Feb 9th 2010 3:35am 8 pounds 6 ounces!

Well I am finally posting the birth story of Logan Matthew! I know it took forever but I was way too tired and busy to post and then I think I just wanted to forget it all LOL.

So the induction started off great as you can see in my last post. I ended up receiving four rounds of meds to get things rolling so when it seemed like every single time they checked we had not progressed it was very discouraging.

It was getting further and further in the day on Feb 8th and they had not yet started the pitocin which was also somewhat discouraging. I was having regular contraction on my own but nothing too painful. Then FINALLY my Dr. broke my water and started the pitocin to get the contractions rolling. I'm not too sure of the time frame I believe this was around noon. And they continued to up the pitocin every half an hour.

So things were finally progressing I was starting to get fairly uncomfortable but still nothing too bad and was dilated to a three when the nurse came in to up the dose and check my vitals. I asked her how long after I asked for the epidural did it usually take for the anesthesiologist to arrive and she said that he was headed into a c-section but would have him come in first to get it now rather than have to wait until he was out of surgery. That worked out so great, I was really not too uncomfortable yet and Stan our anesthesiologist was so great he was cracking Matt and I up and were really grateful that he was part of our birth experience. So the epidural was placed and seriously hurt less then when my IV was administered. I was very quickly pain free! Now hind sight is 20/20 and had I known I would have kicked everyone out of our room and slept as much as possible but unfortunately I did not do that. So as time slowly passed we slowly progressed.

At some point our visitors (my Mom and Matt's parents) that had been with us all day left. I am thinking it was when the pain started getting pretty bad because I do not remember them leaving. So I think we were dilated to a 6 or a 7 when the epidural just wasn't cutting it anymore. My legs were numb and so was my belly but I of course could feel the pain in my pelvis, the nurse kept saying to sleep and rest because I would need my energy but seriously who can sleep when they are feeling the contractions LOL? So Stan paid a visit per my request three times I felt like a baby having to ask for more meds in the epidural but apparently the third time is a charm because Matt said that third time he put a "ton" in LOL and FINALLY I felt like I could try to sleep. After what seemed like 5 minutes of pain free sleep the pain was back and every time I saw the pitocin dosage going up I wanted to cry. The good part was since I was feeling quite a bit as soon as I felt that the pressure was pretty intense and I told the nurse I felt like I wanted to push she checked me and PRAISE GOD after 28 hours in the hospital I was a 10 and ready to push! This was about midnight and the fun began. Now I must note that everyone from the Dr.s to nurses to our anesthesiologist were great we loved our experience as far as employees go EXCEPT for our delivery nurse she acted like she had a better place to be from the beginning and was very unperson-able. So my contractions are about a minute apart and needless to say over two hours of pushing 3-4 times every minute was just a little exhausting. At one point I actually thought I had lost my mind because there was a clock on the wall across from me and no joke the hands started spinning around and around until it said 4am I asked Matt and the nurse if they saw it and lucky thay looked just in time to agree that the clock was broken and the I was in fact still sane LOL. So around 2:15 the nurse FINALLY called the Dr. in to see how things were progressing and she checked for about a half of a push and immediately said stop stop hon, he is too big for you. (now if I had the energy I would have told the nurse just what I though about her making us push for over two hours when it took our Dr. one second to know I needed a c-section) So I am very relived that this will in fact end as they start preparations for the c-section. Stan our favorite anesthesiologist comes in to administer the meds was I was so grateful for because not pushing through the contractions at that point hurt way worse than the pushing did.

The c-section went great and they lift Logan up who then started screaming SO CUTE I did however find the energy to cry just a bit and Matt ran over to get some great pictures. They finished the surgery and handed Logan to me while they wheeled us back to our room and honestly the only thing I could think was oh my God how am I going to be a Mom and be this tired I could not keep my eyes open I have never been that tired in my life. We got back to the room and I felt like the worst Mom ever having to ask the nurse if I sent him to the nursery and had them give him a bottle if that would affect me nursing him later she was super nice (a different nurse at this point) and assured me that he would nurse just fine. I handed Logan to Matt and he said that as soon as my head hit the pillow I started snoring LOL. I hate that I didn't get to snuggle with Logan right away but Matt got to spend several hours with him before sending him to the nursery.

Induction

Well, it's just after midnight on Feb 8th. We are all set up here at the hospital. Everything has gone very smoothly. Our nurse Stacy is great. I got an IV set up and have been attached to a blood pressure monitor since we got here. We also have to stay on the fetal/contraction monitor as well so I feel very stuck to my bed right now. I got my first round of meds a few hours ago and our nurse said that she would be back at 1am to administer more so once that is done at 1 I will try to get some sleep.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Well we are to Feb 3rd Daddy's (Matt's) Birthday :) I had my appointment and everything still looks great. I have high blood pressure still. My blood pressure has been high at several appointments and was high for most of the stay at the hospital on Monday. He said it's nothing to be concerned for preeclampsia or anything since I am having no other symptoms but said that its hypertension from the pregnancy. So we are to be monitered more closley since we are so close to d-day. We go in for an ultrasound on Friday where they will score Logan on a 8 point scale and then I go in again on Monday to be checked and see where the BP is at again. An option at this point if my BP stays high or if Logan is showing signs of distress is to just induce! So we will see what happens. The great news is that I went from 50% effaced on Monday to 70% today so he just might come on his own any day! We are still dilated to a 1.

