Yesterday Parker turned a week old!
He also had his surgery and before I go on, I just want to let you know it was a huge success and he is beginning the recovery process.
The surgery took about an hour an a half, which is less time than they originally told us. (This is good.) He did have a hernia in his diaphragm, but it was not a complete hernia (or hole). There was still a membrane holding his organs together, which made it much easier to repair. They said as soon as they pulled the other organs in place his left lung fell into place and looked like it was fairly developed, which is good. We kind of expected that his left lung would not be in terribly bad shape because the hernia did not show up on my 34 week sonogram and this is usually a problem they catch on a sonogram. My doctor even went back to look at the 34 week sonogram to double check and this problem is not visible. This means it likely occurred in the final weeks he was cooking in my tummy.
He is still on a ventilator, has a chest tube (although it is really coming out of his left side where the very small incision is) and he has a tube going in his mouth that goes to his stomach to help release gases and other things, it is not a feeding tube-yet.
He also has various other tiny tubes coming and going, but the above mentioned items are the biggies.
Parker is actually doing a great job breathing and from the beginning was on one of the lowest settings on the ventilator. They had to bump it up a bit after surgery, but I called in the middle of the night (while pumping) last night and they have been bringing it down little by little.
The miletones we are looking for are:
-Remove the chest tube which is in purely to drain fluid from the wound, once there is no fluid, there is no need for the tube. It is usually in for at least 2 days.
-Remove the ventilator. He is doing a great job with breathing and hopefully will be off this soon. This tube seems to piss him off the most and looks the scariest because it is big and taped to his face.
-Attempt to feed him my milk through the other tube in his mouth that leads to his stomach. Of these three things, this will happen last. They will give him a tiny amount of my milk to "prime" his system and slowly introduce more and more and eventually take the tube out so they (I) can actually feed him.
Next is the age old question of "When can he come home?"
I have not been brave enough to actually ask this question. My birthday is July 16 and I hope he is home by then. I have no idea if that is a long shot, reasonable request or way over shooting it.
Yesterday I was talking to him after the surgery and he was trying to hard to arch those eyebrows (which are barely there) to try to get his little eyes open and it sort of worked, but he was so drugged he ended up just going back to sleep.
He has some amazing nurses and that helps me sleep at night...literally. I can call at any time and they never seem annoyed or put out. They are truly among the most special people on earth.
Everyone keeps asking me how I am doing and I can't really answer that, mainly because I have no idea. I'm in a state of shock with periodic bouts of sanity. I'm not crazy crying all the time, but I cry everyday. I still see the humor in some things that have happened, but I don't laugh as hard as I normally would. I will be a full fledged Nikki again, when my Parker is home.
Josh is amazing. He does not handle seeing Parker very well, but he will do anything to make sure I have what I need. He seems to be upset, but optimistic.
We know that we are (hopefully) on the upswing here and that Parker is as healthy as he can be at the moment and he will continue to get healthier each day.
Two pieces of humor to let you know that I am still Nikki and I will be ok...eventually
When I was in labor and the contractions were terrible, I heard my doctor talking to someone in my room, a nurse I think. I am not sure what the nurse said to prompt this comment, but I heard my doctor say, "No, the contractions are not close enough together." Some how in between these wretching contractions I managed to squeak out, "They are to me!" I am not sure what her response was...
Moments later I lay there on the operating table as they were prepping me for the c-section. Again a nurse asked my doctor if she should shave me. I was under some heavy numbing medicine at this point, but I did manage to defend myself a bit by saying, "I would have taken care of that, but this is all happening a week early!" p.s. My doctor said there was not time to shave and I'm assuming began cutting...I was way numb!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Small milestones to some
I want to thank everyone who responded to the email and is reading this blog.
Parker has been put on a lot of prayer lists and we really appreciate that.
I continue to visit him everyday. I am not allowed to drive because of the c-section, but my my mom has stayed in Calvert County and takes me up and back every day. She is amazing. Being a mom myself, now I completely understand how someone can be so selfless especially when their baby is hurting. I need to sit by Parker side for about 4 to 5 hours everyday and just hold his hand. I would love to do it more, but after 4 to 5 hours I am drained and end up spending the rest of my night crying off and on.
Since the last post we have had some milestones which may seem small to most, but are the world to us.
We have a surgery date of July 1 pretty much nailed down, but we do not have the time yet. They keep reminding us that Hopkins is a trauma center and if a "more serious" case comes up, Parker will get bumped. They also tell us this is good news because if he is bumpable then he is stable. I know what they are saying, but somehow, I fail to see that as ok.
Parker was Baptised today. We only did this because it is something we wanted to do anyway and after all we have been through up to this point, we took advantage of a service the hospital provided. We did not do this because of some dark reason related to him having surgery. They do tell us that he is strong and should pull through surgery just fine.
For the first time today my son opened his eyes.
He has been trying like hell to do this for two days and today it finally happened. It was only in little spurts and his eyes were not all the way open, but for a few seconds we could look at each other. It was almost heaven. I say almost, because there is only one thing that could top that and that one thing also occured today.
I got to hold my son for the first time today.
It was amazing.
We sat there for...forever and he just fell esleep in my arms. I wished so bad that we were home so that I could sleep with him.
