New blog

Hey everyone! 

Now that Kynlee has arrived I have created a new blog, Keeping up with Kynlee, to continue sharing our journey through parenthood for the first time! It is still a work in progress so bare with me! 

 Head on over here to continue following our story!

Kynlee's Arrival

Remember where I left off with this post? 

Well after waiting forever for the results of my urine test on Thursday afternoon (Aug. 26th), I finally got them around 6:30 p.m. (I had been expecting them around 3 p.m.). My doctor came in and I immediately said, "Can I PLEASE go home?" I was literally begging. I had already planned in my mind to go straight home and take a shower. The next words out of her mouth are ones I will never forget. She replied, "Absolutely not! It's time."

Turns out that my urine contained too much protein and therefore, with my BP problems, it was looking like pre-eclampsia. Still, I pleaded with her to let me go home to shower, get a few more things, and then come back. She said no. I think I was looking for any excuse to leave the hospital because I wasn't ready. Even though I had been begging for Kynlee to come and joking with the doctor about inducing, I truly did not want to induce. Nevertheless, that's what happened.
The nurse let me take a shower at the hospital and then the induction began around 10:00 p.m. that night. Luke and I settled in for the night as best as possible because we knew that this was going to be a long process. Around 6:00 a.m. Friday morning, the doctor came in to break my water. (By this time, MY doctor had gone home... but thankfully the doctor who was on-call that weekend was the other female doc in the office...I really like her, too... and I was so grateful that it was her and not doctor male).  
Speaking of breaking the water... what a gross & painful process!

After the doctor broke my water I was 3 cm dilated but Kynlee was still high and had not dropped. The contractions were becoming more frequent and more intense. I waited about an hour and then received my epidural. I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to the epidural going in, but it wasn't bad at all. The only thing that hurt was the initial numbing medication going in and after that it was a breeze. From this point on I didn't really notice my contractions unless I was watching the monitor. Occasionally I could feel them but it wasn't too bad.

The nurse continued to check my cervix for progress every couple of hours or so but there was no change throughout the day. By 3:00 p.m. (9 hours later) I was still at 3cm (possibly 3.5 cm, she said...haha). The doctor was the one who checked me that time (instead of the nurse) and she said that my cervix was still very high and that she did not see me being able to deliver vaginally.

Ok, let me pause right there and explain something. 

Prior to being in actual labor, I wanted to deliver vaginally (and still wish I'd been able to...). Of course I always knew that there was a possibility of a C-section but I never thought that much into it. I just knew I'd be able to deliver vaginally. Wrong.

With that being said, I CHOSE to have the C-section that afternoon. It was not an emergency C-section at that point. For someone who was so adamant about delivering vaginally, I was quick to change my mind, huh? After waiting so long to meet Kynlee, I was ready. The doctor said that we could wait a few more hours and just SEE if there was more progress & that she wasn't concerned with me only being at 3cm after so long.... she just didn't think I'd deliver vaginally because of how high Kynlee still was. She said she was about 90-something% sure that I would end up having a C-section.

Well, that was all I needed to hear. If the doctor was almost certain that Kynlee would be born via C-section anyway, then there was no point in waiting around a few more hours. The doctor and nurse left the room and gave my hubby and family a chance to talk about it. After some discussion we decided to go ahead with the surgery. The nurse and doctor came back in a few minutes later and we told them that we were ready to have the baby!

Then the hustle and bustle began. Luke was given scrubs to put on and they put socks on me, a hair cap, & laid a heavy robe over me. The anesthesiologist was called in to put more medicine through my epidural line and he stayed with me during the entire procedure. They wheeled my hospital bed out of the room and down the hall to the operating room. Luke had to wait in the hall until I was fully prepped and then they let him come in. By the time he was allowed in I was already cut open. I couldn't feel much of anything except some pressure. I began to get extremely nauseous so the anesthesiologist administered some nausea meds into my line and I quickly felt better. Soon after I felt some REALLY bad pressure that was very uncomfortable and Luke informed me that her head was out! A few seconds later I felt even more intense pressure and then her whole body was out! The C-section did not take long at all.

There were sooo many people in the operating room...nurses, doctors, etc. 
They began stitching/stapling me up and after showing Kynlee to me, they began to clean her up, also. Once she was cleaned up, the anesthesiologist took some family pics of us. He was so nice and talked to me throughout the whole operation to make sure I was okay. He was definitely a blessing that day! I went into the recovery room for about 20 minutes but Luke was able to take Kynlee to the nursery to be weighed & bathed. Of course all the fam was waiting in the hall for him to bring her by :).

There is another story that I need/want to share about her birth day, but this post is already wayyy long so I will make another post for it [eventually].

Kynlee's stats:

Born August 27, 2010 at 4:20 P.M.
6 pounds, 12.5 ounces
19 inches long

Colic

Hey everyone! I am still adjusting to motherhood and loving every second of it! I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog that will include the birth story and obviously a blog name-change since Kynlee is here now! I can't promise it will be done soon, but it will be done. :)

Special thanks to Lauren from Adventures in the Land of Little Choo Choos for being my guest blogger today! Her post below is about colic. Enjoy! 

