Saturday, July 3, 2010

Expect the unexpected

So as you know, I went into the hospital on Monday, around 1 am on Tuesday they inserted a folie catheter to help get me dialated some. I think I slept about an hour that night/morning. At about 8 am I was about 5 cm dialated and my contractions were pretty close together so they decided to break my water instead of giving me petocine to induce. About two hours later I wasnt progressing without the petocine so they gave me that to speed things up a bit. At 1 pm I was 7 cm dialated...and excited I wasnt far from having my baby! Contractions continued...no pain medication just as planned...check up after check up, I was still between 7 and 8 cm and the contractions were pretty strong. I lie, "pretty strong" is definitely an understatement. Im stubborn and wouldnt scream show pain, I just did the breathing and relaxation techniques to get through them. The doctors and nurses all told me they were impressed how in control I was and wasnt making a peep. I just didnt think screaming would help things and was surprised to hear they thought I was in control. SO anyway, at 7:30 pm I was still only 7-8 cm. It seemed my stubborn little princess wasnt dropping, so they said they would like to do a c-section because usually they like to see 1 cm every hour and obviously I was far behind that schedule. I knew it went against everything I wanted but I was EXHAUSTED. I was falling asleep in the 1 minute between contractions and didnt know how much longer I could last or if I would even have the strenth to push out the baby. Plus they had broken my water about 12 hours ago and even though she wasnt showing any stress, I was worried about the baby. I went against everything I believed in and went for the c-section. At 8:45, they rolled me down to the o/r. I dont think I have ever been so nervous in my life. I litterally shook the ENTIRE time! They put the spinal in and cut me open. Before I knew it, I heard my baby girl cry for the first time and I instintly burst into tears. They said she looked amazing and was big! 9 lbs 2 ounces and 21 inches! Once she was cleaned up a bit they brought her over to see us. She was perfect, even the nurses said she looked like a porclin doll. The doctor and nurses were amazing and so nice. They were actually pretty funny. They started talking about one of their daughters going to the midnight premier of Eclipes and then got into all the other vampire shows and books. The doctor said how she believes there are really vampires- not like they show in movies but people who eat blood. Kinda ironic that they are stitching me back up and talking about blood suckers so I told them they better not suck any of my blood. They all laughed and told me there was plenty of it. I probably shoulda been freaked out by the thought of plenty of my blood but I was just happy our baby was here. They took her back to finish checking her and noticed that she was pretty congested and they were having a hard time clearing it out, Si they told us they called Neonatal to come down and look at her (insert instatnly worried mom here). But before neonatal could get there they had her all cleared out. Mr. Jersey was able to go to the recovery room with her while they finished everything up with me. A few minutes later, I joined my family in the recovery room. The nurse that assisted us in the recovery room was awesome. She helped me try breast feeding after about a half hour which I was really happy about. I was afraid with having a c-section and the recovery time and medication that the baby wouldnt take to breast feeding so easily. She was a champ though! She had no latching or sucking problems. After about an hour plus in recovery we were able to go up to our room. After a long day and night it felt amazing to relax with my perfect little family.

So even though it didnt go as planned, holding my baby girl in my arms was the perfect ending.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I am Preg-Zilla, hear me roar!

There has been very few times in the last 9 months that I went preg-zilla. Ive been pretty calm and collected. Maybe more annoyed that usual...or just more vocal about it. But today the monster roared.

I had my 40 week (and a day) appointment. My midwife (who I love, and normally see) notice a slight dip in the babies heartbeat during a routine check. So she decides to send me over to the hospital to be monitored. Pretty much she said it could either be A. Nothing at all and she just happened to catch the nothing. or B. the baby is stressed and ready to come but things just arent moving along. If they decided it was B at the hospital, I would be induced today.

Induced. Not a happy word for me. If you remember a few months back I posted about how I wanted to go all nat-ur-al. I dont take any meds unless absolutely necessary and I have done the same throughout the pregnancy and hoped the same for the birth. BUT if my baby was stressed and being induced meant her being healthy, I was totally okay with being induced.