We have no idea how long after surgery he will have to wait before he comes home. I do know that they want to start giving him the milk I leave there for him asap via the tube that us in his stomach. Once they see he can process it ok, they will remove that tube and start feeding him normally. He has a ventalator in as well so before he can eat for real, that needs to be removed, but he is on the lowest setting right now and we are hoping the levels do not change post surgery.
There are a few more very sad things that I do not want to write about because I do not want to document them.
I saw my baby's eyes and held him today, that is what I want to remember.
Parker has been put on a lot of prayer lists and we really appreciate that.
I continue to visit him everyday. I am not allowed to drive because of the c-section, but my my mom has stayed in Calvert County and takes me up and back every day. She is amazing. Being a mom myself, now I completely understand how someone can be so selfless especially when their baby is hurting. I need to sit by Parker side for about 4 to 5 hours everyday and just hold his hand. I would love to do it more, but after 4 to 5 hours I am drained and end up spending the rest of my night crying off and on.
Since the last post we have had some milestones which may seem small to most, but are the world to us.
We have a surgery date of July 1 pretty much nailed down, but we do not have the time yet. They keep reminding us that Hopkins is a trauma center and if a "more serious" case comes up, Parker will get bumped. They also tell us this is good news because if he is bumpable then he is stable. I know what they are saying, but somehow, I fail to see that as ok.
Parker was Baptised today. We only did this because it is something we wanted to do anyway and after all we have been through up to this point, we took advantage of a service the hospital provided. We did not do this because of some dark reason related to him having surgery. They do tell us that he is strong and should pull through surgery just fine.
For the first time today my son opened his eyes.
He has been trying like hell to do this for two days and today it finally happened. It was only in little spurts and his eyes were not all the way open, but for a few seconds we could look at each other. It was almost heaven. I say almost, because there is only one thing that could top that and that one thing also occured today.
I got to hold my son for the first time today.
It was amazing.
We sat there for...forever and he just fell esleep in my arms. I wished so bad that we were home so that I could sleep with him.
We have no idea how long after surgery he will have to wait before he comes home. I do know that they want to start giving him the milk I leave there for him asap via the tube that us in his stomach. Once they see he can process it ok, they will remove that tube and start feeding him normally. He has a ventalator in as well so before he can eat for real, that needs to be removed, but he is on the lowest setting right now and we are hoping the levels do not change post surgery.
There are a few more very sad things that I do not want to write about because I do not want to document them.
I saw my baby's eyes and held him today, that is what I want to remember.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Is this some sort of test?
My life has changed drastically since the last post. I will do my best to fill you in...
On June 24 at 10:30p.m. Parker Scott Phillips was brought into the world via emergency c-section.
My mom happened to be visiting that day and as we were trying to figure out what to do about dinner, a strange, warm, uncontrollable, but not gushy fluid started occurring. I ignored it at first. It happened about 3 times in 30 minutes and when I stood up it happened again, only a bit more intensely. I calmly walked upstairs, thinking maybe it was just an embarrassing bladder situation, and changed my pants. It happened again.
I told Josh I thought my water was breaking and he said he thought it was another false alarm. Ignoring him now, I called the maternity ward at the hospital and they suggested that I come in because it probably was my water. (Time: 7:00p.m.)
When we got there, I changed, they tested the fluid and sure enough my water broke, Parker was getting ready to formally introduce himself to us!!
I did not have contractions right away, but by the time I saw my doctor I could feel them. On a scale of 1 to 10 I rated them at a 4. Noticeable, but ignorable. Within about 10 minutes they sky rocketed to a solid 8/9. I got an epidural and my doctor mentioned that she was not happy with Parker's heart rate. They like it to bounce around in the 140-150 range, Parker's held steady at 160. They gave me fluids and an epidural. She told me that after the epidural she would give me 15 minutes to get it under control and if that did not happen she would have to do an emergency c-section because the heart rate indicated that the baby was not happy. My contractions were also very irregular.
The heart rate did not improve.
His umbilical cord was wrapped around the top of his head like a headband and every time I contracted his head pressed on the cord, cutting off his oxygen and blood supply.
I was rushed to the OR and my epidural, which never kicked, was increased. I was laying on the operating table, getting prepped for a c-section. Josh was running around trying to get his scrubs on and find my mom.
Before I knew what was happening, Josh was there in navy blue scrubs and my view of anything but the ceiling was blocked by a large blue surgical tarp. I was being told that the doctor was about to pull Parker out. It seemed like only seconds had passed.
I hear his gurgley cry.
My son is here. 8lbs. 12oz.
He is crying.
Josh is crying.
I'm in shock, but beyond happy. Those of you who do not have kids yet, will think you understand what I mean, but I'm telling you that you have NO idea what I mean when I say I was beyond happy.
They clean him up and hand him to Josh. They attempt to clean me up, but I threw up all over the place. There were chucks in my hair and there was so much throw up on the gown that they just cut it off of me and gave me a new one.
When they wheeled me to recovery, my body temperature was 95 degrees. I needed to get that temp and blood pressure regulated before I was allowed to go to my room. It took an hour, which is normal.
