.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Welcome to our world, Skylee Rae Hester!!!!!
I've been meaning to get this posted since Skylee was born, but its been such an adjustment having a new baby that I'm only just now getting to it!
Lil miss Skylee Rae was born on Thursday, 03/13/14, at 10:24 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long!
Her birth story is quite a book in itself, so if you're reading this you may want to grab a snack or something first. You're gonna be here a while. ;)
On Monday, March 10th, (her due date), I went to my clinical shift at 7:30 like normal. I contracted all day while working in the hospital. About 4 p.m., I started timing, and they went from 8-10 mins apart, to about 5-6 minutes apart. I continued timing through the evening, and also went on a walk with Mom, my sisters, Mrs. Patty, and Eba. I think Mom walked me about 4 miles. The walking made the contraction intensity pick up, so I began to consider going in to get checked. I texted Daniel (who was still working at the time), and we decided for me to time it another hour while he got off work, and then he'd come take me in. Around 9:30-10 pm, we headed into the hospital. Contractions were still coming at a steady 5-6 minutes. They hooked me up to the monitors, watched the baby for a while, and then came to check me. My cervix was VERY posterior. The nurse couldn't reach it, and had to call someone else to check me. Those checks were extremely uncomfortable for me because of my cervical position. Anyhow, they told me I was "fingertip dilated" and about 70% effaced. Around 1-2 a.m., they came in and told me that I was in the early stages of labor and would be more comfortable laboring at home in my own setting. Mom and Mrs. Patty both figured with my contractions being so steady that I'd be back into L&D within hours. That made Daniel nervous, so we stayed in Mom's room with her that night. The contractions continued coming, and I was awake for most of the night. Around 8 am, the contractions started to subside, coincidentally right before my 9 am prenatal check up. I had fully expected to be missing that appointment and be close to having my baby in my arms by that time, so I was a little bummed out. We got to the doctor's office and they hooked me up to the NST machine to check on Skylee. I was still contracting but irregularly. Skylee wasn't as reactive as they wanted her to be, so they had me eat something, and then they got the reaction they were looking for. The nurse then came in and told me that my doctor was still out doing a c-section, so there was no one there to check me. She gave me the option of waiting to be checked or just going home, and I opted to go home. I was very discouraged at that point, and I felt like there was no reason to be checked because I obviously wasn't making any progress. Me, Daniel, Mom, and Bentley went to breakfast at IHOP after the appointment, which did cheer me up a little bit. My contractions also started to pick back up in a regular pattern. We went and walked 4 miles again, and then I came back and took a nap. I was exhausted from contracting all night. When I woke up, I spent a couple hours on my birth ball, trying different things to get myself to open up and dilate. By around 5-6 p.m. Tuesday, I was over everything. I told Mom that I was done trying things to start my labor. Obviously she wasn't coming until she wanted to, and I was only depressing myself with everything I tried that wasn't working. I decided to just go home that night. When I got back to our condo, I did all of our laundry and cleaned the whole house from top to bottom. Having my house clean and smelling nice put me in a better mood, for sure. I continued to contract all night, regularly, but was able to sleep better than I had the night before.
The next day, Daniel and I ran some errands, and washed both of our vehicles. I stuck to my decision of not trying any more "tricks", and tried to go about my day in a normal way. Around 4 p.m., my contractions really started picking up in intensity and regularity. Around 8, we decided for me to call the doctor and see what he wanted me to do (even though I was discouraged and felt like there was no point in calling. I was destined to be pregnant forever.) My doctor told me to go ahead and go in to get checked out, but "if you're not in labor, we're not keeping you." I almost let that statement deter me from going.....I was tired of playing games. But, ultimately, I had been contracting for three days and we really just wanted to make sure Skylee was okay and not getting stressed out. So back to the hospital we went. They hooked me up to the monitors, and my contractions were still coming at a steady 5-6 minutes apart. My BP was extremely high for me, I was very swollen, and they found protein in my urine. All of that combined caused my doctor to decide to monitor my BP every 15 mins for 2 hours. It continued to slowly rise, so they decided to keep me overnight to monitor and then discuss what we wanted to do in the morning. I told Mom, Bentley, and Mrs. Patty to go ahead and go home because there was no sense in them sitting in an uncomfortable hospital room for no reason.
