oh happy day....the arrival of Ty Richard

Tomorrow is my due date, November 27th, and Ty arrived 6 days early at 39w1d.  This is the exact same time that Miss Delia Pearl arrived.  Here's the story:

Last Monday at my weekly appointment I saw the nurse practitioner, Beth.  My cervical check was the same as it had been on Friday so nothing happened over the weekend which is what I had surmised.  She was going to strip my membranes again (3rd time) and said she was known as having the "magic fingers" at the office.  She was the one who had done it while I was pregnant with Delia which later caused me to go into labor.  The times that I had this done up until now it was uncomfortable but I wouldn't say that it actually hurt.  Well, this time it hurt.  I knew that only meant that things were progressing toward the birth of my son, but it was a very slow process.  Beth said that I was welcome to come back on Tuesday for her to do it again and that they would continue to do it as many times as I wanted up until I had to be induced.  They would schedule induction between 40-41 weeks for me if I didn't go into labor.  I gladly scheduled an early appointment for Tuesday morning.  Monday I had a good deal of cramping and contractions that night for about 5 hours.  They eventually tapered off.  Tuesday's check showed that I was 3 cm and 90%.  She also stripped membranes again and when she was done, she said she could be wrong but she had a feeling she may have just set my body into labor for that day/evening.  I could only hope she was right.  Also, my induction was set for Friday the 30th if nothing happened before then.  So I left and within a couple hours I was having consistent contractions about 5-7 minutes apart that were somewhat painful.  Throughout the day they intensified and became closer together.  Seth and I headed over to l&d that afternoon but when I got there things started to slow down.  Unfortunately I hadn't changed at all from the morning and after an hour they sent me home.  I was, again, distraught and completely lost it after leaving the hospital.  The contractions that I did have were still intense and a good deal of them were felt in my back.  I decided to walk that night with my mom and two sisters (who came down from Allentown because we thought this was it) and my labor just continued on.  My contractions were inconsistent and that's what was throwing me off.  They would go from 2-3 minutes to 4-6 minutes to 5-7.  They never lost intensity though.  I tried taking a bath that night and even thought I might get some sleep but I couldn't.  I didn't know what to do.  I didn't want to go back to the hospital only to be told that I was the same but I was in pain and couldn't do anything else but think about it.  I talked with my sister and she encouraged me just to call my doctor and speak with whomever was on call (it was Charlotte, the midwife).  I did that and she said it was my decision whether I waited it out or not.  I decided not to.  Instead of waking up Seth and having to go through all the work of getting Delia moved or having someone come stay with her, my sister offered to take me over to be checked.  We arrived at the hospital shortly before midnight.  I was 5 cm!  Thank goodness because I would have bawled my eyes out (again) had I still been a 3.  I called Seth and told him they were admitting me and then we went through the process of getting moved to a delivery room, etc.

This labor was very hard on my back and I knew I wanted an epidural.  Unfortunately it can take some time to get that since they have to draw blood, send it to the lab, notify the anesthesiologist, etc.  I probably waited another two hours before he showed up or at least it felt that way.  By this time Seth had made it and my mom was on her way back from Allentown since she had gone home.  We had no issues getting an epidural during my labor with Delia but for some reason, this guy couldn't place it.  I must have been pricked 4-5 times before he got it in.  That was probably one of the worst parts.  Then he felt so badly that he actually pulled up a chair and sat in my room for the next half hour to 45 minutes to make sure that the epi took.  After every contraction he would ask me what I felt.  I thought this was really nice of him as most doctors wouldn't do it.  The epi DID take and it took well because I was pretty numb from then on.  After a little while Charlotte showed up and I was at a 7 almost 8.  It had been some time since I slept so I tried to do that.  His heart rate kept dropping a bit at the end of my contractions so they had me on oxygen as well.  At some point they broke my water and at another point my nurse came in and said my contractions were still close but they seemed to be losing intensity (they put an internal monitor on me after his heart rate was dropping).  Unfortunately I don't have much of a grasp on when all these things were happening.  I just knew they were.  They wanted to give me just a little bit of pitocin to push me the rest of the way so I could deliver.  As soon as she turned it on the lowest setting, his heart rate went again so she immediately turned it off.  Charlotte came back in to check and lo and behold I was complete and ready to have a baby! 