So I arrive at the hospital with my Dad. They send me up to Labor and Delivery and hook me up to fetal monitors to measure her heart rate and also any contractions I might be having. An hour and a half later, a doctor from the practice I go to shows up to make the call. Of course it couldnt be either of the 2 doctors I LOVE at the practice. It has to be the third, cold doctor that treats you like a "patient" not a human with feelings and concerns. Needless to say, Im not a fan of him. He checks out the print out of the babies heart beat and says everything looks perfect. She is healthy and that he wanted to check to see if I was dilated and also do an ultrasound to make sure the fluid was okay. If we passed the next few things, we could go home without being induced.

He checks to see if Im dilated and says "shes closed" to the nurse. Okay, process of elimination leads me to believe there is no dilatation happening. But hello, first baby, I dont know whats going on...he doesnt say anything to me. I had to ask if that meant that I wasnt dilated at all. Of course I was right. Nada.

Then a few minutes later the u/s tech comes in. She was super nice, checked all four "pockets" and said that my fluid looked good and I dont have to be induced today. I told her thats awesome because I didnt want to be induced unless I absolutely have to. She knew right away I wanted to go natural and even said "I understand, a lot of the times being induced leads to c-sections if the body doesnt take to the drugs." Confirmed my thoughts.

Nice. Baby Jersey is healthy, and as much as I want her here and am feeling ready...obviously she isnt ready for whatever reason. But we get to go home, no induction.

Then the doctor and nurse come in. They tell me they are gonna schedule me to be induced since Im "past my due date". I was supposed to talk with my midwife about scheduling the induction at the next appointment (this friday). But they said they want to do it since Im already there. Ugh. The o-so-fabulous doctor says "well, we are in the hospital all day Tuesday so lets induce her Monday night". Wait...this COMING Monday night?! I will barely be 41 weeks! They will let me go till 42 weeks but since he doesnt want to be on call all day I have to be induced at 41 weeks?! I know that this baby isnt ready and she needs more time. In the beginning I was measuring EXACTLY a week smaller (which could put my actual due date June 22nd). They wouldnt change my due date though. So if thats the case and my baby and my body are working on a clock around June 22nd not June 15th, we arent ready.

Insert fuming pregzilla here.

I know most people are thinking so whats the big deal? You want the baby out right? Right. I do. But I want her to come on her terms. Whether that be when she is ready or if she is stressed and needs to come sooner. Not saying I would want her stressed. Im just NOT a fan of being induced, especially so early for mulitple reasons.

A. I dont want any drugs unless I HAVE to.
B. Almost everyone I know who was induced had to get a c-section
C. Its not necessary this early
D. We obviously need more time
E. Its at the convenience of the doctor, and he acted like I had no say in it.
F. Mr. Jersey is one of two supervisors at his work, the other is on vacation all next week. Therefor, he wouldnt be able to stay at the hospital the entire time with me and enjoy spending time with his new daughter that he has waited so long for.

So I plan on talking to MY doctor on Friday and seeing what she can do to push back the induction appointment. At least until later that week to give the baby some time to get this flowing on her own. I feel like my midwife, as a woman and also one that delivered both her children naturally, would understand where I was coming from. Hopefully.

We shall see. But I AM wondering what would happen if I just didnt show up Monday night. Maybe Ill be busy washing my hair? ;op

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

39 & 40 Weeks!

Ive been realizing this is more a blog about my pregnancy than house and pets! I promise to get back into posting about the house and pets soon. After all, any day now Ill be home all day with my princess!

39 weeks
At 39 weeks she should be about 20 inches and weight a little over 7 lbs! I definitely feel the difference, its a lot harder for me to roll over in bed or even get off the couch. This was also the week I went into a mini panic. I scrubbed the heck out of the house and finished getting things ready for her. Im guessing at 39 weeks they dont advise you to move the fridge to scrub behind it but no one was home and I was stubborn and motivated so I did. I mean whats the worst that could happen, I go into labor? Yes please. But I didnt...and the fridge was a lot lighter than I expected. I also installed her carseat and double checked her diaper bag. Everything seems good to go! Except her.

