October 9, 2009 (last entry for Baby Chronicles)

Peyton Gabrielle

October 2, 2009

3:59am CET (Central European Time)

8lbs6oz

21Inches

 

This is going to be REALLY long with some added back story since I think some of it contributed to the outcome.

 

It all started the morning of Oct. 1^st.  I had my 39wk1day appointment and dh & I decided that I would get my membranes stripped.  Dh couldn’t make it so I had one of my best friends, Julie, come with me.  This procedure in itself was very painful. I was warned by the midwife that I would be crampy for the rest of the day.  I asked who was on call and she was on call for that day and then Dr. Terry (one of the 2 ob’s was on call Friday-Sunday).  Luckily, the other ob wasn’t on the on-call schedule until way past my due date.

 

After my appointment Julie and I went to the Arts Center to play with clay.  I tried making a bowl on the wheel but no luck so instead I made bigger initial letters for Peyton.  We then went to get Xavier from school and eat.  At this point I wasn’t even crampy so I figured the stripping wasn’t successful.

 

Fast forward to Xavier’s soccer game – his team was the last to play that evening and we didn’t get done until about 730p.  We got home at about 8pm and that’s when I noticed that I was getting crampy.  Dh went to bed early because he only had 2 hours of sleep the night before because of work.  I put Xavier to bed after reading him his three new Big Brother books.  He falls asleep surprising easily and I decide I should get some rest.  Again, I feel the crampiness but it’s not really consistent or close together.

 

Around 10pm our house buzzer goes off.  This buzzer could be several things so I woke dh and yelled to Derrick asking him if he accidentally pushed it.  He said “No” so dh went downstairs to check.  No one was outside so he came upstairs.  About 3 minutes later Derrick RUNS upstairs and says that someone is tapping on the windows.  Dh flies out of bed, asks for his knife that I keep on my side of the bed (we can’t have a firearm in Italy and gypsies, though not prevalent in our town, do exist.  So dh goes downstairs only to find out it’s our landlord’s brother coming to check on the water heater which I called about earlier that day.  Needless to say I wasn’t happy that he came by so late so I went back upstairs.  I went to lie down and all of the sudden I realized that the “cramping” was becoming more pronounced and consistent.  Dh finishes with the brother and I tell him what’s going on.  I tell him to lie down and I’m going to go downstairs and time them.  I also call Julie to give her the head’s up about possibly coming over to watch the boys.

 

I call Julie back at 11:30pm and tell her to please start heading this way.  I also wake up dh, who at this point has only had 3 hours of sleep in 2 days because of work and now this.  I iron his pink “birthday” shirt he picked out to wear when I go into labor.  Julie arrived at about 12:15a on 10/2 and we head over to the birthing center. 

 

The birthing center is really small (1 triage, 2 l&D/postpartum rooms and an overflow room w/ 2 beds).  I am the only one there so they set me up in the triage room.  They monitor me for 20 minutes and contractions are coming every 3-4 minutes but spike up to around 80 on the contraction monitor.  The nurse checks me and I am 2cm and 80% effaced.  They call the midwife and give her the report.  The nurse then gives me 2 options – walk around for 2 hours then get checked or go home.  I’m stunned…I tell her that I am known to have fast labors so going home isn’t an option since we live 20-30 minutes away.  She tells me to walk for an hour and come back.

Dh and I decide to walk to the shoppette since it’s open 24hours.  I’m still contracting and having to stop but they aren’t too bad.  We get to the shoppette and I tell dh to go inside and I will continue to labor sitting down outside.  He comes back out and offers me a Twix bar. Though it sounded REALLY good the idea of actually eating it made me sick to my stomach.

