Baby Bossy's Birth Story Part II

The nurses quickly prepared for surgery.  My nurse, Kim, was fabulous.  I remember she kept calling me Baby Girl!  To be honest- the evening is basically a blur for me, but I do remember the important stuff! :)

They wheeled me into the operating room.  I had a curtain over me, so I was unable to see a thing.  The anesthesiologist stood behind the curtain with me (near my head) and talked to me the entire time.  He was such a sweet man.  Mr. Bossy was allowed in after I received my epidural.  I remember him having his phone out for most of the c-section, but I just figured he was taking lots of pictures.  Come to find out-  he recorded the entire thing!!

Baby Bossy was born at 7:59 p.m.  They whisked him away to clean him up and check his vitals.  From watching television shows and movies, I always thought babies came out screaming their heads off.  Not mine!  I asked the nurses and my doctor if everything was alright.  They acted like it was normal that he hadn't cried.  In fact, they said he was asleep the entire time!  Mr. Bossy brought our baby to me soon after.  I remember looking at him and feeling so much love, but also SO upset that I couldn't hold him quite yet.  It felt like forever for the staff to close me up, but I eventually was wheeled into recovery.

My parents and MIL came in soon after to say hello and see their new grandbaby.  They left after a little bit so that I could nurse him in privacy.  I remember I still couldn't stop shaking.  The nurses explained that it was a side effect of the drugs I was given.  I wasn't cold-  I was just shaky!  Complete exhaustion started to kick in (Hey-  I had worked that day too!).  I remember they wheeled me into my room after a while.  Mr. Bossy's recliner in the room pulled out into a bed and we both soon snoring away. 

The next morning and day, we had lots of visitors.  I was still in labor and delivery due to some medications they had me on because of the c-section.  I had to be off of them for 24 hours before they would move me to mother/baby.  Baby Bossy was also in the NICU but doing well.  I was later moved to mother/baby and Baby Bossy left the NICU a healthy baby boy.

I spent two more days in mother/baby before they released us to go home.  I can happily say that Baby Bossy is 8 weeks old and absolutely healthy!  You would never know that he was born 5 weeks early.  He's the love of our lives. 

This is the end of the road for my story.  I've enjoyed the past year that I've spent sharing my journey on Bloomin' Babies.  I hope for nothing but the best for all of our readers- especially Explorer Bud! 

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of  Baby Bossy- or Liam as we call him. :)

XOXO,

Bossy Bud

Christmas Came Early!

I've been "off the grid" for the past month, and I have a really good excuse!  Baby Bossy Bud arrived one month early on December 3rd at 7:59 pm.

Let me explain what happened......

I went in for a routine doctor's appointment after work on Monday, December 3rd.  I gave my urine sample and waited to be called back to see my OB.  I saw the nurse first who weighed me (+ 5 pounds in two weeks) and took my blood pressure.  She commented that my blood pressure was a little higher than they liked to see.  She said that my doctor was probably going to admit me that afternoon.  Wrong thing to say to a pregnant woman who thinks she has 5 more weeks!  Mr. Bossy was at work, and I was alone at this appointment.  Tears started streaming down my face.  I was scared out of my mind.

My OB came in and discussed a few routine things with me.  Then she confirmed that she was admitting me to the hospital.  I was to drive straight there.  She explained that I possibly had pre-eclampsia.  She was ordering tests be done when I arrived, and she would come later to make the decision if our bundle was going to be born that night.  I left the clinic in tears and phoned Mr. Bossy with shaking hands.  He left work immediately to meet me at the hospital.  I called my mom next, but couldn't reach her.  Dad was next on my list.  Once I explained to him what was happening, he said that he would get in touch with my mom.

The nurses at the hospital assigned me my room, and I was instructed to get into a hospital gown.  They hooked me up to some machines and began monitoring Baby Bossy's heartbeat.  Mr. Bossy and my parents arrived right after me.  I was so scared; I couldn't stop shaking.  The nurses were fabulous, though.  They took great care of me and assured me that everything was going to be fine.  Blood was drawn to determine if I did indeed have pre-eclampsia.  I was told that we were waiting for one specific test result to decide if Baby Bossy would in fact be a December baby. 

My doctor arrived about an hour and half after I did.  She walked into my room and explained that she had my test results.  I had pre-eclampsia, and Baby Bossy was going to arrive via c-section within the next hour.


To be continued........

Bossy Bud

Baby SB is Here Part II

I started to be induced around 3 pm on Tuesday.  It started off with the magnesium sulfate hook up. I had to be on this because of the pre eclampsia - it prevents seizures.  Honestly, I would have rather had the seizure.  When this drug is first turned on, it feels like the room goes to 100 degrees for about 15 minutes.  If that is not bad enough, you cannot get up to walk around (hello bed pan), makes you have flu like symptoms, exhausts the hell out of you and causes you to be a little out of it.  I was on this devil drug for three whole days (you have to be on it 24 hours after delivery too) - it was awful.

After the magnesium, they put a little pill on my cervix to try to dilate it or soften it up (as I was a little out of it, I forget).  Then you wait 4 hours, and they check you.  If nothing happens, they will do it again.  This was my first 8 hours of labor.  I came in 1 centimeter dilated all this little pill did was soften my cervix - no more dilation.

