It's just too sweet not to share. Today, Nicholas woke up from his nap and started to cry. Donovan, unprompted, walked over to his crib and started singing Frere Jacques to him. How sweet is that?!? It was just soooo precious! He also was so gentle with him today and gave him lots of kisses and tickles his own hands with Nicholas' hair and says "tickle tickle". LOL
It was such a good day today. I was worried Donovan would react negatively to Donnell going back to work, but he's been adjusting just fine. I am not sure if it will quite be the same when I go back to work, though. I plan to go back part-time next week or the following Monday, but plan to leave for shorter stints leading up to that to get him used to going back to his normal routine. I hope it goes well. :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Our new family
The transition with Donovan is going well with our new baby, Nicholas. He isn't nearly as jealous as I thought he'd be, but Donny and his nanny have been here so between all of us we've been able to give him a lot of attention. Donny is going back to work on Monday, though, and slowly I'm going to have to start leaving him a bit more to prepare him for me going back to work and then yet another transition so he is spending time with nanny and baby all at once. I am planning to go back to work part-time in a couple weeks and then work my way up to full time again. We'll see how it goes. I'm planning to start a bottle with Nicholas once a day next week, in preparation.
Having the 2nd child is soooo much easier than I thought (so far)! Well, I mean it's not like he's up that much yet, but it just feels so natural nursing Nicholas while playing with Donovan and his cars, for example. "Sharing" my time isn't as hard as I thought...so far anyway. It feels good and I'm really enjoying it...minus the sleep deprivation, of course. :-p
I'm getting nervous that Nicholas is going to be just as challenging of a sleeper as Donovan! D'oh! I know it's early since he's only 2 weeks old, but already he needs to be held pretty much all day for naps (Donovan did not), I'm sleeping on the couch with him b/c he hates the bassinet but sleeps OK in the PNP in the family room, and he had a rough rough 4-6am this morning, where he was tired, but couldn't sleep (can you say Donovan?). I was sooo exhausted! But, I did get a good nap in for me today, so I feel prepared for tonight. On the flip side, he has re-settled himself going through sleep transitions, something I don't remember Donovan ever doing and he has already given me one 3 hour 45 min stretch (last night) which took Donovan months to do. Sooooo...the jury is still out. I'm scared, but at least this time I do know there is an end to the sleep problems as Donovan is a good sleeper now. :-)
Having the 2nd child is soooo much easier than I thought (so far)! Well, I mean it's not like he's up that much yet, but it just feels so natural nursing Nicholas while playing with Donovan and his cars, for example. "Sharing" my time isn't as hard as I thought...so far anyway. It feels good and I'm really enjoying it...minus the sleep deprivation, of course. :-p
I'm getting nervous that Nicholas is going to be just as challenging of a sleeper as Donovan! D'oh! I know it's early since he's only 2 weeks old, but already he needs to be held pretty much all day for naps (Donovan did not), I'm sleeping on the couch with him b/c he hates the bassinet but sleeps OK in the PNP in the family room, and he had a rough rough 4-6am this morning, where he was tired, but couldn't sleep (can you say Donovan?). I was sooo exhausted! But, I did get a good nap in for me today, so I feel prepared for tonight. On the flip side, he has re-settled himself going through sleep transitions, something I don't remember Donovan ever doing and he has already given me one 3 hour 45 min stretch (last night) which took Donovan months to do. Sooooo...the jury is still out. I'm scared, but at least this time I do know there is an end to the sleep problems as Donovan is a good sleeper now. :-)
He finally made his appearance!
Here is Nicholas' birth story from 2/15. I'll update how we're doing in the next post. BTW, I changed the spelling of his name at the last minute (that's what happens when you go past your due date...you think too much...haha!). I figured it was annoying when people add an "H" to my name and given "Nicholas" is most often spelled with an "H" that I would doom him to correcting people too often. I saved him from that mild ongoing annoyance. :-)
Nicholas was 2 days late compared to his estimated due date and I was very anxious for him to come out at this point. I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions for days, but nothing became regular or led to anything. And, on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at just around midnight exactly, only about 30 minutes after I went to sleep for the night, I started having contractions again. Only this time they felt different and pretty strong. After the 3rd one that felt pretty close to the last ones, I woke Donnell to start timing them. I don’t think he believed me that I thought I was in labor because he kept dozing off. At first the contractions were pretty far apart (12-14 minutes) and we weren’t supposed to call the doctor until they were 7-8 minutes apart for one hour. By 1:10 a.m. we had our first contraction that was only 7 ½ minutes from the last. I think Donnell finally started to believe this could happen tonight. Haha! With the birth of Donovan, our one dog, Ringo, sensed what was happening and started acting funny, but not this time. For the next hour the contractions varied from 7 ½ to 9 minutes apart and we called the doctor, who told us to go ahead and make our way to the hospital.
