Not Good

We took Zoe in to get weighed again today and she lost an oz since Monday. Now she is back to 6 lbs, 5 oz. Our regular nurse and Dr. weren't there so I'm going to take her back on Friday to see if she has gained and hopefully will be able to talk to the Dr. We have started feeding her out of a bottle so we know she is eating decently. She eats about 2 oz every 3 hours. The nurse we did see today said we shouldn't be concerned since she is alert and happy and doesn't show any signs of not getting enough to eat. I'm just worried about the fact that she still hasn't got back up to her birth weight. Hopefully we will see some improvement on Friday.

She's growing

We took Zoe back in today to have her weighed. She's back up to 6 lbs, 6 oz. We will take her back on Wednesday and hope that she is back up to her birth weight.

The ladies at the clinic love her already. The all get so excited when we walk in the door. After we left the clinic we had a couple other errands to run. Corey had to stop by the police station to check his desk and his boss came in and told us that he just talked to his wife and she was so mad because she didn't know that we were at the clinic until after we had left. OOPS!

With Aunt Maggie and her date before Prom!

Breastfeeding issues

Breastfeeding isn't as natural of a thing as I thought it was. It really is difficult. Now, I knew going in that it wasn't going to be easy, it was going to hurt and we were going to have to work together to make it work. I didn't know that Zoe may not latch on right away if at all, I didn't know it would be so difficult for her to pull the milk down and I didn't know she was going to fight me so much when she was ready to eat. After fighting with her for over a week trying to get her to latch on and using the nipple shield I finally was at my wit's end yesterday. I cried almost all afternoon. I decided I was going to pump through the night and see how that went. Well, I hate it even more. I hated that I sat on the couch all alone and pumped every three hours and then because I had just been up Corey would wake up with Zoe to feed her from the bottle I had pumped. I missed being the one feeding her. Plus, as the night went on I started getting less and less milk. I think I'm finally to the point where we are just going to give her formula. I'm racked with guilt because of this but it's not fair to her for me to dread the time to come when she is ready to eat. I can't continue to fight with her at every feeding just to get her to eat and she much prefers the bottle it seems. I know all that matters is that she is eating and healthy. I also know my milk is best but at this point is just seems so much better for both of us to admit defeat and find the best way for her to eat and be healthy. She is going in on Monday for a weight check and then I will make my final decision regarding the formula. Any opinions and/or suggestions?

Birth Story

Wednesday morning we arrived at the hospital at 7 am. The nurse met us at the nurses station and took us straight to our room. She had me change into my gown and provide an urine specimen. She tested the urine and told me that my protein level was up to a 3+. Then she got me into bed and hooked up to the monitor. After this she took some blood and started my IV. She told us that my Dr. was doing a C-Section but would be in shortly. Several time throughtout the next 2 hours another nurse kept coming in giving updates on the C-Section saying that it was taking a little longer than expected. Around 9 am the Dr. finally came in and checked me. I was about 80% effaced and a fingertip dilated. He started the Pitocin at around 9:15. Around 11 he came in to check me again. I was now at a 1. After this we walked the halls for about half an hour and then I bounced on the ball for a little while. I was still feeling pretty good. I was starting to feel the contractions at this point but they weren't hurting. My back however was killing me. No position was comfortable and the ball wasn't even helping at this point. The Dr. came back in around 1 and checked me again, still at a 1. I was slowly started to get frustrated but wasn't in pain so I wasn't too concerned. The Dr. decided to up the Pitocin and watch me for awhile. At this point I started to have horrible cramps and my contractions were back to back with no rest in between. The Dr. said this was because my uterus was becoming over stimulated from the Pitocin. He immediately had the nurse shut it off and wait 30 minutes. After we waited they started the Pitocin at half the level they started at at 9 am. We slowly worked our way back up and around 3:30 the Dr. came back in to check me(again). I was still at a 1. At this point I was extremely frustrated. I just wanted to cry. He told me that he would come back in a hour and check me again but he really didn't want to wait much longer due to my protein level even though my blood pressure was looking good. Also, through all of this the baby was doing wonderful. She was experiencing no stress at all. At 4:30 he came in again, still at a 1. This time he said he would come back in an hour and at that point we would need to make a decision regarding a C-Section. At 5:30, I was still at a 1 and he basically told me that we needed to get the baby out even though she was okay at that point, he didn't want to take any chances. He told us we could either do it then or wait until morning. Him and the nurse left the room and Corey and I discussed it and since I was already so frustrated and in tears we decided to just do it that night.

The nurse came back in and started to prep me for surgery. I got another IV and had to drink some horrible shot of something to neutralize my stomach acid. The anaestesiologist came and explained what he would be doing when we got in the OR. The surgery nurse came in and wheeled me into the OR. My Dr. was in there along with two other Drs. the OR nurse the scrub tech, the anaestesiologist and the nurse we had been with all day. They got me ready for the spinal. Corey was standing in front of me and they got started. It really didn't hurt like I thought it would but it was very uncomfortable. Corey started to feel dizzy and said something. I was surprised at how everyone in the room immediately tended to him leaving me on the table all hunched over with a needle in my back. I was fine and we laugh about it now. They started the C-Section and Zoe Claire was born at 7:02 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz and was 19 inches long. They took her to the nursery and Corey went with them.