40 weeks

Today is our due date! I dont think she has grown TOO much in the last week. Not like she has been growing. She has been really active lately though. The other day I was exhausted but she didnt want to go to sleep at all so of course I didnt sleep at all. And it starts ;o)

I took the day off yesterday to relax, since Ive been taking a day a week. So today I fully planned on going into work. At this point there isnt much there for me to do but I get extremely bored at home alone. So I woke up extra early to meet my Mom at her house (the half way mark of what would be an hour drive to work) so I could ride in with her from there. Started up the car and it was making funny noises and running bad with the check engine light on. Great. Out of all days, right?! The car has run perfect for the last 3 years that we have owned it and TODAY has to be the day that it acts up. Mr. Jersey got up early and tried to check it out and found nothing. Lucky for us we have a few mechanic friends so hopefully the baby holds out long enough for us to get the car back in working order before she is here!

Well, hopefully this is my last post without a baby! Tomorrow is my appointment and they are gonna hook me up to a monitor for about 20 mins to check the babies heartbeat and movement. Im sure she will have no problem passing that with flying colors. And hopefully soon after she will decide to come into the world!

Have a good Tuesday!

Monday, May 31, 2010

37 & 38 weeks, early post

Since I have off today and have been busy on Tuesdays, I figured Id post today!

37 Weeks
I cant believe we are 37 weeks and finally considered full term! She should be around 6 1/3 lbs and a little over 19 inches. Full term also means the baby is basically fully developed and if she came anytime between now and 42 weeks, they wouldnt try to stop labor.

Of course with the excitement came a scare. I had told my doctor at my 36 week appt (that Thursday)that for some reason the only thing I have been concerned with this entire pregnancy is leaking fluid. I dont know why, Ive never known anyone to have this problem nor have I read about this problem...Ive just been worried. The midwife I normally see tested me a few weeks prior to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid and it came up negative but it still didnt wipe away my worries. So this appointment I expressed my concern again and they immediately made an appointment for me to go to the hospital that day. Im assuming because Im so far along and the baby is so big, no one really said much. Of course I immediately go into worry mode and of course the thought crossed my mind that if I was leaking a decent amount of fluid that they would induce me that day and little Baby Jersey would be here sooner that planned, with no one prepared. We arrived to the hospital and they did an ultrasound to see if there was enough fluid around the baby and then I met with the doctor. He pretty much told me he couldnt confirm or deny that I was leaking fluid but he could tell me the fluid around the baby looked good. At least one of my questions was answered, she was okay.

At my 37 week appointment (this past Thursday) I got the results from the Group B Strep test that was takin at the appointment the week before and I was happy to hear it was negative! The midwife also tried to feel my belly to see if the baby was in position but couldnt tell what was head and what was butt. Sooo she popped me on the ultrasound machine and confirmed that she is in position for delivery! Also I asked her if there was any way she could tell if Baby Jersey was definitely a girl since they werent 100% sure at the anatomy scan. She wasnt sure she would be able to since they are pretty big at this point and arent always in the right position. Lucky for us though, she was and she confirmed its definitely a girl! I was really excited after that. I would have been thrilled either way, even if she said "nope, its definitely a boy". I was just excited to know for sure and not worry about having all girls clothes when a little boy arrived!

38 Weeks
One week closer! She is about 6.8 lbs and 19.5 inches long now. Its so amazing how fast they grow in just a weeks time in this last month!

Photo taken from babycenter.com


The past few weeks and heat have brought on the swelling. This weekend seems to be the worst, I no longer fit in my flip flops and had to loosen my sneakers A TON! The baby is still really active though. Our friends got a kick out of watching her move around the other night. I think the guys were the most freaked out! Mr. Jersey and I are so use to how active she is, we just smiled- thats our little girl!


Lately, people keep asking if Im scared, and maybe I should be but Im surprisingly not. We are just getting anxious to meet her. Its hard to describe. I think because my entire life Ive dreamed of being a Mom more than anything. Its like knowing all your life you wanted a specific career that you would be perfect at, something that comes completely natural to you. Then finally finding that perfect job you've dreamed about and knowing your first day is right around the corner. Not being scared of what the future brings or how you are going to do, you just know that this is what you were meant to do. And although you know there will be good days and bad, you cant wait to start.

