One Month Old...and a belated birth story

I can't believe it's been a month since Timmy was born! On one hand, "one month" sounds like such a long time to me. He's getting so big so fast and I miss my tiny little newborn. On the other hand, I can't believe that he's only been home with us for 4 weeks now. It seems like I've known him forever - could it really only be 4 weeks since we brought him home?

Timothy Daniel came into the world on November 10, 2008 by planned repeat c-section. You can see more pictures here. I was extremely nervous due to some problems I had during my delivery with Katie in 2005. We got there at about 9:15am and met my mom in admissions. We had an "interesting" nurse who seemed to like to argue about everything - definately lacked the bedside manner. It was almost like she didn't think I deserved any compassion since I was having a c-section. I can't imagine having to go through actual labor with her...thank goodness...and my heart goes out to anyone who has.

They were running behind schedule and instead of an 11:30am surgery, I delivered at 12:43pm. Beforehand, I had decided to go ahead and get staples for closing my incision. My amazing OB, Dr. Geria, also went completely tape-free in my dressing and used 2 big elastic binders (on cue, my argumentative nurse tried to talk him out of that too..or rather assure me that I was wrong about the fact that he wouldn't use tape).

I was also petrified about getting my spinal again. With Katie, the anesthesiologist stuck me at least twice and felt like he hit nerve both times. However, this time around the doctor did a great job - was in and out - it honestly did just feel like a bee sting (which I NEVER believed was possible when I heard people describe it that way before). It hurt a bit when the medicine actually went in - but that was over very quickly.

My next hurdle that I knew was coming was getting sick on the table. With Katie, I was always nauseous in the morning if I hadn't eaten and having to get up to be at the hospital at 5:30am had me throwing up all morning with her until I delivered. I was feeling pretty good the morning of Timmy's delivery so I thought I was in the clear. Throwing up on the table with Katie was one of my worst memories. Since my abdomen was completely numb - it made it so difficult to get relief-but once I HAD gotten sick with her, I then felt fine. Well, soon after receiving the spinal, my blood pressure dropped a lot. I don't know to what, but hearing all those beeps and rushed voices was extremely scary. I wound up throwing up again and it sucked, but my spinal hadn't numbed me quite as high up this time, so it was a little easier. I was only numb to right below my rib cage. It was a great location because I also was able to feel myself breathing with no problem. I remember freaking out during Katie's delivery - that spinal took effect to above my breasts and it's very scary to not feel yourself breathing even though you are. The worst part is that all of this took place before Chris was allowed in the room. It's probably the part that I would have most appreciated having him there with me.

Chris eventually came in and my beautiful baby boy was born. Right after he was delivered - as they were cleaning him up - I think my blood pressure dropped again or the morphine was affecting me badly. I got extremely dizzy and sick to my stomach. So, as Chris was holding Timmy up to me, I was so out of it that I could barely look at him. Thank goodness I have this picture to really capture the memory for myself.

Chris then went with Timmy to the nursery while I got stiched up and sent to recovery. I had a bunch of right shoulder pain, apparently caused by gas captured while I was open. It's so weird to me that your shoulder hurts because you have extra air in your belly.

Finally, I got to meet my little guy appropriately. He latched right on like a champ. (Not showing a picture of THAT). He was awake almost the entire day - until the late afternoon.

At that point, we were open to visitors. My mom had been there all day, but soon Chris's mom brought Katie over to meet her little brother.

We also had visits from my sister-in-law Debi, nieces Stephanie and Gabi, and my sister Lori. Check out these posts for pics of some of our visitors. I didn't get one of my sister that night though. I think Chris brought my camera home before she got there, so we just got one the next day.

My recovery has been pretty good except for horrible headaches that I had for the first week. I was almost at the point of getting a blood patch because my OB thought it was a spinal headache since I was perfectly fine if laying flat on my back, but in agony to stand up or walk around. It did wind up being muscular/bone related though, as I thought, and after 1 week I finally got to the chiropractor and was much improved. Basically, around delivery time your joints get very loose to allow for delivery. My hormone level was guessed to be pretty high and I was SO flexible that things in my neck and back wound up where they shouldn't be. So this time around, that was the worst part of my recovery. Abdominally, I've done great from the start - perhaps because my head hurt so bad that it was the only pain I was feeling or maybe since it was my second c-section. Either way, I was able to walk up steps from the first day home with very little pain. Unfortunately, I've hit a little snag in the last two weeks and don't seem to have improved much. Basically, I've just been doing too much and have a lot pain on one side by the end of the day. It's also still hard for me to bend down by the end of the day. It's frustrating though, since I don't wake up with any pain - so it's hard to monitor what IS too much during the day until I see how I feel at the end of the day. I've pretty much felt this same way for 2 weeks now.

