Visit From Grandma Line and Uncle Johnny

On June 4th Grandma Line and Uncle Johnny drove from Athens, Ohio to Williamsburg, Virginia to visit us and the newest grandbaby. Grandpa Jones wasn't able to make the trip and he sure was missed!

Bronwyn is #21 on Kris' side and broke the 10 girls 10 boys tie...girls have moved ahead by 1! (On my side, Bronwyn also broke the 4 girls 4 boys tie bringing the grandbaby count to 9. The little tie breaker messing up the balance of things...definitely MY daughter!)

We were able to visit with them on Friday but since it was just a quick visit we had to say goodbye Saturday morning. Kris and the boys were able to spend more time with them since I was still on happy pills and grabbing sleep whenever I could but it was great to see them both even if I can't remember anything we talked about! ARGH! I'll make up for that when we head to Ohio for a visit the first chance we get.

The Details...Minus the Gory Stuff -Part Deux

After the OB appointment I got home around 4:30pm and soon noticed that my contractions were back. I ignored them because for the past few weeks they would start only to stop again. I kept ignoring them until I realized that some were starting to get pretty close where one would stop only to have another start right away. I mentioned to Kris and my parents that they were 5 minutes apart and I should probably start paying attention to them not to mention I should probably call the doctor but don't get excited because they will probably stop again. After about an hour and 45 minutes I called the doctor, she said to come on in to the hospital. I took my time, didn’t want to jinx it.

On the way to the hospital I told Kris I was starving since we did leave the house right as my mom was putting an amazing dinner on the table. We drove through Chick-fil-A. I am well aware of the fact that being in labor makes you hungry and you only get ice chips to eat. After several hours of labor you are STARVING only to find out the cafeteria is closed…I knew I had better eat right then or take the chance of not eating for quite some time. Hey, I have my priorities!

I am reconstructing what happened off of the print-out of the time-line the nurse gave me which had the recorded times of everything that happened. My nurse was so sweet to give this to me before I was discharged from the hospital and I had to know how close we were and how fast it all happened. You’ll see why.

We finally made it up to labor and delivery where they put me in a triage room and hooked me up to the monitors to make sure I was in labor before I took up one of their precious rooms.

7:30 pm I was officially declared to be “in labor” and admitted but for one minor “problem”. The baby was too high, she had not dropped even though I was 6 cm and over 75% effaced. I was told I needed to walk for 2 hours. Mind you, the contractions were 2 minutes apart and I’m being told to “just go to Wal-mart or Home Depot to walk around, here is a pad in case your water breaks” both of those stores are across the way from the hospital. I tell the nurse to just break my water, she says she can’t because the baby is too high and then gives gory details as to why that would be a bad thing to do and why we need to get the baby to drop. So I take the gown off, put my clothes back on and Kris and I leave for our walk.

8:50 pm We decide to stick close to the hospital and just walk the hospital grounds. It seems safer, I didn’t want to risk having to have an ambulance bring me back if the contractions get any more painful.
We make one lap of the hospital perimeter which took 30 minutes, go inside for another 30 minutes because the bugs were eating us alive outside. By the end of that hour I could barely breathe through the contractions. I didn’t do anything to prepare for pain management except for planning for an epidural. The contractions were less than 2 minutes apart so we started towards the labor and delivery wing when I just couldn’t walk anymore.

10:10 pm The nurses came out to get me and brought me back to Triage where I couldn’t even undress or get on the bed by myself.

10:17 pm I was checked again but had only changed .5 cm, a whopping total of 6.5 cm but at least I was 100% effaced. Baby still had not dropped. I panicked and got pretty agitated yelling that I just couldn’t walk anymore. I was assured I wouldn’t have to.

10:25 pm I was moved to a labor and delivery room barely able to breathe through the contractions, white knuckled grips on the bed rails and feeling like I was blacking out several times. I have no idea how women do this with no pain meds…here, bite on this stick…I don’t think so. Previous labors I received epidurals when I was 4 cm and the contractions STARTED to be 2 minutes apart…4 cm for this pregnancy was like how many weeks ago?

10:26 pm Finally having blood drawn so I can have it checked before the epidural is placed. The nurse places an IV with what little time she has between contractions. Hard to time it where I’m NOT bending the rails on the bed in half.

10:34 pm Checked again and was 8cm…17 minutes after being told I was just 6.5 cm! I’m begging for drugs at this point. Kris is freaking out; he’s never seen me like this before. At least I’m not cussing. Tears are streaming down my face. Kris said I was whimpering between the peaks of the contractions.

10:36 pm Start a penicillin drip since I’m strep B positive. I’ve never been strep B + so I’m blaming it on Mexico which makes me feel better. Nurse says “have you ever had penicillin through an IV before? It burns a little bit”

BURNS? TRY HOT LAVA, FIRE, NAPALM, MY SKIN IS MELTING OFF, TAKE IT OUT, TAKE IT OUT, TAKE IT OUT! I think I may have been cussing at this point but I did forget about the contractions as I watched the bag of penicillin SLOOOOOWLY empty like frozen molasses.

