Acupunture and birth

So, in my attempt to get this baby out, I enlisted the help of a doctor in the area that specializes in acupuncture. He came over Monday, the 4th. If it's going to work, it will typically work within 24-48 hours. At the 24 hour mark, nothing had started.

Brandon was scheduled to start his new job on the 12th and would be unable to request any time off once he started.

Here is was the fifth and no signs of baby coming. I was starting to get panic-y and called the doctor to talk about induction. He told me to come in and if I was dilated enough, then he would be able to justify an induction to the hospital. I guess you have to be 39 weeks to schedule an elective induction. I was two days shy of 39 weeks.

When I got off the phone with him I called Brandon, who had just been on the phone with his new boss, and was informed that not only would he indeed start on the 12th, but he would be going out of town for two weeks. On the 12th. INDUCTION IT IS!!! How could we leave it up to chance knowing he'd be out of town??? Not happening.

So I go in at 2pm. He checks me and tells me I'm a five with a bulging bag.

Hello! That means I'm in labor!! The acupuncture worked. And this explains why I was feeling panic-y.

At this point, I should have just gone home. But no. I was determined this was it.

I headed over to the hospital and Brandon took the kids to the sitter and came to the hospital. The doc got there about 4:30 and checked me again. I was now a seven. Still no contractions mind you. He then broke my water.

And we sat there. And sat there. I had tiny little contractions for a bit and then a hard one. And then two more hard ones and it was time to push. We almost made it without the help of the lovely hospital staff, but low and behold, they just HAD to come in and see how I was doing.

When the nurse realized I was pushing, she came over to the bed and started getting it ready. She dropped the end of the bed right out from under my legs. I was now sitting on the end of the bed as if it were a chair. Can I tell you that it is NOT conducive to comfort and does NOT aid in the pushing out of a baby AT ALL?? OH. MY. GOSH. It hurt so bad having my legs down. I could have slapped her. All I could do was say, THIS HURTS. Brandon came over and grabbed my leg so I was able to have something to push against. Thank you dear!

I'm once again pushing(third push) and the doctor isn't ready. This is the same doctor who missed Sadie's birth my minutes. He was sleeping in the room next to my room and didn't hear the nurse call him I guess. So, he turns around and grabs a chux pad and delivers Skylar with no gloves on and his face mask sideways. Guess he's never going to judge just how fast I deliver these babies. She was born at 5:35pm.

The doctor agreed to not clamp her cord, but when I tried to pick her up, he refused to to let me. He said she would bleed back into me. What a joke. So I sat there arguing with him and trying to pick her up so he grabbed her cord and pinched it shut. I just looked at him and said, "If you're going to pinch it, you might as well clamp it." She did get a good five minutes or so of it pulsating without interruption, so that's good. I guess. Better than nothing I suppose.

The nurses in the mother baby ward were awful and made the experience a nightmare. I SHOULD HAVE JUST GONE HOME. But it's over and she's here and she is amazing.

She has an extra toe. It will have to be surgically removed some time during her first year. It's interesting that she would end up with an extra toe. For some reason, I was worried about her feet during the pregnancy. I was more worried about a clubbed foot or something else, but an extra toe....never thought of that.

38 weeks

35 Weeks

WOW. So close. But yet....so far. I'm getting so anxious to meet this little girl growing inside me. I'm so not a patient person and the suspense gets worse every time for me. I suppose it's because each and every time we bring another soul into our family, we realize just how special and blessed we are to be able to do so.

Today is exactly how far I was into my pregnancy when Seth was born. He was five weeks early and totally fine. A bit on the small side, but no worse for wear. Though he sports one heck of an attitude....not sure if that's a direct result or not. I think I'm willing to carry her a few more weeks if it means less drama and insanity from her. That having been said, I'm sure it's Seth's birth order that's caused the personality traits and not being preterm. LOL!! I mean come on. The youngest of five boys, AND small? AND having the first girl born AFTER him? He hasn't got a shot in the dark of not having at least a touch of attitude. Poor guy. And said girl already bosses him around. Not to mention the fact that she hits and bites him as well. I keep telling him to stay out of her face, but he doesn't listen. He's a bit of a slow learner.

So 35 weeks. I'm in the home stretch. It's been awful, and it's not over yet, but I see light at the end of the tunnel! WOOHOO!!

6 weeks. SIX

How could you guys let me go SIX WEEKS without an update???? And here I thought you CARED.


I'm crushed!!!

Just kidding. I'm now 32 weeks along in the crazy pregnancy journey. And as I've stated time and time again, I could not be more miserable. Physically anyway. That having been said, I am still so grateful for this little girl growing inside me. The jury is still out on whether or not she IS actually little though. I sure feel like I've got a mammoth of a baby growing inside me. I have never had breathing problems AND peeing problems, but boy do I ever. I've never peed so much in all of my life. I'm pretty sure she's head down, but I'd also swear she's using my bladder as a trampoline.

