I can't believe I'm not writting my birth story! I went in on 2/11 to be induced. Got there at about 7:15am and after all the admission paperwork and Dr. Marshall arrived to give instructions pitocin actually started at 10am or so. The bad news was when the Dr. checked me I was NOT dilated AT ALL. It's like I went backwards a little bit but I still had confidence that the pitocin would take effect and I'd dilate. I'd never had a problem with dilation with my other 3 kids so why would I have trouble now. I would be SOOOO wrong. Everyone was nice and everything but it just really felt like torture. Being hooked up to an IV, a blood pressure cuff AND the baby heart rate monitor + the contraction monitor and being confined to the bed can do a number on you. And it's not like you can just move around ON the bed, I had to be in a certain position or the baby's heart rate would dissapear and the nurse would have to come in and find him again. Anyway, a nurse checked me (she was not super experienced) and she could not reach my cervix but said she would have the Dr. in L&D check me once she was out of a csection. Dr. Nelson came in at about 1am, checked me....I can tell by the amount of reaching effort she was making that I was still waaay high up and probably not dilated. When she was done checking, she was like you are a "loose" 1cm BUT she was able to strip my membranes!! She was just like, we'll turn up the pitocin and see where that takes you. I was SO tired and hungry by then that I remembered what Dr. Marshall said. If no progress by the time they check me, stop pitocin take a break and eat. So that's what I did. I ate at 2am and I was starving! So did that, took a nice hot shower and slept sitting up cause I could not bear to lay down on my side anymore. on 2/12 I woke up, they started Pitocin, teased me with feeding me breakfast then said "nope sorry nevermind". Dr. Marshall came to check on me and told me that if I didn't dilate by the evening the only choice was c-section. I really didn't want that and I had hope that Day 2 would work. I was super uncomfortable all day again and hungry and tired (and bored). I could not believe this kid was just not coming! So the Dr. checked me at about 4pm but I just had a feeling nothing had happened...Serg and I discussed just doing c-section and he's SOOOO against it. He would have let me decide in the end but I know he would have hated me getting one. He still gets angry at the fact that I had one with Alexis. So we could have had our little one yesterday but I didn't want to do it with him not being happy about it so the Dr. called Dr. Marshall, asked him if they could discharge us and see if we can wait around for a few more days and see if he comes on his own. The Dr. returned a few minutes later and said that Dr. Marshall said we COULD go home but we have to go to NST on Thursday for monitoring AND go to Labor and Delivery on Sunday morning to have the baby. That basically means that if I'm NOT dilated anymore and they can't rupture my water bag when I arrive it's an automatic c-section. I'll be 40 weeks + 4 days. I will actually be overdue which is just crazy to me. I am wondering if this baby is different because of the Single Umbilical Artery issue they diagnosed me with at 16-17 weeks. Not sure but I just hope he's ok and remains ok until he decides to come. I slept really well last night. My right hand hurt soo bad yesterday from the IV and was really swollen but I took two tylenols for pain which helped a little bit. It's not swollen anymore which is good. Sergio took me to this Sushi teriyaki place for lunch and I practically licked the plate clean. I had shrimp and veggie tempura, white rice, fried chicken strips w/teriyaki, small salad, and 4-5 sushi rolls. SOOO good. Then we went to walmart to walk a little and get some TP and I got some caramel popcorn cause I wanted something sweet. I ate a little too much of it but it was good. Then for dinner (i should have skipped it since we had a late lunch) we had green chile small pork ribs, some spanish rice and beans. I had a bad heartburn when I woke up because I fell asleep on the couch about 40 min after eating so I had to take a tums and proped myself up with a few pillows to get more sleep. Status as of this morning, I have throbbing feeling down below and I keep having BM which means I was backed up! When I went to wipe I saw a huge glob of my MP. Soooo gross I kinda freaked out which is weird being that I was expecting to see it last week....but now with the failed inductions and all the expectations I had beforehand, I'm just really NOT expecting things to happen as they should. I remembered again that Dr. Nelson actually stripped my membranes early yesterday morning so MAYBE just maybe that actually did do something and I will start dilating on my own soon. Plus, Dr. mentioned that Dr. marshall said that the 2 days on pitocin may have actually helped soften/prepare things a little more than they would have otherwise on their own. We are going off for a nice long walk in an hour or so to see if walking will help. I actually feel so much more tender down there and I feel like I am actually walking like a pregnant person which has not been the case this whole pregnancy for the most part. Here's hoping for another VBAC in the next few days, if not on Sunday! Regardless my son will be born by 2/17/12.
