He’s Here

Well he’s been here for a week now, but I’ve been a little slow to update.

Surro bub made his entrance on 2/2/23 about 4:50am. He was the biggest baby I’ve delivered weighing in at 8lbs 9oz and 21.5 inches long. He came out pink, chunky, and crying. Perfectly happy and healthy. Both dads were there along with my husband. It only took about 10min of pushing (yay!).

I wasn’t very good this time about tracking when things happened, but I’ll try to recap as best I can remember.

Our last OB appointment was 1/30, 2 days before induction day. During that NST my blood pressure was a little high. Monday mornings are a bit on the hectic side so I wasn’t too surprised. They took it several times and by the end of the appointment it was better. Baby passed that NST with no problem. I had the OB check me and sweep my membranes to see if we could get anything started. I was barely 2cm and my cervix was still very high and thick. This baby, just like his sister, had no intentions of dropping any time soon. With that information at least I knew going in that the induction was going to take awhile. This made a huge difference for me as opposed to last time when I didn’t realize how long it would take to get labor started. I was able to go into this induction with realistic expectations.

That day was my last day of work so the next day (Tues. 1/31) I spent at home. I did the Miles Circuit (which didn’t do anything for me. In fairness I think you have to do it multiple times, but it takes 90min and who has that amount of free time??) I did laundry and cleaned the fridge. I finally packed my hospital bag. I had a strong feeling we would make it to induction day so I never bothered to pack it early. My parents came down that afternoon to stay for a few days to watch the kids. I slept surprisingly well that night which was nice since I knew the next day would be a long one.

The next morning (Wed. 2/1) my husband and I were up early and on the way to the hospital. He dropped me off then headed back home. I had to wait a bit to be checked in, but finally got in a room about 7:45. Around 8am the nurse came in and started doing her intake stuff, starting an IV, taking vitals, asking a bunch of questions.

8:45am: Nurse checked me, about 2-3cm, still super high and thick. She was sure we would start with oral misoprostol to help soften the cervix before starting pitocin. My OB was in with a c-section so we had to wait for her to be done before she could okay the meds.

9:00am: I settled in and ordered some breakfast.

9:45am: the OB okayed the meds and I took my first dose of oral misoprostol and waited. After a dose of this med they wait 4 hours then check the cervix again and decide between another dose of miso or starting the pitocin.

I spent the next 4 hours with very sporadic, light contractions. I walked a bit, bounced on a yoga ball, watched TV & Hulu, and colored. I was in a much better mental headspace this time since I went into it knowing this particular protocol better and was prepared for the amount of time it would take. I kept my husband and baby’s dads updated, but there wasn’t really anything to update with for several hours at a time.

2:00pm: got checked again, still 2-3cm, a little softer, but not much. Another dose of miso and another 4 hours to kill

3:45pm: Contractions started picking up a little bit. About 6-10min apart, stronger, but not bad

4:15pm: Baby’s dads come by to hang out for a bit. Still not much going laborwise

5:30pm: Still just sporadic contractions, but they’re feeling stronger

6:20pm: checked again, just barley 3cm. Pitocin started. Plan is to let that go for a bit, then get an epidural and try to break my water

7:30pm: Contractions are stronger about a 6-7/10. Started to prepare for epidural.

8:15pm: Epidural placed. The anesthesiologist was amazing and did a great job (unlike the one I had last time).

8:30pm: Still 3cm and high.

11:15pm: checked again, 4cm and still high, but she was able to break my water. I told my husband to stay home and get some sleep. There wasn’t much of a reason for him to be there for hours and it would have meant that one of the dads would have to leave until it was time to deliver because of COVID rules (we could have 2 people in the room until delivery, then everyone could be there) I told my husband I would text/call when he should come in. After this I dozed off here and there as did the dads. They crunched up on the little couch and the nurse brought them a couple pillows and blankets.

From here until delivery I don’t have a great log of what happened because I stopped updating people. I slept off and on with a peanut ball between my legs to try and give baby space to move down. There was a lot of flipping from side to side to either help with baby’s heart rate or to help the epidural work better. After awhile I was feeling more water come out with each contraction, but since I had already had the nurse but a towel down I didn’t think much of it. Eventually I let her know we were probably going to need to change the towel and when she checked it was pretty bloody, not alarmingly so, but enough for her to mumble something about how there must be a lot of cervical change going on.

Basically during this time we were just waiting for me to start feeling pressure and pushing urges. I was having a lot of pressure and could feel baby’s head low, but it was only during the contractions so we kept giving it more time.

