Birth Story!

I was set to be induced on 8/27 at exactly 39wks. A few days before, I was having strong contractions...had contractions that were the real deal for more than a week. Friday showed up and it seemed like I would have to go through the induction...
I was supposed to be at the hospital at 630am, but they had no room at the hospital for us. Apparently, so many babies were being born that day. They called back at 7am to tell us to go in. It took awhile in traffic and when we got there there we had to wait. I saw my dr in the hall and he asked why I wasn't in a room yet. It was about 830am when I saw him and he was coming to break my water.
I finally got in a room at 915 and got started with an IV and pitocin at 930am. I started feeling what I call baby contractions and I told the nurse each time she came in to up the dose on the pitocin because they weren't doing anything. I probably get what I deserve next because of that.
My obgyn told them to break my water ASAP but they didn't want to. GRRRR
He also told me to get the epidural very quickly and they didn't want to give it to me until they broke my water. Oh, I was 70% effaced and 3.5cm I think...about the same from days earlier. I thought I would be more effaced because of my heavy contractions on the night of the full moon.
They came to check me at 12pm and I was 100% effaced and 4.5cm I think. The nurse broke my water.
Oh, my dr a few days earlier told me that he predicted I would have the baby between 12pm and 4pm but closer to 12pm (had I got induced at 7ish).
I had given my obgyn some hell about being at the birth and he promised he would. I had seen him for 16 or 17 years and I was always the patient in his office waiting hrs for him while he attended to people giving birth. He didn't deliver my son as I went before induction on a weekend.
Back to labor...
When they broke my water I told them to line up the anthesiologist...that always takes forever.
Well from 12pm to 1pm was the worst pain of my life. I can see now that the epidural did work last time even though I still felt pain. It was agony. I was't yelling but I told my DH that he better get the nurse and get my epidural ASAP or some pain meds. I wasn't too happy with the nurses as they didn't come in at all the whole hr and I was not on the monitors as I kinda ripped them off and I was sitting up and they don't work well. Even with no baby or contraction monitoring, the stupid nurses didn't come in. If you are a nurse, I am not saying all nurses are stupid, they just really messed up in my case.
After my DH called them a few times, they finally came in at 1pm with the anesthesiologist. I stood up on the side of the bed and told the nurse that I had to go BM or I was ready to push the baby. She was shocked. I was holding her so tight...kinda serves them right, but I don't envy their job. She quickly checked me and saw I was 9cm. To recap, I went from 4cm to 9cm in less than an hour!!!! She called the dr and told him to come ASAP...he was doing a circumcision but quickly ran over. At this point my contractions are on the scale of worst pain ever and coming every 1 to 2 minutes. That whole hr...it was every 2minutes or less.
I thought I was too late for the epidural and they told me that they had given it to people at 10cm(!!!!). It was hard for them to do it since my contractions were every 1 minute. My obgyn came in when I was getting the epidural and asked me if I wanted to wait 5 minute or push now. I told him I would wait to get some affect from the epi. They gave me a quick dose and it was semi quick to take affect.
I don't know how long I pushed for, but to me it was less than 10min, maybe even 5 minutes My obgyn asked if I wanted the mirror and I said yes. I probably shouldn't have because it was kinda not the best sight in the world. I know ppl say that childbirth is beautiful, but...He thought it was great incentive to get me to push. It did kinda help to see how I was doing on pushing. Last time I was able to see feel the contractions and push when they came like you should...this time the epi was too new that I couldn't feel the contractions but the dr just told me to push all the time.
It was a quick labor and that is good, but I wish I had had the epi longer. Kudos to the medication free mamas, not sure how you do it especially for multiple hours at a time. I complain, I had a quick labor.
Baby came at 1:21pm.
I got to hold her immediately and me and my DH asked the nurse if she was a girl as we didn't check right away. I got to breastfeed her right away and that was awesome. She did great. She is already a much better feeder than my son was.
My DH got to cut the cord. I am sooooo happy that my obgyn got to deliver her.

