I mean it. Who know induction could be so easy? Well, the doctors do. BUT, you have to keep in mind that you must be favorable for an induction and its still not a guarantee that things will go smoothly. I was one of the fortunate moms who had a successful induction. Between my dilation and effacement and the fact that I have had a successful vaginal birth in the past, I was a great candidate for induction. I knew I wouldn't have wanted it if the situation had been different. My sister had just gone through a failed induction and a very traumatic delivery. Granted, there were other underlying issues that made the delivery more frightening than it would have been, it still started with a failed induction. She had no dilation and I don't believe that Audrey was even engaged at the time. Knowing all of that, I knew that I wouldn't be OK with an induction unless my body was close to going into labor on its own anyway.
Well, that wasn't an issue for me. By 35 weeks, I was past all of the prelabor work. All that had to happen was a few real contractions and I would be in active labor. So, at 36 weeks, Dr. Potter and I decided that if I made it to 38 weeks we would induce. Jude was looking rather large and he measured around 2-4 weeks ahead at each sonogram after 20 weeks. As for me, I was almost always measuring 3 weeks ahead in the last 3 months. I was pretty big! Although ultrasounds can be very inaccurate and your uterus measuring large doesn't automatically imply that you're carrying a large child, its worth considering your options. Boy, am I glad we did!
On January 20th, we arrived at the hospital at around 6:30 in the morning. Steve's parents picked Bella up to watch her for the day and then Steve went to grab some breakfast. I sat in our room watching TV while the nurses came in and out of the room helping to set up my IV and take my stats. The nurse who started to place my IV was very sweet. She failed twice to get a vein to take. After the second IV attempt, she said it was someone elses turn to torture me. I felt bad that she felt so bad for not getting the IV in. The second nurse finally found a spot that worked and, by 7:30, my delivery nurse (the 3rd nurse to help me out) started my pitocin. The first nurse who attempted to place an IV told me to ask for my epidural whenever I started to feel some strong contractions, even if there wasn't much pain. You better believe I listened to that!
The anesthesiologist showed up sometime around 9 and it took him maybe 2 minutes to place my epidural. That was the part I was most concerned about, and while it wasn't free of discomfort, it was a whole lot easier than I ever anticipated. Shortly after that, Dr. Potter showed up to check on me and I was dilated to about a 6 and she broke my water. It was really blissful just laying back and letting my body do its job. With Bella, I had a hard time progressing due to her position and my body's reaction to the pain. Neither of these factors were an issue this time. After a while, my nurse sat my bed almost straight up so that Jude would put more pressure on my cervix and move further into the birth canal. Well, around 12:30 or so, Dr. Potter came back to check on my after the nurse did and they both said it was time to start pushing. I was kind of shocked it happened so fast. I had felt the contractions in the top of my belly because the epidural was only numbing below my belly button while I sat straight up. I just didn't imagine that they were doing that much work!
Pushing was funny. I figured I wasn't doing a very good job because I was so terrible at it when I had Bella. It's true, I am not naturally good at pushing. I would put pressure in other places than where I was supposed to. Like my first couple of pushes had everyone laughing at me and the doctor and nurse told me to stop pushing in my cheeks. I looked like a blow fish, I'm guessing. After about 30 minutes of pushing, however, I finally mustered up enough of the right power in the right spot to push Jude out. He just had to get past a protruding tailbone :). I think the first thing that anyone said was about how large he was. Steve cut his cord and I got to hold him on my stomach for a moment, then they went to clean him up on the warmer next to us. Finally, the pediatric nurse weighed him. 8lbs and 15 oz. Even my doctor was shocked. We thought he was going to be big, but not THAT big! Either way, I'm very glad we decided it was time for him to come out. I am glad that it turned out to be so easy. I am one very lucky mama!
Since then, it's felt like the same old routine. I think we had a second child so quickly that it has been easy to slip into the newborn routine. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm excited to get the first two months out of the way and start seeing him become active (and hopefully wanting to sleep through the night!). But until then, I'm going to enjoy all the worrying, excitement, and joy that comes with having a new baby!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
When are you TOO paranoid?
