At Home with Gabrielle

Well, we haven't killed her yet, and nobody has come to take her away, so I guess she's really ours:) We have overcome the nightly gas trouble with Mylicon drops (thank you God for that miracle stuff) and she generally only wakes up once a night to eat and goes right back to sleep. She makes up for it by taking an hour and a half or so to go to sleep and eating every hour and a half in the morning...but Daddy gets to sleep all night and not be a zombie at work, so it's all good:)

It's hard to do a whole lot, so I'm sorry about taking so long to update and post pics...but we'll get the hang of this routine eventually. There have been some wonderful souls coming out to stay with me while I'm healing and that has been a life saver. And I never knew that having dinner made for you was something that would make such a huge difference, but it really does!

It's still amazing that we are actually parents, but I guess it will eventually sink in. Danny is a truly amazing father...which I knew he would be, but he has far surpassed my expectations. He is also EXTREMELY protective of me and a great caregiver. I didn't change a single diaper until Gabrielle was a week old! He is definitely one of a kind and I am completely blessed to have him as my partner.

So, Gabrielle makes the most amazing faces while she's trying to fight falling asleep...and she looks just like her Daddy while she poops:) The very best is when she finishes nursing and is all content and sleepy and she grins. I'm sure she's not aware of what she's doing...but it is just as beautiful all the same. Perhaps eventually I'll be able to get a picture of that to share, but for now, I'll enjoy it as mommy's special blessing. I'll attempt to post a few new pics and hopefully I'll be able to update a little more regularly as we adjust and I get better from the C-section and require less naptime. Until then, enjoy:)

More pics

Just making multiple posts for pictures since they are so big. Enjoy.

Gabrielle Pics

Now for the follow up :) Enjoy.

BABY!!!

Yes, it's about dang time too. Heather's water broke around 5pm monday, and she immediately started having contractions. At about 7 I started timing them, and they got close enough to warrant a trip to the hospital.
Upon arriving, they were around 3 min apart avg. Heather did very well, and labor for roughly 23 hours. She only got to about 3cm by this point, and things weren't looking good. Baby was fine, Heather was fine, but no progress.
We discussed options, and decided on Petosin. Starting off at the smallest increment, and graudally increasing, Heather labor for another 5 hrs, only to increase to 4cm. At this point, we started to worry, as we had reached our 24 hour mark after ROM, and Heather had developed a fever. Instead of giving up, we gave Heather anti-biotics, and ordered an Epidural. Once complete, we hoped it would 'relax' her enough to make progress. And we were dissapointed to find out that after 2 or so more hours, only 5cm.
Once again, we discussed our options and prayed, and decided that with all the curcumstances, the only option left was C-section. So they changed the type of epidural, and wheeled her out. I was able to sit in, and help "push" baby out, take pictures, and even carry our new arrival to the nursery while heather was finishing up. Shortly there-after, I arrived in the hallway to the birth team with our beautiful new baby GIRL.
Her name is GABRIELLE ELISABETH, and she is perfect in every way. She arrived at 7lbs 8.5 oz, and 21 inches long, with a little bit of brown-ish hair. I gave her the first bath, and eager on-lookers peered through the nursery window.
Everyone eventually went home to catch up on rest, and Heather sat in recovery for about an hour, where she fed Gabrielle for the first time :) Every thing went far off course from our original birth plan, but we couldn't have asked for a happier ending.
I would like to thank all the ladies helping me and Heather through out all this. In no particular order, Sandi, Sandra, and Miriam. 3 SUPER women who this would have been next to impossible to complete withouth their help. Heather and I love you very much and thank you for all that you did, and continue doing.
I would also like to thank Phill, for his prayers, and quick organization of people to pray for us during this difficult time. Phill's words touched my heart as he said, "this is the best part. This is eternal life you are participating in. God has allowed you to help him create an eternal soul. Every thing on earth we touch or make will wither and die and be lost forever. But when you make a baby, god is allowing you to make a person who will live forever." Thank you for that, and for sharing your wisdom with us.
And thank you finally, to all who prayed for us, or thought about us, or visited us, or wished us well, your support made things that much easier. (unfortunately, there is a problem posting pictures, so that will have to wait untill a later date....SOON I promise)

Danny

Well, as Jessica G. would say...I am as pregnant as I can get!

So we've passed over both "due dates" and still there's no Deather entering the outside world. This weekend has been a bit trying, but also a good bonding time for Danny and I. We've walked, cleaned, packed, discussed and he's basically held my sanity together. I've had contractions every night...and actually, last night I started at about 1130 and had contractions every 20-30 minutes until about 8 this morning. Then it stopped and started up again around 230 this afternoon and it's been steady at every 30 minutes. I also started spotting a TINY bit around 1130 today...so there's progress...just not super promising progress. I'll go back to the midwife tomorrow afternoon. I've probably dilated some by now, but I'm convinced that Deather is quite happy in the current situation and not ready to come meet us just yet. The good news is that I'm not super excitable anymore about every little pain and Danny is doing well at keeping me grounded. If I'm tired I sleep and even when having contractions, I'll sleep at night. I'll wake up every 30 minutes or so, when it's a pretty hard one...but I'll go right back to sleep so I'll have my energy when it's really needed. I'm very thankful for all the thoughts and prayers that are with us right now. It's really nice to have everyone's support.