They got up to start getting their things together, and about that time my nurse came in and asked me to turn over to my left side. She said, "I think our machines are detecting your heartbeat instead of baby's, so let me adjust you." I didn't think anything of it...just turned over and did what she asked. All of the sudden two other nurses came in, and things started happening very rapidly. One nurse put an oxygen mask on my face, one nurse started initiating an IV, and the other one spread my legs and immediately started checking me. I was terrified. I very quickly figured out that Skylee's heart rate had dropped drastically. Daniel held my hand and tried to soothe me, but I will never forget looking up into his eyes and seeing the same fear that I was very quickly overwhelming me. After what seemed like an eternity, they got her heart rate back up, and left me on oxygen for an hour just to make sure she was getting the oxygen she needed. That moment was probably the scariest thing I have ever been through. I'm very thankful that we decided to go get checked despite my discouragement. After a couple hours things settled back down and everyone went home. Daniel and I attempted to get some sleep, although neither of us slept very well.
Everyone came back in the morning, and my contractions were still regularly occuring. Around 9:30 my midwife came in and told me they had decided to start a pitocin drip and get my labor moving, because of all of my pre-eclampsia symptoms. At 10 am they started the pitocin. When they checked me, I was still "finger tip" dilated, and about 70% effaced. Because of the protein in my urine, they wanted to do a 24 hour urine check and I had to have a Foley catheter placed. That made me completely miserable. After it was placed, I had the sense of urgency that you get if you haven't peed in like 24 hours! It was a constant feeling of misery. The nurse came in and adjusted it because I was so miserable, but it didn't really help anything. Then she brought in some Dermoplast numbing spray, and while that didn't make it go away, it made it at least tolerable. It didn't take long after the pitocin drip was started for my pain level to drastically pick up. I also began to have terrible and unbearable back labor. Because of complications with the baby's heartrate, they made me stay on either my left side or my right side. I think that was the hardest part of labor, because I had originally planned to be as mobile as possible, and also to use my birth ball to relieve the pain. I wasn't really able to move, so my only option was to focus on breathing through the pain. My Mom warmed up heating pads for me and placed them on my back. She and Daniel massaged my hips and placed pressure on my back during each contraction. My sister rubbed my hair and softly touched my skin. I know having such a great support system is the only thing that got me through labor. The pain was unreal. Around 5:30, my midwife came in and checked me. My cervix was much more reachable, but I had only dilated to about 1 and 1/2 centimeters and was now 80% effaced. She told me not to be discouraged, that sometimes "these things" take up to 3-4 days. She said she was very happy with the progression I had made. Imagine how utterly defeated I felt to have been in such horrible painful labor for 8 hours straight (not counting the three days of regular contractions) and not to have progressed very far at all. I was ready to give up. My contractions really picked up in intensity after that. I didn't know how I was going to make it. At that point, I probably would have taken the epidural if I even had the option (they wont give it till 3-4 centimeters). They offered Demerol again, and I had been previously declining because I didn't want to feel loopy. At this point, I just needed some kind of relief, so I took 1/4 dose of the Demerol. Just that small amount of the meds made me where I could barely keep my eyes open. I'd say the drug gave me relief through about 3-4 contractions, and then they were back full force. About that time the nurse came in and said "Hailey, the baby is talking to us on the monitor. We want to check you again." I found that strange, but at that point I didn't care who did what. She checked me, and then said "Do you mind if I have one more person check you just to makes sure we're all on the same page?" Again, I didn't care. So the second girl checked me, and then they both agree that I'm at a 7. WHAT?????? An hour and a half ago I was told that I should get comfortable, it could be several days......and all the sudden I'm at a 7?? My Mom and Mrs. Patty both jumped up and started making phone calls to the rest of the family that they should come sit in the waiting room. About 15 mins later, I felt the need to push and they checked me again, at which point I was a 10. My midwife had already left for the night, so she was en route back to the hospital and they weren't letting me push. They tilted my bed to where my legs were elevated above my head. And the nurse held my legs closed and told me to breathe through the contractions and not push. They also had me get up on my hands and knees but the pain was so unbearable that I couldn't hold myself up in that position. My midwife got there very speedily, and I began to push. It was completely awful. I was so exhausted, in so much pain, and the Demerol was still making me not be able to open my eyes very much. I honestly think at that point, had it not been for Daniel standing next to me whispering that I could do it, and wiping my face with a cool cloth, and putting oxygen on me every couple minutes......I would have given up. My body was just done. Multiple times my midwife had me place my hand down and feel Skylee's head trying to come through. I'm assuming that was supposed to be an encouragement, but every time I reached down and felt how big her head was trying to come through, I felt like this was never going to be over. After about an hour of pushing, I finally was able to push her out and I will never forget the feeling of her being placed on my chest and the utter relief of the worst part being over. Right before I pushed her out, I tored pretty badly. So while Skylee was being weighed and cleaned up, my midwife was stitching me up. She said it was a multilayer second degree tear. I'm not sure how many stitches it ended up being.....it took her about 45 minutes to sew me up. She weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. NO WONDER I had such a difficult time pushing her out. After they got me cleaned up, they brought all of my family and Daniel's family back to see her. I was utterly exausted at this point, but felt so peaceful and content watching her be passed around to so many loving family members.
