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Rebekah Sex: girl Born: 10 May, 2008 Age: 3 years & 283 days Birthday in: 82 days Starsign: Taurus Development: See the 32 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Rolls over, sits up on her own, just started scooting backwards a little. She hugs mommy`s neck, especially right before bed and when mommy`s about to leave for work and gives `kisses` (mouth wide open on the cheek). Almost 18 months: She`s running around everywhere, can say probably about 30 words, gives kisses (closed mouth now, with a mwwah sound effect!), knows her body parts, listens most of the time when we tell her `no` or `not for Bekah`, melts mommy`s heart with her big brown eyes and her irresistable, contagious smile!

Type of birth: Vaginal with epidural
Duration of labor: 11 hours
Weight: 8lbs 5.4 ounces
Height: 21"

Birth Story
We went into the hospital on Saturday morning at 8:30 to get induced, they took us upstairs and got us set up, I got into the gown, they checked me and I was at almost 4 cm and about 85% effaced but I wasn't contracting regularly, so they got an IV of fluids started, checked my blood sugar (because of the gestational diabetes) and went to hook up the pitocin, but the tubing wasn't working with the pump so they went to get some different tubing and as the nurse was coming back into the room with the tubing my water broke which sent me into labor and started the contractions HARD, but they were irregular. that was at 10:30 am. at 1 I got my epidural (I went in with a plan to have an epidural, I'm a wimp, I had no desire to do it without medicine!) and I felt a lot better. They had me flipping back and forth from one side to the other because Rebekah was sunny side up. after about an hour of no change they threatened us with pitocin again if we didn't progress any further by the next hour, we did progress though, a centimeter, and we effaced a little more, but they told us if it didn't keep progressing they'd put us on pitocin, apparently just the threat of it was enough to keep her progressing, and at around 7:15 I started feeling like I needed to push and we started really pushing at about 7:30 when the doctor came in. Dr. Frank was really great! He got a little worried though because Rebekah's baseline heartbeat had gone up to 170 bpm which is pretty high and was going up to around 200 during contractions when we'd push, and found out that I had developed a low grade fever during labor, and that combined with her higher heartbeat had the doctor a little worried so he wanted to get her out fast. I pushed for a while but she wasn't coming quick enough so the doctor told us that we'd have to either use forceps to help guide her out and I'd have to really step it up on the pushing, or we'd have to go c-section. I got kind of upset at the idea of a c-section and I started crying and he told me that I'd have to be strong and push this baby out if I didn't want to have a c-section. so I started pushing even harder and he got the forceps as she got closer he got them on her, I had to have an episiotomy because of the forceps, and unfortunately I didn't get numb in the area where it counted most, the epidural didn't work down there for me which was a bummer, so I felt everything going on. We pushed for a little while longer and at 9:19 Rebekah was born, they put her on my tummy for about a minute but we were having problems, because of the infection that caused the fever my uterus wouldn't contract after pushing Rebekah out, it was just done, so they started some pitocin, but even that wouldn't make it contract, Dr. Frank even put his whole arm up there (twice!) to squeeze the uterus, when he squeezed it it would stop bleeding but as soon as he let go I'd start gushing blood again, they even turned the mirror so I wouldn't be able to see what was going on anymore. They took Rebekah from me, weighed her and did her measurements and gave her to Kevin while they took me to the Operating Room to stop the bleeding. They ended up putting me out (which was great for all of us, I was a little jumpy since I could feel everything going on) and put a balloon filled with water and a couple rag kind of things to stuff my uterus so it would stop bleeding. They then gave me 2 units of blood to replace what I'd lost. Kevin brought Rebekah into the Operating Recovery Room so I got to see her one more time that night after my surgery though I didn't get to hold her until the next morning, she spent the night in the NICU and Kevin video taped her first bath for me since I couldn't be there for it. I stayed on the 3rd floor until Monday afternoon when they moved us up to the 4th floor (usually you only stay there for the first hour or two after the birth) and we stayed in the hospital until Wednesday afternoon. So it was a rough start but we're doing much better now!
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The pregnancy with Rebekah:

My Pregnancy Diary....

September 15, 2007

Kevin and I found out that we're pregnant a week ago last Thursday, I was 6 days late for AF and I confessed this to my best friend, Michelle, who immediately told me I had to take a test that night! I told her I had planned on taking one the following morning and that I only had one test so she went to the store and picked up a test and some ice cream, for either celebration, or consolation! She came over with her daughter (who's almost a year) and I didn't have to pee! I had gone right before leaving work, so I chugged down 4 glasses of milk trying to make myself have to go! about the time that I was ready, her husband had showed up (for dinner) and my husband got off work (he was working late) so I disappeared into the bathroom to do my part! I had just dumped out the rest of the pee from the cup and had just rinsed it out when I glanced back over the test, a second line was already showing up!!!! I couldn't hardly talk, so I just ran out of the bathroom and showed my husband!! He broke into a grin, ear to ear! he hugged me and scooped me up and he was so excited! Michelle even started crying (shes pregnant too! 11 weeks!)! I called my mom first and she was super excited!! We're all very excited and I'm super excited to be pregnant with my best friend! The next morning I took the test I was going to take anyway and got another positive! so I called my family doctor and they had me do a urine test and it came out positive also! so I have 3 positives! yay! I haven't found a OB/GYN yet, I'm still looking but since I have an HMO I think my family doctor has to recommend one and I can't get into my family doctor again until October 2nd! I'll already be 8 1/2 weeks and then however long it takes to get into the chosen OB/GYN... hopefully it won't take too long! I'm anxious to get in and get our first ultra sound and find out if our estimated due date is correct and if there's multiples since there is the possibility with it coming down both sides of our family, since I'm a twin and my husband's dad is too!

So far the symptoms I've had are having to pee more, getting nauseated after eating and sore breasts! oh, and I've had an almost constant runny/stuffy nose since a few days before I found out. I don't have any feelings on what its going to be yet, but I did have a dream that we had a boy, we're not going to find out what it is, so until our baby is here we'll just guess with any feelings we get and maybe by dreams, it's just something to pass the time until our son or daughter is here!

October 6, 2007

Last Thursday we had our intake appointment, we've found our OB/GYN! And we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! it was so exciting! I couldn't stop smiling all day! :) We also got some labs taken, and we got scheduled for a limited ultrasound, I'm not sure what all that entails, but it's to find out if we're having one little angel or two, since twins run in my family, in the last 4 generations there are 5 sets of twins including me, plus my husband's dad is a twin, that's just too many, so they definitely think that it's a possibilty so we get to see our baby (or babies!) on the 18th to find out! I'm really excited! I can't wait to find out!

October 19, 2007

So yesterday we went in for our limited ultrasound (basically means it was just external). We're having one baby for sure! Yay! I was excited about the idea of twins, but I have to say I am really relieved that we are only having one right now! It's kinda nice to be able to ease into parenting, at least more than having 2 at the same time! :) It was exciting that we got to see our baby! I'd have to say probably one of the best moments of my life! so exciting! we saw it's heart beating and it was dancing, moving it's arms and legs around! it was so cute! and I can't wait until I can feel all those movements!! I bought a doppler online, it was a cheaper one, not really cheap, but I'm still trying to find my baby's heart beat with it, but we did find my best friend's baby's heart beat the first night we had it! she's 5 1/2 weeks further along than me and she's even feeling her baby move already! on another note, my morning sickness is getting a little better.. I'm starting to be able to eat a little bit more, I do better on the weekends when I get more sleep. my breasts are still really sore but they haven't really gotten bigger, they've filled out a tiny bit, and according to my husband gotten more firm, but not bigger yet... I keep expecting them to just explode out with how sore they've been, but it hasn't happened yet! :)

October 25, 2007

Last night I had dinner at my sister's place, her husband is an amazing cook, and he cooked up some lamb! YUM! Unfortunately for me, I'm still not eating too much... while my morning sickness has gotten better... it's not good yet... and I'm still dropping weight (pretty much the silver lining on the dark cloud of morning sickness!) which isn't a huge deal, since I was overweight to begin with, but still, I kinda miss eating :) My sister invited my best friend and her family over for dinner too, so since my best friend and I are both pregnant, I brought my doppler along... We found our baby's heartbeat! SOOOOO exciting!!! after looking for the baby's heartbeat with our own doppler, I realized that the heartbeat we heard at the doctor's (that the nurse TOLD us was the baby's) was mine, and not the baby's (it was WAY too slow for the baby's) so this is the first time we've actually heard our baby's little heart beating! I was so pumped! I just had the biggest goofiest grin on my face! Even my best friend teased me about it! :) of course then she got a kinda goofy grin when she heard her baby's heartbeat, and she's heard it several times now! (she'll probably read this and deny the goofy grin! :)) I think it's something you can't help, just hearing that little heartbeat is just exciting and calming at the same time, it's reassuring, cuz as long as you can hear it, you know that baby is doing ok in there! I'm also getting really excited because in just over a week (a week and 2 days) we're going to tell everyone, so far we've just told immediate family and a few close friends, so I'm REALLY excited to be able to tell everyone! November 3rd is the day! that's the day we move into week 13, so we'll have safely completed 12 weeks and I'll feel a little bit safer after that... at least I think I will! :)