Yes...we are still waiting...

So, I decided after 3 crying spells yesterday that it would be better to come in to work today. The first occurred after I finished folding all the laundry. I had just put all the baby clothes away in Deather's room and I started to talking to Deather of course. I was telling him/her, "you can come now, all your clothes are clean and ready for you". Danny says I'm pathetic, which is likely the case. But, it seems less likely that I'll break into crying fits at work...so as long as this kid is happy in the womb, I will be working. Grrr.

Will it ever end?

I know...it is promised that it will...it just doesn't seem like it some days.
Yesterday I saw the midwife and there was no good news...except for my fundal height measurement saying I'm due anyday now. Actually, there was other good news too. Deather's heartrate is doing well...in the 120s when sleeping...and in the 150s when moving around. I had fallen asleep waiting for the doc...so when they did the initial heartrate check it was low...apparently Deather was sleeping too:) So they hooked me up to the monitor just to make sure since that was much lower than the normal heartrate has been. It's all good though:) I still hadn't dilated...but the yeast infection is gone...which is very good. Also, they didn't do a retest of the GBS because they ended up getting a sensitivity test on the old one. I tested okay to use Erythromicin or Cleocin. I mentioned that when taken orally Erythromicin makes me sick to my stomach...so I guess I'll be getting the other one. I was hoping for the retest and to need nothing, but oh well. I also had some spotting last night and some contractions...but to no avail, I'm still not in labor. I've done all the laundry in the house, including baby clothes and Skoshi and I have paced the house and walked the neighborhood. Still, we wait.

Hilarious Sequence

Okay...so we spent the day Saturday over at Sandra's house chilling and enjoying her backyard...and of course taking more pictures. She's so good and she has fun and makes us crack up...who can resist? I had to share this funny picture sequence though. It is totally freaky and I think may reveal Deather's character:) You may have to view each one separately to make them big enough to notice what's going on. Danny's expressions are priceless!

EVERYTHING IS BREAKING NOW!

Except (of course) for my water:) Which is probably a good thing. So, between my last two midwife visits I've been found to be Group B Strep positive, I've developed PUPPP (see picture to the left....which is NOT my belly but looks very similar to what's going on on mine) and I have a yeast infection! I have not dilated yet, but my cervix is soft. So, we still have an undetermined amount of time to go...and things keep getting more miserable. Some of you may be familiar with all the things I just described above, but some of you are likely not pregnancy complication pros...so I'll share what all of this means.
Group B Strep: Is a normal bacteria found in human intestinal tract. They are normally found in the urinary tract and sometimes in the throat as well and it comes and goes depending on what you eat and how much "good flora" verses "bad flora" you harbor regularly. There are varying levels of this and depending on the "colonization" if they are found in the vaginal or rectal area during labor and delivery there is a SLIGHT chance that the baby could test positive for too many of these bacteria and then if so, there is and even slighter chance (1 in 10,000) that the baby will get VERY sick with long term effects and potentially die. SO, the solution is that they test women for this during pregnancy now b/w 35 and 37 weeks and if at that time you test "colonized" with Group B...they automatically plan to give you antibiotics while you are in labor. I've been doing a lot of research on this...and there are benefits verses risks...and I'm not really sure I want to take the antibiotics...for a variety of reasons. I may discuss that later...but for now, I'm working on increasing my "good flora" with a variety of methods. The good news there is that they were supposed to test my sample for sensitivity to decide what antibiotic to administer since I'm allergic to penicillin and therefore can't take that...but they didn't. SO, I may have to have a retest next week at my appt. Which means all this "good flora" preparation may cause me to test negative at that time and hopefully it will be a nonissue. Let's pray for that!
PUPPP:This is the least dangerous (it causes no harm to baby, no harm to mother) but the most uncomfortable. I have a rash...so far only on my stomach...that itches uncontrollably and isn't really treated with anything. The solution: give birth and it will almost always go away by 10-14 days post delivery. They don't know what causes it, they don't really have any treatment for it...and options vary based on the person. Some people need dry and hot, some people need cold and wet, some people need sedation...so far, I'm managing...but praying that it does not spread. The common thing is for it to start on the belly and spread to the trunk and extremeties...NORMALLY sparing the face, palms and soles of feet. Since it's only on my belly right now...I'm hoping to keep it contained...exactly how, I am not sure, but I'm of course doing MUCH research and I have several ideas to try.
Yeast Infection: Very normal during 3rd trimester of pregnancy...and needs to be treated before delivery because it would likely cause thrush in the baby. Not super serious...but it's hard enough for a first time mom learning how to nurse and deal with a new baby without the added complications of thrush (which is also a common side effect of having antibiotics administered during labor...one reason I don't want them).

So, as you can see, I'm having a VERY eventful final few weeks. So far, I'm still doing okay at work and miraculously my blood pressure is low:) While I'm dealing with all this...Danny is experiencing his first pollen season in SC. For those of you unfamiliar with this, let me tell you what they say. If you don't have allergies, spend March in SC and you'll get them. He's been pretty miserable and still has to deal with me not being able to take care of him like I normally would...and actually requiring him to still be taking care of me. He is doing all of this surprisingly cheerfully...even if in a drug-induced stupor (he's recently discovered Benadryll). How did I get so lucky?