Bunsie's Arrival

The last month or so of this pregnancy was pretty much akin to torture for me. For the first time, I had to deal with swollen feet, so that it hurt to flex my ankle or bend my toes. Along with the puffy tootsies, I had constant heartburn that my papaya enzymes no longer eased. I was hitting the maximum dosage of Tums on a daily basis, no matter what I ate. My pelvis hurt. I pulled a ligament in my lower abdomen so it hurt to stand, it hurt to sit, it was painful to roll over. My ribs hurt. I had figured for a while that once again, my due date would come and go, so I gritted my teeth and carried on, but with each passing day, being induced sounded more and more pleasant.

The day before I hit 41 weeks, the OB's office had me do a NST and everything looked good. They brought me back in at 41 weeks and 2 days for an ultrasound to check on the fluid levels, and when they found that they were on the low side they started to push to induce. We talked to the OB and came to the decision that he would break my water and we'd wait for labor to start on it's own, as that is what worked with the last 2 babies which had both been homebirths. Both Ceci and Niko had been born within about 7 hours of my water being broken by the midwives. He called the hospital to let them know to expect me, and Nate and I went home to gather up my stuff and grab some food. After picking up some Subway sandwiches, we headed to the hospital, knowing that in a few hours we would be meeting our little one face to face.

We arrived at the hospital shortly after noon. We got settled in to the room, and my OB came in to break my water. After he left, my nurse started going through all of the admitting stuff with us - medical history, etc. She asked about pain medication and I asked that it not be offered, since I had the last 2 at home naturally I knew that I could do it again. We continued through the rest of the questions, and then it was time to take my vitals - temp, pulse, and blood pressure.

That is when the "fun" suddenly started. She put the blood pressure cuff on me, and looked confused when it was done reading my BP. "Are they inducing because of your blood pressure?" No, it's been fine throughout my pregnancy. It was fine two hours ago at my appointment. She checked it on the other arm. Still high. She brought in another BP machine and read it again. 3 readings, 2 arms - it was now official. My blood pressure was too high - 180/120. I wasn't having any symptoms of high blood pressure like a headache or blurred vision. They started taking blood to check my liver, to make sure it wasn't preeclampsia. I had to stay laying down because every time I sat up, my BP was high enough to set off alarms on the machines. The first attempt at starting an IV left me with a blown vein, which burned like crazy every time the blood pressure cuff went off.

With in a few hours, I was hooked up to magnesium sulfate and then another blood pressure medication in an attempt to get my blood pressure down to a level they were satisfied with. There was fear-inducing talk of stroking out or having a heart attack. This was not what I had hoped for or expected. I had planned on being able to be up, walking around, leaning on my husband for support, changing positions as necessary, and instead I was tethered to multiple IVs, strapped to the fetal monitors, oxygen mask on my face, pulse ox on my finger, laying on my left side, and unable to cope with everything that was suddenly overwhelming. I caved and asked for "something" to help, and was given Nubain. Unfortunately, I had a similar reaction to the Nubain that I had to the Stadol I was given during my oldest daughter's birth. Once again, hallucinations of colorful cartoons were streaming through my mind, and I was endlessly prattling on much to the amusement of my husband and the nurse - cockle shells, gnomes, hot dogs, chocolate.

Unfortunately, even though the Nubain whacked me out mentally, it did nothing to help with the actual pain. I seemed to be stuck at 6cm for what seemed like an eternity to me, since I was unable to move or do anything to help myself cope. I started begging for the epidural, and had to try to explain myself through the drug-induced haze that I was mired in. Really, honey, I'm serious. I need it. I can't do this. My mind is off in la-la land, but I'm still shackled to this earth-bound pain every time a contraction comes along. I don't want to lay here in screaming agony.

Within 10 minutes of the epidural being in place, my blood pressure was suddenly in the normal range. It was no longer setting off alarms, and I was able to rest peacefully for a couple of hours. They started pitocin at some point during this time, because the magnesium sulfate had slowed my labor to a crawl and contractions were still a lengthy 10 minutes apart. It was getting close to midnight when the nurse checked and found that I had progressed to 9cm, and they started setting up the room for the delivery. The OB came in and had me start pushing, and within 10 minutes our "little" Catie was born... all 8lbs 12oz of her, with no episiotomy or tearing. For the first time in all of my births, I didn't have a problem with excessive bleeding after the birth, but for the 2nd time I did have problems with passing out. When the nurse got me up to use the restroom for the first time, I passed out three times - although to me, it only felt like once, so I guess the first 2 times she roused me i wasn't fully conscious. By the way... smelling salts are foul.

Although Catherine's birth didn't turn out as peaceful as we had hoped for, it did make me feel better about not being able to plan a home birth this time. If I had spent the thousands of dollars to hire a midwife this time and had ended up with this same blood pressure problem and wound up in the hospital, that would have been far more devastating. Two weeks after her birth, my blood pressure is still high. I'm on two different blood pressure medications and have already seen my PCP four times. I am hoping it resolves itself soon and I can get off all this medication.