Jan 24, 2008

Ok so obviously I haven't been really good at updating my pregnancy diary here, but SOOOO much has happened! I felt the first movements of the baby during my 17th week, and my husband felt it for the first time during my 22nd week, so he's been able to feel it for a couple weeks now, I felt it on the outside myself at the end of the 21st week but we couldn't get the little bug to move when daddy was trying to feel! Even now the baby tends to stop moving when a hand sits on my belly and we have to sit there for a few minutes before we can feel it on the outside. My inside does get pommeled a bit though, it doesn't hurt, but the kicks and punches are definitely getting stronger by the day! I need to post some new pics on here cuz my belly is getting a lot bigger. I'm not sleeping so well through the night already, there's the fact that just rolling over is a whole ordeal which wakes me up and takes some energy, and then the midnight trip to the bathroom, those are the normal wake ups, but the last few nights I've had problems, just getting sore to the point where it wakes me up. We had our 20 week ultrasound at the end of December and it seemed to go well, although the doctor didn't have the results at our last appointment so I'm sure I'll hear at the next appointment, but if anything had been wrong they probably would have contacted us by now. The day after our ultrasound my hubby put the crib my mom bought us together so now it's all put together, and that weekend we re-arranged our living room to make a nursery area since we have a 1 bedroom house. The ultrasound made the whole thing seem more real to my hubby! then not quite two weeks later he got to feel the baby for the first time which I thought was wonderful! The look on his face when he felt his child moving in my belly for the first time was PRICELESS! We were laying in bed when he felt it.

Last night I went and played racquetball with my hubby, my best friend, my sister and her hubby, it was a TON of fun, unfortunately I think I mighta stretched a ligament a little too far, so I stayed home from work today to rest and not put anymore stress on it, hopefully by tomorrow it'll be all better! I have my next appointment next Monday and I'm hoping to be all better by then, I'd hate to have to admit what I did to my doctor since I'm pretty sure racquetball is not on the list of exercises highly recommended for pregnant women! :) My hubby has an interview at a job that if he gets it will pay him enough that I won't have to work after the baby comes which is exciting for me, the only problem is that it's an hour away.. he'll have about an hour commute each way for work, I already commute 45 minutes each way in the other direction so while I'm still working until the baby comes we're going to have to get a second car that has pretty good milage so we can both commute, which isn't the end of the world since we kinda need to get a 4 door car to put the baby in anyway cuz the car we have now is 2 door, and I don't look forward to fighting a carseat into the back seat of that car! especially during an Oregon winter, lots of rain! If he gets an offer for this new job he's going to go to his bosses at the job he's at now and offer them a chance to meet the offer to keep him, if they can meet it and he can stay at his current job for the higher rate, well that would be fantastic! He works with my sister's husband and they're really good friends, they enjoy working together plus his commute is a whole block and a half away.. massive gas savings! and if he doesn't need to commute and I don't need to commute we'll probably save around $250/month! We'll see how it goes though, I realize that just because he has an interview it doesn't mean they'll hire him or even give him an offer. We'll just keep praying and know whatever is meant to be will be! I think that's about all that's really been going on.. I'll try to be better about updating on here, we only have 16 weeks left! Yay!

March 9, 2008

So it's been pretty hectic here the last couple weeks. at 29 weeks I went in for my 1-hour glucose screening test and found out later that day that I'd failed it, and found out the next day that I REALLY failed it, I got 209 (for those of you who don't know, 140 is the top number that you can have and pass) so since mine was so high they said not to even bother with the 3-hour glucose tolerance test and referred me to Sweet Moms, the program that the hospital hosts to teach women with gestational diabetes how to take care of themselves, and how to give themselves shots if they end up on insulin. My hubby is the BEST!! He has been so supportive and he's really helped me through this, I would be SOOOO overwhelmed if it weren't for his help! Last Wednesday (which was our 3 year anniversary! man time flies!) we spent the morning at Sweet Moms learning how to feed me and take my blood sugar... the dietitian said she wouldn't be surprised if I ended up on insulin because of how high I scored but so far we seem to be able to manage it through diet for the most part... I'm still learning what I can't eat, but so far if I stay away from a few things I have been able to get it under control.... like rice seems to be a problem for me... although it might have been that I just ate too much and didn't realize it... and for breakfast I can't eat all the carbs they told me I could, if I do my blood sugar shoots way up and stays up too long, so I just cut it back a little bit. I go into see my doctor again on Tuesday and Sweet Moms told me that she would decide if I get put on insulin to control, but at this point I'm feeling optimistic that we can control it with diet... although it's tough since I've craved sweets (fruit mostly) my entire pregnancy and now I can't really eat any, well, very little fruits... but it's easier to stay away from it when I know it's for my baby than if it's just for me. They actually have some pretty darn good no sugar added ice cream that's helped cure some of the sweet cravings! Speaking of my little bug, this baby has gotten ACTIVE the last week or two... it's great! I love all the movements! it's still kinda weird to me to see my belly jumping all over the place, but weird in a good way, although I have a hard time focusing at work a little bit cuz I get distracted just watching my tummy jump around! hahaha! Oh, and the dietitian said she thought we'd probably get induced at 38 weeks so I'm going to ask my doctor about that at my appointment on Tuesday so that I can make sure to get the right time requested off for my maternity leave... if we do get induced early there's only 7 more weeks till I get to hold my baby! I'm really excited and a little scared! haha! And I think I will miss being pregnant... other than having to watch my diet really closely now, I have REALLY enjoyed being pregnant! I love knowing that I get to take my baby to work with me every day, and obviously I can't do that after I have the baby. But I'm sure it'll be better to be able to hold my baby in my arms and hug and kiss him/her, and really I'm excited to find out what we're having! :)

We had my best friend's baby shower yesterday which was fun! She's so cute pregnant! The only down part of the party (for me) was when we did the ribbon game (where everyone cuts a piece of ribbon how long they think it would take to get around the mama's belly) and just for kicks and giggles I tried the one she cut that did actually fit around her and it didn't QUITE close around my belly.. it was close, but not quite... and she's SIX WEEKS ahead of me! haha! oh well! I'd be worried that it's because my baby is big because of the gd but at my last appointment the nurse practictioner said I measured perfectly for 29 weeks, so unless I grew dramatically in the last 2 weeks then I'm doubting that's the cause.. just probably because we are different shaped and are carrying differently. Other than that it was tons of fun! I hope she had as much fun! we went in with a couple friends and got her her crib and crib mattress and her mom got her the bedding set so last night after the party she went home and put it all together! how fun! I have my crib put together (have for 11 weeks now! :)) but no crib set yet... my baby shower is next Saturday though and I'm REALLY excited! We got the wall up for the nursery and the door is in, we just gotta texture and paint it now and put up the molding! I'm really excited, it makes me feel so much more ready, I didn't even realize how anxious I was feeling about it till it's pretty much done and it just feels like this big weight is lifted off my shoulders! even though Kevin wouldn't let me help! :) I was in more of a supervisory position! :) we have a couple more small tasks to do but the house is almost ready for a baby! and after my baby shower we should have more of the stuff we need to take care of our little angel! I can't wait! Anyway, it's off to bed for this preggo!

April 21, 2008

Ok, so I've been really bad about updating my diary here but I'm here again now to update everyone!

My best friend had her baby boy! 3 weeks ago now! He is SOOOO incredibly precious! He's such a little cutie like his big sister! I would totally steal him away if I wasn't about to have a baby of my own here soon! Congratulations sweetheart!

I'm 37 weeks pregnant and my next appointment is this Friday, I can't wait, but partially I can. I have my Strep B test which I'm not looking forward to, hopefully we don't have it so there's one less thing to worry about, but I am looking forward because the doctor is going to check us out and let us know how dilated/effaced we are, and I'm excited to find out about that! Last time I saw the doctor at 35 weeks she measured my belly and told us she didn't think that we'd make it to 42 weeks to be induced, she didn't tell us why, but I think it's cuz I was starting to drop, I'm about 98% sure we've dropped, though I have a hard time telling for sure because I'm carrying fairly low. We had an ultrasound at 33 weeks to see how the baby was growing since we have gd and the doctor wanted to make sure the baby wasn't getting too big, our baby measured at 4lbs 11ozs, which is apparently right at the 50th percentile, and if the baby stays on this curve, according to the doctor it should be about 7 1/2 lbs by our due date! Wahoo! I'm very excited about that! This whole pregnancy I've been rubbing my belly telling the baby that I ordered a 7lb baby! :) and as long as he/she doesn't gain too much weight in these last few weeks we're right on track... well, for one in the 7lb range, which is fine by me! Of course I'll love the baby whatever it weighs, but ya kinda assume that if the baby doesn't weigh too much then the head can't be too big right? :) I'm just really excited that we're getting close now! 3 weeks left till our due date!