After calling a couple of people and waiting for his nanny, Jeri Sue, to come over to care for Donovan, we headed to the hospital. It was around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. when we were settled into our labor and delivery room. They checked my progress and I was only 3 cm dilated at the time. Around 5:30 a.m. I was having a lot more trouble coping with the contractions. Each one wasn’t too bad, but when they come every 5 minutes, it gets very tiresome, so I asked for an epidural. We were also waiting for them to come in and break my water to progress things along. I asked them to check my progress once more before the epidural and I was 5 cm dilated. Around 6:15 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural. This part was troubling. He tried THREE times to get the epidural in. THREE! Maybe that would not have been too bad, except he never got it right! It was painful and worrisome to have someone poking my back so many times to relieve the pain all the while contractions did not stop either. So, I never received an epidural that actually worked. I felt every contraction and my doctor and nurses said that I basically had this baby "natural" given my pain management didn’t work. I did receive two doses of a narcotic, which helped some, but not enough. After the botched epidurals, they checked me again and I was now 8 cm and they broke my water. I thought to myself "Well, at least if I don’t have an epidural, at least I’m already 8 c.m. Getting to 10 c.m. shouldn’t take too long." Boy was I wrong!!
After being stuck at 8 c.m. for 2 hours, my doctor ordered Pitocin to be administered. I was a bit nervous about this because I was still unsure whether it was the Pitocin that led to my c-section the first time with Donovan. However, how much pain I was in and how long things were taking, I agreed to it. They increased the dose every 30 minutes and it still took hours for me to progress to the goal of 10 c.m. I was so exhausted that I actually would doze between contractions despite the fact the contractions were only 2-3 minutes apart. Amazing my body would try to get that rest in such a short amount of time. After many painful contractions later I was finally at 10 c.m. at around 1:00 p.m. and was able to start pushing. It only took about 30-40 minutes to push Nicholas out into this world. That might sound long but the nurses and my doctor said that this was basically like a first birth since I had a c-section the first time and typically first times can take 2 hours or more of pushing. I actually had to take a break to wait for my doctor to get in her scrubs because it was going pretty quickly. I was glad I caught that break because I don’t know if I could have gone through 2 hours of that hard work. Everyone was very encouraging and I felt like I had my own personal cheerleading squad in the room with me, including Donnell by my side. I was able to watch the birth in a mirror, when I had my eyes open. Haha! To speed things along, my doctor gave me an episiotomy, too.
At 1:41 p.m. Nicholas was born into this world via successful VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). It was exhilarating and I felt like I really accomplished something. They immediately were able to put the baby on my belly for me to hold, which was much different than after the c-section with Donovan. My doctor and nurses said what an amazing job I did, especially considering that VBACs are relatively rare and I did it basically naturally. They were very surprised, too, how composed I remained. They said they would have dropping “F bombs” left and right and yelling, etc., but I must have internalized a lot because I was actually very quiet through a lot of it. They said I must have a high pain tolerance. I didn’t think so, but perhaps that’s one reason the worst thing I said during the labor my nurse said, was "Oh my gosh!". Ha!
Although the labor and delivery were so painful and exhausting (words can’t describe), I am so happy I was able to experience the miracle of childbirth this way. I don’t think my bond to either of my sons will be different one way or the other, but I’m really glad I could experience both. I was teary after all was said and done and felt that the 13 hours of labor really meant something and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
We only had to stay in the hospital two days this time, which was nice considering Donovan was very much missing mommy at home. Donnell stayed the night at the hospital the first night, but not the second so he could be with Donovan. Once again, Donnell has proven to be a wonderful father and husband throughout my recovery. Amazingly, my recovery with this birth would have been sooo much easier than the c-section IF it wasn’t for the spinal headache that I have had for now a week after the birth. Because they “wet tapped” my spine three times (meaning spinal fluid was removed each time), it was inevitable that I get a headache. It hasn’t been as bad as they say it could get, but it has been bad enough that I’ve been on a couch for a full week, had trouble keeping food down 100% of the time, and overall very tired and weak. If it weren’t for this headache, I believe I would have been "up and at ‘em", so that has been unfortunate. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel as I haven’t taken any pain medication for a day now, kept real food down, and can get up from the couch in short spurts. Breastfeeding is going very well, too, and much easier the second time around!! Nicholas lost over 10% of his birth weight in 2 days, so we had to supplement with formula, but now we're done with that. I have WAY a lot of milk right now and have had to pump some off so he can even latch on. It was a relief my milk came in after just 3 days. Phew!
