Looking for March Bump Buddies!

[allforthegirl]

You are very welcome!

 

[DaisyDreamer]

Destiny, there is a lot of pressure. I can see a lot of it is due to stress. Just need to find a more appropriate way of handling things now that a baby is in the picture.
Anyway, you've reminded me that I need to get an emergency birth plan together too! Just so blown away about how close we are getting to D-Day!

Anyone else's feet just killing them in the end of the day?

 

[allforthegirl]

Destiny~ not yet. But then again I know not to be on my feet too long or my one leg/ankle/foot get very swollen and yucky looking. So I try and find a good balance that I am still moving around and resting.

 

[allforthegirl]

Birth Story #2

Spoiler

Ok so this time it will be less of a story, but it is different.

It all started at around 32 weeks, I went in for my check up in the Health Centre. We were living in Ft Simpson, NT (if you want to take a gander on a map). She did all the normal stuff and she put her hand on my belly and I guess it was very very hard and she asked me if I was noticing these, and I said well yes and no. She kept me a bit longer and I had another a couple minutes later. Well that freaked my nurse right out. So she was watching me even more and they just kept on coming.

From there she called my husband, and a medivac (airplane) for me to go to Yellowknife, NT. They can not handle a premie of any age there, so I had to be transported to the hospital. I was scared but not, I don't remember the plane ride as they gave me Ativan and fell right to sleep.

I then was monitored in Yellowknife and was given drugs to try and stop the contractions that I was still getting every 5-2 min apart. They even drugged me so I was sleepy and relaxed and nothing was working. I didn't sty in Yellowknife hospital very long as they were under equipped for a baby that young. So with in a 5 hours they again medivac'd me off to Edmonton, AB, to where they have the competing NICU with Regina SK for western Canada. Things started getting really real for me at this point as I have never been away from my 1st born this long at all, and now they were telling me that I would have to been away even longer. I was made to feel that they were taking care of me and baby so I was more worried about Carter and who would look after him and such and could hubby actually be capable of such? Could Carter actually be ok without me there.

Again don't remember much about the plane ride. Though once I got into the hospital I got this nasty nurse. She couldn't seem to get in my IV which was strange as I have really good veins. She kept poking me in my wrist, and I basically told her to eff off because she was just being mean. So my start to this hospital was not good, and didn't get much better unfortunately.

With my contractions continuing to be regular they told me I would have to stay there for at least a week or maybe even longer. Oh the best part I would have to be on bed rest the whole time. WHAAAA are you kidding me? I didn't listen very much cause I was so dang bored! I got up every day to move around regardless. So after about 4 days they told me that they were going to send me home. I said that I wanted to be released to my mothers place in Regina, SK. They refused me and it was a big fight, as they told me if I fly down to regina I could kill my baby! Ummm excuse me? You would allow me to go to a community with literally just basic health care, but wouldn't allow me to go to a place with fantastic NICU? And I would have help as my mom and dad could help me with Carter.....hmmm....Their basic answer to me in the end is that the reason they would not release me to go there because I did not have a Dr there.

So my mother self advocated for me and called around to find out who the best OB was in the city, and she found my OB now, who was the head of obstetrics for the whole province. (I say was because i am not 100% if he still holds that title) He was more than happy to take me into his care. So off I went, but I was told I had to be transferred to the hospital there. So that is what I did as soon as I got off the plane. Well you know what that did? Put me in isolation.

So here again I am in hospital BORED! When I finally saw my OB he came in and said why are you registered into the hospital.....I told him the other Dr said I had to. Well I liked my new OB because he rolled his eyes and said you are not in labour, so you can go home. He gave me instructions on when to be seen again....and I went to my mom's.

My first ultrasound was because I again I was in constant contractions. They found at this time that my baby had a blocked bowel. Great something else....then they told me to empty my bladder...well I didn't have to or should I say COULDN'T. He was sitting on my bladder. So I was once again admitted into the hospital. A nurse came in and put a catheter in but it really hurt, I screamed and she put it back out and there was a chunk of flesh was attached to the end. Freaked out the nurse left and I never had one put in. Just got to pee in a hat for they were worried about a stone. Well no stone just my boy sitting on all the wrong spots, and causing these stupid contractions.

