Doesn’t watching the Olympics inspire you to get into super duper shape? I Learve the Olympics and watch all the sports I can. Right now, I’m watching the women’s semifinal beach volleyball. Misty May-Trainor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are my heroes. And I want their abs. I know I’m watching everything after it has happened. But I don’t care.
U. S. A!
I know that I have been MIA the past three and a half weeks. I’ve had two specifically good reasons…but I do apologize. I know I’ve waited, with baited breath, for other bloggers I read to post their birth stories, and I’ve never had to wait three and a half weeks (I’m not assuming you’ve been waiting with baited breath, but…I’m just saying it’s taken me a while).
So…here goes the birth story –
I was on medication to keep contractions at bay until I reached 35 weeks. I got to 35 weeks without going into labor thanks to procardia. That was Monday, January 30. Almost immediately after the medication left my system, I started having regular braxton-hicks contractions. They were not painful, but I was timing them and they were 5-8 minutes apart. I was supposed to call my Dr. when they were consistently 5 minutes apart for 2 hours. So, I didn’t call.
Both the hubs and I thought I was going into labor and we both slept TERRIBLY that night. I kept trying to time my contractions around sleep, my snoring was so bad the hubs couldn’t sleep in the same room as me (at this point everything on my body was so swollen, I was on anti-biotics for an ear infection, and even my teeth had shifted so that my bite felt weird and not good…that has since all cleared up almost immediately after the birth), neither of us got any sleep at all. I had a scheduled Dr. appt on Tuesday at 8am, so when it was time, we got up and went to the Dr.
By this point, we had packed the car, thinking that we might be sent straight to the hospital. I knew I was contracting a lot. That was confirmed at the non-stress test that morning…I was contracting every 3 minutes. Still all of these contractions were painless. I had to really pay attention to make sure I knew I was having one.
The Dr. checked my cervix and I was still only dilated 1 cm. I was sent home with instructions to be still and try to wait everything out. If we could get to 36 weeks, that would be great.
The hubs took the day off of work and we both slept most of the day. I was so uncomfortable and huge that I literally laid on the couch all day long. Still contracting those painless contractions.
We go to bed and take a glorious sleeping pill that had been prescribed to me for insomnia during pregnancy. Slept the most fabulous sleep. Woke up the next morning, moved to the couch and fell asleep again.
At this point, I’m still working for the architecture firm (not yet on maternity leave) and my phone rings with one of our clients that I was doing some work for. He’s explaining an additional building he wants for his project, when about halfway through our conversation, I start to feel uncomfortable during contractions. I try to diligently take notes and go ahead and put it all in an email to my boss to make sure he gets everything. I just have a feeling it’s going to happen that day. Wednesday…02.01.12. The last line in my email reads, “I think I’m going into labor, so I won’t be available the rest of the day.” I love how I wrote “the rest of the day”, instead of something like, “the next three months”!
I immediately get in the bath tub and the hubs fixes me something to eat. I knew I wouldn’t be eating the rest of the day. For some reason, I knew this would happen quickly. They had been ready to come out since 30 weeks, and now, they weren’t going to take their time.
I spent about 2 hours in the bath tub and called my Dr. She told me to come on in…
By this point, the contractions were getting stronger and pretty quickly. The hubs kept on asking me questions and trying to get things together before we left, but I could not answer him. The only thing I wanted to do was to lay face down on our bed with my feet still flat on the floor with my belly hanging down. It didn’t really feel good, but it gave me a chance to breath and calm down.
When we get to the Dr’s office, I am 4 cm dilated. She even knew I was going to come in that day, so she had called the hospital that morning to let them know. After this point, everything was a blur until I got the epidural (at a previous Dr appt, my Dr told me she was requiring me to get an epidural. I protested for a bit, but she told me that because Baby B was still breech, I might have to deliver him breech. If that were to be true, she would need me 100% with her mentally and she could not count on that unless I had an epidural. I understood. And in some ways I was glad that I didn’t have to make that decision).
We got to the hospital and I was basically having one long contraction. There was no break in between. I had just been tested the day before for Strep B and they hadn’t gotten the results back yet, so I was put on an antibiotic just in case. Because of this, they actually had to slow my labor down. My Dr. waited to break my water until the second round of anti-biotics was administered. As soon as I got to the hospital I really wanted the epidural. I couldn’t walk around or change positions because I was so big. It honestly had nothing to do with the fact that I was on the monitors. Even if I hadn’t been on the monitors I wouldn’t have been able to walk around. I could barely walk before I went into labor.
