Daniel Edward is here...early!

Daniel Edward decided to come early at 36 weeks and 3 days. He was born on 4/7/09 at 7:49 am. He weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 inches long. Apgars were 9 and 9.

April 6 was my first day of maternity leave. I spent it running errands and trying to get a jump start on my to do list. Randy came home from work early that evening and also got some chores done. While watching television I saw an ad for biscuits and we decided biscuits and gravy sounded good for dinner. I ran to the store to get the ingredients and cooked dinner for us. After dinner I sat back down to finish sorting what I thought to be a never ending supply of baby clothes.

At about 7:30pm I felt what I thought to be my water break. I ran to the bathroom. Randy was in his bathroom and wondered why his pregnant wife was running down the hall. Just as it dawned on him why that might be, I said "I think my water just broke!".

Randy brought me the phone and I got on the phone with Labor & Deliver who told me to come on in. Meanwhile, Randy ran around the house trying to pack a hospital bag, which was on my list of things to do...guess I should have done that chore on Monday! After the bags were packed we gave the dogs a treat and headed to Kaiser Deer Valley.

We arrived at Kaiser around 8:00pm and after walking down the longest hallway in the world (really poor planning on their part...L&D was at the end of a very long hall) we finally got there. They put me in triage to confirm that my water did in fact break. It did and they admitted me to the hospital and told me we'd be having a baby!

Feelings of excitement, joy, anxiety and a little bit of fear overwhelmed us. Upon being admitted they hooked me up to a bunch of monitors to keep track of contractions, baby's heart beat, blood pressure, etc. I was feeling minor contractions but apparently they were regular. Things were going almost as I had hoped with the exception of his premature arrival which I was a little worried about.

The midwife explained that she wanted to move labor along since my water had broken this left the baby more vulnerable to infection. She wanted to start me on some pitocin but I wanted to hold off because I had heard that makes the contractions much more painful and I really wanted things to progress naturally. In addition, I hadn't had a particular test done yet so they started me on some antibiotics to protect the baby. The antibiotics were repeated every 4 hours. Oh, did I mention how bad having the IV put in my hand hurt? Well, if I didn't..it hurt, bad. I'm glad I didn't see how big that needle was until they took it out the next day. Anyway, I digress...

We were moved into a Labor & Delivery room. The rooms were huge. Lots of space and we had a pretty decent view, except that it was night time, so it didn't really matter much. Labor continued on but my contractions became irregular. Randy and I spent this time laughing a lot, watching Old School, watching our trip to Kauai video and talking about what our new little son would be like. This "light" labor continued until about 3:00am. The midwife finally decided it was time for the pitocin since my contractions were irregular and I wasn't progressing. The pitocin was given around 1:00am and then the "fun" began around 3:00am.

Contractions got much more intense and I got more and more uncomfortable. The bed was uncomfortable and I had to keep moving which then made the nurses continue to come in to adjust the monitors. Needless to say, I wasn't able to rest much. I finally decided to get some relief and had a narcotic given to "take off the edge". Yeah, whatever. I think they only thing that did was help me rest in between contractions. The pain was pretty intense. Randy stayed right by my side the entire time and was so incredible. He was supportive and said and did all the right things.

About 30 minutes after the narcotic was given I decided to go for the epidural. The pain was so intense. It seemed like it took the anethesiologist forever to get there. It seemed like it took the anethesiologist even longer to get the epidural adminstered. I think she had to give me 5 different locals and it took 3 attempts at the epidural to get it in right. She was less than helpful. Apparently, I have a curve in my spine and this was inconvient for her. She wanted to discuss the situation and finally Randy just said, "yes, she must have a curve in her spine". Oh also, the moving I was doing during the contractions was also inconvient and she kept telling me to hold still. Yeah, thanks..I'm trying. Finally, she got her job done.

