She's here!!!!!

It's hard to believe that Alyssa is 5 days old now! The last week has gone so quickly!

Here is the story of how things went in the delivery room...

The process of getting Alyssa here was quite an adventure. I started pitocin at 5:00a.m. on Thursday, the doctor broke my water at 9:00, and by around 11:30, I was only 3 centimeters but already ready for my epidural. The epidural was AWESOME at first. (I considered running away with Mike, the epidural man!) A few hours later, though, it became really spotty, and I think I was feeling pretty much everything in my lower right side. Bless his heart, Mike kept coming in and pumping more meds into me, but it only seemed to work in one of my legs.

I made slow progress at first, and my contraction pattern was not ideal for most of the day. The contractions weren't quite strong enough, and they were happening one on top of another without letting up in between. Given the contraction pattern, slow dilation, and what we thought was a large baby, the doctor and nurses really didn't think I'd be able to give birth vaginally. The doctor said we would give it a try, but I could tell that he expected to be performing surgery in a few hours.

At 4:00, the doctor came to check me, and since I had only been 5-6 cm a few minutes earlier, I expected that he might be making the decision for a c-section. But no...I was suddenly completely dilated and ready to go! So the doctor left, and I started pushing at 4:10.

It soon became apparent that Alyssa was stuck behind my pelvic bone. She just kept bumping her head into it when I pushed. We were told in childbirth class that the pushing stage can last "up to 2 hours" with a first baby. So as I noticed that two hours were almost up and I was getting really tired, I was ready to give up. Finally, the nurse called the doctor and he came back around 6:15. (Note that I've been pushing for over two hours now with a less-than-perfect epidural.) Again, I expected that I would be on my way to the OR, but the doctor wasn't giving up yet. Over the next hour, he tried all sorts of medievil torture techniques to get Alyssa past my pelvic bone. (I don't think my right hip will ever stay in the socket again!) Finally, he was able to get the vacuum attached and pull her past it. After another few minutes, out she came at 7:10. Everyone was amazed that I didn't end up with a c-section. The nurses in the nurses station all cheered when they heard the news. My nurse said she had had the meds pulled and ready for a c-section.

Alyssa came out at sort of an angle, and her left hand came out beside her head, which could have been part of the reason that she was stuck for so long. She had a conehead and lots of bruising that made her head sore, but it is much better now. She has been healthy and strong from the moment she was born. Throughout labor, her heart rate did just what it was supposed to do. She's really a trooper!

She is absolutely beautiful! She looks JUST like her daddy's baby pictures. She was much smaller than everyone thought she was, which is a good thing considering the way labor went.

We came home from the hospital Saturday night, and we are getting settled in at home. Alyssa has been REALLY gassy at night and has cried all night long two of the three nights. She sleeps beautifully during the day, though! She didn't sleep more than 5-10 minutes at a time last night, but went to sleep at 5:30am and is still asleep now at 11:45! When her days and nights get straightened out, maybe she will be able to sleep this long at night! We saw the pediatrician yesterday. She is up to 7lb3oz now, which is really soon to be up past birth weight. The doctor said she looks perfect!

STILL waiting...

Alyssa seems to be very comfortable right where she is. (I'm actually having fewer and fewer contractions every day.) I, on the other hand, am anything but comfortable! My blood pressure continues to be a concern (though not an emergency). My hands are SO swollen that it hurts to bend my fingers, and I'm having bad headaches (a combination of blood pressure and sinuses, I think). I can't wait for Alyssa to make her big entrance! Jeff is very eager to meet his daughter face to face too.

We see the doctor tomorrow afternoon. I suspect that he will induce me before this week is over as long as insurance will cover it (and that shouldn't be a problem considering the blood pressure issue). It's definitely time to get this process over with so we can bring our baby home!

Bad news, Good news

Here is today's doctor appointment update...

Bad news: barely any progress in my cervix since Tuesday

Good news: The doctor stripped my membranes again, so we're hoping that there will be more progress by next time.

Bad news: After months of contractions, I didn't have a single one during my NST!

Good news: Alyssa's NST results were just fine, so she is not showing any negative effects from my blood pressure

Bad news: My blood pressure still isn't all that great, especially when I get up and move around.

