Delivery Day!

The day had finally arrived and I was really nervous but very excited. I prepared our bags and put together her bouncer, swing and crib. We were set for her arrival! Lori, Nate, Braden and myself were the first ones to start out our adventure at the hospital. They got me all checked in and into a beautiful little hospital gown ha ha, and went over all the prep work for starting the induction. The first thing to do was start my iv (which almost made me pass out), and place a drug called cervadil into my cervix which wasn't very comfortable. That was to be in for 12 hours before anything else happened. So basically all we could do was wait for it to soften my cervix and wait all night. We decided it was best for Braden to get some rest at home and Lori really wanted to be there every step of the way. So she set up camp on the cot and we were in the waiting game. I had a wonderful nurse to start named Liza, she was so sweet and I loved her. Unfortunately there was a shift change and I had a rough sounding/acting nurse named Kathy from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Almost immediately the cervadil started giving me contractions about 4 minutes apart, minor ones but they still hurt. It made me very crampy and it just wasn't comfortable. My doctor ordered me a sleeping pill so I thought I would try to sleep through the pain. I took those and we shut out the lights. About an hour went by and I could not get comfortable so I asked for pain meds ha ha! Kathy just looked at me like I was a wimp, but I seriously couldn't sleep or lay or anything with the discomfort I was feeling. So the combination of the sleeping pill and now pain killer in my system, Lori said I was saying some pretty funny things! All I knew was I was feeling better and could get in maybe 3 or 4 hours of rest before the big day. Morning time finally came and sometime during the night Lori and I heard the lady next to us scream her way through delivery. Not something I wanted to hear just before my turn came! Luckily there was another shift change and we were able to get Liza back! They started me on pitocin at 7 a.m. and the contractions started and it was still uncomfortable and I knew I wouldn't last long before the epidural. Dr. Swainston showed up for a delivery around 9 and came in to check on my progress. He actually was able to monitor my progress through his phone! He checked me for progress and I was at about 2 1/2 centimeters and he decided to torture me and try to manually dilate my cervix to a 4. That was THE MOST PAINFUL thing I have ever experienced!! He left the room and I just started to cry! It hurt so bad! He came back and said I could have my epidural and after that it was smooooooth sailing ha ha. The epidural was not bad at all and it started to take effect after a few minutes. I couldn't feel a single contraction from that point on. The only thing I kind of "felt" was a tightening sensation in my belly. The funny thing was you could look at the monitor and see how close the contractions were and how frequent. I was in hard active labor and couldn't feel a thing. I even took a nap. It was great! I was in active labor for 6 hours or so and was complete at 1 p.m. So it went fairly quick and it was pain free. Exactly what I wanted all along. Braden and I initially wanted to be the only ones in the delivery room but got to thinking that we would love to share this experience with our parents. So we invited my mom, his mom, Lori and my dad into the room. They were all thrilled and my dad was designated camera man. From waist up of course! I started practive pushing with the nurse and made great progress with 10 or so pushes so she called Dr. Swainston. She let me see everything with the mirror which was great motivation and I could see her crowning. He arrived after about 15 minutes, suited up, sang some songs to lighten the mood and told me to push. He kept making jokes asking if that's all I had in me so I pushed harder. I pushed maybe 7 more times and her head was out! I will never forget looking down and seeing her cute face! She started crying before she was even out and with a contraction she just slipped out and she was here! The tears came right away and he let me hold her on my tummy very briefly and took her away to be cleaned up. I cannot express the flood of emotions that went through my body after she was born. It was the most intense, spiritual, special feeling I have ever felt. Braden and I just looked at eachother and it was so emotional for the both of us. There wasn't a dry eye in the room! Kelsie Ann Workman was born at 1:42 p.m. weighing in at 5 lbs 9 oz and 18 inches long. Even smaller than expected! Dr. Swainston looked her over and said there is a difference between a growth restricted baby and a small baby. He feels that she is just small and on the lower end of normal. She has passed all of her tests with flying colors and had a healthy set of lungs on her. She's just petite! I loved my labor experience. I just wanted to enjoy the day and I did. It was light hearted, fun and pain free. Our families bonded and grew closer together with her arrival. We love her so much and she is such a joy. I just can't believe she's here! She will be one week old tomorrow and I can already see how fast time is going to go. I am going to soak in every moment!

