13 weeks later...

Wow, it has been so long since I've updated my blog. A lot has happened. First of all I gave birth and I said I was going to tell my birth story so here it is......

September 13th 2011
I hardly slept the night before, maybe 2 hours of sleep. I was so anxious and excited about my induction! My mother arrived around 6:45am to stay with Wyatt while Matt and I headed to the hospital. Wyatt cried when we left. He hasn't cried like that in a long time. It broke my heart. This would be the first night I would ever spend away from Wyatt.
We arrived at the hospital and checked into our room. I was there for over an hour before the induction even started. I just wanted to get the show on the road! At 9:30am my doctor arrived and checked my cervix. I was only 1 cm dilated and the baby was still up high but my cervix was soft. The doctor decided it would be a good idea to start me on a dose of cytotec before starting the pitocin. Around 1:30pm my doctor checked my cervix again. At this point I was 4-5cm dilated, 50% effaced, and the baby was at -1 station. My doctor was very happy with how well my body was responding to the induction! My doctor wanted to hold off on the pitocin and see if I would start active labor on the cytotec alone. The next couple hours were pretty boring. My contractions were not painful, just annoying but nothing I couldn't talk or laugh through. At 3:30pm my doctor checked me and there hadn't been any change so she said we should start pitocin. Within an hour of starting the pitocin my contractions were starting to get stronger and closer together. At 5:30pm I was getting restless and it was my goal to not receive any pain medications so I started to walk the halls. I was hoping walking would also help move things along and help the baby drop even more. I walked the halls for close to 45 minutes. At that point I was stopping every 5-10 feet to stand against the wall just so I could breath through my contractions. At around 6:15 I went back to my room so my doctor could check my cervix. I was 6cm and was in a serious amount of pain at this point. The back labor was brutal. I just kept breathing with every contraction. I was coming to a point where even in between contractions I was in a bit of pain, very crampy, my back hurt, and I was starting to feel a ton of pressure. With every contraction I could feel Henry dropping and the pressure was getting worse and worse. I knew it was time. I told my nurse that I felt like I needed to push and she better get the doctor. Within minutes my doctor was telling me that I was 9.5 cm and that I could push but I needed to wait for them to set up the room. I was so happy when my doctor told me I could push with my next contraction. It was not easy and I could feel everything but doing it with no pain medication was very empowering. No one told me when to push or how long or how hard to push, I was in complete control over my body which is exactly what I wanted. It only took 3 pushes before Henry was out! Henry was born at 7:10pm. Before I even realized what happened Henry was on my chest crying. All that pain just stoped the second Henry was born and then I was holding my little miracle!

NOW

Henry is almost 3 months old and absolute joy. He is over 18 pounds and has been exclusively breastfed since day 1. He is such a happy baby and is always full of smiles and is always laughing at his big brother. It is hard to believe that a year ago Matt and I were just trying for a baby. I am so blessed to have the ability to not only get pregnant very easily, have such easy deliveries, and give birth to healthy beautiful babies.

My last pregnancy post....

The next time I blog I'll be telling my birth story! Only 5 more days until my induction, 4 and a half technically since it is 4pm right now! I had my last prenatal appointment yesterday. Everything went well, no weight gain this past week, BP was 110/60, and my urine looked good. The doctor measured my stomach and did 1 final ultrasound. Henry is still head down (exactly where we want him to be). I also had another cervical check and made some progress. Instead of being soft and closed I am now 1 cm dilated! The doctor said that is good progress. I hope to make a little more progress before my induction. If I stay at 1cm then they'll have to ripen my cervix with cytotec before they start pitocin. But if my cervix dilates just a little more we can start with the pitocin which would be wonderful. The cytotec stays in for 4 hours before they start pitocin. Being able to go right to the pitocin would speed things up a bit! I've been walking, exercising, and using my wii fit and hoping that will encourage the baby to drop a little and cause my cervix to dilate more. But I guess I'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out if my efforts are paying off. The good news is that my cervix is soft and 1 cm which means my body is getting ready for labor. That alone puts me in a better place for induction of labor. And since I've already had a successful labor and delivery already that increases my chances even more of responding well to the pitcon.
My mom will come over Tuesday morning to be with Wyatt so Matt and I can be to the hospital by 7:30am. Then depending on my progress and how things are going Wyatt may or may not go with Matt's mother in the afternoon. If we have the baby before 4pm then Matt will pick Wyatt up and bring him to the hospital with us. I really hope I don't go into the evening hours but we'll see. I am 99% ready for this baby. There are just a couple things I'd like to do around the house before Tuesday.
Mentally I am as ready as I'll ever be. I can't wait to meet my baby boy and see what he looks like!!

Only 9 more days at the most!