After about 5 weeks of this insanity, two steroid injections for his lungs, my OB did an amnio. He called me later that day with the results. Wow being the head of OB's had perks hey? He told me that his lungs were fully developed and asked me when i wanted to have him. I replied tomorrow, and he laughed "not waiting for your hubby to come?" NO!

I was told to go into L&D the following morning, was given the gel. I was asked if I wanted to go back to my moms and I didn't, cause I didn't feel comfortable. So I walked the halls with my mom. Around supper time I was finally given pitocin. I wasn't in labour just yet so it was taking a long time. They used my dose and I asked to an epi, which I think slowed things down a bit.

When I finally felt the urge to push I was rocking it. Two good pushes and ooops there is baby's head. She ran off to get the Dr, as she noticed he wasn't coming out any more. So the NICU team was ready, for the bowel thing, and because I guess they suspected the cord was holding him back. A couple more good pushes and sure enough he came out completely blue, as the cord was completely wrapped around his chest. So off he went to the NICU. It was hard as I didn't even get hold my baby this time.

As soon as I was allowed they wheeled me over to see him. All hooked up to all those monitors was really scary. Though after he was checked over and made sure he was improving, they allowed me to nurse him. Oh it was wonderful. He was nursing like a champ. The second time I nursed him, he vomited green, and I was no longer allowed to nurse him.

I was staying in the hostile so I can stay with him while in the NICU. Apparently they didn't call me all night as the nurse that was watching didn't know I was in the hospital. I slept well-ish. Went to go see him first thing in the morning and was told he was freaking out as he was hungry. They tried to sedate him a bit but nothing worked. My heart sank and broke hearing this. My baby was starving and needed his mom and they wouldn't let him. It wasn't until later that day that they finally let him try and feed again.

Well all of this started our struggle with bfing. As he wouldn't seem to latch unless there was milk immediately. He went from sleeping to screaming when hungry. He seemed not to have any cue to the quiet hunger. So I had to pump some milk so I could place it into a shield. Then the shield was a must for him. He was never good at the quiet cues to hunger even later. Once he started to gain weight, we were allowed to go home. We stayed there just over a week. There was no need for concern with his bowels in the end either.

The struggle with BF continued, we were given horrible information that if I was not able to pump at midnight then I had no milk, which in turn would explain why he would scream all the time. We switched him to formula, and he just got worse. He ended up with infectious colitis. Ended up on some very expensive formula and finally it all calmed down for him. I felt so bad for stopping nursing him. Again had more bad info and thought that if I had alcohol I wasn't allowed to BF, otherwise I would have started again, but I thought there was alcohol in my breast milk. (the whole pump and dump thing) I hated seeing him suffering. But didn't want to give him alcohol.

Now I know better as we all don't have very much milk at all at midnight, this is normal and not a reason to switch to formula. I also know better about alcohol, we can still have a glass of wine or beer and the amount found in our milk is so dang small it is hardly readable. So have a glass and relax, as it is better you are relaxed then stressed as stress will affect our milk way more.

Anyways it all turned out ok, and now we know he has Aspergers so it makes a lot more sense to the way he was in beginning, and through out him growing up.

 

[DaisyDreamer]

allforthegirl, wow that is a birth story. Just sounds like a wild ride from the beginning! It must be really hard to have baby be rushed off away from you as soon as you deliver and to not be able to comfort him the way you want. Well time goes on and I'm glad that he ended up being OK in the end. My brother has Asperger's, it can be really challenging at times but like you said it explains a lot of things about the way they were when they were younger. Thanks for sharing that. Mind if I ask why your one leg gets yucky when you stand on it too long?

AFM: Had a prenatal massage yesterday and I feel very sore but very relaxed. Hoping to get the last of out stuff from IL's house and storage this weekend. Washing machine in new house doesn't drain I'm running out of panties

 

[allforthegirl]

Daisy~ I have very bad varicose veins on just my right leg. I have had an ultra sound on it and there is no clot, but it causes swelling too. So the longer I am on my feet the worse it gets.

 

[DaisyDreamer]

Ouch. That does not sound very pleasant, think I have been lucky on the varicose veins front. The hips have been killing me from laying on them at night. Trying to reposition halfway on my stomach with a body pillow
Definitely feels like Zodi is engaging when I walk or especially on the exercise ball. Just wish the sensation wasn't so unpleasant.