I'm so blessed that all of our family got to be there. I don't think I could have done it without the support of everyone. Daniel was absolutely amazing through everything. He was sick that day with a fever, but he never complained. I'm so thankful for the husband and family that I've been blessed with.
I think this is enough to post for now. :) I will have pictures to post later when I have the time.
Lil miss Skylee Rae was born on Thursday, 03/13/14, at 10:24 p.m. She weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long!
Her birth story is quite a book in itself, so if you're reading this you may want to grab a snack or something first. You're gonna be here a while. ;)
On Monday, March 10th, (her due date), I went to my clinical shift at 7:30 like normal. I contracted all day while working in the hospital. About 4 p.m., I started timing, and they went from 8-10 mins apart, to about 5-6 minutes apart. I continued timing through the evening, and also went on a walk with Mom, my sisters, Mrs. Patty, and Eba. I think Mom walked me about 4 miles. The walking made the contraction intensity pick up, so I began to consider going in to get checked. I texted Daniel (who was still working at the time), and we decided for me to time it another hour while he got off work, and then he'd come take me in. Around 9:30-10 pm, we headed into the hospital. Contractions were still coming at a steady 5-6 minutes. They hooked me up to the monitors, watched the baby for a while, and then came to check me. My cervix was VERY posterior. The nurse couldn't reach it, and had to call someone else to check me. Those checks were extremely uncomfortable for me because of my cervical position. Anyhow, they told me I was "fingertip dilated" and about 70% effaced. Around 1-2 a.m., they came in and told me that I was in the early stages of labor and would be more comfortable laboring at home in my own setting. Mom and Mrs. Patty both figured with my contractions being so steady that I'd be back into L&D within hours. That made Daniel nervous, so we stayed in Mom's room with her that night. The contractions continued coming, and I was awake for most of the night. Around 8 am, the contractions started to subside, coincidentally right before my 9 am prenatal check up. I had fully expected to be missing that appointment and be close to having my baby in my arms by that time, so I was a little bummed out. We got to the doctor's office and they hooked me up to the NST machine to check on Skylee. I was still contracting but irregularly. Skylee wasn't as reactive as they wanted her to be, so they had me eat something, and then they got the reaction they were looking for. The nurse then came in and told me that my doctor was still out doing a c-section, so there was no one there to check me. She gave me the option of waiting to be checked or just going home, and I opted to go home. I was very discouraged at that point, and I felt like there was no reason to be checked because I obviously wasn't making any progress. Me, Daniel, Mom, and Bentley went to breakfast at IHOP after the appointment, which did cheer me up a little bit. My contractions also started to pick back up in a regular pattern. We went and walked 4 miles again, and then I came back and took a nap. I was exhausted from contracting all night. When I woke up, I spent a couple hours on my birth ball, trying different things to get myself to open up and dilate. By around 5-6 p.m. Tuesday, I was over everything. I told Mom that I was done trying things to start my labor. Obviously she wasn't coming until she wanted to, and I was only depressing myself with everything I tried that wasn't working. I decided to just go home that night. When I got back to our condo, I did all of our laundry and cleaned the whole house from top to bottom. Having my house clean and smelling nice put me in a better mood, for sure. I continued to contract all night, regularly, but was able to sleep better than I had the night before.