Donovan has been very interested in Nicholas and smiles every time he looks at him. It’s very cute. When Nicholas makes a noise, Donovan will say "hear dat?" and he’s been very gentle with him, so far. I think Donovan has had more trouble adjusting to mommy sitting around and not being able to play rather than the new baby. I’m sure we have some transitions and some jealousy to go through, but so far so good. Nicholas looks a lot like Donovan, by the way, too, just with less hair than he had at birth. Thank God for our nanny and my good friend, Kim, who have been so helpful. We have also been fortunate to receive a few meals or gift certificates for food. Thankfully I was able to freeze a few meals before the birth, too. Overall, it’s exciting to embark on this new adventure in the Life of the Johnson’s.
Nicholas was 2 days late compared to his estimated due date and I was very anxious for him to come out at this point. I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions for days, but nothing became regular or led to anything. And, on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at just around midnight exactly, only about 30 minutes after I went to sleep for the night, I started having contractions again. Only this time they felt different and pretty strong. After the 3rd one that felt pretty close to the last ones, I woke Donnell to start timing them. I don’t think he believed me that I thought I was in labor because he kept dozing off. At first the contractions were pretty far apart (12-14 minutes) and we weren’t supposed to call the doctor until they were 7-8 minutes apart for one hour. By 1:10 a.m. we had our first contraction that was only 7 ½ minutes from the last. I think Donnell finally started to believe this could happen tonight. Haha! With the birth of Donovan, our one dog, Ringo, sensed what was happening and started acting funny, but not this time. For the next hour the contractions varied from 7 ½ to 9 minutes apart and we called the doctor, who told us to go ahead and make our way to the hospital.
After calling a couple of people and waiting for his nanny, Jeri Sue, to come over to care for Donovan, we headed to the hospital. It was around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. when we were settled into our labor and delivery room. They checked my progress and I was only 3 cm dilated at the time. Around 5:30 a.m. I was having a lot more trouble coping with the contractions. Each one wasn’t too bad, but when they come every 5 minutes, it gets very tiresome, so I asked for an epidural. We were also waiting for them to come in and break my water to progress things along. I asked them to check my progress once more before the epidural and I was 5 cm dilated. Around 6:15 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural. This part was troubling. He tried THREE times to get the epidural in. THREE! Maybe that would not have been too bad, except he never got it right! It was painful and worrisome to have someone poking my back so many times to relieve the pain all the while contractions did not stop either. So, I never received an epidural that actually worked. I felt every contraction and my doctor and nurses said that I basically had this baby "natural" given my pain management didn’t work. I did receive two doses of a narcotic, which helped some, but not enough. After the botched epidurals, they checked me again and I was now 8 cm and they broke my water. I thought to myself "Well, at least if I don’t have an epidural, at least I’m already 8 c.m. Getting to 10 c.m. shouldn’t take too long." Boy was I wrong!!
After being stuck at 8 c.m. for 2 hours, my doctor ordered Pitocin to be administered. I was a bit nervous about this because I was still unsure whether it was the Pitocin that led to my c-section the first time with Donovan. However, how much pain I was in and how long things were taking, I agreed to it. They increased the dose every 30 minutes and it still took hours for me to progress to the goal of 10 c.m. I was so exhausted that I actually would doze between contractions despite the fact the contractions were only 2-3 minutes apart. Amazing my body would try to get that rest in such a short amount of time. After many painful contractions later I was finally at 10 c.m. at around 1:00 p.m. and was able to start pushing. It only took about 30-40 minutes to push Nicholas out into this world. That might sound long but the nurses and my doctor said that this was basically like a first birth since I had a c-section the first time and typically first times can take 2 hours or more of pushing. I actually had to take a break to wait for my doctor to get in her scrubs because it was going pretty quickly. I was glad I caught that break because I don’t know if I could have gone through 2 hours of that hard work. Everyone was very encouraging and I felt like I had my own personal cheerleading squad in the room with me, including Donnell by my side. I was able to watch the birth in a mirror, when I had my eyes open. Haha! To speed things along, my doctor gave me an episiotomy, too.
