Alyson is here!

Hey everybody! Sorry it's taken me so long to post about the birth of little Alyson. Things have been pretty hectic around here since the birth, as I'm sure all of you with new babies can attest to!

Well, I'll start with Thursday. Thursday morning we got to the hospital around 8am for my induction. At first, only I was allowed to go back and the rest of my family just stayed out in the waiting room. When I arrived in my room, the nurses gave me a bag for my clothes... they said, "Just remove everything and put this gown on" then told me they needed a urine sample (fun fun.) So I get all in my gown and come out carrying my pee sample, and there stand two good looking male student nurses along with the staff nurses. "Just great" I thought, sarcastically. Being a former nursing student myself, I knew that nursing students get to participate (and SEE) everything. Talk about embarrassing, being that they were guys... hehe.

But anyway... Things started out pretty slowly... the first hour just consisted of the nurses asking me a ton of admission-type questions, then they started my IV to get labwork. (Which took 3 tries. Normally I don't mind, but those were some BIG needles.) They then hooked me up to the monitors, and I could hear little Aly's heart beating away in the 140's. The nurse checked me for dilation and effacement, and said I was around 90% effaced and (sadly!) only 1 centimeter dilated. I had hoped to be more dilated by then.

Around 9am, they talked with my doctor, and the Pitocin was started, along with IV fluids. At first, I didnt feel much of anything. I was just having small contractions which truthfully I wouldn't have known I was having had it not been for seeing them on the monitor. The nurse then doubled my drip rate to 12. Shortly after that, the contractions picked up but still weren't very painful... just pressure more than anything. However, they were coming every 2 minutes or so. The nurse came back in a little later and cut my drip rate in half since the contractions were so close together. We went back and forth with the drip rate for the next 4 hours or so.

Around 12, my parents bought us all lunch, while I sat up in a comfy leather recliner, still not feeling much of anything. A nurse came in and my dad said, "If she doesn't progress, is there a chance she will be sent home?" The nurse said "Well, it's always possible." At that point, I started getting a little depressed, thinking, "I came here thinking I was having a baby today... I don't want to wait any longer!" A little while later, that nurse told us my doctor had called in wanting to know about my progress, so he was filled in on my status with the pitocin.

1:30pm came around, and I was still not having very strong contractions. I was getting majorly bummed and said, "Well, if THIS keeps going on, I'll be here forever." Just then, my nurse came back in and said, "The doctor is here to check you... I'll help you back in bed." I got back in bed and my doc walked in. He checked me to see how dilated I was and I was only 2 centimeters. He then gave me majorly good news... he said, "I'm going to break your water now." (YAY!) I got a surprised look on my face and the nurse laughed and said, "Looks like you ARE having a baby today!" She then pressed my call light and when another nurse called back to see what we wanted, my nurse goes, "Ok, go ahead and admit her now." :-)

Lemme tell ya, if my water had broken at home, I would have been flipping out! Talk about Niagara frickin Falls! LOL. After my water was broken, the contractions majorly picked up. Within 15 minutes, they were strong as heck. I said, "So when am I able to get an epidural?" and they told me, "Whenever you want, honey... just let us know." I tried to hold out for awhile, but by 2pm, I told Russ, "Go out to the nurses station and tell them I'll take it now." Unfortunately, we were told that the anesthesiologist was in surgery and would be a little while. I dealt with strong contactions for over an hour, and I heard the nurse say, "I'm going to give her some Stadol til he gets here." Now, I don't know if any of you ladies had stadol, but all it did was make me feel drunk and still in pain. I warned everyone beforehand, "If I act loopy with this stuff, don't laugh at me." LOL. It did make me a little, uh, more free with my speech. The only time I cussed was right after receiving the stadol. Right during a contraction, the blood pressure cuff on my arm pumped up just high enough to annoy me, and I said with my eyes closed and teeth clenched, "Why does that DAMN THING PUMP UP RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONTRACTION?!"
(But hey, if "damn" is the worst word I used, I figure I did pretty well.)