Dr. Probst, the OB whom I go to, was the one who had delivered Delia.  I had a great experience and really like her.  I had seen Charlotte many times in the office with no complaints but I had no idea how different the delivery might be since she is a midwife.  I am very happy with the outcome.  It was much less of a production, less people in the room and very laid back.  She was awesome and encouraging.  I didn't have to push long (20-30 minutes).  Ty was a little bigger than we expected him to be though and his shoulders ended up getting stuck.  She must have worked some sort of magic because despite how bad it looked while it was happening, he was born and I had minimal damage.  Instead of doing all big pushes there were times where she had me do just a little push here and there.  I'm so grateful.

My "little" guy was 8 lbs 6.5 oz and 20 inches.  He is the cutest baby I've ever seen.  He is a healthy eater and while we are still getting into a groove here, which will take some time, I'm so happy to have him.  It's amazing how things build up slowly and just like that it seems they are over.  I sometimes I have trouble dealing with the finality of it, but at this point I'm enjoying every little cuddle and snuggle that I can.  Big sister Delia is doing great so far.  She loves her "Ty Ty" and while we are working on what it means to be gentle, she loves to give him hugs and kisses.  I am such a lucky girl.

Shortly after delivery:

38 weeks and the neverending pregnancy.

The irony of this pregnancy (besides the obvious that I had preterm labor at 33 weeks yet am somehow still pregnant at 38 weeks) is that something that will bring me so much joy and happiness in a "short" while is currently causing so much {physical} pain and moodiness.  How many times have I said that this pregnancy is very different from Delia's?  I know I sound like a broken record but only because it's true.  Everything was so easy and effortless with her.  Despite knowing that this is it for me when it comes to using my body has a baby maker, I wonder if I had another pregnancy if it would be just as hard on me or not. 

I saw my doctor twice this past week. This is the point where things may start to get a little gross and detailed but I don't think anyone who reads this blog would care.  On Tuesday I asked her to strip my membranes, knowing it might not do anything.  I was 1.5 cm and still about 50% so she obliged.  She instructed me to go home, do what you can do at this point to naturally bring on labor (walk and have sex) and come back on Friday.  I did that and also noticed some other changes in my body so I was pleased to find out on Friday morning that I had progressed to 2 cm, almost 80% effaced and the baby had moved down a bit to -2 station.  Unfortunately, nothing monumental has happened since and 2 and a half days later, I'm still pregnant. 

I'm sure some of you (and I know other people in my life) are wondering why this upsets me so much when I haven't reached my due date yet.  I will tell you.  One: I am beyond uncomfortable.  Daily I have a variety of pains that I can't escape.  The rib burning and back pain is the worst and it brings me very close to tears some days.  Two: I've prepared myself mentally to have an early baby because of the preterm issues.  It's very hard to turn that around in your head once it's no longer a possibility.  Three: I am a giant, hormonal mess and I have lost all control.  My daily mood swings are ridiculous.  I go from being somewhat happy to okay to completely depressed within hours.  Just today I had a near breakdown over a slush from sonic.  Four:  I don't want to be in the hospital on Thanksgiving.  That one is just sort of a tag-along but it's true.  I was really hoping to have this baby before then and right now I feel like that's not going to happen.  I also don't want to be induced.  I have this great fear of induction.  I haven't had the conversation yet with my doctor and I'm also afraid that even though she might say 41 weeks is okay, I will crack and ask for it to be sooner because I'm so ready to get this baby out of my body.  What's most amazing to me is that when I see that precious little baby face for the first time, all of this will seem like it was nothing. 

So here I keep going....trucking along until it's my turn.  Please don't tell me soon though.  I can't handle that phrase anymore. 

37 weeks and my water broke! uh, just kidding.

So I made it 37 weeks (yayyy....please note my sarcasm).  37 weeks is generally considered full term in pregnancy however I've sort of been considering myself that since 35 weeks.  I really hit a low this week.  At my appointment on Tuesday I found out I've had little to no progress despite all the contractions I experienced over last weekend.  I really thought that something would have happened and I barely made it out of the doctor's office without crying.  I am just So. Done.  In addition, this little guy has made a habit of hanging out only on the right side of my belly.  He likes to keep his feet up in my ribs and it's resulted in a constant burning throughout the day.  I can't even sit straight up comfortably.  Standing helps but I also can't stand all day.  It's a very frustrating place to be in. 