The next day, Daniel and I ran some errands, and washed both of our vehicles. I stuck to my decision of not trying any more "tricks", and tried to go about my day in a normal way. Around 4 p.m., my contractions really started picking up in intensity and regularity. Around 8, we decided for me to call the doctor and see what he wanted me to do (even though I was discouraged and felt like there was no point in calling. I was destined to be pregnant forever.) My doctor told me to go ahead and go in to get checked out, but "if you're not in labor, we're not keeping you." I almost let that statement deter me from going.....I was tired of playing games. But, ultimately, I had been contracting for three days and we really just wanted to make sure Skylee was okay and not getting stressed out. So back to the hospital we went. They hooked me up to the monitors, and my contractions were still coming at a steady 5-6 minutes apart. My BP was extremely high for me, I was very swollen, and they found protein in my urine. All of that combined caused my doctor to decide to monitor my BP every 15 mins for 2 hours. It continued to slowly rise, so they decided to keep me overnight to monitor and then discuss what we wanted to do in the morning. I told Mom, Bentley, and Mrs. Patty to go ahead and go home because there was no sense in them sitting in an uncomfortable hospital room for no reason.
They got up to start getting their things together, and about that time my nurse came in and asked me to turn over to my left side. She said, "I think our machines are detecting your heartbeat instead of baby's, so let me adjust you." I didn't think anything of it...just turned over and did what she asked. All of the sudden two other nurses came in, and things started happening very rapidly. One nurse put an oxygen mask on my face, one nurse started initiating an IV, and the other one spread my legs and immediately started checking me. I was terrified. I very quickly figured out that Skylee's heart rate had dropped drastically. Daniel held my hand and tried to soothe me, but I will never forget looking up into his eyes and seeing the same fear that I was very quickly overwhelming me. After what seemed like an eternity, they got her heart rate back up, and left me on oxygen for an hour just to make sure she was getting the oxygen she needed. That moment was probably the scariest thing I have ever been through. I'm very thankful that we decided to go get checked despite my discouragement. After a couple hours things settled back down and everyone went home. Daniel and I attempted to get some sleep, although neither of us slept very well.
Everyone came back in the morning, and my contractions were still regularly occuring. Around 9:30 my midwife came in and told me they had decided to start a pitocin drip and get my labor moving, because of all of my pre-eclampsia symptoms. At 10 am they started the pitocin. When they checked me, I was still "finger tip" dilated, and about 70% effaced. Because of the protein in my urine, they wanted to do a 24 hour urine check and I had to have a Foley catheter placed. That made me completely miserable. After it was placed, I had the sense of urgency that you get if you haven't peed in like 24 hours! It was a constant feeling of misery. The nurse came in and adjusted it because I was so miserable, but it didn't really help anything. Then she brought in some Dermoplast numbing spray, and while that didn't make it go away, it made it at least tolerable. It didn't take long after the pitocin drip was started for my pain level to drastically pick up. I also began to have terrible and unbearable back labor. Because of complications with the baby's heartrate, they made me stay on either my left side or my right side. I think that was the hardest part of labor, because I had originally planned to be as mobile as possible, and also to use my birth ball to relieve the pain. I wasn't really able to move, so my only option was to focus on breathing through the pain. My Mom warmed up heating pads for me and placed them on my back. She and Daniel massaged my hips and placed pressure on my back during each contraction. My sister rubbed my hair and softly touched my skin. I know having such a great support system is the only thing that got me through labor. The pain was unreal. Around 5:30, my midwife came in and checked me. My cervix was much more reachable, but I had only dilated to about 1 and 1/2 centimeters and was now 80% effaced. She told me not to be discouraged, that sometimes "these things" take up to 3-4 days. She said she was very happy with the progression I had made. Imagine how utterly defeated I felt to have been in such horrible painful labor for 8 hours straight (not counting the three days of regular contractions) and not to have progressed very far at all. I was ready to give up. My contractions really picked up in intensity after that. I didn't know how I was going to make it. At that point, I probably would have taken the epidural if I even had the option (they wont give it till 3-4 centimeters). They offered Demerol again, and I had been previously declining because I didn't want to feel loopy. At this point, I just needed some kind of relief, so I took 1/4 dose of the Demerol. Just that small amount of the meds made me where I could barely keep my eyes open. I'd say the drug gave me relief through about 3-4 contractions, and then they were back full force. About that time the nurse came in and said "Hailey, the baby is talking to us on the monitor. We want to check you again." I found that strange, but at that point I didn't care who did what. She checked me, and then said "Do you mind if I have one more person check you just to makes sure we're all on the same page?" Again, I didn't care. So the second girl checked me, and then they both agree that I'm at a 7. WHAT?????? An hour and a half ago I was told that I should get comfortable, it could be several days......and all the sudden I'm at a 7?? My Mom and Mrs. Patty both jumped up and started making phone calls to the rest of the family that they should come sit in the waiting room. About 15 mins later, I felt the need to push