When pregnant with Bella, I had tons of moments where I'd worry she wasn't moving enough. I'd go lay down or sit down and eat/drink something sweet and she'd start twirling around like usual. Things were SO easy then. I could not believe how incredibly lucky I was to have such an uneventful pregnancy. I even got asked a couple of times if I felt cheated that I didn't have morning sickness or the little aches and pains as I started to get bigger. My answer: HELL NO! So long as that little girl was moving and kicking, that's all the pregnancy experience I needed to have.
This time around, I got to have the experience. I am, again, extremely grateful that there hasn't been any problems with this second pregnancy. But, instead of things being a walk in the park, I've been able to find out what it feels like to be nauseous all the time, feel like your hips are about to fall off, and the pain of a sweet little someone planting his foot into my ribs. All the normal pregnancy complaints! However, my paranoia about things like fetal movement and signs of labor have not gone away. If anything, they've intensified.
First time around, I went into labor on my own less than a week after finding out that I'd already started dilate and prepare for labor. This was shortly after I started to feel Braxton Hicks contractions (none of which were painful, or even that uncomfortable). The moment I had any kind of fluid issues, I freaked out thinking my water had broke. No such luck. But less than 24 hours later, I went into labor 2 weeks early.
This time, I've visited the hospital a total of 3 times. The first I was sent by my nurse practitioner because of the decent amount of contractions I'd been having and the fact that I had begun to dilate (almost half way). I knew I wasn't in labor, but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to be a complete basket case about when labor would start. She put me on red alert. I may not have been in labor yet, but it really was at the point that it could happen at anytime. I've been like this for 3 weeks now. I've also been to the hospital a second time for painful contractions (that went away thankfully) and then decreased fetal movement with a possible water breakage (he started beating my up shortly after I was hooked up to a monitor).
The closer the induction date gets, the more paranoid I become. I am literally driving myself crazy with worry. I feel absolutely silly being so worked up over something I have no control over. I have a pretty good idea of what labor feels like, so there's no need to jump to conclusions over things that I know aren't labor. I have made it to the home stretch, there's no need to flip out now! Advice to those of my friends who have control issues: enjoy your pregnancy (whether you be pregnant now or will be in the future) and trust your body. You'll know if something is truly wrong. Stressing out over the little things is just going to drive you bonkers!
Thursday is going to be here soon enough :).
This time around, I got to have the experience. I am, again, extremely grateful that there hasn't been any problems with this second pregnancy. But, instead of things being a walk in the park, I've been able to find out what it feels like to be nauseous all the time, feel like your hips are about to fall off, and the pain of a sweet little someone planting his foot into my ribs. All the normal pregnancy complaints! However, my paranoia about things like fetal movement and signs of labor have not gone away. If anything, they've intensified.
First time around, I went into labor on my own less than a week after finding out that I'd already started dilate and prepare for labor. This was shortly after I started to feel Braxton Hicks contractions (none of which were painful, or even that uncomfortable). The moment I had any kind of fluid issues, I freaked out thinking my water had broke. No such luck. But less than 24 hours later, I went into labor 2 weeks early.
This time, I've visited the hospital a total of 3 times. The first I was sent by my nurse practitioner because of the decent amount of contractions I'd been having and the fact that I had begun to dilate (almost half way). I knew I wasn't in labor, but that didn't mean that I wasn't going to be a complete basket case about when labor would start. She put me on red alert. I may not have been in labor yet, but it really was at the point that it could happen at anytime. I've been like this for 3 weeks now. I've also been to the hospital a second time for painful contractions (that went away thankfully) and then decreased fetal movement with a possible water breakage (he started beating my up shortly after I was hooked up to a monitor).
The closer the induction date gets, the more paranoid I become. I am literally driving myself crazy with worry. I feel absolutely silly being so worked up over something I have no control over. I have a pretty good idea of what labor feels like, so there's no need to jump to conclusions over things that I know aren't labor. I have made it to the home stretch, there's no need to flip out now! Advice to those of my friends who have control issues: enjoy your pregnancy (whether you be pregnant now or will be in the future) and trust your body. You'll know if something is truly wrong. Stressing out over the little things is just going to drive you bonkers!
Thursday is going to be here soon enough :).
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Waiting
I really have little motivation to update either of my blogs at this point. I now chase after my toddler most of the time so I don't always find the time to sit at the computer long enough to put something together. The great thing, though, is that I can update this blog in a shorter amount of time than my name blog. That takes a little more effort.