My sister has been walking with me at the mall every few days.  We do about 1.5-2 hours each time and each time I contract constantly and have pressure.  Then it all stops after I get home and drink some water.  It's such a tease.  On Friday evening we went out again.  Just before 8 we decided to leave for home and as I was pulling my coat from the back of the car and standing in the parking lot, my water broke!  It was this uncontrollable gush of fluid that soaked me from my waist to my feet, even my beloved Toms.  I just sort of stood there in the dark parking lot, with a small puddle beneath me, and didn't know what to do next.  My sister came back out of the car and asked why I wasn't getting in.  I told her I either peed myself A LOT or my water broke.  She rushed over to my side of the car and confirmed what I thought, water.  So she got in the driver's seat and we took a quick trip back to her house for towels.  I called Seth and let him know what was happening and then called my doctor who said to just go over to triage so they could check things out.  I really couldn't believe this.  My water didn't break at the start of labor with Delia and I already had an epidural when they did it in the hospital.  I drove home and experienced a couple more small gushes just before getting in to the house.  Seth already called his parents who were on their way to stay with Delia.  I packed up the rest of my bag and thought, "well, this is really it....finally after all this preterm stuff".

It was a busy night at triage and we had to wait a little while for a bed.  Once you're settled they do a test to confirm that it is amniotic fluid leaking by swabbing and then looking at it under a microscope.  They asked me a lot of questions and I very quickly got the feeling that they didn't think my water had broken.  After looking under the scope, the midwife came in and told me it was not fluid but discharge and they were sending me home.  I was shocked.  I told her again how much had come out of me.  I knew it wasn't pee and I had never heard of discharge soaking your pants down to your feet.  It was a gush of liquid, not some little trickle.  I was (and still am) so upset.  I couldn't believe I was going through this after everything else.  She said sometimes there are pockets that can build up and release (again, never heard of this before) but would do an ultrasound to measure the fluid just to be sure.  A resident came up to do the ultrasound and he said I had an abundance of fluid (maybe a little more than average) and a healthy looking baby.  So that's it, I wasn't in labor and home I went.  I was angry, emotional, upset and I cried. 

I know these last few weeks are a drop in time but they feel so long when you are going through them.  I always remind myself so that I don't say something foolish to a pregnant woman at the end of her pregnancy.  I find that people very quickly forget how miserable they were and lack the sympathy that we overly hormonal preggos need.  Soon this guy will come and I will have him in my arms.  I just really hope I don't have to go through any more false alarms.  Emotionally, I don't think I can handle it. 

36 weeks and hurricane sandy.

It's been an interesting week.  Monday morning I had my weekly doctor appointment and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that there had been no progress.  It's good though because it means the pills were doing their job.  My GBS test results were negative (no IV meds needed during delivery) and my 3 hour glucose tolerance results were all normal draws (I knew it!).  So I'm glad all that nonsense is over.  Tuesday was the day to stop the procardia.  I think my 11:30am pill was the last one I took and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  They said I would experience a "tsunami of contractions" but I didn't know how soon it would start.  To top it off, Hurricane Sandy rolled in and we lost our power on Monday night.  On Tuesday Seth, Delia and I took ourselves over to my sister's house who still had electricity to spend the day.  We spent Tuesday night at home and while watching a movie on the laptop, I started to experience some contractions.  Nothing a few bottles of water couldn't help though.  On Wednesday, still without power and a house becoming ever colder, Delia and I went back to my sister's (Seth's company opened up again).  Since Wednesday was Halloween, we took Delia trick or treating that night and I decided to join in on the walking in hopes that it would help move things along.  Our power returned Wednesday night but we stayed at my sister's house since we had already planned on it.  I'm so thankful that we could crash with her but I was happy to be able to go home on Thursday.  Unfortunately, we didn't do much to save anything in our refrigerator or freezer so upon my return home, I basically just cleaned out the whole thing.  That was not on my list of nesting tasks but I suppose it needed to be done anyway.  I also did some laundry, general cleaning up and made a trip to the grocery store (with Delia in tow) to restock some essentials.  I overdid it, as I usually do, and I was having constant contractions throughout the day.  As fast as they were coming, they still weren't "real" labor though and after I finally took a break, sat down and guzzled water, they tapered off.  I was able to rest a bit on the couch which turned out to be beneficial because I was so stuffed up overnight that I didn't sleep much. 

I am admittedly miserable.  I'm never comfortable, I can't do anything easily and I'd much rather have this little guy on the outside instead of the inside right now.  I know I'm weeks away from my due date but I really hope he comes early now that I know they won't stop him.  I plan on trying some natural induction methods this weekend.  

Picture update:

36 weeks.

36 weeks, 3 days.  I only added this because it's the one time I've managed to put boots on this pregnancy.  Noteworthy of course.