Baby news 7wks

So as you may have noticed from the previous post, we are expecting another addition to our family. And as you may have noticed from the post before that, it pretty much takes a pregnancy to get me to actually blog. Despite going straight from a birth announcement to a pregnancy announcement, they're not actually that close together. Owen is nearly 2 and by the time the baby comes he'll be 2 1/2, which is the same age gap between him and Carter.

We won't find out if God is blessing us with another boy or the girl I've been praying for until September, so until I know for sure it will be "baby" and not "he" or "she". The official due date is Feb. 10, but since this will be another planned c-section, the debut should be around the 3rd.

It appears I may end up with plenty of time to blog about pregnancy again. I'm praying really hard that I don't end up on bed rest again, but I am already having similar difficulties to last time. My blood pressure has once again dropped (much earlier this time around) and for the sake of not falling all over the place I'm limiting my mobility to the essentials. At 7wks my BP has registered a low of 87/45, and will supposedly continue to gradually drop until around the 20th week. Let's hope at the very least it just stays put and doesn't go any lower. As it is the room starts spinning just by lifting my head. :-/

Even with the usual early symptoms, morning sickness, low BP, and frequent trips to the bathroom, it still hasn't really sunk in yet that we're having another baby. It's DEFINITELY sunk in that I'm pregnant, but I literally have to keep reminding myself that we're going to have a beautiful, if not noisy and fussy, newborn in just a few months. We've had the first ultrasound and saw the heart beating and it still doesn't seem real. I vaguely remember feeling this way with Owen and if I recall correctly when those kicks start making their presence known then it becomes very real. With Carter it felt real right away just because it was the first time and I couldn't make myself stop thinking about the baby. :-P

So that's the news for now. We go back July 15 for a 10wk check-up and they said they'll be doing another ultrasound at that point too. It's not too hard to sell me on getting ultrasounds done. I love getting a peek at what's going on in there. The baby was the size of a pea in the 6wk one and was basically a little speck with a flashing dot in the middle (the heart). This next time it should actually look like something! :-)

Check back again, I promise it won't be 2yrs before the next post! :-P

Baby Herman #3 is on the Way!

Birth Announcement

Owen is Here!

Owen is here!! He made his big debut on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 10:37am. He was 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. (1/2lb and 1/2” less than his big brother was, but also a week earlier).

The day started off a little rough. Basically the hospital has horrible communication between departments. The day before the registration lady told me I was scheduled for that day instead of the next, but they got that figured out. Then when we arrived at the hospital at 6:30am they couldn’t figure out why we were there so early. Apparently they had me down for an 11:00 c-section, instead of 9:30, but that was finally figured out too. However, they were full, so we got to spend over an hour in the waiting room, and then got prepped in the recovery room, because there still weren’t any rooms available. After a delay due to an emergency c-section, we finally got to go at about 10.

I had asked my doctor if there was any way I could see him being delivered and she was happy to accommodate me, even though she’d never tried it before. They didn’t have a sterile mirror, so they decided to incline the head of the table when it was time to pull him out and let down the curtain. It was perfect- they pulled him out and he was right there in front of me- the best view possible. There was also a clear view to his table, so I got to watch him getting cleaned up and assessed. (I didn’t get to see ANYTHING with Carter or see him until he was about 10min old and they’d finished all their assessments, so it really meant a lot to me this time). They then brought him over and laid him on my chest, another thing they didn’t do with Carter. (They had to knock me out after Carter was delivered, because I was hemorrhaging, so I only got to see him for a minute).

Once we were done there still weren’t any rooms available, so we got an extended stay in recovery. On the plus side, I got lots of attention, because the nurse can’t leave you unattended in recovery. On the down side, you’re not supposed to have visitors back there. They did however make an exception since we’d been there so long and let Ryan’s mom bring Carter back to meet his new little brother.

He instantly started petting him and pointing out his nose, ears, and eyes. I unswaddled him a bit to show him his hands and feet. Owen then proceeded to cry from being unswaddled. When Carter came back that evening to visit again, the first thing he said was that he didn’t want to tickle his feet, because he didn’t want him to cry again.

To my surprise and great relief, I wasn’t in nearly as much pain this time around after the surgery. I had been dreading the intense pain and not being able to do anything for myself. This time though I was able to get up out of bed on my own that very night. I knew it would be easier this time, since I didn’t go through labor first, but I hadn’t realized how untypical my pain was last time.

