Pregnancy Ticker

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fischer's Birth Story - Part II


“You are doing great! If this is what we need to meet Fischer then you can do it. I know this wasn’t in the plans but you can get through this.”

He really stepped up and was being am amazing coach. It is now 4:45 pm and my midwife decides to check me before starting the Pit. I am still 2 cm dilated. Here comes the IV. . .

Once the Pit was started we could no longer be intermittently monitored so there I was on a leash, so to speak. Before the IV I only had to be monitored for 15 minutes every hour and was free to roam where I pleased. The fetal monitor would not stay put because my belly was so round that it would roll off every time I moved. The Pit started to kick in about a half hour after starting the IV and the waves were feeling more productive already. Jimmy was great at getting me on the birthing ball and putting counter pressure on my back. The thing that felt the best was when the nurses would microwave my rice sock and place that on my lower back. During this phase of labor my favorite position was to stand up and lean into Jimmy and sway my hips back and forth. It was amazing that when I would feel a wave coming on my light switch would instantly be turned to the off position and I moved my anesthesia to where I needed it. My Hypnobabies training was working without even thinking about it.

I must say it was quite a chore to go to the bathroom since Jimmy would have to disconnect the monitors, put the IV on battery power and gather up all the cords to roll me into the bathroom. He had to stand there in the doorway helpless when  a wave would hit while I was trying to pee.

At 8:30 pm my midwife came back in to check me, since the Pit had several hours to start working. I had progressed to 3 cm and 70% effaced now. She also realized that it was my hind waters that were leaking and that my bag hadn’t completely broken. This could be the reason things are going so slowly. We kept up the birthing ball positions, nipple stimulation and reflexology to keep things going.  Jimmy and I were both losing hope that he was going to be born on June 10, 2011 and it was looking more and more like we would be at this the next day too. Our poor parents and siblings down in the waiting room were refusing to go home and kept bugging Jimmy for information that we just didn’t have. All we could say was “things are progressing”.  I know that wasn’t what they wanted to hear but it was all we had.
Hours go by with waves coming every 2-3 minutes lasting sometimes a minute. I keep saying to myself through each wave “open, open, open”. It is now 11:00 pm, the 18-hour mark. My midwife informs me that we now have to start antibiotics since it has been 18 hours from when my water broke. I have now made it to 4 cm and 80% effaced. Jimmy and I discussed it and decided she should break my fore-waters to get him engaged. That made adrenaline start pumping through my body causing me to shake uncontrollably. That was the weirdest feeling. It was making standing through the pressure waves much more difficult. My body was starting to get really exhausted from being up for almost 24 hours.

It is now 3:00 am, Saturday morning and my midwife comes to check me again. Yes, I made it to 5 cm already and 100% effaced. I haven’t even made it to active phase yet. At this point I am seriously thinking that I will be pregnant forever and he just doesn’t want to come out. Fischer’s heart rate is still cool and collected; he is handling the waves and the Pit very well. I am incredibly exhausted now and my body just won’t stand up anymore but it is not comfortable to sit down or lay in bed. I am running on no sleep for 22 hours and Jimmy can tell that I am getting worn down. I am handling the pressure waves just fine, the hypnosis does work.
 I could not believe the words that are about to come out of my mouth. . .

“I need to an epidural. . .”

To be continued


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Monday, June 20, 2011

Fischer's birth story - Part 1


Fischer’s birth story actually starts back a few months when I decided I wanted to use Hypnosis for his birth. After researching Hypnobirthing and Hypnobabies (HB), we went with HB. HB teaches you that your due date is just a “guess date”, babies are born on their birthdays, and there is a hypnosis track called “Visualize Your Birth”. From all the birth stories I read the women said they would visualize the day they wanted labor to begin and their labor started at that time. I remember being 6 months pregnant telling my Mom that when I visualize his birth I see June 11, 2011 as his birthday. Fischer’s birth story starts here . . .

It was just like any other night out with Jimmy on Thursday, June 9; dinner, errands and cuddle time on the sofa. Before we went to bed he said to me “I really don’t want to go to work tomorrow so let’s get this kid out”. He got his wish cause at 4:30 am Friday morning I went to the bathroom for my 100,057,403 potty break that night when as soon as I sat on the toilet I felt a gush! I thought, “wow I really had to pee” but then I began peeing for real. So what was that fluid a second ago? Amniotic fluid? I started thinking that my water had just broken; I cleaned myself up and put a pad in. I knew it had broken when I started walking around and it just kept coming out. Looking back now I should have known at this moment that the birth I had visualized just went out the window except one thing . . . his birthday.

I waited around until 5:00 am to wake Jimmy up. I think I was in a little bit of denial for that half hour. Poor guy, he just came to bed at 1:30, just like every other night. I go into wake him up by saying:

“Honey, I think my water just broke”

He replies “Okaaayyy”  and rolls over to go back to sleep.