During this time I should mention that Baby SB's heartbeat would drop every time I went to the bathroom - I have no idea why.  People would just come rushing in my room and throw an oxygen mask on my face and turn me on my side, then he was fine.  From that point on, I was no longer allowed to be on my back and my legs were cramping up horribly.  It was some scary stuff.  Apparently I was having a lot of contractions too - none of which I could even feel.  Since the contractions were coming so often, they thought it was putting the baby in distress so they gave me another drug to slow them down which made me feel like I had taken no less than 10 Hydroxycuts (the kind that are illegal now - remember those?) and made my heart feel like it was jumping out of my chest.  This led me into a mild panic attack.

After the 8 hours with no progress, they decided to literally blow up my cervix.  I think it was called a foley balloon.  They use this to dilate you even further.  As this sounded like medieval torture to me, I immediately asked for an epidural. 

And let me tell you - the epidural freaked me the eff out.  Like, I threw up because I was so scared (P.S. no reason to be scared of the epidural - it is your friend.  I will never understand that I can get piercings and tattoos and not even flinch, but if you dare stick me with a needle for medical purposes, I will spaz out).  It took forever to put in, because I was sitting lopsided.  The poor lady putting it in could not figure out why the hec it wasn't going in straight.  After we figured out why, Baby SB's heart rate dropped again while the epidural was nearly finished.  I had 12 medical professionals in my room.  His heart rate went back up and the epidural was in place.

The foley made me dilate to 4 + centimeters (whatever that means) and it stayed there for over 24 hours - no progression was made and I felt like I was being tortured.  They broke my water too, and now I think it is hilarious all of the times that I thought I was leaking amniotic fluid during pregnancy - Ha.....hahahahahaha (good god you will KNOW)! They also couldn't monitor my contractions from the outside anymore, and they had to insert something inside of me.  It wasn't so bad until Baby SB started tugging on it (oh I kid you not), and they had to keep reinserting it.  After the third time I told them no more and they would have to come up with another plan.

Lets fast forward to Thursday morning (hi - I was in latent labor for about 40 hours).  My doctor I have been going through my entire pregnancy with comes in and asks me how I am doing.  I tell him miserable and he agrees with me.  He told me that obviously things were not progressing, and asked if I wanted a c section.  I said yes and tried my hardest not to kiss him on the lips (have I mentioned to you how good looking my doctor is?  Mr. SB and I call him Dr. Sexy and think that he is the reason my blood pressure was high.  However, I would have kissed a gross old man with tongue if they offered me a c section at this point).  Before I knew what was happening, I was prepped for surgery and was being wheeled into the OR.

William Kenneth was born at 8:48 am and at that moment, I could have cared less if I was in labor for a month.  He was so worth it.  He was checked over, determined that no extra care was needed and was then placed in Mr. SB's arms.  I kissed him on his head and just stared at him for the rest of the surgery.  I can't get over how much he looks like my husband.  I'll spare you the pictures of him with guts all over him on the scale (only parents think those are cute - to others they are gross).

My world has now changed forever and I couldn't be happier.  This little boy has stolen my heart and I will never be the same again.  Check out this handsome guy....

So I guess this is Sarcastic Bud signing off.  Thank you all for sharing my journey with me and to all of you struggling with infertility, please do not give up until you are holding your LOs in your arms.

Baby SB is Here! Part I

Yes, you read that correctly.  Mr. William decided to come 4.5 weeks early on May 10, 2012.  He weighed 6 lbs 4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  Amazingly, no NICU was required.  He came out perfect and I cannot even begin to tell you how lucky I feel.

I must warn you though - reading my birth story is not for the faint of heart.   Even though I had a wonderful outcome, my labor and delivery was kind of a train wreck and probably would scare the curap out of me if I was reading it having never gone through the experience.  So please read at your own risk.

I woke up the Monday before my delivery and immediately took my blood pressure as I had every morning for the past three months.  It was then that I knew something was wrong.  Usually in the morning it is between 115-120/70 or 80s.  That day it was 142/84.  Even though it was a reading that was not in the danger zone for my blood pressure, I knew it was not normal for me.  I called my doctor's office to inform them, and they told me to sit tight and if any other symptoms came about, to come down to triage.  Sounded like a plan.

I continued about my day, but around 5 pm I became extremely dizzy and light headed.  A call was placed once again to my doctor's office and Mr. SB and I made our way down to triage at our hospital.

**Side Note** Even though my water didn't break and I was no where near delivering, Mr. SB still treated our trip to the hospital as though I was in active labor.  He drove like a maniac, almost plowed over some poor old lady in the elevator with a walker (he claimed she blended into the wall) and I was told to "hurry up and walk faster."  I thought this was hilarious.

Once in triage, my blood pressure numbers were high.  Again, not extremely high, but worse than what they were.  For the first time ever my labs were slipping as well.  Kidney function was getting worse and my platelet numbers were dropping.  After surviving over 8 weeks since my diagnosis, pre e was starting to rear its ugly head.

I was admitted to the hospital for overnight observation and was sent first thing on Tuesday morning for a growth ultrasound.  Little SB was measured to be 6 lbs and 14 ounces at 35 weeks and 3 days.  I knew at that moment they were going to push for delivery.

