An Update and The Story

Well, at long last the wait is over! Our beautiful son, Gavin Robert, is here and we're very happy (but tired too!).

A number of people have called in the last couple days asking about the labor story and why there was a delay between the day we induced (Tuesday) and when he was actually born (Thursday). For the curious, here's the scoop!

[Warning! If you plan on having children someday you may want to stop reading now]

On Tuesday we had an 11:00 appointment for a non-stress test at our OB's office. Basically, I was hooked up to a couple of monitors to see how much the baby was moving within the 15-20 minutes I'd be on the monitors. Gavin had been a pretty active baby but I'd noticed, especially in the last couple of days that he wasn't moving so much, especially during the day and especially around lunchtime. Needless to say he didn't move hardly at all and when he did move, his heart rate didn't go up as it should have. So, the nurse doing the test called in my OB who summarized the situation by saying we should go right to the hospital and we would induce that very day. I, of course, was shocked and Mr. S verified that all was well and prepared to call our parents.

So we went to the hospital and started me on pitossin (not sure how to spell that exactly; bear with me). Later in the afternoon my OB as well as a resident twice attempted to break my water with no success. And, since the contractions weren't doing a whole lot yet, my OB decided to stop the pitossin for the day and use a different drug (Cervadill) to soften up my cervix over night but I'd be allowed to eat something with this new drug. Mr. S and I slept at the hospital that night and prepared to meet our son later the next day.

On Wednesday the pitossin was started again but a new and not-so-happy side effect had cropped up. My blood pressure shot up, putting me at risk for pre-eclampsia. To combat that potentially fatal disease, magnesium was added to my IV cocktail. Sounds like all would be well with that but taking magnesium results in "flu-like symptoms." The icky kind. So on into the afternoon my contractions are getting stronger, I'm feeling a bit feverish AND I begin to dry heave (remember, no food while on pitossin). About 5:00ish I request the epidural, which relaxed me enough to allow the contractions to make more progress. However I continue to throw up.

During the night my throwing up had reached a point where I was waking up every hour to get sick. The staff checked me and realized I had only dialated to 6 centimeters and no matter how much they upped the pitossin my body, and the baby, would go no further. Though I was scared at the thought of surgery, I was relieved that all would be ending very shortly with a C-section.

At about 7:30 Thursday morning I was taken to the OR and at 7:57 a.m. Gavin Robert was born. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 ounces and was a whopping 22 inches long. Not sure where he was hiding all that mass but clearly he was healthy and happy to have more room to stretch out.

We're doing fine now... working on some breastfeeding issues but otherwise everything is going normally for first-time parents with their new baby. Anyway, that's why if you got word on Tuesday that the baby was coming, why we didn't call again for another couple days. ;)

And yes, it was all worth it. :)

Day 3

With my heartfelt apologies to Lamb Chop...

"This is the pregnancy that doesn't end! Yes it goes on and on my friends. Two people started this thing not knowing what it was but it will continue forever and ever just because this is the pregnancy that doesn't end......."

We have a nursery!

Well...almost. ;) Today marked the first day of the floor being finished so we could move furniture in and start arranding. So Mr. S spent the day putting together the crib and glider/ottoman while I excitedly fluttered behind the scenes just waiting to get stuff out of our dining room and bedroom and organized where I want it. AND we have pictures of our efforts!! :D

This is the assembled crib with me putting on the linens















Our new glider/ottoman (which Mr S thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in while snapping pictures of me)













Told you I was psychotically working behind the scenes ;)



























Our "finished" crib (and for all the mothers out there who are about to comment on the stuffed animals and comforter, I will be removing those of course when the baby comes and will sleep there. I'm just having some fun) ;)













This is a less than flattering picture of me but it shows our nicely dressed glider that Tigger is carefully guarding for me




























Stay tuned for more posts and pictures as we get more things done!! :)

*Gasp!* You're still here!!

I find it amusing that I'm a week and half from my due date and everyday at work now I'm greeted with surprised looks and usually a "You're still here!?!" Of COURSE I'm still here!! Why wouldn't I be? Since a majority of first babies come late I guess I'm just very surprised that so many people think I'm going to go into labor any second. I admit I'm certainly preparing myself mentally for the possibility of delivering early but it's looking more likely that he will come late (especially given family history of delivering after the due date has passed).

Maybe they're trying to tell me something else though... ;)

Final Days Thoughts

My due date is in 10 days.

Am I freaking out? Yes. Am I excited? Yes. Am I terrified? Yes. There are so many thoughts running through my head right now about the baby and how life is going to change.

I'm freaking out about a lot of things right now. Most of them center around getting the nursery ready (stupid humidity is delaying the stain from drying on the floor) and making sure we have all the "necessary" pre-baby supplies. Honestly though, we have the pack 'n' play, some sheets and diapers so if he decided to come tonight we'd be "ready" for him. However, I'd really wanted to have a few other things so yesterday we made a major trip to Target and Babies R Us for some of the larger things I felt would be awfully handy (you know, like a stroller, crib mattress and rocking chair). So as soon as the floor is finished (pray to God by the end of this week) we can set up the room and get things arranged for him (and get the baby stuff out of our dining room/basement/sunroom).

Of course I'm excited about the baby too! I cannot WAIT to see who he looks like. I really hope he takes after his daddy with at least one dimple. ;) We've also decided this poor kid is going to have freakishly long toes. Not only are the men in Mr. S' family "famous" for their oddly long toes but I also have rather long, skinny toes. I hope he also has long slender fingers (not boney like mine are though). I'm also anxious to share his name (YES, we've decided and NO we're not telling til he's here). I'm also really looking forward to cuddling with him. I have this mental image of me in the rocker holding this little person all curled up on my chest and that makes me smile. :)

I am absolutely terrified about labor. I have a pretty low pain tolerance and I know that this will be perhaps The most physically painful thing I will ever do in my life. Now, I'm not going to be one of those women who thinks she's going to get an epidural the moment she walks in the hospital door. I really don't know what's going to happen and how I will respond to it. I have nothing against an epidural (other than a needle is involved) and will most likely try a variety of pain killers. I'd like to avoid having a c-section but if that's not possible then obviously I'll be numbed from the chest down (epidural or spinal). Of course there's always the possibility that I'm stronger and tougher than I think I am and will get through most of the labor with minimal drugs. Who knows????? I'm trying to keep an open mind about the whole experience. I just wish it weren't such an unknown thing for me! The anticipation is killing me.

Clearly my brain is swirling with all kinds of things. At this point I'm trying to prepare for the remote possibility of delivering early but also be ready for him waiting until the last possible second to be forced out. Only time will tell and we'll keep you posted! :)