Sometimes I just sit and wonder what she looks like. What mixed features she has of ours and what features she has of her own. Its so crazy that Ive carried our little girl for 8.5 months, love her more that words could say, feel like I already know her but have never laid my eyes on her. Also, although we dont expect her to come before my due date, she could come any day now. Its exciting beyond words. The fact that Mr. Jersey will make an AMAZING Daddy, and is also just as excited as I am for that moment when we meet our baby girl for the first time, definitely makes the excitement even more intense.

Well, thats enough of my ramblings for this weeks pregancy update.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

36 weeks!

Yowsa, 36 weeks! Shes about 6 lbs now and 18.5 inches. By now she should be in the birthing position (head down) but Im not sure she is following those rules. She was ALL over the place last night. Attempting an escape I think. She has also had the hiccups at least once a day (yesterday she had them FOUR times!). Its cute but I feel bad and helpless! Not that Id be able to do anything for hiccups if she were outside my belly anyway.

We reached a big milestone this weekend, our master bedroom is finally done so we are sleeping downstairs! No more going up and down the steps all night for bathroom breaks! Of course I had to set up all the baby stuff! And I feel MUCH better now that I did, I definitely feel more prepared for her arrival (since next Tuesday Ill be considered FULL TERM!) Check out some pics below...

Pack and play (where she will be sleeping in our room)with the changing station attached and the boppy on top :o)


Our baby organizer for behind the door...



Of course the swing is set up in the living room (caution...living room spoiler pic since I havent done the blog post on the new furniture yet!)




And last but not least, the travel system is ready to go. (Dont mind all the other random baby things stacked around it)


Theres the happy news of 36 weeks!

Of course not everything about being 36 weeks brings smiles. The downside is I have had an extreme increase in stretch marks. Ahh! I never really had stretch marks anywhere and they only showed their ugly faces a few weeks ago if you recall I bought the awesome (or so I thought) Burts Bees Belly Balm. Sadly its not doing the trick to fight off those bad boys. They are coming in full force. I keep getting encouraging words like "they arent too bad, they will go away" and as the get worse, Im starting to worry they wont and Ill be stuck with ugly stretch marks and full piece bathing suits for the rest of my life. In the big picture though, its a small price to pay for the baby we have dreamed about our whole lives. And I really have been extremely lucky through the pregnancy so far. Id be crazy to think that it would be the "perfect" pregnancy right?

Hope everyone had a great Tuesday! Next week is full term and the wait offically begins (although I think she is gonna hang in there until after the due date). We shall see!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

33 & 34 weeks!

Last week was a bit busy and I was unable to post the weekly baby update. So, Ill start with last weeks updates.

33 Weeks
The baby is just over 4 lbs and has passed the 17 inch mark, and Im feeling every bit of it. My beautiful baby bump now is exposing its ugly side with stretch marks! Ah! I swear, Wednesday night I went to bed with no marks at all then Thursday morning, 2 dark stretch marks. Grr! Since then I have had a few other lighter stretch marks show up. I immediately went out Friday morning and purchased a new tin of Burts Bees "Momma Bee" belly balm. Hopefully it starts helping with the stretch marks that have already started and helps avoid future ones!

On Tuesday of last week I woke up worried. I noticed for the last 2 days I hadnt felt the baby be her normal kick boxing self. As of 9:30 am on Tuesday I still hadnt felt her move. I knew she was alive but after reading many articles on counting your baby's movements and being worried if it wasnt normal...I panicked. I called the doctor and they set up an appt for that afternoon. Minutes after hanging up the phone, I lost it...completely. I cant remember the last time I cried that hard. Luckily my Mom works with me so she was there for support and offered to come to the appt with me. I actually text Mr. Jersey to tell him about the appt because I couldnt even speak. We went to the appt, they hooked me up to some fetal monitors and almost instantly after the nurse put that cold gel on the monitor, my little monster was back. She was NOT a fan of the cold gel and kick and pushed to get away, I loved having my feisty girl back. I was hooked up to the monitors for about 15 mins while they measured her heartbeat and I had to hit a button every time she moved. My Mom loved being able to hear her healthy heartbeat also. The doctor came in after and assured me that the results were of a perfectly healthy baby and I had nothing to worry about. *smiles*