After my ultrasound as I had predicted, a few doctors came in to talk to me about my options.  They recommended delivery.  My labs were getting worse and although I was not in danger yet, it was around the corner (pre e can go from mild to scary pretty quickly).  They said that if I wanted, I could stick it out in the hospital and see how much my body could take, but that was not worth the risk to me and my baby.  I agreed to go in for an induction and a few hours later I was whisked away to labor and delivery.

Stay tuned for my next installment :)

Ups and Downs

Things are going pretty well over here in SB Land. I had my weekly doctor's appointment (went from twice a week to once a week). My blood pressure was 118/62 and there was trace levels of protein in my urine. No swelling, no weird vision. I fully understand that this can take a turn at any time, but I am hoping with two good doctor's appointments under my belt, this is more of an indication that I can make it to 37 weeks. Dr. B even suggested that I can take my appointments to twice a month now. I declined simply because of the fact that I am a spaz.

Speaking of being a spaz......

I had my second growth ultrasound two Saturdays ago. Since the diagnosis, they want to make sure the baby is still growing and getting everything he needs. So I go about once every 4 weeks to go and get him checked out now. Dude, our baby is getting what he needs and plenty more of it where that came from. HE IS BIG! In the 81st percentile for his growth and at 31 weeks he was weighing in at about 4.5 lbs. No surprise really. Mr. SB was an 8 pounder and I was a 9 pounder so to think our baby was going to small was pretty much a figment of our imaginations.

Well, during this appointment, I noticed the tech taking extra pictures of the baby's head (which by the way is measuring 4 weeks ahead!!!!) and measuring it. This let me into hysterics because I was convinced she was doing all of these measurements because the baby is brain damaged. Rational and logic aside (umm, her job is to measure - that's pretty much what we went in for), I was prepared to take in the bad news at my doctor's appointment. Needless to say, everything was fine and I will just add that instance to the list of why I will be the craziest mother on earth (If you are a hypochondriac, just wait until you get knocked up - then you have two people to obsess about).

However, pre e has not come without a few bumps in the road. I was in the ER twice in past week.

The first time was for high blood pressure that would not go down. Mr. SB and I went out for lunch and I don't know how to explain it but I just felt...off. We were going to go and finish up some baby shopping after, but I asked him to take me home - I didn't feel well. Once I got home, I took my blood pressure. It was sky effin' high. So I put my feet up, drank some water, and tested again - still high. Repeated this one more time and then called my doctor's office. They told me to come in.

Once in triage, my blood pressure went down to safe levels and all of my blood work came back normal. I was sent home with another 24 hour urine test to do (I'm such a pro at this now). My levels came back slightly elevated from last time, but nothing to be concerned about.

The second trip was because I am a little crazy and thought my water broke. I'm going to go all TMI on you guys here and tell you that holy mother of cats do I have a ton of discharge in my third trimester. Needless to say, my water is still in tact, but that didn't stop them from keeping me in triage for FOUR HOURS because my blood pressure was high (umm no shit - I thought my water broke). But I guess it is best to be monitored, and after a few blood tests and other blood pressure readings, I was sent home again.

Tomorrow I will officially be 33 weeks (which marks 6 weeks since my diagnosis of pre e). One week away from our first goal of 34 weeks and I must admit, it feels pretty good to have made it this far. Let's just hope that my body can endure this for 4 more weeks. Every day I am considering a blessing.

I'm going to leave this post on a positive note and say that I also had my baby shower this month. It was so cute! My cousin did a baby bird theme for me. Here are some pics:

Pre Eclampsia - I Has It

Hi All! Sorry to have been MIA - just have kind of been on a whirlwind of emotions that has to do with the title of this post.

At my 27.5 week appointment, I thought it was going to be a normal run of the mill appointment. Go to Dr. appointment, get told my blood pressure was a little high, hear Dude's heartbeat get sent home. Guess what? It didn't go that way.

Apparently the first blood pressure taken was so high they wouldn't even tell me the numbers. After the doctor came in and listened to the heart beat, he took it again and said it was still on the high side and sent me to triage (kind of like the ER for pregnant ladies) for a few hours to do rolling blood pressures. He told me he didn't think anything was wrong, but he wanted to be sure.

When I got to triage they hooked me up on all kinds of monitors and had my blood pressures taken. I was pulling high numbers - I was stressed out. They took blood to make sure my liver and kidneys were still functioning properly and took a pee sample to look at the protein levels.

The blood tests turned out fine, but the pee test showed my proteins were up to about 280. The cut off for pre eclampsia is 300. Due to the high blood pressure numbers I was pulling in triage (160s and 180s/80s) I won the prize of a night stay in the hospital. I had never stayed in the hospital overnight before so I freaked out a little bit more.

I did a 24 hour urine sample in the hospital and had my blood pressures taken every 4 hours. The BP came down significantly - in the 120/130 and a few in the 140 range, but the pee test came back at 320, so the diagnosis of pre eclampsia was given.

I was scared to be diagnosed so early. All I kept thinking was that I was going to have a premature baby at 28 weeks, which is terrifying. However, they said my condition was mild, but it could turn around at anytime.