and they checked me again, at which point I was a 10. My midwife had already left for the night, so she was en route back to the hospital and they weren't letting me push. They tilted my bed to where my legs were elevated above my head. And the nurse held my legs closed and told me to breathe through the contractions and not push. They also had me get up on my hands and knees but the pain was so unbearable that I couldn't hold myself up in that position. My midwife got there very speedily, and I began to push. It was completely awful. I was so exhausted, in so much pain, and the Demerol was still making me not be able to open my eyes very much. I honestly think at that point, had it not been for Daniel standing next to me whispering that I could do it, and wiping my face with a cool cloth, and putting oxygen on me every couple minutes......I would have given up. My body was just done. Multiple times my midwife had me place my hand down and feel Skylee's head trying to come through. I'm assuming that was supposed to be an encouragement, but every time I reached down and felt how big her head was trying to come through, I felt like this was never going to be over. After about an hour of pushing, I finally was able to push her out and I will never forget the feeling of her being placed on my chest and the utter relief of the worst part being over. Right before I pushed her out, I tored pretty badly. So while Skylee was being weighed and cleaned up, my midwife was stitching me up. She said it was a multilayer second degree tear. I'm not sure how many stitches it ended up being.....it took her about 45 minutes to sew me up. She weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. NO WONDER I had such a difficult time pushing her out. After they got me cleaned up, they brought all of my family and Daniel's family back to see her. I was utterly exausted at this point, but felt so peaceful and content watching her be passed around to so many loving family members.
I'm so blessed that all of our family got to be there. I don't think I could have done it without the support of everyone. Daniel was absolutely amazing through everything. He was sick that day with a fever, but he never complained. I'm so thankful for the husband and family that I've been blessed with.
I think this is enough to post for now. :) I will have pictures to post later when I have the time.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
40 Weeks + 1 Day
Well, as I'm sure you can tell by the title of my post, NO SKYLEE YET. :( It's been such an emotional roller coaster this week. Monday (my due date), I went ahead and went in for clinicals even though I felt miserable. If I have to choose between what hours I miss, I much prefer missing once I have little Skylee to stay home and snuggle with. So I struggled through my 7 hours at the hospital, having contractions all day long but nothing super regular or timeable. Around 4:00 p.m. I started timing, and they started out around 10 mins apart and gradually worked down to 4 and 1/2 - 5 mins apart. Around 9 p.m., I called my OB and he said to just go ahead and go in and get checked. They hooked me up to the monitor, and the contractions kept coming on a pretty steady 5-6 minute basis. They also got more intense once I got there. They checked me, and said my cervix is extremely posterior (it took two different nurses to be able to tell me if I had progressed). They said I was fingertip dilated and 80 % effaced. Last week at my appointment I wasn't dilated at all and was 50% effaced, so I was a little encouraged that I had made at least a bit of progress. They called the doctor with the update, and then told me I was in "the early stages of labor" and would be much more comfortable laboring at home, so they let me go. We decided to stay with Mom and Bentley in case things picked up in a short time frame. (Kind of what we were hoping for, I guess). The contractions kept me up pretty much all night, but I was able to doze off around 4 am and sleep straight till 7. When I got up, I noticed the contractions had really subsided. Had my doctor's appointment set for 9. Getting ready for the appointment and knowing my contractions had gone to like 15 mins apart, I got frustrated and shed a few tears of discouragement. Mom, Bentley, and I went to my appointment and they hooked me up to the NST monitor to see how Skylee is doing. I kept having contractions while on the monitor, but nothing like the night before, and nothing regular. They weren't happy with her reaction on the NST, so they had me eat something, and then got the reaction they wanted. Then they let me know that the doctor was still doing a C-Section, so there was no one there to check me. I could've waited for him if I wanted to, but I decided to just leave. I was already depressed and at this point, I really don't care to know if I've progressed at all or not. :( Either I have, and it's almost time, or they would tell me no change, and I would be even more sad. After we left the appointment, Daniel and I went to breakfast with Mom and Bentley at IHOP. The contractions picked up there while I was eating, and they have stayed steady. We went walking on the sea wall again after breakfast, and then I came home and napped for around 2-3 hours. I was/am exhausted, so it felt good to sleep. The contractions woke me up so I got up and sat on my birth ball for quite a while, doing different exercises to try to get my cervix dilated. ANDDDDD that's pretty much where things stand at this point. I'm still having contractions every 5-6 minutes. They've gradually gotten more intense. But I see no reason to go in and get checked, just to get sent home again. So, I'm back at our condo for the night, and thinking I'm going to try to do something constructive like CLEAN and do our backed up laundry. Hoping that it will bring me out of this sad, discouraged, and defeated spirit I've gotten myself into. I'm just so tired of being uncomfortable. I've been having these contractions for 24 hours straight now with nothing to show for it. :( I'm just ready to at least know she's soon on her way. At this point I feel like we are on a stand still.