“No, my water broke. We are having a baby”

“Okay, what do you want me to do?”

About 30 seconds later it hit him. We both knew that since my pressure waves hadn’t started that this was going to be a long day. We took our time heading to the hospital. I took a shower and got dressed and ate breakfast since I knew I wouldn’t be getting much once I got the hospital. We made a video of the house so we have evidence of what it looked like before kids and how quiet it is at 5:00 am.
At 6:30 am we head out the door to Labor and Delivery. It’s a good think I wasn’t in active labor because he missed the exit to the hospital and had to take a different route that was under construction. It would not have been an easy ride for sure. We are admitted at 7:10 am and they get me situated in the bed so they can monitor him and test my pad for amniotic fluid. The nurse barely touched it with the test strip and it turned bright blue. We are having our baby, finally! The nurses call my midwife to let her know that I am admitted and we won’t be making our 10:40 appointment. My midwife comes into see me and check my progress; I am only 2 cm, 60% effaced. Time to start walking the halls, sucking on my Dum Dums and nipple stimulation. We need to get this thing moving. There is a pressure point on the roof of your mouth that can help jump start labor, hence the Dum Dums.

At this point I am getting waves but they do not feel effective. They are coming every 3-5 minutes but feel more like Braxton Hicks and not true waves. I go on like this until we reach the 12-hour mark. My midwife suggests Pit to jump start things. This is exactly the thing I was trying to avoid. In my head I know Pit means a snowball of interventions can start. She reassures me that she won’t let that happen. She knows I want a natural birth but this is what happens when your water breaks first. Fischer has been doing beautifully; his heart rate is calm and perfect. I couldn’t help but start crying because just like with trying to conceive things are not going according to our plan. Jimmy tells me:

“You are doing great! If this is what we need to meet Fischer then you can do it. I know this wasn’t in the plans but you can get through this.”

He really stepped up and was being am amazing coach. It is now 4:45 pm and my midwife decides to check me before starting the Pit. I am still 2 cm dilated. Here comes the IV. . .

To be continued...

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

40 weeks!

Since the little one is napping and I am eating breakfast, I thought it only fitting I post on Fischer's due date. Today I would have been 40 weeks pregnant. I am in the middle of writing my birth story and will post it soon. I will tell you that it was long since my water broke before labor started and it just dragged on and on. I spent 4 hours pushing which should have only taken a few pushes according to my midwife but we did not know his head was coming out sideways. Ouch, but I did it not natural but vaginal and that is all I could ask for. It was his birth and it was still beautiful. I don't regret one second of how is birthday happened.


We are all doing really well. My recovery is happening very quickly, yesterday all the swelling was gone and I felt a ton better. Fischer took to breast-feeding wonderfully after the first day. My milk came in on Day 2 and he is eating it up. He sleeps about 2 to 3 1/2 hours at night with little fuss to go back down. As soon as his Daddy swaddles him he is back out. We are loving every single nano second of being parents. Our journey to our baby has ended and now we begin a journey with our baby.


Best Moment of the week: Duh, meeting my son for the first time, okay and the final push. The moment she laid him on my chest I was in love. He didn't even cry just gave a little whimper.

Epiphany of the week: I always knew this to be true, but my husband is the best. He will be the best father to Fischer. He loves swaddling him himself and laying with him chest to chest. 

Entertaining question/comment of the week: My midwife checks me because I told her I felt I was ready to start pushing. Sure enough she checks and his head is right there, about an inch for crowning. She keeps telling me throughout pushing that he is almost here just a few more pushes and finally I said, "you said that 3 hours ago!". They all just laughed and kept on encouraging me.

Obsessions: Kissing ever inch of his perfect little body.

What I am most looking forward to this week: Spending our days together as one little happy family.
What I miss the most: Nothing.

Symptoms: The swelling from my feet and legs has almost completely gone away. Of course my nipples are tender but not too bad, at least they aren't cracked and bleeding.

Milestones: I think this one is obvious - becoming a MOMMY!


Early labor phase - sucking on a Dum Dum pacing the halls

Where's the milk, Mom?

I think this is the most beautiful face I have ever seen!


Our view from the recovery room, sometimes I really love Florida


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Monday, June 13, 2011

Our son has arrived

Fischer James Pollard arrived Saturday, June 11, 2011 after 34 hours of labor!

8 lbs 6 oz. And 21 inches long

It was long, hard, exhausting and hands down the most amazing thing I have experienced.

We are being discharged today and will post a ton of pics as soon as I can. Mom and baby are doing amazing.

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

39 Weeks!

Two big milestones happening this week: I am a week from my due date and today is my last day of work!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have 3 months off, not having to wake up early to leave the house (I know I will be waking up for other reasons but those reasons make me smile), packing my lunch the night before and wondering if I have any clean work pants.

