Pregnancy Diaries

41 Weeks- I guess I jinxed myself with all of that talk about her coming early. This girl came a week late.

How Annabel arrived…

I had been having contractions on and off for weeks. So when the contractions started Saturday evening, I didn’t take them too seriously. It wasn’t until I woke up at 3 a.m. Sunday morning that I knew these contractions were different. I started to time the contractions and they were exactly 10 minutes apart. Literally every time the clock struck 9… 3:19, 3:29, 3:39… I would contract. This lasted from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. Finally at six we decided we should get Ethan to my mom’s incase things started to intensify.

Once we were Ethan free I decided that I wanted to go to the hospital to see if I was progressing. I fully expected to be sent home, but I just wanted to make sure that all of this contracting was doing something. The Friday before I had my 40 week appointment and I was dilated to a 3 and 40 % effaced. When I checked in to the hospital on Sunday evening I was still only dilated to a 3 but 80% effaced. After I was checked the doc decided that he would have me wait an hour and then check me again. After an hour I was now dilated to a 4. Since I was making progress the doc decided to keep me at the hospital so we could have the baby. Still at this point I was only contracting every 10 minutes. I had no interest in spending an uncomfortable night at the hospital hooked up to machines. I wanted to head home and finish most of the labor in my own bed. Just as we were about to ask the nurse if we could head home, my water broke. I knew we weren’t going anywhere.

At this point the doctor gave me 24 hours to deliver or I would have to deliver via c-section again. I desperately wanted to avoid having another c-section. Luckily things started to intensify throughout the night. By 4 a.m. my contractions were right on top of each other. Then all of the sudden they stopped. From 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. nothing happened and nothing we were doing was getting the contractions started again. I was getting pretty nervous at this point. Since I had, had a previous c-section I was not allowed to be induced. I only had about 12 hours until c-section time. Even though it wasn’t recommended the doctor suggested trying a teeny bit of Pitocin to try and get things started again. I was more worried about the imminent c-section then I was about the risks of being induced, so I decided to try a little Pitocin. After they administered the Pitocin it didn’t take long for things to start back up. And this round of contractions was unbearable. Two contractions in and I was in tears begging for the epidural. Unfortunately I was not the only one who asked for an epidural at that exact moment. I was fourth in line. So an hour after I asked for the epidural (the most painful hour of my life) I finally got the drugs. When they started the Pitocin I was dilated to a 5. An hour later just before I was given the epidural I was dilated to a 9. I have no idea why at this point they decided to give me the epidural, but I sure am glad that they did. Once the epidural kicked in, I couldn’t feel a thing. I had to ask Aaron if I was still contracting. It was a nice break.

I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours. I was exhausted. The nurse suggested that I take a nap, and then she would wake me up in an hour to start pushing. That’s how the rest of it went. I slept for an hour and then pushed for 15 minutes. Our daughter finally arrived at 12:23 on July 2. She was about 12 hours too late to share her birthday with her dad and her grandpa. We were just so glad that she arrived safely. I’m so glad that the VBAC was a success. Recovery really was so much easier.

My sister was scheduled to deliver the next day via c-section. My mother was scheduled to fly out that evening at 7 p.m. to go be with my sister. At 10 a.m. that morning she went to check in for her flight. Well she realized that she hadn’t booked the 7 p.m. flight but the 10:30 a.m. flight. Well that flight was leaving in 30 minutes. Obviously, she wasn’t going to be able to make the flight in time. So she called to reschedule for the 7 p.m. flight. That flight was booked. They couldn’t get her on a flight until the next morning. – So because of all of this mix up she was able to come to the hospital that night to meet Annabel. And she was still able to make it to be with my sister for her surgery the next day. That was a little happy coincidence :)

 

39 weeks

Contractions started up again Monday night, they started out strong and seemed to intensify. I went to bed Monday night thinking she may be coming soon. I woke up Tuesday still having contractions, but just not as intense or frequent. That has been ongoing all week. I’ll start to have stronger and longer contractions and then they just slow down or stop all together. At this point because my body has cried wolf so many times I am afraid that I’ll go into labor and not even realize it, or I’ll just ignore it because I’m used to thinking the contractions will stop soon.

At my 39 week appointment I rescheduled my c-section for July 6. I was getting nervous as our scheduled June 27 date was approaching quickly. I really want to give this girl the opportunity to come on her own. July 6 is the last day that the doc will allow her to stay inside. Hopefully she will come before then. We’ll just have to wait and see.

38 weeks

I went to the doc on Thursday. I found out that I was dilated, yay! But only to a one, boo. Then Thursday night I finally started having legit contractions. It put me in panic mode as I still hadn’t got much done on my to do list. I spent all day Friday and Saturday making sure we were ready for this baby. By Saturday night my contractions got to the point where they were only 4 minutes apart. I was about to call the doctor, but Aaron decided to give me a blessing first. Aaron felt impressed to tell me that it wasn’t quite time for her to come yet. Immediately after the blessing, the contractions stopped. For the next two days I felt nothing. I had no contractions, and I had no pain. It was actually a nice break. Then Monday night the contractions started up again… That takes us into week 39.

