Well… it’s my first night alone with Thor (DH went back to work tonight) and so far we’re doing good. We went to bed at 10pm… woke up at midnight. Had a “midnight snack” and he went back to sleep. He’s woken up a couple of times but only because he lost his pacifier. I had to get up for meds, so I thought I’d post before going back to bed again. I feel good getting 2 hours at a time… I’m totally loving my mellow baby.

Today a local health nurse came by and checked on us….weighed Thor and he had gained a whole ounce since coming home 24 hours before that. Gee…maybe I knew what I was doing when I started pumping and feeding him by bottle (the hospital nurses tried to make me feel bad about it…. guess I’m not as dumb as I look!). She is concerned because I still have very bad swelling in my feet and legs…so she’s coming by in the morning to check my blood pressure and weigh Thor again. Hopefully I won’t have to go see the doc tomorrow….I’m really not up to going out just yet.

I have to say that even though it’s not for everyone, pumping has been so great for me. My milk came in full force this morning and I now have 9 oz. of milk stored in the fridge…which means when I need a nap while DH is home (and awake) - he can feed baby and I can have a looong snooze. HEAVEN!

Ok… I best go get more sleep.

We used the sling today and he loved it - he even stayed awake for a while. :)

Thor Michael *******
Friday, November 14, 2008 @ 12:58pm
6lbs 15oz
21 inches

November 13th - We arrived at the hospital for my 7:30am NST appointment, and by 8:00am my doctor had arrived and checked my progress. At that pont I was “between 0-2″ dialted. So he decided to go ahead with the Prostin Gel induction at 8:15am which gave me small contractions all morning, but nothing very exciting.

I was having problems with feeling like I was going to pass out, so they had me on oxygen and admitted me to the hospital right away (normally they send you home after the gel insertion).

By 2:15pm my doctor stopped by to see if I had progressed any. I had made it to 1cm dilated and about 75% effaced. At that point my contractions were slow so he decided to do a second round of the Prostin Gel. That fave me much stronger contractions, but then they died off around 6:00pm.

Doctor came back to check me at about 9:15pm - I was still only 1cm dilated but was now 100% effaced. He decided to go ahead with the third (and final) round of Prostin Gel. This brought on very very strong contractions. I was able to have a hot shower which helped me cope with the pain quite a bit.

By 2:00am the nurses and doctor thought I needed some rest so they gave me a sleeping pill to knock me out for a while. I slept hard until 5:00am, still having contractions.

At that point I got up and walked around the maternity floor trying to get things to pick up…but had no luck.

The doctor came back again around 8:00am Friday to check my progress and I had made NONE. I was so frustrated that all those hard contractions got me nowhere. They decided to go for an Oxytocin drip and started getting everything ready to go for that. Before they turned on my Oxytocin drip, the had to monitor mine and baby`s heart rate, etc to make sure it was okay to go ahead. Well, baby was already at 170 and the oxytocin would have made it much worse.

By then I was doing much worse and was so swollen that I couldn`t move my feet. After some more blood tests and checking, they decided it was likely I was suffering from HELLP Syndrome. Baby needed out - now.

An hour later I was prepped and ready for surgery. My mom came in with me, as DH could not handle seeing me having surgery - which I totally understand, I wouldn’t have been able to watch him having surgery either! My surgery went very smoothly and by 12:58pm my baby boy was born! I was too numb from my spinal to hold him while being stitched up, but my mom held him close to me and I cried

Thor and I spent a while in the recovery room and then were taken back to my private room where DH was waiting to meet his son.

We couldn’t be happier.

It turned out that his placenta was small and failing fast. Even if he had of “baked” two more weeks he would have been even smaller because he wasn’t getting anything. So he’s tiny, but happy.

And for everyone who skipped all that writing just for this… here are a few pictures:

about 30 min. after surgery

look at that chubby face, how could you not love it?

several hours later, finally in his PJ's and much happier

What a day…

My entire city (except a tiny little spot right around our house) is in a black out.  Including my doctor’s office.  I got to take a flash light to pee for my urine test and then didn’t have to have my internal exam since he couldn’t exactly do it in the pitch black.  Fastest doctor’s appointment EVER!  

Good news though - I’m scheduled for 7:30am tomorrow.  He wants me to do a 30 min. NST before he gets there and then he’ll insert the gel.  If by lunch time I’m not in labour, he’ll do it again and wait until 6pm.  He may try one more time, and if that doesn’t do it I have to have a cesarean.  I’m thinking good thoughts though.  And honestly, if having a cesarean is what it takes to get my baby out safe and healthy…then I’m totally fine with it.