4:10am: nurse decided to check me since I was having a lot of pressure even if it wasn’t all the time. Surprise! I was complete and baby was really low. I texted my husband to wake up and hurry up. Luckily we don’t live too far from the hospital. The nurse wasn’t at all sure that we would be able to wait until he got there, but we were going to try. She decided to forgo the practice pushing because he was low and she didn’t think it would take too much to get him out. She gave my OB the heads up to start heading in our direction.

4:35am: Husband made it (he would have been much faster, but he had to go through the ED and wait for someone to escort him to our room). OB got there and we started pushing about 4:40ish. I didn’t feel like I was making any progress at all through maybe 2-3 contractions and then there he was! I think I heard my doctor say that he was all tangled up in the cord, but he was nice and pink and started crying right away.

He laid on me for a minute while they cleaned him up and waited a minute for delayed cord clamping. Then one of his dads cut the cord and he went over to them for skin to skin time.

Then the super fun part of getting the placenta out started. It wasn’t bad, but they always massage your belly hard which doesn’t feel great. In this case it didn’t want to come out very easily and she had to manually detach it from my uterine wall, but this is why I talked to the nurse ahead of time and made sure we’d leave the epidural going a little longer than normal just in case so while it wasn’t pleasant, it wasn’t awful either. After having some hemorrhaging the last two times I was anticipating it happening again, but lo and behold it didn’t! My uterus did what it was supposed to so we didn’t need to deal with that this time yay!

Dads and baby hung out for a bit getting his vitals, vaccines, and getting him to eat a bit. I held him for a little bit and dang is he adorable! He was also a talker which was cute. Once the nurse swaddled him up in a blanket though he was out like a light.

My husband stayed for a bit until I told him to go home and get some more sleep. I ordered breakfast a bit later and took a nap. I was able to go home that afternoon and sleeping in my own bed felt amazing.

Recovery had been going great. I’m pumping a few times a day and will do that for a week or so more. I’ve been taking it easy and catching up on some rest since the end of this pregnancy drained me a bit. I’m now officially retired from growing and delivering babies. After 10 years and 5 babies it’s a bittersweet ending to this chapter of life, but I think my family is all looking forward to a starting a new one. I’m getting some of my brain power back and planning projects for the future. I’m so lucky to have been able to complete 3 different families in the last 10 years. I’m also lucky to have had an amazing OB and incredible nurses for deliveries. L&D nurses are truly the absolute best (at least the ones I’ve had).

So there it is, the ending to this story. It feels weird signing off and not knowing if/when I’ll be back. I have a feeling that in the hecticness that is life these days I will probably mostly forget about this blog, but I hope I remember to come back and read it from time to time, maybe pop in with an update on how my belly buddies are doing. We’ll see what the future holds. Thank you for following along over the last several years ❤

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39 Weeks!

Here we are at the last weekly update! It’s crazy to think we’ve arrived at the end already. Surro bub should be here in roughly a week or less. There are definitely times when the days drag on with nausea or other symptoms, but it never fails that when the end comes I marvel at how fast it seems to have gone.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 39 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a small pumpkin~20/51cm, weighing in at about 7-7.5lbs

Symptoms: I started having more contractions a few days ago. They weren’t labor contractions, but they were more uncomfortable than the regular Braxton Hicks contractions. I had them off and on all day Monday. That was the day they were most frequent. I’ve had them everyday since then, just not as many. Still having heartburn and some aches and pains, but nothing too bad thankfully.

Movement: He’s been a little lazier this last week, but still passing his kick counts and NSTs. I figure he’s gearing up for “The Big Day”

Sleep: It’s not great, but not as bad as last week so that’s nice. Looking forward to not having to take Tums in the middle of the night or getting up 4-5 times.

Labor Signs: I replaced all the things about food and nausea with this instead. Aside from the more uncomfortable contractions I haven’t noticed too much else that might indicate any labor action. Hopefully the contractions are doing something though. I’m having my OB check dilation on Monday and sweep my membranes to see if that starts anything.

Next appointment:  last appointment is on 1/30

38 Weeks

We are now under two weeks until this little guy makes his appearance! His dads are now in town with his sister so we’re all now officially ready for him to come.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 38 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a spaghetti squash~19.5in/49.5cm, weighing in at about 6.5-7lbs

Symptoms: More aches and pains, but they’re all manageable. The insomnia and overnight sinus drainage are hitting the hardest. I’m exhausted! I’m looking forward to better sleep once surro bud is Earth side. Still have heartburn, but it is better this week than last.

