Induction/Labor/Delivery!!!

Ryan & I arrived for our induction at 10pm on Tuesday, October 2nd. We were admitted to room 2306 by my good friend (and nurse) Tara Johnson!! I was being induced because of the factor v leiden...the doctors like you to be off of anti-coagulants for at least 24hrs before getting an epidural or going to surgery (if that is needed).
Once we were admitted all of the fun began...starting with Dr. Huberty coming and rupturing my membranes. Then Tara started my IV so she could begin giving me pitocin to help me have some nice strong contractions. And boy does that stuff really work!! After a few hour of being on the birth ball I began to get very uncomfortable. By 3am I was asking for my epidural. I was a pretty lucky girl because Dr. Destache just happened to be on that night...and he is exceptionally good!!! Honestly, he came in my room and four minutes later he was done...what a miracle worker!! Ryan was so supportive during my epidural. Holding my hand, helping me through contractions. By the time I had actually asked for the epidural I was in so much pain I felt like I couldn't even move. Once I got comfortable both Ryan and I tried to take a nap because we both knew we had a long day ahead of us.

Long story short, a few hours later Tara came in and let me know that there were a few concerns about baby's heart rate. So we put an oxygen mask on to see if that would improve things...and we flipped sides several times. But much to my dismay Dr. Huberty called for an emergency c-section around 7am. This was not what I wanted and it all happened pretty fast, so of course I was upset. But I knew this was the best thing to do in order to have a healthy baby...so we rushed back to the operating room. While I was being prepped for surgery Ryan was putting on scrubs and having a snack. Yes a snack...haha, he almost fainted after the epidural so they wanted to make sure his blood sugar was good for surgery!

Ryan joined me in the OR and they began the c-section. Since it was change of shift Dr. Cunniff was the one who performed my surgery...I was lucky again!! He used sutures instead of the usual staples to close my incision...so much nicer!! Ryan was so wonderful...holding my hand, caressing my forehead, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. I was extremely concerned about how Ethan was doing; I just wanted him out safely....and until I heard him cry I was a complete nervous wreck!
At 7:14am on October 3rd, 2007 Ethan Joseph O'Malley FINALLY arrived!! He was 7lb 7oz, and 19 3/4 inches long and 14inch head. The minute we heard him cry we were both overwhelmed with tears of happiness!! Ryan is the best husband and dad EVER...they told him that he could stand up and peek over the drape they had by my head to see the baby. He declined and said that he wanted to wait until I could see him too! Every time we tell our 'birth story' and we come to that part I get super emotional...its probably the hormones, but I still think that was just the sweetest thing ever.
Here's the little guy hanging out before his bath. Daddy and Ethan went to the nursery while mommy finished up in the OR and went to recovery.
Ryan let the nursery nurse do Ethan's first bath. He knew I was waiting patiently to see Ethan once again, and wanted things to be as speedy as possible!

Ethan reunited with his mommy. He is the sweetest thing on earth!!

I was feeding him whenever he would give me the signals, and that was working great. But then someone said well you should offer it to him...so I did and he wasn't really interested and fell asleep at the boob. I looked down and his little hand was resting on me like THIS!! HAHAHA, apparently that's what he thought about being offered the breast when he wasn't wanting it!! Even though I was pretty exhausted at the time...I managed to get a good laugh out of this.

Daddy & Ethan!! Ryan was definitely enjoying his cuddle time with Ethan. He is so proud to be a dad!!

A trip to the hospital...

Yet another week has gone by and still no Ethan...doesn't he know that we want him to come out now?! We had another perfect BPP 8/8!! We also had another efw which estimated him to be 6lbs 11oz (34th percentile). Both the circumference of his abdomen and the length of his femur plot him out as a 36weeker, but his head circumference on the other hand...40wks 5days...YIKES! At our OB appointment Wednesday I had my membranes stripped. (Having your membranes stripped involves separating the bag of water from the uterine segment.) CERVICAL UPDATE...I am now dilated 3cm, 80% effaced, and he is still hanging out at a -2 station.

Wednesday I kept busy with errands and a long walk after my appointment in hopes to get something started. I was contracting on and off but nothing painful enough to make me head into the hospital. So I decided to hop into the bath tub and attempt to relax. As I was getting out of the tub I felt something...and sure enough I had lost my mucus plug! Then about thirty minutes later my contractions were pretty uncomfortable and I was having some bloody show!! So I called the hospital to talk to the girls I work with...because I wasn't sure if I had ruptured or not. They of course said come on in we've got a big room open for you. PERFECT! Ryan and I show up around midnight Thursday morning and go through all of the evaluation questioning. I was tested to see if indeed my water broke, and then put on the monitor. It turned out that my water didn't break. This only meant one thing for me...I had to prove I was in labor or else I would get sent home. And as all of my co-workers know the only way to prove you're in labor is by changing your cervix. So my cervix was checked and I was the same as I was earlier that day in the office (3/80/-2). Meanwhile I was having contractions every two minutes!! After having my cervix checked we got an hour to walk around in hope of changing my cervix. Not only did Ryan and I speed-walk...but we ran up and down the stairs SEVERAL times! After all of that work I came to find that my cervix had not changed. I seriously wanted to cry. I tried to talk my OB into breaking my bag of water since I was already there and my cervix was favorable...much to my dismay she wasn't on that bandwagon. So here I am...still pregnant!