When a new mom is pregnant with her first child, she often only envisions the joy that a baby will bring to her life.   She daydreams about sweet, innocent, snuggly babies.   I know that was how I was when I was pregnant with my daughter, Piper.  Unfortunately, life with my  Piper did not start out so sweet.

Hello, my name is Lauren.  And I survived colic.

My first warning should have been at the hospital.  The nurses would say things like "You have yourself a wild one!"  or "Wow, she really can scream, can she?"  Because I was breastfeeding, I was very adamant that Piper not receive a pacifier.  That changed before we left the hospital.  One of the nurses told me that the pacifier would not hurt her.  I could hear the pleading in her voice.  

Piper cried all the time.  It didn't help the situation that she had the loudest cry known to man.  Once, while shopping, Piper started screaming while in her stroller.  A woman actually ran out of the dressing room to see what had happened to the baby she was hearing.  She thought that someone had dropped their child.  Piper was fine, of course.  That was simply  /how she always sounded when she cried.

Having a baby that screamed all the time really added stress to not only my life, but my husband's life as well.  We would get snappy with each other and blame each other for her cries.  There were even a couple of times that I would cry with Piper because it seemed like I could do nothing to satisfy her.

Life went on like this for 3 months.  Finally, on July 4, 2008, she stopped screaming.  I remember it so clearly because we were going to a barbecue at a friend's house.  We knew that we would have to leave early, but we wanted to attempt to celebrate the Fourth.  We were surprised when Piper did not cry the entire day, except for when it was time to eat.  After that day, she only cried when any baby would.

I learned a few things from Piper about dealing with colic during that dark time.  These may not work on all babies, but they worked for us.

• It isn't your fault that your baby is crying.  Sometimes, telling myself that I was not the reason she was crying was all I had to keep me from completely losing it.
• It is okay to walk away from your baby if you have had too much.  There were times that I had to put Piper in her crib and leave the room so I could just breath.
• A baby sling or wrap is often times the only way to keep a colicky baby happy.  You'll just have to trust me on this one.
• Learn the airplane hold.  This position puts your arms under baby's tummy.  The pressure seemed to give Piper relief from whatever it was that was bothering her
• No matter what anyone tells you, you cannot spoil a newborn by holding them too much. 
• Remember, this too, shall pass.  Most babies only have colic for the first few months. Thankfully, this was true for us, too.

If you have any tips or suggestions, please share them.  The more information a person has who is dealing with a colicky baby, the better!

Lauren

littlechoochoos.blogspot.com

I'm a MOMMY!

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I've updated. This update will be short but I just wanted to let you all know that Kynlee has arrived! She was born on August 27, 2010 at 4:20 p.m. She weighed 6 lbs, 12.5 ounces and was 19in. long. She has completely stolen my heart and there is no greater joy that I have than being her mom!

 

 

Birth story to come soon. I am adjusting to being a new mom and learning how to manage my time better but I hope to be back in the blogging world before long :). 

I will be having a guest blogger, Lauren, from Adventures in the Land of Little Choo Choos talking about colic in the next few days so be on the look out for that post!

Follow-Up Appointment

Follow-Up Appointment that sent me straight back to the hospital.

I'm going to try to make this long story short so bare with me!

This morning I went back to the OB for my follow-up appointment from my hospital visit on Monday afternoon/evening. My BP was still a little elevated but not drastic. I spent yesterday and this morning monitoring it myself at home and only one time that I took it was it in the normal range- all others were high. I also woke up with a headache and this has been my 3rd one in a week (Saturday, Monday, and today). The NP was very informative and seemed genuinely concerned. 

I was put on the fetal monitor for 20 minutes in the office. Kynlee was very active and had a great heartbeat the entire time (Praise the Lord)! The NP looked over my blood work from Monday's hospital visit and reassured me that those were fine. After my 20 minutes of fetal monitoring was completed, she came back in the room with some "not so good" news. After looking back at my chart and reports (since she wasn't involved in it on Monday) she noticed that there was a small amount of protein found in my urine. That, combined with the headaches and elevated BP, was enough to put me back in the hospital. You see, on Monday I should have had a 24-hour urine collection done but the [male] OB doctor sent me home without one.

So, here I am. Back in the hospital. Back to monitoring my BP. And now I'm collecting my urine for 24 hours to be tested tomorrow. Oh, and they just did more blood work so I should know those results in about an hour or so. Good news is that I am in an actual delivery room so it is much more spacious and a lot nicer than the other two "observation" rooms I've been in previously. 

The results of my urine test will determine when Kynlee will arrive. While I'd love to meet her as soon as possible, that is not my prayer. My prayer is that God's Will is done and she will come when she is ready-but if they do have to take her early that there will be no complications because of it.

