Welcome to the World, Baby Audrey!

Hello friends!  We are so excited to welcome sweet Audrey Grace!  Here's her birth story:

Thursday, September 2, 2010:

    We all woke up and headed to work and daycare like any other day.  After my exam on Wednesday night I continued to be uncomfortable- cramping and contracting, but I didn't think much of it, really. (My exam on Wednesday revealed a 4cm dilated/ 75% effaced cervix). Once I got to school around 7:30 I started getting some contractions that were not really painful at all, but very fast and very close together- about 4-5 minutes apart.  I called Paul and asked what he thought I should do and we agreed that I needed to call my doctor's office and see if they wanted to see me. 
 
     I called the OB office and they told me to come in ASAP- they had a spot and could see me at 8:45.  At this point I had been at school for about 40 minutes and had had 8 contractions.  I packed my things up and headed out as fast as I could and drove quickly to the office, where Paul met me.

     By 8:50 we were at the office I was seen pretty quickly.  I did note that my weight was exactly the same as the day I delivered Emily- 151lbs.  Maybe this is the point at which I can't take it any more? :)  My doctor was not in the office, which disappointed me (more on that in a moment).  I was examined by another doc in the practice who said I hadn't changed really since the night before but he noted some bleeding and that Audrey had moved much lower in my pelvis and made the comment that he bet I "wouldn't be pregnant tomorrow".  Paul and I exchanged very, very SHOCKED glances and headed down the street to the hospital.

    I arrived at Triage at about 9:30 and was checked again, and this time was 5cm and about 80% effaced.  I was still getting a lot of contractions about every 5-6 minutes but they were manageable...I kept telling Paul I was sure we were going back home!  The nurse returned in another hour (around 11) and checked me again...this time I was 6cm and 90% effaced.  We knew then that today would be Audrey's birthday!!

We're having a baby today!

    I was admitted to Labor and Delivery by 11:15 and quickly requested my epidural.  The contractions were still manageable but coming faster- every 2-3 minutes, and I wasn't getting much of a break in between.  In addition, the hospital is a busy place and I was concerned if I didn't ask soon enough I would end up needing to push and it wouldn't have been given yet.  The anesthesiologist arrived pretty quickly and administered it and I immediately was glad- the contractions got to be about 1-2 minutes apart but I wasn't feeling anything!  It was so nice to know my body could do its thing without killing me in the process. :)

    I sent Paul back to the house around 1pm to get our cameras and bags- everything was packed for the most part but I hadn't anticipated having a baby that day so none of it was with us.  He was absolutely TERRIFIED to leave me but I insisted on having all our cameras there to document Audrey's big debut.  He drove like a madman and made it out to the house and back to the hospital in record time. 

    It's a good thing he got back when he did- it hadn't been 15 minutes after he got back that I suddenly got a lot of pressure and told him I thought Audrey was coming....NOW.  The room quickly filled up with nurses, my doctor (what are the odds that MY doctor would be on call that day?? I was thrilled!), and the NICU staff since Audrey was only 35 weeks and 5 days gestation.  I got the go- ahead to start pushing shortly after 2pm.

    One thing I did differently for Audrey's birth that I didn't do for Emily's was to use the mirror.  She is truly our last baby and I really wanted to see her being born...I regretted it a lot after Emily was born.  We got into position and I gave about 10 pushes or so and she was here!  It was incredible- the most amazing thing I have ever seen.  She was SO tiny but the NICU team looked her over and then left the room.  I was able to keep her with me for about 2 hours before she went to the nursery and I went to my room to wait.  I was so excited and overwhelmed- she is beautiful!

    Official birth stats:  Audrey Grace
                                 5lbs 10oz
                             19.5 inches long

Isn't she lovely?! :)

Birth Plan...

In talking with some girlfriends recently it came up that I didn't have a birth plan in place for when Audrey arrives.  So, being the little worker bee that I am, I took a few moments to jot down some things that are important to me when giving birth.  It is a little personal, but I thought it might be helpful to anyone who is giving birth soon and could provide some insight into how you want YOUR baby's birth to go down.  So, without further adieu....I present:

Audrey's Birth Plan

1.  Meet me in parking lot with epidural. Administer epidural before real contractions start to bother me.

 

2.  Allow me to eat ice cream during labor (you know, for the baby).

 

3.  After only a few hours of labor (pain-free...remember my friend Mr Epidural?), push again for 11 minutes (or maybe only 10..I can go faster now that it's number 2!)

