Isla had a good weight check yesterday. She's up to 6 pounds, 15 ounces. Not quite her birth weight of 7 pounds, 4 ounces, but a big improvement over the 6 pounds 7 ounces she was at her home health visit on the 15th and the 6 pounds 9 ounces she was at the doctor's office last week. The way she's been eating the past 2 days, there shouldn't be any problem with her getting back to birth weight before we go back to the doctor next Friday. Hopefully she can get there by Tuesday when she's 3 weeks old.
I can't believe how much she's changing. Every day it seems like she focuses a little better and tries to hold her head up a little more.
I have more to say, but Isla's requesting lunch so I'll be back later.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
High tech baby....
As of Friday we're cordless. Guess its the first of many of those obvious signs that Isla is growing and changing.
Isla went to church today and slept through the entire service. P said she was kicking her legs in her sleep during some of the music....I loved feeling her move when the music started while I was pregnant. What a great message today too--about how we want to live in our "mountaintop moments" but have to realize that we have to live in the valleys also.
She hadn't gained much weight when we went in for her check-up last week. I've been concerned about her weight since then and generally uncertain about how much she's eating, how much we're supposed to supplement and how much to pump so I called the LC at the hospital last night. These ladies are WONDERFUL! C said my questions were really good and the best thing to do to start with was to find out how much she is getting with she BFs so today we went to the hospital and weighed her, fed her, then weighed her again. The LC checked her latch, watched her suck, and thought everything looked good with the feeding process, but Isla only took in about 1/2 ounce. They sent me home with a scale to check her intake a couple times a day, we're going to keep giving her formula until I can get a supply pumped, and hopefully with pumping and some herbal supplements we can get my supply increased so that we'll be able to eventually cut out the formula and just supplement with pumped mommy juice.
Oh, we also found out today that her birth weight was probably 7 pounds 2 ounces instead of 7 pounds 4 ounces like we thought. I know 2 ounces isn't much but when considering the amount of weight she's lost, it seems significant. When they weighed her, they said 4 ounces but the kgs they recorded converts to the lesser measurement.
Getting a bit anxious about being home this week. Not sure why--limited adult contact? Feeling like I'm having my mom babysit us too much? Just uncertainties and hormones? I don't know. Maybe we'll go to the mall and walk around some this week or go to a matinee or something. Maybe I can at least find the time to update with more pictures.
Someone is waking up...about time for one last feeding before bedtime.
Isla went to church today and slept through the entire service. P said she was kicking her legs in her sleep during some of the music....I loved feeling her move when the music started while I was pregnant. What a great message today too--about how we want to live in our "mountaintop moments" but have to realize that we have to live in the valleys also.
She hadn't gained much weight when we went in for her check-up last week. I've been concerned about her weight since then and generally uncertain about how much she's eating, how much we're supposed to supplement and how much to pump so I called the LC at the hospital last night. These ladies are WONDERFUL! C said my questions were really good and the best thing to do to start with was to find out how much she is getting with she BFs so today we went to the hospital and weighed her, fed her, then weighed her again. The LC checked her latch, watched her suck, and thought everything looked good with the feeding process, but Isla only took in about 1/2 ounce. They sent me home with a scale to check her intake a couple times a day, we're going to keep giving her formula until I can get a supply pumped, and hopefully with pumping and some herbal supplements we can get my supply increased so that we'll be able to eventually cut out the formula and just supplement with pumped mommy juice.
Oh, we also found out today that her birth weight was probably 7 pounds 2 ounces instead of 7 pounds 4 ounces like we thought. I know 2 ounces isn't much but when considering the amount of weight she's lost, it seems significant. When they weighed her, they said 4 ounces but the kgs they recorded converts to the lesser measurement.
Getting a bit anxious about being home this week. Not sure why--limited adult contact? Feeling like I'm having my mom babysit us too much? Just uncertainties and hormones? I don't know. Maybe we'll go to the mall and walk around some this week or go to a matinee or something. Maybe I can at least find the time to update with more pictures.
