Last night was our first night home. Aaron and were finally discharged from the hospital around 3pm. We were headed out earlier, but the hospital went on lockdown because they "lost" a baby. The babies have to wear a security band on their ankles. They cut off Jenna's, then while we were waiting for the nurse to meet us to escort us out of the building, we could hear commotion in the hallway. We think that a band fell off another baby's ankle. We had 2 people come in to check Jenna's band (which was gone) and we were both afraid they were going to take her away to do some sort of tests to make us prove she was ours. Fortunately, they must have figured out what was wrong and they let us leave.
The first thing we did when we got home was introduce Portia to Jenna. It went really well. She does want to slather her with kisses and she's not ever close enough to get to do that. We were really worried that Portia would be bothered a lot by Jenna's crying, but it hasn't bothered her at all. She is happy if she can find a place to snuggle with one of us.
The first night didn't go quite as ideally as we had hoped, but it was better than it could have been. She woke up around 3AM screaming. We couldn't figure out anything to make her stop. Finally I got up and rocked her for a bit then changed her clothes and she settled down. It was feeding time, so I tried that (we'd also tried during her fit, but she was too upset to eat) and she latched right on and had one of her best feedings ever. The rest of the night went very smooth and right now the four of us are lounging in bed getting some extra rest.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Jenna Marie Cain
Jenna Marie finally joined us on December 1st at 12:56 PM. She weighed 8 lbs and 3 oz and was 21 inches long.
I started having mild, but regular contractions on Saturday. They escalated during the night and by 1:30 AM, I couldn't sleep any more. I got up and watched TV and sat on the exercise ball. Around 5:00 AM, they were between 4 and 5 minutes apart and lasting around 2 minutes, so I woke Aaron and we got around and went to the hospital. Unfortunately the contractions weren't causing me to dilate, so they had me walk the hospital for an hour and there was no progress, so they sent us home. As soon as we got home the contractions kicked up a notch. They were bad enough that I do not remember much of anything the entire time we were home! We were scheduled to go in to start an induction at 8 that evening, so we still went in. They decided that they would not start inducing since I was already contracting regularly. I had been planning to only have an epidural for pain, but I will admit that I underestimated my ability to cope with the contractions, so I took some pain killers. It worked for about 30 minutes, then I started to feel just the peaks of my contractions, which was the worst part! I took 2 more doses before I could have an epidural and each one seemed to work less for me. I felt so bad for Aaron, but he was awesome, he just rubbed my back and comforted me. I finally started to progress enough that they would give me an epidural -- THANK GOD!!! I felt so much better instantly! I also went from 3 cm to 7 cm dilated within an hour. Unfortunately the next time they checked me I had regressed to 5 cm. The nurse was dumbfounded and had someone else check me and they agreed with her. An hour later I progressed to 6 cm, but then I stayed the same for hours and hours. They had the doctor start visiting me and after 2 visits he said that if I didn't make progress by 11:30 am that we would need to start talking about a c-section. At 11:30 he was in surgery, so he visited a little after noon and I still had not made progress. He said that if we wanted to wait a while we could because the baby was still looking really good and I was doing alright, but that his suggestion was to do the c-section because I should have progressed a lot more and he wasn't able to tell why I wasn't progressing so he felt that it was safest to do the c-section. By that point, although I had the epidural and didn't feel my contractions I felt extensive pressure in my pelvis and it was so uncomfortable that I did not want to wait. Also, I trusted the doctor's judgement, so we agreed to do surgery. My doctor was not the on-call doctor, but they gave him a call and he headed to the hospital (his office is just across the street). We thought that we'd have a few minutes to make calls to tell our parents that we were going into surgery, but as soon as Aaron got on the phone with my mom to tell her they were already moving us out of the room. He managed to get text messages out to his parents in the operation room while they were finishing prep work. They put up a sheet and let Aaron sit by my head. I was not nervous at all, just so excited that we were going to finally meet her! I was trying hard not to cry, but tears kept streaming down my face. Aaron told me later that he was so nervous and had a huge knot in his stomach. After they made the incision I could feel them manuevering her out. What a strange feeling! The doctors were talking about the KU/MU game the weekend before. For some reason I thought that was really funny -- here we are having this huge monumental point in life and to them it was just another day! When they were close to getting her out the doctor laughed and said, "Look at those cheeks!" Aaron and I both were grinning like fools. Another minute or so later, they had her out and lifted her over the curtain to give us a quick peek (which wasn't nearly long enough!). They told Aaron that he could go with her and after a quick glance at me (I told him he HAD to go with her!), he headed off to watch them clean her up, weigh and measure her. I could hear her crying and it was the best sound I'd ever heard, but it seemed like time stopped and it was forever before I got to see her. The nurses and Aaron went back to the labor room and he took her with him. My mom and his mom and brothers were in the room waiting when he got back, so they got to meet her. They went to the waiting room while I got back from surgery. They stitched me up and wheeled me back to the labor room and I was finally able to see her! It was so awesome. I looked at Aaron and asked him if she was a Jenna. He said he said it to her and she stopped crying, so he thought that was what her name was. We had decided that if we named her Jenna that her middle name would be Marie because we really liked how it sounded...Jenna Marie Cain.
