Natalie Grace, The Birth Story

We woke up at 4:30 am since we had to drop Jessy off at SIL’s house for the day, and had planned to be at the hospital between 6:30-7am, per the instructions we had received at the doc’s office a couple of weeks prior. Of course, being the non-morning people we are, we didn’t get out of the house til about 5:30 (we were supposed to be out of the house by 5). We stopped at McDonald’s on the way out and I got myself a sausage biscuit with egg (didn’t want cheese hanging on my stomach). I nibbled it down- hey my 5am 530am appetite just doesn’t exist. LOL

Jessy was surprisingly calm when we dropped her (and her car seat, bag and play yard) off at SIL’s. We kissed J goodbye and headed back (yes, we backtracked, lol) to Plano to get our little show on the road. As the sun came up we noticed something very unusual for this time of year- it was overcast. We quickly speculated whether it meant rain or not- overcast conditions are very rare in July in N TX.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:45 and got signed in- slightly detoured due to construction at the hospital, but no biggie. I quickly texted Kirsten (our awesome doula!) and my mom at 6:53 to let them know we were there and getting settled and our room number. 

By 7:18 I was on the monitor and Miss Natalie was, as always, living up to her nickname and dancing around for us. My blood draws and IV’s were started, followed by my first round of abx (GBS+). Dr. D came in to check and I was *still* 2cm, 70%, -1 and a posterior cervix (same as the week before). Pit was started at 2 units at around 8:20 am.

I laid low in the beginning since I had slept horribly the night before, just sat in the bed in a semi-tailor sit (the best I could do considering that there was a (almost literally!) bowling ball in my lap. :p However, the Firecracker danced around so much that we were having a hard time tracking her on the monitor, so I had to lay down on my left side for a while, which unfortunately ended N’s acrobatics show for the time being. At this point my ctx were not very painful; they felt slightly stronger than BH’s. No biggie. The nurse increased my pit to 4. In the spirit of conserving my energy, I decided to try to nap a bit. I think I may have dozed off a bit for a while. My pit was increased to 6 and Keith decided to go for a walk. By the time dad came back from his walk, my pit had been upped to 10 and I was finally back to sitting up- yay!

I decided to take a virtual walk and hop online for a few minutes for a different kind of distraction. I poked a couple of friends on FB (lol) and was going to update my status but never had the chance… N was back to her acrobatics again and dodging the monitor so the nurse came back in and instructed us, once again, to lie on my left side for 20 minutes so she could get a good reading of Firecracker’s heartbeat. My ctx were about 2-3 mins apart and still not too painful.

About 13 minutes later, I felt a minor gush of something and speculated aloud about what it might be. Having had the exact same sensation at one time while in labor with J and it turning out to just be my mucus plug, I initially refused to get excited. Instead, I just reported that there was stuff coming out. However, this “stuff” continued to come out! Maybe it is actually my water??? Kirsten ran to get the nurse, who confirmed that my water had indeed broken, about an hour and 23 minutes after the pit was started. The water was once again stained with meconium (as it was with Jessy, I think we have a family tradition going here! lol), earning us some extra people in the delivery room when the special time came.

I was soon allowed to sit back up and resume my regular coping strategy. SIL was on the phone and I got to talk to Jessy for a few minutes, just before grandma arrived. The first couple of contractions were easy, but needless to say they became more intense after a while; at about 11:20 they required more of my attention to stay on top of them. I sat on the exercise ball for a bit while Kirsten applied some counter pressure on my back, which helped tons! We moved back to the bed after that and I knelt over the ball, which felt pretty darn good until my legs decided they didn’t like supporting me and my ginormous belly, so I shifted backwards into a throne position so I could prolong the comfort.

Once I switched back to sitting up, I ordered up a grape ice pop and ate on it between contractions. SO refreshing! Totally hit the spot. (lol) Right after I devoured my last bite of popsicle I was checked again and was 5-6 cm and we all cheered! The ctx intensified and I began shaking through them. I had gone into the hospital with a mindset that I would hold off as long as I could before asking for the big E, avoiding it if I could. Since I was at the point where I was literally shaking through the ctx I caved and asked for the epidural. It seemed to take forever and a day to get the epi in but once it was in I was a happy camper once again. They checked me and I was at 8cm at the time the epi was given- WOOT! Since I was once again comfy I decided to rest and try to nap again. I may have dozed off (can’t remember! Lol) after the new nurse arrived and Keith went for a walk at about 3:01.

