Yay! I hit 40 sales in my shop!
To celebrate all of the patterns in my Ravelry store are 40% off through tomorrow! The discount is automatically applied, so no coupon code required!
In other news, I'm attempting to sew Easter dresses this year! I'm more than a little intimidated, *but* I have chosen a very easy pattern (supposedly) to try. I only need to make one slight alteration for my older girl (she's skinny, but tall) and add a few inches to the bottom of the dress, but that should be pretty simple to do.
Today I plan on sewing a practice dress, just to make sure, so we'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Birth Story
Last Thursday I had my weekly doctor appointment, and even though I was a week before my due date my doctor said there really wasn't anything happening to indicate that I was going to go into labor soon.
This was rather disappointing, since my last two kids were born via c-section, and my only hope of avoiding *another* surgery (and possibly many more depending on how many kids we end up having...) was to go into labor on my own.
By Thursday evening though I had some signs that I *was* going to be having a baby soon...I wasn't going to jump to conclusions though, because it might have just been the result of the appointment and I didn't want to get my hopes up. Friday rolls around and all the signs are still there. Strong contractions, but sadly nothing regular. I went to work and basically sat around for my shift, and told my boss that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to last until Sunday (which I thought his poor head would explode over, because apparently someone had messed up the scheduling for the week, and he was secretly hoping he could count on me). Well, Friday ends and *still* nothing but very strong, irregular contractions.
Bummer.
Saturday morning I was scheduled to work, but I decided that I wasn't feeling up to it and called in. Whichever manager I talked to apparently made it sound like I was popping a baby out RIGHT THAT SECOND or something, so when my co-workers called me later they were surprised to find that I was sadly, still at home. I had been having ridiculously strong contractions all day, but again nothing regular. Rather than sitting around at home I decided to go to Saturday evening service at church. Wouldn't you know as soon as mass starts my contractions begin to be a steady 10 minutes apart.
As much as I wanted to go into labor naturally, I didn't want to have a baby in church (even though it was only two blocks from the hospital, so it would have been convenient).
The more regular contractions were both painful and encouraging, so I headed to the store with my 5 year old to pick up a few things I knew I needed. The contractions stayed regular, and actually I started to feel a little sick while they were happening.
We make it home and I tell my husband he needs to find someone to watch the kids because I think we need to head to the hospital.
It turns out that his mother was out of town for the evening (of course! haha) but two of his brothers were around to watch the other kiddos for us.
I called my doctor, who of course wasn't on call and spoke to the on call doctor, who told me that contractions 10 minutes apart really wasn't active labor yet, but combined with my other signs that I should come on in to check.
We make it to the hospital about 9 p.m. and my contractions had upped to about 5 or 6 minutes apart. We get all checked in and everything and they determine that I *will* be staying until I have a baby.
Yay!
And then we wait. and wait. and wait. Because I was hoping for a VBAC after 2 back to back c sections, my doctor was being very cautious about interventions. The waiting was the hardest part actually, because my first two kids were born completely natural (no pain meds or anything) and it only took four hours for the first and three and a half hours for the second. So of course I was expecting for this whole thing not to last near as long as it did. So was the night nurse apparently, because while she was being very encouraging and supportive, I kind of got tired of her going "I don't think it will be much longer now..."
About 1 a.m. I decided that I already proved I was an amazon with my first two, and I wanted some drugs. I was still worried about my labor not progressing though (and stalled labor is one reason they will give you a c section) so I didn't want an epidural and opted for some IV pain meds.
Whoa. Talk about trippy. The stuff they gave me started working about ten seconds after they gave it to me...The first dose they gave me *did* take the edge off the pain, but mostly it just made me sleepy. Right after it kicks in my mother in law shows up, and is surprised that we don't have a baby yet (like I said, the others went fast!) She heads over to her house to relieve her boys of my kids.
About 4 a.m. The nurses came in and said that my doctor wanted to go ahead and break my water and see if that helps things progress. I was a little bit antsy about it, because I've heard that it doesn't really help that much and all, but I decided to trust my doctor and figured if he thought it was a good idea that I would go along with it. The nurse checked me one more time before she went in with that scary hook to break my water...I was still only at 4 cm (seriously?!? I had been in labor for HOURS!) but she actually didn't have to break my water, it broke on its own while she checked. I took this as a good sign that things *were* going to go on their own, it was just taking longer than I was used to.
After that things got worse. My water breaking *did* help things along (next time they checked I was at 6cm thank goodness), but true to rumor the contractions are MUCH more painful after your water breaks than before. Not only that, but I was suffering from the ever dreaded back labor. Let me tell you, it is just as horrible as everyone says it is.
As awful as it was though, I think this was the Lord working in my favor. One of the reasons VBACs are risky is the fact that the stress of labor can cause the c section scar on your uterus to rupture. Well, if all the stress was in the back and not the front where my scar was then perhaps it was really a blessing.