I got my epidural around 3:30pm, and if I could have kissed the anesthesiologist, I would have! (LOL... just kidding) Epidurals are WONDERFUL. Shortly after I had it, all I could feel was pressure. even though the contractions were peaking higher and higher. I was making Russ laugh because when I'd feel the pressure, I could also feel more amniotic fluid coming out of me, so I'd be like, "Here comes a contraction, and there I go pissing myself again." (Yes, still loopy from the stadol.)

My dilation progressed pretty quickly after the epidural, I think just because I was more relaxed and now allowing my body to do what it needed to do! Around 4:30 or 5, I was 6 centimeters dilated. By 6pm, I was already 8 centimeters! I told Russ, "You'd better call SOMEONE on their cell phone and tell them to cut dinner a little short!" (Our families were all downstairs in the cafeteria eating.) I guess when they heard, everyone dropped what they were eating and said, "Ok, not hungry anymore! Let's go!"

By 6:45 or 7pm (can't remember exactly), I was 10 centimeters could feel the baby's head RIGHT THERE. The nurses called my OB and then had me starting to push. My mom and cousin Brenda came in the delivery room at this point. After pushing awhile, the nurses said, "Wow, you must have one good epidural block" because evidentally my pushing wasn't up to par...lol. I could feel the pressure and had the urge to push, but it wasn't that strong.

Once my OB doc got there (7:20-7:25ish), it was on. Doc placed a sterile towel on my chest and said, "I will put the baby right here." I was ready to cry by that point, thinking, "Wow, she'll be here any minute!!"

With my not-so-strong pushing, Alyson would start to come out, then wouldn't progress any further, so doc had to assist with the vacuum suction. All I heard everyone say was "Oh... look at all that dark hair on her head!" Everyone cracked up because evidentally once Alyson's head was out, she spit out the amniotic fluid in her mouth right off the bat. Doc suctioned her and I swear that amount of time waiting to hear her cry seemed like FOREVER, though it was only a few seconds!

Alyson Elizabeth Hunt was born at 7:38pm. She weighed 7 lb 5 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Russ's hands were shaking so much it took him 3 tries to cut the cord, poor guy! Hearing Aly cry and seeing her placed on my chest afterwards was truly amazing... such an indescribable feeling.

Before all this, Russ (the typical manly man he is...lol) goes, "No, I won't cry" when I asked him if he thought he'd cry at the delivery. WELL. My manly man had his head buried in my shoulder while hugging me... I could hear him just sniffling away. When he stood up, his eyes were all red and he was wiping the tears away. Afterwards, he told me that seeing Alyson born was the most amazing thing ever.
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Russ and I came home with our new bundle of joy on Saturday night. It was an interesting night, but I was fortunate to have my mom staying with us to help out. Alyson was up many many times through the night, but all went well. So far, she's been great through the night. She eats basically every 2-3 hours and has been taking at least 2 ounces per feeding already. She has a good appetite on her! She could be sleeping so soundly, but she'll wake up like clockwork and I'll hear her fussing and sucking on her little fingers, waiting for her bottle. Dealing with sleep, the past few nights haven't been that bad. She'll sleep for about 3 hours then sometimes I even have to wake her up to feed her! She's such a good baby and really only fusses when wants to eat, though she isn't too fond of bathtime yet. :-)

So far, Russ and I have decided she has his mouth (her lips are shaped EXACTLY like his) and his nose. She has my chin, I think...lol. And we both have dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, so she got those from both of us. Right now her eyes are really dark gray, but that's how mine were when I was born, so I'm guessing they'll turn brown soon.

Russ and I are just SO in love with our little girl. It's amazing how much having Alyson has changed Russ, too! The guy who once said "I'm not changing diapers" now VOLUNTEERS to do it. He's such a proud daddy and is already wrapped around Aly's little finger. She has tummy time with daddy every day. It's totally adorable. Becoming parents is definitely the best thing that's ever happened to us!!

39w4d- Emotions galore

Ever since I learned of my planned induction yesterday, I've truly been in such a DAZE, like I said in my post yesterday.