37 weeks

Went to the doc this week. Zero progress is being made. Boo. I’m ready for this girl to get here already. I also found out that I cannot be induced, because I have had a previous c-section. I guess induction can increase the chance of me rupturing. So if this baby doesn’t come on her own then I will have to have another c-section. We scheduled a c-section for June 27. But I am praying she comes before then. I do not want to have another c-section!

36 weeks

With Ethan I rarely had any Braxton hicks contractions. Then I never even went into labor, because we had to schedule the c-section. So I really never had any contractions or any labor pains. This time around I have had plenty of the Braxton hicks. Then this week I even had some intense and painful contractions. I have said throughout this pregnancy that this girl is coming early. So those painful contractions were a reminder that she indeed may come early, and they made me realize that I have procrastinated getting ready for her arrival. I need to wash her clothes and blankets. I need to make sure she has clothes. I know she has some cute outfits, but I need to make sure she has plenty of comfy things to wear as well. I need to sterilize pacifiers, because Ethan has gotten into her stash of binkies and at times I catch him walking around the house with them in his mouth. I need to make her sheets for her bed. We bought a cradle for her to sleep in. It was a garage sale find. It must not be your standard size cradle because I can’t find sheets to fit it anywhere. I need to sew her some sheets for her bed. I would also really like to make her coming home from the hospital outfit. Not a huge priority, but still something that keeps nagging at me. I need to buy diapers! I need to pack a bag for the hospital. I need to clean out her swing…

Ok cute story to interrupt my list… We took the swing out of the basement so that we could start cleaning it up and washing it out. Now to preface this, I have been a little worried about how Ethan is going to react to his sister. Lately he has become very clingy and cuddly and just more attached to me than ever. I am eating up all of the cuddles and loving every second. It still makes me nervous to think that he may not want to share me with his sister. Well we bring the swing up from the basement. Ethan thinks it is his new toy. He put his Toy Story Woody doll in the swing one day. Later that afternoon, Ethan and I were cleaning up his toys and I asked if he would put his woody doll away. And he said “No, Woody baby.” I loved hearing that because I was worried that he thinks he is the baby. I’m was glad to know that he understands that someone or something else can be the baby.

Anyway I need to stop writing and get working on my to do list! T-minus three weeks until our girl is here!

35 weeks

I am officially huge! And Aaron agrees with me. I walked by the mirror the other night, and said, “Woah! I am huge!” and his response, “Well you are carrying around a six pound baby.” No appeasing comment like, “oh no honey, you look great.” Just complete agreement on the fact that my belly has become ginormous. If he didn’t give me so many fabulous compliments everyday, he may have gotten in trouble for that one comment ;)

I know I have mentioned before how I was feeling a little uncomfortable. I really was only a little uncomfortable. It was only at occasional moments. I have officially reached the stage where I am uncomfortable always. There is going to be no remedy for it until this baby girl arrives. Luckily we only have one month to go- or less… please be less.

I have to say that besides the physical struggles that I experienced during my pregnancy with Ethan, I also struggled emotionally and mentally. I wasn’t sure that I was ready to be a mother. I was a nervous wreck. I wanted Ethan to stay inside me as long as possible. Now I see that mostly I was terrified because I was afraid that I wouldn’t know what to do or how to be a mother. Luckily motherhood came so naturally to me. I have loved every second of it. Yes, Ethan and I have hard days. But being a mother has been the greatest blessing and joy of my life. So this time around I am so anxious to meet our little girl. I want her to come early. I don’t want her to stay in there much longer. I can’t wait to hold her and to love on her. I can’t wait to really be a family of four.

34 weeks

It is funny how all of my ligaments are loosening up. With Ethan's pregnancy I remember my joints being in a lot of pain. I remember my hips always killing me, and also my elbows always hurting. Well this pregnancy I haven’t had any joint pain until this week. It is only my hips that hurt and only while laying down. So sleeping has become a dreaded activity. Other than the hip pain at night, I don’t have any joint pain. Although, I do have super loose ligaments. My knees give out pretty regularly. That is not too surprising as I have always had bad knees, just a left over effect from my cheerleading days. There was one day this week that my ankle gave out on me. It was quite the scene as I fell to the ground. It happened in the front of my home, so my neighbor came running over to make sure I was alright and to help me up. My ankle was in a lot of pain and I had to keep off of it for a day. Luckily I am alright now- nothing serious. Ethan has not forgotten the incident. Multiple times a day he says, “Mommy, you fell down. Are you okay?” It is actually really sweet. It is just surprising as it has been a few days and he still remembers. In fact that was the first thing he said to me after waking up from his nap today. I love my little boy, and I can’t wait to start loving on my little girl.