I don't remember a whole lot of specifics during this time. But apparently it took a while for the epidural to get going. The thing I worried about with the epidural was not being able to feel my legs and fortunately, this wasn't an issue. By the time it was time for me to push I was told that I didn't even get the full effects of the epidural because things happened so fast. I think I went from being 3 cm dialated around 3:00am to 8 cm at about 5:00am. When they told me I was only 3 cm dialated, I felt so discouraged and that was when I ended up deciding to get something to help with the pain.

Also, I guess they were having a hard time monitoring the baby's heart rate and they wanted to use an internal fetal monitoring device. I did not want that and told them that. The midwife was worried about not being able to monitor his heart rate but agreed to let me try and push. Finally! During the active part of labor I think one of the hardest things was the feeling of pressure and not being able to push. I started pushing around 6:30 am. Randy continued to be by my side and was with me during every breath and contraction and kept telling me to relax, breathe and push.

I pushed for about an hour. I kept being moved from laying on my back to my sides to help him make his way out. Finally, at 7:49 am Daniel was born! Sunny side up! Randy got in there and cut the cord. Hearing that little guy cry for the first time was incredible. There are no words. They put him right on my chest and began to clean him up. I think I said "Oh my gosh there's a real person in there!" and Randy kept telling me how awesome I did. That might be true but he did pretty freaking awesome himself.

Daniel calmed down pretty quickly after being put on my chest and cleaned up. He spent about an hour resting on my chest before they took him to weigh and bathe him. He laid on my chest and cooed and looked around and it was just amazing.

Randy went with them when it was time to clean him up. He put on his first diaper and was right there by his side during his first medical examination and bath. Soon after they were done, Daniel was brought back to me and the 3 of us spent some time as a new family.

We spent a couple days in the hospital so that Daniel's weight and possible jaundice could be monitored. They discharged us on 4/9 and we headed home to start our new life as a family of 5. I am of course, including the dogs in this number :)

36 weeks and no more work!

Friday was my last day at work, finally! Hopefully I've got a few weeks now to rest and get ready for Baby. We definitely have all the stuff, just a matter of finding a place for it! So I'm hoping to spend some time getting the nursery together and all these clothes put away!

During this past week I've felt a little cramping which seem to be consistent with Braxton Hicks, so hopefully things will be moving along as they should be. At this point, I start seeing my doctor every week and I hope to get an idea if he is still head down and if he has dropped at all. It sort of feels like he has because I've had lots of pressure in my lower abdomen.

I've also been trying to get letters for the baby's name but Michael's hasn't been cooperating. I've got one letter left to get and I asked when it would be in. When they scanned the label it said they had 40 of them! The lady couldn't find any so they are on order now.

35 weeks

I'm 35 weeks pregnant today and have 35 days left until the due date...wow! Overall, I feel pretty good. I fluctuate from feeling exhausted to anxious. There is so much I want and need to do (I think "they" call that nesting) but then I get tired so quickly. I don't really have a feeling about when Baby will make his appearance, but I hope he doesn't go much past his due date. This past week I've been sick with a cold. If at all possible, avoid getting a cold while pregnant. It's perhaps been the worst week of my pregnancy thus far. As if sleeping isn't hard enough these days, not being able to breathe out of my nose certainly complicated the situation. I'm still a little congested but feel better. I just hope that my allergies don't start up.

Doctor appointments have been going well. My last one was at 34 weeks and I go back at 36 weeks and then every week after that. At the next appointment we are supposed to meet with a midwife (who may be delivering Baby) and we should also get our "Stork Parking" so that when the time comes, we get good parking!

In the past 2 weeks we have been fortunate to have 3 baby showers! It has been exhausting, but also very exciting. Two weeks ago my mom came into town for the friends and family shower that my mother in law hosted at her home. It was so nice to see everyone and boy did we get a lot of stuff! From that shower we got the high chair, first aid items, diapers, nursery decor, blankets, gift cards and lots of clothes! Then on March 17 I walked into what I thought was going to be a St. Patrick's Day potluck at work. Instead my co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower. It was very nice and again we got lots of clothes, diapers, bottles and other essential items. The following weekend my previous co-workers threw me a shower and it was wonderful to visit with everyone. That shower brought lots more clothes, blankets, diapers, an umbrella stroller and lots more essentials.

