Wednesday, October 30, 2013

My emergency trip to L&D

It's not a first time pregnancy without an emergency trip to L&D (labor and delivery), or so I'm told. And I've definitely experienced that so I think this pregnancy besides needing another two weeks for baby to be full term is ready to rock-and-roll. I thought I should document this now that I'm not as embarrassed about it as I was initially afterwards, plus some of you may get a kick out of it.

Back track to when Jared went to Africa while I was 31 and 32 weeks pregnant. We went forward with the plan of this trip because A) it had been planned before this pregnancy was a reality and B) I was feeling good, baby was healthy, no red flags were presented that made either of us think I could possibly deliver while he was gone. And I halfway teased him when I dropped him off at the airport that if I went into labor right then would he stay home? He of course said to knock it off and he'd be home in a week and a half.

So it was the day before he was supposed to leave Africa to come home from him super fun trip while I had been stuck at home working and continuing on with real life. I had been careful while he was gone, double checking the doors before I went to bed, eating right and not lifting anything heavy. But I woke up that Tuesday morning and something just didn't feel right. I got up to get ready for work, noticed my underpants were wet and thought nothing of it because...let's be honest sometimes you just don't have that much control over your bladder when you have a bowling ball sized baby sitting on it. 

I got dressed for work, fed the dogs and decided I'd better go to the bathroom before I left. And again, my underpants were wet and it was definitely NOT pee this time. And working where I do I hear all the time of slow tear leaks in the placenta and women leaking amniotic fluid and being a pregnant woman who is already overly emotional and prone to jump to conclusions I immediately started fearing the worst. And without Jared around I tend to lose control of my emotions more quickly and have overreactions including crying over incredibly small things since I've been pregnant (it's the hormones I tell you). So I call the OB on call, who promptly calls me back and I tell her about my symptoms and she tells me immediately to go into L&D to get checked out. 

So now I really start freaking out because my husband is on another continent and I have no real way of communicating with him other than email and my parents were currently at their home in St. George for the week. I call my parents at seven AM (yes I leave for work that early) and my half asleep mother answers the phone and freaks out because I'm bawling on the phone telling her I'm going into L&D, they immediately pack up and start driving home probably around 90 MPH, and then I emailed Jared just 'call me ASAP, it's an emergency' because at this point I'm under the impression (that I came to by myself in retrospect) that I will be delivering baby TODAY. Because that's the only reason why the OB on call would tell me to go to L&D right? And the only thing I could think about the whole drive in other than 'it's too early' is 'I haven't packed a freaking hospital bag yet'. Yes I know, I was freaking out. I can tell that now, but at the time I felt like I was justified. Anyways.

I get to my hospital which is way to far to have to drive when you're freaking out and by yourself, checked into L&D very quickly (the OB on call had called to let them know to expect me which made it faster I think) and was immediately put on the monitors. Baby started waking up about then and was moving crazy lots and listening to his quick little heart beat on the monitor was very reassuring so I started calming down at this point. They asked me bunches of questions that I don't really think were pertinent to having a baby in my own personal opinion but OK. Mom and dad called soon after I arrived asking if I'd made it to L&D yet, which I told them I had and they could drive safely that at this point since I was in good hands. The nurse gave me some water to drink and I sat listening to my babies heartbeat while we waited for the tests if it was amniotic fluid to come back. This seemed to take forever. And when I say forever, it felt like hours whereas I know it was probably less than a half hour. When the results came back even the nurse who admitted me was surprised because she thought they would be positive, but they came back negative for amniotic fluid. Of course this was a huge relief because baby could cook longer. Diagnosis? Softening cervix preparing for labor and excess fluid from that. And then they sent me home. 

So at this point I've already called into work, raised a three alarm panic mode from my mom and dad, and I had no clue if Jared had even read the email yet. I drove home feeling more than a little stupid and like I overreacted, got home and emailed Jared that it was a false alarm. Just as I hit send my phone rings and it's Jared. Of course he was panicked thinking he's become a father from another continent, after I explained what happened as best I could over a crackly phone connection he felt better and the positive of it all was we were able to talk for a minute which was so nice. Once I finished talking to Jared and was able to get pulled together-crying and stress makes for frizzy hair and runny makeup-I headed into work for a half day since I hadn't been told I had to go home and rest. Thank goodness all my coworkers were supportive and my boss (who is very empathetic and was very concerned that I had no family in town for what could have possibly been an early delivery) said it's always better to be safe than sorry, I started feeling a bit less like a crazed pregnant lady and more like someone who is just cautious.

All in all the whole experience made for an interesting story and something I definitely learned from, but now everybody is waiting for me to go into labor like I'm a ticking time bomb so nobody is going out of town. I had a checkup appointment with my OB the next day who said he definitely didn't think I'd make it to my due date, and to take it easy. But just watch, I'll go past my due date although I really hope not. I'd be more than happy if baby made his appearance in November. Either way we want a healthy baby boy, and less dramatic of beginning of labor than my water breaking or leaking. And that is my (hopefully ONLY) emergency L&D trip before the actual event occurs. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

So Jared went to Africa...

