Pregnancy - April 2012

[DJF]

They were painful in the beginning but then the pain went away and all I felt was my stomach tightening. I didn't know what was happening in beginning as I definitely was not expecting contractions. I got a pretty bad pain in my lower abdomen and told the MW when she came back in the room. She looked at my stomach and it was really tight and she told em I was having a contraction I had no clue! At least now I kinda know what to expect. No more contractions since Tuesday which is good. I would like her to be at least 37 weeks when she comes. The Dr said I could either have her any day or it could be 4 weeks from now so we will see.

How is everyone?

 

[missangie]

Purpleish, how was your appt?

Ive been having lots of braxton hicks contractions for the past week now. I notice them more in the evening, they were even every 5 minutes for a few hours one night (which normally they are more random so I was starting to worry that night but went to bed and woke up feeling fine) When I went on monday, my midwife said "youre having a contraction right now" I didnt even notice until she said that, that my tummy was all tight since Im so used to them now! I went to the store today for the last few things I needed for my hospital bag. I cant wait to meet my baby (but I definitely would like him to stay put until he is at least full term!)

I cant wait to hear baby news from all of you and see pictures, we are getting SO close!

 

[purpleish]

Hi All...
Doing well, appt went fine - had a quick ultrasound, but wasnt able to see the screen or anything... baby's head is waaaay low - and im having contractions most days now - my mother arrives a week on tuesday, so baby needs to stay put until then... (babysitter for my toddler during delivery).... heartbeat was good and my blood pressure was back to normal (90 over 60).... which was a relief....

now on weekly appointments... and told that she will check me for dilation next week... hopefully its up to 3 or so will see!

I havent put on any weight, which they were sort of worried about, so I'm back on the junk/chocolate and extra carbs again - so will see what happens!

Hard to eat though when the butt is pressing on your stomach - no?

Hope you both have a great w/e

P
x

 

[missangie]

I feel like Im the only one at this point in pregnancy who is going every 2 weeks. (just started that too, went at 32 weeks then 36 and now its every 2 weeks until this baby is outta here!) makes me nervous to not go next week with my feet and legs being so swollen and with all these contractions, I may call and see if I can go in just to my mind at ease!!

so glad your blood pressure is back to normal purpleish!

 

[purpleish]

Hi All,

MissA -know what you mean about the swelling, do you have any compression socks i.e. those you use for flying? try and pick some up from boots or something - higher compression the better (I'm on 30-40)...... also told to keep my feet up - which is difficult when I'm still working at a desk lol..

just on countdown now, got the bassinet out last night and it is officially by the side of my bed!... oooh exciting stuff

Hope you are all well and talk soon,

P
x

 

[DJF]

Sorry I haven't been online in a while but big news - Baby Aria is here!!!

Saturday night my water broke at 9pm. At first it was a small burst of water after I coughed and I thought I might have peed myself. Went to the bathroom then started walking down the hall with no bottoms on to get a clean pair out of my room and water started trickling down my leg. We headed to the hospital and arrived there around 10:30pm. My water started gushing as soon as we got in the hospital. Who knew there was so much in there! They induced my contractions because I was only 1cm and having very mild contractions. My contractions started around 11 or 12 and she was born at 8:53am. 6lbs 7oz, 19 inches long. We are both home and doing great.

 

[missangie]

Sorry I haven't been online in a while but big news - Baby Aria is here!!!

Saturday night my water broke at 9pm. At first it was a small burst of water after I coughed and I thought I might have peed myself. Went to the bathroom then started walking down the hall with no bottoms on to get a clean pair out of my room and water started trickling down my leg. We headed to the hospital and arrived there around 10:30pm. My water started gushing as soon as we got in the hospital. Who knew there was so much in there! They induced my contractions because I was only 1cm and having very mild contractions. My contractions started around 11 or 12 and she was born at 8:53am. 6lbs 7oz, 19 inches long. We are both home and doing great.

Ah! Congratulations!!! I have news too. PARKER IS HERE! On Monday (3/12) I woke up at 3:30am to a gush in bed and I stood up and it kept gushing, I called labor and delivery and they told me to come in. Was having contractions every 3 minutes by the time we got there and by 6:30 we were settled in our room and I having contractions right after each other. Since I was only 36 weeks and 4 days my doula wasnt "on call" yet but we called her to let her know and she had some commitments she couldnt get out of but said she could come for at least an hour. She got there and updated that she could stay a little longer and then later she found out she could be there the whole time and what a blessing that was. She was amazing. I wasn't getting a break in between contractions and was trying to labor on the birthing ball, rocking against my husband, against the bed, etc.. and finally went into the tub and that helped SO much. After awhile I remember saying "I cant do this, I just cant do this" and my nurse called for the midwife to come check me so that I can have some sort of idea where we were at (I hadnt been checked at all) and when she checked me I was 9 cm and about 5 minutes later I was out of the tub and pushing. Pushed for almost 2 hours, got a 3rd degree tear and my little guy was here. For being only 36 weeks and 4 days he was pretty big, 7 lbs 4 ounces and 20 inches long and I am SO in love with him. I am pretty shocked at how swollen my face is though and I broke pretty much every blood vessel in my face, shoulders and eyes so I look pretty scary and cant wait to look a little more "normal" (at least everyones looking at him and not me, right? haha)

 

[purpleish]

OMG...

