A Big Thank You!

I just wanted to take a few minutes to let everyone know how grateful we all are for your thoughts, prayers, food, gifts, company and love.  We are so fortunate to have the most amazing family and friends in our lives.  Aubrey is such a lucky little girl to have such a loving and amazing group of people that support her no matter what.  We love you all!

Aubrey's Birth Story

Warning:  I tried to keep as many gross details out of this as possible, but as it's a birth story, some TMI might have snuck in, you have been warned.

Our plan from the beginning was to have a natural, un-medicated birth.  While it didn’t end up playing out exactly like we expected, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.  We were able to avoid a C-section, which was one of my main goals, and I am very pleased with how everything has turned out.  My doctor is amazing and was so great in respecting our wishes and doing the best she could to help us achieve the birth experience that we wanted.  We are now at home and recovering and I can’t believe how great I feel and how well our baby girl is doing. 

Aubrey’s due date of May 2 came and went, and after a discussion with the doctor we determined that unless she decided to come before May 11, we would be scheduling an induction at 9pm on that Tuesday due to me being gestational diabetic.  I was only 1cm dilated as of Monday the 9^th, so induction was looking likely.  In a final Hail Mary play to avoid induction, I had my membranes stripped in the morning and went to an acupuncture appointment that afternoon.   Well, something must have worked, because around 9:30 on Monday night I began having fairly strong contractions.  They started fairly far apart and were manageable, so we laid down and tried to get a little rest.  That didn’t last long and things became fairly intense fairly quickly.  At about 1:00am we called the doctor to give her a head’s up that contractions were 7-8 minutes apart.  I got into the shower and soaked in the tub for a little bit, which spaced things out and gave me a little relief.  At about 3:00, the contractions had been 5 minutes about for about an hour, so we decided to go ahead and get into the car and make the 20 minute drive to the hospital. 

By the time we got to the hospital, contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.  They checked me and I was 3 cm.  Only 3 cm!  I at that moment seriously started contemplating some sort of assistance to help with the pain.  I was exhausted and just didn’t know how much more I could take.  I got into a room and managed to labor a few more hours before getting some Nubain to help me rest in between contractions.  That helped somewhat, so I kept going.  At around 10:00am, they checked me again and I made it to a 5cm.  Things were unfortunately not moving along as much as I would like and the pain was very intense, so I made the decision to go ahead and get an epidural.  This was against what we had gone over in the Bradley classes, but Joey and I had made the decision that an epidural might be necessary based on what my dilation was and how I was feeling.  Also, my contractions had slowed down and the doctor, after using a solution to get the baby moving again, decided that we needed some Pitocin to get contractions going again.  Since Pitocin contractions are so intense, an epidural was really the best option.  Well, it took an hour to get everything settled and the epidural put in, and at 11am, I was actually back to myself and able to rest.  I stayed at a 5cm for a few more hours and eventually the epidural started to wear off on my right side and the pain once again became difficult to breathe through.  I had been able to slightly feel my legs with the first epidural, but after they re-dosed me, I wasn’t able to feel my legs at all, which was not cool. 

Finally around 7pm, things were really starting to progress, and I was almost complete.  My epidural started wearing off again, but this time I didn’t want to be re-dosed.  The doctor had suggested letting the meds wear off so I could be more effective at pushing.  Then, right before 8:00pm, I was ready to go.  My family in the waiting room said that they knew that something was going on when they saw the doctor running to the elevator!

I ended up pushing for about 15 minutes, and at 8:12pm, Aubrey came into the world at 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches in length.  Apparently she had the cord around her neck rather tightly, and the doctor had to cut it off.  The doctor was calm the entire time, so we didn’t really know that anything was wrong.  Aubrey didn’t cry at first, but after a few seconds we heard her and immediately everything was right in the world.  They had to take her to the special care nursery where they hooked her up to the CPAP and an IV.  We got to see her about an hour later.  She was off the CPAP by 4am that morning and by the next morning was working on breastfeeding.  Luckily, she didn’t need any additional antibiotics or anything, and less than 48 hours later, she was in our room.  It was tough not getting to spend time with her for those first hours, but we have been making up for lost time and she is doing great.  We got to go home on Friday the 13^th, and we have gotten settled in. 

So, even though medication was involved, and there were some complications, we have no regrets about how Aubrey came into the world.  That is not to say that I would not like to try for a natural birth next time around, but we are happy with how everything turned out.  I am really enjoying being a mom so far and can’t wait to see what God has in store for our little family.

Hurry Up and Wait...

So here we are 4 days past my due date and no baby in sight.  Since I was 10 days late and so was Joey, this isn’t really a surprise, but kind of an annoying reality.  We had an appointment yesterday, and Aubrey passed the stress test and ultrasound with flying colors, which prompted the doctor to say that she thought that Aubrey was happy where she was and was not going to join us in the immediate future.  With that being said, we went ahead and set an eviction date at 41.5 weeks.   This was way longer than I expected to be able to go due to my gestational diabetes, which I’m grateful for. 

With overdue babies, at a certain point the risks of keeping the baby in outweigh the benefits, so we’re mentally ready and ok with taking some action if need be.  We’re 100% sure of the conception date thanks to charting, so we feel ok with going ahead and making the eviction decision, even though it might involve some medical interventions that we aren’t exactly crazy about.   