I should have written this down sooner as I am sure I forgot some details. I hope my readers made it this far.

Issues/Thoughts
Baby Girl has jaundice problems, but she had blood jaundice which isn't related to breastfeeding. My son had mild jaundice. Hers is much worse and we are doing the light treatments on her (which is hard while trying to BF). BFing is going so much better this time around. I may still have supply issues, but so far so good. She isn't too sleepy on the breast like my son was. I kinda used to blame the epidural and hte pain meds on the sleepiness of my son, but my drs say that ibuprophen can't do that. Who knows? I do think she didn't have time to get much of the epi in her system before birth. I am taking a low dose of motrin and I really am minimizing taking anything. My pedi said that moms in pain don't make as much breast milk, etc. So I did take her advice into account too..

I am a probreastfeeding hospital. What does that mean? Well, they don't give out the formula free diaper bags anymore. Bummer...I still wanted that even though I will BF because I know I will have to supplement probably at some point. Oh, I am having to supplement because of the jaundice..makes it go away quicker. So far she has gotten 5 oz, so not too bad for 3 days of life...This time I did use the SNS right away (that is the thing that you breastfeed and give formula at the same time. I think that helps instead of straight formula from a nipple as I did with my son. My obgyn gave me free samples of formula and i have some home if needed. I guess it is a good thing that they don't give the ton of formula samples out...

We named her S.ienna and she was 7lbs 1oz at birth and 19.5 inches.

My DH and I decided to do two hrs in the nursery on two different nights. I have mixed feelings about this. My BFing books (I got a free book from work) says to room-in with the baby. I did that last time the whole time as I was a worried mama. This time we took a break to get more sleep. I will say that baby girl is a much better sleeper so far. She is a very different baby from my son. On both nights that she went tot he nursery for 2hrs, they kept her more than 2 hrs which kinda pissed me off. I think it can hurt your supply by doing this, but it DOES help sleep and energy level. I didn't do it my last night (had to stay longer due to jaundice) and she was a quiet baby.

She did lose weight. About 2% the first night, 8% on the 2nd night, and they said if she reached 10% they would have me supplement. I started to supplement before this happened anyway because it pushes out the bad jaundice in her system. Like I said, I've only give her so little and still was able to breastfeed at the same time.

Things are going smoother hte 2nd time around...labor was more difficult but recovery has been easier.

Thanks for the support everyone! I really enjoy having an online community of friends.

Cerclage is out!

I am 36w4d today and the cerclage was removed. It was painful, but only lasted 1 minute. No pain meds needed. It isn't fun, but I can live.

I am 1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced - that is less than I was with my son. Boo...

Although I am trying to enjoy being pregnant for the last 17 days before induction...this is my last pregnancy and I want to remain pregnant the full time. I might complain later due to the heat, but for now, I am fine.

My peri seems to think I will last 17 days. I would like to go into labor on my own, but very close to the full 17 days.

Baby did great on the biophysical profile. GD counselor spent 1 min talking to me...I am too easy for her and she wants a challenge. My numbers are mianly always good and I don't follow the diet to a T. I do cheat here and there.

Baby was moving around a lot which is good because I have been worried about her for the past 2 days.

She is about 6lbs 8oz - plus or minus a pound.

Thanks for the support! I am in the homestetch.

32-34 wk update!

I have posted in awhile.

I had an obgyn appt at 32 wks and they pissed me off because I just left a urine sample and they put me to another office and wanted me to do it again. Ugh! I just was so rude saying 'I can't go again, I just went 5min ago'. I told them to walk 5 steps to go get my sample. They were just being lazy - stupid people.

I saw my peri at 32w4d and he did another FFN test - it was negative! He was joking and said that he could see my cerclage and it would be so easy to take it out. The nurse said 'don't you dare'. The baby barely passed the biophysical profile (needed due to GD). Ugh...She moved, but didn't want to practice her breathing.