33 weeks

My entire family was in town this week. We were on the go all day everyday. It was a ton of fun, but I have never been so swollen in my life. My ankles are non existent, and my toes look like sausages. On the plus side my wedding ring has always been a little big, at least now it fits :)

32 weeks

I had a doctors appointment this week. Everything looks great. My results from my glucose test came back so good that the doctor questioned whether I actually drank the nasty drink before hand. I reassured him that I certainly did. And if the doc only knew how many gummy bears and fruit snacks that I eat in a day he would be even more shocked that test results came back so low. Ha. I guess its safe it keep eating plenty of sugar. I think I’ll stop the ice cream truck as it drives by today :)

31 weeks

I thought we were going to make it through this pregnancy without any trips to the hospital before our baby girl arrives. I guess I’m not so lucky. With Ethan there were a few nights spent at the hospital after many of my passing out episodes. Since this pregnancy hasn’t brought any passing out, and has been really blissfully easy at least for the last 10 weeks, I thought for sure we were smooth sailing until the end of this. Like I said, I am not so lucky. Thursday night I got crazy sick. I started throwing up around 10 p.m. and didn’t stop until 5 a.m. After finally being able to get a few hours of sleep, the sick came back with a vengeance. Aaron having never seen me so sick, really even in my sickest pregnant state I had never been this sick, he called the doc. The doctor wanted me to come in and get checked out. So we headed to the hospital for what I thought would be a quick visit. After they gave me five bags of iv fluids and I still was barely hydrated enough to go to the bathroom, I had to stay overnight so they could keep the fluids coming. Luckily by morning, I felt much better. I was still pretty wiped out from all of the sick.

We got home from the hospital just in time for Ethan to get sick. It ended up being a pretty crazy week. Dang flu!

30 weeks

I think we are set on this little girls name. For as long as I remember there was a girl name that I was set on. I swore my first girl was to be called this name. Now that my first girl is almost here that name seems so strange. It doesn't seem to fit this little girl. Aaron and I have settled on a new name that I feel is just right for our baby girl. Now the only problem is the middle name. I am all about middle names as long as they have a family connection. We just haven’t found the right fit yet. Hopefully a middle name will come to us soon.

29 weeks

I have to laugh because this week was the exact opposite of last week for me. Last week I said I hadn’t been complaining. I think this week I have been a little more grumbly. Man did the effects of the third trimester hit hard. I really couldn’t breathe. I felt HUGE. I can’t imagine getting bigger. I know this little girl only weighs about 3 pounds. She’ll probably gain at least 4 more pounds before she is ready to make her debut. So if she has to double in size… oh man my poor back and lungs. Ha.

Also, throughout this entire pregnancy I have had the feeling that this little girl is going to show up early. This week the thought of her being here in only 10 weeks was a little scary for me. Am I really ready for two? I guess it’s too late to turn back now ;)

28 weeks

I am officially in the third trimester now. We are in the home stretch. Only 12 more weeks to go. Although, I am being optimistic that this girl will join our family a little early. I am really only thinking that there are 10 weeks left. Not that I have any control over that, really I just think 10 sounds nicer than 12.

I am definitely feeling the third trimester. I feel so large these days. I am uncomfortable. I am already waddling around. Then there is the back pain, the heartburn, and the leg cramps… all the fun 3rd trimester stuff. Honestly, no complaints here. I would gladly take the third trimester over the first trimester any day. Plus it just means we are one step closer to our baby girl. I love all reminders of that.

27 weeks

Nothing too out of the ordinary this week. I did have a doctors appointment… glucose test, rogam shot, the sound of a beautiful baby heart beat. Just the typical appointment for this point in the pregnancy.

I spent most of this week reflecting on motherhood. I think I take motherhood for granted all too often. The everyday can become so routine. A lot of the time the days just seem to blend together. I don’t always think about this great responsibility that I have as mother, and what that really means, and how that should manifest in the everyday. I think this may be so because I think I still find find it hard to believe that I am actually a mother. The transition into motherhood came so naturally, which I didn’t expect to be the case. Here is this perfect little boy that I have been entrusted to raise, and with another child cooking away I took the time this week to really just take Ethan in while I can still focus all of my attention on him.

What prompted all of this thinking was the fact that Ethan turned two this last week. I spent the week in awe of him. I spent the week in awe of the fact that I have the privilege of being his mother, and teacher, and caregiver and everything that being a mother entails. I thought about what I really want my motherhood to mean. Mostly, I just found myself so grateful and so lucky that I get to spend all day every day with this little boy(well actually not so little boy- 100% height and head, and 91% for weight)

I also thought about when Ethan was born. I remember the seasons changing from winter to spring. I remember the tulips starting to grow in our front yard. I remember taking walks to the park with my tiny wrinkly baby . Now all of that is here, except the tiny wrinkly baby. I just have to wait for the transition from spring to summer this time around. But all of these changes in the weather and all of these reminders of Ethan's birth have just made me ache to hold our little girl even more. She is already so loved and she is already a part of our family that sometimes I look around expecting to see her snuggled up napping on the couch. I’ll have to remind myself that she is not quite here yet, but soon. That is a wonderful thought.