June 10, 2011 William Thaxton Wright Arrives!!

Wow been a busy last few days!!  Yesterday when I went to see Dr Mason my blood pressure was up, and was up enough that the nurse that took it would not tell me what it was. After laying down in the Ultrasound room for a few minutes (Dr Mason was going to check my AFI.), she retook my BP and it was down a bit but still not normal 158/94.  After reviewing my labs from Tuesday she asked me if my labor bag was in the car or packed and I said no.  She then told me to go home, pack my bag, get some lunch and check in to the hospital for "blood pressure checks and more lab work".  I thought then that this might be my last night to be pregnant as my labs were up and my BP was up and I was super swollen.  At home, Howard and I quickly packed the bag, grabbed the laptop, ipod, camera, fed the dogs and left to head to the hospital.  On the way we stopped at Wendys and got some lunch (I wanted something filling!) When we got to the hospital I went to check in for my BP checks and possible induction and was handed the phone by the admission clerk (who had called L&D) and was asked which room I wanted!! It seems that Dr Mason had talked to Dr Lindsay (perinatalogist) and told him about my labwork, BPs', swelling and AFI; he told her to induce me that evening.  After being taken up to L&D in a wheelchair, Howard and I got settled into room 10, Jill came in to get me admitted, she took my BP and it was 170's /110's for the first 3.  I immediately got an IV, turned to my side and my BP lowered to 150's /90's.  At 1445, I got a 25 mcg cytotec and was 1.5/60%/-2 station.  Not much happened w that cytotec so at 1845, I got another 25 mcg cytotec as my cervix had not changed.  At 1900 Carol Montgomery took over my care as Jill went home, she came in special to take care of me.  We chatted for a while, Howard was playing on the computer and we were watching old movies on TV.  I started having a few cramps but nothing strong, Carol and I were discussing what to do, another cytotec or starting Pitocin and Magnessium  when my "water" broke at 2300.  It was too funny, we were talking  and I just felt my water break and started laughing.  After more talking w Carol I decided to start Pitocin and then get the Epidural and possibly get some sleep.  Around 0300 on Friday I woke up w a little pain on the right side and Carol walking in the room to increase my Pitocin and decided to check my cervix.  I was 5 cm/90%/-1, so time to start the Magnessium as I was officially in "labor". An hour later Carol checked my cervix as I was having few mild variables and feeling a little pressure and I was 8 cm, she decided to call Dr Mason.  When Dr Mason arrived at 0430 she checked my cervix and I was complete so  I started to push as Dr Mason tried to rotate the baby as the baby was direct OP.  As the fetal heart rate had a significant decel we stopped pushing for 45 min to let me try to "labor down".  Around 0515 I started pushing again and Carol went home as Suzanne Laird came in to work.  Suzanne and Dr Mason came in the room to have me start pushing again as Dr Mason tried to rotate the fetal head.  Again there was a FHR decel with trying to rotate the head of the baby to an OA possition, so we stopped to allow the baby to recover and tried to labor down again.  At 0615, I resumed pushing and turned to hands and knees position for 45-60 mins.  Howard was great when I was pushing as he was there and helping and coaching me.  After the Hands and Knees position, I was moved back to mostly on my back to keep pushing.  I pushed and pushed with each contraction until around 0900 when Dr Mason decided it was possible to use forcepts and "help" get the baby out.

William was born at 0914, weighing 7lbs 2 oz, 21 In long, 14 In head circumference!!

 



Here I am w IV's in both arms and Epidural in my back  :)

Tired but happy to be holding my son

clearing my lungs

Look at how big I am!

Chatting w Grandma Ida and Papa Tenny while feeding William

Getting my face washed

First Bath

Chilling all clean and warm

Our New Car!!

Yesterday Howard and I went to Johnson Auto Plaza and were able to finally pick up the car that we ordered about 7 weeks ago.  It was well worth the wait as we used the Costco auto program and were able to save a few thousand that way as well as with Howard's GM card.  :)  Anyway we can save money is a good thing esp w our plumbing issue (now fixed!!), baby coming (sooner rather than later!) and now buying our awesome new car.  :)  The car/SUV/Crossover is a 2011 Chevy Equinox and is "Twilight blue" (actually a kind of blue-gray).  It even has a sunroof , leather seats and other upgrades. I'll have to post pictures of the inside later as it is a sweet car!



