And she was all yellow.

I began this post almost a week ago, and this is the first chance I've had to come back an finish it.  Olive is sleeping on Mark right now, and rooting for the Gators in the basketball game.  Luckily Mark is not quite as physical or verbal during basketball games, so I think I should have enough time to finish...

Well she is here.  Olive Fiona Messier arrived one week ago today at 4:52 in the afternoon.  She was 22 inches long, 9lb 12 oz with bright red hair.  She ended up coming to us by c-section.  Which was definitely not the original plan, but if this last year has taught me anything; "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

When I had my last doctor's appt. they told us that they thought Olive was going to be pretty big.  They also said I was still only dilated 1 and 1/2 cm.  Mark and I agreed that we were willing to be induced Monday, March 14.  That would be twelve days past our due date, and we felt at that point we had given enough time for things to get started on their own.

One of the bonuses of getting induced, was that my parents were able to know exactly when to come to town so they would not miss the birth.  They arrived Sunday afternoon, Mark's parents were already in town, and we were all able to go out to dinner together Sunday evening.  It was nice to have one last evening out all together in anticipation of our Baby Gator.
 
The doctors wanted me to come in Sunday night, and if I was still less than 2 cm, than they wanted me to spend the night receiving cervidil, a drug that helps ripen the cervix.   Once we got to the hospital, and they checked me I was still only 1 and 1/2 cm.  Which meant I needed the cervidil.  My Dad ended up spending the night at the hospital with me.  We knew that in all likelihood nothing was going to happen that night, and Mark is a notoriously terrible sleeper.  I just made more sense to have my Dad who can sleep anywhere to stay with me.  With the cervidil the baby had to be monitored at all times, which would not have been so bad except the bed was uncomfortable, and since I could only sleep on my side; every hour the side I was laying on would become so sore, and I would need to flip over.  This meant a nurse coming in within 10 minutes of me flipping over to adjust the monitors on my belly.   Between that and getting up to pee it was a pretty restless night.

The next morning Mark and my Mom arrived at the hospital.  The removed the cervidil, and started me on pitocin.  The pitocin wasn't very bad at first.  From about 7:30-11:00 I was on the pitocin having contractions, thinking back that time doesn't really stand out for me.  I was having contractions, but they weren't that bad.  Then around 11 the doctor came in to check me, and break my water.  I was dilated to 3 cm.  When she broke my water there was meconium in the amniotic fluid.  Which basically means the baby pooped in the uterus.  This can be problematic for a few reasons, one of the positives for me was that it meant the doctor did not want to check my cervix very often because they did not want to contaminate anything.

At that point the doctor said they were expecting me to dilate about a cm an hour.  From 11-4 the contractions got bad.  Really bad.  They were 1-2 1/2 minutes apart, and very intense.  Around 3:30 Mark and I started talking about an epidural.  My feeling was that I was already exhausted, and having the contractions so close together for so long meant I wasn't getting any sort of break.  I couldn't rest at all and with the lack of sleep the night before I was worried that when it came time to push I wouldn't have any energy left and might end up needed a c-section.  Mark and I agreed that it would be worth it to have the epidural if it meant not needing a c-section.

We called for the nurse, and they came in to give me the epidural almost right away.   Right after that my doctor came in to check my progress.  I had a feeling I had not progressed very far.  During my contractions there was a lot of pain, but I didn't feel that much pressure, and at no point did I feel anywhere near needing to push.  When the doctor checked me I was still at 3cm.  We had not progressed at all.  The doctor wanted to do a c-section.  She said the baby was trying to push through at 3cm and her head was getting squeezed.  She said it wasn't just that I was progressing slower than they wanted, but that even with those intense contractions I had not progressed at all. 