Does anyone else feel kind of stuck in limbo waiting for signs of labor?? Have had a few period like cramps and BH come and go but not so much now that I constantly chug water. But still not a whole lot going on these past few weeks!

Can anyone feel little limbs through their bellies yet? I've been feeling arms and legs and feet as they kick

 

[allforthegirl]

I have been feeling limbs for a while now but I am sure it is just because this is #6. I just can't tell where the arms and legs are this time since he has turned. So different for me having a breech baby....and I am thinking he has moved from breech to transverse a couple times.

I am not feeling that way just yet....I was feeling very crampy with tons of tightenings, but since I have been taking more calcium magnesium + D, they have calmed down a bit. I still get them but not nearly as uncomfortable.

I could not sleep on my belly if even if I tried.

I have been busy today organizing my bedroom. Need things in better place so that I will be ready for this little guy.

 

[Blessedheart]

Ouch. That does not sound very pleasant, think I have been lucky on the varicose veins front. The hips have been killing me from laying on them at night. Trying to reposition halfway on my stomach with a body pillow
Definitely feels like Zodi is engaging when I walk or especially on the exercise ball. Just wish the sensation wasn't so unpleasant.

Does anyone else feel kind of stuck in limbo waiting for signs of labor?? Have had a few period like cramps and BH come and go but not so much now that I constantly chug water. But still not a whole lot going on these past few weeks!

Can anyone feel little limbs through their bellies yet? I've been feeling arms and legs and feet as they kick

I feel jabs and pokes but can't really tell if they're arms or legs. Speaking of which, I seem to be feeling more of pokes and shifts instead of actual kicks of late. Should I be worried?

 

[allforthegirl]

Blessedheart I wouldn't be worried as long as you feel a consistent movement. Baby probably just shifted so that all kicks and punches are more felt on the inside, so not as strong. That is what I was told about my guys movements changing since he flipped.

Oh and I just found an article about different ways to tell baby's position...Since I feel majority of his hiccups above my belly button he is still head up.

 

[Blessedheart]

Blessedheart I wouldn't be worried as long as you feel a consistent movement. Baby probably just shifted so that all kicks and punches are more felt on the inside, so not as strong. That is what I was told about my guys movements changing since he flipped.

Oh and I just found an article about different ways to tell baby's position...Since I feel majority of his hiccups above my belly button he is still head up.

Thanks for the reassurance. I get confused about the hiccups. I seem to feeling them in different places. Could she be shifting that much?

 

[allforthegirl]

Thanks for the reassurance. I get confused about the hiccups. I seem to feeling them in different places. Could she be shifting that much?

She could be, just all depends on how much fluid and space she has in there. They have until 36 weeks to turn in the optimal position, as that is when they really start to get tight and have little movement room, so turning can be a bit tough.

 

[allforthegirl]

Birth story #3 ... Again this one isn't a long 'birth' story but a long pg story and this goes big time hand in hand as I was extremely high risk.....

Spoiler

So this story starts from pretty much my first bloods were taken. I was called into the medical centre, and was told I had a very very high blood protein antibody that was extremely dangerous to the baby, and to be prepared that this pg most likely would not survive. The Dr then proceeded to ask me if I had ever had a blood transfusion, no I hadn't, so he was confused as to where these antibodies came from, as the only way possible was to have someone else's blood in me......The only thing I could think of was maybe from my last birth. The Dr didn't think that was possible as the chance I guess is very very low of it happening that way. Less then a 1% of chance.

So on went my pg, and the more and more was my Dr unsure of what to do. He talked about how he did tons of research, and there wasn't much literature about it or success rate, as baby has 50% chance of getting the protein as his father had it in his make up. I saw an OB in the NWT that also didn't have a good prognosis for me. So I asked if he could refer me to my OB in SK. Which actually turned out to be a very good thing as apparently he knew exactly how to handle me. Which was such a sigh of relief.

