Elise's birth story

My plan was to stop working the Friday before my due date. Then I would have a week to get the final things in order, such as call the pediatricians office, etc.  That was my plan, but not hers. =)

My due date was Friday, April 1st 2011.  My last day of work was March 25th.  We had a great weekend- went to Chili's for dinner on Saturday night and ran into the D'Arcy's.  Amanda told me to rock in my rocking chair for a LONG time- that it may help induce labor. (at least it helped with her 2 girls)  So we went home and I rocked myself to sleep.  Nick kept rocking me after I fell asleep for awhile before we moved into bed. 

In the middle of the night (around 2am on Monday) I got up to go to the bathroom.  Not too uncommon for a 39 week preggo.  After I finished my business, a rush of more liquid came out....at first I didn't know what happened- and then I realized- my water broke!  I called for Nick (the heaviest sleeper EVER...) and he was instantly up and asking if I was okay. I decided not to call the dr right away since I already had a scheduled appt for 8:30am. So I went back to bed. Light contractions started around 3:30am. Nick came with me to my appt and we were sent right to the hospital. We got there and checked in around 10:30- I was only 1 cm. yes, I had a long way to go.

I think it was around 10:30ish when I got a dose of painkiller (not an epidural, yet) that helped with the pain.  It did make me a little loopy though.  My mom came in around that time, and I really don't have much knowledge of what was said while she was in the room.  Around 11:45pm, I was 5cm. At some point, I got one more dose of that same painkiller, and it didn't help for as long as the first dose did. Actually, it barely helped at all.  Around 3am, I was 6-7cm.  It was around 4am that I knew I needed an epidural.  My plan was to make it as long as I could.  And I had gotten to the point after 24 hrs of labor/contractions that I was so tired and spent and in pain that I needed some rest.  So I got the epidural and was able to get a little bit of sleep.  At 5:40am, I was 9cm. 

Now this is the part of the story where things are a little more fuzzy, and I have no concept of time....so bear with me.  At some point, I remember feeling the urge to push.  I pushed for an hour with Elise's head right in view the whole time.  She wasn't making it through.  The Dr. suggested that we turn down the epidural medicine so that I might be able to feel myself pushing better.  I agreed, hoping that it would make the whole process go faster!!  So we did that and WHOA contractions!!!  I can't even explain how crazy the contactions were after being on the epidural for a couple hours!    After another hour of pushing, I was informed that I would only be able to push for one more hour before I would have to be sent in for a c-section.  They thought that maybe her head was big and preventing her from coming out easily (seeing as she was right there for 2 whole hours of pushing)  This is the point in my story that I wish I had pushed for one more hour.  But I can't go back and change the fact that I decided that I couldn't make it any longer and gave the okay for the c-section.  and then I cried.  so much that they needed to calm me down before they could re-administer the numbing medicine for surgury.  I also had to drink a major yuck orange syrupy drink.

C-sections are so fast moving.  They roll you in, set up the curtain and pretty much start right in.  They asked me if I could feel anything, and I think they were cutting me as they were asking!  Also, they were starting by the time Nick was able to walk in and sit down. So fast- and so many people there! 

So all those people who say that you can't feel anything during a c-section are lying.  You totally can feel....it's just not necessarily pain that you feel.  You feel tugging and pulling and pushing.  It actually made me sick.  I threw up all over Nick.  And yes, it was orange, just like that orange drink I had to have beforehand. (sorry if this is tmi!!!)  and yes, nick didn't bring a change of clothes with him to the hospital! lol  My dr is a tiny little lady, and when she said she needed to push on my tummy a bit, I didn't think to much of it.  until she did it.....literally felt like she was JUMPING on me.  wow.  I was actually given some benadryl at one point cause I felt awful!!  The benadryl must have made me loopy though cause I remember my arm falling off the table and I struggled to get them back up.  I really remember it. really vividly too.  Nick told me that my arms were strapped on the table though....so apparently I was going crazzzzzy.  I also remember being FREEZING.  Like literally shivering!  teeth chattering and all.