At 1:41 p.m. Nicholas was born into this world via successful VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section). It was exhilarating and I felt like I really accomplished something. They immediately were able to put the baby on my belly for me to hold, which was much different than after the c-section with Donovan. My doctor and nurses said what an amazing job I did, especially considering that VBACs are relatively rare and I did it basically naturally. They were very surprised, too, how composed I remained. They said they would have dropping “F bombs” left and right and yelling, etc., but I must have internalized a lot because I was actually very quiet through a lot of it. They said I must have a high pain tolerance. I didn’t think so, but perhaps that’s one reason the worst thing I said during the labor my nurse said, was "Oh my gosh!". Ha!
Although the labor and delivery were so painful and exhausting (words can’t describe), I am so happy I was able to experience the miracle of childbirth this way. I don’t think my bond to either of my sons will be different one way or the other, but I’m really glad I could experience both. I was teary after all was said and done and felt that the 13 hours of labor really meant something and I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.
We only had to stay in the hospital two days this time, which was nice considering Donovan was very much missing mommy at home. Donnell stayed the night at the hospital the first night, but not the second so he could be with Donovan. Once again, Donnell has proven to be a wonderful father and husband throughout my recovery. Amazingly, my recovery with this birth would have been sooo much easier than the c-section IF it wasn’t for the spinal headache that I have had for now a week after the birth. Because they “wet tapped” my spine three times (meaning spinal fluid was removed each time), it was inevitable that I get a headache. It hasn’t been as bad as they say it could get, but it has been bad enough that I’ve been on a couch for a full week, had trouble keeping food down 100% of the time, and overall very tired and weak. If it weren’t for this headache, I believe I would have been "up and at ‘em", so that has been unfortunate. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel as I haven’t taken any pain medication for a day now, kept real food down, and can get up from the couch in short spurts. Breastfeeding is going very well, too, and much easier the second time around!! Nicholas lost over 10% of his birth weight in 2 days, so we had to supplement with formula, but now we're done with that. I have WAY a lot of milk right now and have had to pump some off so he can even latch on. It was a relief my milk came in after just 3 days. Phew!
Donovan has been very interested in Nicholas and smiles every time he looks at him. It’s very cute. When Nicholas makes a noise, Donovan will say "hear dat?" and he’s been very gentle with him, so far. I think Donovan has had more trouble adjusting to mommy sitting around and not being able to play rather than the new baby. I’m sure we have some transitions and some jealousy to go through, but so far so good. Nicholas looks a lot like Donovan, by the way, too, just with less hair than he had at birth. Thank God for our nanny and my good friend, Kim, who have been so helpful. We have also been fortunate to receive a few meals or gift certificates for food. Thankfully I was able to freeze a few meals before the birth, too. Overall, it’s exciting to embark on this new adventure in the Life of the Johnson’s.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Yooooo hooooo! Where are you???
Dear Nicolas,
Ummmm...are you cozy in there or what?! I wish I could say the same! You are due today ya know? My expectations were way off and it has caused me to be a little...okay a lot...impatient here. I did not expect to go back to work yesterday and it was BRUTAL. I thought about taking off, but what was I going to do but sit around and wait? Today is much better so far, at least. I am being teased left and right with a LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions, but they aren't leading anywhere yet. I guess I should be thankful that my water has not broken, I suppose, and that you are safe and healthy in there. We have a lot of people waiting on you, though, mister! A lot of people are anxious to meet you, especially your mommy! :-)
The latest thing that is really making me impatient is I have developed PUPPs, which is a skin problem in pregnancy. Interestingly, they don't know the cause of it. What's the cure, you ask? Only to deliver you! It itches on my belly a lot and gets red sometimes, with bumps. I am thankful, though, that some women get this at just 20 weeks, so if I only need to deal with it for a couple weeks (the last 2 days being the worst), I guess I'm happy. Always look for the positive things in life, ok? That is your first lesson your mommy will teach you. To be thankful and always find the silver lining. :-)
If you have not come by Thursday, I am quite sure my doctor will start to talk about when we need to get you out of there via c-section, as I can't be induced having a prior c-section. That will be very disappointing, to say the least, if I can't even attempt the VBAC after waiting this long. I could have done the c-section last week. :-) But, whatever gets us a healthy baby and healthy mommy will be what counts. Perhaps if you know you will be evicted by next Monday or Tuesday, let's say, I will get a massage this weekend and you and I can get you out of there sooner, ok? Deal?
