The Farmer Takes A Wife (this one)

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

New Baby Stats!

I know this is a little bit late...but there has been a lot going on here.
Just the bare details for now! I promise I will post a birth story later :)
Gabriel Andrew
March 18, 2007
19:29
7 pounds, 7 ounces
20 inches
He has some hair...it is light brown. His eyes are VERY BLUE...no hint of brown at all? I wonder if they will change?! He is perfect in every way...and I love him so much! He has really helped me through my grandma's passing. My grandma passed away Monday (26th) evening...and I am at peace with it- as she was suffering tremendously. Ok! Gotta run, baby boy wants some mommy milk! TTFN! M~

Thursday, March 22, 2007

life

just wanted to let everyone know that we are home. things have been better. the day we came home we got news that my grandma hamilton is passing away. her kidneys are failing, and the dr has given her a week to live- maybe. anyway, that hit me hard, especially with postpartum setting in. we are leaving tomorrow morning to see her in coos bay- after gabe has his dr apt. just wanted to let everyone know why i haven't been my usual talkative self!

mandy~

Friday, March 16, 2007

Yesterday's Appt.

Hopefully yesterday was my last dr appt being pg :) Went in and the same ole, same ole happened. Got hooked up to the monitor. Baby looked good as usual, however, he wanted to sleep a lot and not move- so we were there a little longer than normal. My BP was back up...who knows what's up with that?! My favorite nurse was on duty. I asked if I could be induced that day, but my doc just got off 24 hour call at the ER- so she didn't sound too excited about it, so I just dropped it. I am sure if I would have pressed her she would have agreed...but it wasn't meant to be. Before doc left she said to be back on Sunday (18th) at 7 am for induction. We are not able to do it on Sat because she is going to be at Mt Bachelor with her son for skiing lessons. They will be home around 5:30 pm, in case something was to happen. But if something happened during the day on Sat, I would get Dr. Plant. He is a doc from the same practice. I like him- his daughter was in my pre-school class last year. He is the same age as me, 31. But the bad things about Sat- my most unfavorite nurse is on call. So, yeah- that really sucks :(-


Before I left the hospital, the nurse asked my if I had tried castor oil. I said no. But she used to be a mid-wife (she trained in Ireland) and thought maybe my body would be ready for it since it sounded like some progress was happening "down below." I really had not wanted to resort to that- but I did. Last night about 9:20 pm I took 1 oz of it. Wow!! That was a lot to try to swallow. It didn't stink or taste- but it was so THICK and GREASY I could hardly swallow it :(- I chased it with coke, since that is what most people reported worked the best (online pregnancy boards). I was expecting it to have an almost immediate effect on me- but it did not. The boards said about 15 minutes for most people. The warning ont he bottle said 6-12 hours. So I watched a bit of TV waiting for something to happen- nothing. So I decided I should get some sleep- no sense sitting there waiting for something to happen! I slept until 2 am, when I woke up with my stomach and bowels GRUMBLING!!! I must say, the castor oil was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got up at 2, 5, 7:30...and that was it! It took a total of 5 hours to work through my system...but it did not cause any contractions :( I called L & D today to talk to "my nurse" and she was surprised that it did not cause any contractions. Her advice was to do my breastpump and if that did nothing, try the castor oil again. But she gets off shift at 6 pm today, and I didn't want to do it again to end up with another nurse- if it even worked at all!! So I have been cleaning house today. Laundry, laundry, laundry, dishes and taking care of a "sick" child (she is faking I am sure).


Fortunately on Sunday, my other favorite nurse will be there. When they put you on pitocin a nurse has to be in the room with you at all times...so it's good that the nurse is someone I can stand! Anyway- this will probably be my last update until the baby is born. I just hope and pray that my body is ready for the induction- I don't want to leave the hospital for a 3rd time w/o a baby! But if it fails and I am good and the baby is good, the doc has agreed to let me go home and we will either try again or wait for it to happen on its own...as long as the BP and blood work are still semi-normal! So thank goodness for an awesome doc!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Today's NST

Went to the hospital for our "routine" Monday morning NST, BP check, and lab work. My BP was great, the lowest it's been since this whole ordeal started. Baby's HR was great- as usual, thank goodness! And the lab work wasn't done before we left- but the doc wasn't there to interpret it anyway. I am sure it's about the same as it was last time. As I said, the doc never came- so hopefully I will see her on Thursday when I go to the hospital next (our other "routine" day).