On another note, my dad and his girlfriend came over and painted our nursery for us yesterday, which was really nice! They picked out the paint, the color was right, but it turned out a little brighter than I was hoping for but we'll give it a few days and see how it grows on us, if we really think it's still just too bright then we may go get a gallon of a shade or two more subdued but in the same color to just put a layer on top. Kevin is going to put the furniture back in the room and see if that'll help, cuz it might just seem to bright with all the walls completely open like they are. My dad's girlfriend also made little valances to go over our windows in the nursery, they're classic Pooh to go with the nursery theme and I think they really add to the room, make it feel a little more like a nursery, and then as the baby gets older, we can always change them out for another print that goes with the green, it's part of the reason why we wanted to go with a more neutral color, this way the room can grow with the baby without having to repaint too many times... as long as the baby likes green! :) Kevin took a bunch of old furniture to Goodwill to clear out some room in the garage so we don't have so many things shoved back in the nursery which is great! I can't wait to get everything back in the nursery and see how it looks without all the other stuff in there! We also got our car seat installed correctly at a car seat safety check at the hospital this weekend! So it was a very eventful weekend! We got a lot done and already I'm feeling a lot more prepared for this baby... which is probably a good thing since it COULD come any day now and be full term, but probably won't for another couple weeks... we'll know more after this next appointment I bet! But still, I'd like to be fready for this. Tonight Kevin and I are planning on packing our bags for the hospital just in case, and the diaper bag is packed already, that one has been for a little while. Our biggest slacking is that we don't have our pediatrician yet, so Kevin is calling around today and setting up meet & greet appointments to make sure we mesh with the doctors. We already have 2 in mind that are our front runners so if they're accepting patients we'll be able to find one really soon, if not, then we'll have to ask around for some recommendations on doctors, but that shouldn't be too hard considering my best friend used to work in a pediatric office :)

On yet another note, my co-workers have decided to throw me a baby shower! I think that's really sweet! I was shocked to say the least! I didn't think I'd get more than a "see ya!" as I left on the last day of work, if even that since the plan is to work up until I have this kid, no matter when that is so they couldn't even say "see ya" and know that I wasn't coming back unless we got to the point of being induced, which the doctor doesn't seem to think we will (I hope she's right)! So I'm really excited for it, I don't know how many people are going to come to it and I don't know if they're going to bring gifts or anything, but I'll be happy if they show up and have a piece of cake and just celebrate with me, that's what really counts to me, it's kind of an informal get together at the end of the day on May 1st, so hopefully I don't have the baby before then! Also at work, on May 5th, there's going to be a bunch of girls from a local high school coming to visit with women in the technical field and I'm signed up to be there, these are girls from a small town nearby and a lot of them don't even realize that they have options besides getting married and popping out babies, even some that do realize they can get jobs seem to think that that drafting and engineering is more of a man's world, so this is to kind of open their eyes to the technical world and show them it's not just a man's world! I'm really looking forward to doing that and the lady that's helping set this up was really excited about me signing up because not only am I a woman in a technical field, but I'm also hugely pregnant and it would be a good example to show the girls that hey, you can have your job and your family at the same time, and that companies like the one I work for are really flexible with hours and letting you work around the schedule you need, trying to accomadate you and your family. I have to say, my job has been GREAT to me throughout the pregnancy, not once has anyone complained that I've had to leave early or come in late for an appointment or complained that I'm working slightly lighter hours, especially since the 3rd trimester because I'm so exhausted, they seem to totally understand, I think almost all but a few of the newer engineers have kids so know how the end of a pregnancy can be draining. There haven't even been any complaints that I have been coming in a little bit later because of over sleeping after not sleeping so well the night before... Everyone has been really supportive about the whole thing. My company is very family oriented and they know that family has to come first to have happy employees so as long as your work doesn't suck because of it, and you're pulling your weight, they are really willing to let you work whatever schedule you want. For example, one of my co-workers comes in at 7:00 and leaves at 3:30, I don't get in until 9:30 or 10 and I leave at 6 or 6:30 and there are no problems with that because that's what works for us, and our work is still getting done at the high quality they expect. I usually commute 45 minutes each way for work, but for the last week I've been working out of one of our other offices that is actually in the town I live in which saves me the commute time and the energy, I will still be going down a couple more times before I have the baby (depending on when I have it of course), and that's my choice to go down, but it saves me from having to drive down every day and then drive back home, it's an hour and a half round trip, that much sitting can be tough on a pregnant body as I'm sure you all know, by the end of the trip my hips are sore and my back is sore, so because we have an office in the town I live in (they don't normally have drafters at this office beause there's no engineers here, it's a project office), they set it up so I could work from here and telecommute to my normal office... this way I can be closer to my hospital/doctor/husband should I go into labor at work, plus I wouldn't have to worry about the commuting so much. My boss is so great that he even suggested that when I come back from my maternity leave, since I'm coming back part time for the first little bit, that I work most of it from the office I'm working most my time in now, that way I can be closer to home and to my baby and I can go home on my lunch breaks to breast feed if I want to. He's really supportive of breastfeeding, he's got a young baby at home that his wife is still breastfeeding and he said she breastfed their first child till 16 months and he completely understands the benefits of it to the baby! I think it's fantastic that he's so supportive of it, it means a lot to me! I wasn't sure how he'd be since he just became my boss this last January (company reorganized) but he's been great, possibly even more understanding than my last boss!

oh, and just as a side note, I did have my baby shower with my family and friends about a month ago now and it was GREAT! We got lots and lots of clothes and diapers! surprisingly not a single bottle, though we did get our bottle warmer haha! but that's ok, we have a couple bottles from my best friend, and one that I got for free for signing up for something with the natural nipple and we figured anymore, we'd wait and see what kind of nipple the baby likes so we don't have a bunch of bottles that the baby won't even use. Besides, we're breastfeeding, so the baby will pretty much only be using bottles when I'm not there or if daddy wants to feed the baby. I had a lot of fun at my baby shower and many thanks to all that threw it for me and also for all that came! :)

An update on the gestational diabetes: I've been doing great, keeping it completely under control with diet alone, we had a follow up appointment with Sweet Mom's and shocked the dietician and the nurse with how well we're doing! No insulin for this mommy-to-be! my doctor was even so impressed with how well I've been doing that she said I don't even have to test all 4 times every day, I just need to get my fasting and 1 or 2 other readings (so that knocks out 1-2 finger pricks a day! Wahoo!). So we're doing really well with that. Obviously if the doctor told me that she didn't think I'd make it to 42 weeks that means she's NOT planning on inducing me at 38 weeks, she said they rarely do that anyway at that clinic since usually the gd only makes the babies really big if you're on insuline so she wasn't too worried that my baby would be large, and according to the ultrasound, as long as the measurements were right (and I know they can be up to about a pound off either way) we're right in the middle so our baby is doing really well! Still getting lots of kicks and hits, I swear this baby is practicing kickboxing in there! :) and while I've had one moment of "just get this out of me!" I'm still pretty dang happy to be pregnant, really enjoying it! I'm not saying I have a perfect pregnancy, we all pretty much get the aches and pains here at the end, but all in all, still enjoying having this baby growing in me! My doctor said it was refreshing at my last appointment, I was her first appointment of the day that didn't greet her with "I want this thing out of me!" haha! I've been cramping a lot more in the last few days, and the braxton hicks are getting stronger, a lot have them have moved from just tightness to down-right uncomfortable, I even had a couple on Friday that slowed me down quite a bit, which was a little scary since I was out in public and well, I'd really like to bake this bun a little longer... I don't think I'm quite ready to not be pregnant any more. Anyway, it turned out fine cuz it was just a couple of them and then the lightened up a lot, I still kept having BH contractions, but the got lighter and less frequent, so no labor yet for me! My baby gets the hiccups a lot too it seems, pretty much every day at least once, sometimes more! occasionally I'll have a day without hiccups, but it's not too common anymore! I hope that's normal!

Anyway, I've written a novel here and I'm gonna wrap this up! Since I'm so bad at writing, the next time you hear from me will probably be after I've had the baby! :) I'll try to write more before then, but if not, wish me luck! :)

April 28, 2008

So Friday we had an appointment, we've finally started our weekly appointments! We had our Strep B test which we'll find the results out for this Wednesday.. it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! We also had our first exam to see how we're progressing. We're already 2cm dilated (which isn't too much, I know) and 70% effaced! that was the part that surprised me! That sounds far along for me.. maybe it's not really, but it sounds like it! Then the doctor felt my belly (for the baby obviously!) and said she couldn't be absolutely sure, but she was pretty sure the baby was head down (which doesn't surprise me cuz every other time they've checked or we've had an ultrasound the baby has been head down, seems like pretty much this whole pregnancy it's been mostly head down) and she said it didn't feel like our baby was going to be very big, which is a BIG Yay for me! :) She asked us if we've been contracting, which we have and she took that as a good sign and said she didn't think we'd go much past our due date if at all. Mostly just confirming what she said last time with not thinking we'd make it to 42 weeks. It sounded like she thought we'd probably go before our due date though, which is cool, but I hope it's not too early, unlike a lot of the mommies on here sound like, I'm still really enjoying being pregnant! Plus I'm really looking forward to the high school girls coming into work. My feet and ankles are almost always swollen now, I can't seem to get them to get down all the way anymore, I think my little bean is blocking some circulation to them, but it won't be too much longer so I'm not really concerned. The doctor didn't say anything about it at my last appointment and my blood pressure is doing fine so no worries right now. I put my feet up every chance I get though to keep them as far down as possible. The contractions are getting a lot stronger too, but they're still Braxton-Hicks they're no where near constant enough to be real contractions. I've had more mucus lately, but I don't think it's my plug considering it's lacking the pink/bloody tinge I've heard it is supposed to have, as far as I know I haven't lost my plug yet. I have my next appointment on Wednesday which I'm really excited for, I wonder if we've progressed at all or if we're sitting at the same place, I can't wait to find out! I hate the exam part, not a big fan of sitting on the table with my legs spread for someone other than my hubby... I have a really hard time relaxing for those, even though I do really like my doctor, but it's worth it to find out how we're doing, and how the baby is doing. This Thursday is also my baby shower at work, so it'd be kinda nice to be able to make it to that... we'll see! This baby will come when it's good and ready and I know I don't really get a choice in when that is (unless we end up evicting it). I'm sure now that I'm getting all mentally prepared for it to come early/on time it's going to be late and we'll have to induce! Haha! Ok, I think that's about all the updates I have for now, so until next time! (probably in about a week or so assuming we haven't had the baby)