Well, I need to go rest up for my big day.  I’ll update ya’ll as soon as I’m home with the baby!  

My doctor just phoned me (after hours…what a sweetie).  He said he just got the full report back on my u/s we did last week.  Even though everything looks really good, there seems to be a decrease in blood flow to baby.  So he spoke with an OB and they decided I should have the baby this week.

He made sure to stress that everything is OKAY and we don’t have to rush.

So tomorrow the clinic is closed for the holiday, but he wants me to come in Wednesday morning for an internal exam to see how things are….and then says to plan on being induced Thursday morning!  That of course depends on if the hospital will okay me coming in (considering we only have 2 L&D rooms).

He asked how I felt about it and I said “I LOVE YOU.”  hahahaha

I’m so stinkin’ excited!!  I’m glad I have a couple days to make sure everything is organized around the house.  Good timing… I hired my mom’s cleaning lady to come clean tomorrow - so my house will be all sparkly when we bring the baby home! 

Ok…. I know I’m a bad bad girl.

I took the Castor Oil last night. Not only that… but DH convinced me to do 4oz (internet says 2-4oz). Let me tell you about it:

9:00pm: It is horrible to drink. DH put it with OJ and blended it for me which made it better….but it still really sucked. I sat in the bathroom with the glass of YUCK and had to force myself to drink it. I probably looked so stupid….my neck hurts from (not even kidding) trying to get away from myself because I didn’t want it.

10:30pm I felt fine. For about 2 hours. And then had the urge to pass gas while on the couch. I nearly did until I remember my nasty drink…. so I went to the bathroom and thank goodness I did. It wasn’t bad…. I felt good after that.

4:00am Fast forward…I wake up with massive umm….bathroom problems we’ll say. Long story short….I used 1/2 a tub of baby wipes and a whole lot of diaper rash cream…on myself.

The only good things to come of this is that I did get some good contractions, the baby finally dropped and is centered and ready for his birth day (whenever that is!), and I probably have the cleanest colon ever.

Yeah…that the last time I listen to my family & friends and their advice on how to induce labour!!!

Don’t worry… I did not get dehydrated. I chugged water all night long with that in mind.

But now I have to go eat something really cheesey…. you know what they say about cheese. I hope they are right…. LOL!

My ultrasound went well…doc says baby looks “perfect” and is 7lbs 6oz right now.

….and then he put me on “strict” bed rest.  No physical activity whatsoever.  He said I can be on the couch or in bed…or bathroom obviously.  And I go back next Thursday.

oh. my. god.

I just want to cry…

well almost. 36 weeks and 6 days.

Ended up with an emergency appointment today….severe swelling.  BP was 155/110

I am on a STRICT bed rest for the night…”do NOTHING” is what he said.  Tomorrow I go back to get my BP checked and to have a Growth Scan done…. then he says “We’ll go from there…”

Which leads me to believe I may be having this baby sooner than I thought.  Which suits me just fine.

So…I guess you’ll have to wait ’till next time.

12:51am

Ouch… been having contractions all night (actually, since about 1pm today). Starts off as tightening in my uterus, then pain in my back and hips (similar to menstrual cramping). I am using a timer and they are about 5 min. long and about 8-10 min. apart right now.

Poor DH was worried, but went to work anyways (it’s a 2 min. drive from our house)…and he said “call me if you decide to have the baby tonight” LOL Yeah right. I’m betting my body is just doing this to me…and the second I go into L&D it will stop. ha! So I’m waiting to see how things go before I think about calling DH home from work…

But ouch! The pain down in my hips is soooo bad!! Oh…and I’ve been having anal pressure (yeah yeah, TMI - but it’s my blog…so there ). Not every time though…just one in ten contractions.

1:44pm

So…I managed to get to sleep for 5 hours (from 8am-1pm…off and on of course) and now my contractions seemed to have disappeared. So I don’t think I’ll be having him today…but I definitley think my body is gearing up for the BIG DAY! Yay!!

Ok… back to my couch… feet are so swollen

I am NOT happy about being awake. It is 5:24am here…on a Saturday!

Why am I awake? Oh… a few things. One of them being my contractions that have been stronger than I’ve ever had, but not coming in a consisitant pattern. And the other is my horrible heartburn. So I’m sitting here snacking on TUMS and hoping everything will stop (or that I’ll ACTUALLY go into labour…yeah right!) so I can go back to sleep!

“only 26 more days…only 26 more days…”