After about 4 hours of that though I had had enough. I asked the nurses for an epidural. I was still nervous about stalling labor, and again I had heard that epidurals sometimes stall things. The nurses were awesome though and since at this point I was at 7cm they asked if they should check me again just to make sure I wasn't closer than we thought. I was still at 7 though (and had been for two hours) so I decided that YES I wanted the epi. Of course, for whatever reason, right when I wanted one ALL of the anesthesiologists were prepping for c sections and I had to wait about 30 minutes before one was able to come and hook me up.
Oh wow!
Now, I'm all for the natural birth experience. I've done it twice. But honestly, the epi was SO GOOD. I seriously went from a 10 on that silly "rate your pain" scale to like, a 1. Nice.
I was able to get some sleep and it was quite a relief.
But of course my contractions started to space out again. Dang it! I was worried again about stalling my labor and I was going to end up with a c section after all and I was a little discouraged. The nurses were still great though, and my doctor decided to start pitocin very slowly (again, don't want to slam my body into anything with the risk of rupture) in hopes of making the contractions more regular and closer together. The pitocin did its job, and the contractions did become more regular. Still spaced farther apart than ideal though, but when they checked me again I was at 8cm, so at least things were moving along again.
After an hour or so sitting at 8 and not making any more progress my doctor suggested that I lay on my side and see if that would move the baby to where he wanted to be.
Sure enough it worked! I was now complete and ready to push.
Weird.
It's truly a completely different experience with a longer labor and an epidural. With my first two it was seriously chaos. My first baby we had just got me into the delivery room and I had a baby within 10 minutes. With my second my water broke and the nurse came in to check me (convinced I wasn't ready) and I was like "I need to push!" and I remember the little nurse in training's eyes go WIDE and they had to catch the baby. My doctor showed up about a minute or two after.
Anyway, my doctor gets ready, his other nurse comes in and introduces herself, and I'm joking with them and I'm thinking that this whole thing is odd, it's very calm and quiet (oh yeah...I totally yelled with my others. I was the girl scaring the other moms). Three sets of pushes that were completely pain free (SO WEIRD to push without pain!) and the baby is here!
They weigh him and holy carp! he's 8 lbs 9 oz! He's bigger than our biggest by TWO POUNDS.
They had told me at a sonogram that he was measuring big, and I was wondering what it would be like to have an average sized kiddo, but I was thinking 7 lbs, not 8 and a half. My doctor and the nurses said it's no wonder that my labor stalled as many times as it did with the boy being as big as he was.
All in all, even with the pain and waiting, the entire experience was great. I got my VBAC, my doctor was super supportive, the nurses were awesome, and I got to eat the chicken strips the hospital serves (seriously yummy).
Oh, and I got him too:
♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥
This was rather disappointing, since my last two kids were born via c-section, and my only hope of avoiding *another* surgery (and possibly many more depending on how many kids we end up having...) was to go into labor on my own.
By Thursday evening though I had some signs that I *was* going to be having a baby soon...I wasn't going to jump to conclusions though, because it might have just been the result of the appointment and I didn't want to get my hopes up. Friday rolls around and all the signs are still there. Strong contractions, but sadly nothing regular. I went to work and basically sat around for my shift, and told my boss that I was pretty sure I wasn't going to last until Sunday (which I thought his poor head would explode over, because apparently someone had messed up the scheduling for the week, and he was secretly hoping he could count on me). Well, Friday ends and *still* nothing but very strong, irregular contractions.
Bummer.
Saturday morning I was scheduled to work, but I decided that I wasn't feeling up to it and called in. Whichever manager I talked to apparently made it sound like I was popping a baby out RIGHT THAT SECOND or something, so when my co-workers called me later they were surprised to find that I was sadly, still at home. I had been having ridiculously strong contractions all day, but again nothing regular. Rather than sitting around at home I decided to go to Saturday evening service at church. Wouldn't you know as soon as mass starts my contractions begin to be a steady 10 minutes apart.
As much as I wanted to go into labor naturally, I didn't want to have a baby in church (even though it was only two blocks from the hospital, so it would have been convenient).
The more regular contractions were both painful and encouraging, so I headed to the store with my 5 year old to pick up a few things I knew I needed. The contractions stayed regular, and actually I started to feel a little sick while they were happening.
We make it home and I tell my husband he needs to find someone to watch the kids because I think we need to head to the hospital.
It turns out that his mother was out of town for the evening (of course! haha) but two of his brothers were around to watch the other kiddos for us.
I called my doctor, who of course wasn't on call and spoke to the on call doctor, who told me that contractions 10 minutes apart really wasn't active labor yet, but combined with my other signs that I should come on in to check.
We make it to the hospital about 9 p.m. and my contractions had upped to about 5 or 6 minutes apart. We get all checked in and everything and they determine that I *will* be staying until I have a baby.
Yay!
