Monday, October 26, 2009

Brynna's birth story

I finally have a moment to get on the computer without feeling like I am neglecting something. I guess I didn't realize just how much work it can be, caring for a newborn. I am enjoying every minute of it though!

Short version: Brynna MaeLynn Walker was born at 1:39pm on October 21, 2009. She was 7 lbs 13oz

and 19.5 inches long with Apgars of 8 and 9.


Long(er) version:
As you all know, Tuesday my doc informed me that we needed to induce Wednesday morning bright and early since amniotic fluid level was to low. Batman and I did all the last minute things we needed to get done, had our last lunch just the two of us, and did everything we could think of to get labor started before Wednesday morning (DTD, nipple stimulation, more spicy food, red raspberry leaf tea, etc... I refused to go as far as Castor oil though... that's a little too far for me) ;-)

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early as we had to be at the hospital at 7am for admit. We checked in on time, waited for our room to be ready and finally got settled around 7:30. Our nurse, Lori went through all our paperwork with us, including our birth plan (which they were so good about following as closely as possible) and finally got IV'd up and got pit started around 8:15. My doc decided he wanted to get things moving as quickly as possible so about 8:30 he came in and broke my water. Thankfully, no meconium in the fluid, which he was a little worried about since she was a week overdue.


I didn't really feel any contractions, other than tightening like BH so about every 20-30 min they turned up my pit dosage. My IL came in for a visit around 10ish and I was still feeling really good. Contractions were regular at 1 min apart, but I still barely felt them. My parents came in around 11 (they drove in from Seattle) and we had the "party room" for a little while ;-)

Around 12:30 my doc came back in to check my progress and it turned out I was at a 5 already (I came in still at a 2). I was excited there had been some progress, even though I still wasn't feeling much. That's when things started to change.
Batman ran out for a couple min with his parents. They were running some last minute errands for us and needed a little instruction. I was starting to feel the contractions a little stronger. I was still able to talk through them, but they did take my breath away a little. My mom was helping me breathe through them until Batman got back and then I started to feel sick. I ended up losing all the jello they had let me eat that morning (lol I guess it serves me right for eating 3 bowls full... couldn't help it though. I was HUNGRY!) This was about 1:15ish (I think). I was really feeling uncomfortable now and thought it might help to sit on the toilet so Batman wheeled my IV friend in after me. As soon as I sat down I felt like I was going to be sick again (thankfully everything stayed down this time... gotta love the zofran kicking in) and ended up getting on all fours on the floor of the bathroom. (EEK!) All the sudden I felt the incredible urge to push. Batman quickly got our nurse and the two of them helped me get back to the bed so she could do a quick check. Turns out I was at an 8! Yipes! At this point I was having a hard time concentrating on breathing, but between Batman and Lori, they got me back on track. The pushing urge got a LOT stronger in the next couple minutes and she decided to check me one more time at my insistence. I was at 9.5. They had me turn on my side, which was nearly impossible with my contractions being right on top of each other. Lori called my doc and let him know things were moving fast and to head over, to which I overheard her say something about "in 15." In my pained delirious state I thought she meant it would be another 15 minutes before I could do anything, but she responded with "no room 15, dear." LOL silly me!
She had me start pushing and the doc, while it seemed to me to take him FOREVER to walk over (his office is adjacent to the hospital), got there in a few minutes. As soon as he walked in the door, I knew things were happening fast because he was first strolling in casually and then he took one look at my vag and got a very surprised look on his face. Batman said it was pretty priceless. He rushed into his gown and about 4 pushes later I had Brynna's head out, a couple more and she was officially born. They placed her on my tummy and it was instantly love at first sight! I had waited so long to meet my baby girl and she was so beautiful!!


I did have a small tear that required 2 stitches, but they haven't been too bad. Batman got to cut the cord too!