Now....what the heck to do with all this stuff? It's hard to imagine how one little person needs all this stuff!

Well, we finally got the carpet in the nursery (and 2 other bedrooms) and Randy worked hard to put together the crib and dresser. So things are coming along. We have done and still have a lot of organizing to do. But there will be time for that soon. There is baby stuff all over our house! Baby clothes piled on the chair in the living room and in the dining room, blankets and other baby items in the hallway...oh boy!

After the showers were finished, we decided to take our gift cards to Babies R Us and get some items from our registry that we still needed. Close to $700 later (all on gift cards, I might add!) we got our travel system, crib mattress, diaper changing pad, sheets, exersaucer, and lots of other stuff! It was quite a shopping spree!

In other news, my doctor has recommended that I take the full 4 weeks off before my due date to rest. No medical reason because we are both healthy, she just believes it to be a good idea and I certainly didn't argue with that! So, my last day of work is this coming Friday, April 4. My leave is up October 23...that's 6 1/2 months off potentially. We'll see how that works out with pay but hopefully I'll be able to take all that time off to spend with the baby. It also leaves me plenty of time to find a new job...hopefully!

32 weeks

Well it's been far too long since I've written an update, but thankfully that's because the last month or so has been fairly uneventful.

Baby is moving around a lot more and his kicks are usually pretty strong and visible from the outside. My stomach is getting bigger and bigger, which I guess is a good thing! I'm just not sure how he's going to keep growing in there for 8 more weeks! Some of my maternity shirts are not quite long enough anymore and I have to keep tugging them down! I'm starting to get some swelling in my fingers which means I am now only wearing my engagement ring. Oh also this past month I invested in a body pillow to help me sleep and it sure has made my already tossing and turning nights a bit more comfortable. I usually have to get up 2-3 times a night to use the bathroom and Randy is frequently reminding me at what a good job I'm doing of being up all night and not waking him up! Despite the frequent wake ups, I have been dreaming like crazy! Just this past week I think I had 3 labor and delivery dreams! I think I'm worried he is going to come too early and we won't be ready yet. Although, I tend to think we won't be ready yet even if he comes on May 2!

There was a period of time a couple weeks ago where his movements slowed down and I didn't really feel much movement for a couple of days. This was the first trip into Labor and Delivery at the hospital. They hooked me up to listen to his heart beat and to monitor any contractions (which I wasn't having). Unfortunately, Randy couldn't be there right away so I was by myself listening to the little guy's heart beat for nearly an hour before Randy got there. The good news is that Baby's heart beat is strong. The doctor wanted to do an ultrasound just to get a look and I certainly wasn't going to object to that! Randy showed up just in time to see the ultrasound. I can't believe how big he has gotten. One of the best parts of the u/s was that the doctor was able to confirm that Baby is in fact a boy! The pictures we got from the 20 week u/s weren't very clear. This doctor pointed out his junk and even gave us a couple pictures to take home.

My first baby shower is next weekend and I'm pretty excited for that. We haven't made much progress on the nursery yet though, although we finally got some carpet ordered. The room is not really cleaned out yet, but it's been organized so that when it's time to move stuff out it should be a little easier.

I also think I have finally gotten my maternity leave benefits straight. Dealing with the County is ridiculous! I have to get information from benefits, personnel, payroll and my supervisor! And of course much of their information isn't consistent. Geeze! I think I have decided to work up until 2 weeks before. Hopefully that will give me some time before Baby arrives to just relax and finish up any last minute things. I am fortunate enough to get 18 weeks of paid time off, so that will leave me 4 months with Baby after the birth.

3rd trimester!