I knew that I was not going to get to see Parker right away because of the c-section, so I was not surprised when he was not in my room when I got there.
However, the emergency c-section was the easy part.
About 4 hours after birth, Parker was helicoptered to Hopkins because the hospital could not regulate his breathing and could not identify the problem. At Hopkins we found out that he has a hole in his diaphragm that developed in the last few weeks of the pregnancy. All the organs on his left side are pushed up into his chest. He is currently waiting to get surgery, which will hopefully occur on Tuesday, July 1, one day before his original due date.
I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning, 36 hours after the c-section, and spend most of the day with Parker. I went back today and just sat with him for hours. I have been pumping milk so that when he can eat, he will have the best stuff around.
Everyone tells me he looks great and is strong and beautiful. He is beautiful to me because he is my baby, but this is the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. All the doctors and nurses keep asking me if I have any questions and the only question I have is when will he come home and the only answer they can give me for that is, "We can't say for sure."
Every mom who gets to go in to the hospital, have her baby and leave with her baby takes it for granted. There is no way you can understand this pain until you lived through it, there is just no way.
I am very sad, but trying to stay strong and keep pumping for Parker. I have not gone a day without crying, intensely, about this yet. I know my baby will be ok. I know he will be ok because he wraps his little fist around my index finger and does not let go until I leave, which is the hardest part of my day...of my life.
I'm going to do my best to keep this blog updated and I hope you just check it regularly. I cannot make phone calls to all the amazing people who love Parker and I hope you all understand. I will do my best to keep you in the loop through this. At the very least I will let you know how surgery goes on Tuesday.
Thank you
Love you
Nikki
On June 24 at 10:30p.m. Parker Scott Phillips was brought into the world via emergency c-section.
My mom happened to be visiting that day and as we were trying to figure out what to do about dinner, a strange, warm, uncontrollable, but not gushy fluid started occurring. I ignored it at first. It happened about 3 times in 30 minutes and when I stood up it happened again, only a bit more intensely. I calmly walked upstairs, thinking maybe it was just an embarrassing bladder situation, and changed my pants. It happened again.
I told Josh I thought my water was breaking and he said he thought it was another false alarm. Ignoring him now, I called the maternity ward at the hospital and they suggested that I come in because it probably was my water. (Time: 7:00p.m.)
When we got there, I changed, they tested the fluid and sure enough my water broke, Parker was getting ready to formally introduce himself to us!!
I did not have contractions right away, but by the time I saw my doctor I could feel them. On a scale of 1 to 10 I rated them at a 4. Noticeable, but ignorable. Within about 10 minutes they sky rocketed to a solid 8/9. I got an epidural and my doctor mentioned that she was not happy with Parker's heart rate. They like it to bounce around in the 140-150 range, Parker's held steady at 160. They gave me fluids and an epidural. She told me that after the epidural she would give me 15 minutes to get it under control and if that did not happen she would have to do an emergency c-section because the heart rate indicated that the baby was not happy. My contractions were also very irregular.
The heart rate did not improve.
His umbilical cord was wrapped around the top of his head like a headband and every time I contracted his head pressed on the cord, cutting off his oxygen and blood supply.
I was rushed to the OR and my epidural, which never kicked, was increased. I was laying on the operating table, getting prepped for a c-section. Josh was running around trying to get his scrubs on and find my mom.
Before I knew what was happening, Josh was there in navy blue scrubs and my view of anything but the ceiling was blocked by a large blue surgical tarp. I was being told that the doctor was about to pull Parker out. It seemed like only seconds had passed.
I hear his gurgley cry.
My son is here. 8lbs. 12oz.
He is crying.
Josh is crying.
I'm in shock, but beyond happy. Those of you who do not have kids yet, will think you understand what I mean, but I'm telling you that you have NO idea what I mean when I say I was beyond happy.
They clean him up and hand him to Josh. They attempt to clean me up, but I threw up all over the place. There were chucks in my hair and there was so much throw up on the gown that they just cut it off of me and gave me a new one.
When they wheeled me to recovery, my body temperature was 95 degrees. I needed to get that temp and blood pressure regulated before I was allowed to go to my room. It took an hour, which is normal.
I knew that I was not going to get to see Parker right away because of the c-section, so I was not surprised when he was not in my room when I got there.
However, the emergency c-section was the easy part.
About 4 hours after birth, Parker was helicoptered to Hopkins because the hospital could not regulate his breathing and could not identify the problem. At Hopkins we found out that he has a hole in his diaphragm that developed in the last few weeks of the pregnancy. All the organs on his left side are pushed up into his chest. He is currently waiting to get surgery, which will hopefully occur on Tuesday, July 1, one day before his original due date.
I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning, 36 hours after the c-section, and spend most of the day with Parker. I went back today and just sat with him for hours. I have been pumping milk so that when he can eat, he will have the best stuff around.
Everyone tells me he looks great and is strong and beautiful. He is beautiful to me because he is my baby, but this is the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. All the doctors and nurses keep asking me if I have any questions and the only question I have is when will he come home and the only answer they can give me for that is, "We can't say for sure."
Every mom who gets to go in to the hospital, have her baby and leave with her baby takes it for granted. There is no way you can understand this pain until you lived through it, there is just no way.