As if that weren't enough action, on our way home at 3:30am we got pulled over by the state patrol!! We were on Hwy 52 south where the speed limit changes from 55 to 65 and I had apparently accelerated a mile or so too soon. Funny thing is that the officer had asked me if I knew why he pulled me over...then he asked if I knew what the speed limit was. I heard Ryan telling me 65...so that's what I told him...we looked up and a 65mph speed limit sign was about 50ft in front of my car. We both knew I was doing 70 in a 55, not 65. Thankfully he let me go with a verbal warning!! I think it probably helped that we had pulled over directly in front of the 65mph sign and that my back seat was overflowing with a baby car seat, labor ball, and luggage! Oh yeah, and the fact that I have a huge pregnant belly probably didn't hurt the situation either...

Sunday I will be 39 weeks...we will be holding a prayer service in hopes of labor or rupture of membranes...or BOTH!! Haha, just kidding....

Ethan's Room

I have become a little bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging! So let's get caught up to date...

Wednesday September 12th we went in for a normal OB appointment followed by my weekly BPP. A lot was accomplished at this prenatal appointment...I made the big switch from lovenox to heparin. My hemoglobin was checked and it was 10.2; previously it was 9.5. I guess taking iron twice a day along with my prenatal vitamin is finally doing the job! I also had my GBS (Group Beta Strep) status checked, and I had my cervix checked. Thankfully I am GBS negative; this just means that I won't need antibiotics during labor to protect the baby. I am dilated 1cm, 30% effaced, and he is at a-3 station. I think that's a pretty good start considering I was 36 3/7wks! My OB doctor and I made a detailed master plan for my delivery/postpartum stay regarding treatment of my factor v leiden. Great news with that....I got the "OKAY" to deliver on 2300!!!! Once again Ethan decided to be slightly stubborn at our BPP. Our final score was 6/8...we were docked for tone. Two points for movement were almost lost as well...but in the last few minutes he decided to make a couple of small movements. Of course by the time I got home I could feel him moving around like crazy!! I definitely needed that reassurance because the entire way home I got myself all worked up worrying about him.

Today we had another BPP and OB appointment. The BPP couldn't have gone better. Ethan was extremely active throughout the ENTIRE ultrasound and had more than one episode of breathing. Needless to say I was thrilled with his performance during this ultrasound!! The prenatal appointment went very well too. My cervix was checked again this week and I'm proud to say there was change! I am a "loose" 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, and he has moved down to a -2 station. Not a huge change...but change nonetheless!! Everything else is still looking great. My blood pressure is nice and low, there was no protein or glucose in my urine, I'm back to a 10lb weight gain, and I am measuring at 38wks. I am 37 3/7wks today and feel totally ready to meet this little guy. It is getting so hard to wait for his arrival...we want him here in our arms NOW!!!

I finally got around to taking pictures of Ethan's room. It took all of 45 seconds to do, but for some reason I kept procrastinating! I tried to make the pictures go in a complete circle around his room...haha, I am the farthest thing from being a photographer so bear with me.From the doorway looking in.
Closet.

We almost had a shot of Ryan peeking in but my camera took too long!!

For now we have been storing his travel system, highchair, swing, bouncy chair, activity center, etc...in his room. So during the "photography session" I cluttered our hallway with baby stuff. This weekend Ryan's parents (Joe & Cindy) and my dad (Frank) will be stopping by to take a look at Ethan's room...they bought us the crib and dresser unit and still haven't gotten the chance to see it yet. Hopefully they will be impressed with all that we've done! We still need to hang a few frames and stuff on the walls...but I'm in no rush!

Weekly BPP's

We started weekly biophysical profiles (BPP) about three weeks ago. A BPP is basically a detailed ultrasound in which you can score the maximum of 8 points; but the catcher is that you only have 30minutes to do so. The four items you are being scored on are: fetal movements, tone, breathing movements, and amniotic fluid volume. A score of zero or 2 is given for each item. So far we have gotten 8/8 at every BPP!! Although this last time Ethan almost got a 4/8...he thought it was nap time and didn't show ANY sign of tone or movement until the very last 5 minutes! I was on the verge of having a small anxiety attack.

We would have more pictures due to this weekly testing, but at every other BPP Ethan has been head down as well as face down. Although this is the optimal delivery position, it's hard to get cute pictures of my baby when he's facing my spine!

We also had another growth scan to estimate his weight. Drum roll please....my peanut is now 5lbs 9oz!! What a champ! I do admit I was pretty nervous because the last efw (estimated fetal weight) was 4lbs 12oz...thankfully he's gained less than a pound in three weeks. If he keeps this growth pattern up by the time I'm 38wks he should be a perfect 6lbs 9oz!! Which will totally NOT make sense at all when I deliver a 8 to 9lb baby...haha, I guess we will wait and see. I almost forgot, at every ultrasound the tech continues to tell me how much HAIR our little guy has. It is crazy, you can actually see his hair...I never knew that was possible. That just makes me even more excited...AHHH I can not wait!! These last few weeks seem to be going by so slowly.

Yes, Ethan's room is pretty much done. We just need to go pick up the bedding at the store! We have received so many gift cards to Babies'R Us that we are combining them all and getting the bedding set with that money...wow, thanks everyone!! (Pictures to come once we make the shopping trip...I'm hoping by next weekend.)

Baby Shower--Birth Center Girls

The girls at work (specifically Ginelle) threw Melissa & I a marvelous baby shower!! Melissa & I with the "low fat/low calorie" cake...haha, shh just let me believe that!
Smile girls!!

More happiness!
It is really hard to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time...this was our best attempt!
Melissa and her gifts.

Here I am with my BIG GIFT, which was from Karen W, Nicole J, Reta, Janelle, Gael, Tina, Danette, Cherlyn, and Katie H....thank you so much!!! It was really great to see how many people were able to take time out of their day to come celebrate with us, THANKS!!!