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“No take Katie home!”

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So we were getting ready to leave the hospital. Owen hadn’t been thrilled with Katie (she’s loud when she cries!) but it wasn’t anything bad or worrisome.

Well, as it happened, he smacked his leg on the hard plastic side rails while he was getting off the bed so he was already whining a bit. And then Katie was crying because Tom was strapping her into the car seat…which was agitating Owen even more.

So as we’re walking out of the room, Owen starts saying stuff like “NO KATIE! No take Katie home! Leave Katie here!” and was actually trying to push the car seat back into the room.

😯

😥

And so the sibling love begins, we thought.

Thankfully by the time we got out to the car, he was okay.

Katie’s Birth Story

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July 9 » 4:00pm

As directed, I called Labor & Delivery to see if I was still supposed to come in at 6 and the charge nurse wasn’t available so I was told they would call me back.

4:30pm

We assumed we were still on schedule and dropped Owen and Maggie off at our friend’s house, then headed to town for dinner.

5:07pm

I called Labor & Delivery back since no one had returned my call. They said they had a few people admitted and deliveries going on, so wanted me to call back around 6:45 for an update. Since we were already in town with nothing to do, we thought we’d try to go to a movie but out of eight theaters nothing was even on at 5:30 so we just headed home to wait, keeping our fingers crossed that it would still actually happen. (We REALLY wanted to have her on the 10th, to match the birthday of her namesake, my Grandma Katie.)

6:44pm

The process is still on hold. The charge nurse is now with a patient who’s delivering and they said they would call me back soon…but they still hope to get me in tonight. This is sooooo frustrating.

7:59pm

Just as I was about to give in and call them back (again) they called and said things had calmed down and we could come in if we still wanted!

8:25pm

Here we go! Eating a last-minute snack on the way in since I won’t be able to eat anything once I get there and deliver.

9:44pm

Waiting to be checked now to see which induction drug I get…If I’m dilated at all, it will be Pitocin. If I’m not dilated, it will be Cervidil. An IV line is started and I am hooked up to monitors for me and the baby. Tom and I just hang out, prepping for what we assume will be a quiet night resting/sleeping waiting for the drugs to work and then a morning labor and delivery.

10:15pm

The midwife came in to check and see if I was dilated at all…and holy shit that was painful. I honestly don’t remember having my cervix checked before but Tom said “Oh, you did. And you screamed the same way before, too.” I said it felt like she was in up to her elbows…and he said “That’s exactly what you said the last time, too!” :meh: I was 4cm so they decided to start the Pitocin.

11:00pm

The nurse came in to ask how I was doing and I said “Fine, nothing is going on” and she laughed and said I’ve been having contractions for awhile now! Hmmm, that’s news to me but the machines don’t lie!

July 10 » 12am-2:00am

The contractions started off pretty tame and I actually tried to sleep (they gave me Benedryl in the IV but it didn’t even touch me). I couldn’t have slept anyway as the blood pressure machine kept going off every 20-30 minutes and I could hear the fetal monitor beeping. I had to get up and pee a few times and that was a chore since you had to unplug the two fetal monitor cables, the blood pressure machine, and then drag the IV stand along. Interestingly, we got to listen to a woman give birth in the suite next door (through the wall) and she was NOT having a good time. Really screaming and yelling—VERY much in pain—and I thought “Wow, I wonder if that’s what I sounded like when I gave birth to Owen?” and then as it became apparent she didn’t have an epidural I just kept thinking “Silly silly lady, why wouldn’t you get an epidural?” If only I realized the foreshadowing…

2:00am

I’m guessing this is about when my water broke (there was no clock and I didn’t have my phone out). I assumed this would be like last time my water broke (where it didn’t really have any effect on the process) so waited 5-10 minutes before I even paged the nurse. She checked and said that there was meconium in it (which means Katie pooped already) which wasn’t a problem at all except that at birth they would have to take Katie right away to make sure she was okay instead of being able to put her directly on me.