Things I have to be mindful of:

1. Spots in front of my eyes (Can I tell you how many "spots" I think I see now? I'm almost positive I see them when I turn my head and come to find it is just a bug. I talked to my doctor about it and he said that those spots are normal - I'm sure he thinks I'm psycho)
2. Pain in my upper right quadrant (I have this all of the time on my right and left sides - especially when Dude is in my rib cage)
3. Headaches that are severe or don't go away (Want to know how many phantom headaches I have a day? Don't ask)
4. Nausea or vomiting (another symptom I've been having when Dude is doing back flips in my belly)

So ya, give a hypochondriac (me) a list of symptoms and I swear I have them all and that I'm going to die. My only saving grace is my blood pressure machine at home. I take it about 3 times a day (sometimes more because I'm a little obsessed with it) and record my pressures. They are almost never high when I'm at home which is a relief.

I guess I'm kind of on a modified bed rest. I don't really go anywhere except places where I know I can sit and much walking isn't involved and I work from home 4 out of 5 days a week now. Seems to be working.

I've went from 2 appointments a week back down to one since my BP on Tuesday was 122/60 and my proteins came back negative on the dip test (I had another 24 urine same the week before and levels were only up 30 points), so I'm feeling a little better. Although the terms "seizure" "stroke" and "premature baby" still tend to haunt me.

But for now, I guess I'm holding steady. I've had this for almost 4 weeks now and in 1 day, I will be 31 weeks pregnant. No blood pressure meds and no full bed rest. If Dude can hold out for at least 3 more weeks, I will be ecstatic - although I know he needs to cook longer than that.

Oh, and I have a new "due" date too. Since they won't let me go past 37 weeks, looks like I'm having the baby no later than May 19th. Yes, I'm having a baby next month. Four days after my 30th birthday to be exact.

Sounds like the best birthday present ever to me. Let's just keep praying for 37 weeks.

Early Arrival

As it turns out, two of us here on Bloomin' Babies delivered on the same day. (HUGE congrats to Teacher Bud)

This is going to be long as its been an adventure the last two weeks, but I wanted to fill you all in on why I've been 'missing'.

On September 27th I went in for my weekly appointment. I was about 37.5 weeks. They did my vitals upon arrival. Blood pressure was up 10 points (140ish/80ish) range. Weight had jumped up 4 pounds in a week. Then my urine came back that I was spilling more protein. I was being watched prior to that appointment for signs of Pre-Eclampsia and it seems I was crossing over into officially having it. Since I was full term, my doctor decided it was go time to get the baby out of there. I had to call my husband from the doctors office (he was at work) and the doctor arranged for a non-emergency transport from her office to the hospital...a grand total of a half mile distance.

A few hours later I'm told that my cervix was starting to dilate on its own (went from 1 to 2.5 in that time period) and that Pitocin was the best option to start up labor. This is when I realized that things may not go as I'd hoped for this delivery. I'd hoped for as intervention-free as possible. With pitocin the baby has to be on monitors constantly, meaning I'd be pretty much restricted to however far the monitors could reach. Add to that the blood pressure cuff...and yeah, I was having to ring a nurse if I needed to use the restroom.

I continued to labor overnight with pitocin. Not much progress was made. I think I got to about a 3cm by 6am that morning. They gave me a little break from the pitocin, let me eat something for the first time since noon the day before (crackers and Jello have never tasted so good) and then we went back at it.

A prime example of my labor not going according to my birth plan. Taken at the end of labor, that's pitocin, magnesium, saline & antibiotics on the IV pole.

Sometime that afternoon (time is becoming a blur at this point), I get the "We need to either break your water and hope that jump starts labor or we need to proceed with a c-section" talk. I opted to have them break my water. Not the most comfortable thing for the record. Once the water was broken the relatively mild pitocin contractions I'd been having kicked into high gear. I went from being able to talk through the to scaring some poor student with the amount of pain I was in who was coming in to ask for permission ti study the placenta to help further understand Pre-E.

Not long after this point I was pretty much begging for an epidural. The pitocin induced contractions were one on top of the other and were really intense. Plus the nurses were having trouble getting my contractions on the monitors (to which I assured them I was having them as i writhed in pain) and getting an epidural would allow them to monitor them internally and start the dreaded magnesium drip. The epidural was wonderful and provided some much needed relief. Amid an occasional wave of nausea (thank you magnesium drip), I labored on. At this point I could feel the pressure as my cervix was dilated and occasionally I could feel break through pain of the contractions.

Sometime after 3pm the doctors started talking about checking me around 4pm to see how I was doing for progression. At this point I was starting to get the first signs of a fever courtesy of having my water broken. I remember chiming in that they might want to check me before then. I could feel him down really low. No urge to push, but I knew he was further than they seemed to think he was. I was right. I was at a 10 and it was go time.

The pushing stage is kind of a blur to me. I'd been laboring for 24+ hours at that point and was spiking a fever. I felt incredibly weak and remember telling them that I didn't know if I had the strength left in me to get him out. They must've believed me, because they called the vacuum guy in to take a look. He didn't end up helping out (I hadn't progressed far enough).

