Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Second Post of the Day.....Battle Scars

As I was soaking in the tub today, I finally found some time to examin my new colony of stretch marks, AKA Battle Scars, and I realized something really cool.

Before I got pregnant, I had three scars on my abdomen from the laparoscopy/hysteroscopy that I had in 2005 to diagnose and treat some of my fertility issues. Get this...I can no longer see those scars. They have been covered by the stretch marks. How cool and symbolic is that. No, I'll never really get over being infertile, but those scars are not really gone. They are just covered, changed to something different. This baby, this miracle has changed me from the inside out. I may still have some scars, but they are not the scars of infertility. They are the scars of pregnancy. They remind me of the battle we fought to get here.

So cool.

Uber baby cuteness....

My house is full/busy/loud!!!

So we are moving. Our house is completely too small for us now. So we are full of boxes and messes and our house is torn up! Add three growing children suffering from Spring Fever and an infant and you get quite a mess. I smell like spit up and food. My hair is flat and ugly. My legs are hairy. And I've never been this tired...ever.

LOVING IT!

So We are all doing great. Destiny's last day of school is tomorrow. She is so excited and proud of herself. We're having a barbeque to celebrate her graduation from kindergarten this weekend. She is becoming quite the little princess.
Jon is absolutly in love with Luke. He says they are best friends and kisses him all the time.
Staci is in her torrid threes. She's figuring out what the world is like when you are not the baby of the family.
Luke is great! He still loves the night life (so tired. so so tired. seriously, I'm exhausted.)

Bob should be enlisted in the national guard next week. He's really excited. It'll be hard while he's in boot camp. But I'll be living with family until he gets back so I won't be doing the mom thing alone. This fall, we move into a much bigger house (yahoo!)

So I promised some funnies from the hospital a while ago. Here's a good one.

After I went into preterm labor, I was put on terbutaline and magnesium sulfate while in the hospital. I was also sedated for a while to help relax me. Once I woke up, the labor had stopped and I was taken off the meds and the catheter was pulled out. I was gooey and gross so I decided to take a shower. Now, after all those meds, I could barely stand on my own, so Bob helped me get into the shower and get washed. A few hours later, as I was relaxing on my own, my CNA comes in. She's an older lady with a thick spanish accent...

CNA: Now you just remember....NO SEX!
ME: Yeah, I know. Don't worry.
CNA: I heard you in the shower. Your husband was with you. YOU TELL HIM TO LEAVE YOU ALONE!
ME: OH! But he was just helping me shower!
CNA: DOn't you let him bother you! You have to rest!
And what else could I say?
ME: DOn't worry, I'll tell him!

HA!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

What a month!

Where do I even start?

Luke is here and doing great! It's been the most wonderful adventure and we couldn't be happier.

I was induced on April 25. (apparently, it often happens that women who have pre term labor shut down and don't go into labor alone after being on all those meds...) We started pitocin at about 7:30 am. By about noon, I was on the highest dose they will give and was STILL only in false labor. Oh my contractions were regular and in a good pattern....but they were doing NOTHING! My nurse told me that it probably wouldn't work and unless I had a c section, I was probably not going to have my baby that day. I was devastated to say the least.

Luckily, my doc came in at 2:30 to check me...I was still 3 cm dialated but 90% effaced and at a -2 station...so he broke my water. Literally a minute later labor started. I was in active strong labor within half an hour. And then I got stupid. I was trying to have the baby without any pain killers. What I didn't think about was that this was not a natural labor. By 5:00 I was dying. Luckily I had a great support system set up. My mom and best friend really helped me breath through my contractions. What we didn't know was that I was already in transition.

I got my epidural at 6:00 ( God bless the person who invented that gem). As soon as it was in, I passed out. I woke up at about 7:00 feeling weird. I had no pain but just felt funky. My doc came in and I told him how I felt so he checked me. Through a very thick fog, I heard him say "Wow. He's right there! It's time to push!"

We started pushing at 7:30 and Luke was born at 7:49! It was soooo easy! I thought I was going to have trouble pushing because of the epidural...but LUke just slipped on out! He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz (apparently the ultra sounds were wrong in estimating his weight) and was 18 inches long. He has my red hair!!!!

Our recovery went very well. Straight out of recovery I ate a large burger and fries! No more nausea!!!!!!! The hyperemesis was gone the instant I gave birth. I haven't taken any meds (besides ibuprofin) since! No phenergan, no zofran, no terbutaline, no magnesium!!! Nothing!!! I had a second degree tear that had to be stitched up but it hasn't even hurt.

Luke is doing great. He already weighs 8 lbs now and is 20 inches long!! He already has his one month check up next week. We weren't able to be successful at breast feeding, so he is on formula. But he doesn't have any colic issues and is a very calm baby (for the most part!) He loves the night life (I'm going on little sleep here) and is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. He truely is a miracle. It took years just to conceive him. Then we suffered through a horrific sickness that could have really hurt us both. And then, just when we were almost in the clear, I go into preterm labor and Luke almost spends the first few weeks of his life in the NICU. But here we are, healthy and happy. ANd life couldn't be better.

I have my first post natal appointment tomorrow. I'm sure we'll just fly in and out.

Thanks everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!!!