/bled for so long after the last big bleed at nearly 14 weeks. It had stopped of course the day before the appt. We are still doing the magnesium supplements.

Next appt is in 1 week, it should have been this week but their office was closed all week. I will get an ultrasound at this appt, it is one of the bigger ultrasounds because they do an antaomy scan so it will be so nice to get a good long look at baby and confirm if it's a boy!! :) Sadly my husband can't go with me to the appt due to work, he has to go out of town :( I was hoping to record the ultrasound again for all my family in the states, but oh well! My mom tried to convince me to take my husband's giant tripod with me to the Dr's office! She's crazy (in a good way).

I can't believe that tomorrow I will be at the halfway mark! One of my many milestones that I never thought I would reach! Sometimes it is so sureal looking back and remembering how hopeless I felt sometimes that this pregnancy would ever truly make it. I feel much much better about the hematoma itself now, but my fears now stem from the fear of going into labor early. I already had higher than normal risk of going into labor early because of going into labor with my son at 32 weeks, even though they stopped it. Now that I have had the hematoma that increases my risks as well. I try not to worry because it's not healthy for me or the baby, but  I know the risks and the complications. My next milestone is 24 weeks which is considered "viability". It's the point at which Dr's will try to stop labor and if the baby is born early it will still have a chance of survival. I thank God every day for another day to love this little one and can't wait until the day I hold the baby in my arms, healthy and happy!
 

 a little video of the crazy little one rolling and kicking in my belly!
 

15-16 week musings

9/24/12

(15 weeks and 2 days)I have decided to go back on the Zofran here and there if not every day. The nausea and vomiting is just too intolerable. I’m hoping if I can try to not take it every day I will not get as constipated as last time. I have been very depressed this past week and I know a lot of it stems from the poor quality of life I’m currently experiencing being stuck in bed and puking all the time. Also I’m going to have to be more active at least the next two weeks because my husband is working days again which means I will have to drop my son off for school every morning and pick him up from the bus stop (which is a couple blocks to walk to), make dinner, and bring my son to soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. Before my dear hubby was doing literally everything, I haven’t been cooking, cleaning or doing anything except bringing my son to school in the mornings and doing anything I can when I’m not nauseous or bleeding. I am hoping that this isn’t going to be too much activity and will cause another bleed (even though I’m still spotting). I am going to have to remind myself to rest during the day, but it’s difficult because all I want to do is break the chains of being confined to bed.

 

 

10/4/12

16 weeks and 5 days

It’s been 3 weeks since my big bleed. I’m still spotting which is just annoying, but I’m feeling really good! The nausea and vomiting has finally subsided! Thank the lord! I usually get sick once or twice a day, usually in the morning and not every day. I've been taking the zofran only every once in awhile and my digestion has seemed to normalize besides being hungry a lot and craving pickles so much I have resorted to drinking the pickle juice. Such a relief to not be as sick! I have been being relatively active, although I am still taking it easy and spend a few hours in bed in the mornings after taking my son to school and doing some chores. I am just feeling so good I wanted to jot it down and remember it! I have started to feel small baby movements, which is exciting. I thought I had been feeling them, but it’s hard to differentiate between baby and my crazy digestive system! Now I'm sure it's baby. My belly is getting bigger too and there are only 2 pairs of normal pants I can wear now, shirts are getting too short, let’s not even talk about bras! I’ve added almost 2 inches to both my belly and my bust! I don’t think I look pregnant to strangers or people who don’t know though. I of course feel huge. I think I’ve finally gained some lbs back, but we don’t have a scale so I will have to wait until Tuesday for my appointment. I’m hoping Dr. H will do an ultrasound to check for the hematoma since I have still been spotting, but I don’t think he will. Five more days till my appointment.