sniderkin

We’re finally home, I’ve been itching to get out of the hospital since the morning after Cavan was born but we finally got the “ok to go” late Friday. They said I could stay until Saturday if I wanted, but since Cavan is doing well I just wanted to get home.

The delivery went well - here’s what we’ll call the mommy summary:

6:30 PM Feb 5, 2008 - arrived at hospital for scheduled induction and started oral Cytotec to help get my cervix ready for the induction. Cervix dilated to just under 2 cm.

12:00 Midnight - last meal before delivery, a delicious *sarcasm* blend of cafeteria style mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and mixed veggies.

7:00 Am Feb 6, 2008 - blood curdling screams start in the next room. It sounds like someone is ripping the woman apart limb for limb, it goes on for about 20 minutes. Yeah - that’ll scare anyone. Later we learn that she didn’t have time for pain medicine, she apparently came in and had the baby all within 20 minutes.

8:00 Am Feb 6, 2008 - Started Pitocin to get labor started. Dr. also broke my water to really get things going. Cervix dilated to 3.5 cm.

9:30 AM Feb 6, 2008 - Contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes. Was given a shot of Nubane for the pain since I wanted to hold off on the epidural. Nurses told me Nubane wouldn’t take away the pain, but would make me notice it less (it made me feel drunk) and said that the Nubane and Epidural could be given as close together as I wanted.

10:30 AM Feb 6, 2008 - Contractions were coming and pretty intense, nurses kept telling me not to wait for the epidural and “just let us know when…” I decided to go ahead and get it rather than wait, since it doesn’t wear off. The Epidural nurse comes in, tried 4 times to get a good spot, and finally gets the epidural in (she said my spine doesn’t have a lot of room, so she was having a hard time). I can still feel mild sensations on my right side, but good enough!

5:30 PM Feb 6, 2008 - Dilated to 7 cm.

8:00 PM Feb 6, 2008 - Dilated to 10 cm. Waiting to start pushing because Dr. is doing a c-section. Dr. says waiting doesn’t hurt anything, just lets the baby work his way down on his own before I start pushing (so maybe less pushing).

10:00 PM Feb 6, 2008 - Dr. arrives and we start pushing. Pushing is pretty intense after no food since the night before and very little rest. After an hour or so of pushing I’m practically falling asleep between pushes. Cavan is progressing, but he’s turned which means he can’t get down past my pelvic bone. The Dr. manually turned him with her hands a couple times, but he’s stubborn and kept turning back before my next contraction and pushing came. Around 11:30 the doctor asks me if I want her to intervene - I ask her “what’s that all about?’ and she says she’ll use forceps to turn him and get him in the right position so it’d only be a few more pushes. Of course I want her to intervene! She gets the stuff ready, the anesthesiologist comes in and gives me 2 shots of something powerful into my epidural line to get things really numb (all but one spot, so I can safely say thank goodness for whatever that stuff was). Doctor uses the forceps to turn Cavan and a couple pushes later he’s out!

11:49 PM Feb 6, 2008 - Cavan is officially born! The placenta is delivered and I get stitched up but I’m too busy watching the nurse do her thing with Cavan to care what they were doing.

All in all, it wasn’t bad. Thank goodness for the epidural, my doctor kept telling me how great I did and I kept thinking “I just followed directions, the epidural is what did great!” Shannon didn’t pass out, he even watched the whole birth. He was awesome and did everything he could to make me more comfortable. He didn’t want to cut the cord though (I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t want to either after the description we got in our expectant parenting classes). It worked out well though, a med student who had asked me if she could be in the room during my delivery got to cut it and she was ecstatic - I suspect I may have been one of the first deliveries she had watched/participated in.

I’m doing just peachy - all the horror stories had me scared but I was up and about the morning after delivery without too much trouble. I’ll post a little more on “afterward” later. For now, I must find food before Cavan wakes up for his feeding.

Cavan Alan Snider, born at 11:49pm on February 6th, 2008. 20.5 inches, 8 pounds 3 ounces. More details and photos to come after mommy and daddy get some much needed sleep.

Becky got the second dose of medicine at about 3am last night and we tried to get some sleep, but I think we both ended up only getting about two hours at most.  She wasn’t having too much pain or discomfort, but the hospital bed (and chair) isn’t that comfortable.  Once we did get to sleep, we were woken up at about 7am or so by a woman in another room screaming.  Not really the best way to start the day.

The doctor came in at 8:30am and checked Becky, set her up on an IV drip, and broke her water.  So now things will really progress, but again not until about noon at the earliest, though she will be pretty uncomfortable from this point onward.  They had to redo the IV as well, since apparently it wasn’t flowing.

The animals made it through the night, though they were really happy to see me come and feed them this morning.  I’m going to shower, eat, and then head back to the hospital.  At least the freezing rain stopped and the roads are pretty clear.  I’ll be back later this evening, if all goes well, and will post an update then.