 

We walk to the track which is right outside the birthing center – how convenient.  I have 30 minutes to go before I can go back inside (it’s 2:10am).  I am stopping for each contraction and afterward I do a 10second squats trying to get the baby to move down. We counted 13 contractions in 30min – the last 5 I started feeling pressure.  We go to back to the birthing center at about 2:45am and get checked.  I am now 3cm and still 80% effaced.  The nurse goes to call the midwife to see what she wants me to do since “it’s not that much progress” – she walks out of the room and I look at dh and say with teary eyes “I’m not going to be getting the epidural”.  He tries to reassure me but in my heart I know – I went from 3-10cm with the boys in about 45mins so I know the time is near.  The nurse came back and tells me that the midwife wants me in the l&d room and to get on the birthing ball.  I look at her like crazy and tell her I need some type of medication.  She says that she will see what she can give me.  Halfway down the hallway I have a HUGE contraction and I start to hyperventilate because they wouldn’t listen to me about my pain.  They kept brushing me off.  This brings back memories when I had Derrick NOONE would listen to me because I was “just a teenager” and I “didn’t know my body”.  So I get to the l&d room and she tries to sit me on the ball. I sat and got right back up and into the bed.  It’s about 3:20a by now and I ask her to please check me again.  She checks me and I am still 3cms but 100% effaced.  I tell her she needs to give me something – ANYTHING. She assures me that the anesthesiologist is on the way as well as the midwife and they get here pretty quick.  They try to put an IV in my left hand without any success. Dh is a medic and all he says is “Would you like me to do it? I give her IV all the time” but they wouldn’t let him and FINALLY they get an iv in my right hand.

They check me again and I’m at 4cm(it’s about 3:40am)  At this point I’m out of control. Dh is trying to make me laugh DURING the contractions so I just tell him to “shut up” followed by “honey, I’m sorry, I love you  but please don’t try to make me laugh during contractions”.  I hold his hand and continue to tell them I want something – stadol, anything.  Still they keep moseying along like they have time.  I had a few contractions that I just stare at the ceiling tiles and concentrating breathing through them as I squeeze dh’s hand.  He tells me I’m going to break his thumb and tries to offer me a wrist but I tell him it makes me feel better so he sucks up the pain. 

 

I suddenly yell “She’s coming!” and there is only one nurse in the room.  I shoot my legs down and squeeze them shut (like that would really work) telling them I need pain meds that a natural birth is NOT what I wanted since I’d done them twice before.  I just didn’t want to too hurt and I wanted to enjoy the birth.  Well, I again yell “Here she comes!” That still didn’t seem to do the trick in getting their attention until dh yells at the nurse to “LOOK” and points to the baby’s head coming out – he quickly turns his head to the wall as the nurse is yelling for the other nurse.  I deliver Peyton’s head STILL in the water sac…after the 3^rd push she comes SHOOTING out like a bullet face down on the bed because the nurse was caught off guard.  I’m glad that I was high up on that bed and the bed wasn’t broken down, otherwise, she would have landed on the hard tile floor.

 

They immediately stick her on my belly and I can’t look at her – I’m seriously too scared to.  I ask dh over and over (seriously about 5 times) “Is it a girl?”  He finally gets his color back and with tears in his eyes says “Yes, it’s a girl”.  I look down and she has a head of light brown hair.  The nurses are commenting on how big she is but to me she looks little.

 

About 10 minutes after she is born the midwife walks in followed by the anesthesiologist.  Needless to say I didn’t need pain meds anymore.

 

The midwife stitched me up (I only needed one) and then tells me if I decide to have another one the best thing to do would to get induced so I could have my epidural.

 

The nurse then has the nerve to say in front of the midwife “I wish you would have told us you had fast labors.”  Dh replies “We told you that about 5 times when we first got here”.

 

Needless to say that this recovery was so much better then with Xavier’s, except for the fact that my pelvic & pubic bone still hurt and I’ve been told it could take months for them to stop.

