I know you are all waiting for a birth story, I’m thinking it will be towards the end of the week. I will tell you that we gave a vaginal delivery our best efforts, 26 hours of true labor to be exact. Though she was tiny, she was lodged in my pelvis and there was really no way she was going to come out. She was trying her best though and ended up with a bit of a conehead because of it.

The nursing is coming along beautifully. My milk is completely in and she is sleeping SO much better now. She is peeing and pooping like a champ, something that worried me in the beginning. The visiting nurse comes tomorrow (the hospital always sends one about 48 hours after you’ve gone home) and we’ll see how much she weighs. I think they will probably draw another billi on her to make sure it’s coming down, but I think it is now that she is actually eating some sustanance. I think her complexion is a bit misleading too. Since she is part Mexican and a bit of Indian in there and Irish and everything else (poor kid!) she has a bit of a reddier color to her. She is still evening out too.

Last night was much better on the sleep. The first few days she had been marathon nursing from about 1am until about 4am. She would fall asleep but as soon as I went to take her off, she would glare at me and scream “that’s my boob! Give it BAAAACCCKKK!” So I would be awake dozing but never really falling asleep since I have to still watch her closely so she won’t chew me up. Last night she slept two hours, ate forty minutes, slept two, ate forty, yada yada yada it was sheer heaven. We are working ditching the nipple shield and things are great. One breast still has some blisters but they are healing too.

I’m feeling really great, I’m in pain, but not so much that I can’t function. As soon as they took the catheter out Thursday morning, I was out of bed and on the go. They couldn’t really believe how great I was walking and getting about. I know though that had I laid in bed, I would be paying for it now. I still look at her and can’t believe she was inside of me. It really boggles my mind! Erich and I both agree that she is the best thing we have ever made. Erich is absolutely in love (I’ve been replaced!) and it’s awesome to see them together.

Be sure to keep checking fotolog for pictures as I’ll try and post a pic everyday cause she is so stinking beautiful! I’m trying to catch up on everyones blogs but it is difficult to sit here and not do other things if she is sleeping. I also sleep a lot when she is sleeping because its a rare thing. We really appreciate everyones well wishes and thoughts and it makes us feel very blessed to be surrounded by such great people. I look at her and think to myself, if I had known that I would be in labor for 26 hours and then have a c-section would I do it again? The answer is yes… every single painful minute of it.

I’m home! Magdalena and I just got here. We wanted to beat the storm that is supposed to blow in tonight and I feel great. We were having some latch issues but she is doing wonderfully now (except for some small blood blisters. Ouch!) My milk is coming in and she seems to be eating like every 45 minutes right now. She is down to 5 pounds 15 ounces which they said is okay. She is a little yellow looking but still completely gorgeous. We are going to work on taking naps in the sun (for the jaundice) and eating eating eating! More later… gotta go love on her. And we’ll post some more pics tonight too. Thanks for everyones well wishes, I’ll post a birth story later.

I was in a hurry before, but I can tell you a little more information now. Suzanne’s laboring was not going forward and the baby was stuck so the decision was made to have a c-section. She is doing fine, but will be in the hospital until Sunday, January the 25th. Look for her updates then. Thanks for supporting her. She really appreciates it.

Magdalena Eusevia, January 21, 2004, 8:14 PM, 6lbs, 10 oz, 19 in.

http://www.fotolog.net/mommytobe/

I’m almost ready to leave. Need to vacuum the LR and wash the dishes and we’re ready. My mom should be here in an hour or so and I hope to hit up Subway on my way up there. I would like a quick nap, but we’ll see. She’s here! My mom is here!

We are starting the induction tonight at 5pm. Erich will be home tomorrow evening and will post. I’m terrified. Wish me luck!

picture.

than never. Here is a picture for you! And the ring is still there. Just didn’t get the right angle.

I’ve been putting off cleaning the house all day. Nana (one of my grandmas, I have three) is in town and wanted to come over and see the nursery. She said to just call her. Well I was going to clean and then call her up but my head hurts and my crotch hurts so I’ve just been sitting around doing basically NOTHING. Well, I came down after my nap and started making mac n cheese and someone knocks on the door. Shit shit shit! Yup, it was Nana. I kept saying “sorry I just haven’t been feeling well.” But ya know, that won’t make up for it. Damn.

Did I leave you hanging in suspense? My blood pressure is coming back down so she is keeping me on bedrest. Baby sounds good, I’ve lost a pound but baby continues to grow. So on Monday we have the ultrasound and appt. Tuesday I go in at 5pm to start p-gel and labor through the night and hopefully come up with a baby Wednesday early. I feel like someone beat me in the crotch with a bat right now. Ouch. It hurts. Bad. And I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll be able to handle doing this without drugs if it hurts this much now. I need to eat. More later. And that pic I’ve been promising you. Promise.