The C-Section was not near as bad as I was expecting. I felt nauseous through most of it but did okay. When they were stitching me back up I did dry heave a little but the anaestesiologist leaned down and explained to me that they were tugging on my stomach muscles and that was to be expected. About 7:45 they wheeled me to the Recovery Room where they checked my vitals, gave me something for the itching and let me lay there for a few minutes. It wasn't too much longer and they wheeled me into my room and got me situated. Shortly after this Corey came in with Zoe and there we were, a family of THREE!

My recovery has been smooth. I thougth I was able to get up around 11 so I buzzed the nurses and they helped me up. I could stand but not walk. Around midnight I thought I could walk again so I buzzed the nurses again. They helped me and made me walk the hallway. This was excrutiating but I did it. Since I could walk they took out my catheter and put me to bed. The next day I was doing much better walking on my own even though I was hunched over(I even took a shower on my own). By Friday, I was getting around great. At this point I'm feeling pretty good, however when I try to cut back on my pain meds I'm in a bit of pain. I just need to stay on top of it.

We are doing great! Zoe eats and sleeps like a champ. I'm nursing and even though I have to use a nipple shield, due to flat nipples, she is doing great.

Introducing...

ZOE CLAIRE!!!






Zoe was born on Wednesday, April 15th at 7:02 pm. She weighed 6 lbs, 9 oz and was 19 inches long. They started the pitocin around 9 am and by 5:30 I was still only dilated to a 1 and not feeling the contractions so my Dr. decided not to wait it out anymore and we went ahead with a c-section. We are both doing good, just trying to get the hang of nursing right now. Luckily, Corey saw one of the nurses from the Dr.'s office at Wal-Mart yesterday and when she asked how we were doing he told her how I was concerned that she wasn't getting enough to eat from me and I was just generally stressed out. She was so nice and actually came over to our house today to work with me and Zoe. She was amazed at how much milk I actually had at this point and after watching Zoe eat she was confident that she was getting enough and that I have nothing to worry about. She still can't latch on without the nipple shield but she is getting milk from it so it's okay to keep using it. I will post a more detailed post later, I'm just really tired and still trying to get the hang of this.

This is it

Induction scheduled for Wednesday! I'm nervous but ready for her to be here.

Induction

I went for my NST yesterday and the baby did excellent. Her heart accelerations were perfect. I, however, was not doing so well. I told the nurse about some spotty vision I have been having and when she took my blood pressure it was high. She let me lay there through the NST and then took my blood pressure again and it had gone down. My Dr. decided to order a urine sample and my portein level had gone from 1+ on Tuesday to 2+ yesterday. After this he ordered some bloodwork and an u/s. Again, the baby looked great and they are estimating her weight to be 7 lbs 2 oz. We're all hoping she is a little smaller, including the Dr.

After all of this, he told me that he wants me to go back in on Monday to repeat everything that was done yesterday. If things have gotten worse he will induce me immediately and if not then he will induce me, however, I'm not going to share that date so that people I know IRL won't bombard me with calls the days leading up to it or judge the fact that I'm being induced when it isn't even my choice. I had my blood pressure checked today and it was still down so hopefully it will stay that way.

37 Weeks

FULL TERM!!!

We made it. She can come anytime now and I would be THRILLED! My days are getting so long and miserable. I can't move, my body aches and I'm tired! I've been bouncing like crazy on my ball and taking walks. I'm making Corey have sex tonight whether he likes it or not. I'm just getting desperate.

I went to the Dr. yesterday and some things concerned him so I will be going in tomorrow for a NST just to make sure baby is still doing okay. If not, we will discuss inducing. I'm really hoping the full moon tomorrow will get things going for me. I want today's picture to be my last. My face is so FAT. I showed Corey a picture from early on and then today's picture and he said "you did change quite a bit"!

Oh and I obviously can't even keep my eyes open when I smile at this point.

Freezing Meals

So I had this great idea to make some meals and freeze them since I'm sure cooking will not be high on my to do list once the baby comes. Well, it's a great idea but man it wear me out. I made two meals yesterday and plan to make three more today, one being chili so that won't take much work. I can't even bring myself to get up and get busy. I know it's going to drain me and then I'm already so tired. I have been having such a hard time trying to sleep lately and it's starting to catch up with me.

Yesterday after I had been cooking for a while my feet started to swell pretty bad, pretty fast! It started out with just my left foot and after I laid down and put my feet up they both just got worse. By the time Corey got home from work you couldn't see my ankles. We were both kind of concerned but figured we would see what happened overnight. This morning they are better, you can at least see my ankles, but the shoes I wore to church, which are 2 sizes bigger than my normal size, were tight. I guess I will see what the Dr. says about that on Tuesday.

I also stopped at Wal-Mart on my way home from church and bought an exercise ball. Once Corey gets that thing inflated I will be a bouncing fool. I don't think this little girl is ready to make her way into the world yet but I'm hoping to speed things up a little bit. We will see.

36 weeks

I don't have much to report today since I told you everything yesterday. I think I forgot to show you a pair of booties that someone made for us. They are absolutely adorable.





This is just becoming down right scary!


Aren't they adorable?!