Yesterday I felt like "something" may be happening down there. At about 12:45 pm I started to feel some crampiness and lower back pains with ever so slight contractions. This lasted throughout the day and into the evening. It was still happening when I went to bed last night. And everytime I got up to pee last night I was having contractions too. But I woke up this am to - NOTHING!

While I was hooked up to the uterine monitor, it was showing very small contractions- what they call an "irritable uterus." I did have 2 major high-peaking ones, but they were several minutes apart. So about 1:15 at the hospital and then I got to come home.

Now that I think about it, I am sure I will see the doc on Thurs- unless something happens on its own before then! She is going to schedule my induction...probably for Sunday- but I will have to see the schedule of nurses first...I have 2 certain ones that are my fave...2 that I do not care for at all...and 2 that I am impartial to. I will ask her to strip my membranes again, as I don't think I got a very good dose the first time, since my uterus moved back up and she couldn't reach very well.

Anyway...that's all I know for now! Cheers!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Today's Ultrasound and Dr Appt


We had to be at the hospital at 9 am for the u/s. We got there just on time...but had to wait for 15 minutes for the tech to come get us. I was irritated because I had an appt at the dr's office at 9:30. I had Wayne call them and tell them I was going to be late.

So we get in the room. I had a different tech than all the other times I had been in. She was ok...more knowledgable (since she was older and had been doing this job longer I am sure) but her bedside manners were not the same as the other gals. First thing off she said was this was going to go fast since she just had to look for a few things and not do measurements- so it didn't matter that she was late. I was like, no measurements- that wasn't my understanding. So she called the dr and basically talked the dr out of taking measurements because they could be off +/- 1 pound, so it wasn't very accurate at this stage and it could take awhile to get them because the baby's parts are hard to get to due to it being very crowded in there. Yeah, so I was really happy, NOT! Anyway, I guess they had to look for 8 things and I got a point for each thing if they were able to see it on the u/s. I can't really remember all of them- but a few are, breathing (movement of the diaphragm), heart rate, flow of blood through the umbilical cord...um and I just drew a blank. Anyway the baby decided at the end he wanted to sleep, so we had to wait a few minutes to see the diaphragm move. She saw the kidneys and said they were "beautiful." We also got a sideview profile of his face, along with a pic. He has grown a rather large nose, at least it appears- not my nose, looks like a Fessler nose to me. I asked her to show me the position the baby is in since I rarely feel him in my ribs. He is head down, spine up and on my left side, in the fetal position and then "bent in half." She said it was a very interesting position :) Anyway, it was nice to see my little man, although at this point not much was distinguishable!

We get to the dr's and we were about 10 minutes late. No big deal, but they were REALLY busy. Weighed in and then went pee in a cup. When I came into the examining room Wayne said I had lost 3 pounds. I was like, "so?" No big deal. I haven't been eating as much, not a very good appetite, and what I have been eating has been very carefully selected. My nurse walks in and says she thinks it's going to be anyday...from what she sees, most women lose 3-5 pounds just before baby arrives. She took my bp and said it was actually normal for once! I was surprised especially after my visit to the hospital! The nurse forgot to take my blood to do a complete work-up, so I guess we won't know how my kidneys and such are doing this week from last week...but I didn't want to turn around and go back in, and the doc said that was fine :)

Then the dumb med student came in and asked me some questions about how I had been feeling. She said she thought I lost 3 pounds because I was loosing some of the water weight...yeah whatever. I haven't been peeing anymore than normal and my swelling is at the worst it has been. But I didn't say anything. She gave me some lap blankets and told me to undress from the waist down and the dr would be in.

Dr comes in and measures my fundus, listens to baby's heart. All is fine. Then asks if I want her to strip my membranes. I said we might as well. I am still 2 cm, but my cervix has begun to thicken back up and rise in my abdomen. So instead of being like -2 or -3 station, I am back at a -5 or so. When she found my cervix she could not feel the top of the baby's head. So he has enough room in there that he has unlodged himself and is free-floating. She wasn't able to strip my membranes very well...it wasn't really painful, and I have not experienced any contractions. But I guess we tried.