April 29, 2008

Ok, so you didn't have to wait so long to hear back from me this time! Yesterday afternoon I was in the rest room pushing to go number two (sorry if it's TMI), and I got this GUSH of fluid, since even when I have to pee BAD it usually only comes out in a hard stream, this was weird to me, so I talked to my hubby and he thought we should get checked to see if it was my water breaking (having never been through this makes it hard to tell) since it's better safe than sorry and if your water breaks you're more likely to get infection. So since after I got off work we had our interview with one of the pediatritians we wanted to interview I begged Kevin to let me put it off till after that, so we had our interview, which went well, we REALLY liked the doc the only downside is he's talking about retiring in only 3 years! of course that buys us some time to find another doctor, so we may end up going with him anyway. After the interview I called my doctor's office and they paged the doctor on call, he said there was no way for me to know if my water had broken, or for him to know if my water had broken unless I went down to the birthing center and got tested, but if our water hadn't broken they'd be sending me home because it was a really busy night. So down to the birthing center we went and got all hooked up to a fetal heartbeat monitor and a contraction monitor, they did a 3 different tests, one was a swab that would change color in the presence of amniotic fluid, the next was a slide so they could see if it had ferns, if there were ferns, it was amniotic fluid, otherwise, it wasn't, and the last one was a bit more uncomfortable, they reached up and pushed the baby's head away from the opening of the cervix to see if any fluid would leak out, if it did, it was my water breaking, if not, it hadn't broken yet. Unfortunately after all that it wasn't my water breaking so we did get sent home, but they told us that we're at 3 cm dilated now and 75-80% effaced and at about a -3 station... not floating anymore... so in the last 3 days we've dialated another centimeter, which has to be a good sign... I was also having contractions, just not timed regularly enough to keep me, so I didn't have my baby last night. I'm fine with not having had my baby yet though, I will miss having him/her inside me, feeling the kicks and hiccups, though I can't wait to see if it's a girl or boy and to see their face! I'm excited, but pretty nervous about the birth! oh, and another bit of good news, while the lady who checked me out couldn't officially say anything, she did tell us she didn't think we'd make it to our due date, which was cool... in fact she told us her schedule for the next 4 or 5 days and said she may be seeing us agin, so that was kind of exciting! :) I have my next appointment tomorrow at 3:15 where we'll get checked again for progression, so if we've dilated any more or become more effaced we can probably count on having this baby soon! I'll keep ya posted!

May 1, 2008

So today is my baby shower at work, I'm excited for that, Kevin and I are going to head down to Corvallis a little before it, and I can't wait... I have to work until then and already I'm having a hard time concentrating.. one of my co-workers asked me the other day what I wanted for my baby shower and I told her, really, all I wanted was for people to show up and eat cake and celebrate with me that this baby is almost here... if they want to bring a gift that's awesome, but more than anything, I just want people to come.
Yesterday I had my weekly appointment, it went really well. I've developed a rash on my tummy in the last few days that has been driving me nuts, according to the doctor it's a pregnancy induced rash and the only cure is to have the baby... she offered to induce us on the 6th, but said she didn't really want to before that. Then she examined us, she said we were a loose 3cm dilated, and 90% effaced, so we've made even more progress just since Monday! Crazy! She said she even felt our waters starting to bulge, I'm not sure what that means, but I'm under the impression that it means that labor is going to happen soon. She told us we could still schedule an induction on the 6th IF we even made it till then. I am tempted cuz my tummy is itchy but at the same time I'd really like to go into labor on my own. The only bad news from the appointment is that our Strep B test came back possitve so we'll have to get to the hospital a bit earlier to get antibiotics, but it's not the end of the world. I've still been having contractions, but most of them aren't strong enough to stop me in my tracks or anything, and they're not regular yet. I'm mostly hoping to make it through the baby shower today, ideally I'd like to make it through Monday because we've got some high school girls coming into my work, but we'll see how it goes! Part of me is so ready to have this baby and meet him/her, I can't wait to see what he/she looks like, and kiss the chubby cheeks that they showed us at the ultrasounds! I can't wait to hold my baby and figure out breastfeeding, and I REALLY can't wait to see my husband with his baby! He's so great with kids, they just love him, and he loves them too, I can't wait to see him with his own child! I know I'm going to cry when I first see my baby, I tear up a little just thinking about it now (ok, so maybe I'm a little hormonal!), and while I don't think he'd appreciate me putting this out here for everyone to see, I think he's going to cry when he first sees his child too. He's so excited! He's ready to go at any moment! if I tell him I'm having a contraction he checks the time, he's all ready to be in labor and be timing my contractions! He's got the bags packed in the back of the car and everything is in "go mode" for whenever we go into labor. It's so cute! But I have to say, I will miss being pregnant, I love feeling all the movements, the kicks the hiccups, the rolling over, I love my big belly! I don't feel sexy with it, I feel beautiful with it though, I love that I've gained all of my weight in my belly, and it's a pretty hard belly even when I'm not contracting, there's not a whole lot of extra fat in there, which I think will make it a little easier to lose the baby weight which I really need to do with the gestational diabetes so I don't get diabetes later on. I'm excited to have my baby but scared about the labor, I'm afraid it's gonna hurt and that I won't be able to handle it, I know it's probably completely irrational since women survive and handle brith all the time, I'm just nervous! I'm also nervous about my water breaking in public, I don't want to look like I peed my pants! Part of me hopes it doesn't break until we're in the hospital. But I don't get to decide how it happens obviously, I'm just along for the ride, so we'll wait and see what baby has planned for me! My guess from how quickly we seem to be progressing is that we'll probably get to meet this munchkin in the next couple days. I'll keep ya posted!

May 6, 2008

Still pregnant, just waiting for this baby to make it's move! I was sure it was going to happen this weekend, but so far nothing, it doesn't seem like anything has changed since our last appointment, but I don't know... other than this rash has gotten a lot worse! It's driving me crazy! The doctor prescribed some stronger than you can buy over the counter hydrocortisone cream but it didn't help at all. The rash is spreading over my belly, it's pretty much engolfed the entire thing and nothing cures the itching excpet sitting there with a bag of ice on my tummy, I've tried everything I can think of and nothing seems to help. I'm seriously considering asking the doctor if she can induce us at the end of this week for my sanity's sake, I know that's greedy of me, and I had hoped to be able to go into labor on my own, but this baby isn't making it's move and this rash is, the itching actually woke me up last night in the middle of the night, at 3 am I woke up to intense itching, I tried going into the bathroom and slathering on caladryl which up until that point had been the one thing that could give me a few minutes of no itching, but even that didn't work, I ended up going back to my trusty friend the ice bag, I filled it and laid in bed awake (slightly dozing since I was so exhausted) for the next hour trying to get the itching to subside, it finally went away enough that I could get to sleep for a little bit, it was still there, but at a tolerable level again, so I got to sleep for another couple hours before having to get up for work today... it's nights like that that make me wish I was leaving early for maternity leave, but I really want as long as I can have with my baby, so I don't want to leave early. This is insanity, this is the time I should be getting as much sleep as possible since that's going to change REALLY soon! but I can't cuz of this itching, it's miserable, I don't even remember chicken pox being quite this bad (though I was a child, and I do realize that time can dull the memory). My next appointment is tomorrow at noon, so I will ask my doctor if she's got any more tricks up her sleeve to help with this itching, if not we will probably set up an induction, if we can for as early as this Thursday evening or Friday (it would give Kevin a little longer at home with the baby), but we'll see because our appointment is Wednesday, so they may need more time to set up an induction, I don't know, having never done this before. Ideally I'd like to wait till we go into labor on our own, but if we can't find something to reduce this itching I will be insane before my baby even makes it here, I will be completely sleep deprived before the baby even comes and that just doesn't seem like a good way to start things off. My best friend thinks that if we have an induction it should go a lot faster than hers did with her first child (she was 10 days late) because we are a lot further progressed than she was with her baby... if we do go the induction route, I hope she's right! I'm hoping that we go into labor before the appointment tomorrow, or at least that we've progressed further and that the doctor says that labor is imminent, but knowing my luck, since the doctor told us she thought it'd be early and we got all excited and ready early, the baby is going to be late... which I can live with if we can find SOMETHING to keep the itching at bay long enough for me to get some sleep, though I do hope that the baby won't be too late, my husband is dying to meet his little one, as am I! and a lot of friends and family! this is going to be a very loved baby! Anyway, I have written a novel about nothing really at all, so I'm going to end this post, and I'll let you know how my appointment goes tomorrow!