Mark and I talked about it, and decided to go with the c-section.  At that point everything started happening very quickly.  They had me drugged up and in the surgery room within 20 minutes.  I tend to have strong reactions to medications and this time was no exception.  I became sick from the meds and got to throw up while lying flat on my back.  Then my throat became numb so I couldn't feel it,and my mouth would have spit in it,and I couldn't swallow and felt like I couldn't breathe.  Finally they pulled her out, and Mark let us all know that he was right all along and it is in fact a girl.  I told Mark to go be with her, because I knew he felt helpless with me.  They brought her over to me so I could touch her and see her head full of red hair.  They took her to the recovery room and  Mark went with her, I followed a few minutes later.  Once they got her all cleaned off in the recovery room they immediately put her on me to start breastfeeding.  She had a perfect latch from the start.

We were stuck in recovery for two hours because the anesthesia took a long time to wear off me.  Eventually I could finally move my toes and we made it back to the room.  The first couple days everything was fine.  My colostrum was coming in slowly, but she was doing fine. Then early Wednesday the nurse took Olive to the nursery to be weighed, and when she came back she told me Olive was jaundiced.  Olive has a hematoma on the left side of her head from when she tried to push herself through when I was 3cm.  The collection of dead blood cells was causing her jaundice.   Also since she wasn't get much to eat, she wasn't able to get the toxins out of her system through pooping and peeing.  They wanted me to start her on formula to help cleanse her system.

It was frustrating.  The two things I wanted; a natural childbirth, and to be able to breastfeed, were both becoming impossibilities for me.  I agreed to start her on the formula.  Luckily for me my hospital is really big on breastfeeding, and the lactation consultants continued to work with me during our hospital stay so that Olive was able to have formula and breastfeed. 

Because of the jaundice they wanted Olive to have light therapy.  She had to be in her little hospital bed which was lit up from below, and then she had basically a sheet with sleeves that held her in the bed against the lights.  We were supposed to keep her on the light as much as possible, and the only time we could take her off was to eat.  She did pretty well during the day, but it made it almost impossible at night.  She would wake up and cry and all we could do to comfort her was to stroke her face and head.  I would count down to her next feeding so I could hold her and comfort her.

Luckily early Friday morning her bilirubin level was down so we could take her home without needing any further treatment.  From the point we got to leave the hospital things just got better and better.  My milk came in on Saturday and I was able to start weaning her off the formula, and can happily say she is completely breastfed now.  Her jaundice seems to be fading, and she is a perfectly healthy, and happy baby.  

Back in the room the night she was born.

Hanging with her Papa.

Daddy's little girl.

Finally home.

Some much needed rest for all involved.

She's very technologically advanced, she is already ichatting. Also, the first girly outfit she wore.

Goodbye Gammie, thanks for staying and helping out.

First carseat ride on the way home from the hospital.

When I think about having a c-section instead of natural childbirth I still feel disappointment and sadness.  Looking back now it is easy to second guess, maybe I should have walked more, or put off the induction a couple more days.  There is no way to know for sure if I could have done anything differently.  In the end we have a wonderful little girl, and having her here with us is far more important than how she got here.

41 weeks

Mark came with me to the doctor's appointment today.  We knew that today a decision would have to be made on induction, and we decided that it made more sense for him to be there with me when discussing it with the doctor.  Plus he wanted to see the baby on the ultrasound.

The ultrasound went really well.  The baby is healthy, and the amniotic fluid levels look fine.  Currently the baby is measuring 9lb 13oz, of course that's just a guesstimate and size predictions are notoriously wrong.  The diameter of the baby's head is also measuring off the charts.  Which I put a little more faith in, because of the way it is measured.  It makes me very grateful that the baby's skull is not fused together yet.

Next we talked to the doctor.  He asked when we wanted to induce, we said Monday, he said great.  He checked my cervix and I am still at 1 and 1/2 cm. So much for all that walking last weekend.  It looks like unless this baby figures out that is time to head out into the world, then Baby Gator will be joining the rest of us on Monday. 

