Busy Busy Busy

Having a brand new baby doesn't leave much time for anything else so daddy was supposed to take over the blog after Annabelle was born. That hasn't happened yet, he has been busy cleaning, cooking and playing Wii Fit. I don't know what I will do next week when Jason goes back to work, I will be lost without him. I am happy that I chose to breastfeed Annabelle but sometimes I feel that things would be so much easier if I were able to just give her a bottle and go. Being an infant of course she is very dependant on her mommy, daddy and other family but I feel it even more so since she is breastfed. With that being said, I will be very sad the day that she stops being breastfed. She is such a beautiful sweet little baby. I love her so much! :)

Annabelle is here!!

I had Annabelle on December 11th at 3:39 pm. She was 9 lbs 9 ounches and was 20 inches long. I was induced at 8 pm on 12/10. I tried to make it through labor without an epidural but didn't, big deal - I lasted until a little after 1. I did try the pain medication first and it did help, I was also given a half of a phenigran. It knocked me out. I had been afraid of the epidural but it was really nothing. I didn't even really feel it. My doctor had broke my water at 8:30 and around lunch time came back to check me. I had dilated to 5 centimeters but Anna did not want to drop down. She was higher than she had been when I had been at the doctor. She told me she would be back at 3 and we would have decide about having a c-section. We would just have to wait and see what happened by that time. When 3 came I had not dilated anymore and she had not moved. The doctor said the epidural might help make her drop, it had not.

It was mine and Jason's decision to make. Neither had wanted me to have a c-section but you do what you need to. I did have the choice to wait but having a bigger baby, the doctor said I could push and push and still end up having to have the c-section. She did let me have two people go into the delivery room since she knew it was what I wanted and that a c-section was not something I wanted. I just knew I would get to see her sooner but I was still nervous. I had to take a few mins after my decision to calm down. The phenigran had me knocked out so I just really wanted to sleep. Fifteen minutes after my decision was made the baby was born. I had been given more epidural but my legs and feet did not go completely numb which I liked.

Mom watched the c-section, Jason did not - he just patted my head. He was more nervous than I was. He did cut the cord! He also saw my "insides" on accident when he turned around LOL. The entire time I was being cut on the anesthesiologist explained everything step by step. Annabelle did not want to come out so they had to push and push and push to get her lol. I had a lot of fluid so I ended up with staples instead of stitches, I have 17. I get them out on Thursday. The incision looks really good, no infection, redness or anything.

I was suprised at how big my baby was, she is beautiful. All of the thoughts I had before having her about things being wrong did not even enter my mind when I saw her. I don't know if we could be any happier.

I had great nurses and doctors at the hospital. It was a really great experience and got a really great baby.

40 Weeks! This Week

I am writing this blog a few days early...the next couple of days are going to be very busy so I probably will not get another chance. I am no longer being induced tonight, now I am going to be induced Wednesday night at 8 pm. My doctor is on call Thursday night and wants to be the one that delivers IF I go into Thursday night. I really hope that my labor does not last that long! I went to the doctor yesterday and am dilated between 3 & 4 centimeters. I was disappointed when she told me I would not be induced tonight because having her tomorrow was perfect. It is moms birthday, my friend was going to come stay with us in the hospital tonight, our other friend is off work tomorrow and all that. Having her at anytime is really perfect though so I got over that quickly. I think Jason might have been more disappointed than I was. I believe the doctor put me off a day just to see if I can go on my own which I would really prefer. I also think she knows how badly I do not want a c-section and the other doctor on call may push me for one. I was wrong about the 8 hour window after my water is broken.

Neither me nor Jason are working tomorrow since we had already made plans to be at the hospital. Now we are just going to hang out together as it will be our last day of just US. We had planned on doing something special this weekend but we had a lot of stuff to do. The house is clean! The tree is up (lights went on it last night - the ornaments maybe tonight)!, the clothes in the basement are folded!!! Now we just have to bring them upstairs and put them away.

The carseat is in my car BUT it does not fit very well. I don't know what we are going to do about that, Jason's response was we should have bought the Trailblazer but how in the world were we to know that gas would go to 1.49 a gallon lol. I love my car and so does he. I have called the fire dept to have them make sure it is secure but I have not gotten a response yet.

We bought the babys first Christmas present Friday night, have not done any more shopping since Black Friday. We just have a couple things to get though.

Hopefully everything is ready for Anna to be here but I am sure something will come up and not be perfect. That is okay, she will never know the difference :)

39 Weeks!

By this time next week Annabelle will be here. I am getting induced at 8 pm Tuesday December 9th. The doctor is going to break my water Wednesday Morning (which happens to be my moms birthday). I had my ultrasound on Tuesday morning and baby measured at 40 weeks 4 days. She was in the 97th percentile in size, meaning only 3% of babies that age (gestation) are bigger than her. Also according to the ultrasound her weight is 9 lbs 9 ounces. Neither me nor the doctor think that she is 40 weeks 4 days. It isn't really possible, she is just a big baby with some hair!!! (we could see squiggly things on the back of her head). The doctor said she would probably be atleast 9 lbs though, but there is really no way to tell. I had dilated to 3 centimeters which is good progress. We both kind of thought that we would be headed straight to the hospital after my doctors appointment and that was before the ultrasound. We had planned on taking our suitcases but decided to leave them. We had driven seperately so after the ultrasound Jason hoped they would atleast give us time to take one car home and bring back our stuff before they admitted me.

Turns out that the doctor wanted the baby to stay in one more week so that we could be sure her lungs would be fully developed as I was really just 38 weeks. She did not feel comfortable (and neither did I) inducing me before 39. Since I am being induced I do run a higher risk of a c-section BUT since I have been dilating pretty well on my own that reduces the risk. I have about an 8 hour window on Wednesday after my water has broken that I have to deliver her or have a c-section. I believe the doctor is hoping I go into labor on my own which is what everyone is hoping for and that I will not be induced. It is a little weird knowing that I have "reservations" already for my "natural" birth. I just thought you scheduled your c-sections. No one thinks I am going to make it until Tuesday so we will see. I have been having pretty good contractions for over a week now and each time I think that they are about to get steady and consistant they just stop. I am still not miserable just extremely uncomfortable but mainly only at night. Jason is always after me to put my feet up on top of the couch but that is very hard for me to do. He does not understand that there is a seperate person with her own skeletal system in my body that pokes me and hurts me when I try and do certain things.

I have another appointment on Monday to see how much more progress I have made. I expect to be atleast 4 cms since I have gained one cm each visit.

Tuesday night will be strange, we will have to put Kate in her kennel at about 7:30 and she will sleep the entire night. Someone will have to let her out at about 7 Wednesday morning, I am doubting anyone will be wanting to leave the hospital to do that though. I know she should be the least of my concerns at that time but I do not want to disrupt her routine or make her worry. She gets worried when things are different. Jason has been putting up a box to the hallway so that she can only walk in the living room and the kitchen. The first night he did it he left her by herself and she got this look on her face like she thought something was wrong. Now she is okay with it though. If you give her a bone she will lay in the floor and chew it for hours! I don't know why we didn't start giving her those a lot sooner lol. My cats are very independant and will take care of themselves - I don't have to worry about them. The hospital is only 5 mins away from my house though so they can get checked on at anytime.