 

4.  Hand me beautiful baby girl who will come out like a TV baby with no nasty cottage cheese all over her.  Doctor and nurses shall proclaim it was the smoothest delivery they ever attended and shall remark how gorgeous said child is and how perfectly shapen is her head.

 

5.  Baby will immediately latch on and breastfeed like a champion right from the start.

 

6.  Deliver my almost 3 year old to the room to greet baby, where she will become completely enamored and not act out or be jealous in any way. This shall continue, in peaceful tranquility, through to their adult years.

7.  Provide me with pre-pregnancy clothing to wear home, since I will have lost all weight gained and will also have a toned abdomen.

 

8.  Leave 2 days later (on a Monday so Emily has the entire week at school to be "normal" and not be stuck at home watching me take care of new child).  New baby will continue breastfeeding successfully and will lose no weight. Emily will show no signs of regression or remorse at having a sibling; in fact, evenings shall be spent as a family of 4, all of us gazing adoringly at one another and remarking how wonderfully easy it was to add a second child. 

 

 

The end. 

34 Weeks Pregnant!

Just wanted to say I am celebrating the number 34 this weekend- I am 34 weeks pregnant and today is Emily's 34 month birthday!  I am SO thankful my contractions haven't been horrible since the return to work- still having 20-30 BH ctx every day, but when you count in that I'm awake like ~15 hours or so that's not too bad. I had one Thursday that I thought, for SURE, was the onset of labor....it was RIDICULOUS.  It started while I was in the kitchen and I thought I needed to pee so I went in the bathroom...Paul had to come help me up off the toilet and into the living room to lie down b/c I was practically paralyzed from it!  It just kept gripping tighter and tighter and tighter...I was all white-knuckled and holding my breath...crazy!  But when I laid down it went away and it's not been like that again. 

Monday I go to the doc to discuss the next steps.  Hard to believe in 7 days, she doesn't have to mandatorily go to NICU, and in 21 days she is considered full term!  And I'm still working, which is best of all so I'm not wasting time at home without her here.  Belly pics coming this weekend! :)

Baby Audrey Update- 32 weeks/ doctor visit

Had my appointment today.  Dr R was ready to repeat the fetal fibronectin test today if I wanted to, but I told her about the cramping, contractions, and spotting last week and we decided not to do it after all.  She was glad to hear that things have basically stayed the same since last week and I'm having the same or fewer contractions every day.  So, no news is good news!  I will go back on the 23rd unless I need to be seen earlier.

One funny thing...they asked if Audrey moves 10 times in an hour....um, Audrey moves 10 times in 2 minutes!  She is going to be a wild girl, just like her big sister.  I just know it!

Baby Audrey Update- 31 weeks

I had an appointment yesterday for my fetal fibronectin test (ffn) and to discuss how the week has gone since I was there last.  I explained about having more pain-like contractions as opposed to just annoying/ uncomfortable Braxton-Hicks contractions.  Dr. R did the ffn test and an internal exam as well.  She was not pleased to note that I am dilated to an "easy 1cm"; however she was able to feel that I have about 2cm of cervical length left.  She is not making me do bedrest right now but said for the next 3 weeks (until 34 weeks gestation) she wants me taking it VERY easy, not lifting Emily, no running around all day long doing errands, etc.  Basically, "very modified activity level" until 34 weeks, when we'll discuss it again. 

I called this morning for the ffn results and it turns out the sample was damaged on the way to the lab and they didn't run it.  Dr R is on call this weekend and instructed that I should call or come to the hospital if I need her (um, no thank you) and to just plan to come to my appointment next Wednesday morning.  If I have a lot of contractions over the weekend I am supposed to call on Monday morning and get the appointment moved up. 

So, my uneducated medical opinion is this:  once I get to around 30 weeks, I think the baby just runs out of room.  We seem to be following the exact same path we took with Emily- lots of contractions, cervical length thinning, early dilation, etc.  I think my torso is short enough that eventually, there's no more room to go up (toward my ribs) and the baby is forced to put pressure on my cervix instead, as well as growing more out (like, belly getting bigger).  Whether this will result in a pre-term delivery is still up in the air...with Emily, we had to induce labor to get her out (granted, if we had waited she probably would have come on her own in the next few days, but my body held on until 38 weeks and 3 days with her before we intervened).  With Audrey, I just don't know.  I really wish I had a crystal ball and could just find out what 's going to happen with her!!!  (Don't worry...when I find said crystal ball, I will patent it, then sell it to the masses!) :)

This modified activity thing is TOTALLY do-able, though, which is great.  Luckily, Emily is nearing 3 years old...so she's much more independent than if this was a year ago and they were only 2 years apart.  All she needs my help with is getting into her car seat, high chair, and carts at the grocery store.  Otherwise, I just need to budget more time for when we are going places. 