I am very sad, but trying to stay strong and keep pumping for Parker. I have not gone a day without crying, intensely, about this yet. I know my baby will be ok. I know he will be ok because he wraps his little fist around my index finger and does not let go until I leave, which is the hardest part of my day...of my life.
I'm going to do my best to keep this blog updated and I hope you just check it regularly. I cannot make phone calls to all the amazing people who love Parker and I hope you all understand. I will do my best to keep you in the loop through this. At the very least I will let you know how surgery goes on Tuesday.
Thank you
Love you
Nikki
Monday, June 23, 2008
I'm just saying, this is gross...
As evident by the mass amounts of phone calls, I seemed to have caused quite a stir with my last post. As of 11:15a.m. on Monday, June 23, 2008 the world is still minus a Parker Phillips. Although I am doing everything in my power to change that as quickly as possible.
A few smallish developments or progressions are occurring though since the last post. Jenny McCarthy wrote a fabulous "tell all" book about pregnancy, but I am about to take it to a level even she did not touch. I loved her book, "Belly Laughs" but some of the things she spoke about in her book did not happen to me- i.e. blue Twinkies (read the book), constipation (I eat a LOT of fruit and veggies), an inexplicable need to move furniture (I'm too lazy) and she ate an ENTIRE tray of brownies every night...yes every night for the last few weeks of pregnancy (goes against the rule I have of if I did not eat it before I was pregnant, I don't eat it now). The rest of the book is brilliant and I read it in a couple hours. The genius that is Ms. McCarthy did leave out a few things I wish I had been a bit more aware of pre-pregnancy.
Now, if you are easily grossed out, you may want to stop reading here.
There are a few words in the English language that really... I mean really gross me out. Like throw up in my mouth a little gross out. These words are glob, hunk, blob and mucus. However, all of these words, with the exception of mucus, are absolutely ok if they are accompanied by the word chocolate.
Keeping this in mind, the first gross thing I was unaware of is this thick mucusy discharge crap that comes out your special place in globby blobs. Now, I did not go to lamaze class. Perhaps this would have been discussed there and then would have been less of a surprise to me now, but I didn't go so there you have it. I'm not sure if this globby blob is made up of pieces of the mucus plug I keep hearing about, but either way I am not a fan! I am going to look into this more on the Internet, but I will say I was told by a health care professional that it is likely indicating that my mucus plug is loosening up. Which means this gross crap is not the acutal plug. Which means there is something even grosser lerking about- the actual plug. If this is the case and the plug is anything like I am imagining, I may just barf right in my own underwear when the actual plug comes out. Gross.
I would now like to add the word plug to the list of gross out words.
The other issue I was not aware of, that is probably not an issue that plagues only very pregnant women, but very large people as well.
There is no polite way to say this, at least not as polite as I described the plug issue, so I will just say it.
How the hell do you expect someone with so much going on up front to wipe their ass?
It is damn near impossible to bend over or reach around comfortably in order to clean the area appropriately. Forget the whole damn thing if you are in a public restroom, there is no where for you to go. You may as well open the stall door and ask a stranger to come help you out.
Now a year ago Josh and I went to Ireland for a wedding. We went with some people Josh played rugby with in college. One of those guys was telling us how his family owns a very successful plumbing business and in his own house they have a bidet. He was telling us that he feels that people who do not have regular access to these lovely contraptions are walking around with dirty asses. Of course none of us listening to him have bidets and we all immediately felt self-conscience. However, after dealing with this difficult issue during these very pregnant days, I understand where he is coming from. I find it easiest to just take a shower, rather than try to contort my large tummy in a way that makes wiping both effective and efficient.
Finally, you know how when you do something embarrassing you think/say to yourself, "I will never tell anyone I did that and I will just pretend it did not happen." And then time passes and you see the hilarity in the situation and you feel compelled to share, well here goes...
Last Thursday I had my doctor's appointment where I found out about the new developments in the dilation and effacement departments. I knew that a possible side effect from this exam was some bleeding, but I have not had a period in quite some time, so any bleeding seemed odd or like a danger sign. Thursday afternoon/evening I went to the bathroom and saw blood. I freaked out for a second and then calmed down and called my doctor. She asked me questions about the amount and what it looked like etc. My answers, which were probably a bit exaggerated, resulted in her suggesting I go to the maternity ward of the hospital and get checked out. I went, we were there for an hour and nothing. There was nothing. I am one of those ridiculous women who went to the maternity ward for basically no good reason. I was embarrassed because I feel like I have done a great job...a good job...a fairly decent job...so far of taking everything in stride and not letting things frazzle me during this pregnancy.
But I slipped up and now there will probably be 2 remarks on my chart when I check in for the real thing. One will be- N. Phillips- came in and wasted our time for minor spotting after an internal exam. The other remark- Watch for husband J. Phillips- seems to have drug seeking behavior (see previous posts about ER visits).