Movement: He continues to be active. We started doing non-stress tests last week. This is where they hook me up to monitors that track his heartbeat and any contractions. I have a button that I press each time he moves. There are times I can hardly keep up with his movements. He has passes the two NSTs with flying colors

Sleep: To put it bluntly, it sucks. Between the insomnia and constantly choking on sinus drainage I’m not getting much sleep. This happens every pregnancy so I expected it and honestly I think it started later in this pregnancy than any other which was great (and had my hopes up that maybe it would stay at bay). It’s one of those end of pregnancy things that makes you ready for labor and delivery.

Food cravings?  Out of the blue I’ve been craving cereal. Not a specific kind, just a bowl of cereal before bed

Food Aversions? not really

Anything making you queasy or sick? Heartburn, not getting enough sleep (like when I woke up for the day at 3am Monday morning)

Next appointment:  1/28, we’ll probably have another NST at that time. Then after that just one more appointment on 1/30

37 Weeks

I had every intention of doing an update last week, but Thursday came and went and the lack of sleep and pregnancy brain got the best of me. It only vaguely registered that I was another week along and the thought left as quickly as it came. I thought about it now and then through the weekend, but couldn’t muster the motivation to write a post. Hopefully I make the next 2 after this. Crazy to think I only have two more weekly posts before he’s here!

Weekly Update:

How far along: 37 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a honeydew melon~19in/48.25cm, weighing in at about 6.4lbs

Symptoms: Heartburn is still the main symptom that I deal with daily. It has been causing some nausea even when I remember to take my meds. That has been kind of rough to deal with because I just don’t feel like eating and an empty stomach makes the heartburn worse. I’ve had more backs aches recently. I should wear my belly band more, but it’s not that comfortable so I don’t.

Movement: He seems to really dislike me sitting at my work desk. He tries to escape with his bum through the right side of my belly. He’s most active when I’m sitting at my desk and when I lay down at night.

Sleep: Last week I didn’t sleep much during the week. I slept good over the weekend then on Monday morning ended up waking up for the day at 3:15am. Needless to say it made for a really long day. You would think that I would have absolutely conked out Monday night….nope still had trouble falling asleep. Hopefully this isn’t a trend until the end!

Food cravings?  Had a super random craving for strawberry ice cream last week. I’m also craving a good salad bar

Food Aversions? The intense heartburn has really been making me nauseous so just having aversions to eating in general.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Heartburn…even though I’ve been remembering to take my meds I’m still having fairly intense heartburn, especially at night.

Best moment of the week? We had an incredibly lazy Saturday which felt great. We all just hung out all day playing video games together and doing Legos.

Next appointment:  I had one Tuesday that went great. My next one is next Tuesday 1/17

35 Weeks

We were traveling last week so no update. I had the growth ultrasound on the 21st and baby boy is doing great. He is even head down now! Hopefully that doesn’t cause any increase in the kidney issues over the next 5 weeks. The weight estimate was 5lbs 12oz, but those can be off so I’m not putting too much stock in that part. His head was measuring about 2.5-3 weeks ahead and his belly was about 1.5-2 weeks ahead. So I’m thinking even if the weight estimate is off he will likely be on the bigger side…just how big? Who knows!

Weekly Update:

How far along: 35 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a bunch of carrots~18.25in/46cm, weighing in at about 5.25lbs…although this little guy could be a bit bigger

Symptoms: Heartburn is still the main symptom that I deal with daily. My hips have been sore, especially after sleeping on a firmer than usual mattress while we were visiting family over Christmas. I’m trying to remember to stretch them more often to help.

Movement: Still an active boy! He makes me stomach rock and roll often, although it seems like whenever I try to make a video of it he stops. Now that he’s turned head down I get more painful movement down low. It’s nothing that I haven’t had before, but sometimes it makes me say “ouch!”

Sleep: It hasn’t been bad. I didn’t sleep great when we were out of town, but it’s been okay the last couple nights

Food cravings?  Still peanut butter, although it’s not a super strong craving, more like it just sounds good

Food Aversions? nothing recently

Anything making you queasy or sick? Heartburn if I forget to take the meds

Best moment of the week? spending the Christmas holiday with lots of family

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is Jan 3rd, then every week after that until baby boy is here!

33 Weeks

I had my urology appointment this morning. It was just a quick consultation so that I am an established patient and know the plan. The plan is to do a CT scan while I’m in the hospital after baby boy is delivered. Then we’ll know how many stones there are, where they are, and how big they are. She said a CT scan is really the only way to know as ultrasounds are notoriously terrible at detecting and measuring kidney stones. If after the CT scan any of them are large enough to need to be broken up we can do that 1-2 weeks later. I’m glad to know that we can start dealing with them ASAP.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 33 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a cauiliflower ~17.25in/43.8cm, weighing in at about 4.3lbs

Symptoms: My chiropractor appt last week was rescheduled because the doctor was sick which was a bummer. I’ve been having some lower back pain on the right side so I’m hoping she can help with that when I see her in a couple days. Heartburn has been rough the last few days and I’ve had to take Tums at night in addition to the Pepcid. I try not to take the Tums because they have calcium and that’s not great when you have kidney stones

Movement: He moves a lot. I can still feel his head up under my ribs and his feet on the lower left. Sometimes he has some kicks that are pretty uncomfortable, but overall it’s good to know he’s moving like he should be.

