He's Here!!!

Well, Connor finally decided to make an appearance and we didn't need an induction after all!
We had the Induction scheduled for Friday evening but I went into labor on my own sometime Thursday. I can't honestly say when it all started. Pretty much all day I thought I was just having bowel trouble. I was crampy and gassy and my lower back was really uncomfortable. Sometime around 6pm I took a shower and then laid on the bed and called Tom, looking for some sort of advice. It wasn't really until after 9pm that I noticed the cramps were fairly regular. I've had so many "Is this it's!?!" that I didn't get to excited. I just waited a while to see what would happen.
Of course Tom was supposed to be on call on Friday, but switched it to Thursday so he could be with me for the induction. So just as I'm getting ready for bed around 1am, he gets a page and has to go back to the hospital and he isn't sure if he's coming home. He might just stay there and work through his shift the next day. He wanted to know why I was laughing while I was brushing my teeth. I thought it was pretty funny that I was pretty sure I was finally in labor and he had to leave. He just smiled and looked sceptical, gave me a kiss and told me to call if I needed him. Off he goes.
So I laid down and the contractions were pretty regular and uncomfortable but I tried to get some sleep. I only slept for an hour and a half before I couldn't really sleep through them anymore. I would doze in between and then wake up and check the clock when they came. Sometime around 3am I called Tom and told him they were pretty frequent and regular and he of course asked me to start timing them. Then I called my mom and told her that I didn't think she and Lisa should wait until 10am to start the 6+ hour trip. I timed the contractions for about 45 minutes to make sure I had an average for Tom and then called him back to let him know they 3.5-4.5 minutes apart. He told me he would have to call me back when he figured out if he was scrubbing on the morning case!?! So I laid in bed a bit longer and then around 6am I got up and let the dogs out and sat on my exercise ball, which oddly, started slowing things down.
Tom didn't scrub in, he was told to go home and home he came. I walked around, took a shower, packed (I had most everything ready to go in the suitcase) and finished up a few chores around the house. Since I had been scheduled for induction I had been cleaning for the last few days anyway. Around 10am I had Tom call and ask if I should head in. They were about every 2.5-3.5 minutes by then and riding in the car made them every 2 minutes apart. They nice thing was they were really evenly spaced, so I could really rest and then look at the watch and know to relax and be ready for the next one before it started.
When we got to the hospital, Tom unloaded me in the lobby and went to park. Of course I got numerous offers to be taken to L&D and would I like a wheelchair (I don't really think I looked as though I was going to drop him in the lobby, I was very calm) but I waited for Tom. When we were on our way to L&D and I got a contraction, I just stopped and squatted and breathed through it and we moved on. I had several contractions at the nurses station waiting for my bed. Then they got me a room and hooked me up to the monitors and checked me. 7CM! YEAH! I WAS SO PROUD! They hooked up my antibiotics and left me to do my thing. At this point I was still proclaiming my broken arm and the time I had Pleurisy to be more painful. I walked, I squatted, I breathed. Two hours later I was 8.5cm. A couple hours later I was 9+CM but my water was still intact and Mom, Lisa & Amanda had just gotten their. So they broke my water.
Now the pain was bad. The minute they broke my water I began to have excruciating back labor, that was continuous. There were no short rests and there was no getting any position that offered any relief, and my labor stalled. They checked me over and over and it was always the same. A couple hours later (after proclaiming I was dying and being told by the attending that "they hadn't lost anyone all week" to which I told him I would have laughed if I wasn't so sure I was dying) I finally asked for the epidural. Then the anesthesiologist disappeared. I swear she had to go make a fresh batch. Then she wouldn't do it until I signed a paper. I was so drained I was begging Tom to sign it.
Once I had the epidural they plugged in the pitocin. AND NOTHING HAPPENED. We waited that way for hours. We had to play with the epidural because my left side wasn't numb and then we pushed the button to much and my right side got so numb I couldn't move my leg. Finally around 11pm I reached down felt the head and told the nurse that I wanted to get this show on the road.
There was pushing and pulling and mineral oil and lots of "stop moving the mirror!" At 11:54 I looked at the clock and decided it was up to me if Connor was going to be born on the 29th or the 30th. So I pushed for all I was worth. But it was all worth it when I looked down and saw his head and the moment I watched Connor slide from my body. With Tom gowned up to help catch him and my sister holding my hand and supporting my back, my mom taking pictures and Amanda watching wide eyed from the corner Connor made his way into the world at 11:56pm. I got to cut the cord and everybody got to hold him and then because he was 10lbs they insisted he go to the nursery for 4 hours to have his blood sugar monitored. But he was/is just fantastic! We stayed in the hospital Saturday and then headed home about 2pm on Sunday.