A few smallish developments or progressions are occurring though since the last post. Jenny McCarthy wrote a fabulous "tell all" book about pregnancy, but I am about to take it to a level even she did not touch. I loved her book, "Belly Laughs" but some of the things she spoke about in her book did not happen to me- i.e. blue Twinkies (read the book), constipation (I eat a LOT of fruit and veggies), an inexplicable need to move furniture (I'm too lazy) and she ate an ENTIRE tray of brownies every night...yes every night for the last few weeks of pregnancy (goes against the rule I have of if I did not eat it before I was pregnant, I don't eat it now). The rest of the book is brilliant and I read it in a couple hours. The genius that is Ms. McCarthy did leave out a few things I wish I had been a bit more aware of pre-pregnancy.
Now, if you are easily grossed out, you may want to stop reading here.
There are a few words in the English language that really... I mean really gross me out. Like throw up in my mouth a little gross out. These words are glob, hunk, blob and mucus. However, all of these words, with the exception of mucus, are absolutely ok if they are accompanied by the word chocolate.
Keeping this in mind, the first gross thing I was unaware of is this thick mucusy discharge crap that comes out your special place in globby blobs. Now, I did not go to lamaze class. Perhaps this would have been discussed there and then would have been less of a surprise to me now, but I didn't go so there you have it. I'm not sure if this globby blob is made up of pieces of the mucus plug I keep hearing about, but either way I am not a fan! I am going to look into this more on the Internet, but I will say I was told by a health care professional that it is likely indicating that my mucus plug is loosening up. Which means this gross crap is not the acutal plug. Which means there is something even grosser lerking about- the actual plug. If this is the case and the plug is anything like I am imagining, I may just barf right in my own underwear when the actual plug comes out. Gross.
I would now like to add the word plug to the list of gross out words.
The other issue I was not aware of, that is probably not an issue that plagues only very pregnant women, but very large people as well.
There is no polite way to say this, at least not as polite as I described the plug issue, so I will just say it.
How the hell do you expect someone with so much going on up front to wipe their ass?
It is damn near impossible to bend over or reach around comfortably in order to clean the area appropriately. Forget the whole damn thing if you are in a public restroom, there is no where for you to go. You may as well open the stall door and ask a stranger to come help you out.
Now a year ago Josh and I went to Ireland for a wedding. We went with some people Josh played rugby with in college. One of those guys was telling us how his family owns a very successful plumbing business and in his own house they have a bidet. He was telling us that he feels that people who do not have regular access to these lovely contraptions are walking around with dirty asses. Of course none of us listening to him have bidets and we all immediately felt self-conscience. However, after dealing with this difficult issue during these very pregnant days, I understand where he is coming from. I find it easiest to just take a shower, rather than try to contort my large tummy in a way that makes wiping both effective and efficient.
Finally, you know how when you do something embarrassing you think/say to yourself, "I will never tell anyone I did that and I will just pretend it did not happen." And then time passes and you see the hilarity in the situation and you feel compelled to share, well here goes...
Last Thursday I had my doctor's appointment where I found out about the new developments in the dilation and effacement departments. I knew that a possible side effect from this exam was some bleeding, but I have not had a period in quite some time, so any bleeding seemed odd or like a danger sign. Thursday afternoon/evening I went to the bathroom and saw blood. I freaked out for a second and then calmed down and called my doctor. She asked me questions about the amount and what it looked like etc. My answers, which were probably a bit exaggerated, resulted in her suggesting I go to the maternity ward of the hospital and get checked out. I went, we were there for an hour and nothing. There was nothing. I am one of those ridiculous women who went to the maternity ward for basically no good reason. I was embarrassed because I feel like I have done a great job...a good job...a fairly decent job...so far of taking everything in stride and not letting things frazzle me during this pregnancy.
But I slipped up and now there will probably be 2 remarks on my chart when I check in for the real thing. One will be- N. Phillips- came in and wasted our time for minor spotting after an internal exam. The other remark- Watch for husband J. Phillips- seems to have drug seeking behavior (see previous posts about ER visits).
Thursday, June 19, 2008
T minus...? until baby time
After each doctors appointment I feel the need to share what happened in the office with all of you who read this blog...I say all, but really it is probably like 5...but whatever
Anyway, today 4 things happened that are noteworthy:
1. Triumph of all triumphs I lost 3 pounds. I know it seems odd, but I'm told it's normal and no biggie (especially considering what I am about to tell you). I'm not saying I mind the weight gain really, I mean I'm growing a person, there is bound to be some added poundage. However, I am seeing numbers on the scale I never thought I would see. I wouldn't mind seeing these same numbers in a different combination, but the combo I got going on right now it frankly depressing at best.
2. My blood pressure is elevated, which means I am back on serious bed rest putting an end to my workout routine, much to the dismay of Abby and myself. The fear is that my blood pressure, which has been very normal until today, will led to preeclamsia complications during delivery. She did mention though that I can still have sex with Josh to move things along. Apparently there is no danger of elevating my blood pressure there...sorry Josh. I will say, this is just a means to an end and is very different from any pre-pregnancy martial relations we had.
3 and 4 (Because there is no way to split these two up). Last week you may recall I was still 1.5 cm dilated and there was no effacement action. Well today I am nearly 4 cm dilated (you need to be 10 cm to begin pushing, but from what I understand you can get the epidural once you are in the 3 to 4 cm range) and I am 50% effaced.