Ultrasound

A lot has happened since I last updated and I apologize for not updating sooner! I had my u/s to determine Kelsie's weight when I was about 37 1/2 weeks. She was estimated to weigh in at about 6 lbs 2 oz. They also checked her movement, heart, fluid levels and her practice breathing. No matter what we did she would not move her lungs in and out. I guess that indicates whether or not she's preparing for birth. So he hooked me up to a non stress test monitor to try to get her to wake up a bit and do what she was supposed to. After about 20 minutes on the machine he took me back to the u/s room and she was still not doing it! So we stopped and then I went in to go over the results with him. He was happy with most of the results. She was a little behind on weight but nothing too drastic, she was moving a little and her heart looked good but he was still just concerned about how my body was functioning for her. He said we would do a repeat test on that Friday and if results were ok he wanted to induce on Sunday April 26th and if results weren't good I would be sent straight to the hospital after the appt. I was worried but not panicked, I was just glad he was finally starting to take concern about my size. It was something I was getting worried about and Kelsie wasn't moving as much and I just felt like my body was done. He said he feels like she was doing ok, but that we didn't have much time to gamble with on when my body would stop working for her. My clock was up according to him. Lori had arrived at this point and she was glad to hear that she would for sure make it for the delivery but we were all kind of nervous about Friday's results. Braden couldn't make it to my u/s on Friday so Aunt Lori was there for moral support. Kelsie did much better on her practice breathing and passed all the other tests so the ultrasound tech was nice and turned on the 3d screen. We got to see a glimpse of her cute little face! It was so neat! After the sonogram Dr. Swainston said that we would still proceed with the induction for Sunday and they scheduled it right then and there! That's when I started to get really nervous. It was nice having a day to plan on but it almost brought on more anxiety. I had spent the entire pregnancy not knowing how this would all happen and now we had a plan. It was a weird exciting feeling. That day we went shopping for all of my last minute essentials. Lori and I had so much fun preparing! She has wanted to be part of everything and I'm so grateful to have such a great sister and so much support. Now all we had left to do was wait until Sunday

37 week appt

I am one week closer and I can't believe it! It's amazing how quickly time is going by, we will soon be parents and that is just a mind boggling thought! I had my 37 week check-up and brought my mom this time because Braden couldn't sneak away from work. Things went ok, but for the first time this entire pregnancy I got some unsettling news. Nothing that is an emergency type situation, but just something to be concerned about. I have been measuring small this entire pregnancy, but I have always grown from appointment to appointment so he hasn't been overlly concerned. He says it's because it's my first, my body type, and muscle tone that are to blame. Well, I haven't been growing since about week 34 so now he is a little concerned that she isn't growing properly. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday to get her estimated weight and he said that they would talk delivery options after reviewing the results. I'm not panicked about it, but I am a little worried. I'm hoping that she is ok and that she will just be a petite little baby. He said a couple of things that could be throwing off my measurement is how far she is in my pelvis (which I'm definitely feeling!) and that I just hide her well. So as a precautionary measure we are doing the ultrasound. My mom was able to see a brief little ultrasound of her at my appt, it wasn't as quality of a picture as the one on Tuesday will be but she was excited to see her. We saw her chin and her lips and her body which fills up my whole abdomen now! It's amazing to see the changes from the last time! He also checked me again this week and I've actually made progress. I am 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced (how thin/thick my cervix is. The thinner the better) and ever since the appt on Friday I have been feeling more contractions and more pressure. I think her time of arrival is fast approaching. I just think my timer is almost up! One thing I do know for sure is he doesn't let women go past their due dates so I know Lori will be here for the birth for sure. She could actually be here within a matter of days depending on how Tuesday goes! I just have a couple last minute things to do but for the most part I am ready! I will post a picture once I take one and I will also update on Tuesday!

9 months!!

I have officially hit the last leg of the race! I'm 36 weeks and into my 9th month of pregnancy. It is crazy to think about and I have been filled with an abundance of different emotions. One day I will cry because I'm so excited, and another I'll cry because I am overwhelmed at the thought of what lies ahead. Overall I am really looking forward to her finally being here, I just want her to be healthy and I think that's what scares me the most. It's one thing to go through a perfectly normal pregnancy and a whole other thing to go through the birthing process. One can only hope that everything turns out as it should. I am such a worrier and a planner that I can't help but think about these things constantly! With all that said I did have my 36 week appt and that went really well. He did the usual measuring and checking her heartbeat. I am still measuring small, but I grow from appt to appt so he's not concerned. I keep asking him if it's something to worry about and he keeps telling me to feel lucky! Then he checked her position and couldn't tell by feel right away so we got a very quick little peak at her on the ultrasound machine! We saw the back of her head, her back and her little legs. She is finally head down with her body on my right, her bum up by my ribs and her feet curling over to my left. Hence why I feel a lot of kicks on my left. Last he checked me for dilation and said "It's not time yet". Which means I am closed tight. Things could rapidly progress but for now she's staying in! I just want her to stay in at least until next Tuesday when Lori arrives. I just fear I will go over because she seems so happy and content in there! Let's hope she knows what to do and will make her way out. I go back to the doctor in a week and we'll see if I've made any progress by then. That's all for now, until next week!