As promised, here’s the first update on the whole delivery process. We went in to the hospital tonight at about 6pm, checked in, and got all the paperwork out of the way. This process was fairly uneventful except when the nurse had to insert an IV saline lock into Becky’s hand in case they need to do a proper IV later. She made a huge mess; there was blood everywhere! Becky’s hands were a bit swollen and she had a hard time getting the needle in the right spot, though I’m still not sure why there was blood droplets all over the floor too.

At about 9:45pm, they gave Becky the first dose of medicine to induce small contractions. It took about 45 minutes, but we could see a steady wave of contractions on the monitor even though Becky said she couldn’t really feel them. So, all’s well so far. She will have another round of medicine at 2:45am and the doctor will come in at 8am to check on her. At that point, they will insert an IV and give her the bigger contractions to move her into labor. If all goes well, we could have Cavan by noon, but the doctor said it could also take longer and be later in the evening.

I will post again at some point with another update. In the meantime, I’ve uploaded some pictures of Becky happily sitting in her delivery room in the Photographs section. I’ll also attach a couple to this post. Now I’m off back to the hospital, assuming I can make it in this freezing rain/sleet/snow/ice storm we have going on right now.

The ultrasound we had this morning went well, Cavan has actually slowed down growing and is at 8 lbs 8 oz, give or take.  By his ultrasound measurements up until now he would have been due on February 1st, but because he slowed down a little the ultrasound due date is February 7th.  Of course, that means nothing since we’re having him tomorrow!   His heart rate was at 141 bpm and he’s in the 89th percentile for growth.  We’re very relieved (perhaps myself more than Shannon) that he’s not going to be 10 pounds!

Tonight we go into the hospital at 6:00 pm.  They’ll start me on some pills, and then in the morning they’ll hook up the IV to really get things moving.  The doctor says that best case scenario, we could have him around noon - more likely, we’ll have him around 6:00 tomorrow night.   It’s really exciting to know that Cavan is on his way - of course, it’s a bit frightening too because we don’t know what to expect as far as labor and delivery go.

Overall I’m relieved that I’m so close to having my body back, last night was a great example of how uncomfortable I have become - I tried to have some ice cream (which always makes me sick anyhow) but it just sat in my stomach and made me really ill.  A few hours later, I was revisited by my ice cream - which was the only way to get it out of my stomach.  It seems like whatever I eat sits in my stomach for a really long time, usually making me really sick.  I told Shannon today that this must be what it feels like to have your stomach stapled.  I spent last night sleeping for 2 hours and waking (the norm for me these days), but also tossing and turning because my stomach hurt along with my usual abdominal pains (which I hope mean I’m getting ready for labor).

I definitely won’t miss the heartburn, the waddling, not being able to tie my own shoes, being hungry and unable to eat, being dehydrated all the time, having a belly button, and the aches and pains that come with being pregnant.  That said, I’m going to miss feeling Cavan kicking around in my tummy, even if he is pretty forceful about it.  I’ll miss the hiccups he gets that make us both laugh, and the mystery of “what the heck is he doing in there?!”  But - this opens up a whole new chapter in our life and we’re both very excited to have Cavan here with us instead of held hostage in my belly!

I didn’t think it was possible, but I seem to get bigger and more uncomfortable by the day!  Cavan is really strong and his kicks are a force not to be ignored, he’s about 8 pounds now.  We had a doctor appointment today, and we’re scheduled for an ultrasound on Tuesday to check his weight and health.  If all that looks fine we’ll be looking at having him on Wednesday February 6, he should be around 8.5 lbs then and very ready to come out due to the fact that I’ve been measuring ahead and the steroid boosts he got when I had Bells Palsy.

My doctor doesn’t want to wait any longer than Wednesday because there’s a chance he’d come on the weekend, and she really wants to be the one to deliver him rather than have us just go to the on call doctor in labor and delivery.  Of course, he could come earlier than Wednesday (I’ve been having lots of contractions), but we’re hoping he won’t decide to come over the weekend.

So, by next Wednesday, we’re going to have a baby!  It seems so surreal, but we’re both very excited to move on to the next phase in parenthood.

Yesterday we had another check up - no progress since last time!  Gah!  I’m still measuring ahead, so by that I’m 39 weeks 1 day - which means he should be coming very soon.  My doctor says that if by my appointment next week he has not decided to come on his own, we’re going to schedule induction because she does not want me going past my due date (he’d be gigantic!)  She said we just have to hope that this week he decides to come on his own.

I’m still hoping that the measurements are off and he’ll be an average size baby - it seems odd that I haven’t gained a ton and he’d be so big, but I guess there’s no real way to predict these things.  My doctor says he’s probably going to be around 9 pounds.  I guess I’d rather have a big healthy baby than a small one that needs extra attention and care - but still… 9 pounds is a bit much!