The last night in the hospital brought some frustration. They were again running short on rooms and had people coming in for inductions, so they wanted to move me down to a room on the surgery floor, since I was more recovered than some. I was a bit perturbed by this, seeing as 2 years ago I was sent to a different hospital for my induction, because they were full, but now they were squeezing people in. We did find out the next morning that all the local hospital maternity wards were overflowing though, so I guess they had to make room for people this time. We packed up our stuff and then waited, and waited, and waited. Again, the poor communication between departments showed up, as we found out the surgery floor had a room ready for me, but they never notified the maternity department.

Once we finally got moved I found comfort in the bed. The maternity beds are thin and uncomfortable and you can’t raise the legs, because they’re designed to come off for delivery. The new room however had a regular hospital bed with a soft, comfortable mattress that was fully adjustable. Poor Ryan though moved to an even smaller bed than he’d had before (and on his birthday too, what a sport).

We received prompt assistance when needed that night, because there was a maternity nurse sent down for the 8 of us who’d been displaced. The next day though it took forever to get help (if it ever came at all- frustrating when you’re talking about pain meds!) Owen was supposed to get circumcised that morning, but the doctor was busy doing her rounds on the maternity floor. I was finally asked if I wanted to be discharged at noon or wait until after 4p for them to get to Owen. We opted to go home earlier and take him back in on Tuesday. However, come noon my doctor still had not appeared to discharge me. She finally sent down my midwife, who had come in to visit, and she did my discharge and we were released around 2.

The following Tuesday was a LONG day. Owen had his 1wk check-up that morning. His weight had dropped to 7lb 14oz and he was jaundiced. We ran a few errands while we were in town and then went to our afternoon appointments. We both had a 2:15 appointment, me for my incision and Owen for his circumcision. I went in a reasonable amount of time, but we waited quite a while for Owen. You’re not supposed to feed them 1hr before the procedure and he was due to eat, which made it even more fun. After a long wait they took him back and said he’d be done in 5-10 minutes, but it ended up being 30 minutes. In total we were at that doctors’ office for over 2 hours.

We then had to take Owen back to the pediatrician on Thursday to check his billirubin level again for his jaundice. He went from 13.4 to 13.8, which means it was leveling off, but they want to check it again just to make sure it's coming down. We’re supposed to go for that tomorrow morning. He was also up to 8lb 1oz.

That brings us to today. Carter came down with a cold basically the same day Owen was born and Owen has now caught it. It’s been a little rough, not getting much sleep last night and having to hold him most of today. So that’s everything for now. It’s been an adjustment, but we are definitely loving our new addition and Carter loves helping out with his new baby brother. Click on our gallery to see pictures of the new little guy.

37.5 Weeks

I guess I’m overdue for an update. My apologies to anyone who’s been keeping up with the blog and been waiting for info. My last 2 weekly appointments have given no new news other than the fact that we now have the c-section officially scheduled. If he doesn’t come sooner, which at this point I’m really starting to doubt he will, he’ll be born on Aug. 19 somewhere around 9:30am. The Dr. has another c-section that morning at 7, so whenever she’s done with that one, it’ll be my turn to go in.

Not much else has changed- still having lots of contractions. In general they’ve gotten more painful, but for the most part they’re irregular. There have been a couple days where they were 10 minutes apart for a good part of the day, but then they’d go random again. Hence the doubting he’ll come before the 19th.

I’ve been doing my best to keep busy and help labor come on. I’ve been going on walks with Carter every morning around our neighborhood, which is 1mile, plus all the other walking and chasing him around I do during the day. We’ve also started going to the pool in the afternoons. It’s not so much to help labor, but it is nice to feel lighter. Plus, it’s a workout. It’s amazing how sore my muscles are after walking around in the pool for a couple hours. Carter of course loves it. He can swim all by himself now with just water wings on. The school’s pool has a waterfall wall at one end, so he likes to play in it and catch/pop the bubbles in the foam.

My last appointment is this Tuesday. If there’s any news I’ll post another update, otherwise the next post will likely be to announce Owen’s arrival!

*ANOTHER 35 Week Update*

After spending the afternoon doing some online research, getting feedback from other mothers on the wonderful ivillage forum and talking things over with Ryan, I have made a decision. I have decided against having the test done Thursday morning for fetal lung maturity. My reasoning is as follows.

1. Almost every site agrees that fetal lung maturity is usually reached by week 35, which I am at. Add in that Owen is a larger than average baby and has had the steroid shots to help develop his lungs, and it’s pretty guaranteed that his lungs are mature. From my understanding, the reason Dr’s have to perform this test is to protect themselves from being sued due to performing an elective c-section at such an early gestational age, which I completely understand.