I started having mild, but regular contractions on Saturday. They escalated during the night and by 1:30 AM, I couldn't sleep any more. I got up and watched TV and sat on the exercise ball. Around 5:00 AM, they were between 4 and 5 minutes apart and lasting around 2 minutes, so I woke Aaron and we got around and went to the hospital. Unfortunately the contractions weren't causing me to dilate, so they had me walk the hospital for an hour and there was no progress, so they sent us home. As soon as we got home the contractions kicked up a notch. They were bad enough that I do not remember much of anything the entire time we were home! We were scheduled to go in to start an induction at 8 that evening, so we still went in. They decided that they would not start inducing since I was already contracting regularly. I had been planning to only have an epidural for pain, but I will admit that I underestimated my ability to cope with the contractions, so I took some pain killers. It worked for about 30 minutes, then I started to feel just the peaks of my contractions, which was the worst part! I took 2 more doses before I could have an epidural and each one seemed to work less for me. I felt so bad for Aaron, but he was awesome, he just rubbed my back and comforted me. I finally started to progress enough that they would give me an epidural -- THANK GOD!!! I felt so much better instantly! I also went from 3 cm to 7 cm dilated within an hour. Unfortunately the next time they checked me I had regressed to 5 cm. The nurse was dumbfounded and had someone else check me and they agreed with her. An hour later I progressed to 6 cm, but then I stayed the same for hours and hours. They had the doctor start visiting me and after 2 visits he said that if I didn't make progress by 11:30 am that we would need to start talking about a c-section. At 11:30 he was in surgery, so he visited a little after noon and I still had not made progress. He said that if we wanted to wait a while we could because the baby was still looking really good and I was doing alright, but that his suggestion was to do the c-section because I should have progressed a lot more and he wasn't able to tell why I wasn't progressing so he felt that it was safest to do the c-section. By that point, although I had the epidural and didn't feel my contractions I felt extensive pressure in my pelvis and it was so uncomfortable that I did not want to wait. Also, I trusted the doctor's judgement, so we agreed to do surgery. My doctor was not the on-call doctor, but they gave him a call and he headed to the hospital (his office is just across the street). We thought that we'd have a few minutes to make calls to tell our parents that we were going into surgery, but as soon as Aaron got on the phone with my mom to tell her they were already moving us out of the room. He managed to get text messages out to his parents in the operation room while they were finishing prep work. They put up a sheet and let Aaron sit by my head. I was not nervous at all, just so excited that we were going to finally meet her! I was trying hard not to cry, but tears kept streaming down my face. Aaron told me later that he was so nervous and had a huge knot in his stomach. After they made the incision I could feel them manuevering her out. What a strange feeling! The doctors were talking about the KU/MU game the weekend before. For some reason I thought that was really funny -- here we are having this huge monumental point in life and to them it was just another day! When they were close to getting her out the doctor laughed and said, "Look at those cheeks!" Aaron and I both were grinning like fools. Another minute or so later, they had her out and lifted her over the curtain to give us a quick peek (which wasn't nearly long enough!). They told Aaron that he could go with her and after a quick glance at me (I told him he HAD to go with her!), he headed off to watch them clean her up, weigh and measure her. I could hear her crying and it was the best sound I'd ever heard, but it seemed like time stopped and it was forever before I got to see her. The nurses and Aaron went back to the labor room and he took her with him. My mom and his mom and brothers were in the room waiting when he got back, so they got to meet her. They went to the waiting room while I got back from surgery. They stitched me up and wheeled me back to the labor room and I was finally able to see her! It was so awesome. I looked at Aaron and asked him if she was a Jenna. He said he said it to her and she stopped crying, so he thought that was what her name was. We had decided that if we named her Jenna that her middle name would be Marie because we really liked how it sounded...Jenna Marie Cain.