I will keep updating. Maybe the next post will be that I went into full-blown, active labor tonight, and had her! :) That would be nice but I'm not getting my hopes up. At this point I feel like I may be pregnant for the rest of my life with this little girl. ;)
I will keep updating. Maybe the next post will be that I went into full-blown, active labor tonight, and had her! :) That would be nice but I'm not getting my hopes up. At this point I feel like I may be pregnant for the rest of my life with this little girl. ;)
Sunday, March 9, 2014
39 Weeks + 6 Days
Well, tomorrow is the big "due date". :) I wish I could see into the future and know exactly what day she is planning on coming. We are so ready to have our little girl. Today has been a rough day for me physically, but I can't complain too much. I made it through it, that's all that matters. :) Last night I had some intense contractions around midnight, but they died off after about an hour and a half and once again, I was disappointed by the mind games of pre-labor. :/ I'm so worried I'm not going to actually know when it's REALLY time because of how much I have false labor contractions. Time changing forward an hour really killed me this morning!!! I did not want to get up AT ALL..... but I was able to take a two hour nap this afternoon, and that did help me feel a little bit better. I've been nauseous all day, and I'm not sure why. It's not heartburn, but it isn't like a stomach virus or anything. I'm just nauseous. I've definitely tried EVERYTHING under the sun so far to induce labor. Nothing has worked. She's just being a stubborn little girl ;). So far, I've tried:
1.) Walking
2.) Doing squats
3.) Eating eggplant
4.) Eating pineapple
5.) Eating spicy food
I'm not trying castor oil. I don't think I will get desperate enough for that. I'm REALLLLYYYYY hoping it doesn't come to that though. :/ Maybe she will be a good girl and come on her due date, but I'm really doubting it.
I have clinicals all day tomorrow. I know I'm not going to feel up to it, but I figure I might as well go because what better place to be than the hospital if she starts to come. :) AND I can only miss so many clinical hours.....I'd much rather miss once I have a baby to snuggle with than miss just because my body is so miserable.
Keep watching for updates. :) I'm trying to be optimistic. Like my Mom told me today, "Honey, no woman has ever been pregnant for forever. She will EVENTUALLY come out." LOL so I will EVENTUALLY be updating that our little angel has arrived.
1.) Walking
2.) Doing squats
3.) Eating eggplant
4.) Eating pineapple
5.) Eating spicy food
I'm not trying castor oil. I don't think I will get desperate enough for that. I'm REALLLLYYYYY hoping it doesn't come to that though. :/ Maybe she will be a good girl and come on her due date, but I'm really doubting it.
I have clinicals all day tomorrow. I know I'm not going to feel up to it, but I figure I might as well go because what better place to be than the hospital if she starts to come. :) AND I can only miss so many clinical hours.....I'd much rather miss once I have a baby to snuggle with than miss just because my body is so miserable.
Keep watching for updates. :) I'm trying to be optimistic. Like my Mom told me today, "Honey, no woman has ever been pregnant for forever. She will EVENTUALLY come out." LOL so I will EVENTUALLY be updating that our little angel has arrived.