My emotions are one big rollercoaster right now. I've been sitting here in amazement, thinking how today and tomorrow are my last two childless days for the rest of my life. Not in a bad way, mind you...but it's just crazy to think about.

It's the last two days where it's just "Me and Russ." Then on Thursday once Alyson is here, our little family of 2 turns into 3, and we're responsible for this new precious little life. And EVERYTHING is going to change.

Russ and I were sitting around talking lastnight, and that's all I could think about....how much things are going to change just in a few short days. It's not going to just be about me and him anymore...and I wonder how OUR relationship will change. I'm excited for what's to come, but so incredibly nervous at the same time.

*sigh*

For now, I'm just trying to get last-minute things done in the house. I have this list of things I'd like to get done within the next few days, but I have absolutely NO desire to do any of it. I'm just so TIRED! I really need to get myself motivated. It figures, any other day I'm a big ball of energy lately, but now that I HAVE to get things done, I am completely worn the heck out. Come on, energy...where'd you go?!

39w3d-- GOOD NEWS!

Well. I'm sorta in a daze right now!

I just got back from the doctor's. I definitely have some good news! When he checked me this morning, he said, "Oh, your cervix is very soft... 100% effaced... paper thin!" He said that I'm about the same amount dilated, though (right around 1.5-2cm)

As I sat there wondering, "Ok, so what next?" he looked at me and smiled... he said, "Well, you're due Friday... do you want to wait and see whether you go into labor, or do you want to be induced?"

(I was sitting there thinking, "What... wait... WOAH!") I then laughed and told him, "Well, I am getting kinda impatient here!" He said he'd call and talk with the birth center to see what times they have available for inductions. I waited a few minutes and he came back and said, "Thursday at 8am."

THURSDAY AT 8AM! I could be holding my little Alyson in my arms on THURSDAY! AAAH!

I'm feeling tons of emotions now. Nervous...excited...happy....surprised....just, WOW. I wasn't expecting all this today. I was expecting him to tell me nothing had changed and to come back to the office again in a few days!

OH...and also this appointment, he did DEFINITELY strip my membranes. He came out and said so today. He goes, "Well, I stripped your membranes, so you could very well go into labor sooner than Thursday!" WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'm just so happy right now. I've called everyone close to me to tell them the news. Everyone's on standby with their cell phones handy...lol.

It's just nice to know that if nothing happens in the meantime, I have an actual TIMEFRAME. I know at least SOMETHING is going to happen Thursday. Hopefully this induction works without any problems and Russ and I are holding our little Aly by Thursday night. I'll keep you all updated!! If something does happen before Thursday, I don't know if my hospital has wireless internet access, so I might not be able to update until I get home. I'll have to check on that one :-)

For now, I'm going to put my feet up and hopefully I'll be feeling some contractions soon or my water will break! Maybe I should go do some jumping jacks.....hmm.

Have a great day!

38w4d... Come on, already!

I have a feeling I'm gonna be in labor shortly. No, not TODAY, per se, but SOON. I just have that gut feeling...it's weird.

My hormones have just been OFF THE WALL lately. Lastnight I just busted out and started crying for no reason... one minute I'm talking and laughing to my hubby when we were getting ready to go to sleep, then the next minute I'm feeling totally miserable and crying. He didn't know what to do for me... poor guy. He just layed next to me, rubbing my back, listening to me sobbing and saying how miserable I am, how my back hurt, etc.

Today I've been getting LOTS of braxton hicks contractions, and those sharp pains 'down there'. Even pains in my butt! Yeeow! Alyson has been moving around alot, fighting the contractions, I guess. Some of the pains I get go into my lower abdomen and lower back, but those are still pretty sporadic. Not even long enough to consider timing. Argh.

So today with all this stuff, I've just been laying in bed relaxing... hoping that if SOMETHING is gonna happen, it happens SOON, before I have to head to work. Yes, I have to work tonight. BLECH. I'm gonna see how tonight goes and that will determine whether or not I decide to stick it out with working right up until the baby's born. I'm thinking tonight and MAYBE tomorrow are gonna be my last few days there. I'm SO ready to be done with that. We'll see.

