He's Here!!!

Dane Barrett Rogers
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 (10 days early)
12:17 pm
8 lbs, 3 oz 21 inches


My actual birth story is about 4 pages long, which is obviously just TMI to post on here. So, here is my attempt at a really condensed version for public consumption.

I woke up around midnight Monday morning with cramping, like menstrual cramps. I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a large gush, which I thought was either my water breaking or me peeing myself. It was actually blood, and a LOT of it. We rushed to the hospital and were admitted and monitored for about 8 hours. I was about 2 cms and 80% effaced. I was having regular, but mild contractions. Baby was doing just fine in there, and my bleeding slowed. We were given the option of staying and being induced or going home to wait and see what happened. We headed home.

I spent the day trying to rest and dealing with moderate, but irregularly patterned contractions. Around 9pm Monday night the pattern was steady - every 3 minutes, 45-60 seconds long. By 10:30pm I was needing Vince's help to work through them. Our doula came and we decided to head to the hospital. Got there and I was a good 4 cms, which was a bit disappointing, but my contractions were really strong at this point so we stayed and walked the halls, got in the tub, etc. Around 8am the nurse checked me and I was 9 cms. I labored a bit longer and started feeling the urge to push, so they let me try that for a while. Nothing felt right, and it made me hurt really bad. So, nurse checked me again, and when she did, my water broke. She then said I was 8 cms. My water must have been bulging so much at the last check it was pushing my cervix more open than it really was, and when it broke it shrank back to the more accurate 8 cms.

I should add that my bleeding that started the morning continued all day, and increased as my labor increased. When my water broke it was a huge bloody mess all over. After my water broke the contractions immediately got really strong and started coming one on top of the other, and I was involuntarily pushing with each one - we tried everything to get me to stop and I just couldn't. Up to this point I had been coping really well with my Bradley techniques, but this was horrible and out of control, and I was begging someone and anyone to help me stop. Because I was pushing and wasn't dilated, my cervix started swelling shut, I was still bleeding everywhere, my vitals went haywire, and they couldn't get the baby's heart beat on the external monitor. So, within a matter of minutes, I had an internal monitor, an IV, an ekg monitor, BP cuff, pulseox monitor, epidural and a catheter placed. I instantly felt so much better.

With the epi we all got a break to rest, my cervix was able to recover and finish dilating, and then I got to push. The epi was kind of lopsided, so my entire right leg and bottom were totally numb, but I had some feeling and movement in my left leg, and I could still feel all my contractions in this area on my left lower belly, which honestly turned out to be perfect because I could still feel contractions (and had to breathe to work through them) and know when to push. It took 2 hours and a bunch of positions, but I got him out with only a very mild 1st degree tear and a couple of stitches. He was turned sort of sideways, so he didn't crown the way he was supposed to, so he had (and still has) some funky bruising and swelling on the side of his head, but he is perfectly healthy. He came right to my chest and his apgars were 8 and 9. He nursed like a champ from the start and really didn't cry all that much, and still doesn't.

When my water broke, everything changed, and I could tell the doc and the nurses were VERY worried. I thought for sure (as did my doula) that I was headed straight for a surgical birth. I think the universe gave me the perfect team of Vince, my doula and the hospital staff to get me through it with a lot of my goals for my birth intact.

Like I said, this is the short version, so if you have any questions, ask away. The long version has more details, and more of my after-the-fact thoughts and feelings in it. If you would like to read it, email me and I can send it to you.

These are my final belly pics, taken in between hospital admissions, 38 weeks 3 days.


And, my first attempt at loading video!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

And happy 4th birthday to our dear furbaby, Izzy. Here is a pic of Izzy and Tank just chillin' on her birthday...


Making faces for mommy...


Had another doctor's appointment yesterday - we met with midwife Trisha again. All the normal things are fine - I gained 3 pounds this week so I am up to 208, and baby's heart rate was 140 today. We went over our birth plan with the midwife and I think we have done a good job putting it together.

I am still having some crampiness and lots of contractions, but apparently I am only still in warm-ups - the main event is still to come, and could be a ways away yet.

