How It Happened: Birth of Lilah Annette

Sorry this post has been delayed. Adjusting to life with a newborn has been rough, but wonderful :)
I wanted to write down what happened last week and how Lilah made her arrival (more for my sake).

I went to the doctor on Feb 18 (my due date and 40w) and they performed a non-stress test and an ultrasound to see how Lilah was doing since I was full term. On the NST I was contracting every 4-8mins. When I went in for the ultrasound, my amniotic fluid was VERY low. I didnt even see the doctor. They sent me straight to L&D. I of course had to go home and grab my bags and my husband, so we arrived in L&D about an hour or so after my appt. When we arrived, they checked me and I was 1/2cm dilated and maybe 25% effaced (very little was happening basically). They decided to insert a bulb into my cervix to manually dilate me to 3-4cm. It was around 2:15p when the induction started. (They insert the bulb inside the cervix and then fill it up with saline and wait until it opens enough to fall out.) They said it could take up to 12hrs. It was very uncomfortable and the cramps/contractions were awful. I could not get comfortable! About 3.5hrs later, the bulb fell out. When they checked me, I was only at 2cm. I was a little frustrated. I was contracting on my own every 4-5mins so they decided to let me contract and see if my body would naturally go into active labor before starting me on pitocin. It did not. So around 10pm they started me on pitocin. They started me off around 2cc and would go up as needed every 15min. The highest I got was 7cc and then they had to taper it down to 4 or 5cc b/c my body was contracting harder and more often then it needed to. I got the epidural around midnight because the pain was just to much and I knew it was going to be a long labor process. At that point I was still 2cm. They checked me again around 4:30am and I had progressed to 4-5cm and my water had broken on its own. Again at 7am and I was still at 4-5cm. During this time my epidural was not cooperating. The anesthesiologist came back in 2 or 3 times to give me an extra boost and it would only last a couple hours before I was in intense pain again. Around 10:30am the anesthesiologist decided we needed to redo the epidural since it was functioning properly. I was so thankful! The new one worked like a charm! They checked me again at 11am and I was fully dilated and 100% effaced! Lilah was only at a 0 station and she needed to be at a 2 before pushing could begin. They told me I needed to "labor down" until she dropped low enough into the birth canal. I made it to maybe a 1 before the urge to push was overwhelming, so they let me start pushing. it was around 12:10p when I actually started pushing. Almost 2hrs later, she made her debut at 1:58pm Tuesday afternoon! The NICU team had to be there because of the low fluid situation. So I didnt get to hold her right away. They checked her out, cleaned her off, and took her vitals. She was 7lbs 6oz and 20in long. She was perfect :)

She developed jaundice (levels were at a 8 at 2days old, went up to 11.2 by Friday morning). Her weight was down to 6lbs 9oz on Friday as well. We had to supplement some formula over the weekend to try and get her weight up and the poop coming! lol! On Monday morning her levels were down to 4.6 and she had gained 4oz! (The dr said they like to see a little less than an ounce a day of weight gain so she was doing FANTASTIC, 4oz in 3days!!) No more doctor visits or formula supplements!!! Everyone is excited about that! My milk came in Friday/Saturday so I think that had a huge impact on her weight gain. She hated the formula and we could barely get her to eat it.

Overall everyone is doing well and adjusting! We have had a few bad nights and a few great nights! We are thankful for the sleep we get whenever we get it! We could not be happier though! She is amazing and we are both head over heals in love with her!

Almost Here!

I've decided its time for another blog post. This month is almost over and I cannot believe how time has been flying by! Since my last post: We've made our last trip to Champaign (probably until May for my amazing sister-in-law's graduation!), had 2 baby showers (I cannot believe how blessed we are by the people in our lives), my best friend got married, and I've successfully made it to full term! Life has been so busy but incredibly great!
(Just a brief warning: I go into symptoms/side effects of late pregnancy so if you don't wanna know, don't continue reading... might be TMI)
Last week I had another ultrasound of baby girl. She has flipped and is in the head-down (correct) position for birth! No crazy interventions or a c-section scheduled! She was measuring in at approximately 5lb10oz at 36w2d. That puts her in the 24th percentile. Everything looks great! She was awake during this visit, so I got to see her move a little (there isn't much room these days). I got to see her put all of her fingers in her mouth and stick out her tongue. It was so cool to see her moving! She also has a lot of hair! I could see it flowing/moving in the amniotic fluid! I cannot wait to meet her and see her grow and watch her little personality develop! We have also started weekly appointments. In the past few days, my Braxton Hicks have been a lot more frequent. They aren't painful; they do make me lightheaded and I feel very low in oxygen or I get very flushed and warm. All normal apparently. The bathroom trips have gotten a lot more frequent, so I'm hoping that is from her dropping down getting ready to come! Sleeping has become a thing of the past. She actually never wakes me up from moving... its my body. Just gearing up to be a baby delivering machine I think (hip and back pain). These last couple weeks are going to be the hardest I think. Physically and emotionally. I'm not anxious or nervous about the delivery at all yet. My mind set has been very positive. My body is designed to do this and it knows what to do. I just need to relax and let nature take its course. So far I've been doing pretty good. Other unfortunate side effects of late pregnancy have been extreme swelling. I have pitting edema in my ankles. For those of you who don't know what that is: basically when I touch my ankles, I leave a fingerprint indent. Its lovely. Pretty much everywhere else is swollen too. My ankles are by far the worst.