And then we wait. and wait. and wait. Because I was hoping for a VBAC after 2 back to back c sections, my doctor was being very cautious about interventions. The waiting was the hardest part actually, because my first two kids were born completely natural (no pain meds or anything) and it only took four hours for the first and three and a half hours for the second. So of course I was expecting for this whole thing not to last near as long as it did. So was the night nurse apparently, because while she was being very encouraging and supportive, I kind of got tired of her going "I don't think it will be much longer now..."
About 1 a.m. I decided that I already proved I was an amazon with my first two, and I wanted some drugs. I was still worried about my labor not progressing though (and stalled labor is one reason they will give you a c section) so I didn't want an epidural and opted for some IV pain meds.
Whoa. Talk about trippy. The stuff they gave me started working about ten seconds after they gave it to me...The first dose they gave me *did* take the edge off the pain, but mostly it just made me sleepy. Right after it kicks in my mother in law shows up, and is surprised that we don't have a baby yet (like I said, the others went fast!) She heads over to her house to relieve her boys of my kids.
About 4 a.m. The nurses came in and said that my doctor wanted to go ahead and break my water and see if that helps things progress. I was a little bit antsy about it, because I've heard that it doesn't really help that much and all, but I decided to trust my doctor and figured if he thought it was a good idea that I would go along with it. The nurse checked me one more time before she went in with that scary hook to break my water...I was still only at 4 cm (seriously?!? I had been in labor for HOURS!) but she actually didn't have to break my water, it broke on its own while she checked. I took this as a good sign that things *were* going to go on their own, it was just taking longer than I was used to.
After that things got worse. My water breaking *did* help things along (next time they checked I was at 6cm thank goodness), but true to rumor the contractions are MUCH more painful after your water breaks than before. Not only that, but I was suffering from the ever dreaded back labor. Let me tell you, it is just as horrible as everyone says it is.
As awful as it was though, I think this was the Lord working in my favor. One of the reasons VBACs are risky is the fact that the stress of labor can cause the c section scar on your uterus to rupture. Well, if all the stress was in the back and not the front where my scar was then perhaps it was really a blessing.
After about 4 hours of that though I had had enough. I asked the nurses for an epidural. I was still nervous about stalling labor, and again I had heard that epidurals sometimes stall things. The nurses were awesome though and since at this point I was at 7cm they asked if they should check me again just to make sure I wasn't closer than we thought. I was still at 7 though (and had been for two hours) so I decided that YES I wanted the epi. Of course, for whatever reason, right when I wanted one ALL of the anesthesiologists were prepping for c sections and I had to wait about 30 minutes before one was able to come and hook me up.
Oh wow!
Now, I'm all for the natural birth experience. I've done it twice. But honestly, the epi was SO GOOD. I seriously went from a 10 on that silly "rate your pain" scale to like, a 1. Nice.
I was able to get some sleep and it was quite a relief.
But of course my contractions started to space out again. Dang it! I was worried again about stalling my labor and I was going to end up with a c section after all and I was a little discouraged. The nurses were still great though, and my doctor decided to start pitocin very slowly (again, don't want to slam my body into anything with the risk of rupture) in hopes of making the contractions more regular and closer together. The pitocin did its job, and the contractions did become more regular. Still spaced farther apart than ideal though, but when they checked me again I was at 8cm, so at least things were moving along again.
After an hour or so sitting at 8 and not making any more progress my doctor suggested that I lay on my side and see if that would move the baby to where he wanted to be.
Sure enough it worked! I was now complete and ready to push.
Weird.
It's truly a completely different experience with a longer labor and an epidural. With my first two it was seriously chaos. My first baby we had just got me into the delivery room and I had a baby within 10 minutes. With my second my water broke and the nurse came in to check me (convinced I wasn't ready) and I was like "I need to push!" and I remember the little nurse in training's eyes go WIDE and they had to catch the baby. My doctor showed up about a minute or two after.
Anyway, my doctor gets ready, his other nurse comes in and introduces herself, and I'm joking with them and I'm thinking that this whole thing is odd, it's very calm and quiet (oh yeah...I totally yelled with my others. I was the girl scaring the other moms). Three sets of pushes that were completely pain free (SO WEIRD to push without pain!) and the baby is here!
They weigh him and holy carp! he's 8 lbs 9 oz! He's bigger than our biggest by TWO POUNDS.
They had told me at a sonogram that he was measuring big, and I was wondering what it would be like to have an average sized kiddo, but I was thinking 7 lbs, not 8 and a half. My doctor and the nurses said it's no wonder that my labor stalled as many times as it did with the boy being as big as he was.
All in all, even with the pain and waiting, the entire experience was great. I got my VBAC, my doctor was super supportive, the nurses were awesome, and I got to eat the chicken strips the hospital serves (seriously yummy).
Oh, and I got him too:
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| and look! His hat fits! |
♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥ ♥♥♥
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