Children too are a gift from the LORD, The fruit of the womb, A reward. – Psalm 127:3

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Time for A New Blog

Well, we have had an eventful past 2 weeks, to say the least. We are now a very happy family of 3, 4 counting our dog! Let me update you on everything to birth, then I plan to start a new blog, mostly to remind me of all the things Callie does, later in life.

The morning after I lost my mucus plus, I woke up to pee and noticed I was leaking fluid. I hadn't peed myself, because I had just went 2 hours before. I had bloody streaked discharge as well. So I called the on call Dr and he said since I wasn't having consistent contractions, to stay home and wait until they were closer. I decided to call my nurse once the office opened just to get a second opinion. They sent me to Triage since my water was leaking just to get monitored. They were worried that the baby could suffocate if I leaked too much fluid. So Cynthia, Ben's mother, got here about 11:30 and we headed to the hospital (I vacuumed and did some other last minute cleaning as well as got a long hot shower while she drove here) Ben met us there(he was working) and we got signed in. After the million and one questions they ask you, they check my cervix and I had dilated to 4 and 80% effaced. that was 2cm and 20%more than 2 days prior at my OB checkup!! But I wasn't super hopeful bc I still wasn't feeling any contractions.

At 4:30, I was between 4 & 5 cm dilated. Contractions were getting stronger, but nothing I couldn't handle, or still feel for the most part. So after the nurse spoke with the Dr, they said I could either stay or go home and wait. We decided to stay. After admitting me to labor and delivery and switching me to my room, I had to sit forever on IV fluids and having my Bp checked. The plan was to let me go natural as I wanted. If by midnight I hadn't progressed anymore, they would break my water and start Pitocin. At 9;30, I wasn't making any progress and the pain was to the point I was crying-So I went ahead and got the epidural and Dr Moran came in to break my water at 9:45pm. Ben had went to eat dinner with his Father and Brother, so he missed this process, which made me cry even more. I took an hour nap after he returned and they came to start Pitocin at 12:30am. I was dilate to 6 and 85-90% effaced. I took another nap around 2-not feeling the contractions let me relax much more and I'm glad I got it. At 6:15 am, it was time to push..I missed 3 contractions of pushing, I needed to get a good breath...But at 7:23am, Callie Rae Hocker made her first appearance into the world. She weighed 7lbs10oz, 19.5 inches long and had a head full of dark hair!! We couldn't be more excited!!

Here are some photos of her first few days, going home and meeting our furbaby, Millie. I look a hot mess...So just look at her :)

The epidural let me enjoy the majority of labor!

Last photo of us, as a family of 2

She is here!!!

So happy my baby girl is here!!

Family of 3...We are in LOVE!

Momma's very first kiss

First time Daddy held Callie

Trying to feed her...Nana was a great supporter

Proud Nana (Ben's mom)

Daddy was exhausted. He didn't sleep for 2 days straight!

Proud Papa (Ben's Dad)

Meeting Uncle Jonny (Ben's Brother)

Getting her vitals checked...She wasn't happy about it!

All cleaned up and fixing to snuggle with Momma

Ready to go home for the first time!!!

Welcome Home Callie Rae! We've been waiting!!

Millie meeting Callie....She wanted to lick her face a lot!

So excited to meet her baby sister!!  
Meeting AnJerika for the first time (Her cousin)

First time meeting MiMi (My Mom)
Millie was so curious!

First sponge bath at home...loves getting her hair washed

But she HATES getting her body washed!

She loves her swing :)

Such a cutie!

She is perfect! I couldn't be more in love!

Daddy is already wrapped around her little finger!