Um...Still Waiting

So now we are 5 days past our due date and still no baby. (sigh) I was annoyed last week when I had to make another appointment but I'm not sure if I was more annoyed or disappointed today when I had to keep it. Peanut is just very happy and doesn't want to come out. Well... TO BAD! Peanut now has an appointment to be evicted!

During my appointment today everything looked really good, Peanuts heartbeat was very good, Dr. Dempsey did another ultrasound and the amniotic fluid levels were still good, the baby is still head down. I'm still 1.5cm dilated, but she did say it seemed as though my cervix was shorter. I did have Dr. Dempsey strip my membranes today, which basically separates the bag of waters from the cervix. It made me a little crampy, but I was already a little crampy. Then we scheduled an appointment for 6pm Friday to start my induction. We have to wait for the 41 week mark to give my body plenty of time to make "it" happen (which is Friday.) The current plan is that they will admit me Friday and start working on my cervix. Once that is ready they'll start the Pitocin and probably sometime Saturday, we'll have a baby.

I'm disappointed with having an induction, but I'm also worried about the size of the baby if we wait. So, I do feel like I've given Peanut a fair shake at making this happen at his/her own pace. I also keep hearing the warning from our birthing class, the more interventions you have the more interventions you need. We'll see...Stay tuned!

Still Waiting...

Well here we are! One day past our due date and no end in sight. Peanut has asked for college catalogs and is picking out furniture. It was really funny when I was going through the line at Bi-Lo yesterday and the checker asked me "Ohhhh When are you due?" The look on her face when I said "Today." was pretty funny. Then she asked if we were having a little girl. I gave her my standard "No, we're having a Surprise!" It seems Peanut has more surprises in store then I bargained for. I think everyone was pretty sure I was going to have Nutter Butter early. Surprise! Nutter is already like Mommy and Daddy (a day late...)

The one nice thing about being late is that Tom and I did get to keep our anniversary dinner reservations last night at Peninsula Grill. It was great to have one last chance to get out, just the two of us, for one last REALLY NICE dinner. When I got home with the groceries and it was time to start getting ready for dinner I started having contractions and pressure in my belly. I took this time to tell Nutter that this was unacceptable. If Nutter has made us wait this long, It could wait a few more hours before deciding it was time. Tom thought me pointing at my VERY PREGNANT belly and having a strongly worded conversation was pretty cute. Eight years later and I can still make him laugh!

What Makes Me Proud

Well, I've been sleeping a lot lately. Sometimes that means I don't sleep so well at night. So while I was laying there last night, I was thinking back on my pregnancy and thinking of the things that make me proud.

- I'm pleased that I was frugal and didn't go overboard on my maternity cloths purchases.
- I'm pleased that we haven't gone overboard on baby purchases. We have kept the nursery purchases very reasonable and gender neutral so that they will work for "Little Person 2." (sometime down the road)
- Though I gained more weight then I was supposed to, It was still a reasonable amount.
- I'm proud that we decided to wait to find out weather we're having a boy or a girl and that we have stuck to that, even at this point.
- I'm proud that, despite his work schedule, Tom and I have managed to grow closer and happier with each other as a couple, family, and soon-to-be parents over the past several months. He has never once complained about the trips to Babies R Us, or my crying when I feel overwhelmed.
- I'm proud that, though I could have been more active, I have kept up on keeping the house and yard neat. Even doing yard work as late as week 38, and if the baby doesn't arrive soon, maybe week 40, too!
-I haven't been perfect about my eating habits, but for the most part, I think I've kept it pretty healthy and reasonable. (Plenty of cut strawberries on my low fat ice cream.)
- I'm proud that (except for taking them off at night while I sleep and for the few days we were in humid Florida) I've been able to wear my rings every day of my pregnancy.
- Lastly, I'm very happy my inny never became an outy!

Nothing to Report...Again

I still like being pregnant, for the most part. To say I'm getting a bit antsy to meet our Little Nutter Butter (no I have not been eating Nutter Butters, but the nickname Peanut has evolved) would be an understatement to say the least.

We had another appointment today and I thought for sure there would be some encouraging news this time. I did loose 4lbs from last week (THANK GOD!) and they say that can be a sign. I also went from 1cm to 1.5cm (woo-hoo, ho-hum) but there wasn't anything more then that said. Dr. Dempsey apparently has a thing for stripping membranes because she's been trying to get me to do it. She asked again this week. Tempted though I was, I did decline. So off I went to make another appointment with the "if you make it back for your appointment next week you'll be 40w5d and we'll have to talk about inducing you" hanging over my head. I was a little disappointed.