Someone is waking up...about time for one last feeding before bedtime.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Our little glow bug....
Friday morning we had our home health visit and discovered Isla's bilirubin was high. We started supplementing her feedings with formula but her level increased when we checked it again Saturday. Saturday afternoon a bili-blanket was delivered and we had to keep Isla on the blue light. The doctor said if her levels didn't get better with that, she'd have to go under the regular bili-beds in the hospital. We checked again Sunday and her level had dropped from 17.2 to 13-something. Yeah!! We kept her on the blanket until this afternoon and tomorrow we have to have more blood drawn. Meanwhile, the improvement in her jaundice had made a HUGE difference in her staying awake, her eating, and being alert. This kid has been CHOWING for the past 24 hours! Hopefully we'll be able to stop the supplemental formula after we find out her new levels tomorrow.
Grandma was here most of the day today with us and let me take a nice long nap this afternoon. I was also able to take the dogs for a walk. While we were gone, Isla had a really messy diaper and peed as Grandma was changing her. While my mom cleaned up the mess, she laid Isla in her big crib--her first time in her crib!! Mom said that Isla really liked the bright colors on the sheet on her bed.
So here's where things start getting to be TMI so you might want to stop reading, but I want to record some things before I forget.
It seems really bizarre---a week ago we were talking about how this Tuesday we'd be talking about inducing and how breaking my water would be challenging because of the pressure of the extra fluid. A little after 8:00 Monday evening, the possibility of induction was erased as my water broke on its own. Luckily I was at home. In the bathroom. On the toilet. What better place to be??? (Although I did flash to some of those episodes of I Didn't Even Know I Was Pregnant where the girl always has her baby in the bathroom.) The excess fluid levels had me gushing and gushing. I kept checking to make sure I couldn't feel anything--reading about the possibility of cord prolapse had me paranoid. When we left for the hospital I had to do so with a bath towel in my pants. P put trash bags and towels in the seat of the car and everything was soaked after the 5 minute drive to the hospital.
I was only 1 1/2 cm dilated and was firm at the doctor's office Monday. I wasn't having contractions so once I got the hospital they started Pitocin. The first time they checked me, I was at 2 cm. A few hours later, I hadn't made much progress and I'd started to feel the contractions. Since it was obvious that the process was going to take awhile, I decided to have the epidural. Luckily I asked for it before I really felt like I needed it. The first stick hit a vein so they couldn't use it. With the second stick they started medication but I still felt things. A lot. Basically my pain had gone from 6-7 to 5-6. After awhile we realized that it wasn't going to the right side of my body. They had me change positions, tried to adjust the epidural and finally decided it had to be redone. The anesthesiologist tried this time rather than the CRNA. Oh, magic drugs!!! My pain didn't get any higher than 2 for the rest of my hospital stay. And even with 3 sticks in the spine, no spinal headache! The CRNA who had done the first 2 sticks kept apologizing. I told P to tell him the next time he sees him that I'd rather things worked out this way than for him to have gotten it the first try but ended up with a spinal headache.
I wish we could have waited to start the Foley until the epidural kicked in rather than having it while I could still feel things. Oh well, at least with the Foley I was able to stop using the bed pan--they wouldn't let me walk to the bathroom since my water broke.
Anyway, with the epidural in place they cranked up the Pitocin but things were still moving pretty slowly. Finally, around 11 Tuesday morning the nurse was going to place an internal contractions monitor, checked me and exclaimed "hot damn!" Apparently she was surprised that I had progressed to 10 cm and was fully effaced. She couldn't place an internal monitor to monitor my contractions so it was going to be up to me to identify when I needed to push. I was surprised by how much I had to concentrate to know a contraction was coming. There was so much activity in the room and I was the only one who knew when I was contracting and I was only feeling the contractions at a 1-2 pain level. They asked if I wanted the mirror down to watch. At first I said no but then decided I wanted to be able to watch.