May 7, 2008

So NOTHING has progressed since last week! I did find out that we were (and are) at -1 station, that's good news, but we're still 3cm and 90% effaced, I am SO done being pregnant! this rash is killing me! I had my appointment with the nurse practitioner today which I didn't expect, I thought it was with my doctor, they didn't tell me when they gave me my appointments that they wouldn't all be with the doctor from now on... I was hoping we'd see the doctor and could set up an induction, but no such luck! this rash is driving me NUTS! The nurse practitioner did sweep my membranes to see if that would hurry things along, I really hope it will, and then advised me and the hubby to have sex to try to help things along too, so we had some as soon as we got home, and we've got plans again tonight, and maybe even to go on a walk, anything we can do to encourage this baby out! I did get a prescription pill that's supposed to help with the itch, the down side, I can only take it at night, at least to start with because it causes drowsiness, they don't want me driving, or even working on it until I know how it's going to affect me, on the bright side it means I'll get some sleep finally, this rash has been waking me up throughout the night, but on the downside, it provides no relief for me for during the day so I'm still stuck with an ice pack on my belly at work. oh, and at our appointment today they found protein in my urine, they don't think it's preeclampsia since my blood pressure is fine and I'm not having swelling in my hands and face and no abdominal pain, so they took a clean catch urinalasis and we'll see how that goes. Hopefully nothing will come of it, if they're worried about it they'll call me, otherwise, hopefully I will see my doctor in L&D before my next appointment, but I'm worried that she won't be on call when we go into labor, and I've never even met the other doctors in the practice... I'm hoping to not have a stranger deliver my baby! All in all today was a pretty darn disappointing day. Now I'm cramping and not feeling very well since the stripping of the membranes, so hopefully that means it will work! They said it should work within 24-48 hours, so I'm crossing my fingers. That's all I got for now, hopefully I'll have some better news later!

May 10, 2008

After 11 hours of labor our baby girl is finally here. Birth story will come as soon as i have time to write it down.

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Sarah Elizabeth Sex: girl Born: 09 December, 2009 Age: 2 years & 70 days Birthday in: 295 days Starsign: Sagittarius Development: See the 26 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Original due date: December 10, 2009
Type of delivery: Vaginal (with pain relief)
Duration of labor: 9 1/2 hours
Weight @ birth: 8lbs 8.8oz
Length @ birth: 20 1/2"

Sarah-Elizabeth`s birthstory

Tuesday night Kevin and Bekah and I went to Walmart to pick up some groceries, while we were walking around I was having contractions, I`d been having some all day, but they weren`t very frequent, but as we were walking around they started coming more frequently so we started timing.. they were still about 8 minutes apart. We got home and sat down and had some dinner, while I was sitting there they slowed way down again, so I figured nothing was going to happen that night. We went ahead and put Bekah to bed and the contractions started getting closer together... I started pacing around the house which brought them closer together.. each contraction got closer and closer.. I went to the bathroom because I had to empty my bowels, as I was sitting there they kept getting closer. By the time I got all finished they were coming between 3 1/2 minutes and 5 minutes apart, but not consistent, and while most of them were about a minute, some of them were up to 2 minutes long. Kevin called L&D to see if we should come down since my doctor had told us to head down as soon as we thought we were in labor since she anticipated a short labor and we needed penicillin since I was positive for GBS. They said it can`t hurt to come down and check things out so we woke up my daughter, packed up the car and headed over to my sisters, we put Bekah back to bed there said our goodbyes and headed off to the hospital with promises of updates to come.
We got to the hospital and went through the whole procedure of checking in and getting wheeled up to L&D. I got weighed taken into the triage room to be checked, by then it was 1 am. One of the nurses was a newbie and one was more experienced... the newbie checked us and said we were 5 cm, we were so excited! The more experienced nurse checked us because she wanted to see if Sarah was head down so she could report to Dr. Chow, the on call doctor, when she called him. Sarah was still high and floating, so she couldn`t be sure since she couldn`t hardly touch Sarah`s head without her floating up. They went and called Dr. Chow and the more experienced nurse came back in the room alone. She told us that she didn`t think we were really in active labor, as when she checked us she said we were at most a 3-4, she told us that the newbie nurse was about a week or 2 away from being on her own, and had been generous on the exam because of not having as much experience, she said what happened is that I have what a lot of second time moms have, and that is a stretchy cervix, in that she could push it open to a 5 but it wasn`t a true 5 cm, as soon as she removed her fingers it would go back down to a 3-4... we were totally deflated! She also said I still felt about 70% effaced and she didn`t think it felt like my cervix was doing much at all. She said that she would like us to walk around for an hour and get checked again before sending us home, or if we wanted we could go home and come back if we thought we had gone into labor... we chose to walk... she asked us to come back in the room at half an hour just to check Sarah`s heartbeat through a contraction to make sure everything was still fine. We walked around for half an hour and they checked her heartbeat, everything was good so they sent us back out. Dr. Chow was in doing a c-section, and they said as soon as he was done with that they would have him check me and make the final decision on whether we got to stay or got sent home, and that it would be about another 20-30 minutes.
During that half hour walking I started getting crazy bad cramps, and contractions, but more cramping than contractions, or at least that`s what it felt like. Some were so bad that I had to will myself to keep walking (and walking as quickly as possible so it`d do as much good as possible) because there were other people in the halls (nurses and some visitors for the woman having the c-section) and I didn`t want them to see me stopping if it wasn`t doing anything and we were getting sent home... I guess you could say I`m pretty stubborn because honestly there were about 3 times where my body actually tried to double over on me but I just forced myself to stay up right and putting one foot in front of the other.
Finally the time came where Dr. Chow was ready to check us. I went and emptied my bladder and waited for him in the triage room. He came in and did the exam... I seriously thought we were going to be sent home.... I was sure of it. When he finished he threw his glove away, turned to us and said `It looks like the walking did quite a bit, I`d say you`re 6-7 cm and 100% effaced, looks like you`re staying!` I was SOOOOOOOO excited! I could barely believe it! I was still hurting crazy bad with the cramps, but now I would let myself actually walk a little slower and let other people see me breathing through them.
We got settled into a room about 3 in the morning, they got us all hooked up to the contraction monitor and the fetal heartbeat monitor and got the penicillin started. They told me that if I wanted to I could get up and walk some but they were really hoping I`d make it to 8 before delivering so that the penicillin could take effect. I decided not to walk at that point as I didn`t want to progress too quickly (1/2 an hour did quite a bit so I didn`t want to take any chances until that penicillin had taken effect). I had 2 new nurses to take me through the beginning of my labor since they wanted to keep the two that had been with me in triage on triage duty for the rest of their shifts. At 3:30 all of a sudden there was a pop and a big gush, my water had broken on it`s own again! The nurses got it cleaned up, and I was still leaking some... I was really nervous about the contractions after since last time it made them SOOO much more painful, but it took awhile before I had another one, and when I did, I was barely feeling it... I was even having some contractions that the monitor was picking up but that I wasn`t even feeling! The nurses watching the monitor said they were amazed at how well I was taking them, of course it`s easy when you`re barely feeling them! lol! My contractions continued to be fairly irregular, anywhere from 3 1/2 minutes to 7 minutes apart. At 4:30 I got another big gush from my waters, I was expecting this as I had 2 big gushes with Bekah, though they were closer together. The nurses got it cleaned up again for me and then the contractions started hurting pretty bad. At 5 I had a third big gush of my waters and the contractions intensified again. I continued to labor naturally, breathing through the contractions. About 6:20 the nurse checked me to see how I`d progressed, I was 7-8 cm and at a -1 station, she suggested if I was going to get epidural, now would be the time to do it as shifts were about to change which could lead to a long wait to get it, and we didn`t know how fast I would progress from here and I didn`t want to miss getting it! So I agreed and they called the anesthesiologist. They said it`d be a little bit of a wait as there was someone in line ahead of me, and their shift had just changed. While I was waiting the contractions got a lot more intense, I was starting to have a harder time breathing through them.
At 7 the anesthesiologist came into the room, I signed the consent forms and got my epidural... I stand by my previous conviction of `Epidurals are AWESOME!` I felt better after it. my left leg was so numb I couldn`t lift it, but I could move my right one, but I couldn`t feel the contractions anymore, I could rest! Dr. Chow came in and let me know that the shift was changing and Dr. Goldsworthy would be delivering me. He said he was sure I`d be in labor for at least long enough to get my penicillin effective as my water hadn`t even broken and he wasn`t going to do that, and he thought that Dr. Goldworthy would probably wait a while before doing that. The nurses informed him that my water had broken and he said he was sure I`d still make it till the penicillin took effect and good luck with my delivery.
They checked me at 8 when they put a new bag of penicillin up and my first bag was officially effective. I was still at a 7-8 and -1 station... no progress... it seemed the epidural had stopped me from progressing further. The doctor decided to start some pitocin to get things moving again. I fell asleep after they got it hooked up (Yay epidural!). I woke up at 8:30 when my mom decided to stop by and visit. I told her what was happening and told her I was hoping to get a bit of a nap before labor so that I`d have the energy to push as I hadn`t gotten any sleep that night.. she left at about 9 and I fell back asleep. I woke up at 10 and I was starting to feel some pressure from the contractions again.. I asked about seeing if I could get an extra hit of epidural as I could tell it was wearing off some, my left leg that I previously couldn`t lift was easily liftable again. The nurse said she`d check me shortly and see if it was time to push. at about 10:15 they checked me. She said I just had a little bit of a rim left on the upper part of my cervix and that they`d check me again when I felt even more pressure... until then, if I wanted I could hit the button to get a boost for my epidural, so I did. about 10:30 I told her I was really feeling the pressure with each contraction so she checked me again. The rim was gone and it was time to get the doctor in and get everything set up. She told me to do whatever I could to not push through those contractions until the doctor got there. I breathed through them which was REALLY hard, but at the same time, I was terrified to start pushing since that`s when things went wrong last time. They got everything set up and the doctor came in and said it was time. They got my legs up in the stirrups and helped me pull my legs up.. I pushed 3 times through 1 contraction and Sarah started crowning. It started burning so bad I kinda freaked out a little and said `I can`t do this!` to which of course I got `yes you can, you have to!` and they told me she was crowning, that`s why I felt the burning. I pushed only once through the next contraction as I was kind of fighting it, kind of fighting myself (stupid, I know!). I finally stopped fighting myself in the next contraction and gave a good few pushes, she was right there, Kevin told me he could see her head! That was motivation enough for me, I gave one good holler (I don`t scream, it was a really loud yell), grabbed my legs and pushed HARD! I pushed 3 times through the last contraction, the first one, her head was out, the second one her shoulders and one more good push and the rest of her was out! I couldn`t believe how much it hurt through those 3 pushes (I guess the local anesthetics for the episiotomy last time did help numb a little cuz I don`t remember the pushing hurting quite so bad) but how much better I felt after words and I had my beautiful girl on me! They were rubbing her down.. the placenta delivered really easily, I didn`t push even, the doc just pulled it out in one piece, they did a short fundal massage that hurt still to make sure it was all lose before pulling, but it came right out. It was SOOOO wonderful to have my daughter on my chest the whole time, she didn`t get swept away from me this time! I had to get a couple stitches, I had a 1st degree tear where my episiotomy was last time (scar tissue apparently doesn`t stretch well) but she said it was a superficial tear and would heal really quickly. I got to keep Sarah on my chest while she stitched me up, then they took her over and weighed her, measured her, check her blood sugar, and cleaned her up a little and then she was back on my chest to breast feed! It was the best. Her blood sugars were a little low (mine were a little high from not eating for so long) and so they retested after she breast fed.. she still scored 2 points too low (new requirements require them to be a little higher than they used to) so because of that she had to have 10 ml of formula which really frustrated me only because I had sworn that this time would be different, Bekah had to have it cuz she was away from me for the whole first night, but this time was smoother so I was pissed that she STILL had to have some formula, even though it wasn`t much. But it did get her blood sugars up high enough, if it hadn`t they would have put her in the NICU and given her more formula.. and her blood sugars have been great since.