I'm not going to lie, it's been a rough week and a half at our house with Daddy gone. Adi understands what it means when suitcases come out, so when Jared started to pack she immediately started to get moopy and solemn looking while Jared was packing the day before he left. Aspen however didn't quite understand and was really upset and confused when we dropped Daddy off at the airport at 5am that morning, and started whining as she watched him walk away.


When we got home she sat and watched the bedroom door, waiting patiently for Daddy to come home. After a day or two she started understanding that Daddy wasn't coming home right away, and she stopped watching for him as fervently after I came home from work. However, every time the neighbor's car door was slammed shut or they thought they heard somebody outside they would run to the door with their tails wagging, waiting for daddy. It was heartbreaking to have to call them back because they didn't understand it wasn't daddy. 

Aspen being an adorable snuggle pup, both were rather clinging with daddy gone. Once he's back I'll be chopped liver compared to daddy.

With unattended pillows laying around Adi did her duty of protecting them wonderfully

It was really tender to watch and know how much they love Daddy, I know our little man will love him and miss him just as much when he goes away. I myself have coped with lots of chocolate ice cream and Netflix movies especially on my days off. And I may have cried a couple times...or a couple ten or so times. Being so far away from my sweetie isn't easy. I will be glad when he is home tomorrow morning bright and early!!!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Nursery Transformation Part II

The last serious project prior to decorating was refinishing a piece of furniture for the nursery. It is a chest of drawers that Jared's great grandma passed on that he used growing up and we thought it would be appropriate to use it for our little guy. However, it needed A LOT of work. Sanding, restaining, and new hardware to say the least. But after many hours of labor it is looking almost new.

BEFORE:


Some serious water damage from over the years

AFTER:


The stain wonderfully covered the water damage-you can't even tell it's there!

Lastly was the theme of the nursery. I had seen some really fun cool ideas from Pinterest that involved triangles, and since a geometric shape is pretty darn gender neutral but could still be something fun to play around I convinced Jared to go along with my crazy/fun ideas. I wanted one focal wall but Jared called nix on that idea since we had just spent two weeks painting the nursery, so I had to improvise. I instead decided to go get paint color papers from Lowe's and make some wall art instead. Nothing permanent or damaging.



Then I made our little mister's baby quilt out of triangles which I specifically made twin sized so he can use it as he grows up. I also will be making the bed skirt but so far incredibly happy with how his bedding turned out.

 From beginning laying out...

Sewn together front...

 All finished!

Here's the basically finished nursery. We have some small things still to get like a crib mobile, extra sheets, and a bouncer but he's basically set!

 
Crib+bookshelf. I want to have that bookshelf full of great books for him!

The laundry area+where all his clothes will be stored

At this point we're pretty much ready with the big stuff all we need is a little baby to come fill it-but not for another four weeks at least! It's definitely beginning to become more real and I'm getting more and more excited!

Monday, October 07, 2013

31 Weeks


Week:31

Weeks Left: 9

Stretch Marks: nada, which I'm very grateful for

Sleep: getting harder and harder. I wake up each time I turn over because it takes so much effort, I wake up if I'm laying on my back, and I wake up to go pee at least once during the night. But so far that's been my only real negative in this pregnancy and I'm grateful for it!

Heartburn: has definitely started to get worse, but can be controlled with a glass of milk in the AM and one in the PM, which is why I'm going through a gallon of milk a week-by myself. The funny thing is that spicy things don't irritate it as much as things that are cheesy and high in carbs. Like pizza. 

Cravings: my cravings have gotten incredibly unhealthy. Only fast food sounds good (Artic Circle in particular) which is really irregular because I normally HATE fast food places. Corn dogs, chicken fingers, pizza, and good thick fries along with fry sauce are incredibly tempting to me, which isn't what I want because I only want to gain so much weight during this pregnancy. So I'm trying to find alternative options that are more healthy.

Weight Gain: I'm up 20 lbs. which I'm sure my OB will be happy for but I'm not particularly. Another reason why I've starting watching what I'm eating more carefully because I don't want to gain more than 30lbs. total.

Clothing: I am beginning to be unable to fit into ANY of my pants or jeans (little man is laying really low). My every single day pants are leggings which I'm sorry, I know they're not technically pants but they comfy and dang it I'll wear what I want. I only have two pair and so I am currently washing them every week and definitely need to get a couple more pair.

Daddy: is probably more emotionally ready for this than mommy. But that's also because daddy works graveyards and won't be getting up with baby except on weekends. Mommy likes her sleep and is worried about loosing so much of it. However we are both very excited to welcome little one when he's ready! Only six more weeks until he's free to come anytime!!!

Love our little family!