3:00am-ish

Still no idea what the actual time was, so I’m guessing… The contractions had started getting a little too painful—moreso than I remember them being with Owen when I got the epidural—so I paged the nurse and said it was time, then made one last trip to the bathroom. The anesthesiologist seemed to take his sweet time getting there and when he finally did arrive, it appeared he didn’t have ANY of the paperwork I had already filled out so he was going over every little thing and asking me a ton of questions and I was only half paying attention because I was having majorly painful contractions every few minutes and was just thinking GET TO THE EPIDURAL ALREADY. By the time he brought me the sheet to sign (of course, in the middle of a contraction) I was barely coherent and my signature was pretty illegible.

3:25am

Needless to say I never got my epidural. >:XX By the time he was done messing around, it really felt like I needed to start pushing—like it was going to happen with or without my consent—so the nurses and midwife told me to go ahead because it was too late for the epidural anyway. I seriously thought the process might kill me…the pain was SO much worse than what I experienced with Owen. I know I said “I can’t do this” at least 20 times and I know there was a lot of swearing involved overall…and I’m pretty sure I told them to just do a C-section and be done with it because otherwise this was going to kill me. And I pushed.

3:29am

Four minutes later (according to the paperwork I got at discharge) after only 2-3 pushes (according to my memory), she shot right out. Like literally SHOT right out—I could feel it clear as day and Tom said the midwife actually had to catch her. And it was over. JUST. LIKE. THAT. In four minutes. Of course they still had to deliver the placenta (which I’m guessing was the 12 minutes listed on the paperwork) which wasn’t comfortable but it was certainly easier and less painful than the birth. I was pretty incoherent as to what was going on around me—I was just glad it was over and completely stunned that I did it without drugs. I do remember telling Tom to at least go get a picture of her!

4:06am

Her stats and first official photo were posted on Facebook:
Katie Jean Hudson
Born July 10th 0329
8 lbs 1.4 oz
20.5″

4:10am

I did need a few stitches, but had asked the midwife if I could have some time to rest before we did that part and she said that would be fine. So I had some time with Katie.

4:45am

The midwife came in and shot me up with a bunch of lidocaine (at my request, as I had warned them I felt everything the last time I got stitched up). And it still wasn’t enough as I felt each stitch she put in. 😮 :'( But then, finally, it was over.

5:40am

Tom was snoring away in the chair/bed next to me and I wanted to sleep but was wide awake and just watching Katie in the bassinet next to me. All of the recovery rooms were currently occupied (they apparently had six births that night!) so we were just waiting out our time.

Katie’s Closet

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I had to go shopping for a few baby necessities the other day (how could we not have ANY size 1 nipples?) and I just couldn’t believe the sheer number of new baby/kid products in the three years since I really SHOPPED at a Babies ‘R Us. I wanted soooo much stuff but just bought what we needed. Well, plus a few clearance clothes. 🙂 I’ve been purposefully trying NOT to buy much since I know the grandmas are going crazy buying…but when there’s a great sale (40% off already sale/clearance prices) I just couldn’t resist. Meaning I did have to reign myself in a bit.

But then—OOPS!—I went back to Babies R Us today… Not for clothes specifically, but I had to return some things. Darn! And then I bought some more clothes because, I mean, I was there. And they were still on sale. :))

My friends keep telling me you can’t have too many baby clothes—but I think I may have had too much with Owen… People were buying me gifts (first baby syndrome), I was buying stuff (first baby syndrome), and we were getting hand-me-downs from a cousin. It was nice not having to do laundry every other day, though… But it’s been so long since that age/stage that I honestly can’t remember how much we had (since I have obviously give the hand-me-downs back and have sold some stuff) so it’s like I’m starting from scratch. I didn’t take all the tags off my last two days of purchases, though…we’re going to wait and see just how big she is. She might blow past the 0-3m stuff from the start and we’ll just start with the 3m stuff…

Aside from one drawer of outfits and one of PJs (newborn, 0-3m, and a few 3-6m)…this isn’t a lot, right? (There are about eight or so hangers of 2-4T stuff.) It feels like a lot, though my friends assure me it’s not. 😮

OB Appointment…guess what happened?

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Short story?

Unless something happens on its own this weekend, I’ll be induced Monday night…

Long story?