After that I started to get the hang of pushing. I was pretty much a train wreck...in addition to all the fun down below associated with delivery, I also puked for the first time in my entire pregnancy during the pushing phase. I'd like to blame the magnesium as a known side effect of it is nausea, but the truth is that sometimes women puke during labor. Kind of frustrating to make it to about 20 minutes before I'm no longer pregnant before tossing my cookies though...but it is what it is...

Dylan James joined our family on September 28, 2011 at 4:21PM. He weighed 6lb 2oz and was 19.39 inches long. He came out kind of bluish pink, the doctors say courtesy of the magnesium I had to be on (Apgars of 6 & 9) and had to be worked on a bit to get his lungs cleared. He also got a 4 hour stint in the NICU and 2 days of antibiotics courtesy of the infection I developed during delivery. Him being taken to NICU was so hard as I was stuck in L&D getting myself fixed up (2nd degree tear) in the meantime and couldn't leave. My husband went with him, but it was so hard to not be there...

We ended up with an extended 5 day stay in the hospital courtesy of my Pre-Eclampsia. My labs weren't coming back how they were supposed to and my blood pressure wouldn't drop. In fact, it wasn't until just yesterday after I'd been put on blood pressure meds that my BP has gotten back to normal. The extended stay in the hospital in some ways was a blessing as we had some breastfeeding issues to overcome. Due to the babies slightly early arrival, he didn't have the stamina to put much effort into feeding until my milk came in on Day 4. We actually had to supplement with formula some in the hospital for blood sugar reasons (fed by tube, not bottle), but we've since weaned off of that and are 100% breastfeeding now.

We're now at home and doing well aside from myself and the baby having a head cold.

Without further adieu, here are some pictures of our little man

Riding home from the hospital.

Posing for the camera yesterday.

It's Been An Interesting Week

It's been an interesting week.

On Tuesday, I went in for my 34 week appointment. My BP had crept up slightly again and I was suddenly tapped to be tested for pre-eclampsia. Unbeknownst to me, this included a 2 hour glucose tolerance test (GTT). Awesome. I'm 8 months pregnant, its noon, and you're telling me I need to hang out and wait to eat for two more hours. Of course I did it, but still.

On Wednesday evening, after office hours, I get the message that I'd apparently failed my GTT and had Gestational Diabetes. Not a total shocker given that I have three major things going for me that make me likely to develop GD: Strong family history (mom and grandfather have diabetes), I'm an older mom-to-be at almost 35, and I was overweight at the start of the pregnancy. Still, my head was kind of spinning being told the news. I had no idea what I was now 'allowed' to eat or how to manage this new issue. The doctors message indicated I should come by the office to get a prescription for the testing materials and such.

On Thursday morning, I swing by to get the prescription. That quick pit stop turned into a meeting with my doctor in which I made sure that she was aware that I was not fasting before I took that GTT test. I totally would've if I knew it was coming, but when I'm blindsided by a test mid-day...yeah, I'll have eaten. Turns out to be a good thing I told her that as that potentially voids out my results. I'm doing a do-over of the test early next week, at my next appointment. So yeah, in the scheme of less than 24 hours I thought I might have Pre-E, was diagnosed with GD, and then had that diagnosis rescinded.

Then, to top off an already eventful week, the power went out. Big time. Regional power outage. It was about 100* yesterday when it happened, too. Thank goodness the heat wave broke overnight and we only were without power for about 7 hours (some customers are still without). But still. Power out from Southern LA to Tijuana, Mexico and west to Yuma, Arizona...including ALL of San Diego. Wow.

(Image Credit: http://tinyurl.com/3wttmwo)

How far along: 34 weeks and 6 days. 35/35 is tomorrow!

Total weight change: Going by the doctors scale at my 34 week appointment on Tuesday, +26.

Maternity clothes: Always. I've pretty much moved into dresses at this point. It kills my hips to get pants on and off.

Stretch Marks: No new developments since last week.

Movement: I've got a wriggler in there.

Sleep: Pathetic this week. Being really pregnant and living in 100* heat with no central air has been a challenge.

Best Moment This Past Week: This evening when we were sitting on the couch, my husband got to see the little guy move. Mr CB hasn't seen him move before and, much to my dismay, hasn't tried to feel a movement yet. It meant a lot to me to see the look on his face that that's his little boy in there. Now if I can just get him to feel it...

Most Difficult Moment This Past Week: The GD fiasco. Hoping to get some definitive resolution to that early next week.

Belly Button In or Out: Still an inny.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing major.

Symptoms: More of the same. The Braxton Hicks are increasing in frequency and sometimes intensity and the little guy is sometimes putting pressure on my cervix. He's still not dropped yet though.

Baby Sunflower Bud is here!

Arriving 8 weeks early, baby Sunflower Bud made his debut on June 6, 2011 at 3:54pm. He weighed 3lbs 5.9oz and was 17 inches long.

That morning I had a level II ultrasound to check cord blood flow again. It didn't take long for the MFM to immediately see that things had worsened dramatically and there was now reverse cord blood flow. This meant immediate delivery that day. It wasn't surprising because my NST's over the weekend were pretty bad. I spent 6 hours on Saturday hooked up to the NST and had to have a BPP done as well to make sure he was okay.