Friday, March 7, 2014
39 Weeks 4 Days
No signs of little Skylee Rae making an appearance yet! Today was a pretty miserable day, but I got through it. :) Had a mandatory 3 hour meeting this morning at school, and it took all of me not to email the Dean of Nursing and tell her I didn't feel like being there. After the meeting, I went and hung out with Mom and the girls for the rest of the day. They painted my toe nails and massaged my swollen feet. That part I definitely can't complain about. :) Thursdays-Saturday, Daniel is pretty much working constantly when he's not sleeping so I really never see him on those days but for a couple minutes.
Anyways, me, Mom, and Bentley went to a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch that Daniel just recently introduced me to, and enjoyed some authentic Greek gyros. They tasted just like what we used to eat in Athens. :) Afterwards, Mom wanted to go to K-Mart and shop around so we did that. Every time I would have a contraction, Mom tried to get me to bust out in squats right in the middle of the store lol. Of course I didn't do it, but everyone was staring at her "doing it with me" lol. What memories. After K-Mart, I was exhausted and really miserable so we went home and I took a nap for a couple hours. After my nap, we went for a walk and walked about 3.5-4 miles. Mom literally walked me like a race horse. And got me to do more squats lol. We're all so anxious for Skylee to make her appearance. I will keep updating, but as of now, nothing has changed. :/ I'm still swollen and miserable, but hopefully not for too much longer! So ready to have my little girl in my arms.
Anyways, me, Mom, and Bentley went to a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch that Daniel just recently introduced me to, and enjoyed some authentic Greek gyros. They tasted just like what we used to eat in Athens. :) Afterwards, Mom wanted to go to K-Mart and shop around so we did that. Every time I would have a contraction, Mom tried to get me to bust out in squats right in the middle of the store lol. Of course I didn't do it, but everyone was staring at her "doing it with me" lol. What memories. After K-Mart, I was exhausted and really miserable so we went home and I took a nap for a couple hours. After my nap, we went for a walk and walked about 3.5-4 miles. Mom literally walked me like a race horse. And got me to do more squats lol. We're all so anxious for Skylee to make her appearance. I will keep updating, but as of now, nothing has changed. :/ I'm still swollen and miserable, but hopefully not for too much longer! So ready to have my little girl in my arms.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
39 Weeks + 2 Days - Such a rough day :(
My doctor's appointment went well today (as far as Skylee is concerned anyways). All signs indicate that she's going to be 100% healthy. :) It was discouraging for me, however. Still no change in my body's progress. 50% effaced and not dilated at all. My midwife told me that she sees me going over my due date (which is Monday). When she told me that, I waited till she left the room and shed quite a few tears of disappointment. I know dilation and effacement doesn't always mean anything because those things can change in a matter of moments. But, just the simple fact that there's no INDICATION that she's coming any time soon was kind of defeating in itself. I've been in an extra amount of pain this week (my midwife DID say that Skylee has moved down lower since last checkup, which I guess explains the extra pain), and not having made any progress made me feel like all the pain was not getting me any closer to having her here. :(
Oh well. Enough crying about it. She will come when she is ready and I know that's what is best for her in the end. I just feel like she's never going to get here and my body is never going to NOT CONSTANTLY HURT. I honestly don't even remember what NOT BEING PREGNANT feels like lol. I feel like I have been pregnant my whole life! :)
On the brighter side, my mom and sisters drove down today. They were anxious that they would miss something so they decided to go ahead and drive down. Hopefully, Skylee won't be super stubborn and she'll not keep all of us waiting too much longer. At any rate, I'm glad they are finally here. Daddy and the boys will be coming down when I'm officially in labor....I'm excited to have all of them down here!
Not sure if I have updated on this.....but I got the scores back for my CN1 exam. :) I made a 100. Imagine my surprise. I didn't feel very confident about how I did. That will probably be a first and a last for me in nursing school. Getting a 100 on an exam doesn't happen too often! My Pharm exam was yesterday evening. That test was awful. :/ I don't know if pregnancy brain has gotten to me, or what. (Pretty much everyone in the class felt like they didn't do well though, so I think it was just an awful test.) I probably won't find out the grade for that till next week....but I'm not holding my breath. I will be happy to just pass with the minimum, which is a 77.
