And I would do it all again!

Wow...so much has happened. Namely, the new addition to our family and love of our lives, Monkey was born on Wednesday, Feb 2, 2011 at 3:14am. He was 5lbs 4.8oz and 18 inches long.

I went in on Monday, the 31st, for my scheduled induction due to Monkey being IUGR. After checking in, Cervadil was placed at approximately 6pm. By 9pm I was in excruciating pain...not super common with cervadil, but not uncommon either. At 10pm I was given Stadol...and if I can say anything about Stadol, it would be STAY AWAY!!! This stuff made me slur, feel and act drunk, and according to Ben "completely nuts! I remember talking to my mother on the phone, and her and my sister wouldn't let me off the phone because I was too funny! So I went to sleep, until about 3am...then came the second dose of Stadol to get me back to sleep. I woke up at 5am, and they took the Cervadil out. I got a shower, and at 6am I was told that I was 1cm dilated. So they started Pitocin.

Apparently I'm one of the weird people to whom Pitocin does absolutely nothing to. I was joking with Ben and sleeping all day. I didn't feel a single contraction. And that night when they checked me I hadn't dilated at all...so back on the Cervadil I went. By 11pm on Feb 1st I was in so much pain (apparently I was lucky and got to experience back labor and regular contractions. go me) that the Dr decided to give me my epidural and break my waters. On just a few hours of the second dose of Cervadil I had dilated to 3cm. So I got my epidural, and I LOVED IT. I seem to have whited out, because I don't remember much until about 2:30am, but apparently I became chatty Cathy. Oops...totally beyond my control.

At 2:30am on the 2nd, I was at 8cm. That's right, my amazing body dilate 5cm in just a few short hours. I was feeling SO much pressure that all I wanted to do was push. However, they told me to wait because everyone was helping deliver a set of twins down the hall. At 3am the residents, interns, and one attending were there, and it was time to push. At 3:14 after only 3-4 contractions, Monkey was here! Ben was so in love, but later told me that childbirth was one of the grossest things he had ever seen. He gave me a quick kiss and went to check on his son.

I remember no pain after getting the epi, only pressure and the intense need to push. I also remember slight burning right as his head came out, apparently because I tore a little (1st degree tear). After all the pictures were taken and Monkey was taken to the nursery for all the standard newborn stuff, we had to attempt me getting up after an epi. Not fun. I could move my feet, but apparently the epi took more on my left side, and my left leg didn't work...I fell, ripping my IV partially out of my arm. So, about an hour later, we tried again...I was able to walk, go to the restroom, and have the nurse help me clean up.

Then, packed with padding and ice and a clean gown, I was wheeled down to mother/baby, where I spent the next 3 days (I'm counting Wed because he was born so early in the morning that I still had all day to go). While there I developed a fever, nausea, vomiting, diarreah, and chills. Turns out that I got a UTI from my catheter, so that's fun. We also discovered that Monkey does not want to breastfeed. He'll take a bottle like a champ, but straight from the source is a no-go. So Ben and I have decided that I will just pump and give him that in a bottle, and then supplement with formula.

He's absolutely perfect, but a night owl, so we have to work on that!

Two Weeks Left

Well, the appointment with my NP yesterday went better than I expected. Aside from the waiting. For the most part it was pretty routine...weight, blood pressure, monitoring (AKA Non-Stress Tests), Ultrasound to accompany the NST. I also had blood drawn for a CBC (Complete Blood Count) and RPR (to check for syphilis...yay), as well as an office visit with my NP to go over questions, have my Group B Strep test (not the most pleasant swab in the world), and check my cervix.

Everything up until waiting for the NP was pretty standard wait times. Then we got put in the exam room and waited for an HOUR for her to come in...that's not normal. Usually I'm waiting 20 minutes, tops. Ben and I spent our time determining if we had been forgotten, debating on whether ultrasound gel or hand sanitizing foam would squirt farther from it's bottle, then determining which would cling to the wall longer (AKA which is sticker...ultrasound gel won that debate), how we would escape if we were locked in, and trying to take naps to make the time pass faster, since we all know that the second you fall asleep the person you're waiting on will show up.

She did come in, and told us that because it was me (and my appointments usually don't take very long) she bumped me ahead of another patient who usually takes longer. Good for me. Did all the testing, and then we came to the discussion about Monkey's weight and what that means. After talking to my RE last week, I thought for sure they would want to deliver next week, at 36 weeks. The good news is that they're giving me a whole extra week to grow him myself! The bad news is that I still have to have an amnio. Yep, that's right folks...I avoided doing the amnio in the second trimester because a) I hate needles, and if I can avoid one I will and b) they can cause you to go into labor. At this point, though, the amnio will determine if I can induce or if we need to hold off to give his lungs more time to develop. So, that's scheduled for the 26th, which is 1.5 weeks away, and if all is OK on that, then we're inducing on Jan 28th, 2011, and Monkey will *probably* be born on Jan 29th, 2011, at 37w3d gestation.

Looks like we'll be meeting our little man sooner than February, but still within the accepted time frame that is considered "full term," so he won't technically be considered premature. Plus, we've set it up so that the Dr. I like will be the one delivering the baby, which is AWESOME!!! Now if the baby furniture would just get here so we can get it set up before his arrival, that would be perfect.