At my last 39 week Dr. appt I went in there with assurance that I had indeed dilated and THIS time the doc would be able to strip my membranes and the baby would have been delivered for SURE this weekend. That would not be the case. I was only 1 fingertip dilated making membrane sweep impossible but I did make a little progress with effacing from 50% last week to 70%. My induction date was scheduled for 2/11 and I just had this strong feeling that I would not make it to that day. Well here we are and this is the last time I will be waking up pregnant....on 2/11. I am going in to Labor and Delivery at 7:30am. I am not sure what I'm feeling right now. I've always said that "birth day" is my very favorite day. I get to meet my new son, and I will be back to "normal". I'm actually a little bit scared which I really wasn't with Gabriel. I think it was because I had such a miserable pregnancy with him and no amount of pain I was up against could be worse that all the things I went through with him. This has been a great pregnancy....the end was harder because of contractions and such but I can't really complain toooo much. I missed church the past few weeks and that was just because I could not bear sitting there going through contractions and people constantly asking "WHEN WHEN WHEN"....so annoying. Anyway, I'm getting ready to head out now. I'm hoping this baby will be no more than 8 1/2 pounds but we shall see. The past few weeks I really felt him fatten up. I wasn't so great at keeping my weight under control these past 2 weeks. I think I am up to about 245. The limit I had set for myself was 241. Close enough but still makes it 40 pounds gained. That's quite a bit. I hope I come out 25 pounds lighter!! Ok out!
So at my appt. on Thursday Dr. wasn't able to strip my membranes because I was not dilated at all. I was actually pretty shocked that I wasn't because when I was pregnant with Gabriel and Dr. sent me to labor and delivery due to preeclampsia I was already dilated to 4cm at 38+3 so I expected to be at LEAST 1 cm. Anyway, I was bummed but I am 50% effaced, said my cervix was SUPER soft and that my placenta is at the point where it looks ready to be done. I was dissapointed but not to the point where I went home and cried my eyes out like I would have with Gabriel. I was actually pretty good. Serg & I went to Shakey's buffet and enjoyed a nice lunch (I only gained 1 pound, weight = 241 now). My last day of work was on Friday so it's nice to know that tomorrow I don't have to get up early and get ready for work. I can go and come as I please which is nice! Yesterday (Saturday) me and the hubs went to some yard sales. There was not too much good stuff so we only got a few things then we went to breakfast at Mr. Pete's and came home to pick up the kids as we decided I should get in a good long walk to hopefully get things progressing. It looks like something worked because it seems like some white tissue like stuff has been coming out. My contractions have been stopping me in my tracks but are very very sporadic. I keep thinking back to when my water broke with Alani and how many weeks/days I was when it happened and trying to think back to Dr. appts and all that but the truth of the matter is, each baby is different and he'll come when he's ready. SOOOO, my next Dr. appt is on 2/7 which is Thursday and he's going to try and strip my membranes again on that day and he scheduled my induction for 2/11 (Monday 7am). I am secretly praying that I don't make it to Thurs. but again, we'll see. If I do I think I'll go into labor on Saturday maybe?? I'm grasping at straws here lol. I am going to call Veronica (my Dr's nurse) tomorrow to make sure she got my Dr's note to book my induction and will ask her if she can keep an eye on 2/8 (Friday) to see if any mom's that were scheduled for an induction on that day happened to have their babies and I can get squeezed in somehow. My Dr. was going to have me come in for induction on the 8th but there was no open spots so I have to wait till Monday. Sigh...I just want to meet him at this point. Any way, watching the Super Bowl right now waiting for Alexis and Serg to get home from church. I stayed home with the kids as they were napping and I feel like I keep peeing myself. I keep thinking I'm loosing my mucus plug completely or that my water is about to break but NADA. I'll update later this week with increased symptoms I hope.