My pg kept on going and he kept growing for many weeks with out any troubles. I had an amnio to see if he truly had that protein and he did. Then one day I was told I needed to go to Winnipeg to a hospital that does blood transfusion in utero, as my baby was starting to become anemic. So off I went and he had blood given to him to give him a fighting chance. It helped him a lot. Gave him about 5 more weeks. He ended up with one more transfusion. Then the plan was that he would be induced at 38 weeks.

I was to meet with the head of the NICU to discuss what would happen once he was born. Which there was a good possibility that he would continue to need more blood transfused. He told me that he could be in the NICU for a couple weeks as once you have a transfusion our bone marrow stops producing its own blood, goes dormant. So I asked him so what are his chances of coming out of it? His response was that there was no guarentee.

This bothered me as that is all people every told me is that he may not survive, be prepared for him to die. I didn't feel like there would be a problem, so it made no sense why everyone seemed so negative about it.

This time my hubby was with me for the inducement. And because he was with me and how squeamish he was about passing gas and poo, I opted for a enima. This way I wouldn't poo during labour. I wasn't given the gel this time though. I was just given the drip as he needed to be born that day so that the blood would be fresh for him if he needed it. i don't remember much about the actual birth, as it was uneventful compared to everything else that was going on. The NICU was on board as I pushed him out, I got to kiss him and then they took him away.

He only stayed in the NICU for a total of three days as he didn't need any transfusion and was a trooper. Nursed well and everything. He was a pure miracle all the from the start. Truly believe that he had many angles with him through out this who thing, and why I felt so calm through it all, regardless what anyone told me. This boy was meant to be in our lives. He even had such a close bond with his father, which I think is why he needed to be here. To give Bruce a chance to have a close bond before he passed away when Jackson was 4 yrs old.

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Hi everyone! :wave: Sorry I've been MIA for so long. DD has been sick since last Thursday with a fever between 103 and 104 that lasted for 5 days. Now her fever finally broke, but she's still just so run down & barely eating anything. I'm just glad the fever part is over with!

Daisy, Thank you for your comments on my birth story. I'm so sorry to hear about the issues you're having with OH. My DH was very much like that with my last pregnancy. I felt like we were constantly fighting, and both of us were really worried about what me being so down was doing to the baby. Thankfully, she turned out to be such a sweet smart kid, so no worries there! But, this time around has been VERY different. He is probably stressed about becoming a father & unfortunately taking it out on you. Try to speak with him about it when you're both very calm. I'm sure the lack of rest on your part isn't helping.

Allforthegirl, I haven't had a chance to read your birth stories yet, but I will do so ASAP! Looking forward to it!

Blessed, YES! I feel little feet, hands, elbows, & knees! Sometimes it's crazy to watch a random body part move from one side of my belly to the other as it sticks out! Love it, but its kind of weird at the same time!

Destiny, Yes! It's a good time to speak with DH about what you both want in various situations. I can tell you're going to be a lot more prepared than I was! I think I just figured they'd tell me what to do & I'd do it... Def looking for something different from that this time around!!! As for the "Grandma Shower" how sweet!!!

 

[Destinyk]

Allforthegirl thank you for sharing your birth stories they definitely give a lot f information. Terrible the second one was yanked and your third was truly a miracle baby. I feel like everything went well with him simply because you kept a positive mindset, the mind is truly a powerful thing.

AFM finally finished painting the crib and the dresser I will post a pic here and in a following post. Baby shower went great got lots of stuff! I'm definitely in my nesting stage as I've cleaned all her clothes and bedding and put them away. My grandmother and I will be painting her room this weekend hopefully and then we will be able to start working on the canopy we are making her. On a side note, the college has got back to me and I have been accepted woohoo! My goal is to take my placement test sometime next week so that I can register for my online classes and get those going!

 

[Destinyk]

And here's the crib, I still have to paint her toy chest and get some floating shelves for a book shelf I want to make her and then get those painted

 

[allforthegirl]

They look amazing!! Great job!

 

[Destinyk]

Allforthegirl thank you! They were both a light pine wood before. It's kinda crazy to me to see how it's changed just from a paint and wax job and knob change.

 

[Blessedheart]

Thanks for your birth stories Allforthegirl.

Well done DestinyK. They look lovely

 

[BellaRosa8302]

Beautiful, Destiny! Love the way they turned out!

AND CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING ACCEPTED TO COLLEGE!!!!