39 Weeks

On 11/12/13 I would have been 39 Weeks pregnant,  however,  baby girl had other plans in mind.  Unlike her brother,  she would be a tad early and arrive in an entirely different fashion.

It was around 7:00pm on Monday night when I started feeling cramping and lost my mucous plug.  Sorry if that’s TMI. I knew that it could mean labor could start soon,  or still hold out for another week or so,  so I didn’t think too much of it,  but let Josh know and tried to prepare a few things.  We stuck to our normal routine and by 8:30 we were hanging out in bed and decided to watch something.  It was around 9:00 when the contractions hit,  though I figured as with Enzo, we’d have a while before anything really happened.

This time it was different,  though.  The contractions went from 10 minutes to 8 minutes pretty fast and then before we knew it,  we hit 4 minutes apart and they were getting more and more intense. This was not going to be like Enzo’s birth with a slow and steady increase over time.  Josh quickly started getting our things together and I attempted to help in between contractions,  while he let his sister know we’d be dropping off Enzo sooner than expected.  The little man was slightly disoriented, but mostly asleep as we all bundled up and headed out to the car sometime after midnight.

We weren’t even halfway to Josh’s sister’s house before we had to change plans. .. my water broke in the car.  I remember telling Josh it had happened, but was mostly concerned about the upholstery. 😉 The plan was now to just get to the hospital and Leah would meet us there.  It was the longest drive ever,  even though Josh was speeding big time and every bump was torture as the contractions got more intense and closer together.  Josh kept apologizing for every bump until I yelled at him to stop apologizing.  Ha ha.

We finally arrived and even though Enzo was wide awake,  he was quiet as a mouse,  taking it all in.  We were hit with our first roadblock when the elevators weren’t working,  however, so there I was leaning over a chair while Josh held Enzo and the security guard attempted to do something as slowly as possible and then proceeded to tell me to “get in” mid contraction.  Thanks,  Guy. We were rushed pretty quickly to a room and while I waited for Josh’s sister and the tub to fill the nurses and my midwife got ready.  It was all happening a lot faster than I anticipated and I was definitely taken off guard.  Leah arrived and Enzo said ” Buh bye,  Mama” and before I knew it I was 8cm dilated and getting moved to the tub.

I’m so glad I got the water birth I had wanted to have with Enzo. The warm water felt so good, even though I wouldn’t be in it for long.  Within about an hour of arriving I was ready to push and suddenly it was over.  Our precious girl was here, born at 2:18 am and weighing just 6 pounds and 11 ounces.  I’m still shocked that it only took about 5 and a half hours, which I definitely prefer over 38 hours. 😉  It was everything I could have hoped it would be.

She’s here, and she’s lovely.

We are completely infatuated with little Miss Phoebe Opal, born on 11/12/13. She’s so perfect.  More to come!

Week 38

Week 38 (or what feels like Year 2) has come and will be gone as of tomorrow when I officially hit 39 weeks. My health is pretty much unchanged except my PUPPS remedies seem to not be working as well anymore for whatever reason. Oh well, just a little longer.  Surely I can deal with the itching for another week or so… or less.  Ack… sometimes I wish I just knew when she was going to arrive as surprises drive me crazy and I much prefer to plan things.

As for Baby Girl, she is doing good.  Strong heartbeat and all of that good stuff. I had one semi-paranoid moment this past week where she wasn’t moving much, so I called the midwives just to be on the safe side.  They asked me to come in right away, so I did, and of course that was when she started moving and perking up again.  They still did a non stress test, but it was of course all fine and dandy.  So… we just keep waiting and try to be prepared as possible each day.  I’m okay if she waits a few more days, though, as Enzo’s cough isn’t any better.  We’re nebulizing him again because it sounds like he’s getting a wheeze and if he’s sick the pediatrician says we shouldn’t let him near Baby Girl when she’s born, and I think that stresses me out more than anything. I don’t want things to start out with him being kept out of arm’s reach of mama and his new sister, so perhaps she’s picking up on that and is patiently waiting until she has the all clear. 😉

Tubes

We woke up bright and early Friday the 1^st for Enzo’s tube surgery.  We had to be at the hospital by 6:30 for his 7:30 appointment, so we basically woke him up with just enough time to change his diaper, bundle him up, and head out the door.  He was so out of it, he didn’t fuss much and we even got some silly smiles as we headed out since he knew something was different, but not exactly what. It was my hope that he just wouldn’t realize he was hungry since he wasn’t allowed drink or food until after surgery was over.