Additionally, my school schedule is pretty easy for the next few weeks-
Aug 2-6: Off completely; no plans other than doc's office on Wednesday and haircut Friday- this is week 32 for us.
Aug 9-13: Back to school for teachers, a week of trainings and workshops- so sitting all day- this is week 33.
Aug 16-20: Another week of trainings, workshops, and sitting all day- this is week 34!
Aug 23- 27: No kids until Wednesday, then just 3 days of teaching and I am 35 weeks.
Aug 30-Sept 3: Full days of teaching, which I will try to sit as much as possible.  This takes us to 36 weeks...almost full term!

So hopefully, things will stay as they are now and I won't deliver her early.  The best news is that being more sedentary for the next few weeks is completely possible.  I have already set up my classroom and have things ready for my kids.  All I need to do is complete little, menial tasks like organizing things, labeling items once I get my roster, and typing lesson plans, etc. on the computer.  So cross your fingers that we don't meet our girl for another month or so, at the very least!!   

Baby Audrey/ Ultrasound Update

We had an ultrasound today to check my cervix for changes and I met with my doctor afterward.  My cervix was measuring 2.6cm, which is a large improvement over my 30 week cervix with Emily, which was 1.5cm.  I was pretty much so thrilled!  The technician was SUPER nice and let us sneak a peek at Audrey girl (who is still a girl, by the way!) even though we were really not supposed to be looking at her at all.

So after the ultrasound poor Paul had to go back to the hospital- they have been SLAMMED lately and he was getting page after page.  I waited to see Dr. R.  When she came in she was not super happy about the cervical length like I had hoped she would be- she said the normal range for 30 weeks is 2.5-3.5cm, so me being at 2.6cm wasn't exactly what she wanted.  She is not making a huge deal about this though.  She is having me come back next Thursday for a fetal fibronectin test which will give her a clearer idea of whether my body is actually preparing for labor, or if I just happen to be someone whose cervix thins out a little earlier than expected, but is not ready for labor.  I am confident that things are OK- I am not contracting this time nearly as much as I did with Emily, and while Audrey is head-down now (we saw on the ultrasound), she is not engaged in my pelvis like Emmy was.  So I'm hoping for good...no...great news on Thursday. 

In other news, on Saturday we took Emily to Charlotte to do a little shopping.  We stopped at the Carter's Outlet and bought her a few things for fall and one precious outfit for Audrey.  We also found an adorable pink giraffe "silk" that Emily instantly proclaimed belonged to her.  However, Saturday night she said I could put it in the room with Baby Audrey's things because it was for her little sister. I just about melted right there. 

Except then Sunday morning rolled around...and Emily saw the silk in the basket with Audrey's stuff.  Up pointed that little finger of hers and she said, "MOMMY- what is my silk doing up there?! That's Emily's giraffe silk!"  I reminded her that she had said it was for Audrey and she looked at me with stony eyes and said, "That silk is mine" and held out her hand.  Looks like Baby Audrey lost out on the giraffe silk after all!!  :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!

We are so excited to announce that EMILY IS HERE! I came in this morning for the induction at 8am. I had already made great progress- I was 3cm dilated and 100% effaced. They started pitocin at 9:30 and I worked through about 5-6 real contractions before I DESPERATELY asked for the epidural! At 1:30 I started to push and at 1:41 she was in my arms!
She weighed 6 pounds 10oz and is 19 inches long. She is amazing and we are so in love already.
The pictures is of me 2 seconds before changing into my gown to get the ball rolling this morning. My very last picture of Emily in my belly!

SURPRISE Baby News!

We had our last OB appt this morning and the doc was concerned about inducing on Monday- he said there were 8 other women on the schedule to be induced that morning and was afraid we wouldn't get in. I was bracing myself for him to suggest later in the week....when he asked, "How does SUNDAY sound?" SUNDAY SOUNDS TERRIFIC!! So Miss Emily is coming 24 hours sooner than we thought- we are SOOO excited!!! Now we are supposed to show up at 8am and he predicts she'll be here in the afternoon sometime, or early evening at the latest. Woo hoo!!

Just 2 days to go till we meet our little princess!