40 weeks

I am not in labor.  I have to preface most of my phone conversations with that now, so I figured I should start the blog that way too.  Well March 2, has come and gone, and I'm not holding a baby gator in my arms.  It's funny because if you refer back to my 38 week blog, I was feeling pretty content to let the baby come whenever it's ready, and feeling relaxed about the whole thing.  The anticipation is starting to get to me.  Because at any point from 38 weeks on it really feels like the baby could come at any time, so we have already had two weeks where I am super conscious of my body and wondering what every little pain and movement could mean.  I get it now, I get why women it get frustrated when they go past their due date, it's like waiting to hear back about a job interview for weeks; it sucks.  However, I am not giving in to my own impatience, I had a doctor's appointment today and I did not schedule an induction, yet.

As with all the previous appointments everything looks good.  My blood pressure is good, I didn't gain any weight at all this week, my stomach is measuring on target, the baby's heart rate is good, and good baby movement.  I am 1 and 1/2 cm dilated, and the doctor brought up inducing early next week.  I told her I would prefer to wait closer to two weeks.  She said how about next Friday, I said how about Monday the 14.  She said she wants me to come in next Thursday and have an ultrasound to check my fluid levels, and have a fetal non stress test, to check on the baby.  It sounds like depending on the results they will either let me wait until Monday, or will tell me I need to induce on Friday.  I'm happy with the compromise.  Of course the baby could could get off his/her butt and decide to join us before then.  Which is what I am hoping for, because after 12 weeks of Bradley classes I really don't want to be induced.

No picture this week, because I am feeling lazy.  Maybe I will write more this weekend and add a picture then. 

39 weeks

Had my 39 week doctor's appointment today.  All is well, belly size, heartbeat, blood pressure, all look good.  I'm feeling pretty good too.  Earlier this week I had a stomach bug which made me feel paranoid that I might go into labor.  I wasn't feeling any contractions or anything, but I just worried that maybe the stomach bug would jumpstart labor in some way.  So, I ended up staying super late at work to get everything as ready as possible just in case something happened.  Since I am sitting here 39 weeks pregnant clearly nothing did happen, but on the bright side my classroom is way more ready for me to be gone than it was before, and that gives me some peace of mind.

On the other hand every time I turn around I see or think of something else that needs to be done before the baby comes.  Packing our bag for the hospital, getting the carseat put in the car, finishing putting up the pack and play (it has defeated both Mark and myself on separate occasions), picking a pediatrician, lesson plans, papers that need to be graded, birthing and breastfeeding books that need to be read, phone calls to people I haven't talked to in forever that need to be made, random baby things we should probably buy before the baby comes, and general housekeeping.  If this baby shows up before the due date we are in big trouble.

And the belly continues to grow.

Boy or Girl?

I thought I would attempt to have an interactive moment on the blog, so I have added a poll for boy vs. girl predictions.  Of course I would never ask someone to make a prediction without having highly scientific research to back it up.  Here is as much information as I could come up with for whether or not the baby will be a boy or girl.
1. The Chinese Gender Calendar Charthttp://www.thebump.com/calculators/ChineseGenderChart.aspx?MsdVisit=1 : boy
2. They say if your belly is high you are having a girl, and if you are carrying low you are having a boy.  I think for most of my pregnancy I was carrying pretty much in the middle, recently it seems to have dropped some, but the baby's head has dropped so it makes sense that my stomach would sit lower: undetermined
3. Mayan predictions, legend has it that Mayans predicted the baby's gender by looking at the age of the mother at conception and the year of conception.  If both are even or both are odd it is a girl if one is even and one is odd it is a boy.  I was 27 in 2010: boy
4. Morning sickness, I was sick as a dog for my first trimester and part of the second trimester as well, they say this indicates a girl:  girl
5. Heartbeat, if the baby's heartbeat is over 140 it is supposed to be a girl under 140 it's a boy. This has varied as well.  It seems to stay around 140 sometimes it's 145 sometimes it's 135: undetermined 
6. Mark is pretty much 100% convinced it is a girl.  He's felt that way since almost the beginning.  Daddy predictor: girl
7. Supposedly pregnancy acne means girl.  I haven't really had any pregnancy acne, a zit here or there, but it's no different than how my skin was pre-pregnancy: boy 
8.  My face has definitely gotten rounder and fuller:  girl
That's all I've got for now.  I know the whole dangling your wedding ring from a string, but I don't feel like getting up right now and checking it.  So you will just have to use the information already given, or go with your gut.  My prediction is undecided.  I went through a phase in the second trimester where I was pretty positive it was a girl, but now I really have no clue.  When I think about it I don't lean one way or the other.  So go ahead and make a prediction by participating in the poll.