It was 11:50 when the nurse told someone to call Dr. S to come to the hospital--they said they called earlier than usual because of the possibility of lunchtime traffic. We did some practice pushing before the doctor got there and in the mirror I could see the top of Isla's head. Once Dr. S got there she got gowned up and I had more contractions. During the second round of pushing after the doctor got there, she told me to stop pushing. In the same second I realized what she was saying and what I was supposed to do, I looked up into the mirror and saw Isla squirming. P said as she slid out, Dr. S caught her but had some juggling to do to hang on to her. They showed her to me, then took her across the room to clean her up and check her Agpars. I could see lots of dark curls, skinny little feet and coloring that reminded me of a truly Puerto Rican baby! When they weighed her, I was shocked to hear that our baby who was expected to weigh over 8 pounds the week before was 7 pounds 4 ounces. And so beautiful. I loved her before she was born, but the moment I saw her, that love increased exponentially.
I watched P taking pictures of her, looking at her as the nurses cleaned her up. I know my mom squeezed my hand a few times. Most of what was going on was a blur. I looked up to see the doctor remove the placenta--reminded me of taking the innards out of a turkey. Then she started stitching me up. Every one moved around the room so fast. One by one people left the room and left me, P, and our baby. Our family. I didn't know my heart could feel so full.
I'll post more pictures in a bit.
Grandma was here most of the day today with us and let me take a nice long nap this afternoon. I was also able to take the dogs for a walk. While we were gone, Isla had a really messy diaper and peed as Grandma was changing her. While my mom cleaned up the mess, she laid Isla in her big crib--her first time in her crib!! Mom said that Isla really liked the bright colors on the sheet on her bed.
So here's where things start getting to be TMI so you might want to stop reading, but I want to record some things before I forget.
It seems really bizarre---a week ago we were talking about how this Tuesday we'd be talking about inducing and how breaking my water would be challenging because of the pressure of the extra fluid. A little after 8:00 Monday evening, the possibility of induction was erased as my water broke on its own. Luckily I was at home. In the bathroom. On the toilet. What better place to be??? (Although I did flash to some of those episodes of I Didn't Even Know I Was Pregnant where the girl always has her baby in the bathroom.) The excess fluid levels had me gushing and gushing. I kept checking to make sure I couldn't feel anything--reading about the possibility of cord prolapse had me paranoid. When we left for the hospital I had to do so with a bath towel in my pants. P put trash bags and towels in the seat of the car and everything was soaked after the 5 minute drive to the hospital.
I was only 1 1/2 cm dilated and was firm at the doctor's office Monday. I wasn't having contractions so once I got the hospital they started Pitocin. The first time they checked me, I was at 2 cm. A few hours later, I hadn't made much progress and I'd started to feel the contractions. Since it was obvious that the process was going to take awhile, I decided to have the epidural. Luckily I asked for it before I really felt like I needed it. The first stick hit a vein so they couldn't use it. With the second stick they started medication but I still felt things. A lot. Basically my pain had gone from 6-7 to 5-6. After awhile we realized that it wasn't going to the right side of my body. They had me change positions, tried to adjust the epidural and finally decided it had to be redone. The anesthesiologist tried this time rather than the CRNA. Oh, magic drugs!!! My pain didn't get any higher than 2 for the rest of my hospital stay. And even with 3 sticks in the spine, no spinal headache! The CRNA who had done the first 2 sticks kept apologizing. I told P to tell him the next time he sees him that I'd rather things worked out this way than for him to have gotten it the first try but ended up with a spinal headache.
I wish we could have waited to start the Foley until the epidural kicked in rather than having it while I could still feel things. Oh well, at least with the Foley I was able to stop using the bed pan--they wouldn't let me walk to the bathroom since my water broke.
Anyway, with the epidural in place they cranked up the Pitocin but things were still moving pretty slowly. Finally, around 11 Tuesday morning the nurse was going to place an internal contractions monitor, checked me and exclaimed "hot damn!" Apparently she was surprised that I had progressed to 10 cm and was fully effaced. She couldn't place an internal monitor to monitor my contractions so it was going to be up to me to identify when I needed to push. I was surprised by how much I had to concentrate to know a contraction was coming. There was so much activity in the room and I was the only one who knew when I was contracting and I was only feeling the contractions at a 1-2 pain level. They asked if I wanted the mirror down to watch. At first I said no but then decided I wanted to be able to watch.