I called my mom, who had already had a bag packed in her car, and told her and she left work right away and headed to the hospital. My doctor was agreeable to waiting for her to arrive so she could be in the room. Thankfully, there was an emergency c-section that bumped me back long enough for her to make it the 3 hour drive and get there in time.

Because I'd been a patient in the hospital for so long, they actually let me choose which nurses I wanted to be in the surgery! That made things a lot better for me because one of my favorite nurses was working. Janine got me all hooked up to my IV and then walked me over to the operating room. She was awesome and held my hand and supported me through the spinal (she had come to learn what a needle wuss I was over the last 4 1/2 weeks) and we all laughed when the anesthesiologist hit a nerve and shot through my leg and I yelled, "What the hell was that?!" Laid back on the table and Dr. F (anesthesiologist) started the procedure of making sure the spinal was taking effect. It took a lot longer than he expected and he kept tilting the table downward to try and get gravity to help the spinal along. Finally, it was set and we were ready to start. I started getting very nauseous and he gave me something to help with that. I had to just focus on breathing instead of what was to come.

My mom and husband came into the room and sat by my head and were very encouraging. Finally, I just asked them to stop talking because I was getting so sick. There was a TON of pulling, shaking and tugging. Baby Sunflower Bud did NOT want to leave his home in there. He was high breech so they had to reach up pretty high to get him out. Finally, they got him out and I panicked because there wasn't crying. It took a bit but they got him cleaned out and ANGRY and boy, did he wail. The NICU doctors were there and they got him all cleaned up and stopped long enough for me to see him and kiss him before they took him to the NICU.

I started feeling a strange pricking sensation and asked Dr. F what was going on. Apparently the spinal was wearing off and I was feeling them stitch me up. Yikes. They said they could give me a local but there were only a few stitches left to go and they'd be done by the time the local would kick in. So I had to endure feeling the rest of the stitching. I won't forget that any time soon.

I went to recovery where I was immediately hooked up to magnesium sulfate. I got a little too cocky because I commented that it wasn't that bad at all and I wasn't feeling sick. Spoke too soon because about 8 hours later, I got very very very sick from it. But I had to stay on it for a minimum of 24 hours to prevent seizures.

It was 6 hours post surgery before I was able to see Baby SB and they wheeled my whole bed into the NICU to see him. That was incredibly hard, waiting so long to see him and not being able to hold him. I couldn't stay for very long because the heat of the NICU and the mag were making me very ill.

He's been doing well in NICU so far. But that's another update for another time. :)

If you made it through all of that, you deserve a baby picture.

Highs and lows

That's what it's all about lately.

I'm on day 23 in the hospital. On one hand, I can't believe 3 weeks have gone by already. On the other hand, holy cow I've been in the hospital for 3 weeks!

We've had some complications and even a scary weekend last weekend spent in L&D where they thought they might have to deliver.

My OB said I've passed the honeymoon phase where I was lucky to have no physical symptoms but that I can expect to have more bad days now. Today was one of them... I was so sick today with nausea, vomiting and a killer headache. Thankfully, I'm feeling a little better now.

I've had a few ultrasounds recently due to Baby SB starting to show decels on my NST's. My fluid has dropped from 22 to 10. This, combined with the decels, is a sign that my placenta is starting to fail. A wonderful byproduct of the pre-eclampsia. I have another fluid check on Wednesday and then next week another detailed ultrasound with the MFM to check growth.

They finally detailed for me what the main things that will mean delivery are at this point:
1. My urine protein level needs to dramatically jump (my last 24 hour urine test was almost 1,000; my next test starts tomorrow morning, if it is close to or over 2,000, we'll be looking at delivering)

2. Fluid level. It's already decreased dramatically but if it goes 6 or below, we'll have to deliver immediately.

3. Unable to control my blood pressure with meds anymore. We're nearing that point. I'm checked every 4 hours and 50% of the time they stay in the range that we want to see right now... but more and more they are dipping way too low or spiking way too high.

4. Bloodwork. Thankfully, I've remained stable on that front. We had a brief scare where my platelets were dropping but they spiked back up and everything else is in normal range. HELLP is something I very much want to avoid.

They've taken 37 weeks off the table at this point. We aren't likely at all to see that goal. They are starting to talk about being lucky to make it to Friday (32 weeks). We're still holding out hope for 34 weeks though.

Little SB comes home Tuesday. She's been with her grandparents in Canada for the past 2+ weeks. I've missed her something fierce and I can't wait to see her. She gets upset sometimes when we talk on the phone and finds out that I'm still in the hospital. Hopefully, she'll feel better about it when she comes home. I have lots of crafts, puzzles and games planned for her visits to help make her feel better about things. My IL's are planning on staying until June 15th to help out with her and the house so that's a HUGE help.

Here is the last ultrasound picture we got a few weeks ago with the MFM. Cracked us up to see him in this position:
For the most part, the nurses here are AWESOME. There is one that I don't really care for and I dread her shift. But the rest are a lot of fun and keep me entertained and in good spirits. I'm the only antepartum patient right now and they've all commented on how much fun I am and what an easy patient I am. I look forward to Antepartum Treat Sundays where I get goodies like this:
Today's treat was even better... it had tons of candy bars, popcorn, cookies, more Bath & Body Works stuff in it and some flags for Memorial Day.