36.0 Weeks today

Starting w the good news first: This baby is moving well and growing wonderfully! Last week at my ultrasound he/she was 6# 10 oz and I had 18 cm of fluid around the baby, which is high but not too high just makes me wish if my water breaks away from the hospital it is not in bed, on the couch or in the new car (which we get on Tuesday!)  Might be time to start carrying towels in the car!  Soooo.....My doctor has been watching my blood pressure and swelling closely over the last few weeks.  I was put on restricted duty last week (working on Antepartum only and only supposed to be 2 days a week.)  This past Wednesday I got more blood work done and 24 hr Urine tested  with the results of 24 hr Urine coming back at 400 mg of protein (up from 260 a week ago) .  The blood work was mostly good; ast,alt, plt and hct all being well with in normals, but my creatine and uric acid are both creeping up.  Those results with my increased bp (140's/80's) and swelling was enough to put in in the category of mild pre-eclampsia instead of just gestational hypertension.  All of that means I'm done working for the next 12 weeks and am on bed rest until this baby comes out to play. 

The hardest part of being on bed rest is the fact that I'm not totally ready for the baby to come. lol  I still need to organize the nursery, wash the baby clothes and sheets, and pack my bag.  What does it say about the L&D nurse who has not packed her hospital bag by 36 weeks??? hehe (esp knowing all that can happen?)  To me it means limited choices on clothing, I did finally make a list of what to put in the bag so hopefully it won't be that hard when push comes to shove and I NEED to pack the bag NOW! or Howard has to pack it for me.  ;-)   Monday I believe Audrey (Howard's 17 yr old niece) is coming over to help me get things ready and do the laundry for me so after that I can at least pack the things for baby and start getting things ready for my bag as well. 

I'll write more later this week after one or both of my OB appts and let yall know what is going on w me and baby.

May 11, 2011 Week 32 :)

It was a lot of fun to have my parents here for Mothers day!!  We went to church, visited Howard at work and ate our just for fun.  (I cannot believe we forgot to take photo's of us all dressed up for church.)  Monday we painted the Babies room.  It was so nice to have 2 adults help me paint the babies room while Howard was at work! We were finished by 3 PM, paint dries fast here in Colorado! Mom and Dad stayed until Tuesday afternoon after my 32 week appt to check on the size of the baby.  I know they had fun watching the ultrasound as they had not seen one in AGES and I'm not sure if my mom had any when she was pregnant with us "kids".  My OB did a great job of looking around at the baby and showing mom and dad all the body parts that she could but NO we did not find out the babies sex then either.  :-)  Baby was only about 65% now and weighed 4 pounds 9 oz at 32 weeks!! Well on my way to having a 8# baby by my Due date.





May 7, 2011 Baby Shower!

Today I had my first Baby Shower!  It was a lot of fun and the food was wonderful!  Janell, Hope, Heather and Melody all did a GREAT job, putting it all together with the food and decorations and games.  I was lucky enough to have my parents here for a visit this weekend.   I had a lot of fun chatting and visiting with a lot of people who I have not seen since my wedding.   My parents helped me clean the house for the shower and get things ready.  Here are a few photos of the food, fun and fellowship from the shower, not to mention the wonderful gifts I recieved. 

 Howard and I standing under the sign

 The food!

 Baby Carriage fruit bowl

 Tanith giving me my first present a stuffed Monkey!

 Me, Janell and Maureen (her mom)

Diaper Cake

 Friends :)

Family 

Tanith helping me open packages

The amazing baby quilt my Mother-in-Law made me and baby

31 Weeks

I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going  I only have 9 weeks left!! Things are going very well.  Baby and I are growing well.  This baby is moving more and more and getting stronger, sometimes I'm actually able to see my stomach move as the baby moves inside me.  We are trying to decide what colors to paint the nursery, we know greens but not the exact colors as matching the monkey theme is proving to be a little harder than we wanted.  The monkeys are so very cute and I cannot wait to finish decorating the nursery.  With  Mom and Dad coming this weekend for a baby shower and to visit I hope to paint the nursery.  :-)

This coming week Howard and I are going to dinner w his mom on Tuesday after meeting w our Pediatrician. (Scary and Exciting to think about!) Then my parents are coming on Friday, a baby shower on Saturday.  It will, also, be nice to spend Mothers Day with my mother for the first time in years.  I'm very much looking forward to this coming week and weekend!!

Happy Easter!!!

Easter is a great time and a great day! It is a time of fulfillment of promises and hope.

This week has been a good week.  Howard and I had our third childbirth  education class where he learned about Vaginal Deliveries and Cesarean sections as well as different pain medicines.  :) Only one more class to go!  Howard is also replacing our master shower, which is a great thing as the old one just needed help.  (I'll post a photo of it when he is finished.)  He took the shower down to the studs and is now bringing it back.  It should be done this week.
This morning I went to church and had my good friend Mandy join me.  Then the two of us went to Applebee's for lunch and to talk and catch up.  It still amazes me that I have a friend here in Denver that I have known since 2nd grade!!

Mandy and I at Applebee's