It was 11:50 when the nurse told someone to call Dr. S to come to the hospital--they said they called earlier than usual because of the possibility of lunchtime traffic. We did some practice pushing before the doctor got there and in the mirror I could see the top of Isla's head. Once Dr. S got there she got gowned up and I had more contractions. During the second round of pushing after the doctor got there, she told me to stop pushing. In the same second I realized what she was saying and what I was supposed to do, I looked up into the mirror and saw Isla squirming. P said as she slid out, Dr. S caught her but had some juggling to do to hang on to her. They showed her to me, then took her across the room to clean her up and check her Agpars. I could see lots of dark curls, skinny little feet and coloring that reminded me of a truly Puerto Rican baby! When they weighed her, I was shocked to hear that our baby who was expected to weigh over 8 pounds the week before was 7 pounds 4 ounces. And so beautiful. I loved her before she was born, but the moment I saw her, that love increased exponentially.
I watched P taking pictures of her, looking at her as the nurses cleaned her up. I know my mom squeezed my hand a few times. Most of what was going on was a blur. I looked up to see the doctor remove the placenta--reminded me of taking the innards out of a turkey. Then she started stitching me up. Every one moved around the room so fast. One by one people left the room and left me, P, and our baby. Our family. I didn't know my heart could feel so full.
I'll post more pictures in a bit.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
What a week!
So much to say, so little time to update. Hopefully I can find the time in the next few days to sit down and write out everything that happened Monday-Tuesday.
Happy Birthday Isla!!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Not much to update....
Still pregnant. Isla's been moving around a ton today. I've been so hungry the past few days and overall, so tired. Yesterday I had a burst of energy for about 2 hours, but that was all there was. P's been on call all weekend and has been gone a lot. Friday night he had to leave at midnight and as soon as he did, the strongest Braxton Hicks contractions I've had decided to show up. That didn't really relax me to go back to sleep. The BHs were kind of funny though---I felt everything contract and then Isla seemed to try to pop it back out like it was crowding her. Anyway in another 10 hours he'll have his call weekend for the month over with and we won't have to worry about it. I think he's on call on a Wednesday in the next week or two--hopefully that will go better than this weekend did.
I set up a page online to guess Isla's weight, length, date and time of birth. Go to www.expectnet.com/games/wheresisla to see the guesses and enter your own.
I set up a page online to guess Isla's weight, length, date and time of birth. Go to www.expectnet.com/games/wheresisla to see the guesses and enter your own.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
37 weeks....full term!
Isla measured 8 pounds, 5 ounces today on ultrasound. Even if the measurement is off by a pound, she's going to be a big baby if she waits 3 more weeks. The doctor covering the maternal fetal med clinic at the hospital today told me to come back in 2 weeks if I'm still pregnant and they'd check another ultrasound.
Meanwhile she was head down today--yeah!!!--and my amniotic fluid levels haven't risen anymore. He said they classify the levels as mild, moderate, or severe based on the measurement and I'm on the borderline between mild and severe. Um, wouldn't between mild and severe BE moderate? I think he misspoke. Anyway, this doctor was very reassuring that things are going to happen in whatever time frame they happen in and that there's absolutely no reason not to just let nature take its course and let Isla do whatever she decides to do. The fluid might be an issue, might not. Her size might be an issue, might not. She might flip back around, might not. No need to worry about any of it, just know that when things start happening, they'll deal with whatever comes up. There's no reason to assume I can't have a vaginal delivery just like Mother Nature designed things, but the overall goal is healthy mom, healthy baby and if she doesn't engage or she's breech again or her head is too big for my pelvis, a c-section is fine. Just focus on healthy mom, healthy baby.