Sleep: The first couple nights this week I didn’t sleep great. It’s been hard to fall asleep. My brain is constantly going over what needs to be done before Christmas.

Food cravings?  Peanut butter mostly

Food Aversions? there were two dinners I just couldn’t eat last week. They looked completed unappetizing. One was a rice bowl and the other was taquitos.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Eating too much which I don’t really do anymore because I’m testing my blood sugar and need to keep it under a certain level. Heartburn can make me nauseous if it’s bad

Best moment of the week? We got our first good snow this last weekend. It was enough that we were able to take the kids sledding and they had a blast. We didn’t get to go at all last year because we never had enough snow

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is December 20th and I have a growth ultrasound on Dec. 21st just to check on him.

32 Weeks

This week has been going pretty well. I’m feeling good without too many aches/pains. I had an OB appt a couple days ago. Baby boy was doing great, but is still breech. My asked me if I had thought about what if I need a c-section. I think she just wanted to make sure I knew that’s what would be on the table if he doesn’t turn. I was aware so it wasn’t a surprise. She said that when they do go head down that it can put more pressure on the bladder and ureters and cause more kidney issues. Because what she’s seen as far as it causing more issues she said she was “halvies” on whether she wanted him to turn. We didn’t have an in depth discussion about it because he has time. They don’t worry about it too much until after 36 weeks which isn’t for another month. I’m really fine with whatever way he decides to make his appearance. There are pros and cons to both. I’m not worrying about his position, it’ll be what it’ll be and we’ll go from there. It’s actually more comfortable to carry him in this position because his head isn’t low putting pressure on my bladder and cervix. I can’t bend over as easy because his head is in the way, but I also don’t have to pee every 5 minutes or deal with the shooting pain that can come from head movement so low. We will see how it ends up!

Weekly Update:

How far along: 32 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a Florida pomelo ~16.7in/42.2cm, weighing in at about 3.75lbs

Symptoms: My hips have been feeling better since I saw the chiropractor last week. Heartburn has been ramping up a bit and I’ve had to throw some Tums on top of the Pepcid a couple times to be able to sleep. I started taking magnesium to help with the restless legs as well as doing a 10-15 min workout before bed. Those things seem to be helping.

Movement: He’s still a mover even if he is getting more cramped. I can feel his head up by my ribs. My husband put his hand on my stomach the other day and went “oh geez, his head really is right there” because it’s pretty prominent and easy to feel. He was kicking something the other night that sent an electric shock down my left leg and made it twitch so much it work me up.

Sleep: Not too bad usually. I’m still tired most of the time, but other than getting up a few times to use the bathroom I’m sleeping as well as can be expected

Food cravings?  Peanut butter, especially on things like waffles.

Food Aversions? not really

Anything making you queasy or sick? Eating too much which I don’t really do anymore because I’m testing my blood sugar and need to keep it under a certain level. Heartburn can make me nauseous if it’s bad

Best moment of the week? it wasn’t a super exciting week, but we got almost all of our Christmas shopping done which is nice

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is December 20th and I have a growth ultrasound on Dec. 21st just to check on him. My OB always has one done around now

31 Weeks

Last week was Thanksgiving and we were out of town so I decided to take the week off. Not to mention that I spent the night in the hospital the Sunday before because of these stupid kidney stones. It took them 3 hours to find meds that actually helped the pain. I was really lucky though that it was my OB that was on call that day. I’ve been feeling okay since then, but that was two hospital visits in less than a month so I’m not feeling all that confident that I will get away without another visit before February. The lucky thing though is that the meds that ended up helping are ones that I can have a prescription for and have at home if needed. I have a urology appointment in two weeks so we can hopefully get a plan from now until February and after.