Last Thursday I had my weekly OB appointment. So far so good : )
Henry's heartbeat was perfect, my blood pressure was good, the doctor said me and the baby were looking good. We scheduled my induction for Tuesday the 13th. I am curious to see if Henry will decide to come on his prior to the 13th. I don't believe he will. So the plan is to wake up Tuesday morning and be to the hospital by 7:30am. How they start the induction will depend on my cervix. I may or may not need cytotec. Only time will tell....
On another note the doctor checked my cervix. I was closed and soft so I've made no progress in the past week. Looks like Henry is very happy where he is! Shortly after I got home I started to have some painful contractions that went right into my back. They were coming every 2-5 minutes and lasting 15-30 seconds. They stopped after about 45 minutes and stopped just as suddenly as they started. Come to find out cervical checks can cause contractions. I had no idea! I've also talked to a couple women who told me cervical checks caused them to go into labor.
At this point I'm just getting all my ducks in a row. It is hard to believe that I only have 9 days left at the most. I'm very excited and nervous all at the same time. In 2 weeks time I'll finally be home with my baby boy!!

Picture Time!

Henry's room is almost done!

Henry's going home outfit

35 weeks 2 days belly pictures





5 more weeks

I am so close to the finish line! Starting next week I will begin my weekly OB appointments. I hope that makes the last month go by quick. I am still up in the air about an induction. I would love it if Henry came on his own so I could experience 100% natural childbirth. Even with the induction I do not plan on having any pain medication. I do however know that a labor lasting hours and hours and hours might change my mind. If he comes quickly like Wyatt did I know I can handle the pain.
Last week I saw my doctor. We did a quick ultrasound. Henry is still head down, strong heartbeat, and the doctor said he looks good. My blood pressure is still really good and my urine looked good. I gained a couple pounds which brings my total weight gain so far to a little over 40 pounds (yikes!). I gained 40 with Wyatt so I am not surprised. I love food and food loves me, especially during pregnancy! But I have a goal to lose the weight and I know I will. The doctor also measured my uterus and I am measuring about a week ahead. That doesn't mean much but it could mean that Henry is growing just a little bit faster.

So anyway, I caved and finally took another belly picture. This picture was taken at 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant.

I'm due next month!

It is August 1st today and I can officially say, "I'm due next month!"
I am now 33 weeks pregnant and feeling VERY pregnant. I had an appointment with OB last week and everything looked good. My blood pressure was still on the low side which has been normal for me my entire pregnancy. Henry's heartbeat was perfect and he is measuring about a week ahead of schedule at this point. According to my baby book; babies at 33 weeks are usually between 4 and a 4.5 pounds. Henry is very active during the day and the night. I am not feeling those really strong kicks as much, probably because he is runinng out of space, but I can feel him move a lot. He gets the hiccups a lot too, just like Wyatt did.
During my appointment last week my doctor and I talked a bit about induction. If my cervix is favorable she will induce me the week before I'm due. I am still up in the air about it. But the more uncomfortable I get the more I am seriously considering induction.
On July 5th I had a 4D ultrasound done which was very exciting. I have an anterior placenta so it was difficult to get good/clear pictures of the baby but the tech was determined to get some decent pictures and after almost a half an hour we were able to get a couple shots. From what I could see it looks like Henry has the same dimple in his chin that Wyatt and Matt both have. Everyone keeps telling me that Henry looks like Wyatt when he was a baby. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I am nearing the finish line, 4 weeks until I'm full term, 7 weeks until my due date, and 6 weeks left if I go with the induction (unless of course Henry decides to come earlier but I doubt that will happen).

28 weeks!

Went in for my 28 week appointment with my OB this past Tuesday. I had an ultrasound and my little man is head down, I just hope he stays that way! His heartbeat was 150 and the doctor said everything looked good.
Overall I am in a lot of discomfort. My hips hurt all the time, I can't sleep at night, and the heartburn has been brutal. But the baby is healthy and that is what matters to me. Yesterday Matt and I did some shopping for the baby. I have so much that I kept from Wyatt but there is still so much that I needed.
The closer I get the more I find myself thinking about the future. I wonder how my labor and delivery will go, how breastfeeding will go, how Wyatt is going to handle a baby brother, and I wonder what Henry's personality will be like. Wyatt loved to swing but will his brother? Wyatt hated his bouncer, will his brother like it? All babies are so different. Even though I've done this before I still feel like I have so much to learn.
My goal is to have as close to an unmedicated birth as possible. I am not against induction as I had a very succesful induction with Wyatt, but my preference would be to go into labor naturally. I don't want pain medications either. I would even like to try to deliver on the birthing stool and have Matt assist in catching the baby. I had a good experience with Wyatt so I can only hope to have another good experience with Henry's delivery. Only time will tell. I am trying to put myself into every scenario and image what it might be like. I know everything doesn't go as planned so I want to prepare myself.
From now until 36 weeks I'll go to the OB every 2 weeks. Once I am 36 weeks pregnant I'll go weekly until I deliver. I can't believe I am already in my third trimester. This pregnancy has gone by so fast. Before I know it I'll have two beautiful boys. Life can be hard, crazy, and frustrating at times, but when I think about my children I am just reminded how beautiful life can also be. I live for my kids and I do not believe there is any greater gift then the love of a child.