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April 1, 2009

I am excited to announce that we are pregnant again! and no, it's not an April Fool's Day joke! We are expecting our second child sometime in December, I have just guessed the 4th from an online calculator, but my cycles have been screwy since they came back after my daughter so I really don't know how far along I am. I am calling the doctor's office tomorrow to get a test to have it on their records, just in case, heaven forbid, something goes wrong. I am hoping to get an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy because I honestly do not know how far along I am/when I ovulated as I didn't think we BDed during when I thought I was supposed to be the most fertile. It took 2 tests for me to believe it, but they both turned positive REALLY quickly! like within about 10 seconds, so yeah, definitely pregnant! I'm excited and a little nervous as the babies will be only 19 months apart, which means I'll have a newborn and a 1 1/2 year old to handle at the same time, I am sure we'll make it through, and it will be lots of fun! We weren't actually trying to get pregnant this time, but we haven't been preventing for the last 3 months either. I know YHVH won't give me more than I can handle! He has blessed me and my family so much!

April 3, 2009

I called my OB/GYN yesterday, they don't need to do a test in office to confirm the pregnancy anymore I guess, they trust the home pregnancy tests, and since I had 2 positives, we're definitely pregnant! I have my intake appointment on the 17th of this month, which is just some blood tests, paperwork, history etc, but you have to do it for each pregnancy at my clinic. And my first appointment with my doctor is scheduled for May 18th, 8 days after my daughter's first birthday! It'll mostly just be resutls from the blood tests they take at the intake appointment and my pelvic exam. I'm going to ask at my intake if I can get an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy, this clinic is pretty good about that, especially when you're fuzzy on the dates. The 18th sounds like so far away, but I know it'll be here before I know it! Especially with my daughter's birthday to plan! On May 19th I get to go to my sister's 3d/4d ultrasound and see her little man for the first time! I'm really excited for that! I think May will be a good month!

April 25, 2009

So it's been a pretty busy few weeks! Lots to update. On Monday 4-13-09 we lost our bunny, had to put her down, this was surprisingly hard on me as she had been going downhill, I didn't think it would upset me so much since I knew it was coming. I found out that day that Bekah has started to learn compassion, she kept hugging and cuddling me the whole time I was crying! Even the second time I had a little breakdown and started crying again she let me just hold her on my lap and rock her while I cried, when I'm sure she would have rather been playing on the floor! She's a real sweetie pie! That Thursday April 16th my husband had a minor surgery on his neck to remove a lump that had in there that had been there for a while, but was bugging him more (no worries it turned out benign!) The next day, Friday April 17th I had my intake appointment, it went pretty much as expected, answered lots of questions, peed in a cup and got some blood drawn (which took THREE attempts to get my blood! One lady tried twice, once in each arm and then she had someone else come over and that lady got it on the first try!). I found out the following week that I had a UTI (urinary tract infection), which is what they were testing the pee for, so now I'm on amoxicillian 3 times a day. I also got an order for an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy since I didn't know how far a long I was. I got in quickly, I got my appointment for Monday April 20th at 2 pm. Saturday April 18th I went to this huge sale called Bellies, Babies and Beyond, which is kind of like a huge garage sale of gently used baby/kid/maternity things. I got some great deals! A double stroller for only $50, a Playpen for only $30 and a bigger diaper bag for only $10!! Plus lots of other great stuff, those were just the biggest purchases! Sunday April 19th we took Bekah to the beach, it was actually her second time there, but the first time was SOOOO windy that the sand stung when it hit us so she stayed bundled up the entire time, she only got peeks at the ocean and the sand because I had her covered to keep her protected. She was only at most 3 months old so she slept most the time anyway, she seemed to enjoy this time at the beach though. She watched the waves and my sister's dogs running around on the beach. She looked at all the people we passed and went back and forth between me and daddy. If it had been warmer I would have dipped her feet in the ocean to see what she thought of that, but it IS the Oregon coast and it was still chilly... maybe later this summer we'll get over there on a warm enough day! We sat her down and let her play in the sand, at first she didn't know what to think of it, but after a few minutes she started thinking "this is pretty cool!" You could see it on her face! :) Monday came around and it was time for my ultrasound, I went in figuring we were just shy of 8 weeks... turns out we were really only 6 weeks and 4 days... that was a little disappointing since the morning sickness started SOO early this time around!! I started getting queasy about the time I got pregnant! fun fun! I'm hoping it goes away before the 13 week mark, I'm not looking forward to another 6 weeks of it! That night we went to a BBQ at a friend's house, it was nummy but unfortunately I was only able to eat about half my burger! (thank you ms!). The next night we went to my sister's for kabobs, they looked fabulous... but again I was unable to eat when it was all ready! Kevin and I went grocery shopping after dinner with Bekah, she did good as always in the store, and fell asleep on the way home. We let her sleep for a little bit in her car seat after we got home so we could get some stuff done (it was garbage night), got the dishes done, and I went to the bathroom before I sat down to nurse her, when we woke her up, her whole body was burning up. Not having dealt with a baby with a fever before it didn't even occur to me that that was what this is and that I should take her temp, I just assumed she was way warm from being under the blanket in her car seat and our house was really warm (it had been a warm day and our house really holds in the heat). I feel like an idiot even admitting that it didn't occur to me that it was a fever until the next day, but I can be honest here! The next morning she woke up at 4:30, she NEVER wakes up that early! She was burning up! So I gave her some Tylenol and nursed her and put her back to bed. When she got up she was cooler. She did fine for the rest of the morning, she didn't get hot again until she got up from her first nap of the day, so when she got up, I took her temp and it was 101.6. I called her doctor, but her doctor wasn't in that day, so we saw a different doctor at that clinic, he was nice, checked out her ears and throat and listened to her breathing and said "It looks like a bug, if she still has a fever Friday morning, bring her back in to get her re-evaluated" and to keep her on Tylenol to keep the fever down. That night we were supposed to have my friend Aimee and her hubby Jason over, and my sis and her hubby over for dinner, but Aimee and Jason forgot (and honestly it'd been such a busy week that I would have too if my sis hadn't reminded me the night before) so only my sis and her hubby came over.. Kevin made salmon and while it was good, I still only ate half my plate (what is up with that?). Thursday morning her fever spiked back up, but I gave her Tylenol and it brought it down pretty quickly, the rest of the day her fever seemed down, it only spiked when she was ready for another dose of Tylenol, and when she was on Tylenol it was only a very low grade fever (99._) throughout the day. I thought she was getting better. We went to my sister's house for a birthday party for my best friend. Bekah took a late nap and slept through most of the party, but I guess she really needed the sleep. The next morning Bekah woke up at about 6, she was burning up again. I took her temp at it was 102, so I gave her Tylenol, nursed her and we fell asleep for a while, she kept waking up sleeping with me though so I put her back to bed in her bed. When she got up the next time she was still really warm, and a good half an hour away from when I could give her meds again, I took her temp and it was 101.6. I brought her back to bed and we nursed and slept and nursed and slept for a while. We woke up about an hour after she was due for Tylenol again and I took her temp, it was 102.5! I gave her her Tylenol and called the doctor to make the appointment as I'd been instructed. I had to wait for the triage nurse to call me back... they said it would be within the hour.. it took almost 2! I was so frustrated! and when she did finally call she did give me the appointment but she made sure to talk down to me before she got off the phone... her: "you DO know that 102 isn't that high right?" me: "yes" her: "You DO know that we don't treat the fever, we treat the cause" me: "Well then I'd really like to find the cause" her: "ok" and then we hung up... rude much!?! I got the last appointment that Bekah's doctor had that day and I love her doctor, she checked her out, said her throat looked really sore, there were some red bumps in it, she didn't think it was strep as she was a big young for strep, but she was going to have her tested because she had come across a case with a little boy recently who was a little young for strep, his throat looked similar to Bekah's but a bit more irritated so she went a head and tested. It was negative, she said it is probably viral and to bring her back Monday morning if the fever still persisted. I did get them to make a mark in her chart so I wouldn't have to go through the triage nurse again! Her doctor told us that we could add motrin in to help if the Tylenol doesn't seem to be bringing the fever all the way down or if she still seems achy/uncomfortable. Have I mentioned that I really like her doctor? She listens to our concerns and address them every time! She's super sweet and takes even us first time mommies seriously! (which I've come across doctor's who don't so I really appreciate that she does!). This morning Bekah woke up at 9, she didn't have a fever!!! Yay! We might have chased it away finally! I'll watch her throughout the day of course, but I'm very relieved that she doesn't have one so far! And each morning has been when it soared in the days past, so yay for no fever so far! I think that's about all I have to update for now! My next appointment isn't until May 18th. Bekah's first birthday party is on the 9th and her first birthday is the 10th, on Mother's Day this year! Oh, Thursday my sis and MIL came over and helped me make/put together her invitations for her birthday party! I'm super excited, they turned out super cute! Yay! :) ok, that's really all for now! :)