First of all - congrats to you BOTH - SOOOO happy for you and glad to hear that you are all ok

I've been having pretty heavy contractions since yesterday.... and having another OBGYN appt today - so will see what she says!..... SOOO jealous but very happy for you both.... hope you want to stay in touch.. would be good to have 'new' mums to talk to

Hope things are going well YAY! Welcome to the world Aria and Parker!

P
x

 

[purpleish]

Sorry I haven't been online in a while but big news - Baby Aria is here!!!

Saturday night my water broke at 9pm. At first it was a small burst of water after I coughed and I thought I might have peed myself. Went to the bathroom then started walking down the hall with no bottoms on to get a clean pair out of my room and water started trickling down my leg. We headed to the hospital and arrived there around 10:30pm. My water started gushing as soon as we got in the hospital. Who knew there was so much in there! They induced my contractions because I was only 1cm and having very mild contractions. My contractions started around 11 or 12 and she was born at 8:53am. 6lbs 7oz, 19 inches long. We are both home and doing great.

What a great story... sounds like you coped ok - mind if I ask if you did gas/air/epidural?... seems that things moved pretty quick for you though

6lbs 7oz is a lovely size ... and she looks beautiful!

Congrats to you and your family

 

[purpleish]

Ah! Congratulations!!! I have news too. PARKER IS HERE! On Monday (3/12) I woke up at 3:30am to a gush in bed and I stood up and it kept gushing, I called labor and delivery and they told me to come in. Was having contractions every 3 minutes by the time we got there and by 6:30 we were settled in our room and I having contractions right after each other. Since I was only 36 weeks and 4 days my doula wasnt "on call" yet but we called her to let her know and she had some commitments she couldnt get out of but said she could come for at least an hour. She got there and updated that she could stay a little longer and then later she found out she could be there the whole time and what a blessing that was. She was amazing. I wasn't getting a break in between contractions and was trying to labor on the birthing ball, rocking against my husband, against the bed, etc.. and finally went into the tub and that helped SO much. After awhile I remember saying "I cant do this, I just cant do this" and my nurse called for the midwife to come check me so that I can have some sort of idea where we were at (I hadnt been checked at all) and when she checked me I was 9 cm and about 5 minutes later I was out of the tub and pushing. Pushed for almost 2 hours, got a 3rd degree tear and my little guy was here. For being only 36 weeks and 4 days he was pretty big, 7 lbs 4 ounces and 20 inches long and I am SO in love with him. I am pretty shocked at how swollen my face is though and I broke pretty much every blood vessel in my face, shoulders and eyes so I look pretty scary and cant wait to look a little more "normal" (at least everyones looking at him and not me, right? haha)

Congrats MissA - have to take my hat off to you to do this without any meds... I know I couldnt with my 1st.... sorry to hear about the tear - take care of yourself.... those rubber rings for swimming are great to sit on (doughnuts...) if you need them

I'm sure the blood vessels will calm down soon either that or you can just say you're feeling radiant and so happy about the birth!...

Take care of yourself,

P
x

 

[DJF]

Purpleish - I had an epidural which for me was the best thing ever! My contractions were induced with potusin (not sure on spelling) which the OB said would make things more painful. At first my contractions were painful but I could handle them. Then all of a sudden they got really bad. I asked for an epidural but of course someone else had asked for one 5 minutes before I did I had no sense of time - they told me it would be about 15 mins before I could get one but my husband told me after it was 45 minutes before they came. I was crying and saying I didn't want to do it anymore. The epidural kicked in right away and I was actually able to sleep for a little while. I pushed for about 30 minutes and she was out.

Keep us posted on how you are doing? It sounds like your little munchkin might come before your due date as well. So exciting!!!

missangie - congratulations!!!!! I can't believe we both had our little ones so early. That's amazing that you were able to have a natural delivery - I don't think I could have done that.

How is everything going?