Now, for viewing pleasure (and a reward for reading this whole darn thing), here are some cute videos of Timmy playing with his bear (really, Katie's bear - but his for now). In the first one he's doing a little "talking" and in the second he's doing a little "dancing". But a warning: I think I have mommy blinders on and they're probably pretty boring if you're not closely related :)

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D-DAY

In about 12 hours...pending no delays...I will have my baby boy in my arms. I'm currently scheduled for an 11:15am c-section and have to be at the hospital by 9:15am. Needless to say, I'll be getting very little sleep tonight. I'm ready to go - all but emotionally. I feel like I'm still in denial that this is happening tomorrow. I felt the same way with Katie, but I WAS tremendously excited. This go, I am just feeling lots of apprehension. Not sure if it's worry about how our family life is going to change or just dreading the spinal and recovery. Although I know in my head that I thought throughout the entire recovery with Katie that it was never as bad as I had expected...I still can't shake the obsession over those things I remember as being the worst last time.

So here's a prayer for a nurse who can give me a painless IV (not a problem at all last time - but STILL not recovered from the nurse who hit a nerve or tendon TWO weeks ago just trying to take some blood), an anesthesiologiest who can get the spinal in the FIRST time trying, effective pain killers (including a spinal that completely kicks in BEFORE the catheter is inserted), no incision tape blisters, another baby who latches like a natural, and quick and easy recovery, and most importantly a healthy baby boy!!!

Oh speaking of healthy babies....did anyone read the recent article about caffeine intake during pregnancy and how even 1-2 cups a day can cause harm by decreasing birth weight? I immediately started drinking 1-2 cups a day...is that bad? That was the only effect the article mentioned - so I'm thinking it should be prescribed for all gestational diabetes mommies who are warned that if THEY don't behave their going to have babies with too a high a birth weight. Any last minute guesses for height/weight? I'm going to say 21 1/2-22 inches and close to 9 lbs (either right below or right over).

Make sure you check back in for my SIL Debi's guest post later tonight or tomorrow. She'll be visiting later this afternoon/evening and has graciously offered to spread the news and some pics for me. You can also check out all about her family at Who Says 8 is Enough?

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Need c-section advice

Since I know I have a few twin mommies reading and at least SOME of you prob had a c-section, I'm pulling out all the stops to get as much input on this question as possible. Well, let me start off by saying that I had one of my now twice a week non-stress tests and my 36 week appt today. They were both noneventful which is good news...since I'm not READY!!! (Although, I do now have a cold AND baby is back into trying to break my pelvic bone apart..so not very comfortable).

Anyway....during my c-section with Katie I had 2 pretty significant skin reactions/recovery problems. First off, I had MAJOR sensitivity to the surgical tape which was harder to deal with than the incision itself and took forever to heal. My doc is working on some alternatives and has assured me that we won't go near surgical tape this time. My other problem was with my actual incision and I have to make a decision regarding how to handle this time. Last time, I had internal stitches that should have dissolved on their own. The doc stiched across once and then doubled back halfway. I healed great in the hospital but then about a week later on once side it started to open up and "leak". I went in and the doc cauterized it...was back open within a day. Finally about a week later we saw stiches poking through and they had be manually pulled out. After that I healed up fine. Nothing was too painful..just worried me cause the leaking made me think it was getting infected..come to find out it was FAT leaking...um hello...I may have let it stay open a little longer before going to the doctor if I had known that :). So this time around, the doctor delivering me said he'll do whatever I want for closing the incision. He does not go back halfway, but in his opinion that was prob only a coincidence that it only opened on one side and he thinks I would likely still have a problem with my body trying to expel. So I can try the internal stiches again and hope for the best and that there won't be a problem since he only goes across the once OR I can get staples or old-fashioned stitches that will be pulled out in a few days. I'd love to hear from anyone who had staples or old-fashioned stitches and let me know how painful it was to have them taken out, if you had any reactions, and if it left any additional scarring. My doctor thinks the staples are the best way to go, but I have read a few places that they can pull a lot while still in and be more uncomfortable than stiches and that they are painful to remove. Granted, I will be taking full advantage of all morphine and percocet offered to me so I'm only really worried about extra pain when moving around. Please let me know if you have any advice!!!!

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Way Back When-esday! - Less than 4 weeks to go...

In celebration of scheduling the date for my c-section today (well, last night since I pre-posted this)...here are some pics from my last one:

Sure hope they can find scrubs that fit this time around:)

Yes, my girl really was that gosh darn adorable just a few short hours after birth. And - check out all the dark hair she had..so funny that she's a little blondie now.

Alright, in all honesty I'm not really celebrating my delivery date...I'm a bit disappointed in how it turned out. I delivered Katie on a Friday and was hoping for another Friday delivery. It would have worked out perfectly with Katie's school schedule (she's would have been off), was better for Chris for work, and made it convenient for people to visit over the weekend. My practice doesn't schedule deliveries before 39 weeks gestation, but I had been told earlier on that since I was due on a Sat (the 15th), that it would be fine to deliver me on the Friday, the 7th. Well, found out last week, that having gestational diabetes upsets that whole plan because they are even more concerned about delivering too early because gestational diabetes increases the risk of underdeveloped lungs. So, I had my appt tonight with the other doctor on schedule for the 7th and she also told me she wouldn't do it then :(. So, I have to wait until Monday, November 10th. Good news, though, is that I'm not scheduled until 10:00am. With Katie, I was scheduled at 7:30am and had to be there at 6am...and I was SO sick from getting up SO darn early that I couldn't stop throwing up before delivery..and even on the operating table. Hopefully, I'll get to avoid all that this time.