I went to the obgyn yesterday at 33w6d. I made them do a NST on me and I think the idiots there forgot about me and I was on the machine for 40min instead of 20min. Baby was very sleepy and not very responsive. Between that and last week's BPP, I am kinda nervous. She kicks a lot, but she is kicking in her sleep and they want the h/r to go up right after kicks. She finally did it yesterday after 30 min. I think that means I should have failed the NST too, but they said I was ok.

I talked to my dr about induction since I have GD and he said 38 closer to 39wks. So I may have a baby by August 27th or earlier! He said 50/50 chance of me going sooner.

Oh, I also got my cerclage removal date last week. It will be on August 10th. I'm counting down the days. I'm able to do a lot more now.

My family threw me a shower on Saturday. It was so much fun and really girly! I will have another small shower hosted by my friends. The first one was small too. It is just fun to get girl clothes as they are so cute.

I'm still hanging in here and hoping to get to 38wks. I'm greedy as I want a baby who is healthy and doesn't need NICU time.

A friend of mine who is 1 wk behind me has a cerclage and didn't do bedrest at all during her pregnancy. Well, she had some shortening and I told her that I would do bedrest. She ended up doing that, but her water broke 3wks ago at 30wks. She is still baking her little girl! I think that is amazing! I think her drs will induce her in 1 more week to ward off infection. She had issues with her first child too...shortening even with a cerclage. These things just aren't as good sometimes even when things seem to be going well.

Great website for baby size!

My reference website for baby size and length:

http://www.babycenter.com/average-fetal-length-weight-chart

4-29wks - what I did (with a toddler)

Disclaimer::::
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This is what I did. You really have to figure out what is best for you. Bedrest/no bedrest, stairs/no stairs whatever...Listen to your body and factor in what your drs say with a grain of salt. If you haven't read other parts of my blog and you land here...I really believe in the power of bedrest. It works.
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4-12wks, I was more conservative than last pregnancy. Why? Well, I wanted to work all the way until cerclage but I had a lot of bleeding due to a hematoma (SCH). I had to stay home at least two days because of bleeding. On those days I had red/pink/brown spotting and jsut stayed home and didn't even work from home on those days. I was supposed to travel with work at 8wks or so and I told my boss that I couldn't.
I had discharge sooooo much until I had my cerclage. My drs said it wasn't because of shortening but it was because of the hematoma (cervical irritation). Well, then I still had it for a week or two after the hematoma.
When the hematoma came out, it was like a blog with some tiny pink spotting.

Then I had my cerclage and decided to take 2weeks of my vacation for after the surgery so work couldn't tell me anything and I didn't even need to work from home.

During the time I had my hematoma, I was told not to carry my son much...one of my drs told me I could take care of my son (not my peri surprisingly). I did take care of him but minimized lifting him.

The following really applies to 4wks to 29wks (and beyond):

Showers: Every 2 days until I had shortening at 27w4d. Now, I shower every 3rd day.

Stairs: during the week, once a day. on the weekend I did about 2-3 times a day...asked my friends for help after the cerclage...on those days, I didn't have to go up more than 2 times. I really tried to go up two times a day.
Stairs after shortening: 1 a day even on weekends...means my husband has to feed DS and bring me lunch.

Diaper changes: If i really had to and my husband wasn't here to help me, I would change his diaper on the floor (so I didn't have to lift him). I am 29wks and still do this. It is better than me carrying him to the changing table.


Playtime: I play with my LO on the floor. I lie down or I'm on the couch and tell him to get me a toy or get me a ball for me to throw him. He sometimes climbs on the couch with me and tries to jump on my stomach but I cover it with a pillow. It is sometimes hard to play with him but if he is good, he knows to play a little independently while mom is lying down. When he throws a tantrum it is really hard...sometimes I get down on the floor with him and lie down with him, etc.