I'll continue to update as I know more. And if you've read this far, thanks for staying with me! I apparently don't know how to make long stories short! ;)

OB appt. turned Hospital Visit

Yesterday I went to my 37 week OB appointment. I was expecting it to be pretty normal but that was hardly the case. After checking my blood pressure 3 different times on the digital monitor, and it being high every single time, they got out the manual monitor. It was high then, too. The past few visits prior to yesterday my BP has been high the first time they took it, but by the second time it was within normal range. That wasn't the case yesterday. It started to worry me a little because I have always had excellent BP... like right on to what it should be. 

(BTW, urine was fine- no protein found).
**Update: Apparently there WAS a small amount of protein found in my urine and I didn't find out til 2 days later.**

Next they took me back to a room and checked Kynlee's heartbeat- 143bpm. When the doc came in she measured my belly but I forgot to ask what I was measuring at. I'm sure I'm still measuring ahead, though, since that's been the case the entire pregnancy. She then checked my cervix since I've still been having a lot of cramping and pressure. I was (am?) still dilated to only 1 cm but she said my cervix has thinned more since last week.

I thought I might be leaking amniotic fluid so she checked for that, too. The speculum procedure was very uncomfortable and I'd even say painful--but I wanted to be sure there was plenty of fluid for Kynlee! An ultrasound after confirmed that she still has plenty to "swim" in. (Also confirmed that she is still a girl, lol).

After the ultrasound I was put into an observation-type room. They checked my BP an additional 4 times over the course of an hour while I was in there. It still wouldn't come down low enough to be in the normal range so doc had orders for me to go to the hospital to L&D for monitoring and blood work.

By this time, Luke was getting out of class so I waited a few minutes on him to meet me there before going on to L&D (my doc's office is literally right across the street from the hospital).

We got there, registered, and we were then sent to a very small room with no windows-- I was feeling very claustrophobic! They hooked me up to a BP monitor, a heart rate monitor for Kynlee, and another to check for contractions. The first two BP readings at the hospital were very high, but after that they seemed to settle down some- although still being considered high.

When my urine sample (second one of the day) came back, the doc said I was dehydrated and ordered some IV fluids. They also had to do the blood work so [luckily] I only got stuck once and she took the blood from the vein that the IV was going into.

About an hour later, the nurse came back in and said, "Good news! Your blood work came back fine and you can go home." Well, this WAS good news because I didn't want to stay overnight in the hospital. However, I had only had half of the bag of fluids and I was very annoyed that I had to have them in the first place. (I know, I know-- it's what they thought was best for the baby... but seems like I should have finished the bag off if it was that much of a concern. And if you know me then you know that I HATE IV's. Period.)

I also thought it was strange that my last BP check before I was discharged was still high, but I was allowed to go home anyway. (So what was the purpose of me being there in the first place?).

Bottom line- the nurses were wonderful. The on-call doctor last night was the male doctor in the practice that I do not like AT ALL. And you know what? He never, not ONCE, came into the room to see me or check on me yesterday. A 37+week pregnant woman with high BP and I don't even get to speak with the doctor? I mean is this normal?? (This is the same doc that would never call us back-after several attempts-when I had my kidney stones 5wks ago after I was discharged from hospital and needed to speak with the on-call doc). Ughh I swear I like him less and less as time goes on.

I go back tomorrow morning for a follow-up visit at my OB's office. I will be seeing one of the NP's, though, and not my doc. Please be in prayer that my BP comes down and that I won't have any more dealings with Dr. Male. I'll update when I know more!

My hospital visit at 32.5 weeks

*I've had this post partially written for several weeks now and I forgot to finish! *

So I just realized that I never did an update on my [first] hospital visit since I've been pregnant.

Here's the scoop:

July 21st was a normal day for me. I felt fine the entire day (other than the regular pregnancy woes) and nothing felt out of the ordinary. That night my hubby and I got into bed and I started watching some TV while he read a book.

All of a sudden I had a burning sensation "down there" and knew something wasn't right. I assumed I just had to use the bathroom so that's where I headed. Once I began to pee (or urinate-for those who prefer the politically correct terminology), there was no burning. Just as I was about to head back to bed, I collapsed. An excruciating pain, unlike anything I have ever felt before came over me. It started in the left side of my back and came around to the front, left side of my abdomen.
I called for my husband's help and he could tell by the tone of my voice that something was not right. He rushed and tried to help me. He decided to call my mom and see what she thought we needed to do. The hospital it was. I knew I needed to go to the hospital but I was in such excruciating pain I seriously didn't think I could make it without an ambulance.
I was finally able to throw on a bra while hubby packed a hospital bag.
After what seemed like a LONG ride to the hospital (although it was actually a speedy, quick ride...) we arrived. I was put into a wheelchair and rushed up to the OB floor. They checked my cervix when I got there and found out that I was 1 cm dilated but didn't think I was in labor.
 After several tests I find out that I was passing kidney stones. It was so painful and many say that it's the closest pain to childbirth. I ended up having to stay about 32 hours in the hospital for IV antibiotics and fluids. I was able to go home that Friday morning but remained in pain throughout the weekend and into the following week. It wasn't until I finished my round of antibiotics that they sent me home on that I started to feel better. So... yeah. I definitely have a new appreciation for people that have kidney stones!

*Next post: My [second] hospital visit during this pregnancy. Stay tuned.*