After that she asked me what I wanted to do. I had mentioned to her that if the 3rd time failed, and the baby was still fine, I would wait because I did not want a c-section. She said that was fine with her- but she didn't want me to keep going through an emotional rollercoaster. So last we had talked we were going to try induction on Sun or Mon (Mar 11 or 12). But she said for now, we will hold off. I have to go to the hospital for NST , BP and bloodwork on Monday (12th). Induction will depend on BP. If all is fine, then we will go back to the hospital for the same thing on Thurs (15th). Again, induction will depend on BP. On Sat (17th) is my due date...40 weeks. I would LOVE to be induced and have baby on that day- as would Wayne. But dr's son is taking skiing lessons and she is unavailable. So the tentative plan is for induction on Sun (18th)- that is if all the next appts go well. Anyway...sorry this is kind of long tonight- I just had to feel like I was getting it all out somehow- but don't really want to "talk" about it with anyone...if that makes sense! I just feel like a yo-yo right now. I wish I could have a really good, long, hard cry. The tears are there, they just don't want to come out :(

Monday, March 05, 2007

Today's Dr Appt

This morning at 8, Wayne and I went to the hospital for what is seeming to be our normal day for NST (non-stress test). My BP was high and baby's heart rate was good :) Thankfully! My doc had the day off, but she came in to check on me :) What a great doc I have! My BP wasn't so high that she wouldn't release me- so that was good. We talked about trying an induction maybe Sunday or Monday if my body doesn't do something on it's own. Thursday I have what's called a Biophysical Profile (BPP). Basically it's a high-tech ultrasound. They check the level of amniotic fluid, the baby's breathing (yes, the lungs are functioning even w/o air at this point), the amount of oxygen in the blood flowing through the placenta, and baby's weight. That appointment is at 9, and then I will go across the street to the clinic for an appt at 9:30. She will do an internal exam to see if anything further has happened (dilation, effacement, station, etc.). She may possibly do a procedure called "stripping the membranes." This is something she doesn't usually do- there is no hard, strong proof that it works to send one into labor on their own, but at this point I am willing to try "almost" anything...but a c-section! I will have a few tubes of blood drawn to send over to the lab for a complete work-up. I am sure it will show that my kidneys aren't working as well as they should- that is what the previous 2 have shown...but hopefully it isn't too much worse from the previous week. Then maybe on Sunday or Monday we will try another induction...and the 3rd time will be a charm! On Monday I will be 39 wks 2 days...so a lot closer than when they first started trying to induce me. Anyway, that is all I know for now! Thanks again everyone for everything!

Friday, March 02, 2007

25 more hours...

...and still no baby! Yes, that's right!!! I had a non-stress test (NST) scheduled again for Thursday at the hospital. I arrived and was put on the machine. They took my vitals and my BP went even higher than it was last week. So my doc showed up. She did an internal exam, and I was exactly where I was when I left last weekend (-3 station, 2 cm, and 50% effaced). They also took urine sample and bloodwork. The labwork came back a little worse than it was the previous week. Because of my BP and the fact that I was exactly the same (internally) that I was last weekend, she wanted to try to induce again- by trying the cytotec, but only 1 dose. It was inserted at 9:20 am. By 12:20, the dose was over, and NOTHING had happened. The doc thought that pitocin would work. So about 1:15 (once the stupid nurse found somebody to place my IV since she was incapable) the pit was started. Long story very short...the pit ran for 7 hours. At 8:15 pm, my uterus was being hyperstimulated- not good. No real contractions were happening, and my cervix was not dilating any further. The whole time the baby was tolerating everything very well :) Thankfully!!! Doc wanted me to stay the night...so I did. A woman came in a little before 4 am in full blown labor...they put her in the room next to me. So I got to listen to her moan and scream until the baby was born. Between that and the lady across the halls baby crying all night, an uncomfortable bed, contractions, and just being uncomfy- I did not sleep! Come to find out about 7 am, I knew the lady who gave birth...a friend of mine named Tina :) So once I visited her, I was not quite so crabby :) I got my breakfast, ate, and had to be back on the monitor by 8 am. No real big contractions and baby's HR was good. Doc came in and asked me what I thought. I told her I did not want to go back on pit today. Maybe the 3rd time was a charm. She agreed with me and said she lost a lot of sleep over me last night. She knows I can have this baby vaginally, and doesn't want to force me to have a c-section unless it's a dire emergency. So...back next Monday for another NST...back on Thursday for NST and an exam to see if maybe my body is ready for some more pit. And HOPEFULLY the 3rd time will be a charm. Although I am not 100% sure I will choose Thursday as the day to do the pit. I am thinking of asking to go in first thing Sat morning. Trying to find a place for MacKenzie to be until the pushing begins and little Gabriel arrives, has proven to be challenging! But I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family here that helps me with whatever I need! Praise the Lord!

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