Well, that's it for now... gotta get ready for work in a few. Keep your fingers (and toes!) crossed that SOMETHING happens to get my labor going!

38w3d

"They" say that some pregnant people have certain hunches of when their due date will be. Well, my hunch has come and gone. For some strange reason, June 9th kept sticking in my head as my baby's due date, but alas it has come and gone. *sigh*

I thought SOMETHING was happening yesterday, but evidentally all my body was telling me was "slow the heck down", because once I laid down and rested for awhile, I felt fine. All morning, I had been getting those sharp pains in my cervix (the ones I've had for what seems like FOR-EV-ER), but also everytime Aly moved, I got period-like cramping and aching in my lower back. It kept up for awhile, so I started getting worried (and excited, though!) It would all go away once she stopped moving though. Guess I was just being teased. So, with all hopes of going into labor gone, Russ and I ended up going to a graduation party, then out shopping for a bit. Took my mind off things, so that was good. Guess I HAVE been kinda overdoing it lately, though... I've been MAJORLY nesting. I scrubbed the whole downstairs bathroom yesterday, and even got down on the floor and scrubbed the ceramic tile grout with a TOOTHBRUSH. LOL. I'm just trying to make sure the house is in tip-top shape for little Aly's arrival. Especially since Russ's mom, my mom, and other guests will be staying here at different times. Stress stress stress. :-P

Today I feel good so far, though I had a weird feeling in my right foot, and was surprised to see that it resembles a partially-inflated balloon with toes this morning. LOL. I haven't done much today yet either! I woke up early with Russ and made us breakfast, then worked on Aly's baby scrapbook at the dining room table for awhile. Just being on my feet/having my legs dependent for that long made my foot swell up! Grr. I can't even bend my toes all the way now. it's so weird that it's only my right foot... guess 'they' (whoever 'they' are) are right when they say the foot you favor more is the one that usually gets more swollen during pregnancy. I'm right handed, so I guess I'm right-footed too...lol.

So for now, I'm just resting in bed with my leg elevated up on a pillow in hopes that my balloon foot will go down. The construction guys are back to work on the upstairs bathroom this morning, so I can't do anything in the nursery until later today. They usually work until 4 or 5. My parents are supposed to stop over later and help do some last-minute things in the nursery (put that ceiling fan up, and help me assemble some baby stuff.) Mondays are really busy for Russ, so they offered to help me with some things that I wanted Russ to do. They've been such a big help to me... I don't know what I'd do without them!

Dealing with work, I'm counting down the days until maternity leave. 6 more workdays to go, then I've decided I'm going on leave. I've mentioned on here in the past that my OB and the nurses are all surprised to find out I'm still working... well, they told me that whenever I feel I can't take work anymore, just let them know and they'll write me a work release note. I figure that I'll more than likely be having Alyson fairly close to my due date, so at my appointment this Friday, I'm going to have them write me a note so I can start maternity leave. My clinical manager scheduled me night turn on the 21st AND the 22nd (my due date!!!), so if I'm still feeling ok, I'll work just up til then. I'll be 40 weeks, so that is MORE THAN LONG ENOUGH to stick it out with working! We'll have to see though... if I'm swelling more during this week, I might just tell them to start my leave a week early. I don't want to be walking around with balloon feet 24-7. Plus, at work I've been increasingly more uncomfortable. I'm just trying to stick it out as long as I can. I've already used 2 weeks of my maternity leave back in December when I was spotting, so I want to have as many weeks off after Aly's birth as I can.

Well, I'm starting to ramble, so I'm gonna end this now. Have a wonderful Monday!

Sincerely,
Betsy Balloon Foot....hehe

Today was my 38 week appointment.

(Sound of crickets chirping...)

(More crickets....)

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If you can't tell, I don't have much to report. (sigh)

I'm still CLOSED. No dilation whatsoever. But there IS some good news.... I'm "starting to soften", according to my doctor. WOO HOO! I don't know exactly what percentage effaced that might be, but at least it's SOMETHING. (TMI, but the sex must be working! Haha!!)