I think about her all the time and wonder what she's going to look like. I've got it in my head that she's going to have red hair. I had a dream last night that I gave birth last night. And despite being 32 weeks, she weighed 7.9lbs and was just fine. She did have dark hair in the dream though. My 35 weeker weighed in at 6lbs and I thought that was big for a preemie. Can you imagine 7.9 at 32 weeks? That would mean one big ol' baby at 40 weeks. Not that I've ever been a day past 39 weeks. Oh shoot me now if I even come close to 39 weeks. That having been said, I've have some sort of augmentation/induction with four of the six. The only two left alone came early, but I don't know if I'll always go early. Having a unassisted homebirth means I won't have anyone willing to do any augmentation. Notice I said WILLING. Brandon COULD strip my membranes, but refuses. Probably a good thing. Inductions aren't in the best interest of the baby. Best interest of my comfort, but we won't go there.

Please pray for my sanity as I struggle to the end here. It's getting difficult and I know I need to stay strong, both mentally and physically. It's so important for her health.

26 weeks

Hold on to your hats folks.........




I have no complaints!!! In fact, I was resting yesterday afternoon and was thinking to myself how good I felt at that moment and for half a second thought, "WOW, this is the best pregnancy ever". Then I shook my head and rolled my eyes at my pregnancy induced stupidity. LOL!!!

Amazing how quickly we forget our misery. For good reason that is. Most of us would have ONE child if we were able to recall every second of misery during pregnancy and childbirth. During every first trimester, I make Brandon promise me he'll never get me pregnant again. This time he got it on video. He thinks it will stop this from ever happening again. He. He. He. I won't lie. Most days I hope this never happens again, but then when I truly imagine this part of my life being over, it scares me. I'm not sure I'm ready to move on.

Thanks to my iPad, I've been able to spend my sleepless nights watching and reading birth stories online. Can I tell you that it doesn't help make time go by faster? Just thought you'd like to know that.

25 Weeks

I tell ya, if this was my first pregnancy, it might have been my ONLY one.

We had a yard sale yesterday. It was very successful, by the way. I woke up at 5:30am to my mind going a mile a minute about what I needed to get done for the yard sale, as well as what I needed to get done for the upcoming events in our lives. I.E. Brandon's birthday, Spencer's birthday and baptism and the cookout following it.

We spent most of the day outside in the HOT HOT sun. One of the guys who stopped by to peruse our junk told Brandon about a classic car show that night in downtown Belton. Those of you who know Brandon well, know of his love of classic cars. Sadly for his, we don't share this love. He tries to convince me that such and such car is SO cool, or SO good looking. I usually stick my nose up to them. So. Not. Impressed.

But I digress.

So, here is it, 6pm and we're walking up and down Main St. I'm hot, tired, and very achy. Not to mention, very bored. In rolls three reallly old roadster type convertibles. One of the boys say, "Look, that's going to be Mom and Dad when they're old!" I literally start tearing up right then and there.

WHAT?????

Why in the world would I ever tear up over that???? You see, I'm not an emotional person. It's not in my nature to cry. Much less cry about something so trivial and silly! I am very grateful at this point to be wearing sunglasses. Very grateful. Cause for whatever reason, when and if I do cry, I HATE crying in front of people. Hate it.

So we keep walking and I notice a grown man walking towards us. His sopping wet crotch area drew my attention right away. Then I looked at the rest of him to try and figure out why a grown man was able to walk around in broad daylight having so obviously wet himself. My only assumption is that perhaps he is mentally challenged. He certainly wasn't old enough to struggle with incontinence due to age and he wasn't drunk. He cared about his appearance because his shirt was neatly tucked in and he had a belt on.

Talk. About. Flood. Gates. Opening.

I'm a bit misty eyed just recalling it. My heart hurt for him. But again, not something to weep about.

Normally.

I gave up on normal months ago. Can I tell you how awkward it is to live in someone else's mind? I adore how special being pregnant makes me feel, but I surly can't wait until I feel normal again.

I do attribute yesterday's bout with emotional paranormal was perhaps brought on by exhaustion. I typically get some sort of nap in everyday, and I don't normally rise at 5:30am. And I don't spend all day in the sun, dealing with people and crazy kids. I was very worn out. I'm totally blaming it on that. Totally.

Here is the latest picture.

21 weeks:



25 weeks:

24 weeks

I'm tired.

I'm hurting.

I'm worried.

This pregnancy was wanted. It was welcomed. It was celebrated.

This baby is a blessing. She is wanted. She is welcomed. She will be celebrated.

But it can't be over soon enough. It has caused me to wonder if more children is a good thing. It's caused me to question whether or not giving our family size to the Lord is indeed something I can do. I know it's the right thing to do, but I don't think I have another nine months in me.

I'm struggling with life. I struggle to do the barest of bare minimums each day. I have no energy and no strength. I have no patience and no tolerance. I'm pretty sure I may even have gestational diabetes. I bought a glucometer and have been testing my sugar levels several times a day.

It's not looking good.

This comes as no surprise. I'm 100 pounds over weight and in love with sugar. One plus one still equals two, right?

Sixteen weeks is an eternity. I'm hoping that it will be over then and that I haven't really died and gone to he'll without realizing it.