My blood pressure was high at the appointment so the doctor was concerned that it might be pre-eclampsia (it hasn’t been high for a few months, but since I’m near the end, it was a worry). She also wanted an ultrasound to measure the baby (something I was apparently supposed to be having done every so often—NOT the fetal monitoring I’ve been doing, but an additional ultrasound—but hadn’t had in a while) so she walked me across the hall for that since she had an opening right then. On the way I told her that I was concerned that the last doc mentioned stripping my membranes today and possibly inducing labor next week and she said she wouldn’t do that unless it was medically necessary—so that made me feel better. Everything with the baby measured just fine (head, length, amniotic fluid, etc.) but the doc still sent me off for lab work to rule out or diagnose the pre-eclampsia. (On a sidenote, the tech guessed that the baby was about 8.5# but the doc said “Oh, the +/- on that is about a pound…” |-| So why even give a guesstimate that could be so far off?)

The lab work actually went amazingly well, considering I have the worst veins on the planet and it usually takes three techs and four pokes to hit a vein—the girl got it on the first attempt! Everything was marked STAT so I knew I’d have results fairly soon.

So, up in Labor & Delivery Triage, they hooked me up to the monitors (like I’ve been doing at my weekly appointments, just with another nurse) and my BP was fine and the baby’s movements were fine—and most of the lab work came back just fine…except the protein in my urine was __fill in the blank with whatever number was high enough to cause more tests but not high enough to be severely concerned__ and the midwife wanted me to do a 24-hour urine test. Uh, yuck. No thanks. Especially when she said that if the protein marker results were __whatever number high enough__ I would be admitted RIGHT THEN. As in tomorrow afternoon! So I half-jokingly said “Can’t I just skip it and agree to come in and be induced Monday?” And she was fine with that!!! So that’s the plan…unless, of course, something happens before then or I have any strange symptoms that might be cause for alarm.

So, no, I didn’t initially want to be induced…but since things went a little awry, it did seem like the best option. Especially since if things go according to plan…I’ll have Katie on her namesake’s birthday: July 10! (I’ll be admitted for induction at 6pm on Monday night the 9th and will likely have her sometime after midnight on Tuesday the 10th!) 🙂

37 week checkup

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The doc said today that at my next appointment (38.5w) they’re going to check my cervix and strip the membranes if necessary…then would look at inducing on my due date if I hadn’t had the baby by then.

88| 88| 88|

I was too shocked to say anything (and then he was out the door)…but, um, NO. I’m letting this one bake as long as necessary on her own, thankyouverymuch.

I mean, why induce if there’s no reason to? And they haven’t given me a reason to. Which is why I’ll definitely be asking at my next appointment. They have casually mentioned I’m a bit on the big side but nothing worrisome.

Interestingly—when I was up in Labor & Delivery last week for my weekly fetal monitoring appointment—I saw a chart on a public bulletin board regarding a goal of delivering more babies between the hours of 8-5…which struck me as odd. So I’m guessing there’s a correlation there…

I could actually cancel my next appointment because the doc said “come back in 1-2 weeks.” Well, at this late stage of the game, there’s a big difference between one and two weeks—I mean, one week puts me at 38.5 weeks and two weeks puts me at 39.5 weeks! It’s not like we’re at 24 weeks here. So I opted for one week this time (I’ve been doing two) but I may just go with two. And let whatever happens happen.

Project Nursery

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What started as Project Nursery turned into Project Move Owen to What Was Going to Be the Nursery Because We Didn’t Have Room to Store the Queen Size Bed and Then Turn Owen’s Room Into the Nursery.

Phew, I know. 😀

Project Nursery, Part 1

Yeah, so we don’t have room to store the Queen bed (so would have to sell it), so we thought Owen could use it…but it’s just too big for his current room (the nursery is a good 3′ wider) which means he’d have to switch rooms. I didn’t want to uproot him at all with the whole baby thing coming…but it seemed like the best plan as I think we have room to store the Full bed (that Owen currently uses).

But, of course, the decision wasn’t THAT simple. Because a room switch would mean he loses all the decals he currently has (alphabet and Cars, though the Cars ones are big enough they might be able to make the move). I had JUST bought a second waterproof mattress pad. We weren’t sure what color we were going to paint, which would have an effect on bedding we already had or needed to buy. We would need new Queen sheets (we only have one summer and one winter set). Again, depending on the color(s), we might need a new dust ruffle and/or curtains (which I had just bought the curtains like six months ago). All little things, but they add up.