According to some of the "books" I've started my 3rd trimester. Wow. I can't believe we are in the final stretch already. It seems like it's gone so fast. Now at 27 weeks I'm feeling the baby move around several times per day and those little kicks are getting stronger. Daddy is finally able to feel him move around too but hasn't seen my stomach move just yet. It seems as though baby is a little jokester already. He'll move around for me and when I call Daddy over baby stops.

For the most part, I've been feeling pretty good. Some ligament pain, some inconsistent sleeping and difficulty bending over complete my list of "complaints". Although they really aren't complaints. I enjoy being pregnant. It's pretty amazing to realize there is a little human growing and developing in there.

We've created a baby registry. Wow, what an experience that was. Fun at first and tiring as we went into the 3rd hour. It was fun but I'm glad the bulk of it is over.

We need to start getting the nursery ready. We picked up the crib and dresser yesterday and I'm excited to see it put together. It is the Renew collection from JC Penny in the Coffee stain. Here are the links...

Crib

Dresser

For a rocker I get to use my grandparent's rocking chair which was the inspiration for the color in the nursery. Hopefully the chair and the furniture will match! We still have to pick out some carpet and clean out the actual room before we can put it together. Hopefully we can do that in the next month or so.

I celebrated the big 31 last week. I spent the day relaxing, watching a 30 Rock marathon while Randy took care of me. He even baked me a birthday cake! It was delicious!

As far as the job goes...well all I have to say is 9 more weeks until I can start my maternity leave!

ups and downs

It's been a mix of emotions this week.

So I started my new job which I have mixed feelings about. The positives are that the job is much less stressful than my previous job in CPS and well..I think that's it. I spent the first few days commuting to Concord. Then this week I have been going to Antioch which is nice and close to home. The manager there is very nice and seems flexible about things. The girls there are also nice, but it's just not the same. I miss my old crew. At times I've felt excited about the job and most of the other times I just feel blah and daydream about how many more working days before I can legally go out on leave. Up until this afternoon I felt frustrated with not knowing where I was going to be placed, but I learned that I will get to stay in Antioch which is good news.

More news on the job front is that I haven't really heard anything. Although I did hear today that someone contacted my old division manager for a reference which is promising. Although I'm not sure I'm up to taking a new job at this point. We'll see.

On Saturday we noticed our cat wasn't doing so good. She wasn't eating or drinking and after a trip to the vet we learned that her kidneys were hurt as a result of diabetes. She spent a couple nights in the hospital before coming home last night. The vet was optimistic that she was doing better, although we didn't see it. She took a turn for the worse last night and we ended up taking her to the vet where we made a decision to euthanize her. Poor thing was just miserable and while I miss her I'm relieved to know that she isn't suffering anymore.

In baby news, things are going very well. I had my first appointment with my new doctor this week and she seems nice. At the 24 week appointment we heard the baby's heartbeat and got measured. Everything is on point! Although I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. Especially sitting all day. I also experienced some ligament pain this week which was not fun but at least it went away quickly. Baby is moving quite a bit but unfortunately daddy still hasn't felt him move...I'm sure that will change soon.

It's a Boy!

First note of the new year and things are starting to look up a bit. On Christmas we learned that we are having a BOY! We are both very excited about this and it's starting to feel more and more real now. I've been reading up on baby items and I'm excited to go register! I've been feeling the little guy move around more and more and am hoping that he kicks hard enough soon so that daddy can feel it! I'm feeling pretty good overall. I've been having some trouble sleeping but otherwise good.

On my last day of work, 12/31, I received a response from a job I interviewed for. I was not offered the position I interviewed for, but instead a clerical position which I accepted. I am less than excited about the job, I don't know what I'll be doing or where but I know the pocketbook will be taking a hit. But at least it's a job. I start Wednesday and will hopefully know more about what I'll be doing. I've got a couple other hopeful job interviews that may come through, so I'm just going to continue to look for something.