My mom came in and she and the hubs started talking and I had to send her out because I could not stand to hear anyone talking. I needed it quiet. I needed to concentrate. At this point, still, I was having one long contraction.
The anesthesiologist got there (not sure how long it took, but I don’t think it was very long) and he was fantastic. He was in complete support of a vaginal delivery. He wanted to make sure I could still move and have control over my legs so I could feel what was going on when the time came. Everyone there was super supportive of natural childbirth and mom’s wishes. It was great.
I’m going to pause to give you a break. The next part is the most exciting! But, I’ll leave you with a picture taken one day before their 3 week birthday.
I think I’ve shown you the 360 tour of the Sistine Chapel…I think.
Well, you must take a look at this.
It’s a 360 view of Paris from over the Eiffel Tower. You can see the Eiffel Tower at the bottom of the shot below. I love these 360 degree engines. I know they don’t give you the feeling of what it’s really like to be there…but seriously, doesn’t it just make you in awe of the internet in general?
Thanks to my friend Ashley for sending this to me quite a while ago. I thought it was more than worthy of a post.
Check out this amazing amazing save-the-date shoot from Steep Street.
I would love the opportunity to shoot a couple like this.
Get it. They’re “taking the plunge”. Awesome. Make sure to visit Steep Street for more awesomeness.
You must must must check this out.
I know, I know. You have to click a link. But it is SO WORTH IT. Just do it.
That’s all I have to say.
It’s Friday again. Aren’t you excited? I sure am. I freaking love the weekend.
So, I stumbled upon this super lovely piece of cake today at The Sweetest Occasion. It really is fabulous.
What makes this even better, is that Cyd went to architecture school and loves all things paper and photography. I’d like to meet her. She sounds super neat.
Hope this makes you hungry and that you have a rainbow of a day.
As promised, here are more pics from the shows, taken from my phone, so they’re not fantastic.
broken social scene on friday night
They were fantastic. Finished their set with an instrumental and blew us all away.
a marching band opened up public enemy. It was so awesome.
the one and only Flavor Flav! Thanking us for our support of his "second job called TELEVISION".
Apparently he’s coming out with some Flavor Flav spirits and a bucket of chicken as well.
me and the hubs at the public enemy show. it rained, but it was still awesomeness.
the hubs LOVES public enemy. Since we decided to go to Hopscotch, he’s been playing many PE records and “rapping” along to them. It’s been mighty funny. I was a bit unaware of PE, but I really did enjoy their show. We had a blast. They were super entertaining (I especially liked the S1Ws, these guys in military uniforms that danced around the stage). The only downside of the night was a very rude man selling PE stuff. I am a huge sucker for concert T’s. And because of him, I didn’t buy one. I would have loved a “FIGHT THE POWER” shirt, but, this guy’s rudeness was out of control.
So, we went our merry way, and had a blast at the show, ate some wonderful food in downtown Raleigh: The Remedy Cafe, the Raleigh Times, last….but BEST was Dos Tequitos.
I was so hungry and tired that I didn’t get any pictures, but this was really the best mexican/columbian food I’ve ever had! Cheers to them, and to you!
This past weekend (for our official one year anniversary celebration) we traveled the 3 hours to Raleigh and went to the new music festival Hopscotch.
It was FANTASTIC. We had such a great time.
our hotel room at the sheraton....and me playing with my camera. As I say to the hubs...the more pictures I take, the better I get at takin' 'em
playing around. i always try to do this shot...and it never seems to work out...harumph
shampoo AND conditioner! I'm so spoiled!
we could see the main stage from our hotel room.
unfortunately, the hotel had screwed shut the “window” (actually a sliding glass door), so we had to listen through the glass. BUT, it was still a success. We heard many a soundcheck as well as the Rosebud’s set.
We went to the coolest restaurant in downtown Raleigh, The Remedy Cafe. The hubs is a vegetarian and we always have issues finding restaurants with more than 2 veggie choices (and most places where we live consider seafood vegetarian, so it doesn’t really work out for him that often). But this restaurant was AWESOME. Not only did it have a great selection of meat-eater diner food, it also had a whole page of veggie options, including: a veggie meatball sub (which the hubs had and LOVED), a veggie Ruben, vegan fare, etc, etc. It was fantastic.
Not only did it have an awesome menu, but it had an awesome drink menu. Our drinks included “the elixir of life”, “liquid lobotomy”, “an attitude adjustment”, “anxiety antidote”, and the “poinsettia”…
Another post to come soon of the shows!
oh, if we could only be like this little girl all the time.
Thanks, Averi, for this link.
Enjoy your Friday!
girl by the seashore 