I don't know what all doc did while he was poking around up there, but I've been kinda crampy ever since the internal exam. Nothing major, but enough to be uncomfortable. But hey, maybe he stirred things up a bit so we can get this labor ball rolling. LOL.

My BP today was a little up, 120/80... and (grr) I gained another pound. I haven't been eating as much over the past week either, and I DID notice my feet and ankles are a little puffy today, so I know I have some water retention going on right now.

After the nurse got my weight and BP, she checked the fetal heart tones. Aly was being cooperative today and stayed in one spot long enough to let the nurse get her heart rate. (More good news too--- the nurse told me, "I think you've dropped a bit honey! Last time I saw you, your belly was higher up near your breasts, and now it's lower.") YAY FOR PROGRESS! She laughed cause once she told me that, I got all excited. Since she wasn't in the room with me during my internal exam, she came up and asked me, "Well? Any progress?" afterwards. I told her, "Well, I'm softening, so that's a start!"

Guess I'm gonna have to give in and do the sex thing every night now, as much as I might not be in the mood. Hubby will be thrilled about THAT. LOL. For now, I'm gonna relax, put my feet up and be lazy for awhile. The house cleaning will have to come later. (Or tomorrow!)

Before I go, here are some pics I took today of my 38 week prego belly.



Where are my feet?! :-)




Have a great day!

37w3d

I'm starting to get impatient. Not to mention MOODY! I'm just feeling kinda miserable lately.

Wow, how's that for a nice, upbeat start to a post?

I just feel like this baby is never going to come. I can't imagine how you other mommies-to-be who are approaching (or past) 40 weeks feel! I'm not even 38 weeks yet and I'm already thinking, "Bring it on, already!!!!"

I never thought I would look forward to seeing something as gross as a mucous plug in the toilet, but every time I go to the bathroom I turn around and look in the toilet hoping to see a little glimmer of hope that SOMETHING is going on 'downstairs.' It's equal to the suspense that Charlie Bucket had when opening up a candy bar in hopes of finding that golden ticket.

But sadly, nothing yet. No mucous plug. No water breaking. No golden ticket.

I know things are getting closer though, so that's good. I've been getting more and more braxton hicks, despite drinking water like a fish. Sometimes the crampiness goes to my lower back (owwwww....kinda like right now!), but those are few and far between. I'm just hoping that the pains in my back are just a signal that labor is coming soon, and not a sign that baby Aly is turned the wrong way. :-(

I just still get a heck of a lot of those sharp pains in my hoo ha...baby Aly is knocking on the door of my cervix 24-7. I think she's having fun down there, thinking, "Wow, what's this?" KICK! POKE! KICK! POKE! "Cool! It makes mommy jump!"
Gotta love it. Yeah right.

I just CAN'T WAIT to see my baby girl. It seems like once 37 weeks hit, my impatience factor went off the charts. I want her out NOW! lol. Not that I don't still have some things to do before she gets here, but I'm just tired of being pregnant and want little Aly in my arms and not my belly. I'm just wondering how long my OB doc will let me go before he suggests induction or something. I just picture myself being, like, 50 weeks pregnant. LOL. Yeah, I know THAT can't happen, but that's what it feels like...like I've been pregnant forever. In a way, I wish he would say, "OK, if you don't progress, we'll induce on this day." You know, so I at least have a DATE. So I'm not so unsure of things. Maybe if I don't progress at this next appointment, he'll suggest something. Heck, with all those sharp pains I'm getting, I'd have thought I'd be halfway dilated by now, but NOTHING. (sigh)

I guess I'm just venting now, sorry... it's just that once the back pains and the coochie pains and the worn-out feeling hit, this girl has gotten grouchy. :-P Hopefully I have some news to report SOON! :-)

(Taps on belly)- "Hey Aly... you know how last post I said that you can come out anytime? I wasn't joking. Really, you can."

:-)