Where to start? It’s been quite awhile since I’ve logged an entry in here!
The end of my pregnancy was difficult; my blood pressure was up and down, and for the last 2-3 months, I spilled protein in my urine all the time (at every visit when they checked). I had a couple of episodes of contractions, though thankfully, they weren’t productive ones. At our 31 week ultrasound with our perinatalogist, the tech estimated our little girl’s weight at 5 lbs 10 oz (so about 4 weeks ahead of schedule)! He decided to do another ultrasound at 37 weeks to check her growth. I was measuring ahead, as well, and had some extra fluid, which is normal for a bigger baby; as our doctor said, bigger babies make more fluid.
We trudged along with me mostly off my feet until then, to try to keep my BP down and contractions away. At one of my hospital visits (for BP this time) at just over 36 weeks, my nurse there said, “So you have an ultrasound next week?” I told her I did, and she said, “Well, we may see you here next week then!” I didn’t expect them to deliver me before 38 weeks, especially since my 37th week was the week of Thanksgiving. My nurse said that if her lungs were mature, and I was having problems, they’d deliver her no matter what holiday it was!
On Monday, 11/24/08, our friend Deana kept Logan, and Dennis and I went to the perinatalogist. We had our ultrasound with the tech first, who estimated our baby girl to weigh just shy of 10 pounds!!! Needless to say, we were shocked; I knew she was big, but wow! Since my BP had been up, she took it while I was lying there, and it was high (something like 150/93). Our doctor came in and concurred with the ultrasound tech on the size, and decided to do an amniocentesis to check her lung maturity. That was uneventful, and we went home to await the results. Just after lunchtime, we got the call—her lungs were mature, and she was ready! I called my doctor’s office, and they told me not to eat or drink anything after midnight, and to come to my appointment that was scheduled for the next morning at 9 AM. We would go to the hospital from there! We called all our family and friends to let them know, and geared up for our little girl’s arrival!
Tuesday, November 25th came. We went to my appointment and found out they had my c-section scheduled for 2 PM. We filled out pre-admission paperwork, and headed over to the hospital. They got me in my room, started an IV, and we waited; our nurse was wonderful, and we chatted the hour or so away. At about 12:30, she came back in and said that things were going faster than scheduled, and they were moving us up to 1 PM! They quickly got me ready, gave Dennis his paper clothes (and his t-shirt that says “Coach”), and got things going! All of the pre-op stuff went better than I remembered last time. The nurse-anesthetist had no trouble getting the spinal in at all, and while I felt a little nauseated, they were ready with meds to help me get past that, so I never threw up. It was over in a flash! Jessica Mae made her entry into the world at 1:04 PM! Her apgar scores were 8 and 9. She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz, and was 20.75” long. She was yelling her head off from the get go!! She had some hair, and was dark complected (red-looking for now, the way Ethan was). Her blood sugar was a little low, so the lactation consultant brought her straight to me after we got back into the room for recovery. She nursed for about 25 minutes; took to it like a champ! She did lose down to 7 lbs 15 oz before we left the hospital on Friday morning.
Dennis’s parents came down the day she was born, and stayed with us until Sunday morning. They were a HUGE help with the boys, and around the house. My mom came the week Jessie turned 2 weeks old; she drove down by herself, and stayed for a week. It was SO nice to have her here, and the boys (Logan especially) really enjoyed having here, as did I! I miss our family; they are too far away!
Coming soon in the next post: Life with four children!! But for now, here are a few pics of Jessie...
The end of my pregnancy was difficult; my blood pressure was up and down, and for the last 2-3 months, I spilled protein in my urine all the time (at every visit when they checked). I had a couple of episodes of contractions, though thankfully, they weren’t productive ones. At our 31 week ultrasound with our perinatalogist, the tech estimated our little girl’s weight at 5 lbs 10 oz (so about 4 weeks ahead of schedule)! He decided to do another ultrasound at 37 weeks to check her growth. I was measuring ahead, as well, and had some extra fluid, which is normal for a bigger baby; as our doctor said, bigger babies make more fluid.
We trudged along with me mostly off my feet until then, to try to keep my BP down and contractions away. At one of my hospital visits (for BP this time) at just over 36 weeks, my nurse there said, “So you have an ultrasound next week?” I told her I did, and she said, “Well, we may see you here next week then!” I didn’t expect them to deliver me before 38 weeks, especially since my 37th week was the week of Thanksgiving. My nurse said that if her lungs were mature, and I was having problems, they’d deliver her no matter what holiday it was!
On Monday, 11/24/08, our friend Deana kept Logan, and Dennis and I went to the perinatalogist. We had our ultrasound with the tech first, who estimated our baby girl to weigh just shy of 10 pounds!!! Needless to say, we were shocked; I knew she was big, but wow! Since my BP had been up, she took it while I was lying there, and it was high (something like 150/93). Our doctor came in and concurred with the ultrasound tech on the size, and decided to do an amniocentesis to check her lung maturity. That was uneventful, and we went home to await the results. Just after lunchtime, we got the call—her lungs were mature, and she was ready! I called my doctor’s office, and they told me not to eat or drink anything after midnight, and to come to my appointment that was scheduled for the next morning at 9 AM. We would go to the hospital from there! We called all our family and friends to let them know, and geared up for our little girl’s arrival!
Tuesday, November 25th came. We went to my appointment and found out they had my c-section scheduled for 2 PM. We filled out pre-admission paperwork, and headed over to the hospital. They got me in my room, started an IV, and we waited; our nurse was wonderful, and we chatted the hour or so away. At about 12:30, she came back in and said that things were going faster than scheduled, and they were moving us up to 1 PM! They quickly got me ready, gave Dennis his paper clothes (and his t-shirt that says “Coach”), and got things going! All of the pre-op stuff went better than I remembered last time. The nurse-anesthetist had no trouble getting the spinal in at all, and while I felt a little nauseated, they were ready with meds to help me get past that, so I never threw up. It was over in a flash! Jessica Mae made her entry into the world at 1:04 PM! Her apgar scores were 8 and 9. She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz, and was 20.75” long. She was yelling her head off from the get go!! She had some hair, and was dark complected (red-looking for now, the way Ethan was). Her blood sugar was a little low, so the lactation consultant brought her straight to me after we got back into the room for recovery. She nursed for about 25 minutes; took to it like a champ! She did lose down to 7 lbs 15 oz before we left the hospital on Friday morning.
Dennis’s parents came down the day she was born, and stayed with us until Sunday morning. They were a HUGE help with the boys, and around the house. My mom came the week Jessie turned 2 weeks old; she drove down by herself, and stayed for a week. It was SO nice to have her here, and the boys (Logan especially) really enjoyed having here, as did I! I miss our family; they are too far away!
Coming soon in the next post: Life with four children!! But for now, here are a few pics of Jessie...
1 comment:
OMG Steph she's gorgeous!!
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