Good news: It goes down when I lie down and rest.

Bad news: So the doctor tells me I pretty much need to stay lying down and do nothing.

Good news: Because of my blood pressure, the doctor will hopefully be able to induce me next week if I haven't gone into labor before then, so...

Great news: Alyssa will be here very soon!!!

Still waiting...

We're still here and still waiting to meet Alyssa face to face. I was in a LOT of pain Tuesday night after having my membranes stripped, but it didn't quite start labor. We see the doctor again tomorrow. He'll check my blood pressure and cervix, and we'll have the NST to check on Alyssa. I had the highest blood pressure I have ever had earlier this afternoon, but it went down once I laid down on my left side for a few minutes. The nurse at the doctors office said that it shows how important it is to rest and stay "closer to bedrest". I'm SO glad that we didn't have this issue earlier on in the pregnancy, because I would be totally nuts if I had to lie around the house alone all day for weeks or months! Thankfully, my mom and stepmom have come out to visit me and take me out to lunch the last couple of days, so I haven't been bored yet.

Hopefully tomorrow's appointment will bring good news that Alyssa is healthy...and ready to come out! :)

Not moving so quickly.

Here is our update after our appointment today...

I haven't made too much progress since last week. I'm 1 1/2 cm dilated and more than 70% effaced. The doctor did say my cervix is much softer this week though, which is good. He stripped my membranes (which was not painful at all like I have heard it usually is) but he said he doubts that we'll be at the hospital tonight or anything. The ultrasound looked good. Alyssa looks healthy, and she is not nearly as large as what she was predicted to be at this point. She is measuring 6 pounds 14 ounces, which is a perfect size. I definitely like the idea of having a 7-8 pound baby instead of an 8-9 pound baby!!!

The big news of the day is that my blood pressure is creeping up. It was 130/92, which isn't shockingly bad, but it is high enough that the doctor took me off work. He said don't be surprised if he induces me in the next week or two because of my blood pressure. We are scheduled for appointments every few days from here on out. At each visit, we will have an NST (non-stress test) where they monitor Alyssa's heart rate, her movement, and my contractions for 30 minutes or so to make sure that my blood pressure isn't causing problems for her. Then the doctor will check me out, strip my membranes, and decide whether it's time to induce. Though the high blood pressure isn't good news, we are happy that Alyssa looks healthy and that she will be born soon!

Almost there!

Tomorrow could be a big day! We have an ultrasound and then we see the doctor. He's going to strip my membranes, which could very well start labor in the next day or two. If it doesn't work tomorrow, he will repeat it twice a week until it does work, so we're going to have Alyssa on the outside very soon!!!

I changed the due date on the website to the 27th since it looks very likely that Alyssa will be born before the end of the month...maybe even this week!

Moving right along!

We had a great visit to the doctor today! I'm 1 centimeter dilated and 60-70% effaced. The doctor said that's far ahead of where most people are at this point. Alyssa is very low, and the doctor was touching her head, which was pretty cool (though a bit creepy to think about). :) The doctor also said that if it comes down to making decisions about timing for induction (though it looks like my body will probably do things on its own), he will use a due date of February 27th, which gets us in a few days earlier. And if I go into labor now, they won't try to stop it. Alyssa and I both look healthy. My blood pressure has been up and down and was a little high today, but when he had me lie down on my left side and checked it again, it was just fine.

I have heard lots of women describe the last month of pregnancy as miserable, but I didn't understand what they meant until now. I am extremely uncomfortable. I'm having lots of contractions that are very painful at times. It's getting very difficult to breathe, and the carpal tunnel syndrome due to swelling in my hands really hurts. Oh, and then there is the lack of sleep. And a squished bladder. And headaches, nausea, acid reflux, aches and pains...basically all normal symptoms but enough to make me REALLY eager to have Alyssa on the outside!

After the good news today that things are moving along, I am feeling much more positive about things. The contractions are well worth it if they are actually moving me closer to labor. I'm excited to finish packing our hospital bags and to put away the baby clothes I have washed. Now that there is an end to the pain in sight, I am able to focus more on the excitement of getting to see Alyssa's face soon!!!