I would definitely like to stay in touch. This is a whole new world for me. Aria is doing fairly well but her bilirubin is high. We had blood drawn today and have to go back first thing in the morning to get it drawn again. If it gets higher they are going to admit her for blue light therapy. I hope it doesn't come to that. The pediatrician said the only thing I could do is feed her every 2 hours to try to get her to pee/poop it out of her system. So I have a long night ahead of me of no sleep. It's going to be tough too because she really likes to sleep. She hardly ever wakes up on her own to feed and I am usually waking her up. Hope tonight goes well!

 

[missangie]

here is the story of Parker's birth, if you're interested! https://www.parkerlaws.com/uncategorized/parkers-birth-story/

 

[missangie]

djf, parker doesnt wake on his own to eat either, i have to set an alarm!

how is she doing now, do you have to use the lights?

purpleish, how are you feeling?

 

[DJF]

missangie - great birth story!!! We had also gone to Babies R Us to get the last minute things we needed/wanted for her. We had gone to the store on Sat, came home to drop everything off, then met some friends for dinner. When we came home we were planning on hanging the last few things in her room (valences and pics) and putting away everything we had bought that day. Well that didn't end up happening as my water broke half way though hanging up the 2nd of 3 valences (my husband was actually hanging them I was just watching and passing him tools) Parker is absolutely beautiful!!! I am very impressed that you were able to deliver naturally. My cervix was checked when I first got to the hospital and then it wasn't checked again until 2 hours after the epidural at which point I was completely dilated. I kind of wonder now how dilated I was at the point right before I got the epidural. It was the most pain I have ever experienced and I kept saying I didn't want to do it anymore I wonder now if I was almost completely dilated at that point.

Aria is doing really well! The last 2 nights I have been setting my alarm for every 2 hours to wake her up and feed her. Her bilirubin was checked yesterday and it had gone down a touch so we don't have to do light therapy. They said she has already reached her peak. They recommended sitting with her in the sun behind a window if possible to also help it go down but of course it has been really cloudy since she has had jaundice. The sun cam up for a little yesterday and my husband held her in the sun for a bit. Her weight is also going back up. At the visit on Thursday she was down to 5lbs 11oz (5lbs 13 oz was the 10% cutoff) but when we went back yesterday she was 5lbs 15oz! We go back on Tuesday for another weight check.

How is Parker doing?

Purpleish - How are you doing? Any sign of your little one yet?

 

[missangie]

Im kinda worried about Parker and breastfeeding. Not sure if he is getting what he should be. All he does is sleep, barely wakes all day and its very hard to keep him awake to feed him. He was born Monday and on Wednesday he had the meconium poop that morning and he didnt poop again until last night (Friday night) and he has been pooping more today but I have noticed his urine is more of a dark yellow. Luckily, we have an appointment with a lactation specialist tomorrow where thy will weigh him, Ill feed him and they will weigh him again. Im just finding that breastfeeding is very stressful right now because I feel like maybe Im doing something wrong or that something is wrong with him but I am very determined to be able to breastfeed and really do not want to have to supplement with formula at all. Sorry, Im rambling....

 

[DJF]

I completely understand how you feel. I worried about that too but the last 2 days have gone really well. The lactation consultant should be able to help you. My pediatrician's office has one and she sat with me for 2 feeds to make sure everything is going well and it was a big help. My milk just came in on Wed. Yesterday it was a lot easier to wake her to feed and recently she has started to wake up on her own. Parker will get there!!! I have noticed that sometimes when she gets hungry she doesn't completely wake up but starts moving around and rooting with her mouth, I think I have gotten better at listening for those cues.

How did last night go?

 

[missangie]

feedings have been going better, im trying to just nurse him more often during the day since he doesnt always stay awake for long but at night he does really well!

we had newborn pics taken today and were given a sneak peak https://img62.imageshack.us/img62/1051/48630056768000815260100.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[DJF]

So adorable!! That is a great photo. He is absolutely beautiful.

I had maternity photos scheduled for March 17th but Aria early arrival changed that I have rescheduled the shoot for the 30th and they will be newborn photos instead. Can't wait to have them done. The hospital I delivered at has a professional photographer so we had some photos done in the hospital - thought I would wait a few weeks to get the other photos so that they are a bit different.

Aria is back up to her birth weight!! So I have been given permission to let her sleep at night. I got a couple 4 hour stretches of sleep last night. She gets really fussy at night sometimes when I try to get her to go back to sleep but never does that during the day. Hopefully that will change.

How is everything else going?

 

[missangie]

She gets really fussy at night sometimes when I try to get her to go back to sleep but never does that during the day. Hopefully that will change.

thats EXACTLY how Parker is!

 

[DJF]

Glad to know we are not the only ones!! Last night went a lot better. She slept 5.5 hours at one point.