I keep trying to calm Kris down and convince him I’m OK because he looks worried sick.

10:39 pm Nubain sweet Nubain…finally giving me a narcotic…which turns out to be a huge waste of time since it’s CRAP! Why did they even bother to tease me with “Here, this should take the edge off.” Edge off what? My sanity? Like I said, I had not prepared mentally or physically for pain…my eggs were all in the epidural basket. If the nurse tells me to breathe one more time…

11 pm Checked and still at 8 cm, baby still has not dropped, Dr doesn't want to break my water in case the cord somehow blocks the exit.

11:20 pm So happy to see the anesthesiologist come into the room until he starts asking me questions, nurse wants me to sign stuff. So close to stabbing someone with a pen. Epidural man starts prepping me, takes longer to place epidural because of the intensity of the contractions and I am shaking like crazy. It takes incredible concentration on my part to hold still through them so he can work and he still ends up poking me several times to try and get the right spot. Kris and the nurse are both holding me…dang nurse is telling me to breathe again. She’s lucky I like her so much and that she had such great bedside manner before I was out of my mind.

12 am Epidural man is trying to get the drugs going so just my lower torso is numb and not my feet and legs. I’m freaking out thinking it’s going to be my first epidural that doesn’t work.

12:19 am Drugs are flowing, I am in a happy place telling the anesthesiologist I love him and “how does it feel to be the most loved man in the whole hospital?”. Kris has collapsed in a chair happy that I’m happy.

12:21 am Check 10 cm baby has just barely dropped…both nurses are freaking out calling for the doctor…she comes flying in. They start getting everything ready, my bed is like a Transformer and magically morphs into this high-tech birthing bed complete with handles I get to hang onto...cool. I tell Kris to grab the camera.

12:36 am I start pushing

12:41 am Bronwyn makes her appearance.

Thank goodness I at least had the epidural for those last 22 minutes because I would not have been happy pushing without it. Just call me a wimp, I fully admit it!
So much for the baby needing to drop! Since she didn’t spend much time in the birth canal, she has a perfectly shaped head like a C-section baby…

Lets call it good and not do that again OK?

The Details…minus the Gory Stuff -Part 1

Was it the batting cages that finally did it?

Wednesday May 27th I woke up and realized I didn’t have much left in me to keep going with this pregnancy and was further frustrated because it’s not like I had a choice. I don’t like having things to do, wanting to get them done but be unable to get them done because I don’t have the energy or am in constant pain that I can’t conquer with my usual mind-over-matter tricks.

I passed the first due date of May 20th, given to me following my first ultra-sound in Mexico. I knew this one was probably off since my whole pre-natal care experience in Mexico City was a huge joke. My ultra-sound here in Williamsburg gave me the due date of May 27th which made a little more sense when you considered the first day of my LMP date. I knew none of it was exact science but with 3 others who came at least 2 weeks early I figured I wouldn’t come close to the due date anyway. Wrong! When you’ve only had the experience of 3 pregnancies that all ended 2-3 weeks before the due date you tend to be a little spoiled. I decided on the morning of May 27th I would focus on mind-over-matter and put this whole pregnancy thing on the back burner and have some fun with my boys who have missed their active mommy.

I told Kris we were going to take the kids to the batting cages, called my sister Kyra to see if she wanted to go with. Took my daily limit of Tylenol in one dose and headed off to the cages. The kids had fun; this was the first time they had ever been in a batting cage. I spent tons of money on these things when I lived in Northern VA as a means of combating stress and I was looking forward to venting a little frustration and releasing some stress as well.

My sister Kyra couldn’t believe I was actually going to get into the cage and bat a few (for a brief moment I actually considered the “Happy Gilmore” movie scene where he stands on the plate). The Tylenol was working, I’d deal with the pain later, it’s not like I was afraid to go into labor or anything, inducing labor was kind of the point.

I hadn’t lost my batting edge and was happy to see I could still easily switch hit. OK, yes, so I was in the slow pitch softball cage…I wasn’t about to try and hurt myself duh! Weston and Braedon had a blast in the 40 mph baseball cage and I took Jamison into the slow pitch cage with me a few times…that boy has some great eye-hand coordination and was actually hitting quite a few even when I wasn’t helping him. He’s pretty good for a 2 year old and will hit wiffle balls for hours if someone throws them to him! Kris was making his way through the 40 mph, 55 mph and 70 mph cages. Kyra was a standout in the fast pitch softball cage and baseball cages as well. Her daughter Sabie (say Suh-bee, accent on the bee) wanted to join in on the fun since she likes to follow my boys around but no such luck since she’s only 15 months old.

I dropped the boys off at home after the cages and went to my OB appointment. No changes to speak of and I was told I would be induced on Sunday since I was already measuring at 41 weeks 2 days and walking around at 6cm dilated and over 75%. Thankfully I wouldn't have to wait until Sunday.

To be continued after I sleep a bit because the meds are kicking in and I can't write when I'm on these meds.