 

So there it is…4-10cm in about 15minutes or so…

—————————————————————————————–

September 3rd, 2009

A lot of things to write here regarding little Baby Girl Lolli.  First, I had to go to the Birthing Center this past Sunday.  I hadn’t felt her move since Saturday night and though I have a doppler, the heartrate reading seemed a little low (130’s rather then 150’s that I’m used too).  So I headed to the BC and everything was fine!  It took the nurse a few seconds (felt like a few minutes) before she could find the heartbeat but she found it beating strong - about 140’s to 160’s.  Turns out the monitors were also picking up some Braxton Hick’s contractions - painless ticghtening that doesn’t do anything in regards to progressing into labor.  I had about 6 over the course of 20 minutes.  I was amazed since I had been feeling them for quite some time, I just thought they were the baby curling up in a ball, nope turns out it’s BH’s.  Anyway, I was released with no specific instructions or modifications to daily life.  She has, since then, been moving around like crazy!

I also had an appointment this past Wednesday. I was nervous about this aprticular appointment because I was going to ask a dreaded question…”Would I be able to go to Germany the weekend of the 12th(September) for the Brigade Banner Day?”.  Well, the midwife, who I love and who knows Derrick from the Croatia trip, was running a little late because of an id administrative issue.  No big deal, they wanted to change my appointment for later in the afternoon but I really just wanted to get it over with. So I just agreed to wait until she had time.  It was only 45minutes-one hour late, not to bad.  I was also dreading the Group Beta Strep test.  So she listened to the baby’s heartbeat - which was strong and beautiful.  She then proceeded to ask me about the size of Derrick and Xavier and if they were early or on time (6lbs10oz, 6lbs12oz and on time).   I also ask her if the baby is head down since Xavier took until 37wks to turn. She felt around and said she thinks she is but grabs the portable u/s machine to verify. I was so excited that I was going to see our baby girl again, even if it was to just glance at her head.  Sure enough, she was head down!  I then asked my question…the conversation went like this:

Me: Um, ma’am….(pause)…um, the brigade Banner Day is a week from this coming Sunday in Germany. My husband is there and I was wondering if it would be ok for me to go?

Midwife: (glances at my chart) Well, I don’t see why not. Let’s be safe and let me check you to make sure there isn’t anything going on - especially with all the BHs I saw on the reading from the birth center.

Me: Ok (gets ready to be tortured )

Midwife: Hmmm…yeah, you’re still closed and very posterior. You can go… (she gives me specific instructions on what I can/can’t do)

So I’ve got the AOK to go to Germany for 3 days to see Geno at Banner Day, we have friends also that are coming that live in Stuttgart, Germany to see us.  Anyway, after that she informed me that my next appointment will be in 2 week then probably weekly after that.  I can’t believe that things are going so fast - I don’t even have my hospital bag ready yet!  The carseat can’t be installed until after Geno gets home from training since he will have a lot of gear.

Now for some fun stuff. I have been spending a lot of time at the Art Center, playing with clay and whatnot. Well there are two girls there, Lauren and Amanda, that do belly casting. I really thought about doing belly casting, however, I would have NO PLACE to put a belly cast, let alone when we move I can almost guarentee that it would be broken.  So, instead, I asked them to paint my belly.  So today, they got out the paint brushes and my belly ended up like this…I’m very impressed with the turn out. 

Well, that’s about it for this baby update. For those wondering, we are still working on a name…so most likely the name won’t be told until after she is born…

My next appointment is September 18th..so plan on the next update being shortly after that…

August 9th, 2009

I had my ob appointment last Wednesday (Aug. 5th).  I met the midwife for the first time. She was really nice and the best part is she uses lotion from Bath & Body to listen to the baby’s heartbeat - I chose the scent Cotton something.  My bp was good - 110/58, I’ve lost 3 lbs since the last visit.  I’m still on 4 week appointments so my next visit is on Sept. 2nd.  After that I believe I go to 2 week then 1 week.  I still can’t believe how fast time is flying.  I can’t wait to meet her.  The md put me on heartburn meds because I get heartburn after drinking water.  The baby is head down but she can still turn around multiple times before she settles.