Went to my Dr. appt today (1 day early-rescheduled due to having to go into office tomorrow) and baby is weighing about 6 lbs 7oz. (if I'm not mistaken) and he's actually smaller than I thought! I REALLY need to go back and look at Gabriel's ultrasounds although I don't think I was as good about writting down his weight on the ultrasound images the Dr. would print out for me as I was with Alani since I got pregnant pretty close of when Alani was born. Anyway I gained like 2 pounds, was 240.6 so it's more like 2.4 cause last week I was 238.2. I need to stay away from that mexican sweet bread plus I've been eating something at night every night. I wake up super hungry and can't go back to sleep unless I have some cereal or slice of bread with peanut butter. I need to watch it this week not really cause I care about gaining another pound or two but because I don't want him to get so big these last couple of weeks. Next week I'll be 38 weeks and Dr. is going to rupture my membranes. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! He said usually after he does that women go into labor within 48 hours. That means that he would be here like on Saturday 2/2 which I think is Super Bowl sunday. I told my husband that would be kinda cool cause we'd be watching the game at the hospital and we could just chill there. I think I'd be able to go home on Monday. But you know what they say about plans. If the membrane sweep doesn't work though I think he'll be born more on the 8th or 9th which would be the next week (at 39 weeks). Alani was born at 39 weeks 3 days but my water actually broke at 39 weeks 2 days and I was pretty healthy with her like I am now with this one so I don't think Dr. will push for induction at my 39 week appt (2/7). I think he'll let me go until baby is ready then will talk about induction IF I was to make it to my due date on 2/14. I really don't think so. I told Serg that I feel like my water bag is bulging when I go to the bathroom. He told me I better pack my bag and doesn't think I'll make it to next week's appt. for some reason. I think he's just getting really excited. I'm suree I'll make it till next week's appt. Whenever he IS born, I'm still excited and can't wait to see him! I'm in the home stretch!
I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow and considered full term. I came into the office today because we have an important meeting plus it's my last week coming into the office which seems so weird! I'll be here again on Thursday (instead of Wed) since my co-workers are throwing me a lunch/baby shindig which is nice. I work with mostly men so one of the only girls here actually organized it. Not sure I'll be getting any baby gifts but lunch is good enough AND I already have everything praise the Lord. God is good and we saw Him make himself so obviously there for us and we don't deserve it. Not at all. We re-committed to getting to spend more time with Him all week and we plan to start ASAP. We went out to Five Guys burgers last night and Gabriel wanted to read from his kids bible story books after dinner when we got home so we read Adam and Eve. We always kid that he's the most spiritual one at home which is sad because he's only 6. At the table (dinner or lunch) he's always like "ok let's give blessings". We talked about needing to get into our bible reading/studying more so his appetite for the Lord stays with him. So I'm waiting for my Dr. to contact me, I have an appt. scheduled for Thurs. but since I'll be here in Westlake Village I can't be in Harbor City too. I have an NST appt. too so I'll need to reschedule that as soon as I know when they can fit me in. Dr. is supposed to measure and give me baby weight estimate this week. I'm hoping he hasn't gotten too big but this weekend I had THE worst stomach/belly button pain that I could not even bend over or stand for a long time. Supposedly the pain is from muscles stretching/tearing so I'm thinking he grew. I control my sugars when I know what they are. Sometimes I try and avoid taking my blood sugar cause when I KNOW they are high I panic. I've been taking them pretty frequently these past couple of days after meals especially so I've been spending some time on the elliptical as well to try and get my high numbers down. I am on 90 NPH insulin before bed, like 22 R insulin before lunch and about 18 R before dinner. I have to keep increasing it like every 2 days. Weight was 238 last Thursday (1/17) @ Dr's office which was the same weight from 1/10 and I weighed myself yesterday on my scale and I don't think I have gained any. My scale is wacky like I've mentioned so I'm really just counting on what the Dr's scale reads. I'll come back and update with Dr's prediction of baby weight and my weight gain for this week...yikes.