In the meantime, I’m serving Cavan with an eviction notice!  If he gets any bigger and any stronger, he’s going to crack my ribs when he kicks!

Our checkup on Wednesday revealed that I am 2 centimeters dilated with 80% effacement, but my cervix is still posterior.  For a first time pregnancy the cervix usually effaces before it dilates, so we’re right on track.  At this point the baby could come any time, which would be fine because we’re ready for him now.

We washed the last loads of his clothing and blankets last night, no small task.  Cavan officially has more clothes than Shannon and I put together, and half of them probably won’t even fit him since our doctor says “He’s going to be a bigger baby… “  The last thing I want to hear is that he’s going to be on the big side, it’s good that he’s nice and healthy, and good that most of my weight gain has been baby, but it’s scary to think of delivering a big baby!

The cramping that I had been having has subsided quite a bit.  That’s both good and bad, since it was preparing my body for delivery, but it was also painful.  I read that the cramping is my cervix dilating and becomming more effaced, so I guess I should hope for more.

Sleeping at night is getting more and more difficult.  I’ve slowly been going from waking up every 2 hours, to every hour and a half, and lately every hour.  I had some really bad contractions last night, the same as the really bad one I had a few nights ago - same time and everything!  Maybe it’s a warning sigh that when Cavan decides to come, it will be at 5 am.  So far, the 5 am contractions have been the worst I’ve had, or best, depending on how you want to view the situation.

We had a baby shower over the weekend, for the Watson side of the family.  Cavan is officially set on newborn/0-3 month clothing.  A few people have asked what we still need, and the answer is very little!  We’re pretty much set, but could use clothing for 6+ months, and children’s books.  All of the essentials are pretty much covered now, which is fantastic because Cavan could be here any day!

We had a scare the other night, I was having trouble sleeping because of gas pressure buildup (the last month or so I can not eliminate gas so I just bloat and bloat until I feel like I’m going to explode), but in the midst of my tossing and turning I got a very bad contraction that lasted about a minute and was down low in my abdomen.  It was just one, but it was bad enough that I looked at the clock just in case others were to follow.  I’ve had menstrual like cramps for the last 5 days, and those can get pretty painful.  I’ve also been having mild contractions throughout the days.  All of this is just my body getting ready to Cavan, but it’s enough that we’ve been alert.

Because the reality of the situation is sinking in, we’ve been trying to finish up all the little things and tie off loose ends so we’re 100% ready for Cavan.  I plan to try to breastfeed, but we’ll need bottles anyway so we need to order some.  We had to return all of the Avent bottles and equipment we bought because they can leach BPA (a harmful chemical) when heated.  The ones that were opened we’re keeping just for cold things.  We found a site online that sells BPA free bottles that are cheaper than the Born Free brand you can buy in stores, so we’ll be stocking up on bottles from http://www.greentogrow.com for formula supplementing (even if I am able to breastfeed we will only do so for a couple months, and for when we’re out).

Our next doctor appointment is Wednesday, look for an update then!

We had another Doctor appointment this week (from now on they’ll be weekly), everything is looking good!  Cavan is weighing in at about 6 pounds  9 ounces now, is head down (which he has been almost the entire pregnancy), his heart rate was 132 bpm.  I’m measuring ahead still (37 weeks) so that puts him in the 88th percentile for his weight - what a change from 3 weeks ago!  The ultrasound nurse is absolutely certain I won’t go more than another 3 weeks, and my doctor seems to think the same.  We could have a January baby on our hands!

We’ve been trying to get in gear and finish everything up so we’re ready for Cavan.  I started having some contractions, really mild ones, yesterday afternoon.  It felt more uncomfortable than painful, but it’s a sign that my body is getting ready.  Today I’ve had what feels like menstrual cramps all day long, they’ve eased up a little but were really bothering me earlier.  Another sign that my body is getting ready for Cavan to be born!

My family is having a baby shower for me this Saturday, it’s a really long drive up there so I hope the weather holds, and it’s at 6pm so we’ll be getting home late.  Also, riding in the car is very uncomfortable for me since it makes Cavan jam his head down into my cervix and press his butt or feet up under my ribs trying to get more room.  Hopefully the cramping will stop by then too - otherwise I’ll be a cranky fuddy dud.

I have now washed all of Cavan’s clothes and blankets.  We still need to sterilize all of his bottles and pacifiers (which I’m not sure how to do), the crib needs to be put together, we need a crib matress, the pack and play needs to get put together, and we need to buy a starter supply of diapers and wipes because I have a feeling the small packs we got at the shower from Shannon’s family will last only a day, maybe two.  I also need to find a robe for the hospital so I don’t have to show my behind to everyone when I get up to walk around.  Overall there’s not a lot left to do, but the few things we do have waiting are sort of biggies.