DS's naps: i had to rock him for naps on the weekends which was hard for me. Now, I don't have to do this, but I still sleep with him at night and I have to pat him down for his nap or DH has to drive him around.

Eating out: This time I ate out more even during the scary period for me 16-20wks. We went out to eat once a day on the weekends. I never had discharge, which I did last time. Eating out sometimes saved me one trip up the stairs to play with DS. Also, after eating lunch, DS would nap in the car and then DH would bring him in and put him to nap with me.

Discharge: Had some after BM like last time, but not when out and doing stuff. Last time I would get yellow stringy discharge (not a lot)...this time not a drop. Well I would have the tiniest spot of peach discharge (twice). I think it was irritation from the cerclage and so tiny that I never called me drs about it. Some discharge is normal during pregnancy...Also I had no bleeding/spotting when my cervix shortened...weird I thought I would have that. I have no idea if it has shortened more because of that.

DS' care during the day: DS goes to daycare. My DH and I got into a routine where I would take him in and he would pick DS up. We did this until I was on bedrest (last 1.5wks)...when DH took him and picked him up. Daycare was closed a few days and I had to take care of him. Oh, DS had his ear tubes placed when I was 17wks pg or so and that was hard...I couldn't hold him and after his surgery he was going crazy (legs and body kicking and going everywhere).

Working: worked from home from 14wks to 23wks and then went back to work before my 23w5d appt to see how things were holding up. Worked at the office from 23-27wks until I had shortening. Oh, I had a handciap permit, so going into work was easy and I didn't have to walk far. I would go out to eat daily with my coworkers. They would pick me up at the door since they knew I couldn't walk to anyone's car.

DS is dear son, by the way. It is the lingo for the bump.com. Sorry if that isn't clear..DH is dear husband...:)

Modified bedrest from 27w4d until at least 29w4d (maybe longer depending on my next appt). I did take my son into daycare today because my husband was having to work. I had to go get some blood work anyway, so had to leave the house.

I am sure I am forgetting something...if so I'll update this after this line.
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28weeks! (and obgyn appt)

I am so excited to be 28 weeks!!!

I have a rough week, but I hope to hang in there for several more weeks. I put myself on modified bedrest on Tuesday - 3 days ago. See my last post to know why...

I had an obgyn appt today with the fun glucose test. I was planning to talk to my dr about what he thought about my peri appt from Tuesday. I instead was seeing the nurse practioner...I told her what happened as she didn't seem to get the update from my peri. She looked very concerned and said 'I hope you aren't going to work'. I told her that I was working from home. She told me to take it easy and not to do any chores or leave my house.

Then I ran into my obgyn on the way out and he asked me how I was doing. I just gave him a quick update and he was concerned too...he told me to take it easy. The NP was there behind me and said 'she knows her stuff' and my obgyn said 'yes, she does'. They were confirming that I am a crazy patient. hahaha. Well, really, they were confirming that I will push my peri and really question him. It is frustrating when my drs disagree, but I told them I was already on modified bed rest. I will do stairs, but it is hard not to with having a little one. I am going to take it very easy though.

I am happy to be at 28wks, but want this baby baking for at least 8 more weeks.

27w4d peri appt - mixed news

Baby is doing well. Measuring at 28wks at 2lbs 9oz. Fluid looks great.

H/B is 158bpm.

Now, for the not so great news...

CL was measured at 1.3cm or so via abdominal -my peri's office only does these unless they can't get a good look. The u/s tech didn't say much, but just said 'well that is why you have the cerclage'.

This pregnancy: I have a toddler, but did do bedrest for 2wks after placement. CL was 3.8 less than 4wks ago. I worked from home from 14wks to 23wks and I've been doing a lot more the past 4 weeks including walking around at big box stores (Kohls, target, etc). Before 23 wks, I was down most of the time - self imposed modified bedrest.