I had a Dr. appt yesterday and I was terrified because my BMI scale showed a 7 or 8 pound weight gain from 12/5 to 1/2/13 so I thought I'm in big trouble with Dr. I usually try to wear THE lightest clothing possible lol to minimize the weight gain on the scale but I wear the same things over and over again, mainly the skirts with different tops but still...so yesterday I wore my Old Navy dress again that I wore out for my birthday cause it was already ironed and it's super comfortable. I put my hair up in a ponytail and straightened it. Weight on scale actually only showed a 4 pound weight gain which is exactly on point (1 pound per week gain). The Dr. said he was "surprised" being that it was the holidays and everyone was coming in with larger than normal weight gain so that God! My appointments are now weekly though so I REALLY need to be good and I have an NST appt. today at 4pm. He weighed the baby and he said he was 5 pounds 2 oz which is very much on point. I told him about the weight "estimate" he had given me with Gabriel and that he ended up weighing 2 1/2 more pounds than he had estimated...he said something interesting and I think I actually read it somewhere..he said our weight "estimate" at 34 weeks is actually the last "actual" baby estimate they can give. Anything past 34 weeks could be off by 2 pounds SO if I keep my sugars in check and my eating in check from now until I give birth the baby SHOULD weigh about 8 pounds 4oz or so. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. He would be my smallest baby which should be an easier delivery. I am going to try hard (as I think back to the 1/4 of a meatball sandwich for breakfast....it was SOOOO good though). My sugars were 96 fasting this AM but I got up at 3am and had a cookie and some milk because baby was going nuts. My sugars were prob low...he usually gets up when they are really low or really high. Serg and the kids went up to Big Bear/San Bernardino Mountains yesterday with Chanton where Alexis is at Winter Camp and they had a ball. This was the first time they had been in the snow so they were SO excited when they got back home they were all talking at the same time about how cool it was. I hope we can go back at least one more time before the baby is born when there is more snow so they can enjoy themselves. Not so sure though because I know time is going to FLY by. I was home yesterday just working. I cleaned up after work, folded clothes, made myself some hot wings for dinner with rice and maccaroni and cheese (my Dr. appt days are my days off-cheat days). I watched a few episodes of The First 48 and a Criminal Minds with Alani. I slept on her bed with her for a few hours cause Sergio was knocked out on our bed and was so tired he was snoring LOUD. Their new bed is firm so I eventually came to my own bed. My alarm clock is off 1/2 hour so I got up and clocked in to work late...oh well. So this week I'm going to work out everyday and try to be really good with eating. I don't want to gain any weight this week or just a minimal amount of weight...like 1/2 a pound vs. 1 pound since I'm a little over..I was reading the "weight gain" guidelines yesterday and for 34 weeks it says I should have gained 21-27 pounds and I think I've gained 29. It's not a big deal at all because this is the smallest amount of weight I have gained with ANY of my kids but I do want to try hard to eat healthy and work out to keep my sugars on the lower end. One thing I did notice was that my blood pressure was a little high when the nurse first took it, it was 136 over something...she retook it though and it went down to 123 or something like that. So I need to lay off the salt too and I'll probably take 3 BP pills at each meal time to keep it in check. We'll see. Ok well boring post but wanted to document... Hospital tour is coming up soon! Next Tues!!