That’s how I feel. I still have a headache. And I’m worried about my output. LOL Of all the crazy things to worry about but really. I drank about 6 glasses (8 ounces each) of water last night around 5pm and by 9pm I had only gone to the potty once and I would safely say it was no more then a specimen cups worth (around 4 ounces). So to pump myself with 48 ounces of water with only a 4 ounce return bothers me. I only got up to the batheroom once last night with just a couple of drops and so far this morning I’ve drank a glass of milk with no return. Did I mention that this week I’ve been dealing with daily nosebleeds? Sooo, I started packing my bag but haven’t finished. I need to do that now before I go to the doctor. Erich and I had a fight last night which upset me but I think I am just way to emotional. I need to go to the grocery store too. I really would like to do this prior to my appt (appt is at 3pm). I want to make a pot of baked spaghetti for Erich and then have enough stuff for my Mom and Erichs mom and Erich and myself to make do with next week. (I’m hoping they’ll cook some stuff for us. I wonder if I can talk my mom into making me some beef noodles. Yumm.) I’m wondering if she will come take my blood pressure, hear about my peeing issues, and headache and say okay lets see if they have room for you tonight. Then I believe I will sincerely FREAK. Maybe I should sign up for that one free audio blog post trial so that I can call and let you know what’s happening. I should be doing a lot mroe then sitting here let me tell you! So off to finish my stuff…

I have a raging headache. I’m hoping this headache has nothing to do with my blood pressure. **sigh** I’m going to eat some lunch, drink a bit of caffeine, shower, run my errands, come back and “relax” and if it is still raging I should probably call the doctor, eh? Oh and I have been having a lot more ctx. Painful painful ctx. And I owe you a picture. How can one relax when there is so much to do? I haven’t packed my bag yet, buuttt I made out the list. That’s progress, right?

Okay, I added a comment script that I used to use but hated. Hopefully blogspeak will be back up this weekend and I can go back to that. So comment away!

I didn’t intentionally take comments off of the website. The comments are down for everyone who uses blogspeak unfortunately. I’ll try and put a substitute up for the time being.

I’m here, feeling a bit better, and generally just taking it easy. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and we’ll see what happens then. Maybe more later and a pic too…

That’s officially what I am… a housewife. I went to the doctor today. All fine and dandy in the waiting room, did my share of waiting, got the confirmation that my new improved better insurance pays 100% of EVERYTHING without hassles of precerts and crap that comes with HMO’s. (We now have an EPO-exclusive provider organization- that pays like an HMO but works like a PPO. Erich officially can’t change jobs unless they have that insurance plan. heh.) Anywho. I went back and my blood pressure was sky high for me. Technicially it’s on the high side of “normal” (whatever normal is) but super high for myself. The bad part was that I wasn’t at work or doing anything before I went to the doctor. Just got up, ate breakfast, showered, watched some TV, blogged and left for the appt. So… she took me off of work. And I started to cry. Why was I crying? I haven’t the slightest idea. I felt like an idiot sitting on the table in only my bra and shirt, hanging on to the paper sheet (and what good is a see through paper sheet anyways?), crying like a baby. Thoughts of always having worked and now suddenly not working came rushing into my head. Thoughts of stressing my husband out and making him the sole provider swam in my head. She went on to say that she wanted to see me on Thursday to check my blood pressure. I was put on modified bed rest, i.e. take it easy and finish up the things I need to get done before Baby Girl gets here. She said that if my blood pressure is the same and not higher, we’ll stay with the course of an u/s on Monday to see exactly how big baby girl is now (side note: I’m 37 weeks 2 days pregnant and baby now measures 40 weeks!) and on Tuesday she is going to bring me in to start P-gel and then hopefully have a baby sometime Wednesday. This also brought on more tears. I know that a lot of people didn’t think an induction was the greatest idea, but as I told Rachel in an email, there were certain reasons we were leaning towards the induction. I work in the medical profession and I know all of the pros and cons of induction. The pros being that with my specific situation that an induction may be safer and I would have comfort in a more controlled environment. But with the reasons for the induction changing, I’m more scared. Maybe I’m scared because now it is actually scheduled, in the books, and the maternity center will be expecting me on Tuesday evening. The fact that I will be holding my baby in my arms next weekend also brought on a whole load of emotions ranging from fear to joy and excitement. I’m not spilling protein in my urine, so I’m not too worried about toxemia. She says high bp at the end of pregnancy is normal, but mine went way up. She says it’s my body telling her that it is time to move on and get baby out before any harm comes to me or her. I’m feeling the need for a bit of encouragement and hoping that I don’t get comments about not having an induction. I value the opinions of everyone who reads this blog and I know they are leaving the comments in caring for my health, but right now I think I need more of a pat on the back and a hug. So with all of this bustle I should pack my bag. Heh.

Oh and if my blood pressure continues to go up Thursday, she said we’d re-evaluate our plan of action. She can’t technically induce until I’m 38 weeks unless my blood pressure goes up more. So we’ll “wait and see”, a phrase I absolutely loathe.

I made some progress this weekend which is why I’ve been a bit quiet. As you saw from the last post, Erich is now post-capable. I also worked a lot in the nursery. I decluttered the catch all dresser and put in baby girls clothes. I also organized the changing table. All of her clothes and diapers are washed and ready to go. The video monitor is set up for the day we may use it. Her diaper bag is packed and ready to go to the hospital. We also put the carseat in the car so it’s ready to roll in case I go into spontaneous labor. I finished making the curtains for her room, and Erich hung the rod and we hung the curtains. It looks very nice and it excited both of us to see it complete. It’s looked sorta complete for a while with extra stuff just thrown in there. Now it looks ready for a tiny occupant. (She’ll sleep in our bedroom for a while, but this makes us feel closer to being ready to have her here!)

Erich also started school today. He’s taking four classes this semester and then he only needs two more and he will be done!!! YAY! (Then I can start up again. oy.) Anyways, he had some free time and sent me this link to an article that sounds like our life. heh. Who’s life doesn’t it sound like?

I gotta go to the OB now. Hope for some major cervical progress people. I don’t think I can handle much more of this!

It’s me, Suzanne. Just testing to see if Erichs password and such work and that he can post on here.