38 weeks

Nine minutes to blog before Mark and I go meet friends for dinner and trivia.  Going out on a school night, is crazy for us, but we only have so many nights left that are baby free so we are pushing ourselves to go be social.  We will definitely be leaving early, but I'm proud of us for making it out.

I had my 38 week appt. today.  All is well with the baby, my stomach measures 38cm which is right where it should be.  The babies spine is on my right side, and it's head is still down.  Against my Bradley teacher's advice I went ahead and had the pelvic exam.  I am 50% effaced, and possibly 1/2 cm dilated.  I think the doctor was trying to make me feel good by saying I was dilated even just a little.  The funny thing is I kind of already knew I wasn't going to be dilated.  I just don't feel like I've started the whole labor process yet.  I'm okay with it, I know so many women who in the last few weeks to month of their pregnancy they couldn't wait for the baby to come.  I am excited for the baby to come, but I'm also enjoying every last moment I get of my life before there is a baby in it.  I like getting to hang out with Mark, and work late without feeling guilty, and even though I get up to pee several times a night it lasts 3 minutes and I get to climb back in bed and go right back to sleep.  I know when the baby comes my life will change and be a new kind of wonderful, but for right now I am enjoying my current state of wonderful.

38 weeks

      

37 weeks

I wrote a post last week, but lost it.  So here is try number two.  I had a doctor's appt. on Thursday, I go once a week now, and everything looks good.  The last 3-4 times they have a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat, which the first couple of times made me panic and try to remember the last time I felt the baby kick.  Now I'm just used to it.  This most recent time it happened again, the doctor had the dop tone and was moving it around on my stomach not finding the heartbeat when the baby kicked, so we could see it just not hear it's heartbeat.  The doctor finally found the heartbeat, and she explained to me that the problem is as the baby gets bigger there is more mass for the scan to go through and it makes it more difficult.

Last Saturday was the Baby Shower that Jen and Rachel threw for us.  It was wonderful, and Jen and Rach were great hostesses.  The food was spectacular, and everyone had a great time.  I was a little nervous, because my mom was at my other two showers and she's a lot more comfortable in the spotlight than I am so I could hide behind her a bit.  But this time around I had to be front and center.  Rachel and Jen did a great job of making it a relaxed atmosphere, and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all.  Definitely my kind of shower.  We also got tons of gator stuff for the baby.  We have so many gator onesies  now that we don't have to worry about the baby not being able to represent during football season, and throughout the rest of the year.  The best part is that we did not have any repeats, which just goes to show you the sheer volume of gator baby clothes out there.  A big thank you to Jen and Rachel for all the hard work they put in.

In other pregnancy news the rest of my body is feeling worn out and sore. I make it through the school day pretty well since I am moving around so much, but as soon as I get home and sit or lay for too long, everything tightens up, and makes standing up rather difficult. I'm peeing even more than before which I did not think was possible. I get up to pee 3-4 times per night. I am looking forward to when the baby comes, and I can get some uninterrupted sleep, oh wait...

I think I look ridiculously tired in this picture, I did not realize that this is how I look now.

Wonderful food, and spectacular diaper cake that Jen made.

One of the many adorable gator outfits we got.