At 3:37 I was checked again and found to be complete and at +2 station! I asked for my phone and called Keith and told him he “had better get back up here!” Minutes later, he returned. By 4:05 things began to heat up again- our nurse began setting things up and calling in the NICU team and Dr. D. I labored down for a little bit more and just before pushing time the nurse felt my belly to determine what position Natalie was in. Her back was arched “like a cat” and she was facing my right side. At this point I resigned myself to another long pushing session. (J was OP and I pushed for nearly 2 hours with her!) I did a quick practice push and was instructed to hang out- only needed one! Once Dr. D arrived I pushed twice more- and out slid Natalie! Little firecracker had one more trick up her sleeve- she must have turned at the last second! She did have her had up by her face- waving at everybody as she came on out!

Once the placenta came out we noticed that the membranes were quite stained from the meconium, indicating it had been there a while. Good thing we got this kid out when we did!

Little Natalie Grace arrived after just two pushes- 9# 9oz, 20.5” long at 4:24pm on 7/26. <3 I ended up with two small tears- first degree (as opposed to my second-degree with Jessy!). At around 5pm I was finally able to nurse Miss Natalie, after the NICU team finished with her. J Poor kid had been screaming to eat pretty much since she came out and was finally happy.

Natalie is here!!!

Natalie Grace arrived at 4:24 pm on 7/26, 9#9oz after 2 pushes! Full story to come very soon. Until then, enjoy some squishy pics!!

JessyNicole's Big Debut!

So...after much anticipation and hoping labor would begin on its own, nada. We checked into the hospital Thursday night (2/4) and got some cervidil to kick things off, along with Ambien for mama. I was 41w and 1day at this point.

After a restless night and a yummy breakfast, pit was started around 10am. At first the contractions weren't all that bad- they mainly felt like braxton-hicks all over again; no pain, just tightening. At that point I was thinking, "ahhh this ain't too bad!" Little did I know... We were upping the pit every 15 minutes at that point. However, several hours later (times are fuzzy to me on this) we had to back off the pit a little b/c the ctx were coming too fast. I wasn't meeting my minimum minute of rest between the ctx!

Soon after that, the real pain set in at around noon. Ironically, at this point the ctx were registering on the monitor as weaker than before we lowered the pit, but I was feeling the opposite. For the next couple of hours my breathing exercises and vocalizing along with changing positions helped me out.  Finally, at around 4 or 4:30 or so (again times are fuzzy on this one) I caved and took a shot of Nubain. While it didn't take away the pain completely it did take the edge off for a short time, along with making me feel like I was drunk, which made the pain a bit easier. The doc walked in at around 5 or so and stated he would be back to break my water.

Let me back up for a minute here... once that Nubain started to wear off I seriously considered playing the Epidural card. Up to that point I had been undecided about wanting my water broken artificially, but something in my mommy gut said to roll with it (as did with going for the induction as well). I asked to have the epidural first, per the advice of many BTDT friends. Best. Advice. Ever. At about 5:30 or so the anesthesiologist (well, ok- nurse anesthetist) came in and started my spinal tap. While I had several contractions while he was placing it and an awesome nurse to help me through them, the relief was almost instantaneous. I know my DH was in the room with us but at that point things were so fuzzy to me I'm not sure exactly where he was!

Right after we were settled and then chilling out, the doc walked in and broke my water. I was at 4cm at that point (bear in mind that morning I was at a 1- no change from my previous checkups in the office) and fully effaced. My best internal check ever- I didn't feel a thing (although I could still move my legs a little, to both my and my doc's surprise)! A catheter was placed since I couldn't get up to go the bathroom on my own anymore (not like that was an easy feat to begin with since I had clunky IV pole to drag around. Unplugging the monitors was nothing compared to that) and I didn't even feel that. For the most part it was easy street from here... I say for the most part for a reason... when my water was broken, meconium was found, which meant a couple of extra visitors in our room to check on snowflake and suction her out good when she did arrive.

A few minutes later, my blood pressure then dropped and the snowflake didn't care too much for that, so out came the O2 for mama. Fortunately, a few deep breaths and an adrenaline shot for mama later, snowflake was happy again, but not without a production. Silly girl decided to hold us in suspense and almost earned mama another shot, but fortunately they didn't need it. Several position changes later for mama to avoid/alleviate the infamous pooling of the epidural, I was checked again (once again painlessly!) and at a 9. It was estimated I had about an hour left to labor down.