Okay, enough writing for now. As always, I will keep updating if anything changes :)
Oh well. Enough crying about it. She will come when she is ready and I know that's what is best for her in the end. I just feel like she's never going to get here and my body is never going to NOT CONSTANTLY HURT. I honestly don't even remember what NOT BEING PREGNANT feels like lol. I feel like I have been pregnant my whole life! :)
On the brighter side, my mom and sisters drove down today. They were anxious that they would miss something so they decided to go ahead and drive down. Hopefully, Skylee won't be super stubborn and she'll not keep all of us waiting too much longer. At any rate, I'm glad they are finally here. Daddy and the boys will be coming down when I'm officially in labor....I'm excited to have all of them down here!
Not sure if I have updated on this.....but I got the scores back for my CN1 exam. :) I made a 100. Imagine my surprise. I didn't feel very confident about how I did. That will probably be a first and a last for me in nursing school. Getting a 100 on an exam doesn't happen too often! My Pharm exam was yesterday evening. That test was awful. :/ I don't know if pregnancy brain has gotten to me, or what. (Pretty much everyone in the class felt like they didn't do well though, so I think it was just an awful test.) I probably won't find out the grade for that till next week....but I'm not holding my breath. I will be happy to just pass with the minimum, which is a 77.
Okay, enough writing for now. As always, I will keep updating if anything changes :)
Saturday, March 1, 2014
March 1st - 38 Weeks 5 Days
Well, it's officially March. :) And I'm officially out of the double digit count down. We have 9 days left till my due date. My midwife told me at my last appointment that they will allow me to go to 41 weeks and then induce. I'm really hoping she comes on her own long before then, but I guess we shall see :)
I did not sleep well at all last night, due to my lack of self-control. Last night I just had to have some icecream before bed, EVEN THOUGH we have determined that it is dairy products and chocolate that have been giving me the worst heartburn if I eat them before bed. I text Daniel after I ate the icecream and told him it was SO worth it. Well it was....then. :) About 1:30 a.m. I text him again (he was working an over night shift) and told him, "Not so worth it anymore." Oh well. :) I guess it serves me right for lacking self-control, huh?
I have been having contractions sporadically all day today, but nothing I've tried timing and nothing that gives me any reason to suspect that it's time.
I'm giving her until Tuesday night (March 4th). And then I am going to begin Operation "GET HER OUT" :) I have an exam Tuesday night so I'm trying to get through that, plus my siblings have baseball games Monday night and Tuesday night so it would kinda be helpful if she waits till afterwards so they can head down. :) I plan on trying everything under the sun (provided it's not caster oil. I just don't think I can handle that lol). I'm going to do lots of walking, squats, and I also have a birth ball that I'm going to inflate and try some different bouncing techniques to see if that gets her going. I've heard that eating a Big Mac stimulates labor (by many many different women), but I don't think I'm going to try that one. The thought of a burger from McDonald's disgusts me lol, even for the sake of getting this little girl out!
I will keep updating how things are going. Can't wait till I'm updating with pictures of our sweet little girl.
I did not sleep well at all last night, due to my lack of self-control. Last night I just had to have some icecream before bed, EVEN THOUGH we have determined that it is dairy products and chocolate that have been giving me the worst heartburn if I eat them before bed. I text Daniel after I ate the icecream and told him it was SO worth it. Well it was....then. :) About 1:30 a.m. I text him again (he was working an over night shift) and told him, "Not so worth it anymore." Oh well. :) I guess it serves me right for lacking self-control, huh?
I have been having contractions sporadically all day today, but nothing I've tried timing and nothing that gives me any reason to suspect that it's time.
I'm giving her until Tuesday night (March 4th). And then I am going to begin Operation "GET HER OUT" :) I have an exam Tuesday night so I'm trying to get through that, plus my siblings have baseball games Monday night and Tuesday night so it would kinda be helpful if she waits till afterwards so they can head down. :) I plan on trying everything under the sun (provided it's not caster oil. I just don't think I can handle that lol). I'm going to do lots of walking, squats, and I also have a birth ball that I'm going to inflate and try some different bouncing techniques to see if that gets her going. I've heard that eating a Big Mac stimulates labor (by many many different women), but I don't think I'm going to try that one. The thought of a burger from McDonald's disgusts me lol, even for the sake of getting this little girl out!
I will keep updating how things are going. Can't wait till I'm updating with pictures of our sweet little girl.
Elephant Cankles :P
Here are the promised pictures of my feet from yesterday. They are just as swollen today, if not more so. This is one thing I definitely won't miss about pregnancy ;) My legs look like they belong on the bottom of an elephant!
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