All in all it was a great appointment!!!

July 17, 2009

My appointment this past week went great. My blood pressure was 120/58 which is normal for me during pregnancy and I lost a pound.  I saw the same nurse that I saw my last visit. She was much more laid back and relaxed. However, the technician that did my vitals had me gaining another 10 lbs instead of losing a pound.  My nurse started to scold me for gaining 20 lbs in 2 months. Luckily, I was able to correct her and she was like…”Oh ok…good”. I’ve only gained 22 lbs this whole pregnancy and most of it has been since I came here.  I’ve been told that people tend to retain A LOT of water being here because it’s so hot and we are forced to drink a lot of water.  I’m kind of looking forward to visiting the States this time next year and skipping the heat and humidity here.  Shoot, I’ll take Ft. Bragg summers over this crap.  Ok, anyway, the baby is doing great. Everything with her is as it should be. I ended up failing my 1-hour glucose but I passed my 3-hour with flying colors.  I got my RhoGam shot since my blood is Oneg and Geno’s is Opos.  My next visit was supposed to be 4-5 weeks since I’m considered non-complicated, however, the receptionist person couldn’t count weeks and my next appointment is in 3 weeks.  Which is fine with me because it is with the mid-wife that I’ve wanted to meet with since moving here.  I’ve heard wonderful things about her and we are getting close (about 11 weeks to go) and I am getting anxious not talking about what I want as far as a birth plan goes. 

So, that’s about it for now. I will update this page again after my next appointment.

July 4, 2009
I finally unpacked the scanner and scanned Baby Y’s u/s pictures from last month. Enjoy!
Profile

Xavier’s favorite picture “Look at my muscles!”

Daddy’s favorite picture “Hook’em Horns”

Hand and foot pictures

“Girlie” parts

June 19, 2009

Well I am finally 24 weeks along. I had my ultrasound the week before last.  They confirmed it’s a girl.  YAY!  The technician said that everything looked great but I would have to wait until the radiologists in Germany took a look.  Geno was able to make it and it was funny feeling her kick the u/s wand.  I was also the first girl out of all the ob u/s for that week.  Everyone before me was having a boy.

I had my 24 week appointment this past Thursday. All is well with the baby. I’m measuring right on schedule and have no real complaints.  My next appointment is mid-July and I will update this page shortly after. 

Our household goods are getting here this Monday so I’m hoping by the following weekend I will have all the u/s pictures uploaded and posted here.

May 24, 2009 - It’s been a while
I must apologize that it has been so long since I’ve had a chance to update. First I am proud to announce that we are having a baby GIRL! It’s truly a blessing as this would have probably been our last child, regardless of the gender. We haven’t thought of concrete names but have a few running through our minds! I don’t think we will share the “Official” name until after she is born.

I had my first appointment here in Italy last week. We have our “BIG” u/s scheduled for June 11th. This u/s we will confirm, for the 3rd time, that it is a girl (or she better still be a girl). They will also measure all of here anatomy to ensure that all is well. Our quad-screen and cystic fibrosis test came back normal. She has been kicking up a storm and Geno felt the slight patter of her hand/foot a few days ago. They still aren’t that strong but they will be soon enough.

My next prenatal appointment, after the u/s, is on June 17th. We should have internet in our HOUSE by the u/s appointment so updating will be MUCH easier!

March 26, 2009 - First Appointment
U/S for heartbeat check

 

March 10, 2009 - Dating U/S
Measuring 9wks6dys - EDD Oct. 7th

January 31, 2009
We decided to start this little one’s own page now so that those who choose can follow the progress through pictures.  I will post the visit updates on the main page, however, relative pictures will be posted here - u/s pictures, and later the it will be set up like Derrick and Xavier’s pages.

January 24, 2009

1/25/2009 - the words brought tears to my eyes…