So we decided to ask him if he wanted to switch rooms—and of course he said YEP. (That’s it, YEP.) So he seemed to like the idea of a new room, but I’m guessing he doesn’t really FULLY understand. He also picked green over tan paint and seemed excited about his bigger bed (he went to grab cars to play with in there immediately).

So while it was kind of exciting, I honestly was not looking forward to it, as it was going to be enough work just getting one room ready and now we had two rooms to do (oh, who am I kidding, Tom now had two rooms to do as I can’t really do much). So I decided to make it more fun for me and do a full-fledged online search for the bedding I really wanted for Owen’s room…basically a multi-colored plaid…or madras as it turns out. So the stuff I love? Of course it’s at >:XX Pottery Barn Kids: $159 for either a quilt or a duvet cover. Yuck.

Tom was painting while I was shopping…

So I kept my fingers crossed that the bedding Owen was currently using would look okay with the new paint. And, of course, it didn’t—the two different shades of sage completely clashed. I know he won’t care…but but I do. Now before you think I’m nuts, let me remind you that I didn’t care one bit what his nursery looked like (it was never matchy matchy—I just tossed up some monkey decals and called it a day). And then when we moved back here, the room was a medium yellow, which went just fine with the sage curtains/comforter/bedskirt stuff we already had.

So, knowing how I am, I know that the clashing colors would drive me insane every single day. I had a quilt I could put on in the meantime, but it’s a girly flowery pink/tan/sage thing that I know I wouldn’t want on for good so why not just get what I want NOW? Right? 🙂 Besides, other than two sets of sheets, we hadn’t really spent any money on bedding for him…so I felt okay buying something specifically for him… Hence my online search.

But since I couldn’t get it out of my head, we headed out to Ross and Marshall’s. We also went to Bed Bath & Beyond (as it was right next door to Ross)…and found what I wanted. Not quite as expensive as the Pottery Barn Kids stuff (though still more than I would have preferred to pay) but pretty much exactly what I wanted—and of course I could use a 20% coupon! While I was checking out, Tom said “HOW MUCH?!” and I said “Not as much as what I wanted from Pottery Barn Kids!” and he knew well enough not to argue with a hormonal pregnant woman. 🙂

In the end, it all worked out. We were able to (re)use the white dust ruffle and the tan blackout curtains. I already had a waterproof mattress pad cover. The comforter is reversible and BOTH sides match so we can change it up a bit. I just need to buy a set or two of sheets…

And you can see how comfortable he is in his new room—this was about three seconds after we told him to come check it out:

Project Nursery Part 2 starts tomorrow with the dismantling of Owen’s old Full bed, the building of the crib, and the switching of all the clothes and closet stuff…

BONUS VIDEO:

A month or so to go…

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With a month or so left, I’m starting to get freaked out. Nothing is done so it starts this week…painting the nursery, putting the crib and dressers together, washing clothes, finding baby stuff in the garage. Tom is going to try and take Thursday and Friday off.

I just keep thinking it could be two weeks…it could be two weeks…!!!!!!!!! And to top it off, I’m more paranoid about this birth than the first one where I was completely clueless. I’m afraid of being early again (or even earlier). I’m paranoid of my water breaking somewhere inconvenient or at an inconvenient time (like having to call our friends to take Owen in the middle of the night). I’m paranoid I’ll have actual contractions and it will be worse than last time. I’m afraid the epidural will get screwed up again.

And on and on.

Four more months? Ugh.

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Would someone just shoot me? Oh my god. I thought I just ate too much last night, so I took Tums and they didn’t really help—and I had a hard time falling asleep. Uh oh.

And this morning I still felt crappy and laid in bed pretty much all day feeling crappy, not really ever sleeping (so as to feel refreshed) but just snoozing off and on. My body started aching so I thought maybe I was getting sick…but it didn’t really feel like that. I showered and that didn’t even help. :'(

I hadn’t eaten much all day (toast with peanut butter at breakfast) so I had chicken broth and a handful of dry cereal and felt a little better, but my stomach still gurgles like I’m hungry…but I’m not.

I’m just really uncomfortable and it’s annoying. And of course I have zero energy.

Four more months?

/cry