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Catie's 2 week checkup:

At 13 days old, Catherine was up to 9lbs. 14oz. She has passed her hearing test, her newborn genetic screening came back clean, and she is growing fat and healthy on mama's milk.

Baby.

Catherine Lana K.
Born 12/2/2010
@ 11:36pm
8lbs. 12oz.
21 inches

......and still baking.

40 weeks, 6 days.
I had a NST today and baby's heartrate was just dandy. Another appointment on Thursday for another NST and an ultrasound to check fluid levels. And if I don't go by next Monday, another NST and we'll probably start talking induction as I'll be 42 weeks on Tuesday.

Still cooking...

...and I don't mean Thanksgiving dinner. Bunsie is apparently very cozy as yesterday was my due date, and she's still taking up residency in my womb. Next appointment is on Monday, and we'll see what happens then. I sort of expected to go over once again, but was hoping she'd pop out a little ahead of schedule.

39 weeks.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!


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Bentos #20-24

Bento #20 - Pita bread. Leftover chicken satay. Mozzerrella cheese. Edamame. Blueberry muffin. Clementines. Grapes. American cheese animal cutouts.


Bento #21 - Pita bread. Turkey rollup. Mozzerella cheese. Edamame. Blueberry muffin. Raisins, trailmix for the older girls. Clementines. Grapes.


Bento #22 - Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. Turkey rollups. Mozzerella cheese. Edamame. Clementines. Chocolate chunk muffins. Dried pineapple.


Bento #23 - Egg salad. Pita bread. Canteloupe, grapes. Chocolate chunk muffins. Cherry tomatoes for Ceci and Abbi.

Bento #24 - Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. Turkey roll up. Edamame. Garbanzo beans. Baby Carrots. Cherry tomatoes for Ceci and Abbi. Canteloupe. Grapes. Chocolate chunk muffins.

Bentos #15-19

Hawaiian rolls, turkey and cheddar cubes, baby carrots, mini blueberry muffins, korean melon, and blueberries.



Plain mini bagels with cream cheese, turkey and cheddar cubes, Gogurt, grapes, korean melon, and blueberries.



Bagels with sliced roasted chicken lunchmeat, olives, edamame, Gogurt, cantaloupe, and blueberries.



Bagels with sliced roasted chicken lunchmeat, edamame, cheddar and mozzarella cheese cubes, grapes, cantaloupe, mini blueberry muffins, and trailmix for the older two girls.



Friday's bento... I woke up feeling particularly worn out from a head cold, and didn't really feel like making lunches. They got chicken on white bread, the last of the olives, my attempt at apple slice bunnies with raisin "bunny poop", mini blueberry muffins, and trailmix added in for the oldest two.

And you'll notice that this week Sabrina's lunch has been packed in Rubbermaid containers, not her Bento box. Because she has lost it somewhere. She swears it is in the house somewhere, but with as much cleaning (aka nesting) as I have been doing, it hasn't popped up. Guess this shows that you really don't need special boxes to make bento style lunches though - The Rubbermaid containers have actually worked just fine.

Bento #14

Cheddar cheese quesadilla, oven roasted turkey, fruit salad of nectarines, strawberries, and grapes... mini blueberry muffins, and trail mix for the two oldest.

Bento #13?

Not sure whether to count this one as Bento #13 or not... this was a lunch for my hubby to take to work. 2 of the 4 little ones forgot their lunchboxes at school on Wednesday, so they all bought school lunches on Thursday.

Hubby had leftover pasta (penne pasta with alfredo sauce, baby bella mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, and proscuitto), carrots with peanut butter for dipping, strawberries, a cheese stick, and a mini blueberry muffin. And a pudding for dessert.

If you remember my complaints about the school lunch menu, I definitely have more to say on that subject after yesterday's experience. When the kids got out of school, I asked them each what they had. Niko said "meat, mashed potatoes, and a roll. With berry juice" Ceci said "Meat "stuff", mashed potatoes with gravy, and a roll. With orange juice." Sabrina started to say, "Chicken fried steak..." when Abbi interrupted her with "No! It was meatloaf!"

The meal actually was chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a dinner roll. Yup... breaded meat, potatoes, and bread. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. Two of the four kids said there was a salad bar with lettuce and carrots, but they didn't go to it. Abbi was not happy that she had missed out on a salad bar since she is actually one that will eat salads, yet none of the cafeteria workers seemed to have pointed out that it was there. None of the kids could remember a fruit being offered. I think it's ridiculous that the kids were given THREE carbohydrate heavy items, that there was no veggie or fruit put on their trays (really? it's too hard to add a scoop of green beans or peas? put some fresh grapes on each tray?), and that 3 of the 4 kids weren't even sure what they were being fed!