I’ve been tracking my blood sugar levels and they’ve been normal, as expected. There was one day last week that it was high because I had an extra piece of my favorite pizza that I only get once a year…even at that it wasn’t crazy high, just a few points

Weekly Update:

How far along: 31 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a head of romaine lettuce ~16.2in/41cm, weighing in at about 3.3lbs

Symptoms: Sore hips, restless legs, heartburn, typical 3rd trimester stuff

Movement: When I was in the hospital they did an ultrasound of my kidneys and took a quick peek at the little guy. His head was under my right rib, so head up. I had a feeling he wasn’t head down for whatever reason. His position/movement felt different than my previous pregnancies. He still has lots of time to turn head down so we can avoid a c-section. The previous babies I’ve carried have all been head down by about 28 weeks. Hopefully he gets the memo and gets in the right position soon. Other than that he’s still pretty busy, although he definitely has down times. I got a decent video of him jumping around that I was able to share with his dads

Sleep: Not too bad usually. I’m still tired most of the time, but other than getting up a few times to use the bathroom I’m sleeping as well as can be expected

Food cravings?  Still craving breakfast foods, especially things like waffles and pancakes

Food Aversions? not really

Anything making you queasy or sick? Eating too much. My digestion is so slow these days that if I eat too much it takes several hours to feel normal and not uncomfortably full

Best moment of the week? Spending most of last week with family for the long weekend

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is December 6th.

For some reason WordPress won’t upload the bump pic from this week so last week will have to do

29 Weeks

I went in for my glucose tolerance test yesterday and, as I expected, I failed it. My level was about 15 points higher than they like. When the nurse called last night I asked her if I could just go straight to as home testing because I’m sure I would fail the 3 hour test and it’s so hard to find the time to sit in the lab for 3 hours, especially with the holiday next week. The end result would be the same I’m sure so I would really rather just start testing now. It was after hours when they called so my OB wasn’t in the office, but the nurse was going to send her a message and ask if that would be okay. Hopefully I’ll hear back today. I was able to finally get an appointment scheduled with the urologist next month to come up with a plan to deal with the kidney stone(s) for the remainder of the pregnancy and after. I also have a massage appointment set up for tomorrow morning (really, really looking forward to this). Tomorrow afternoon I go in to get my flu shot and Covid booster (after getting my tdap and rhogam shots yesterday). A week of needles this week. I have a chiropractor appointment on Dec. 2nd to try and relieve some of the pain I’ve been having in my left hip.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 29 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a butternut squash ~15.2in/38.5cm, weighing in at about 2.5lbs

Symptoms: My left hip is still bothering me, especially if I lay on it too long at night and I notice it when wake up in the am for awhile. I’ve been forgetting to take my heartburn meds in the morning so that starts to become a problem in the early afternoon. Other than those things it’s just normal aches and pains.

Movement: He has some pretty big movements that I wish I was fast enough to catch on camera. I can feel his feet and hands when he pushes against my stomach. It’s been hard to tell what position he’s in. I’m pretty sure he’s head down, but I really don’t know like I did the last two times. I think as he continues to grow I’ll be able to tell better

Sleep: it’s been okay. I’ve been having a hard time falling asleep which I haven’t had in a long time. I’m really looking forward to catching up on some sleep this weekend after a really busy week

Food cravings?  Still craving breakfast foods. I had a fleeting craving for apple pie right before I went to sleep the other night, but it was gone by the am

Food Aversions? not really

Anything making you queasy or sick? Eating too much. My digestion is so slow these days that if I eat too much it takes several hours to feel normal and not uncomfortably full

Best moment of the week? having our first weekend we didn’t have anything to do in several weeks. It felt so good to just do nothing.

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is December 6th.

28 Weeks (Officially 3rd Trimester!)

This week has been pretty uneventful which is great! I finally made it to the prenatal yoga class I’ve gone to with all my pregnancies. It’s still the same instructor as it was 10 years ago when I first went. She has always remembered me each time I start up again which is sweet. It felt good to start up again, although I’m a bit sore! That’s good though, need to get my muscles working.

Weekly Update:

How far along: 28 Weeks

How big is baby: Size of a coconut, ~14.75in/34.5cm, weighing in at about 2.2-2.4lbs

Symptoms: My left hip has been pretty achy. Nothing terrible, more just annoying. I’m not sure if he’s in a position that’s putting more pressure on that side or what. Heartburn is fine as long as I remember to take my meds for it.

Movement: He’s still pretty active, maybe not as much as he was at first, but I still feel him several times a day. It’s been really hard to figure out what position he’s in based on movements. I have been able to feel a limb of some sort poking out the side of my stomach a few times.

Sleep: still hit and miss

Food cravings?  I’ve been craving breakfast foods. Mainly waffles and bacon

Food Aversions? not really

Anything making you queasy or sick? Eating too much

Best moment of the week? Having my family’s Thanksgiving last weekend

Next appointment:  My next OB appt is December 6th. After that we go to appts every 2 weeks for 3 appts then every week until delivery