 

But then, I heard a baby crying. Elise Christine was born at 11:33.  My first thought- wow, she's here- i can't believe it!  My second thought- hearing the doctors say " wow look at her head!"

 

I pretty much don't remember much else until I woke up in the recovery area and saw Nick sitting in a chair next to me rocking our daughter.  precious!!  It was then that I first tried breastfeeding.  Thankfully she took to it pretty well.  We were moved into our room around 2:30pm.  And then there were THREE!

 

Way overdue!!

No no, not overdue in the pregnancy overdue terms (i still have 3 weeks to go) 

I'm overdue for a blog post!!  It's been so long and so much has happened!  So- here's a quick recap

1- Baby shower!  I was showered with love and gifts from those that mean the most to me!  It was an awesome time!
2- We got the nursery furniture- all but the bookshelf.  that's on backorder until the beginning of April.  So what will come home first??  the bookshelf or the little one?? =)
3- Decorating the nursery- a work in progress....
4- Having a hard time sleeping now, and getting off the couch, and sitting all day at my desk, and putting my shoes on...this is to be expected though....i'm not really surprised.
5- Starting washing the adorable clothes that I have!  and even packed a bag with E's take home outfit!  Well, two outfits actually...I can't decide which I want to use yet...come on, am I really the only one who brought more than 1 outfit to the hospital??
6- Got a new phone....yeah, not really baby related.....except for the fact that when I got it, one of the first things that went through my mind was how I would be taking so many pictures of my little girl of that phone!
7- Maternity pictures!  Just got them today!  Sneak peak above....what else can i say expcept- love love them.  Samantha Whitman Photography = amazing!
8- Experiencing "senioritis" at work...can't belive i'll be done with work in just a few short weeks!
9- Took an all-day Saturday lamaze class.  Time flew by.  Learned a bunch. Got a tour of the brand new Maternity recovery wing.  Since I didn't really see the old wing, I don't really have anything to compare it to, but it's pretty nice.
10- Had my final ultrasound and got to see her face for the first time...love.

Furniture

We ordered our furniture this past weekend from Huck Finn!  I can't wait for it to come in!!  Should be here in a couple of weeks!  Here's a shot that I took off of the brand's website- (http://www.munirefurniture.com/urban_03.htm)

We ordered the crib, the short and long dresser (with 6 drawers rather than with the door seen in the photo) and a nightstand.  The Crib converts into a toddler bed and then into a regular bed so the idea is to use this set foever (or until it breaks).  We figured we could use the nightstand next to the rocker for now, then it will eventually be used as a nightstand next to the bed.

The plan is to paint the walls a "sagey" green.....I need to see the bedding in person though so I can get close to the green thats in it....so far I've only seen the bedding online so I'm not confident in picking out paint without seeing the bedding in real life.

I'm getting so anxious to start getting things together...the next couple of weeks are going to be so fun!  (even if I'm getting more and more uncomfortable! hehe)

I had an appointment today.  I PASSED the glucose test!!  yay!  Thanks to Sarah and Landon who came with me to distract me while I ws getting my blood drawn.  I hate getting my blood drawn!  I'm so glad that I don't have to do the second test.  All looks good so far according to the Dr.- I don't even have any stretch marks yet!  I had to get the RHo- something shot today....since I'm RH negative and we aren't sure what Nick is, I had to get the shot....which turns out isn't given in your arm!!  I was so shocked when the nurse told me where she had to give it.....luckily it didn't hurt at all AND....luckily, it's not been sore to sit at my desk at work so far! lol  Maybe TMI, but I'm pretty sure everyone who reads probably knew this about the shot....I'm learning as I go!! lol