Okay, back to work...ugh...you're killing me! :-)
Love,
Mommy
Ummmm...are you cozy in there or what?! I wish I could say the same! You are due today ya know? My expectations were way off and it has caused me to be a little...okay a lot...impatient here. I did not expect to go back to work yesterday and it was BRUTAL. I thought about taking off, but what was I going to do but sit around and wait? Today is much better so far, at least. I am being teased left and right with a LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions, but they aren't leading anywhere yet. I guess I should be thankful that my water has not broken, I suppose, and that you are safe and healthy in there. We have a lot of people waiting on you, though, mister! A lot of people are anxious to meet you, especially your mommy! :-)
The latest thing that is really making me impatient is I have developed PUPPs, which is a skin problem in pregnancy. Interestingly, they don't know the cause of it. What's the cure, you ask? Only to deliver you! It itches on my belly a lot and gets red sometimes, with bumps. I am thankful, though, that some women get this at just 20 weeks, so if I only need to deal with it for a couple weeks (the last 2 days being the worst), I guess I'm happy. Always look for the positive things in life, ok? That is your first lesson your mommy will teach you. To be thankful and always find the silver lining. :-)
If you have not come by Thursday, I am quite sure my doctor will start to talk about when we need to get you out of there via c-section, as I can't be induced having a prior c-section. That will be very disappointing, to say the least, if I can't even attempt the VBAC after waiting this long. I could have done the c-section last week. :-) But, whatever gets us a healthy baby and healthy mommy will be what counts. Perhaps if you know you will be evicted by next Monday or Tuesday, let's say, I will get a massage this weekend and you and I can get you out of there sooner, ok? Deal?
Okay, back to work...ugh...you're killing me! :-)
Love,
Mommy
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Since I'm not in labor...
I guess Nicolas wants to stay put a bit longer than Donovan did, so I figured this would be a good time to update more about what Donovan has been up to.
Donovan is such a cutie. This age definitely has its challenges (read some major tantrums and tempers flaring if he doesn't get his way), but it's such a fun age at the same time. His language and communication are really blossoming and it's so much fun. Sometimes it's not, but that's to be expected as he tests us what is acceptable and what's not. His favorite two words right now are "No!" and "Later!" LOL! If I say it's time to go upstairs for bed, he says "Go upstairs laaaater!". And, then there is "eat dinner later" and all kinds of things he'd rather do "later". Of course, if it's something he wants to do and we say later, he says "Nooo, noooowwww." LOL! It's fun...most of the time. :-) He really enjoys being understood too and you better acknowledge you've heard what he says, otherwise you hear it over and over and over until you repeat it back. Difficult when you're not 100% sure what he's said. Ha! He enjoys playing the game of opposites, too, where we ask him the opposite of a word and he says what it is.
On top of his English blossoming, he surprised me last week when he started counting in Spanish. ;-) He can count up to 10 and knows that "abre" means "open". We're working on some animals, too. We can thank Dora for this. I do have a couple of Spanish language videos too, but we haven't shown those much lately, so it must be Dora. What's especially fun about this is he really understands it's another language. If I count in English, he says "Spanish" so we can do it in Spanish. A few times he's asked me what something is in Spanish. Pity I don't always know. LOL! I don't expect to make him fluent, but I hope I can teach him enough that he finds it's easy to learn in school later on. I wish my Dad could teach him French and German because I read somewhere if they can count to 10 in any language, they will have the sounds they need to learn it later. I'm not sure how true that is, but it would be great if his grandfather could teach him.
Lastly, one of the most impressive things Donovan is doing right now (at least to me) is putting together jigsaw puzzles. He can do the regular toddler puzzles (where the picture is there and you match the piece to it), but he can also do 12-pieces and up to 36-piece jigsaw puzzles by himself and 48 pieces, with help. The puzzles say they are 3+ and 5+ jigsaw puzzles, so we are quite amazed how good at them he really is at just over 2 years old. Donny says he must get it from me. :-)
On a physical note, he's still a pretty cautious kid, but he is learning to jump and climbs a lot more and is going up and down stairs like a "big boy" better now. He can also FINALLY open up doors. LOL! As a mother I wanted to encourage him and teach him how to open the door knob that I'm sure he could have done easily 6-10 months ago, but I'm not that crazy to want him to get into trouble, right? :-) He has a lot of energy, but thankfully not so much so that he bounces off the walls.
Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure there is lots more, but those are the highlights. I love him soooo very much. I wonder, sometimes, how I will love the new baby as much as I love him, but I guess it will happen, I hear. I can imagine because I know how much I love my nieces and when I added Donovan, that love did not lessen at all. Love is endless. :-)
Donovan is such a cutie. This age definitely has its challenges (read some major tantrums and tempers flaring if he doesn't get his way), but it's such a fun age at the same time. His language and communication are really blossoming and it's so much fun. Sometimes it's not, but that's to be expected as he tests us what is acceptable and what's not. His favorite two words right now are "No!" and "Later!" LOL! If I say it's time to go upstairs for bed, he says "Go upstairs laaaater!". And, then there is "eat dinner later" and all kinds of things he'd rather do "later". Of course, if it's something he wants to do and we say later, he says "Nooo, noooowwww." LOL! It's fun...most of the time. :-) He really enjoys being understood too and you better acknowledge you've heard what he says, otherwise you hear it over and over and over until you repeat it back. Difficult when you're not 100% sure what he's said. Ha! He enjoys playing the game of opposites, too, where we ask him the opposite of a word and he says what it is.
On top of his English blossoming, he surprised me last week when he started counting in Spanish. ;-) He can count up to 10 and knows that "abre" means "open". We're working on some animals, too. We can thank Dora for this. I do have a couple of Spanish language videos too, but we haven't shown those much lately, so it must be Dora. What's especially fun about this is he really understands it's another language. If I count in English, he says "Spanish" so we can do it in Spanish. A few times he's asked me what something is in Spanish. Pity I don't always know. LOL! I don't expect to make him fluent, but I hope I can teach him enough that he finds it's easy to learn in school later on. I wish my Dad could teach him French and German because I read somewhere if they can count to 10 in any language, they will have the sounds they need to learn it later. I'm not sure how true that is, but it would be great if his grandfather could teach him.
Lastly, one of the most impressive things Donovan is doing right now (at least to me) is putting together jigsaw puzzles. He can do the regular toddler puzzles (where the picture is there and you match the piece to it), but he can also do 12-pieces and up to 36-piece jigsaw puzzles by himself and 48 pieces, with help. The puzzles say they are 3+ and 5+ jigsaw puzzles, so we are quite amazed how good at them he really is at just over 2 years old. Donny says he must get it from me. :-)
On a physical note, he's still a pretty cautious kid, but he is learning to jump and climbs a lot more and is going up and down stairs like a "big boy" better now. He can also FINALLY open up doors. LOL! As a mother I wanted to encourage him and teach him how to open the door knob that I'm sure he could have done easily 6-10 months ago, but I'm not that crazy to want him to get into trouble, right? :-) He has a lot of energy, but thankfully not so much so that he bounces off the walls.
Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure there is lots more, but those are the highlights. I love him soooo very much. I wonder, sometimes, how I will love the new baby as much as I love him, but I guess it will happen, I hear. I can imagine because I know how much I love my nieces and when I added Donovan, that love did not lessen at all. Love is endless. :-)
Friday, February 1, 2008
Countdown t-4 (39 Weeks)
Dear Nicolas,
My doctor's appt yesterday was same ol'. No weight gain, though! Yay! So, my total weight gain is 39 pounds, 2 more than with Donovan. Not too bad. My cervix was same as last week, she said (75% effaced and 2 cm dilated). I also asked her about whether they would give me Pitocin again given I had a c-section last time. I have read some doctors won't give it at all because it can increase the risk of uterine rupture (the main risk when you attempt a VBAC). She said they won't induce me (i.e. if I'm late, they won't bring on labor and I would need to get another c-section), but if labor has started (i.e. water breaking), they will give me pitocin and they call it "augmentation". Hmmm...my plan is to wait at least a couple hours at the hospital before pitocin if my water breaks first. I talked to my mom (your grandmother) and again she said with all 5 kids her water broke first, but she said it didn't take long for her contractions to start, so I'm going to give more time this time. I'm not sure if how your labor starts is hereditary or not, of course. She told me I should ask for a lower dose Pitocin if I do need help getting going. I am still so unconvinced the Pitocin plus epidural isn't what led us down the c-section path before, so I'm really hoping things go differently this time.