Last pregnancy: I put myself on bedrest the entire pregnancy. I was able to work from home, but was inclined most of the time. It is hard to do now, with a little one, but last time I did this and look at the difference. CL held at 2.8 - 3.2cm the entire time.

My conversation with the peri...

DR: All looks well with baby!
ME: I'm concerned about my length.
DR: It is low, but you are fine.
ME: I think I saw minor funneling at the top on the u/s. (My peri on my last pregnancy told me that he never sees funneling...GRRRRR....the last time I had funneling was with my loss - delivered 2wks later when we saw funneling but I was 13wks when I had funneling ). It was minor and not below the stitch but it was there.
ME: Can you guarantee that I won't deliver in the next 2wks? jokingly said...
DR: You won't. I guarantee but we can take another look.
(Who knew just saying that would put the dr. on the spot.)
DR: Remember you have a weird, tilted cervix, but I'lll still take a look. He never does my u/s. He does u/s -abdominally and can't get a good view. He then says he will do the fFN test. I've never had this done. He said he will do that to ensure I won't deliver in the next 2wks and also he will do the transvag cam because he can't see what is going on, but did confirm my suspicions on the minor funneling. It is like a small dip at the top of the cervix. The CL measures 1.8-1.9cm.

ME: Waiting, waiting, waiting for him to come back. He comes back with the stuff to do the ffN test. I'll get the results later today. He does a manual exam and says that my cervix is closed, etc.

DR: 'I'll be surprised if the test comes back positive'. As he was leaving...'at least the ffN test should give you assurance about the next 2 wks, but if it comes back positive, we will talk steroids and bedrest'. That is the first time I've ever heard him say that - the word 'bedrest'. He also wants to see me in 2wks instead of 4wks which was my next appt. Then he says this 'you are good for 2wks and I would probably even say the next 7wks.'

Blog readers, you know how I b.itch about my dr....he is so relaxed on everything. He constantly tells me about other patients...
Like today he told me that two of his patients have no cervix left but are 35wks and 31wks. Last time, I was 35wks and pretty much didn't have any cervix left. He said one of his patients - her obgyn put her on bedrest for 3months which he was upset with. Ugh, I am firmly believing that bedrest WORKS WONDERS. Part of me has thought that maybe I didn't need it last time, but with the lowest CL that I have ever received, I am thinking it was smart to do it last time. I will try to do less now. Work wanted me to travel next week and I said 'no way'. I was considering it, until I heard this news. I will work from home the rest of this week and then see how I feel.

My thoughts: Bedrest works...drs don't know everything...and I was finally diagnosed at 35wks last time...this time, there is no doubt that I have an incompetent cervix. Always question your drs...He would not have done the u/s to verify the minor funneling had I not told him that I saw what I thought was funneling. At 28wks last time, I think they still measured my CL, but after that they didn't. I've heard that with IC, you should expect the length to drop at around 28wks, if you truly have IC.

In 4wks, my length went down from 3.8cm to 1.8cm.

Please keep us in your prayers/thoughts!

I am 28wks on Friday, but I want her to keep cooking a lot longer...I was so nervous that I forgot to ask for another gender guess as 4 wks ago, they couldn't see and confirm (although I have been told twice).

She is measuring right on target. She is head down. Last time she was breach and I asked if that made my CL so long and was told 'no'. Other news: I have my 1hr glucose test on Friday. I really think that I have it again. On big meals, I have gone slightly over, but I didn't one day when I had a lot of carbs (pasta and bread). I told them to test my urine today and there is no sugars in my urine, but we will find out on Friday if I need the 3hr test. I am preparing myself for the worst on the GD front.

I just started walking as of yesterday - walked about 10minutes around the block. I went to Target for the first time this pregnancy on Sunday. I went to Kohls about two times so far. No more shopping for me in big box stores...

I will take it easy for the next 2wks.