37 Weeks and a Countdown!

I had my 37 week appointment today and I have a wonderful announcement- Emily's days in Womb Land are numbered!!! We have an induction scheduled for Monday October 22 (38 weeks and 4 days).
The doc said Emily's ultrasounds that we do every Tuesday look great and that she is a great weight for her age. During the visit he said he wanted to make an appointment for next Friday and asked if I was comfortable- hahahahahahahah-- that's a big fat NO!!! He offered to look at induction dates and I told him I'd love him forever if we could talk about it. He left the room for a few minutes to look at the call calendar and came back with either the 21st or the 22nd. The 21st IS a day closer, I know...but it's my puppy Booker's first birthday- so I just couldn't let Emily's arrival overshadow his "big day". I'm sure after she's born we won't even know we HAVE dogs, let alone remember their birthdays! :)
So there we have it! Tomorrow starts the SINGLE DIGIT countdown to parenthood for us! Paul and I are beyond excited and can't wait to meet our little lady. Of course, if she came before then that would be great too, but it's just super nice to have an end in sight. T minus 10 days!! :)

We had our 32 week appt scheduled for today after our ultrasound, but we never made it- I was admitted first! We had the biophysical profile and it looks like Emily is tipping the scales at about 4lbs 3oz, give or take some. We got the 4D u/s and got two semi-decent pics of her face, but nothing really great. She's awfully smashed in there! Then we did an u/s to check my cervix, and that's when things got interesting.

It seems during the past week I have lost 1.5 cm of cervical length and I'm now down to 6mm (yes, millimeters) left. The maternal fetal medicine doc was called in to interpret the u/s and started talking about me being admitted to lay upside down in the hospital from now until Emily is born. At one point in the conversation I finally stopped her and said, "So when are you talking that she might come out- are you thinking like, tonight?!" And she said it was a possibility because I had such little cervix left. She insisted I be driven across the parking lot to the hospital and I had to ride in a wheelchair up to the L&D floor...which is looking like it will be my new home while Emily cooks a little longer. If we can make it to 34 weeks they think that is another major hurdle, although personally I'd like to get her to 35 or even 36.

When I was admitted tonight they hooked me up to the ctx monitor again and apparently I've been having little weenie ctx (I haven't felt them) that have been as detrimental to my cervical length as the bigger ones I do feel. I am on magnesium sulfate to try and stop them- they'll do this with me for the next 2 days and then they'll quit. At that point, the ctx will either stay stopped or they will start again. If they start again I guess I'll just be monitored for dilation and we'll think about delivering her if I get started dilating.

The good news with all this is that she's already gotten the steroid shots for her lung development and also she's a girl, which I didn't know but apparently girls have an easier time with being early than boys do. It's totally scary to me to think that she could be here in days or weeks....months I guess are totally out of the question.

Tomorrow's my birthday and it looks like I'll be spending it right here, in home sweet hospital. Funny how life throws curves, huh? It definitely looks like I will NOT be returning to work before she is born- they don't even want me "serving my time" (bedrest) at home, b/c they don't think I'll be compliant enough. Truthfully, as terrible as it's going to be locked up in the hospital, it would be very difficult to completely rest-- there's just too many temptations. This is honestly the best place for me, even if it's hard to deal with.

Keep our girl in your prayers- we really need some more time to cook and hopefully we won't meet her until the last week in September or early October.

A Trip to Labor and Delivery...

First, everyone is fine-- before you read the saga. At times it does get hairy so I wanted to let you know that Miss Emily is still baking and I am back home- I don't think I've ever been so glad to be here!

So last night I was on the couch watching TV with Paul and I started getting pretty frequent contractions (ctx) and we began timing them. They were irregular, but closely spaced- 8 mins, then 10, then 6, then 5, then 4, etc. This went on for a little over an hour before we paged the resident on call in OB (a friend of ours- woo hoo!) He called back, told Paul he probably didn't need to see me, just to drink water and go to bed (it was about 10). Well, I got ready for bed, and, wouldn't you know it, as soon as I washed my face and got rid of my makeup (I hate to go out without it!!) the resident called back and told Paul on second thought, he wanted me to come in. We hopped in the car and drove to the hospital.

When we got there they hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and a ctx monitor. The ctx were coming about every 5-7 minutes and were of varying intensity. I gave a urine sample and they ran it to the lab. Also, we did a fetal fibronectin (FFN) test and I got my first internal exam-- um, OWWW!!! They said I was dilated to 1cm and was 70% effaced, and that the baby's head was right there. Then, another doc came and did an exam, and he said I was 80% effaced. At this point I started getting concerned, b/c the docs did not seem happy about the effacement measurements...