My doctors appointment this week isn't until Friday, two whole days. ugh!I am still thinking my guess date is Saturday, June 11th. I have felt this date would be his birthday for months for some reason. I am interested to see if mother's intuition kicked in early.Truthfully he can come any day now, the anticipation is killing me. I feel like I did 10 months ago thinking I will never be pregnant, I will never be a mother. I am starting to think I am going to be pregnant forever and there is no baby at the end. It was all a big joke. Rationally I know that is not true, he can't stay in there forever, but since when has hormones let us be rational.

He is still the size of a watermelon this week. I feel like I am carrying around a watermelon too!
 
Best Moment of the week: I'm gonna say that it will be tomorrow when I know I am officially on maternity leave!

Epiphany of the week: Don't sit on a leather sofa with shorts on because you will stick to the leather and then not be able to get off the sofa. I couldn't get enough momentum to thrust forward to un-stick myself, too front heavy!

Entertaining question/comment of the week: This one has to come from The Captain. In Hypnobabies you change terminology to have a positive mindset, contractions are called pressure waves. I had told him this but I didn't think he was really listening or reading his birth partner study guide, boy did he prove me wrong. Last night he had to run to Wal-mart and said "call me if you start having pressure waves while I am out". I just stood there shocked that he obviously has been doing his studying.

Obsessions: When am I gonna get to meet this little guy?

What I am most looking forward to this week: Sleeping in until the baby arrives.
 
What I miss the most: Nothing.

Symptoms: I can't wait for the swelling to go away. I have about reached my patience level with these cankles!The swelling has moved up my legs to my knees.

Milestones: Baby's now the size of a watermelon!
Baby's brain is still developing rapidly, and his skin has taken on a paler shade thanks to a thicker layer of fat around the blood vessels. (Don't worry; he'll change color again soon after birth.) He's now able to flex his limbs, and his nails might extend past his fingertips. *Courtesy of TheBump.com



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Friday, June 3, 2011

slowly but surely...

Slowly but surely I am going to have this baby. Just got back from our 38 week appointment and I am still 1 cm dilated but am now 50% effaced and my cervix is soft. The baby has made his way down to -2 station. The midwife said that last week they had an arrow up for the baby's station which meant that his head was still high. No wonder I have felt more pressure on everything this last week, it is only going to get worse. 

Everyone keeps telling me that when they do a cervical check that it is painful. I enter into hypnosis right before each check and I gotta say I don't feel anything while she is checking me. My midwife says "I know lots of pressure right now" and I just smile cause I don't feel it. Maybe it is the hypnosis, I think it actually does work. 

I am okay with making it to my due date but I don't want to go much further past it cause my sister comes into town on the 25th and I would like to already be home when she gets here. I know, I know it is not up to me but I hope your listening Baby P...

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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

38 weeks!

OMG I'm having a baby!

A baby.

A tiny human being.

That I am responsible for. 

For-evah!

In two weeks (plus or minus) he will be here and I can't freakin' believe it. It's really starting to hit me that I am having a baby. I know that I am pregnant and at the end it produces a baby but I think it finally hit me that there is actually going to be a living, breathing, totally dependent baby. We have been in this countdown/waiting state for over 3 years now of "when we have a baby". Being pregnant has just been more dreaming, imagining, and planning on a baby. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone else but to me, I guess, I never really sat and thought about the fact that he is no longer a dream or a figment of my imagination. He's real and he is almost here. We are getting so stinkin' excited to meet him, I don't care how hard labor is going to be or how long. I know that with each pressure wave I am one step closer to meeting my son and that puts a smile on my face. Finally!

Last night The Captain was tyring so hard to convince him how nice it is outside of the womb and that we want to play with him and meet him. I think he had his hands over his ears cause it sure didn't make a difference. The Captain has really started to get more comfortable taking to my belly and playing with him, it's too bad it's near the end.

I'm having a baby. Oh my Gawd!

Best Moment of the week: Floating in the pool all day on Monday, it felt so good.

Epiphany of the week: I need to take a tour of the hospital or at least find out what door we have to go in.

Entertaining question/comment of the week: My cousin's prediction date is June 4 so she calls and leaves me a voice mail. "Tonight you will go for a long walk and have sex. Tomorrow morning you are to have sex. Tomorrow night repeat long walk and again have sex. You will repeat this until June 3rd cause you have 3 days to get that baby out of you so my prediction can be right!"

Obsessions: What does he look like? When am I going to get to meet him?

What I am most looking forward to this week: Friday's appointment. 
What I miss the most: Nothing really.

Symptoms: I can't wait for the swelling to go away. I have about reached my patience level with these cankles!

Milestones: Baby's now the size of a watermelon!
The last bits of vernix caseosa (the white goo keeping baby's skin moist) and lanugo (downy hair) are slowly shedding into your amniotic fluid. Baby's head is about the same circumference as his abdomen, and his head could be covered in an inch or so of hair. *Courtesy of TheBump.com

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