An hour and a half later it was time for some practice pushes, at about 9:30 or so. This is where things started to move very quickly, sort of... A couple of pushes in, I asked for a mirror so I could see her snowy little head coming out. With every push I saw more and more of her sweet hair (lots of it!). After each push, however, she decided to dip back in, basically playing peekaboo with us for quite some time. Unfortunately, my body decided to throw me another surprise and sent me into pukesville not once, not twice, but three different times! As a result I ended up wasting a couple of contractions to puke instead of push. argh! Finally, before I knew it the nurses were breaking down the bed and the doc came in. Lights, camera, action! (okay, no camera, but surely you see where I'm going with this!)  A couple of pushes later and her head popped out. I could actually feel the vibration of her head popping out, but no pain, which was weird. At this point the doc instructed me to stop pushing and suctioned her out. A second later, no more pushes and Jessica Nicole entered the world at 11:19pm, after nearly 2 hours of pushing. Turned out the little stinker was OP (sunny side up) on top of the cord being wrapped around the neck not once, but twice- no wonder pushing her out was so much work!

She was placed on my chest for a second while daddy cut the cord and I loved on her for a second before she was whisked away to be checked out by the NICU team. The only thing going through my head at that point was, "WOW. She's beautiful!" and "Is she OK??" After what seemed like an eternity later, Jessica was given a clean bill of health and brought back to me. At that point I was so shaky (don't know if it was nerves, my extreme fatigue from all that pushing or the epidural or even all of the above) I could barely hold her but I was determined to do so! She provided mama a pleasant distraction while the doc stitched up her second-degree tear.

Between the meconium and the peeling skin I later discovered on her sweet hands and feet- and oh yeah, her size(!) it was definitely a good thing I listened to my gut and allowed the induction. Little turkey was slightly overcooked!
 
The snowy stats of our little snowflake: 8 lbs 2 oz, 20.5" long; 2/5/10 at 11:19pm at 41w 2d.

The Day has arrived!

And I am a total basket case. We're going in tonight to start evicting Miss Jessica and I have been crying on and off like crazy. I feel her little feet squirming around and get teary-eyed, knowing that I won't be feeling that for much longer at all. I looked down at my gigantic belly in the shower today and lost it. I had to soap up with tears streaming down my face. I won't have my little "shelf" for much longer either!

I had spent the last week hoping that Her Snowiness would wave her white flag and come before today, but that's ok.. with how cruddy the weather has been over the past few days I can't blame her for wanting to stay baking. It's been all dreary, cold and rainy and that makes this mama want to do nothing more than curl up under a blanket! To make matter worse, PUNKsatoni Phil predicted 6 more weeks of this crud back on 2/2. ARGH! Kill Phil! (OK, just kidding about the last part y'all, I promise! They do say "Don't shoot the messenger, right?)

Once I arrive at the hospital we will drag our suitcases (and my own pillow, thank you!) up to L&D and get situated from there. Yikes! Hopefully they'll let me wear my own shirt at least for tonight. I know I'm going to have enough trouble sleeping due to anxiety and excitement brought on by upcoming events- I don't need wearing some foreign, oversized and uncomfy rag to add to the commotion. ;)

Keith just finished packing his suitcase and is now starting to load up the car. Wow, how time flies.

Still Pregnant!

at 40w, 5d! Keith said yesterday that he got a text message from Jessica saying she was comfy and cozy, with her cell phone, high-speed internet, satellite TV and cozy chair. Hmmmm... sounds like mommy needs to start taking stuff away!

I went for a walk on Saturday (less steps than last Saturday, for sure!) through BuyBuyBaby and Target and felt like a 90-year-old woman afterward. Mentally I was ok but physically, no way! She's definitely moved down more. Keith commented that she's dropped even more since the beginning of last week so I know it's not my imagination. But come on! How much lower can this kid get without just falling out?!?! LOL

With as much cleaning I've done around here (with Keith's help, of course) I'm surprised we're not at the hospital with Jessica trying to make her escape right now.

Car seat bases installed in both cars- Check.
De-cluttering done- Check.
All baby clothes, blankets and receiving blankets washed and put away- Check.
Hospital bags packed- Check.
Pantry re-stocked- Ummmm, well it was... we've pretty much depleted that while waiting for Her Snowiness to make her (now fashionably late) arrival!

We do have an induction/eviction scheduled- if she's not here by the end of the week, we're booting the little diva out. Hopefully, thought, we won't need it.

JessyNicole, come out! Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Aunt Susan, Uncle Jeff and a TON of other people want to meet you and see your cute, snowy little face.