My labs came back and showed I had a bladder infection, so they started IV fluids (I was dehydrated, too) and a bag of rocephin for the bladder issue. Paul likened the rocephin to "shooting a bladder infection with a bazooka"-- it's that powerful. My FFN test, which gives, within 90-95% accuracy, an estimate of whether or not you'll deliver in the next 2 weeks, came back negative- woo! I also got a steroid shot in my butt to speed up her lung development. At this point the ctx were still occurring, and often. They decided to admit me at 2:30am and sent me over to L&D (I had been in triage).

Once I got to my room the on call attending came in and expressed his concern at the ctx and my thinned cervix. He said that the bladder infection could be causing my uterus to be irritated and contract, but he was very upset about me being 80% (and zero station). He said the word, "Bedrest" and I fell apart. I have only had my kids for one week!! He was really nice about it and I apologized for sounding like I only was concerned about my job and not Emmy- definitely not true- and so he said we'd "play it by ear". Paul was supposed to begin work this morning in the NICU and we were very concerned that they'd kick him off the service if his own child was in there- too much of a conflict of interest, you know? At this point they were still discussing how to stop the ctx- they wanted to use a calcium channel blocker, procardia, but it lowers your BP-- and since mine is usually like 88/50, they weren't sure I could stand the dosage.

We got the first dose of procardia in and I was still stable, but when they came back for the next dose, my BP was 78/49-- too low. We just laid there watching the ctx tick by on the monitor. Emily showed a great heartbeat pattern- good accelerations and decelerations. Eventually Paul and I just tried to go to bed, but between all my machines running, docs coming in and out (oh yeah- one more cervical check in there, just for good measure...lol) and my nurse coming in, we didn't sleep a single bit. He drove home at 5 to let the dogs out and get my teacher stuff so I could write lesson plans in case they did make me go on bedrest.

This morning the ctx had stopped for almost 4 hours and then boom- started right up again. They got to 1.5-2 mins apart and my nurse came running in, took my BP to see if I could have another procardia, and paged my new resident. They gave it to me and I was able to get in two doses this time before my BP dropped too low again.

All day I laid in the bed, alternately crying and doing lesson plans. All I could think about was how hard a time she'd have if she were born, and how she doesn't have anything to wear b/c I haven't washed anything (not that it would fit her now, anyway) and how I just got my job and its wonderful insurance, and only have 12 weeks total from FMLA, and how I didn't want to spend 6 of them holding down the couch waiting for her and going back before Christmas, how Paul didn't get any sleep before work, how I wasn't ready to be a mother yet, I haven't read all my books, etc. I was a mess. They brought me their terrible food and as soon as the nurse left I was a blubbering mess again.

This afternoon we had an u/s to check my cervical length and the amniotic fluid around the baby. At this point, things started looking up. She had a good amount of fluid left (he said it looked normal) and my cervix was 2cm thick-- which he said was also OK. The resident was so great to us and let us use the machine to try and look at her-- it even had the 4d feature!! So we got a sneak peek, but she is so far head down, and so smashed in there, that we couldn't see anything more than an ear!! But what an ear it was- as soon as we saw it it was like a "Eureka!" moment and we were shouting, "There's an ear!! There's an ear!!", like we didn't expect to see one or something...lol. Hopefully next Monday when we have our real u/s at the perinatal center our tech will know some kind of trick to get better pics. Her body was so crunched we weren't able to get an estimate of how much she weighs, either, b/c the doc couldn't get enough pics to see.

Once I got back to my room I didn't have another contraction for 5 hours. Paul had gone home to let the dogs out and told me to call our friend the resident and "plead my case" to go home. The doc totally agreed- I'd had a second bag of rocephin, the second steroid shot, 4 bags of fluid (I think I peed 100 times!) He did NOT prescribe bedrest- he said some of our older OBs who treat very conservatively push bedrest but modern research doesn't show that it's actually that helpful. (Now, of course, if I had been dilated to 4 or so I'm sure they would have done it). He said it's common to be at 1cm for several weeks, sometimes even more than a month. I was thrilled that they were going to let me go home (I haven't slept since Friday night- got up Saturday at 8) and that I don't have to leave work after only teaching 5 days. Also, I think I'm going to start washing Emily's clothes and packing a bag for the hospital, just in case. They seemed certain that we will make it to 38 weeks or maybe longer, but this was mighty good scare. I'm so glad our little girl is safe and sound. I have been given strict orders about activity level, keeping up my fluid intake (which I'm terrible about) and not getting overexerted.

Keep us in your prayers- it look like everything is going to be OK, but this was scary and we feel like we had a close call. Our princess needs more baking time! I'll keep you posted, of course, if anything new arises.