Baby Shower

My baby shower is coming up quick- and I'm so excited for it!  The last shower I went to was my friend Sarah.  She just had her baby girl at the end of December- I'm sure that Hannah and Elise will be close friends....only 3-4 ish months apart- well at least Sarah and I are planning that they'll be good friends!  I think her shower was back in September....and I got choked up when she opened some of her gifts....it was then that I realized that if i'm getting all emotional at her shower, I'll most likely tear up at my own shower too....guests beware!
So my mom told me that the invites went out....I haven't seen them yet, and I guess I won't be seeing them until after the shower- my mom thinks that the invite will give away the surprises of the shower....but according to my coworker they are "holy adorable invitations!" haha It makes me even more excited to see them!
I went on my registry to add something one day and noticed that there were a couple of things bought!  yay!!  this is so exciting!!
Now to just get started on getting the last of the junk out of the baby's room so we can start painting and have room to get the baby gear in there!  I'm so behind with the whole room thing.....i know a couple of people who are so on top of it....my one friend is due after me and have already started painting!!
I'm hoping to be able to start painting when my dear college friend, Alyssa, comes up for my shower!  I'm so happy that she'll be here for the weekend to help me do the fun girly stuff that Nick won't want to do =) 
April 1st is coming so quick!!

Pregnancy

This whole process of being pregnant has been crazy- basically nothing like I expected it to be.  Everyone that I know who has been pregnant in the past seemed to hide things so well!  They all made it seem like a breeze (call me naiive...) but I'm quickly learning that it is not a breeze.  

Now some of the "inconvienences" (for lack of a better word at the moment) I did expect - frequent bathroom trips, hungry all the time, being uncomfortable sleeping, and tiredness.

But some things, I never expected at all:
I didn't expect crazy nausea and vomitting (which I was lucky enough to experience a lot- I'm talking all day, every day, for about a month.  then it cut back to just in the morning for about another month.
I didn't expect the baby to move so much that it almost takes your breath away, or shakes your whole stomach (feels like it shakes your whole body)
I didn't expect to be 28 weeks and already having a hard time putting on shoes.  Can I just say that I'm so glad that I'm pregnant in the winter so I don't have to worry about shaving my legs every other day....It's nice that I can shave a little less often since i'm in pants every day.
I didn't expect the feeling of panic I would get when I was told there was something found on the ultrasound that they needed to keep a close eye on.

I feel like you may be thinking "wow, all she can think about are the negatives of being pregnant"  But on the contrary....even with all the negatives that I listed above, there are so many positives that I wasn't expecting either.

I wasn't expecting the rush of excitement when the pregnancy test said postitive!
I wasn't expecting the feelings of the babys small kicks and the intimate times spent with Nick while he kept trying to feel for the baby's kick- and of course the night he actually felt one!
I wasn't expecting the overwhelming feeling I felt when I found out that I was having a little girl!
I wasn't expecting to actually feel cute in maternity clothes and wonder why anyone wears anything other than maternity pants!


If I wrote this post in my first trimester, I probably wouldn't have had very many positives to write about....luckily things got much better for me.  Overall this whole process has been hard, but good at the same time....It feels like April 1st will be here before I know it.  And I can't wait to meet our little Elise!

28 weeks!

Changes

Yes- That's right, I'm having a baby...
Even though I'm just about 25 weeks, it still feels weird to type that.

I think that those who read my blog (two people maybe, since I never update) already know this info, but I think it's finally time to start updating my blog more frequently.  I want to remember this time leading up to her arrival.  oh yeah- did I mention it's a girl =)

I started a little journal the day I found out that I was pregnant, but only kept up with it for about 2 weeks or so...I'm hoping to transfer those entries here to my blog- I think everyone would enjoy reading it- especially other moms out there.

Now it's time to share a picture that my dear friend Danielle took last weekend. 

I must say that being pregnant at Christmastime is great and makes for fun pictures!  Thank you Danielle for capturing some great photos that I'll cherish for a long time!

-Laura