It's so amazing how quickly life can change and how in love you can be with someone you just met ;-) Things have been pretty crazy since we've been home and it seems like I never have a free minute to hop online. (I'm trying though) ;-) I may not comment as much, but I will be reading!!

BFing has been a work in progress, but we are committed to making it work. Brynna has a couple bad latch habits that we are working through, but overall it's going well. She is a hungry little monkey ;-)
She refuses to poop more than once every few days. Her ped isn't too worried since she is gaining weight, staying hydrated and is overall healthy, but of course I kind of freak out when we go more than a day or two (aka- out comes the rectal therm to stimulate some movement!!)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Induction... tomorrow

Eek! I think I freaked out a little in the doc's office this morning...

It's official though. Olive will likely be here sometime tomorrow. Induction to begin around 7am. Batman will be updating faithfully, so head over to his blog tomorrow to read the play by play.

We are trying to take things easy today and relax. Hopefully, we can both get some sleep tonight since the next few weeks, months, etc will probably be pretty sleepless ;-)

Monday, October 19, 2009

We made it through the weekend

And Olive is still on the inside. Batman went through his promotion ceremony, my cheerleaders did a fantastic job, family day at the base was fun (with yummy pumpkin pie!) and Batman bought me season 4 of HIMYM which we have watched almost entirely in the last 2 days.

And here I sit at work...

I kind of wish I had made Friday my last day. But I guess if I was at home, I'd just be going stir crazy... waiting...

I have a feeling these are going to be the longest days Of. My. Life. Nothing like anticipation...

Friday, October 16, 2009

Itchy itchy scratchy scratchy

My belly has been SO itchy in the last few weeks, but it has been taken to a whole new level as of last night.

I had a dream last night that Batman and I were camping with a group of friends and their kids. We were getting eaten ALIVE by thousands of mosquitoes! I woke up scratching my belly and legs. This is NOT good for stretch marks! I already have enough of them, for crying out loud! I've been putting lotion and oil on non-stop this pregnancy, especially in the last few weeks of itchiness...

If Olive doesn't come out soon, I may scratch my skin off!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Appt... blah!

Still 1cm, still no changes.

Olive is hanging out for another week... probably. I have NST and u/s scheduled for next Tuesday and then an appt with the doc to discuss possible induction. I won't say I am dead set AGAINST being induced, but I would really prefer Olive to come when she's ready, rather than being forced into the world. It's COLD out here, you know!

She's still measuring right on and her h/b was again at 160. I didn't gain a single pound so that was a plus for me! Yippee!

Other than that, no real news.

At least I'll be able to watch my cheerleaders preform this Friday and Batman will get to go to his promotion ceremony at drill. And it's family day on Sunday at the base which is always a (sort of) fun afternoon. (I don't say 'no' to free food) ;-)

Maternity pics

Had some taken last night. On my due date. Because I'm WILD like that. Will post when I get them back from the photog ;-)

Oh and an appt today... we'll see if Olive has made any progress.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

40 wk belly

DISCLAIMER: This is a completely TERRIBLE picture of me. Please don't tell me I look fantastic or any such nonsense because I know this pics is just wrong on SO many levels! I was in a hurry, hadn't finished getting ready this morning... and well... today's my EDD and I am still pregnant. Not that I mind all that much. Olive just needs a little more time to bake and I'm REALLY okay with that. Oh and please look past the fact that I am wearing white pants after Labor Day... not much else fits these days as my ass has taken on GINORMOUS proportions. Thank you. ;-)

So here it is- hopefully the LAST belly pic:

Monday, October 12, 2009

Nursery is FINISHED!!