He was also very reassuring that everything he'd seen on my ultrasound and past ultrasounds suggested no reason for the fluid and he's confident that I fall into the unknown reasons category and its frequently bigger babies that have the excess fluid.
So its time to hurry up and wait. Everything in the house is ready. P's had January 12th in his head for awhile. On December 14th I said it was going to be one more month and she'll come January 14th. Now that those dates are next week, I'm thinking more January 18th. I know its possible and all first time moms think they're not going to go to 40 weeks, but I really hope she doesn't end up over 10 pounds.
Overall I'm feeling much better than I was week and 2 weeks ago. Working 20 hours a week has helped with the fluid retention TREMENDOUSLY, allowed me to get much more rest, and just generally allowed me to decompress a bit. And I feel enough better during the 20 hours I'm at work that I'm probably getting more accomplished than I was in 40 hours before.
Oh, but I do hope she doesn't decide to come this weekend. P's on call all weekend. Watch him get called in for surgery at 3:00 Sunday morning and my water break at 4:00 and I have to track him down!
I haven't looked at the pics from today's ultrasound yet. If any of them are good, I'll post some after while. The tech was amazed by how much hair Isla has--apparently its thick and long.
More later...
Meanwhile she was head down today--yeah!!!--and my amniotic fluid levels haven't risen anymore. He said they classify the levels as mild, moderate, or severe based on the measurement and I'm on the borderline between mild and severe. Um, wouldn't between mild and severe BE moderate? I think he misspoke. Anyway, this doctor was very reassuring that things are going to happen in whatever time frame they happen in and that there's absolutely no reason not to just let nature take its course and let Isla do whatever she decides to do. The fluid might be an issue, might not. Her size might be an issue, might not. She might flip back around, might not. No need to worry about any of it, just know that when things start happening, they'll deal with whatever comes up. There's no reason to assume I can't have a vaginal delivery just like Mother Nature designed things, but the overall goal is healthy mom, healthy baby and if she doesn't engage or she's breech again or her head is too big for my pelvis, a c-section is fine. Just focus on healthy mom, healthy baby.
He was also very reassuring that everything he'd seen on my ultrasound and past ultrasounds suggested no reason for the fluid and he's confident that I fall into the unknown reasons category and its frequently bigger babies that have the excess fluid.
So its time to hurry up and wait. Everything in the house is ready. P's had January 12th in his head for awhile. On December 14th I said it was going to be one more month and she'll come January 14th. Now that those dates are next week, I'm thinking more January 18th. I know its possible and all first time moms think they're not going to go to 40 weeks, but I really hope she doesn't end up over 10 pounds.
Overall I'm feeling much better than I was week and 2 weeks ago. Working 20 hours a week has helped with the fluid retention TREMENDOUSLY, allowed me to get much more rest, and just generally allowed me to decompress a bit. And I feel enough better during the 20 hours I'm at work that I'm probably getting more accomplished than I was in 40 hours before.
Oh, but I do hope she doesn't decide to come this weekend. P's on call all weekend. Watch him get called in for surgery at 3:00 Sunday morning and my water break at 4:00 and I have to track him down!
I haven't looked at the pics from today's ultrasound yet. If any of them are good, I'll post some after while. The tech was amazed by how much hair Isla has--apparently its thick and long.
More later...
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Marcel Marceau trying to get out of a box....
That's what movements have felt like today. Isla is a mime stuck in a box--I feel her here, then here, then here...all over. She keeps trying to push her way out through my belly and I've told her she has to swim DOWN to find the exit. She's not listening. Not many Braxton Hicks this weekend so I'll be surprised if I'm more than 1 cm tomorrow. I haven't been nesting, but I've been feeling very much like a hermit. We went to Wal-Mart early Saturday morning. We got back at 7:30 yesterday morning and I didn't even step outside again until 7:30 this evening when ice cream called me to the gas station on the corner. Tomorrow I have to go back to work, then the chiropractor, then the doctor. And I have to stop by the bank. Hopefully I'll be back home by 3:00--I'm really liking the naps these days. They help so much since I don't sleep well at night.
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