Sorry I have been MIA for so long, but I was busy having my sweet little baby boy Jude! :D
On Wednesday, February 19th at 1810 Jude was born! It was a planned c-section that was delayed from 0730 to about 1730. So, it left me with a full day at the hospital just waiting for my baby boy to be born. This made for some stress, because I was trying to keep Brian up to date so that I could talk to him before and after the c-section. The actual procedure went rather well with little complications. Our little boy entered the world with a loud shrieking scream and was measured, weighed, given shots, and cleaned all before I was out of surgery myself. I was finally introduced to Jude and quickly called Brian to share the news and introduce him to our sweet baby! That night I was transferred into the Mother Baby Unit and was up walking around by 0300 that night.
The recovery process in the hospital went well though I wish I wouldn't have relied so much on the hospital bed my last day at the hospital, because when I got home I received a rude awakening when trying to move in & out of my bed. We were released by 1515 on Friday, February 21st and headed home to start our new lives.
Through the days up until now it has been a great journey and we are doing exceptionally well. I have been extremely thankful to my mom who has been with me and I will be beyond sad to see her go on Sunday.
Some other milestones we have had include my staple removal a week after being discharged (it really wasn't as bad as I anticipated). The scar looks good according to everyone and now I am just left with some lingering tape residue that is slowly dissipating. Also, yesterday was Jude's 2 week check-up. Everything went well and he grew and gained his weight back from birth. He is a healthy, alert, strong, and wiggly little boy and the doctor couldn't be happier. We will have another appointment in two weeks to check on his continued growing and then not another appointment until 2 months where he will get... GULP... shots!
More news... as I say good-bye to my mom tomorrow (BOO!) I will begin getting ready for more visitors as Brian's parents are scheduled to visit in about 2 weeks! I am loving the visitors and loving even more that I am able to get ready for them with little to no pain! Now if my demanding little man will just let me do the chores without wanting cuddles! :)
Oh, I also forgot that the pup-dogs LOVE their baby brother so very much!
So, it looks like this will be my last full week of being without a baby. As of this upcoming Saturday I will be 39 weeks and we will be having my c-section before I am 40 weeks. I am really nervous about the whole idea of surgery, a new baby, being without my husband, and trying to be a good mom.
I am happy that this pregnancy for the most part has gone really well. I have never felt really bad, I've never wanted the pregnancy to just be over, and overall I was pretty healthy (except when I went home for Thanksgiving). All things considered of the information we were given in the beginning of this pregnancy I am thrilled that it all has gone so well. My migraines haven't been that bad, I did not get MMR even though I am not immune, I did become more anemic but that was quickly fixed by iron pills, and my asthma has not acted up except for when I was sick & couldn't breath due to stuffiness.
According to the ultrasound I had last week to check the position & space of the baby Jude is still breech and has little to no room to move. He is squished up near my ribs and has his little feet on my left hip area most of the time. Also, I guess he has a wonderful looking liver and is doing great practicing breathing. I always love when the people doing the ultrasound comment on how wonderful our son's organs look.
This week also happens to be Valentine's Day... a very sad day since my hubby is not here to be with me, but I know that he will be happy with his care package of Valentine's Day goodies and I will be happy with my Valentine's letter. I plan to take the day to enjoy a little pampering to include a hair cut (just a trim so I can still pull back my hair still) and a pedicure. Super excited about it!
Now I just need to live up my last week and avoid going into labor before the c-section! :)
So, today was supposed to be a somewhat important doctor's appointment, but there seemed to be some miscommunication between Winn and myself. I was told by the person who made my appointment as well as the automated person who called me yesterday that my appointment was at 1440. Alas when I went to question about why I had been waiting so long past my appointment I was informed that my appointment was at 1340. I assured them they were wrong, but are they going to believe me? HA! No! To my surprise my next two appointments (my last two as well) were also off by an hour. Yet, of course this is all my mistake correct? BULL! Anyways, so now I have been marked as a No-Show to my appointment (which is like getting a warning at school, except hubby gets it not me...)!
So, now they want me to call tomorrow morning at 0830 to see if there are any cancellations so I can be squeezed in for my missed appointment. Ugh... so early! If that doesn't happen then I guess I am waiting until next week (not always the best choice when you are almost 38 weeks). Some may be wondering what was so important about this appointment... well we were supposed to do a quick ultrasound to confirm that our baby is still breech. Luckily we already scheduled a c-section last week, but we were just going to double check this week. So, if I don't get in until next week one of two things will happen...
1. We'll do the ultrasound and from there we will continue with the c-section or not
2. We will just go ahead with the c-section as scheduled
Part of me is kind of leaning toward option two for the simple fact that I am already mentally prepared for the c-section, for everything to go according to a plan, and for everyone to know when to be here/by a computer. I guess I just have to wait and see what happens that this point.
End Rant for the Day...