Day two :)

Well the contractions stopped completely overnight. So Praise God we were discharged this afternoon. After resting in a hospital for over 24 hours I surprisingly came home and slept LOL. But day two of being a SAHM was much better than day one. Now to just stay out of cars as much as possible until we can have this little boy!

I want to thank everyone so much for all of your prayers and concern and support. Logan is already so loved.

Day one :(

Well it's officially day one of not working. I was so excited to get some stuff done at home and be ready to have this little boy. After a quick run to my Sisters to have my hair cut I was on a mission to get home and clean when I was rear-ended! Very scary of course. Our cars were fine upon a quick inspection however I was too preoccupied with getting myself and Logan to the hospital. Which was literally a few blocks away from the accident. I was addmitted to the ER right away and then sent up to labor and delivery for monitering. Logan looks great and I feel fine. However I have been having regular contractions every 15 min or so. Nothing painful but enough to get us admitted for 24 hour monitoring. I am also dialat
ed to a 1 and 50% effaced. My Dr. said that is great! It is not an indication that he will necessarily come soon but that my body is doing all the right things. He said unless anything changes overnight I will be discharged tomorrow. I see him again on Wednesday (which also happens to be the best Hubby evers Birthday) so right now we wait. I can't decided if I want things to just progress and meet him already or if I hope to go home and have another week or so of rest at home? Thank you to everyone who has wished us well today and have been praying for us. I will keep you posted.

No Gestational Diabetes!

Well Praise God I do not have gestational diabetes. I do not know what my numbers were other than they were in the normal range! My next apt is on Wed December 23rd.

December 14th, 3 hour Glucose Test

Well I made it through the three hour glucose test. It went very well. I do not know when I will get the results, but will post them as soon as I do. I have my next regular exam on Wednesday December 23rd so I assume if I have not heard back by then that they will know something.

My appointment was at 8:30 I got there a little early and had my fasting blood drawn then drank the glucose which the lemon lime and that one was 1000 times better than the orange! I then had my blood drawn again at 9:40, 10:40, and 11:40. The first hour was fine. I felt a little nauseous and just ill during the second hour, but the last hour I felt great. The worst part for me was that I had four blood draws in four hours and the last two draws they took from the exact same spot so that didn't feel great. So here is hoping that the results are good!

December 2009

On December 7th, 2009 I went in for my regular appointment and to have our second ultrasound. Logan looks great he was measuring big at 3 pounds 9 ounces! The placenta has moved and he is no longer breach so we are a go for a natural delivery!

My Dr. answered my questions about failing my glucose test and I found out that 90% of all of the women who fail the one hour glucose end up passing their 3 hour test and do not have gestational diabetes. So that is great news I only have a 10% chance of actually being diagnosed. He said I was doing all of the right things in the mean time so that was great to have a good appointment. I go in for the 3 hour glucose test on Monday December 14th so we should know shortly. I was also told that we will have two more biweekly appointment and then we start our weekly appointment so we are definitely getting close to meeting him!

November 2009

On November 24th, 2009 while vacationing in Texas with family for Thanksgiving I received a phone call from our Dr's office letting me know that I failed my glucose test. I of course was very upset and believed all the lies that Satan was trying to tell me like, I was overweight, I ate too much Halloween candy, I am a bad Mom etc..... Because good Moms can can control their insulin levels LOL.

It was comforting to be with family and friends, Matt, my Dad, Amber, Debbie and Ashely all tried to get me to see that it was nothing I did it just happens sometimes. So finally after a day I was able to calm down a little and trust that God is good and will get us through this even if I do have gestational diabetes. (which I still might not have)

My glucose was 155 and they said that they would like for it to be under 130. I asked the nurse what I could do in the mean time until I know for sure and was told to watch my carbs, and stay away from sugars like syrup and jellies. So now on December 14th I go in for a three hour glucose test where I get to fast for 14 hours before hand. Then I will have my blood drawn at the fasting level, drink even more of the glucose junk and then get my blood drawn at one hour and two hours after that. (one Mom to be on a message board for expecting Mom that I belong to fainted during this test YIKES) Then they can make an official diagnosis as to how I am metabolizing the sugar and see if I do in fact have gestational diabetes. Here is hoping that I do not. Either way I trust that if I exercise, and watch my diet that Logan will be fine.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

September 2009

On September 25th, 2009 we had our big ultrasound! I was so excited to find out the sex I hardly slept that night. Now most of the days during the last few months I had a feeling that it was a girl. I had also had several dreams about baby being a girl so I was very excited to just find out. Matt and I were both hoping that our first would be a boy but of course just wanted baby to be healthy. I grew up with the greatest Big Brother and loved the idea of having a Son first!