I really thought today was going to be the day. I started getting some regular contractions last night at about 4:50. I waited until after 6 to say anything to Tom and then put Mom and Lisa on Red Alert (I'm not saying get in the car, I'm just saying pack a bag and take a nap!) The contractions were there, but not painful. I cleaned the house and did laundry, took a shower, and shaved my legs. After my shower it felt like things were ramping up and when I laid down after 1am to try and get some sleep I REALLY felt like something was starting to happen. The contractions were feeling stronger and I was having some strong discomfort. I even woke Tom to ask if he thought we should call Mom and Lisa again to get them on the road. This was about 2:30 and he thought we should give it until 5am. So I rolled over, snuggled up against him and managed to fall asleep. Then everything quieted down. I'm still having contractions, most of them don't hurt except that my muscles are just sore from all the tensing.

So, today turned out not to be the day...Bummer. I've been aiming for an even numbered day or divisible by 5 (I'm strange... move on) and today would have been both. I'm beginning to wonder if the baby really is just holding out to sabotage my Anniversary dinner on Friday.

1 cm!

Well, sadly, though I did have a quick ultrasound today, I didn't get any new pictures to share. It was a super quick scan just to say "Yup! The head's down!" and that was it. My belly was measuring right on and Peanut's heartbeat sounded great - really strong today! I also had an exam and I am 1 cm dilated - not very much effaced, but we do have some progress. I'm trying not to get to excited, because women walk around dilated for weeks before the big day. 1 cm really doesn't mean anything is happening anytime soon. It's still wait and see at this point. Though while I was laying there today I realized that I have been having a lot of contractions since this past weekend.

Tom has been sort of worried about when I'm going to go into labor, because he has some really busy days at work in the next few weeks. So I wasn't expecting a very positive response from him, but he actually sounded really excited.

Dr. Dempsy said that if Tom and I were interested we could talk about stripping my membranes next week to get things moving along. Tom has a golden weekend (no call) May 22-24, so it would give him some time with the baby. I'm not sure that is a good enough reason to artificially start labor - I kind of wanted to let the baby pick it's own day. My last day of work isn't officially until the 15th as well. We'll have to talk about it=) Tom's bet is May 12th. Does anyone have any other guesses?

Nesting?

(Both of these pictures were taken this morning, I couldn't remember what color cami I was supposed to wear, so we did both. I think you can see the blue better.)

Well, I have been quite delinquent in posting, but I'm sure you an all understand how busy we've been. The carpets are finally cleaned, and the crib is finally set up, and made. (Please, no emails about the bumper and the stuffed animals in the crib! I've read all the warnings and I will take out the stuffed animals before the baby goes in. It just looked really lonely in there.) The baby's bag is packed and ready for the hospital. Mine is in the bedroom and I'm adding stuff to it daily. We still need to hang the bookshelf in the bedroom and hang the diaper dangler - it's mostly small stuff left. At this point I have the house pretty squared away, so that hopefully it'll just be upkeep later on (ha ha - I know.)

I'm felling pretty well. At this point it's my ribs and chest that hurt. Tom did a quick little ultrasound on me tonight and Peanut is definitely head down and I would say pretty low in my pelvis, but I'll find out what Dr. Dempsey has to say on Wednesday. She'll be doing a scan to check the baby's position. Hopefully I'll come home from that next appointment with some new pictures to post. Everything has been really uneventful. I was talking with Tom today and I told him I really need to stop this. I keep waking up and wondering - is today the day? I fixate on every little twinge and tightening I feel - is this it? Is it starting? I need to just go about my days like any other day and enjoy the free time I have left. I may not know what I'm looking for, but I'm sure it will become pretty apparent when it happens. In the meantime, there is still stuff to do, and I need to concentrate on that while I can.

My last two appointments with Dr. Dempsey were uneventful. We talked about me birth plan at one appointment, but mostly they just consisted of checking the heartbeat, measuring my belly, the usual. Maybe this week she'll check to see if anything is happening. I'm still happy being pregnant, but I am getting antsy to see the baby and find out what we are having. I have days where I'm not worried about the birth (more resigned, it is coming, it will happen, I will get through it) and other days when I really worry about it - the whole "unknown" thing.

Along those lines, Tom and I had birthing class all day on Saturday at MUSC. It was pretty good, we learned some stuff, watched a whole bunch of videos, and didn't have nearly as much breathing and coping practice as I had hoped. We got a tour or the labor and delivery department and the postpartum department. I think Tom is going to be a really good coach as long as he doesn't get to sensitive on me. As we were getting ready to leave, we thanked the instructor and she smiled and cryptically said "We'll be seeing you soon." It was directed at me since I was the farthest along in the class.

Friday, I got my first Mother's Day Card from Molly & Bill, and Sunday Tom bought me a backyard bird identification book for my first Mother's Day Gift.