My friends and family have been so awesome. My room is completely decorated with flowers, plants, balloons, pictures their kids have drawn and pictures of DD. They've even started a "card shower" and I'm getting cards in the mail practically every day and those are up all around my room as well.

So here I stay... chugging along... knowing every day I keep him inside is about 3 days he doesn't have to spend in the NICU!

And I leave you with my belly pic from last week... don't mind the mismatched clothes, I'm going for comfort in here... not style!

~Sunflower Bud~

Wow, where do I even begin?

Well, I'm typing to you from my new home. The hospital.

On Thursday/Friday, I noticed that my swelling in my feet was more excessive than it normally is. Putting my feet up didn't help, drinking a ton of water didn't help. Even sleeping at night didn't help like it normally did.

So on my Mom's advice (she's an RN), I stopped at one of those blood pressure monitors at CVS Pharmacy. 188/82. Ouch. She told me to go try another one at another store because they aren't always accurate. So off we go to WalMart to try their's. 170/90. Still bad.

I felt perfectly fine so I didn't think it was a big deal but I called my OB. She freaked out and ordered me to come in ASAP. I explained that I was actually in another state visiting for Mother's Day. So she ordered me to go to the hospital there immediately. Off we went.

They checked my blood pressure, which was still very high, my swelling, my reflexes, etc. As of then, my urine was clear for protein, my blood pressure dropped a bit but was still very elevated. My reflexes were hyper which I didn't know was a bad thing and I had Clonus in my feet. I was admitted and spent Saturday - Monday morning in the hospital on constant monitoring. More blood draws then I can rememember, 24 hours urine test, constant baby monitoring, etc.

On Monday, they discharged me with strict instructions to go straight to my local hospital at home. When I reached my own hospital, my blood pressure had spiked into dangerous territory... 180's/100's. I was admitted and have been here ever since.

My 24 hour urine test revealed protein level of 500, I have extreme reflexes and Clonus and my blood pressure is out of control and was still spiking.

Official diagnosis.... mild pre-eclampsia bordering severe. (there's apparently no moderate, it's one or the other).

We've met with my entire team of doctor's from my OB office, the Head of the NICU and the Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine has been assigned to my case as well. I'm not going home at all until the baby is born. This hospital is my new home until then. :( They are very concerned with how quickly everything changes and that a lot of my symptoms are actually on the severe range. I've been put on blood pressure medicine to try and regulate it, baby is monitored for an hour twice a day, daily blood work, blood pressure check every 4 hours and frequent ultrasounds to check on baby's growth.

Our ultimate goal is 34 weeks. The doctors think this is being optimistic. Realistically, they are hoping we make it 2 more weeks.

I'm not fully stuck in bed anymore and have a little freedom around my room. I can sit in the rocker and eat and read. I can get up and go to the bathroom or shower. But when I'm in bed, I have to keep the Flowtron on my legs which prevents blood clots. I have to report every single headache, blurriness, cramp, etc. Anything at all.

My VBAC is out. :( It's going to 100% be a c-section. But I've been assured that my recovery will be much easier than it was with my daughter.

I'm having a hard time adjusting. I miss my daughter more than anything in the world. I've only gotten to see her a couple times and she's very confused. My MIL is going to take her up to Canada with her for 2 weeks so that Mr. SB can focus on work and being at the hospital with me and to keep DD entertained and occupied so she's not scared and worried.

Today, I've had lower blood pressures thanks to the medicine and I've got a detailed ultrasound scheduled this afternoon with the Chief of MFM. I'm having a lot of dizziness and nausea from the medicine but I know it's all for the best.

The longer I can cook Baby SB, the less time he spends in the NICU.

35 Weeks, ANOTHER night in L&D, ANOTHER missed baby shower, and Bedrest

From the title of my post you can tell its been fun huh? So when I was 34 weeks on a Friday I called my doctor because I was having a headache that would.not.go.away. It hurt so very very bad. I tried everything. I decided to take my BP since its been going up and low and behold it was up there in the 140s. I decided then to call my doctor normally when resting it never got up that high. The on call doctor asked me to try to get rid of it with caffeine and Tylenol and if it didn't go away go into the hospital. Don't worry he said, you won't stay over night. YEAH RIGHT.

We got in and my BP was in the upper 150s. I blamed nerves. Once I rested and the nurse went out it went down dramatically. They had be start the 24 hour urine collection and did some blood work. I thought I would be discharged and go home. Not the case. The nurse said they wanted to hold me over night and watch me for 24 hours. That meant I would miss my baby shower.. AGAIN. WTF I wanted to cry but I knew there was no use. By now it was just hilarious. Apparently my daughter is shy and hates attention on her.

I called all my friends and the girls hosting the shower to let them know of the news and like great friends they are they were all understanding and considerate. We decided to have people come up to the hospital and eat cake.. YUM!

Overall it was a WONDERFUL shower. I have some wonderful friends who were very considerate and generous. I got released after the shower and told to follow up with my doctor on Monday and continue with the 24 hour urine collection. Oh and bed rest for the weekend.

I checked up with my doctor and my BP is slowly rising and looks like I'm developing Pre-Eclampsia. I know I'm super close to being full term so I'm trying not to worry about this at all but I did have to stop working and got put on bed rest.