2. The Doctor said repeatedly that if I were to go into labor that they would go ahead and deliver me. I wouldn’t have to reach hard active labor, since they’ll intervene with a c-section anyway, so whenever I get to the point of early labor (regular contractions 5-10 minutes apart), then they would go ahead and take me in.

3. Based on 1 and 2, I have decided to let myself off bed rest. I of course won’t attempt anything too strenuous like long walks or lifting Carter (it has been over 2 months since I’ve had any type of exercise!), but I will start doing stuff around the house again, like cooking and cleaning. If his lungs are mature and it’s ok if I go into labor, then I figure we can still schedule the c-section for 39 weeks as originally planned and if nature takes its course sooner, then so be it, but I don’t want to force him out.

4. The test is an amniocentesis, which does come with risks. The risks are low, but still risks. They include infection, hemorrhaging, leaking amniotic fluid, and preterm labor. The risks alone aren’t deterring me from having the procedure, but just one more thing against it. Also, I could live without the pain of having a needle shoved through my stomach and uterus, which apparently isn’t the most comfortable feeling in the world.

5. Finally, the test is expensive, and based on the above reasoning, an unnecessary expense. The cost of an amnio ranges from $1200-2000. Even after insurance we’d be paying a few hundred dollars out of pocket.

So we won’t be eliminating the guess work of when he’ll come by scheduling a much earlier c-section, but I’ll feel better about letting him “cook” a little longer if that’s how it’s meant to be. As for my suffering through the pain of cramping and contractions, I’ve already found it easier to cope with just by being up doing stuff and distracting myself. It’s much harder to re-direct your attention when you’re stuck in bed doing nothing.

35 Week Check-Up

Well I made it though 4 days of regular contractions, only to wake up this morning to cramping. No Contractions! Still in a lot of pain though after having my muscles worked out all weekend. I went in for my 35 week check-up this morning and found that I am still 2cm dilated, which is good, but also frustrating after suffering so much pain. I am also still measuring large, but we already know that it’s because he’s a big boy.

The Dr. decided that since I’m having so much trouble with cramping and contractions, that she’d refer me to the high risk Dr’s to have an amniocentesis done to check fetal lung maturity. I will have that done Thursday morning. If his lungs are mature then we can go ahead and schedule the c-section for any time. If they’re close to mature, then I may be able to deliver about a week later. However if they’re completely immature, then they’ll try to get me all the way to 39 weeks. She did say repeatedly though that if I go into labor, they will not try to stop it, which is great news to me. Statistically, white males’ lungs develop slower than girls (and boys of different races). She did say that since I had steroid injections for his lung development that they may be further developed. Also, he is a big boy, so he has that working in his favor.

She did say that I will most likely have to have a c-section. Unless I was to go in to the hospital fully dilated and crowning, they’d probably still do a c-section. (Clearly she’s not a big believer in VBAC’s.) Personally, if I were to deliver early, I would love to give a VBAC a shot, since he’d most likely be smaller than Carter’s 9lbs+, but it doesn’t sound like I’ll get the chance. On the plus side, she did say she’d let me have a mirror in the OR to see the birth. She’s never done it before, so she’s not sure how the angle will work, but she’s willing to give it a shot. I’d heard of other women doing this so they could still see their baby being delivered. My one big disappointment with Carter’s delivery was not being able to see him born, so I’m glad she’s going to let my try to see. (From what I’ve read online, many Dr’s refuse this kind of a request).

Lastly, she told me to stop taking the Terbutaline, because it obviously wasn’t working for me. She prescribed me Procardia XL to take instead. It’s primarily a blood pressure medication, but is also used for Preterm contractions. We did ask about how that would affect me, since I have naturally low blood pressure and get really sick when it drops. Her answer was that if it makes me sick then I probably shouldn’t take it. With that in mind, I’m thinking I won’t be filling the prescription, because I already know that even a slight decrease in my BP makes my dizzy and nauseas, and I REALLY don’t want to go through that again.

So I’m a little disappointed that I haven’t progressed more over the weekend, but relieved that they will let me deliver now and not try to stop labor if it does begin (another reason I see to not take the medication). She didn’t say so directly, but Ryan and I both got the impression that I didn’t have to stick to such strict bed rest any longer. (Again, because it’s ok for me to deliver now.) So I am hugely relieved to be able to get up for a few little things. Maybe without the meds and being up a little more, I may go into labor this week after all! I can only hope. I’m definitely ready to get this whole pregnancy thing over with and meet my little boy. :)