April 28, 2009

So today scared me a little, I woke up, ate some breakfast and was sitting at the computer writing e-mails for work and I got this sharp cramping.. I thought at first it was diarrhea about to hit but I went and sat in the bathroom for a while and nothing. It hurt so bad! I remembered having the same feeling right before my water broke with my dd and got really nervous that something was wrong with the baby. Thankfully no blood. My MIL who is a nurse was even concerned, she suggested I lay down and take it easy for the day and try to take a nap, if it was still going when I woke up she wanted me to call the doctor. After a little bit I finally fell asleep and thankfully it wasn't there when I woke up, just the mild cramping I've had throughout this pregnancy (didn't have it with dd) She suggested I take it easy and let hubby take care of me for the rest of the day. He did, bless his heart! :) it hasn't come back and I'm really hoping that everything is ok with the baby! too bad it's still to early to hear a heartbeat with at-home dopplers!

Bekah's fever is gone, has been since Saturday, unfortunately Saturday she broke out in a rash all over her head, neck, abdomen, chest and back, poor baby! By Monday it was starting to fade off her face and neck but was worse on her core and had spread to her arms. We called the doctor and they said to go ahead and bring her in so we did, by the time we got there it had spread down into her genetals, butt and onto her legs, they checked her out and again told us it was just viral and sent us on our way, telling us to come back in if it isn't significantly better by Thursday or Friday. I'm so glad it seems to be better today though! Hopefully she's finally kicked this bug!

May 19, 2009

So yesterday was my first baby appointment for this pregnancy! (other than the intake obviously!) I got there a little late due to construction, but they kept my appointment which is great! I was worried because when I checked in they couldn't find my chart in the reception area, but it apparently showed up so it turned out alright. I had to drink the glucose drink (I chose the orange... not quite as good as I remembered it, but honestly not too bad). I got weighed in and was 3 lbs lighter than my last appointment, which I was excited about! then I had to go pee in a dixie cup so they could dip their little stick in it. I didn't get much in the cup cuz I was peeing in squirts and every time I'd get the cup under the pee it'd stop and start in another direction! lol! I found it kind of amusing (annoying but amusing) but I got enough in there for them to dip the stick. my blood pressure was fine, and I asked how the dip went and the nurse said looked good. She told me to get dressed in the gown and drape the blanket over my lap and the doc will be in shortly. When my doctor came in she game in with a big smile on her face and said "Welcome back!" She went on to say how she is expecting that this labor should be shorter (she said second babies are usually half the length!) and that she didn't expect that we should have the fever or the bleeding issues we had last time around with Bekah. We talked for a little while, she asked about my symptoms so far and I told her I'd been more sick this time around and she said that's not necessarily indicative of it being a boy this time, I told her I knew that, she asked if we were finding out this time around and we said yes, I said I didn't know if I could not know the whole time this time and she said it was fun to have a surprise and I said it was but we have a small nursery that both babies will be in so we want to be able to decorate it accordingly and she said she understood. We talked about the possiblity of gestational diabetes and she aksed if I'd need to go back to Sweet Moms (the program we have locally at the hospital for women with gestational diabetes) and I told her I had no problem with the diet and I definitely was fine with checking my blood sugars and so far and that so far my blood sugars have been fine when I'd been checking them. She pulled out the doppler and put some gel on it and put it on my tummy (ok, a little below my tummy, but you get the idea) and about 2-3 seconds later we heard the heartbeat, didn't even have to move it around at all! She seemed a little surprised! We told her we had heard the heartbeat about a week ago and she was DEFINITELY suprised about that, she asked me what brand I got and I told her and told her that I only paid a little over $100 for it but it has definitely paid for itself now since we used it for Bekah, my best friend was able to use it to hear her babies heartbeats (both with her son and her last daughter) and my sister was able to use it on her pregnancy and now we're using it again! She said she's spending way too much and apparently buying the wrong brand! lol!! Next she did my pap (my favorite part of the appointment), and then was done. She gave me the order for my 20 week ultrasound (already! I was shocked, it's just a bit early!) and then gave me a hug and was on her way! Yeah, my OB gave me a hug! :) I love her! I adore my doc, she is SUCH a sweetie! She's also really easy to talk to and ask questions to and she always makes me feel welcome and like my questions are valid (even if some of them are stupid! :)). On my way out her nurse stopped me, said there was some protien in my urine so they were sending me to the lab to get a clean catch sample while I was over there getting my blood drawn for the glucose test.
I'm still waiting for the call from them, but I took my own blood sugars right before I went back and they took my blood, I got 219, that's a massive fail, when I got home I took it again and it was still 171 (still a massive fail) and that was 20 minutes later. So it looks like I'm diabetic again already! I'm really disappointed that it has hit this early, it's not like I expected to avoid it... I couldn't beat the 7% odds of getting it in the first place, I could beat the 1% chance of getting PUPPPs last time, so there's no way I figured I'd beat the 75% chance that I'd get it in all of my future pregnancies, but I didn't expect to have it at 10 1/2 weeks, I was hoping to not have it till later in the pregnancy, like around week 20! Now I'm fighting ms still AND still need to eat frequently and watch what I eat... and no more sipping on Sprite to calm my tummy, it's WAY too many carbs! It's frustrating, but I'll take care of it because it's for the baby and I don't want to do anything to hurt my baby!
Today was my sister's 3d/4d ultrasound and I got to go! I got to see her little boy! He is going to be SOOOOO cute! the ultrasound tech says he already has some hair so he's not likely to be a bald baby at birth! He was kind of a pill though, he wouldn't look at us, we only saw profile pics and all of those had a hand in them, or a foot... or two feet! lol! little stinker! But he definitely looks adorable! and I can't wait to meet him and hold him! Congrats on the cutie pie sister! I love you! and love the little man growing inside of you too! :)
I think that's all there is for now! I'll update ya'll when I have something more to update!