While bedrest sounds wonderful for the first hour it sucks. Let me tell you. I know what I am doing is for the best but the nesting urge is ridiculous and I want to do so much but can't do anything. I can go from bed, couch, bathroom, back to bed, couch. I have one day a week I can go to dinner with Mr. OB or to a movie but he has to drop me off as close as possible to the entrance and limit my walking.

It looks like my BP is doing okay while I'm resting but if I get up and do anything it goes up to the 140s/80s. My doctor is hopeful I can make it to 37 weeks (FULL TERM!!!) and we can induce. We were planning on inducing anyways because little Pepper (or shall I say BIG) is measuring 3 weeks ahead.

So right now I'm just laying here and playing on the internet. In the past week I have watched so much TV and I feel like a bum. I'm not going to lie I'm envious of those women who can still do things at 35 weeks. I hate that I'm stuck here but I know its for the best for ME and PEPPER. And I also know in a couple of weeks I'm going to be WISHING I could lay on the bed and have nothing to do.

I could use many prayers right now that my BP stays low and that Ms. Pepper stays in me until I'm at least 37 weeks. I'm so close I can taste it!

And here is a 34 week photo of my belly. It sucks because now I don't really get dressed now but I told Mr. OB I promise to keep up with the photos. This was a photo I took of the dress I was GOING to wear to my shower. Boo! Instead I wore an awesome nursing nightgown.

24w & 26w Update

Well, I've been laying low - Dr's orders! But here are a few updates on us....

At my 24 week appointment two weeks ago, we got a scare with my Blood Pressure - 130/100 (yikes!). I laid down in the office for 15 minutes and it went down to 120/70 but that was still somewhat high for me and my OB mentioned my BP is rising slowly. My uterus was measuring a week ahead, I was up 1lb since my last apt (at 20w), and now I've got to watch out for continuous headaches, vision problems, swelling (which, had already happened), and more. I was ordered to lay on my left side for two hours a day - which did not include overnight sleep - when would I find the time to do this working full time and remodeling our kitchen?!

Somewhere during week 25 my blood pressure spiked to 152/84 after a day's work and a huge amount of swelling. I called the On-Call dr and he said not to worry unless it got over 160 for the top number.

I had my follow up appointment today, checked BP, did my GTT (glucose test), and had an ultrasound. In two week's I've gained 5lbs - which seemed a bit high to me but the NP said it wasn't abnormal - and some of it might be water retention related to my high BP. My blood pressure first thing was 142/80, so again it's increasing. I told her about all of my non-stop headaches, my dizzy spells, troubles breathing (this wasn't totally abnormal she said, I'm losing room in there!), and my all-day Braxton Hicks contractions that turned into 3-4 real contractions. We discussed at minimum a modified bed rest schedule with work. I am no longer to work a full 9-hour day - if I can work it out with HR, I'll be on a 4-hour/day schedule.

They took my blood to check for Pre-Eclampsia (my urine samples are coming back clear) and if the results are abnormal, then I am to start bed rest fully right away. I sort of knew it was going to go in this direction after my 24week appointment and my continually rising BP. I notice a huge difference in my symptoms and the way my body reacts in days that I work and days that I'm at home resting. (I work on my feet as a makeup artist and am also the Assistant Manager in our store).

Time for some good news! Little MB is measuring in the 55th percentile, so he's right on track and average. He's weighing in at about 2lb 3oz and I even caught him smiling on the ultrasound! AND! He's totally got my nose! I did find out that he's now transverse - his head and feet are under my left rib while his booty is under my right rib. He's totally cramped in there and it's only going to get worse!

I can't wait to meet him - preferably not for another 14 weeks, but I am very excited! Hopefully whether or not my blood work comes back abnormal - the modified or full bed rest will keep me healthy enough so he can bake fully and wait to make his appearance until November!

First ob/gyn appointment

Let me start off with these....


Do you notice something in the second picture??? no? maybe? As per my doctor its a boy!!!

Let's rewind.... Today was our first ob/gyn appointment after we were released from the RE's office. I met with a new doctor which is amazing, he is so informative and just sounds caring, I did not feel like I was in a factory and was a dollar sign. He works with high risk pregnancies and I could not be happier with our choice. After we meet I felt so comfortable. We have gone through 4 doctors within the last year and a half and it has not been easy.

He went over my test results from the RE's office and warned me that I am at risk for Preeclampsia. Great. Read all about it here. ugh. I am just going to continue praying and hope that our baby can make it full term and we have no complications. I also was dehydrated and had a little bit of sugar in my urine, which is so odd. I only drink water and a whole lot of it!

On a positive note, at the trans-vaginal u/s we were able to see the little one swimming all around, heard it's heartbeat beating at 170 BPM, saw the umbilical cord pumping pumping blood (which means NO MORE PROGESTERONE SUPPOSITORIES!!!!!) and then the doctor focused on an area and said it might be a boy. I was like what?!?!? we can tell so early on??? He explained sometimes the girls area might be swollen so we might think its a boy, however he zoomed in and got a bottom shot and no way these are swollen!!

We meet again in 2 weeks and I will speak to him in regards to the preeclampsia. Other than that.. I can not wait to go shopping!!!