I am officially 33 weeks preggo as of yesterday and on my 37th birthday. It was such a strange but great birthday. I got so many "Happy Birthdays" from Facebook (since they do remind all your friends and all) and for those not on Facebook I got lots of calls/texts. My sisters, both Nancy and Lorena, my mother, Sis in law and mother in law....friends from church. It was cool. Alani drew me two pictures and taped 4 quarters to the pictures which was cute. That was the only money she had in her new Hello Kitty coin purse and she gave it to me. I wanted to give it back but I figured she'd ask me for change for the church vending machines for her beloved Hot Cheetos at some point lol. My husband got me two presents. Pearl earrings (I have real pearl earring finally at 37 years old he he) and my Gio perfume (purple one) which I had run out of a couple of months ago. I was actually pretty shocked cause we usually don't make a big deal about birthdays (I mean for the kids we do). Then he took me out to dinner. I wore my long blue-teal/black stripped Old Navy maternity dress that use to look cute on me before my large large belly came into place. I mean, I got home and looked in the mirror before changing and thought "I don't look THAT big" but I can tell I have a large belly cause people stare at you. I never really forget that I'm pregnant but when I'm shopping or just walking around I do...then I get that feeling that someone is peering at me from somewhere...I look up and sure enough.... I hope I don't stare at pregnant ladies when I am not preggo. If I do I am a changed woman....cause I can sympathize. You wonder....what are they thinking?? Like WHOA look at HER? I guess I'll never know. Anyway, we were going to go to Souplantation but I can't seem to control my eating at "all you can eat places" as of late and since my blood sugar has been SO out of control this past week and a half I thought we'd just head on over to Super Mex where I can get in some sort of veggies..I got grilled chicken fajitas w/rice and beans but I somehow managed to eat all 4 tortillas they gave me instead of just my limit of 2. Seriously, I didn't even realize I had eaten them all. I ate my WHOLE plate plus chips and salsa. When I was done I sighed and Serg said "I was wondering if you were going to stop or eat the whole thing" then I said "wow, I'm so full....I know!! Remember when I would only eat half??" reflecting back to my weight loss/workout days and where I had self control.... Then I said "it's ok I'll be back there in no time". I officially have 7 more weeks to go. Since I usually have my kids 1 week early, I'm hoping at the very most 6. I am still waiting for my maternity paperwork to be mailed in and I'm starting to get nervous because Kaiser takes like 3 weeks or so to complete disability paperwork and my last day I decided was going to be 2/1 which is a Friday. That gives me about a week roughly to be off work and no baby. With Gabriel, he was born about 2 weeks early because I was starting to show signs of pre-eclampsia. From reading my blog when I was pregnanct with him, my previous appt. with Dr. started to show signs of protein in my urine but the next weekly appt. he didn't even take me into his office. The urine test you give the nurse at the beginning of the appt. showed even more urine so he sent me straight to the hospital. I think I was 38 weeks...and the protein spill started at 37 weeks and at that he was 9lbs 14 oz. I can't imagine what he would have weighed at 40 weeks! That's what has really scared me this time and I've really been working hard at getting my high blood sugars down after meals is I DO NOT want to have another very large baby. Recovery time from Gabriel was tough. This week though I have to say I feel like I've actually gained FAT. Not baby FAT but fat...my upper legs are looking mighty chubby and when I tried on my green sweat pants I looked totally pudgy so I actually changed out of them...I didn't think I was going to feel like that until like 36-37 weeks :-( My fault though I've been eating waaaay too much junk and sweets and I should not be. I have one more week to go before my Dr. Appt (on Wed) and I limited myself to 4 pounds weight gain and I've already gained the 4 pounds as of Monday....so this week was "Maintain weight" week and "Workout week". I feel myself barely hanging in there for those 10-15 minutes at a time and I am really starting to feel so much more sleepy. Right now I think my weight is at about 234..trying to stick to 241 MAX at birth. This week overall I'm just starting to feel much bigger, weight wise not just belly wise so I'll try and keep that in check. Tiredness has kicked in. Oh I got Gabriel's room partially preped for baby crip. Baby clothes are washed and now I just have one more load of baby clothes to fold. Serg was supposed to build the crib today which I was in no hurry to do so but he went somewhere with Chanton and took Alexis candy selling. She wants to go to Winter camp and that will be money used for that. Ok well I guess that's it. Until later, God Bless.