So we are set up for the ultrasound and we let the technician know that we wanted to find out the sex and we begin! We saw baby's cute face and profile and she moves down and baby's little legs were curled up and I was trying and trying but I still couldn't see for sure so I thought okay I can't make out much I'm sure it's my girl :) I looked at the tech and asked her if she could tell and she grinned and said "yep, its a BOY"! I started to cry (big surprise) and said "Matt, did you hear that you have a Son". He played it cool and was smiling but I know he was bursting to have a boy! She than did all of her fun stuff with Logan's measurements and what not and he looks great he is healthy!

I was informed that I have to go back for another ultrasound in a month or so because the placenta is "low lying" my Dr. said that it is absolutely nothing to worry about at this point and most of the time as the baby grows the placenta naturally moves up but if it stays low and very close to the cervix where it is now I assume we would have to schedule a C Section.

So we arrive back from Minnesota and I am still feeling sick most days. My Dr. has me come back in for another ultrasound to make sure everything is progressing and this was what I was hoping for on our first ultrasound! I got to see the teeny flickering of the cutest little heartbeat on our little peanut! It was so wonderful.

June 2009

So the end of June we had our first and hopefully last bump in the road. I started bleeding which was terrifying to no end. My Dr. had me come in right away for blood work which of course since it was a Friday at the end of the day they would not be able to get my hormone levels back until Monday. I was told to relax (yeah right) and the I would be called on Monday with the results. So with the issue not resolving all weekend I was trying to stay calm and cling to the fact that even though I can not control the outcome I have a very big God who would love me and see me through anything. Which I was luckily able to rest in and get through the weekend. So Monday came and I was informed the the hormone levels were great but that since the problem was still ongoing I should come in for an ultrasound. Unfortunately this was not very reassuring to me, I have never been pregnant and didn't know what to expect I was hoping for a little teeny tiny heartbeat which I did not get to see. We saw the sac which I was told that it was the right size but it was too early to see anything else. To just go home and rest as much as possible, to relax (again yeah right) and to call if my symptoms got worse.

So Praise God two days later after 6 terrifying days the bleeding stopped. We then had to pack up our things and drive to Minnesota for one of my very best friends weddings. I was very grateful that it was over with but also still very worried about being to active or being out of town and things getting worse.

So somewhere around Des Moines I started feeling sick. Nothing sounded good and I was just plain queasy. I was Praising God that if this was morning sickness that meant my hormone levels were still rising but not looking forward to being sick for the wedding that I so wanted to enjoy and be a part of not a hindrance to. I proceeded to spend most of the weekend getting sick with poor Matt driving all around Minnesota to find me food ANY food that sounded good. (He so gets Hubby of the year). I by the grace of God had some relief on the Big Day :) The wedding was perfect and I really started to feel bad right around dinner so I was grateful the I at least got to enjoy the day. So we venture back to Missouri and poor Matt (Hubby of the Year) also got to enjoy stopping a few times on the glorious drive home to let me be sick. Good times.

May 2009

After almost 5 years of marriage Matt and I decided to start the journey of parenthood together. We spent some time in prayer and in discussion together and decided to go for it. A few weeks later for our fifth wedding anniversary I jokingly told Matt how neat it would be to get a positive pregnancy test on our wedding anniversary. I knew this was imposable since we hadn't been trying very long, but my type "A" kicked in and I bought an early pregnancy test anyway.

So the morning of June 5th 2009 I hopped out of bed and ran to take the pregnancy test. Which was negative, like I knew it would be so I went on with celebrating our anniversary. The very next day on June 6th I went to get ready for the day Matt and I had the day to spend together and were planning on going to the Plaza to continue our anniversary weekend. Now I must note that when we started trying I promised Matt that I would A: have fun and enjoy the trying without becoming all obsessive about it IE: taking early pregnancy tests every month AND B: that Matt would be there whenever a test was taken to find out when I did. So that brings us to Saturday the 6th I am getting ready and for no good reason (because I knew I wasn't pregnant) I took the other test without Matt s knowledge simply because it was apparently fun :). So much to my minds confusion there was a very, very, VERY, faint line. So now I had a problem. Not only did I have to tell Matt that I'm a crazy woman who likes to take pregnancy tests every day, that I broke a promise and took one without his knowledge, but that I was also seeing lines that weren't there. LOL. Matt came upstairs took one look at me and said sweetheart whats wrong? I then showed him the test and apologize for taking it and asked him if I was crazy. He grinned and said "nope we're pregnant". I was sill unbelieving and proceeded to pester him about weather there was or was not a line when he had the genius idea to just go get a digital test. We did and what seemed like forever before I could take the test again since I didn't want to dilute it I was finally ready to put all this craziness behind me and relax and enjoy the day.

I took the test and starred at the little flashing timer for the entire three minutes (which by the way can be a very long time). Then the test popped up PREGNANT! I said" Matt," and took one look at him who was grinning and I started crying. Thus beginning our journey into parenthood.