Pretty much as soon as we got there we were headed back to a waiting room with a bunch of toys and then Josh and I were asked a bunch of questions and had to fill out more paperwork while the little man played.  We had several nurses come and go and met briefly with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist.  Enzo was a little cautious with so many people coming and going, but was briefly walked away with one of the nurses to go get a sticker.  It was also around this time that we learned we would not be allowed back when Enzo was put under.  It’s a small same-day off surgery office, so we’d be nearby and Enzo wasn’t exhibiting signs of separation anxiety, so we nodded and accepted it.  So, we waved bye-bye to him and a nurse took him back with his nuk and his lovie and we waited…

For about 15 minutes.  It felt like we were barely getting comfortable before we were called back and the surgeon was telling us it went perfectly fine. Enzo had some gunky fluid behind both ears, so we definitely made a good call.  It was about another 5 minutes before we were called back to actually get our wee man who was now awake. I think my heart sped up when I heard him as we went walking back. I knew that yell, and when we got in the room the nurse was having a hard time holding onto him and just said how strong he was.  Our boy was NOT happy and was arching his back and thrashing and crying and inconsolable. For about 15 minutes Josh and I passed him back and forth trying not to drop him and calm him down.  Several nurses tried to help – one was just freaked out because apparently she’s never seen a toddler react quite so strongly. Slowly he’d have longer spells of calm before thrashing again, until finally he exhausted himself and just lay quietly on Josh’s shoulder.

We hung out for a little longer and then were given the okay to go home.  Not surprisingly the little guy was tuckered and extra snuggly for the rest of the day, but by the time dinner rolled around he was a new man.  He was happy and playing and laughing and it was wonderful.  The weekend was great too.  His mood was amazing and even his tantrums were fewer and less intense than usual. Granted, he’s not a fan of the antibiotic ear drops, but not much we can do about that.  He also had an unusual case of separation anxiety when I dropped him off at day care Monday morning.  I’m hopeful he’s going to start sleeping better and just feeling better overall, though.  Especially once we can get him used to daylight savings.  I never used to hate daylight savings until we had a child.

Week 37

Thanks to some good ‘ole nesting, I think we got all the major things done around the house that we needed to this week.  Car seats, check. Co-Sleeper, check.  Hospital bags packed, well… almost. I still need to make a playlist of music and prep Enzo’s stuff as he will most likely be staying with his aunt and uncle and cousin when we head to the hospital.

 

Most importantly, though, we’ve picked movies to watch.  At first I didn’t think we’d use them when I grabbed movies to watch while waiting for Enzo, but they came in really handy with him.  Now I can fondly recall watching ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ while laboring in the tub.  Plus it was nice afterwards when it was just Josh and I and we needed a distraction while Enzo was in Special Care, which I’m hoping doesn’t happen again with Baby Girl.  I would love to have fewer people in the room this time around and would love to get to spend time with her rather than having her rushed away so soon after.

Anyhoo, as for the PUPPS – I think all of my remedies are actually working!  The itchiness is vastly improved and the rash itself has started to disappear, and while it’s not gone entirely, it’s fantastic to not feel like I want to rip my own skin off!

 

Also, if the midwives are right, then Baby Girl is around 7 pounds right now and that could mean if she waits for her due date she could be even bigger than Enzo was, but for sure at least 8 pounds.  Josh thinks she just feels bigger because she’s going to have long limbs like her mama – time will tell!