July 16, 2009

Ok, so this is a little outdated. I had my 2nd appointment for this baby June 17th, I saw the nurse practitioner and went through the normal stuff, weighing in (only 2 lbs gained! Yay!), peeing in a cup, measuring the belly, listening to the heartbeat etc. Everything looked good, I measured at 16 cm so about a week ahead of where I was, but I'm not worried about that, a week up or down isn't unusual. I also asked about my glucose test I'd taken at the previous appointment and the urinalasis because I never heard back on them, she said the urine came back fine, but my blood sugar was a little high, and because it was so early in the pregnancy she didn't think it'd be necessary to do the 3-hour test... so she went to go ask a doctor (as mine was on call at the hospital) and he wanted me to take it anyway. The nurse practitioner kept insisting that she thought it was silly to have me go through that so she actually called my doctor and my doctor agreed. Unfortunately my doctor also decided to send me back to Sweet Moms to see the dietician and the nurse again.. ugh! Probably only because my doc wasn't looking at my chart, she just knew the history that the NP told her, if she had known it was me I'm sure she wouldn't have sent me since we'd already discussed in my previous appointment how I knew the diet and was already spot checking my sugars. Anyway, so I've been watching my sugars and until just recently I've been able to eat pretty much anything without any problems, but recently my breakfasts have started getting a little sensitive so I'm watching them closer now. My next appointment is tomorrow (which is why I felt I really should tell you about the 2nd one now, before my 3rd one! lol!) and I see the doctor again. I don't expect anything exciting to happen tomorrow, just a normal appointment, hopefully I haven't gained too much weight! My big ultrasound is on Monday! Only 4 more days! I'm so excited! We're finding out what we're having this time and I haven't seen this bean since 6 weeks 6 days!!! I can't wait to see him/her moving around and looking like a baby! (at 6w6d they just look like a blob!) I will be sure to be on here updating ya'll on what we're having! I'm guessing girl, this baby just doesn't seem as active as my sister's baby boy was at this point, or any of my friend's baby boys were by now... and hubby and I can't settle on a girl's name while we have 3 boys names that I adore and would love to use. Hubby is guessing boy, said he it's just a weak feeling this time, but a feeling of boy, last time he swore up and down girl from the very beginning and was right. Of course I thought girl the whole time last time too... so we were both right! This time I keep going back and forth, so I may be wrong! :) Any guesses??

In other news, my mom found out finally that what was going on with her on and around Mother's Day were Occipital lobe seizures and they were caused by her diabetes being out of control for so long. Apparently when your blood sugar is high sugars build on the neurons and after so long of her blood sugars being out of control enough had built up to start causing seizures. I think it seems to have scared her into taking care of herself a little better, but it's hard to say as I'm not around her regularly (don't live with her). She's in Illinois right now saying good-bye to my grandma who is slowly dying of a slow internal bleed. They are trying to get her strong enough to operate and possibly fix it, they say with older patients who have the slow bleed a lot of the time it is the spleen, so they want to operate but they're not sure if she's a good canidate for the surgery, or if it would hurt her more, so we're waiting. I hope they can do it, and save her for a while longer, for my own selfish reasons... I can't afford to get back to see her and I haven't seen her for 4 years and I really want to see her one more time. I've been praying extra hard for her lately, and if any of you want to send a prayer her direction that'd be awesome!

In happier news, my baby girl is almost weaned. We only BF once in the mornings now, and some mornings she doesn't even want it. It is bittersweet, I'm glad, and my doctor wants me to have her weaned before my 3rd trimester, but it means my baby is growing up and won't need me as much anymore! She's getting so big! She says "car" (sounds like ca ca ca) and "doodle" (my MIL calls one of my cats that), those are her newest words, she still says "mama" and "dada" and "dat" (that) and she says "bubba" now for my best friend's son, she used to babble "bababa" but now she points at his picture on the fridge and says "bubba" too cute!

I think that's all I got for now! I'll update at least on Monday if not tomorrow!

July 20, 2009
So Friday was my 3rd baby appointment, it went well, I'd gained 5lbs which was a bummer, but not bad. My blood pressure was 102/64 and everything seemed great! Doc said sugars were looking good but I need to start calling them in. Bummer, but really not a big deal.... just means I have to remember to call every week, since I'd forget my head 90% of the time if it weren't attached, well, let's just say this is going to be a challenge! lol! The heartbeat was between 140 and 150. That's about it for now, I'm off to my big ultrasound!!

July 20, 2009

It's a GIRL!!!

October 12, 2009

Ok so I wrote a blog that explains the crazy weekend we had, but it was overall good! I will copy and post the blog when I put this page into Sarah's page. I'm 31 weeks now and into my every 2 week appointments. I had an appointment on Friday (Oct 9th), and everything looked great. I have gained a total of 10lbs since where I started the pregnancy (20lbs if you count the 10lbs I lost in the first trimester due to sickness), so yay for that! Sarah's heartbeat was around 150, fundal measurement wsa 32 cm (so a week ahead, but perfectly normal), blood pressure was good 120/80 (high for me, but still fine... I had a stressful drive to my appointment and was 12 minutes late... lucky they still saw me!). The NP, Mori, said everything looks perfect! Just what every pregnant mommy wants to hear! At my last appointment with Dr. Peterson she said we'd be getting one more ultrasound this pregnancy, so I'm excited to see my little girl again one more time before I get to finally meet her, but we haven't scheduled it yet, so I'm not sure exactly when it's going to be. Sarah is a very active baby! I love feeling her move around! She had the hiccups for the first time last night! While I don't know that I'll miss pregnancy in general quite as much after this time (more aches and pains than last time), I will for sure miss feeling her move in me, and I will miss knowing that I can keep her completely safe inside of me! We had our 3d ultrasound on September 14th and she was TOTALLY uncooperative! Little stinker! She had her arms infront of her face almost the entire time! They had me get up and jump around and empty my bladder and wiggle around to encourage her to move around more (she was moving around a lot, just not into a cooperative position) and what did she do? She pulled a leg up to help block her face! Little stinker! But from the pictures we did get, she looks a lot like Bekah did in her 3d ultrasound... except with even chubbier cheeks! :) I'm so excited to see what she looks like in person! I'm curious if she'll really look a lot like Bekah or how she'll look different! I'm curious to see if she'll have eyebrows like Bekah did or if she won't like I didn't as a baby (and my sister's son didn't)... I wonder if she'll have as much hair as Bekah or if she'll be bald (like daddy was)... though if heartburn is really an indicator she'll have hair, just not as much as Bekah! :) I'm excited to meet her, and not really scared of the labor (though a little nervous about how it'll start), but I am very nervous for the delivery itself... after last time... I'm just really hoping things go nice and smooth this time around! And that Sarah won't be sunnyside up, because I don't know if my tailbone can take it! It still bugs me often... Anyway, I'm off for now! I'll update again when I have more to update! Take care!

November 2, 2009

We had our last ultrasound last Thursday and they estimated Sarah at 6 lbs 6 oz! Wow! She's gonna be a big girl! I hope they're wrong! lol! She has hair though, so no bald babies for us yet! My next appointment is my last one with the Nurse practitioner and then I'll just be seeing my doctor, it will be this Wednesday. Next Tuesday my baby girl turns 18 months old! I can't believe it! When did she grow up so much? We'll have her 18 month appointment that day too.

Pregnancy Survey
About You
Name?:	Amanda
Age?:	26
Height?:	5'7"
Pre-pregnancy weight?:	10 lbs lighter than I started my last pregnancy
About The Father
Name?:	Kevin
Age?:	26
Height?:	5'8 1/2
Are you still together?:	yes, happily married for 4 1/2 years!
About Your Pregnancy
Is this your first pregnancy?:	Nope, my second
When did you find out you were pregnant?:	April Fool's Day
Was it planned?:	Yes, we weren't trying, but we weren't preventing either... we figured we'd be in for another 8 months of trying, and 2 months later we were pregnant!
What was your first reaction?:	I couldn't believe it, it just seemed so unreal that it happened so fast, but so so SOOOOO excited!
Who was with you when you found out?:	Just Kevin
Who was the first person you told?:	Kevin, then I called my twin sister who was about to go into her 20 week ultrasound to find out what she was having!
How did your parents react?:	Everyone seemed excited for another grandbaby!
How far along are you?:	34 1/2 right now
What was your first symptom?:	getting sick over smells, food we'd eaten, as I was putting away left overs I'd get sick, I got nauseated eating ice cream (that NEVER happens)
What is your due date?:	December 10th, 2009
Do you know the sex of the baby?:	Yup!
If so, what is it?:	another little princess!!
Have you picked out names?:	Yes
If so, what are they?:	Sarah Elizabeth (I like Sarah Nicole, daddy likes Sarah Grace, but we both agree on Sarah Elizabeth!)
How much weight have you gained?:	12 lbs as of my last appointment
Do you have stretch marks?:	not from this baby! but crazy stretch marks from my first!
Have you felt the baby move?:	Yup! She kicks hard, and LOVES my ribs!
Have you heard the heartbeat?:	Yup, many times, even seen her 4 times now!
About the birth
Will you keep the baby?:	Of course! There's never been a doubt about it!
Home or hospital birth?:	Definitely hospital, after last time I will NEVER have a home birth
Natural or medicated birth?:	Medicated for sure!
Who will be in the delivery room with you?:	just Kevin
Will you breastfeed?:	yeah, for sure!
Do you think you'll need a c-section?:	I really hope not, I'm terrified of the idea of being cut open!
Will you cry when you hold the baby for the first time?:	I'm sure I will!
What's the first thing you might say to him/her?:	Hi baby girl! Hi Sarah! I'm so excited to see you finally! I love you so much!
Would you let someone videotape the birth:	I would love to but my doctor's office/hospital doesn't allow it (though the hospital will allow it if the doc oks it, but my doc doesn't allow it)
Are you excited about the birth, or scared?:	A smidge scared, I just want it to go smoother than last time, if we have a repeat of last time Kevin said he's getting snipped the next day! lol! But mostly excited! I can't WAIT to meet my second little princess!

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