Saturday was also my baby shower. We're so lucky to have such amazing family and friends, the shower was awesome and we got a TON of stuff! Luckily I didnt get too many doubles and only have a few other items to get before the baby is here.




34 weeks
Almost there! The baby is about 4 3/4 lbs and almost 18 inches this week! I have noticed that my fatigue has definitely come back. Not nearly as bad as the first trimester but Im definitely feeling more run down. Between the heat, staying up late over the weekend, tossing and turning and bathroom trips it definitely has me losing more sleep than usual. Yesterday I actually came into work late because I was so exhausted, I couldnt even get out of bed. Also my belly button has started to pop! Its about half way popped so it looks a little goofy. The swelling has come back also which is always fun. But aside from being a little tired and swollen, Im feeling pretty normal. Still not really feeling the Braxton Hicks contractions but thats not unusual.

Thats about it so far this week! Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Bourbon anyone?!

Hey all! Since our blog was based around my animals orginally and I havent posted too much about them I figured Id try to introduce one of my animals each Friday and explain their "story". Today Im kicing it off Critter of the Week with my beloved snake Bourbon!

Behind the boa names
As you may have noticed all our (originally owned- non adopted) Boas are named after alcohol. It started with our very first snake and boa Corona, becaused we loved the name. Corona was an awesome snake. Bourbons "personality" reminds me a lot of him. But we got Corona when Mr. Jerseyjess and I first started dating. People who came over imediately fell in love with Corona and he also helped "heal" a few people of their snake fears. About 6 months after we had Corona we decided to get into morph boas and breeding. We picked up Whiskey and Tequila, a male and female pair of het albinos. Het albinos mean they carried the trait for albino and when bred together part of their clutch (baby snakes) would be albino. Anywho...we decided after realizing we wanted to breed snakes that it would be easy to stick with a theme and since Corona was already an alcohol and there were TON of alcohols, we chose that! After we got Whiskey and Tequila we had our first summer in the rental house. It was hot. We turned on the a/c for the first time and at this point all the reptiles were in one room (since we had 5 iguanas at that point). The room was warm as it should be, and with the a/c flowing we knew it wouldnt overheat the room. I checked the vents in the house before I left and air was flowing through the vents. We both left for work. We came home that night to realize the house wasnt cool at all. It was hot. Really hot. No a/c. I immediately went into the reptile room and checked everyone. They all had water, the iguanas were okay...our ball python Monty was okay, our corn snakes were okay...the boas werent moving. We lost 4 snakes that day due to the room over heating: Corona, Whiskey, Tequila and a baby ball python we were watching for a friend. I was devistated. Mr. Jerseyjess checked throughout the house to find out why the a/c hadnt come on. Apparently the fans came on which is what I felt coming out of the vents that morning but in order for the a/c to turn on we had to flip a switch that said "pool". Awesome. Thinking about those animals we lost still makes us sad. In honor of our late boas we decided to not give up and keep the alcohol name tradition going...which started up again with our Bourbon baby.

Bourbon (who is also the snake featured on the main pic of the blog) holds a special place in my heart. I definitely have a soft spot for the guy (dont tell the others!). He is a Colombian Boa and is about 5 years old. We got him when he was just a wee one from the pet store I was working at. I loved the pinkish hue he had and he was so clean looking (no speckles).



So cute! He was always a mellow snake, never got an attitude or tried to strike at anyone. He has always been EXTREMELY photogenic also. He always seems to want to know what we are up to and stop to pose for the camera. Such a handsome boy!






Where are all the books on Colombia?!



The above pic is with the (then) babies (who are also sisters) Alize and Tequila Rose.