They took forever getting us moved from the L&D room to the Mother and Baby room, which made Nana (my Mom) and Memaw (Aaron's mom) anxious because they were in the waiting room and no one updated them that everything was still ok. I honestly don't remember much after that point -- it was a blur! I know that we had quite a few visitors waiting by the time we made it to our room. It was nice to know how loved she was by everyone!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Aaron's wish came true and he didn't have to miss out on Thanksgiving dinner. We went to his Grandma's this morning and had lunch and hung out most of the afternoon. We usually leave early to spend the rest of the day with my family, so it was a little sad not to get to see them, but we didn't want to get quite that far away (although like my Aunt Dianna said, if we had, that's when I'd go into labor, so it might be worth it!).
We are getting ready to go out for a drive. I figure a few bumpy roads won't hurt anything and if it helps make my contractions stick, that would be great! Last night they were getting slightly stronger, but as soon as I went to bed they stopped. Wish us luck! More than likely LMC is just going to come when she decides she's ready (or when the doctor says she has to go).
Hope you enjoyed your turkey today!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Dr Appt -- 4 Days Past Due
We had another doctor's appointment this morning. My blood pressure was normal again (well, normal enough for being this pregnant) and all my bloodwork from last week came back normal. I am only 1 cm dilated - I thought last week he'd said that I dilated to 2 cm, but I guess it was just 1. I'm now 70% effaced. Nothing at the appointment really made me think that she'll be coming soon, but hopefully I'm wrong. We'll be going back on Friday for another non-stress test and ultrasound to make sure we're still ok waiting to induce. If so, we'll go in on Sunday night and they'll give me medication to help get my cervix softened, then Monday morning around 7, they'll start the induction. I really hope that she decides to come on her own, but either way, we should have this little girl here by this time next week!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Ultrasound and Non-Stress Test
Yesterday we visited the doctor to get an ultrasound and non-stress test to make sure that everything was ok with the baby and that we were ok waiting to induce. They did the non-stress test first and after about one minute of monitoring the ultrasound tech said that we were going to pass with flying colors. She monitored for another 20 minutes or so and said it went great. Then they did an ultrasound to make sure that there was still plenty of fluid. She spent a few minutes looking at the baby and showing us her face, hands, and feet...and that she's still a girl. We could even see that she has hair!
They also took my blood pressure and it was high, so they waited a bit and took it again and it was still high, so they had me lay on my left side for a bit and took it again. It was still a little high, but the doctor said that it was no longer high enough to be concerned about and that they'd take it again at my appointment on Monday. Just in case, they had me do bloodwork and were supposed to call with results yesteday, but I haven't heard anything. Hopefully no news is good news!
They also took my blood pressure and it was high, so they waited a bit and took it again and it was still high, so they had me lay on my left side for a bit and took it again. It was still a little high, but the doctor said that it was no longer high enough to be concerned about and that they'd take it again at my appointment on Monday. Just in case, they had me do bloodwork and were supposed to call with results yesteday, but I haven't heard anything. Hopefully no news is good news!
Friday, November 21, 2008
So Unfair!
Yesterday I got the info for renewing my driver's license. I have to do it before my birthday (January 16th). Ugh! Great timing! Hopefully the hormones don't mess with my skin too much and I'm able to lose at least a little bit of weight by then! If not, I might just have to revisit the DMV in August or September for another picture.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
DUE DATE!!!!
We finally made it to the due date! On one hand I can't believe it is already here, on the other, it seems like I've been pregnant forever. I haven't been stuck on the due date as being a day by which I thought she'd be here, so I'm not one of those pregnant ladies that is crying all day, but it would certainly have been nice if she'd already made her appearance!
Lately since she's been running out of room, she hasn't been quite as active, but yesterday evening she had a very active spurt and was moving her arms and legs all over like crazy! I was convinced that it meant I'd be going into labor overnight, but I guess all the movement either made her tired or comfortable again. Since then she's been back to being fairly inactive.
Lately since she's been running out of room, she hasn't been quite as active, but yesterday evening she had a very active spurt and was moving her arms and legs all over like crazy! I was convinced that it meant I'd be going into labor overnight, but I guess all the movement either made her tired or comfortable again. Since then she's been back to being fairly inactive.
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