Your father doesn't quite understand why I would risk a uterine rupture rather than get another c-section. It is/was tempting to just schedule another c-section, but in the end, I really want to try to do this. This is my last chance. I want to experience childbirth, if possible. Also, what people seem to forget is that a c-section is surgery and the risks of surgery can be more than that of uterine rupture during a VBAC. The chances of uterine rupture is very low (less than 1% -- Click here). On top of that, recovery from a c-section can be much greater. Sure, my recovery from Donovan's c-section wasn't too bad, but it is not guaranteed the same will apply this time. All in all, it's something I want to try and your dad is supporting me in that. I just don't think he gets it. :-p But, it's not like he can understand what it feels like to be pregnant either, right? :-D
Anyway, I am anticipating giving birth to you THIS WEEKEND!! Woohoo! I really hope so!!! Since about an hour before my doctor's appointment yesterday, I've been having strong Braxton Hicks and maybe some real contractions on and off. Last night I had them for about an hour straight every 12-14 minutes, then they stopped. I had them on and off all night, but nothing consistent or continuous. I've had them alllll day on and off too! I hope this is my body gearing up. If I don't go into labor by tomorrow, hopefully this Super Bowl Sunday. If you make me work on Monday, I'm not going to be too happy, buddy! LOL! I'm very anxious at this point. I'm very uncomfortable and really would love to meet you, ok? Come on baby!!
And, now for my final belly pics. I won't take anymore even if I go another week. My belly is HUGE and I think I finally got some stretch marks. So, here they are. Enjoy. :-)
Hope to meet you tonight! I better get to bed, huh? :-p
Love,
Mommy
My doctor's appt yesterday was same ol'. No weight gain, though! Yay! So, my total weight gain is 39 pounds, 2 more than with Donovan. Not too bad. My cervix was same as last week, she said (75% effaced and 2 cm dilated). I also asked her about whether they would give me Pitocin again given I had a c-section last time. I have read some doctors won't give it at all because it can increase the risk of uterine rupture (the main risk when you attempt a VBAC). She said they won't induce me (i.e. if I'm late, they won't bring on labor and I would need to get another c-section), but if labor has started (i.e. water breaking), they will give me pitocin and they call it "augmentation". Hmmm...my plan is to wait at least a couple hours at the hospital before pitocin if my water breaks first. I talked to my mom (your grandmother) and again she said with all 5 kids her water broke first, but she said it didn't take long for her contractions to start, so I'm going to give more time this time. I'm not sure if how your labor starts is hereditary or not, of course. She told me I should ask for a lower dose Pitocin if I do need help getting going. I am still so unconvinced the Pitocin plus epidural isn't what led us down the c-section path before, so I'm really hoping things go differently this time.
Your father doesn't quite understand why I would risk a uterine rupture rather than get another c-section. It is/was tempting to just schedule another c-section, but in the end, I really want to try to do this. This is my last chance. I want to experience childbirth, if possible. Also, what people seem to forget is that a c-section is surgery and the risks of surgery can be more than that of uterine rupture during a VBAC. The chances of uterine rupture is very low (less than 1% -- Click here). On top of that, recovery from a c-section can be much greater. Sure, my recovery from Donovan's c-section wasn't too bad, but it is not guaranteed the same will apply this time. All in all, it's something I want to try and your dad is supporting me in that. I just don't think he gets it. :-p But, it's not like he can understand what it feels like to be pregnant either, right? :-D
Anyway, I am anticipating giving birth to you THIS WEEKEND!! Woohoo! I really hope so!!! Since about an hour before my doctor's appointment yesterday, I've been having strong Braxton Hicks and maybe some real contractions on and off. Last night I had them for about an hour straight every 12-14 minutes, then they stopped. I had them on and off all night, but nothing consistent or continuous. I've had them alllll day on and off too! I hope this is my body gearing up. If I don't go into labor by tomorrow, hopefully this Super Bowl Sunday. If you make me work on Monday, I'm not going to be too happy, buddy! LOL! I'm very anxious at this point. I'm very uncomfortable and really would love to meet you, ok? Come on baby!!
And, now for my final belly pics. I won't take anymore even if I go another week. My belly is HUGE and I think I finally got some stretch marks. So, here they are. Enjoy. :-)
Hope to meet you tonight! I better get to bed, huh? :-p
Love,
Mommy
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