My update today is all about waiting. It's hard to say that you're miserable when you're waiting for a baby to show up. No matter how awful you feel, you're getting something pretty amazing out of it. But, the waiting game is crappy. Some days go by just fine, but many of them seem to drag on forever! I wake up every morning (ya know, when I decide that I'll just stay up after going to the bathroom for the 7th or 8th time) and I find myself able to say "Nope. Today isn't the day." I know that you can go into labor at anytime of day, but I still just don't see myself going into labor in the middle of the day.
The upside is that my wait has been cut down by 2 weeks. At 38 weeks and 1 day, I will be induced. This is assuming that I haven't already had Jude by then. My body has done a lot of the pre-work when it comes to labor. I really just have to start having some true contractions and we're off to the races. However, as some of you know, I can sit here at 4 cm dilated and 50%+ effaced for a few weeks and not go into labor. That is what has made this wait so unbearable. The fact that I can go into labor at any minute and already be half way there. It just makes it feel like labor should have happened by now. So, having an actual labor date has made me quite a bit less anxious.
Whether I will make it another 9 days or not is a big question mark, but at least I know that's all the more I'll have to wait.
My update today is all about waiting. It's hard to say that you're miserable when you're waiting for a baby to show up. No matter how awful you feel, you're getting something pretty amazing out of it. But, the waiting game is crappy. Some days go by just fine, but many of them seem to drag on forever! I wake up every morning (ya know, when I decide that I'll just stay up after going to the bathroom for the 7th or 8th time) and I find myself able to say "Nope. Today isn't the day." I know that you can go into labor at anytime of day, but I still just don't see myself going into labor in the middle of the day.
The upside is that my wait has been cut down by 2 weeks. At 38 weeks and 1 day, I will be induced. This is assuming that I haven't already had Jude by then. My body has done a lot of the pre-work when it comes to labor. I really just have to start having some true contractions and we're off to the races. However, as some of you know, I can sit here at 4 cm dilated and 50%+ effaced for a few weeks and not go into labor. That is what has made this wait so unbearable. The fact that I can go into labor at any minute and already be half way there. It just makes it feel like labor should have happened by now. So, having an actual labor date has made me quite a bit less anxious.
Whether I will make it another 9 days or not is a big question mark, but at least I know that's all the more I'll have to wait.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Ouy
Ouy. That's the only word that can describe how I feel at this point. I'm torn over everything going on with this kid. I want to go ahead and just go into labor but I know that he will still be considered preterm for another week and a half. I can't stop stressing about when I will go into labor but I want to just relax about it and not worry. It's going to happen when it's going to happen. There is nothing I can do to speed it up or prevent it. If that means that I'm gonna have a couple more weeks of sleepless nights, then so be it.
I think I can at least rest easy knowing that I can't get too much more uncomfortable. I have contractions whenever my body feels like it, in no particular pattern. Apparently, the nurse in labor and delivery thinks my contraction pattern looks like I have an irritable uterus....exciting. Sleep is just about impossible to come by because my legs get sore if I lay on them too long (I do lots of flipping sides). And chasing Bella around. Ugh. I get to cope with a little bit of everything now that I'm so close to going into labor.
How do I know I'm so close to going into labor? Go look at a list of early labor signs and I pretty much fit the bill. I'm not going to go into detail because it's really, really gross :). Although, no matter how many aches and pains I have, the worst part is the waiting. I can't lie. It's damn near unbearable. So, the plan is to take this a day at a time and try to find as much as possible to occupy my time. Otherwise, I may just go completely insane.
I think I can at least rest easy knowing that I can't get too much more uncomfortable. I have contractions whenever my body feels like it, in no particular pattern. Apparently, the nurse in labor and delivery thinks my contraction pattern looks like I have an irritable uterus....exciting. Sleep is just about impossible to come by because my legs get sore if I lay on them too long (I do lots of flipping sides). And chasing Bella around. Ugh. I get to cope with a little bit of everything now that I'm so close to going into labor.
How do I know I'm so close to going into labor? Go look at a list of early labor signs and I pretty much fit the bill. I'm not going to go into detail because it's really, really gross :). Although, no matter how many aches and pains I have, the worst part is the waiting. I can't lie. It's damn near unbearable. So, the plan is to take this a day at a time and try to find as much as possible to occupy my time. Otherwise, I may just go completely insane.