33 weeks

Well I have officially started the "nesting" mode. I just feel so unprepared and it's starting to scare me that she could really arrive at anytime. I wanted to feel a little bit more prepared so I started organizing all of her things this past weekend. We aren't officially going to be decorating a nursery until we have our own place so I bought about 6 plastic drawers to put her things in for now. I washed all of her blankets, socks, and 0-3 month clothes. I didn't realize we had so many! After folding everything I realized she has 16 receiving blankets, 24 pairs of socks, and about 25 onesies! Lets hope she can wear her newborn things at least twice before she grows out of them! The ward we are in is throwing me a shower so I'm hoping if clothes are purchased that we get things in the 3-6 month range. I don't seem to have hardly any things in that age range. It was really fun getting her things ready though. I cannot believe she will be that small! Braden and I just laughed putting things away and it was so fun. I feel a lot more ready and prepared. There are still things left to get, but I don't feel so panicked now! I also had an appointment today. It was with the nurse practitioner because I was actually scheduled yesterday but walked in and was told my doctor had 4 women in labor and an emergency c-section. He hadn't even been in the office since 11 that morning! So I resheduled with the nurse practitioner and she's really nice and knows what she's doing. I'm measuring fine, I've gained 25 lbs to date (according to their scale ha ha), my blood pressure is good and next time they start checking me for dilation! So far Kelsie has been in a transverse position (sideways) so they will be checking to see if she is starting to make the turn next time. If she hasn't then they start discussing a c-section. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed she turns soon. She's just so comfy that way, she hasn't moved at all this entire pregnancy, silly baby. Also this week I rented a fetal doppler. It allows me to listen to her heartbeat everyday. That has been nice because she still moves a lot, but not as forcefully because she's getting bigger and running out of room. It is just reassuring to hear her heart beating away. I just send it back in the mail when I'm done with it! It's amazing the things you can do nowadays! It's funny to listen to her have hiccups with it too! So overall it's been a great week, I'm still tired and swollen, but I'm still pregnant and she's getting healthier. It's really coming fast now!

Firsts...

These past couple of weeks have been full of firsts. It's been really fun to go through each stage of this pregnancy and be able to share everything with both my immediate family and my in-laws. My mom felt Kelsie have hiccups for the first time, Braden was able to see her move during a particularly active time, and the weirdest and coolest first that happened was feeling body parts poking out! All of these things are very comforting because I know that she is growing and getting bigger and stronger everyday. I have been poking at my belly a lot lately because I know there is a chance I will feel a foot, or knee, or elbow. She usually kicks me back because I think it might bother her slumber ha ha. It is such a neat feeling though! I can tell how she is laying because her hiccups have really increased lately and I feel little rythmic jolts on the right side of my belly. I kind of feel bad for her, because I know I don't like having the hiccups so I'm sure it's not very fun for her either. It's actually a good thing she has them because I know she's practicing her breathing for when she is born. It was really fun to watch the excitement on my Mom's face when she felt her hiccuping away. I also had a doctor's appointment about a week ago and everything is still going perfectly. I asked if I would get another ultrasound because I'm really curious to see how she looks all filled out and chubby. He said "Well, you've had a pretty "boring" pregnancy thus far so probably not" ha ha. It's a compliment in the OB world to have a boring pregnancy though! This past weekend my mother in law and I went major baby shopping! Kelsie now has quite the collection of clothes! I also bought some diapers, wipes, lotion, baby wash, a hooded towel, wash rags and baby laundry detergent. I just wanted to feel a little more prepared and now I do after this weekend. The hardest part for me about this whole thing is not being able to plan for her birth day. I am such a planner so not knowing when she will make her presence has been very hard for me. It's kind of exciting, but also very nerve wrecking! I know that no matter when she decides to come things will fall into place.

30 weeks

The reality that Braden and I are going to be parents is really sinking in right now. I am so excited for her to be here, but at the same time I am really scared. I have all the questions that I think every soon-to-be-parent has right now. Will I be a good Mom? Can I do this? Will she be healthy? Will I be able to handle labor?...Just a lot to think about. I'm so thankful that I've made it this far and everything has gone really well up to this point. I see my doctor again at 31 weeks and then I go every two weeks after that! At 36 weeks I start going every week until delivery. It's all sneaking up on me!Lori has already made plans to try to time coming down for the birth and I'm really excited for that. She will be here from 37 weeks to 40 1/2 weeks so I'm hoping that she times it! I am still feeling ok, but I get physically exhausted really easily now. I think it's my body's way of preparing me for when Kelsie arrives. Her movements are getting really strong now and sometimes uncomfortable! You can see her moving from the outside really well now and it's something I could watch all day long. I feel more and more stretched as the days go on and I still have 10 weeks of growing to do. On a positive note, I haven't gained any weight in 2 weeks ha ha! However, it always seems to catch up to me! I love going through this process though and I'm trying to soak in every moment and not get too discouraged about how I may be feeling on a certain day. Yes it is exhausting, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I know I'm going to miss her rib jabs and hiccups when she's not in there anymore.