It's finally finished. Hooray!! Batman and I worked really hard last week until we got it done. The only thing it's missing now is Olive and some framed pictures of her over the changing table ;-) Let me know what you all think!! Personally, I LOVE how it turned out! :)





Thursday, October 8, 2009

FYI: updates from the hospital

For those of you who don't follow Batman's blog yet, you may want to start. He has figured out how to update his blog from his phone so we will be posting any and all hospital updates (whenver this little girl decides to make her debut) over there.
I probably won't update here until we are home so if you want the good play-by-play action, add his blog to your list :)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

No change

That's what my doc said this morning at my appt. No change from 1 cm. I guess this girl really IS as stubborn as her mom and dad (I was 6wks late... and YES that is accurate- when my mom found out she was preggo with me, had the dates been off she wouldn't have been preggo at the time- Batman was 2wks late)
I'm not really concerned, as I've maintained all along that she will be a late arriver ;-) Plus we still have lots of stuff to get done.

The nursery is thisclose to being finished. Just a couple more finishing touches and we will be done!! (Hopefully, this evening)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

2 awards!!

Woo hoo!! Thank you Rikki for some fun awards!! It was so sweet of you ;) It's so nice when people think my blog is worth reading LOL



The Quiz:

1. you can only use one word!
2. pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. alert them that you have given them this award!
4. have fun!

The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your hair? straight
3. Your mother? Loving
4. Your father? Best
5. Your favorite food? Bread
6. Your dream last night? Delivery
7. Your favorite drink? Diet
8. Your dream/goal? Olive
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
13. Where were you last night? Cheer
14. Something that you aren’t? un-pregnant
15. Muffins? Pumpkin
16. Wish list item? Lottery
17. Where did you grow up? Washington
18. Last thing you did? Work
19. What are you wearing? Clothes
20. Your TV? Off
21. Your pets? Kino
22. Friends? Yes
23. Your life? Happy
24. Your mood? Anxious
25. Missing someone? Mom
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Something you’re not wearing? Rings
28. Your favorite store? Nordstrom
29. Your favorite color? Pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday
32. Your best friend? Megs
33. One place that I go to over and over? Work
34. One person who emails me regularly? Megs
35. Favorite place to eat? OSF

I give this award to:

1. Christina
2. Melissa
3. Ella
4. Michelle
5. Andrea
6. Jenny



Rules:

1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7-Leave a comment on each

7 Things "most" of you didn't know about me (totally random things):

This one might be a little harder for me... random things about me... Hmm...

1. My natural hair color is light blonde. One of these days I'll scan one of my senior pics from HS when I had "virgin hair." I didn't start dying it until college

2. Speaking of college, I went here for 4 years and have a BA in History with a minor in Biology... pretty useless when you find out I work in medical billing for a surgery office.

3. Other than Canada (and really only Vancouver and Victoria) I have never been out of the country.

4. My absolute FAVORITE place to go on vacation is Disneyland. Disney World was fun and all, but I much prefer Disneyland. It probably stems from all the great memories I have growing up going there on family vacations ;-) Batman, however, is NOT a Disney fan at ALL :( (which probably means Olive and I will have to go there with my mom and sis instead of him... LOL I wouldn't mind that at all)

5. I HATE fish!! Loathe it! Haven't really ever liked it all! However, I like clam chowder (Disneyland has the best!) and one of my cravings early on in this pregnancy was fish and chips from Ivar's (but ONLY from Ivar's). When I went on that DC trip with my mom in April I had some when I was in Seattle for a couple days and surprisingly enough, they were DELISH! I don't think I'll be eating them again though.

6. Batman and I met while working at 'bucks together. He was dating my friend at the time. Who turned out to be a complete psycho. Batman even set me up with a couple of his friends. Funny how things turn out.

7. I used to be a terrible nail biter (I know... eww! gross), as in biting them so short they were almost bleeding. I think it was a nervous habit I picked up from my dad when I was litle. Then all of the sudden one day I just stopped. I haven't been a nail biter since.

Here are my nominees:

1. Suzanne
2. Mary
3. Adair
4. Carbon
5. Coco
6. Emmy
7. Candi

I hope everyone participates! I love reading new things about all you ladies! :) Oh and sorry I didn't have time to link everyone's blogs... work calls for a little while longer ;-)