First time in the stroller for a walk around the neighborhood

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Talk About Nervous(Somewhat of a TMI post)

Callie is usually a fairly active baby anywhere from say, 11pm-2am. That's when daddy lays is hand on my belly and feels her crazy movement, what he calls at time, her drum rolls.Well, Sunday night, she just wasn't moving. The last movement we remember/felt was around 7:30 while we were eating dinner at BDubs. At first I thought she might just be tired, but after a bit, it started to worry us more. Ben got me a bottle of cold water-nothing. I swapped to my other side...nothing. So I started to shake my belly around...and we got nothing. That made us super nervous, especially after all the things we went through to get to where we are today. I remember feeling a few random "pushes" through the night but still to her usual movement. So Monday I called my nurse and was sent for an ultrasound. Callie looked fantastic. She is an estimated 7lbs12oz, heart rate of 170(this has been her highest by 2bmp). I was a bit low on amniotic fluid-7cm-but Dr Wingo said that is was the low side of still being ok. I gained 8lbs in 6 days, and also had more than just trace amounts of protein in my urine. No change in dilation or effacement, but a slightly higher BP than normal for me, so they ordered some blood work. I was told not to eat or drink for the next 2 hours, or until I got my results back. Thankfully all came back well. I was told to call at any sign of dizziness, headache, blurred vision or to go to triage if after hours.
Tuesday morning I woke up, did a small trip to the grocery, came home, did a load of laundry, had some cereal and watched tv, but I was feeling nauseous on and off. So after eating lunch, I called Beth to let her know and she said to head to triage to get checked out. So I called Ben, he picked me up, and we checked in. I was on the monitor for about 2 hours, we loved hearing Callie for so long! My BP went down some, still a tad high for me, but it was normal and no reason for us to worry. So they sent me home. At about 9:30 pm I went pee, to find that I had lost a huge chunk(or shall I say 3 chunks) of mucus plug. Of course that doesn't mean labor is in the next 24 hours, but it is soon at least. As of now, I go for another ultrasound Thursday at 1, the OB after. Monday I will go back to the OB to discuss induction if Callie doesn't make her appearance before then.
So here is to continued good luck and a healthy pregnancy...We can't wait to meet Callie...and everything we go through is totally worth it!!!

Update since I started this post last night...I woke up to pee around 6:30 and my panties were pretty wet. But not enough to wet the mattress...So my water is leaking! I wiped and there was pinkish discharge.I called the on call Dr since I wasn't having contractions and he said all is normal, but to wait to come in until my contractions were consistent. So I changed panties and not 5 minutes later, they were wet again, so I got a pad, went pee and wiped--more discharge but with tiny streaks of blood. Then in the toilet, there were 2 or 3 dark red clots, what I assume was just old bloody chunks of mucus plug. My nurse will be in the office at 9, so I will call to discuss it with her. But seems like she will be here by her due date. I am super nervous and excited. So to keep me busy, I'm going to vacuum downstairs, and maybe put up the clean dishes. If contractions get consistent and painful, I may hop in the hot shower. Update later :)

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

38 and 39 weeks

I didn't write a blog post last week about my checkup, so I hope I can remember everything! This pregnancy brain thing is no joke! 
Let's see...Instead of gaining weight...I LOST 5 lbs of fluid! That was great news!! I was so afraid of something being wrong and putting on 6+lbs again. Callie's heart rate was 150...She was down pretty low the Dr said. I was dilated almost to 2, but not quit, so we will say 1.5 lol. Thinned still at 60%(no change from the week before) I was told I had a lot of fluid around the baby, which is fine. He would rather me have more than not enough. 
At my 39 week checkup, I only gained 1 lb...There was a heart rate of 141, and I had no change in dilation or thinning. I asked if he could sweep my membranes...He couldn't reach, so Beth, my nurse, said she will try at next weeks appointment (Dr Wingo will be out of the office). The earliest I will be induced is August 21st(13 days away) if Callie doesn't decide to come on her own...I don't want to wait that much longer, so I hope she comes lol.
I haven't lost my mucus plug, that I have been aware of. I haven't really had any contractions...I have back pain, pains in my lower belly...but nothing that I think is major. Sleep has become impossible...but it's been like that for a while. Not much longer though...that is nice to know she will be here soon!