But enough about me :)...head over to Twinfatuation to see who else is playing this week for Way Back When-esday!

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Oh BOY!

Just a quick pregnancy update....

I started having contractions Sunday morning - like 2-5 min apart, but after an hour of laying in bed with them they cleared up completely.

Then yesterday, around 1:30 as I went to lay down I was SO crampy and uncomfortable, but managed to fall asleep. From around 4:15-5:15, I had contractions every 2 min, then every 5 min until 5:30, then one last one at 6. I called Chris at 4:30 and told him he needed to get home, just in case. I called the doctor around 4:45, but she didn't get back to me until just before 6 and by that time I was feeling better. They hurt, but weren't awful..I knew I wasn't like ready to give birth or anything. They were also really really quick..like only 10-30 seconds each. So, she told me to come in and be monitored if they were back to 10-15 min apart and they never were. I also already had my bi-weekly appt set up for 9:30 this morning, so I decided just to wait. It's funny, I'm almost like a 1st time mom in this regard because I never felt any contractions with Katie....even at times that I WAS having contractions (because I was being monitored) I only felt crampiness ...but nothing to time, etc.

This morning I felt a small gush of liquid...but really thought it was pretty small. Went to pee before I left for dr and was suprised to see I was wet enough that I needed to change my underwear. I still felt a little "leaky" after that, but not enough to wet clothing. So not sure if it was pee or what...but I told my dr everything this morning. He checked my cervix and it was fine. He also did 3 different tests that check for fluid leak. 2 were negative and 1 was positive. So, I was sent over the the maternal testing unit at the hospital to get a fluid check U/S - which showed plenty of fluid. I made my Dr. laugh this morning because he asked if I was still considering v-bac or decided on the repeat c-section yet...I was like umm..well since the "mild" contractions I had last night (and knowing that was really nothing on the scale of contraction pain), I think I'm just going to go with the c-section for sure :)

I was really happy to have one more U/S to confirm it's definately a boy! Now I feel comfortable washing clothes and bedding. He wouldn't turn for us to see his face, but he does have lots of hair and is already measuring 5lb 7oz..GEEZ..I'm only 32 1/2 weeks!!! My only consolation is that I was also told Katie was HUGE..guessing she was going to be 10-11 lbs and she was only 8lbs. I think it's cause the way they come up with the measurements they factor limb length, etc..and Katie was so tall...but didn't weigh so much...that it affected the U/S formula. Hopefully it's the same for Timmy.

So what I don't know now is if it is a small/slow leak, what is normal followup? My dr today had me schedule my normal 2 week appt after today's appt with the expectation that the U/S would be ok. However, I never gushed a lot and wouldn't imagine I WOULD be missing that much already. I guess I'll just wait and see if I continue to feel "leaky". But, no contractions at all today, so that's good news!!

On another note....Debi asked for ideas of things I could use as baby/welcome home gifts. I have an official registry at Babiesrus, but it's really only intended for my use so that I can get 10% off of anything I still need later on. In case any family members/friends besides Debi do actually read and were curious, here are some ideas of things I definately still need and will hold off on buying until after he's born:

1) Boy drool bibs
ALL the ones I have are pink :)

2) 0-3 month short-sleeved onsies (white or boy colors)
Since Katie was a summer baby, I got by on 1 pack with her - so I currently have 1 pack shortsleeve and have already bought 1 pack of long-sleeve, I think I'm good on all other sizes

3) Avent BPA free bottles, extra Avent newborn nipples, newborn NUK pacifiers
I traded in all my old ones at Babies R US. Even though there is no official recall on the BPA bottles, they are giving you store credit for old used bottles with which you can buy the new Avent BPA free bottles - the problem is that the new ones are twice the price...so I now have 8 bottles. But, I don't need lots more...I had about 13 total with Katie

4) Infant gowns
The longer the better, the Gerber ones were always too short for Katie...I had had some borrowed pink Carters one for her that were great..but will NOT put my son in all pink..even if it is to sleep. I've bought one 2-pack from Carters so far)

5) Diapers - Pampers Swaddlers - Newborn or Size 1

6) Baby frames/plaques/"firsts" set/albums/stuffed animals, etc.
I got lots of stuff like this for Katie at my shower - his bedroom is mainly tan, cream, and olive green with teddy bears and puppies)

7) Clothes
I have bought some things...basically anything cute at Carters I already bought - so don't get Carters stuff except for bibs, onesies, or gowns :)...I haven't bought from any other stores though.

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