I have big plans to get this epidural. The way I see it, no one is handing out $10,000 bills to women who squeeze the kid out without the help of an epidural. I also hear about women not getting one because they don't want to be in a drug induced state nor do they want their baby to be drugged up upon delivery. To them I say, "Why the hell not!?" This is a pretty traumatic situation for everyone involved and aside from the doctor who has to catch the slippery little sucker, everyone should be heavily medicated!
I still...yes STILL have to get the car seat securely in my car and I have yet to pack my hospital bag.
My mom bought Parker 2 pairs of socks. When I did his laundry last week, I washed all 4 socks and now I have 1 sock...individual...left. Good thing he is a summer baby and probably will not need socks within the first few days, so I have some time there.
I will keep you all as posted as I can between now and delivery time. My goal is to keep this blog going even after he comes (all you mommies out there, stop laughing). I know it will not be as easy as it is now, but it will still be possible.
All joking aside for a second, when I called Josh and my mom after the appointment to inform them of the new developments, I could not stop crying. It was not a nervous or scared cry. I am just so excited that after all the blogging, registering, emotion, anticipation etc. my little guy- this amazing person that is Josh and me- is about to be here, in this world, living, breathing, laughing.
P.S. Tomorrow is June 20, which is my sister, Lynsey's, 22nd Birthday. I think it would be beyond cool if Parker and Lynsey have the same birthday. Although, I have two other sisters and I guess there would be some pressure to have two more babies on each of their birthday's...
Anyway, today 4 things happened that are noteworthy:
1. Triumph of all triumphs I lost 3 pounds. I know it seems odd, but I'm told it's normal and no biggie (especially considering what I am about to tell you). I'm not saying I mind the weight gain really, I mean I'm growing a person, there is bound to be some added poundage. However, I am seeing numbers on the scale I never thought I would see. I wouldn't mind seeing these same numbers in a different combination, but the combo I got going on right now it frankly depressing at best.
2. My blood pressure is elevated, which means I am back on serious bed rest putting an end to my workout routine, much to the dismay of Abby and myself. The fear is that my blood pressure, which has been very normal until today, will led to preeclamsia complications during delivery. She did mention though that I can still have sex with Josh to move things along. Apparently there is no danger of elevating my blood pressure there...sorry Josh. I will say, this is just a means to an end and is very different from any pre-pregnancy martial relations we had.
3 and 4 (Because there is no way to split these two up). Last week you may recall I was still 1.5 cm dilated and there was no effacement action. Well today I am nearly 4 cm dilated (you need to be 10 cm to begin pushing, but from what I understand you can get the epidural once you are in the 3 to 4 cm range) and I am 50% effaced.
I have big plans to get this epidural. The way I see it, no one is handing out $10,000 bills to women who squeeze the kid out without the help of an epidural. I also hear about women not getting one because they don't want to be in a drug induced state nor do they want their baby to be drugged up upon delivery. To them I say, "Why the hell not!?" This is a pretty traumatic situation for everyone involved and aside from the doctor who has to catch the slippery little sucker, everyone should be heavily medicated!
I still...yes STILL have to get the car seat securely in my car and I have yet to pack my hospital bag.
My mom bought Parker 2 pairs of socks. When I did his laundry last week, I washed all 4 socks and now I have 1 sock...individual...left. Good thing he is a summer baby and probably will not need socks within the first few days, so I have some time there.
I will keep you all as posted as I can between now and delivery time. My goal is to keep this blog going even after he comes (all you mommies out there, stop laughing). I know it will not be as easy as it is now, but it will still be possible.
All joking aside for a second, when I called Josh and my mom after the appointment to inform them of the new developments, I could not stop crying. It was not a nervous or scared cry. I am just so excited that after all the blogging, registering, emotion, anticipation etc. my little guy- this amazing person that is Josh and me- is about to be here, in this world, living, breathing, laughing.
P.S. Tomorrow is June 20, which is my sister, Lynsey's, 22nd Birthday. I think it would be beyond cool if Parker and Lynsey have the same birthday. Although, I have two other sisters and I guess there would be some pressure to have two more babies on each of their birthday's...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Told you so...
Just a quick update-
1. Still no baby and Josh conveniently caught a nasty cold, so my plans of attacking him to make this move a bit faster have been squashed for now. I am still working out like mad, although my mom has informed me that she is very busy at work this week and if I went into labor, it would not be good for her.
2. The crib is put together complete with dust ruffle and bumper. Parker's clothes and blankets have been washed and put away. I talked to him while I was doing this so he will know where everything goes when he is here, I'm not going to be doing this for him forever!
3. For Mother's Day this year Josh- lovely, thoughtful, generous- Josh got me a card and a potted Gerber daisy. (I managed to kill the daisy within the first few days- I am no gardener. However, some how Josh brought it back to life and instead of the 2 blooms that were there originally, now there are 3! I am hoping this is not foreshadowing our parenting skills, otherwise, Parker is in for quite an interesting life- he will either sprout new parts or live a life of dehydration and malnutrition.) Anyway, for Mother's Day I get a card and a flower. When I asked Josh what he would like to Father's Day he said, "A massage."
Ummm...what?
Does that seem fair?