So, yesterday I had my 35 week appointment and now I get to enjoy the joys of going every week... yay (insert eye roll here). So, the appointment was relatively quick, heartbeat was good, measurement was good, did my Group B Strep test (EWWW), and then came the discussion. Are we going to try turning the baby or are we going to schedule the c-section? My answer... I don't know, because I don't feel that I am fully aware of the risks. I know the benefits of both, but lets face it I'm married to an EM doctor and we are worse case scenario people. So, we discussed the risks, I got some information, and I sent a FaceBook message to Brian and told him we needed to talk.
Within about 15-20 minutes Brian happened to be by a computer and saw my message and was able to FaceTime me. We discussed the risks associated with turning the baby, doing the c-section, and being in the situation of an emergency c-section. Ultimately we have decided to go with scheduling the c-section for 39 weeks and if Jude decides to turn between now and then well then it won't matter now will it... lol!
So, with the idea of a c-section there are different complications that I must take into account and prepare for. There is the knowledge though that baby Jude will be here in just less then a month. I'm terrified, nervous, and mostly I just cannot believe it is already here! Just two months after that my husband will be home! It is slowly all coming to an end and I am amazed at how easy the 9 months of pregnancy have been and how difficult the 4.5 months without Brian has been!
Next week is the 36 week appointment and we will schedule the c-section so we will have a date in one week from today! Get excited!! :)
This past week I had my 8 month appointment (I was actually 33 weeks, but close enough). I am still at 2 week visits, but will be switching to every week visits starting at 9 months (for me they will start at 35 weeks... close enough).
My doctor appointments go so quickly that it is somewhat annoying to have to drive the 30-45 min. each way to the hospital all the time, but I guess it's for the best.
Our dear baby Jude is still breech and though we still have a little under 2 months for him to move only about 7% of pregnancies are still breech at 32 weeks. The doctor did check and confirmed he is still breech. We will be checking again at my next appointment (35 weeks) and at that point setting up the procedure to externally turn the baby. From what I have heard and expect this will NOT be a fun experience, but we will discuss the pros and cons, check out how safe it will be for baby, and how safe it will be for me. I will have my bags packed (baby's bag is done... just need to finish mine) and ready when I go to my next appointment incase I can get squeezed in for the procedure that day. There is a slight chance it could send me into early labor so I just want to be prepared.
My mom left early yesterday and finally made it safely home to enjoy the day today (it was -15 as of 10 AM in Tinley Park). She helped me out a lot and we were able to get a lot of freezer meals most of the way done. I have a few more I need to make and some I need to cook up and separate, but it looks like for the most part I will have enough meals to survive until Brian comes home and can help me. Plus I will have my mom there for 2 weeks helping me and then Brian's parents for about a week to help also.
So, that's the plan... tomorrow I have my last birthing class (the first class that I missed...) and then at the end of the month is the breastfeeding class. In between there I will have my 35 week appointment and the day after the breastfeeding class is my 36 weeks appointment (ugh... I have to drive up there 2 days in a row! YUCK!!) I will try to be better about updating in these final weeks! I hope baby Jude will take his time getting here so that the time alone (without Brian) is as short as it possibly can be!
Well, today I had my 30 week appointment. I now have to go to OB/GYN appointments every two weeks (Ugh… I hate driving out there every other week!). So, today was another 5-10 min. appointment. Belly measured right on, baby's heart beat was great, and I got my quick questions/requests answered. Then, I went to make my appointment only to find out the next available appointment my doctor has is January 21st uh… that's 5 weeks away. So, I took that appointment, but asked if I can just be squeezed in some time in two weeks and I guess I'm waiting to hear from them tomorrow, but I will call Wednesday if I don't here just to check. If not then I will just have to see someone else I suppose…
After that I had to go to the pharmacy, because in my appointment I learned that my gestational diabetes test was fine & my CBC was fine, but I am slightly anemic. I guess I somewhat expected that, because I was borderline prior to pregnancy. So, I need to be put on iron supplements twice a day (oh fun… now I have to try to remember….). So, since my pharmacy number was over 30 away I decided to run to the immunization clinic to get my Tdap vaccine so little Jude will be somewhat protected from Whooping Cough after he is born and before he can be vaccinated. It for the most part worked out and I only had to wait about 20 min. after my vaccination waiting to get my prescription. Waiting a total of about an hour for a vitamin is just ridiculous!!!
Then later this evening I had class three of my birthing class, which thankfully was quick. This class was basically about once the baby was born and taking home a newborn. It sounds like one of the pediatricians does the circumcision we want in the hospital (hopefully I can get her to do it while we are there…). Also, my chances of getting a nurse to help me with the baby is not very likely, which is worrisome because while my mom plans to be here I do still have two dogs at home that need to be loved on and taken care of.
I guess at some point I need to really sit down and try to figure this out which is really difficult with so many moving and ever changing parts. I am sure everything will work out fine and if all else fails the nurses at Mother-Baby will just have to help me or they will deal with me even longer… LOL!!
Now its time to get back to crocheting and puppy snuggling! :D
