Four months ago I last blogged about my growing belly and our unborn baby, being showered with love, progress in Puglet's room and was looking forward to Thanksgiving, maternity photos, and meeting our new little lady. Believe it or not, a whole heck of a lot has changed since then! I'll try to sum up the last four months in a single post but may break it into a series if things turn from a blog post to book (who am I kidding...a single post is totally impossible). So, without further adieu, here goes...
Oct. 23 - Nov. 26, 2012
A friend from college, Seng Nickerson/Sengerson Photography took maternity photos. We spent the afternoon at a local park and LOVED the finished product.
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| Our 3D Ultrasound |
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| Sweet 8+mo Pregnant Jumping Skills |
We finished decorating Puglet's room...FINALLY!
We shared our last pre-babyThanksgiving with loved ones. I always hoped that she would make her entrance on the holiday itself but that didn't happen. Instead, I stuffed myself full of turkey, all the fixin's, and enjoyed family and football.
The last month of my pregnancy, I continued feeling pretty darn good. I had regular adjustments at the chiropractor and stayed as active as possible. My mom, dad and I spent a good majority of Thanksgiving night/the morning after shopping. I've always loved day Black Friday shopping and figured the exercise would help the 10,000 calories I ate during the day...as well as the baby eviction process.
The Monday after Thanksgiving (11/26), I visited the OB who seemed to think labor was still a ways off and headed to work after my appointment. After work, JPug and I made dinner and put together a grocery list so I could shop the following evening.
Tuesday, Nov. 27
Tuesday morning I awoke at 5a, about half an hour before my alarm was set to go off. For a few minutes I pondered...do I get up and go to the bathroom now or tough through it for the next 30 minutes?!?! My bladder won out and I swung my feet to the floor and stood up. It didn't take any time to realize I had either become instantly incontinent or my water broke. Not the rush of water you see in the movies but enough water that my pants were a mess and I knew something was different. I made my way to the bathroom to assess the situation and do my business. Everything seemed ok, save my pants puddle, so I made my way back to bed and hit the internet to read about water breaking v. late pregnancy incontinence. The best info I could find said to put a pad in your underwear, wait half an hour, and stand...if the pad is saturated when you stand up, it's your water. Half an hour later, the pad was saturated but I started the process over just to be sure. By the time the second half hour was up, JPug was awake and I explained the situation. We tried the pad test together...same results...and we called our doula around 7a. She confirmed my water likely broke and told me to get up and moving around because I wasn't feeling any contractions.
I didn't take the doula's suggestion lightly...we got up and got moving. It was too cold to take a walk around the block so instead we baked Puglet's birthday cake, did some laundry, and I took a shower. The OB practice's policy is to go immediately to the hospital once your water breaks due to the risk of infection...I stalled as long as possible and we finally made our way to the hospital around 9a.
By 10a, I was all checked in and the nurse confirmed my water had indeed broken...with litmus paper (water is basic so the litmus paper turns blue)! Once I was all set up...changed into a hospital gown, baseline vitals taken, and saline lock (IV starter)...the doctor came in and recommended starting Pitocin as my body wasn't contracting regularly. Hoping for a natural labor and waiting for our doula to arrive, we asked the doctor for the ability to walk around and try some other natural methods before starting the meds. The doula arrived soon after and JPug, she and I walked miles in the hospital over the next 4 hours. I'd walk for 40 minutes and head back to our room for monitoring to ensure the baby and I were still doing ok. I tried squats, hip exercises, long strides, fast and slow pacing, and a hot shower but Puglet wasn't getting her eviction notice. About 2p, a different doctor came in (shift change at 1p) and recommended starting Pitocin as my water had been broken for 9 hours.
Sigh...not was I was planning but I agreed to the Pitocin to play nice...typically once your water has been broken 24 hours doctors introduce the idea of a c-section and Pitocin was the lesser of 2 evils in my mind. After a quick discussion between the doctor, doula, and TeamPug, we agreed to starting Pitocin at 6 units and letting me go for an hour to see how my body responded. A typical starting point for Pitocin is 2 units, increased by 2 every 20 minutes but women's bodies usually process the drug more slowly...basically, by the time your body starts responding the dose is already too high. For me, 6 units was appropriate and my dose never increased. Over the next 4 hours, my contractions got progressively stronger and I dilated from a 2 (at 2:30p) to a 4 (possibly a 5 around 7pm). The doula and JPug practiced different methods to keep me comfortable but the pain became unbearable. Knowing I had been checked recently and was only about halfway dilated, I did some quick math...50% dilated means 50% pain and 100% pain would be excruciating so I made the decision to get an epidural.
Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist wasn't able to come for an hour. Around 8pm, the nurses sat me up to get the epidural but before they did, they checked my progress one last time. In 60 minutes, I had progressed from a 4 (possibly 5) to a 9.5...and by the simple action of sitting me up, I'd be at a 10. Well, what's a girl to do?!?! It seems pretty silly to get an epidural when you're fully dilated but that's just what I did. I used the next hour to relax and prepare for Puglet's birth. Just before 9pm, the baby started showing signs of distress which wasn't too concerning as the doctor said distress would be the baby's sign that's she's ready to come. I started pushing a few minutes after 9 and at 9:11pm (less than 10 minutes) our little lady was born. Lillienne McGuire Puglisi "Elle", 7lb6oz, 19.5in
| Baby's First Picture |
Well, at least I got as far as Elle's birth...I have a lot more to share but I'll do it another time. I promise my next post won't be 4 months from now.