Well keeping true to form, I got him the massage package and laid on a HEAVY guilt trip. My birthday is July 16 and considering I am also giving birth days prior to my own birthday, I expect BIG things. I will keep you posted on any developments.
4. After the above mentioned massage, Josh bought me lunch (1/2 a pound of steamed shrimp- $10.00, massage package for Josh- $120.00...seems fair, no?) and then we went grocery shopping. Josh does not like me to go by myself at this point for fear that I will go into the labor at the store. This is a fear we share...how embarrassing would that be!?
Do I go to the register and ring up my order, or just leave the cart there?
What would we do for food when I came home from the hospital? Clearly, I cannot leave Josh to
his own devices in a grocery store, who knows what I would end up with.
Do I finish my soy chai tea from the Safeway Starbucks or just hand it off to another customer, like a baton in a relay race?
Anyway, while at the store, we saw a new mom there with a little baby girl. The mom asked me how much longer I had, what I was having, you know all the usual questions*. As I am answering these questions for a stranger, for the millionth time, another woman with a baby walks by, says nothing and frankly, I barely noticed her. When Josh and I got to the next aisle, he informed me that the other lady was one of the people from his old job, the one I mentioned in here before, the one Josh quit and told them we were moving to the Eastern Shore. We ran into her in a grocery store about 10 miles from our house, which is NOT located on the Eastern Shore. LOVE IT!
*If you have ever graduated high school/college, gotten married or had a baby you know what these questions are. You hear them over and over again. Occasionally, you will get an oddball question or an inappropriate one, but they are all the same for each situation and there are even some "cross-over" questions:
-Are you excited/nervous/ready?
-When? (as in: are you leaving/working and/or: is the big day)
-Then there is usually some mention of money, either how expensive something is or how much you will receive for your accomplishments.
This interaction is usually concluded by the other person, stranger or not, filling you in on some tragic/not-so entertaining/ predictable story of their own circulated around the event.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, I do it myself sometimes, but it is very interesting, no?
1. Still no baby and Josh conveniently caught a nasty cold, so my plans of attacking him to make this move a bit faster have been squashed for now. I am still working out like mad, although my mom has informed me that she is very busy at work this week and if I went into labor, it would not be good for her.
2. The crib is put together complete with dust ruffle and bumper. Parker's clothes and blankets have been washed and put away. I talked to him while I was doing this so he will know where everything goes when he is here, I'm not going to be doing this for him forever!
3. For Mother's Day this year Josh- lovely, thoughtful, generous- Josh got me a card and a potted Gerber daisy. (I managed to kill the daisy within the first few days- I am no gardener. However, some how Josh brought it back to life and instead of the 2 blooms that were there originally, now there are 3! I am hoping this is not foreshadowing our parenting skills, otherwise, Parker is in for quite an interesting life- he will either sprout new parts or live a life of dehydration and malnutrition.) Anyway, for Mother's Day I get a card and a flower. When I asked Josh what he would like to Father's Day he said, "A massage."
Ummm...what?
Does that seem fair?
Well keeping true to form, I got him the massage package and laid on a HEAVY guilt trip. My birthday is July 16 and considering I am also giving birth days prior to my own birthday, I expect BIG things. I will keep you posted on any developments.
4. After the above mentioned massage, Josh bought me lunch (1/2 a pound of steamed shrimp- $10.00, massage package for Josh- $120.00...seems fair, no?) and then we went grocery shopping. Josh does not like me to go by myself at this point for fear that I will go into the labor at the store. This is a fear we share...how embarrassing would that be!?
Do I go to the register and ring up my order, or just leave the cart there?
What would we do for food when I came home from the hospital? Clearly, I cannot leave Josh to
his own devices in a grocery store, who knows what I would end up with.
Do I finish my soy chai tea from the Safeway Starbucks or just hand it off to another customer, like a baton in a relay race?
Would I need to let Special Ed the stock boy know that a MAJOR clean up needs to occur in aisle 5?
These are just some of the questions running through my head about this issue.Anyway, while at the store, we saw a new mom there with a little baby girl. The mom asked me how much longer I had, what I was having, you know all the usual questions*. As I am answering these questions for a stranger, for the millionth time, another woman with a baby walks by, says nothing and frankly, I barely noticed her. When Josh and I got to the next aisle, he informed me that the other lady was one of the people from his old job, the one I mentioned in here before, the one Josh quit and told them we were moving to the Eastern Shore. We ran into her in a grocery store about 10 miles from our house, which is NOT located on the Eastern Shore. LOVE IT!
*If you have ever graduated high school/college, gotten married or had a baby you know what these questions are. You hear them over and over again. Occasionally, you will get an oddball question or an inappropriate one, but they are all the same for each situation and there are even some "cross-over" questions:
-Are you excited/nervous/ready?
-When? (as in: are you leaving/working and/or: is the big day)
-Then there is usually some mention of money, either how expensive something is or how much you will receive for your accomplishments.
This interaction is usually concluded by the other person, stranger or not, filling you in on some tragic/not-so entertaining/ predictable story of their own circulated around the event.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, I do it myself sometimes, but it is very interesting, no?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Isn't this putting the cart slightly before the horse?
I am currently 37 weeks pregnant.