The nursery is almost completed! (once EVERYTHING is done, I will put up more pictures... here is sneak peak.) I finished sewing the curtains yesterday morning and I went to the store and finished buying the rest of the stuff we needed. I still need to finish my wall art project and hang a couple things, but its ready enough for her when she comes. Plus she will be in our room in the bassinet at first. Most of her clothes (NB-3months) are washed, diapers and wipes are stock-piled, everything (bottles, pacifiers, toys) has been sterilized and cleaned, and the baby swing is set up. I feel like all the important stuff is done :) We also installed the car seat and had it inspected at the fire station! And the Go-Bags have been officially packed!  We are good to go!!

Hopefully I'll post before she comes, but if not: next time I write, we will be parents! I'm beyond excited and so full of joy and love!

<3

2013 is Here!

Happy New Year! 2013 is here! 
I am having a hard time with a New Year's Resolution this year. So much is about to change that I cannot imagine sticking to something. I know I am going to try and take one picture a day for the whole year! Project 365! (I downloaded an app to help me with it!) I know that I want to get in shape after baby girl comes, but I have no time limit on that. I want to be healthy and happy and if I set a goal, I will just get frustrated with myself. I also want/need to pass my boards! My goal is before the baby comes but I've had several obstacles so far that have preventing me from studying. Mainly my health and recovery. It will get done when it gets done! The biggest goal of the year is to be a great wife and mother! I'm very excited about all the changes that are about to happen and I just want to enjoy them and not stress about anything unimportant!
I have 6.5 weeks until my due date and its officially next month! I cannot wrap my head around that yet. Next month we are going to be parents to a beautiful baby girl! AH! so exciting!! We still haven't decided on THE name yet... but we have some good ideas and I know when we see her it won't be hard to decide! I know our parents are dying to find out the name! I am glad we are keeping it a secret! Its something left to surprise everyone :) And since we keep changing our minds.. its probably better this way! lol 
Yesterday we took down our Christmas tree and decorations! (If it didn't get done yesterday, it would have been at least February before we could get around to it again.) So I'm glad that was accomplished! We also set up our baby swing! We are slowly tackling all the assembly of baby gadgets! I want to get puppy use to all of the new equipment as well!  
January is turning out to be very very busy (Baby showers, Anniversary, my friends wedding, Zach's birthday... and more!) so hopefully I can update again soon! I will definitely update after my ultrasound in a couple weeks! 

xoxo

Christmas Time

Wow. I've slacked off recently. We have been very busy!
We almost have the nursery completed... still a few things to do but the BIG stuff is done! I still have a few projects to complete as well.
For Christmas we decided to stay in our new house! My family came up the Friday before Christmas until Christmas eve to celebrate with us! It was so nice having them up here! My dad also did some projects around the house for me! We got a new garage door opener so now I can park in our garage!! He made a space in our kitchen for a dishwasher, and the new dishwasher should be installed next week!!! He also installed blinds for us in the nursery :) Zach and I celebrated Christmas day just the two of us and it was awesome! Our first and last Christmas just the two of us! Zach's family is coming up tomorrow to celebrate Christmas for the weekend. Its been a great Christmas!
We also had another Christmas "present"! We got to see our little girl today via ultrasound! She was sleeping so she was a little uncooperative. All of her measurements were great! She weighs 3lbs 15oz so that puts her in the 32% percentile for size. She also has a full head of hair (explains the awful heartburn)! She is breech at this point. The doctor said 20% of babies are breech at 32w. We will be getting another ultrasound at 36w to see if she has flipped on her own. 4% of babies are breech at 36w. If she is still breech, the doctor will try to manually turn her (which works 1/2 of  the time) otherwise there is a great possibility of a c-section. Praying she turns on her own!! My blood pressure and weight are still great and on track! The doctor also spent a lot of time with me talking about labor and the process... I feel so much better and prepared... well as much as possible lol. We did finish our baby classes (breastfeeding and labor and delivery). I think they helped. I am also reading Baby Wise and Babyproofing Your Marriage! I am trying to be as prepared as possible yet very flexible. Its hard not knowing what to expect! I cannot wait though! She is going to be amazing and worth every pain and discomfort I've had and will go through!

<3

Catch Up

WOW! November flew by! I tried to keep myself busy because my husband was gone for work for 5 weeks. He left a few days after we moved into our house and then got back shortly before we left for Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving! I am so glad to have him home! And I'm pretty sure he won't have to take anymore long trips once the baby comes!
I was able to go to Champaign for a week and half and spend time with family and friends! That helped pass some of the time Zach was gone. We drove to Pittsburgh (8 hour drive) for Thanksgiving and Zach's family threw us a baby shower! It was so wonderful! We are extremely grateful for everything we got for our little one! This baby is so loved! It was amazing to get to see all of his family and to meet some I have never met before! It had been 3 years since we have seen most of them! I really hope we can get out to Pittsburgh next year so everyone can meet her!

I started my third trimester! I'll be 29 weeks on Monday! I went to my OB on Wednesday and everything is going fine! My glucose screening came back within the normal range and my blood pressure was were it usually is :) I start going to the OB every 2 weeks now until 36 weeks! We also get another ultrasound the week of Christmas (32 weeks)! I think this will be our last picture of her until she makes her arrival into the world! I can't believe my due date is 11 weeks away! We still have yet to start on the nursery... but now that Zach is home, that should be easier! We start baby classes next weekend as well! It seems to be happening so quickly yet so slowly. When we brought all the baby stuff home from the shower, it hit me that this is really happening and in the not so distant future. I am so excited and overwhelmed but I know everything will be just fine!