We have most of the baby items put together and ready and waiting. Here is a bunch of it just sitting in the living room...


And here is the pack and play in the TV room...

And look, our hospital bags are packed and ready to go!!!


I have been working on painting the dresser for the nursery, and it looks pretty good so far. Unfortunately the dark blue bled under the tape as I was painting, so now I am trying to figure out how to fix it. I'm not sure the white paint will cover it up, so I am considering painting the part of the drawer faces inside the trim all dark blue as well. The circle handles on the middle drawers are going to be painted a very light blue.

Maybe Progress?

So I was extremely tired yesterday and spent most of my day napping. The baby has finally dropped. I didn't even notice until last night when Vince pointed out how badly I was waddling, and then I realized it was true, and that I was now experiencing a lot of pressure "down there" and that it was easier to take deep breaths.

I went to bed early, but woke up at 12:30 with some serious cramping in my low back and lower abdomen. I laid in bed for a while and tried to sleep or get comfortable. The baby was moving a ton way down low, which never happens. I was also having really strong contractions. So I eventually decided to get up and see if moving around or eating changed things. I took a loooooong shower and then made myself some toast. I was still feeling a little crampy so I decided I had better finish up all my shower thank you notes, just in case. Got those done around 4:00 and headed back to bed.

I am still crampy this morning, though less so than last night. I know this truly could be nothing, but if it IS the start of things, I am now officially scared shitless, because there are a lot of things to do still! I need to get about 2 weeks of laundry put away, I have to finish painting the dresser so I can put Kermie's belongings away and out of his crib, and our bedroom is a disaster that I need to go clean. Oh, and maybe we should get on installing the car seat, eh?

Good news/Bad news

Just to prove there is indeed balance between good and bad in all things...

Good News (GN): 36 week doc appt went well yesterday. We met with one of the midwives this time, just to compare to meeting with the OBs. I lost another pound this week, BP and urine are good, I am group B strep negative (so no antibiotics during delivery are necessary - YAY!), baby's heart rate was a little fas but still normal, and my fundal height is still on track.
Bad News (BN): Midwife Trisha did a check and while baby's head is down, he is currently positioned anterior ("sunny side up"), which means if I can't get him turned around I am likely in for some terrific back labor. So, my mission is to do all things possible to encourage him to turn posterior.

GN: All the major items off our registry have been purchased and most of them are even put together, ready and waiting for baby.
BN: Our home is utter chaos from all of this stuff basically being stockpiled in our living room. Oh, and I still have about a gabillion thank you cards to write....

GN: We discovered that when/if the time comes, it will only take Vince about 25 minutes to get home to me from his work.
BN: We discovered this because our big dog Izzy seems to not be handling all this change very well, and she had a seizure on Friday. It totally scared the shit out of me because she couldn't walk and was breathing funny, and she's heavy so I couldn't carry her to the car, so I had Vince come home from work to help me get her to the vet. They can't find any medical reason for the episode, so we are just going to watch her for now, and log any other episodes or issues she might have. She still isn't back to her normal spazzy self, poor thing, so I'm worrying over her.

GN: Like I said above, I lost another pound this week (yes, it merits another mention!). Is it bad I secretly hope this downward trend continues?
BN: Theeeeeeyyyyy'rrrreeee heeeeeerrrrreeeee. Yup, the stretch marks have officially arrived. I am honestly surprised I made it this far. So far they are pretty small and light and are on my hips and just above my butt crack (two places that OBVIOUSLY have no business expanding whatsoever), so if they stay there and off my belly I will be pleased.

GN: We got our taxes all in to the accountant this past week, so that should be wrapped up this week sometime. Fingers crossed for a big, fat refund! Another large item crossed off the to-do list!
BN: No more bad news!

And now, for some pictures! This is me at 35 weeks 2 days, right before my "Nestie" baby shower:





Here I am at 36 weeks 4 days:



That's all for now. We have our second prenatal meeting with our doula tonight, and I really need to get the house cleaned (and dresser painted, and thank you notes written, and meals made for the freezer...) but I really feel like crap today so I think I am going to try for a nap instead. : )