That being said, we are still hoping that she changes her mind and wants to go ahead and meet us before she is forced to.  Maybe setting something in stone will move things along.  In the meantime I will just keep walking and sending some exit vibes her way the best that I can, and hoping that there is at least some additional progress made so that her entry into the world is as little medically controlled as possible.  Regardless, there should be an announcement sometime next week!

Stick a Fork in Me, I’m 40 weeks!

So as I write this, I am sitting on an exercise ball after walking and drinking some pregnancy tea.  It looks like Aubrey wants to be fashionably late.  She did well on her NST Monday, and on Thursday we are going to decide on a final date for induction, which will hopefully not be until next Monday, doctor permitting of course.  I am hoping that she comes on her own before we have to resort to any other measures.  A lot of my days now consist of having my feet up and avoiding too much strenuous activity.

Well, other than that, there’s not much to report, by this time next week, Aubrey will be here!  I just can’t believe time has flown by so fast!  Here’s the 40 week update:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. Her skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

39 Weeks - No Aubrey in Sight!

Today is officially 39 weeks and so far there has been no sign of any changes to come here at the Barbeauld house.  We had a really great Holy Week and Easter with family, and I just can't wait to share all of this next year with Aubrey.  The only down side was some pretty intense back pain, like "can't move I just wanna lay here and die" back pain.  After only getting out of the bed for church and Easter Dinner this weeknd, I limped into the doctor's office this morning for my weekly NST.  I talked to the doctor about it, and she determined that the pressure on my body from the little jelly bean in there has caused my sciatica to flare up.  Not fun.  So now it's looks like I'm laid up for a couple more days with some pain pills and muscle relaxers.  I'm going to wait until night time to take anything  just to see what happens.  Hopefully I can be a little more mobile in the next few days so I can start walking.

Why so much walking?  Dr. Walker brought up the "I" word today, and she suggested that walking would maybe move things along a little bit.  I'm glad she has brought it up now, just because me and Joey can now really make decisions about what we want in regards to helping Aubrey along.  If she keeps up like she is, we will have to make some decisions on May 5th.  Other than that, she's still doing great and I'm still feeling pretty decent, with the exception of the back pain, but that is what it is.

Just a shout out for Joey, he has been incredibly amazing this weekend, helping me manage the back pain and taking care of everything around here.  Aubrey and I are are so lucky to have him as a daddy and a husband.

Here's the 39 week update:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

38 weeks - eek!

As you all have noticed, I survived the full moon and Aubrey is still baking right along.

I have now made it to 38 weeks and 3 days, and boy am I feeling it.  I ended up starting my leave yesterday, as the days were just harder to get through whether it was the back pain, or the cramping or just being plain exhausted.  I went to the doctor this morning and it looks like the discomfort is finally paying off.  Aubrey is in the right position and my body is definitely preparing for labor.  Only a couple more weeks and she will finally be here!  Last week, I was panicking for no reason because everytime I contracted, my stomach went into this crazy shape and I could have swore she was transverse lie, which would have meant definite c-section.  The ultrasound of course proved me wrong, which was great.  She's holding steady at 7.5 pounds, but the doctor thinks that she might be a little smaller than that.  Her head is measuring about a week ahead, which is possibly throwing off the poundage estimate.  We were concerned about her growth due to the diabetes, but it looks it was successfully controlled with diet and didn't affect her at all.  She is however, apparently very chubby, which is just fine with me because that means she's healthy.

This weekend, I took the opportunity to get a little pampering and got my hair colored and my toes done.  It was nice to relax and to also get those things taken care of before pictures are being taken.  Not of my toes hopefully, but the hair was waaaay overdue for a coloring.  Now we wait.  In the meantime, here's the 38 week update:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Joey and I both have blue eyes, although mine have a ring of hazel in them.  I'm really curious about her eye color as my grandmother, mother and I all have the same eye color, so it will be really cool if she has it too. 

3 weeks to go!

Ok, so I'm horrendously late on getting this week's post done.  It's been a blech kind of week.  I have been exhausted some days and running around like crazy on others trying to to get everything done.  I think we are good to go though.  The bag is packed, the base is in the car and we are almost mentally ready.  I only had one doctor appointment this week since my doc was out of town, and it was just an NST.  I was on there for about 20 minutes when the nurse came in and said that I needed some juice because she was not being very reactive.  Neither was I, it was just one of those lazy days for me.  (She actually woke me up when she came in!)  After the juice (capri sun - major throwback), she was good to go and started behaving.  I am back to my 2x a week appointment next week.

As of Monday, I only have 4 days left until I am starting my materinity leave.  Yay!  It will be nice to get some rest and take care of a couple of last minute errands.  However, if you ask my mom and mother in law I'm not going to make it until then.  Since there is a full moon on Monday they are convinced I will be spending next week at the hospital.  I'm not so sure about that one, but I guess you never know. 

For all the people wanting nursery pics, I have uploaded them to facebook, and didn't see the need to copy here since most of my followers are facebook friends.  If you can't get to them somehow, let me know and I will post them on here.  Well that's all I have for this week, here's the 37 week update.

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

For the record, Aubrey is as bald as a bowling ball, just like her mama was :).