Last week when I went to the doctor, Parker was measuring right where he should be (we were both at 36 weeks). In fact on the growth chart I was shown he was dead center average size for a 36 week baby.
I went today, a week and 2 days later, and somehow my son has managed to surpass me by about 2 weeks.
I have been pregnant for 37 weeks, but I now have a 39 week old baby in my tummy. This means that Parker hit another growth spurt. I also gained 4 pounds in one week (all him) and I have been working out like mad trying to get myself to dilate some more...no luck!
Great.
How exciting for me.
However, I did find out that I am positive for Strep B. It is a fairly common thing and nothing to worry about really. It just means that there is a virus in the birth canal and when my water breaks (hopefully within the next hour or so...HA!) I will have to be given an antibiotic to ensure Parker does not catch this infection on his way out.
Another however, my doctor also informed me that I am "narrow" and would probably have trouble passing a 10 pound baby. Therefore, I would probably need a c-section should he get that big. Well, reread the beginning of this particular blog and you will see that I may very well be on my way to a 10 pounder! This means that Strep B thing may be an even smaller/non issue, but I will still get the antibiotic when my water breaks just in case.
When my doctor told me that he was measuring at 39 weeks I said, "Ok great! Next week works for me, let's get him out!"
My doctor just laughed.
I informed her I was being serious and that I am ready. This is no laughing matter.
She called me crazy and laughed again.
I'm guessing this means that the only way Parker will come next week is if I am able to shake him out myself, and believe me I am trying.
As I was leaving the office, the receptionist said, "Just walk a lot and have sex."
She whispered the "and have sex" part. Like that is something taboo, having sex--with your husband. Clearly that is how I got in this predicament! (and it may hold the key to get me out of it-- lucky, or not so lucky, Josh!)
Don't get me wrong. I do love being pregnant. However, something changes in your last few weeks of pregnancy, at least it has for me.
I'm tired of having to hoist myself out of cars and the couch while making a grunting noise. It is nearly impossible for me to go from a sitting to standing position without sounding like I am trying to pass a boulder through my rectum.
I'm tired of people commenting on my pregnancy and it's relation to the heat. First of all 100 degrees is hot, pregnant or not. Second, do you think commenting on it makes it better? Well it does not, so shut up and bring me some ice water damn it!
I'm also really getting weirded out by the fact that I have an actual person inside me. Before when he was just a faceless tad pole, I liked that I was protecting him and helping him grow. Well he is now identifiable as a baby and he can survive outside of me, so let's do it already!
I still have to do his laundry and get his crib together. These are all things I plan on doing over the weekend, then any thing goes.
Let's get the show on the road already, sheesh!
Last week when I went to the doctor, Parker was measuring right where he should be (we were both at 36 weeks). In fact on the growth chart I was shown he was dead center average size for a 36 week baby.
I went today, a week and 2 days later, and somehow my son has managed to surpass me by about 2 weeks.
I have been pregnant for 37 weeks, but I now have a 39 week old baby in my tummy. This means that Parker hit another growth spurt. I also gained 4 pounds in one week (all him) and I have been working out like mad trying to get myself to dilate some more...no luck!
Great.
How exciting for me.
However, I did find out that I am positive for Strep B. It is a fairly common thing and nothing to worry about really. It just means that there is a virus in the birth canal and when my water breaks (hopefully within the next hour or so...HA!) I will have to be given an antibiotic to ensure Parker does not catch this infection on his way out.
Another however, my doctor also informed me that I am "narrow" and would probably have trouble passing a 10 pound baby. Therefore, I would probably need a c-section should he get that big. Well, reread the beginning of this particular blog and you will see that I may very well be on my way to a 10 pounder! This means that Strep B thing may be an even smaller/non issue, but I will still get the antibiotic when my water breaks just in case.
When my doctor told me that he was measuring at 39 weeks I said, "Ok great! Next week works for me, let's get him out!"
My doctor just laughed.
I informed her I was being serious and that I am ready. This is no laughing matter.
She called me crazy and laughed again.
I'm guessing this means that the only way Parker will come next week is if I am able to shake him out myself, and believe me I am trying.
As I was leaving the office, the receptionist said, "Just walk a lot and have sex."
She whispered the "and have sex" part. Like that is something taboo, having sex--with your husband. Clearly that is how I got in this predicament! (and it may hold the key to get me out of it-- lucky, or not so lucky, Josh!)
Don't get me wrong. I do love being pregnant. However, something changes in your last few weeks of pregnancy, at least it has for me.
I'm tired of having to hoist myself out of cars and the couch while making a grunting noise. It is nearly impossible for me to go from a sitting to standing position without sounding like I am trying to pass a boulder through my rectum.
I'm tired of people commenting on my pregnancy and it's relation to the heat. First of all 100 degrees is hot, pregnant or not. Second, do you think commenting on it makes it better? Well it does not, so shut up and bring me some ice water damn it!
I'm also really getting weirded out by the fact that I have an actual person inside me. Before when he was just a faceless tad pole, I liked that I was protecting him and helping him grow. Well he is now identifiable as a baby and he can survive outside of me, so let's do it already!
I still have to do his laundry and get his crib together. These are all things I plan on doing over the weekend, then any thing goes.
Let's get the show on the road already, sheesh!
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