Katie's birth story and why i'm afraid of #2...

So for the official announcement (i've been talking about it but haven't really made the announcement...) I'm pregnant again and due April 15th. We planned on two but not necessarily this soon. Guess God made the decision about when!

So, Katie's birth story. I know some of you already know the story, some were there but a lot of you haven't heard the full run down of my horrific time giving birth. New March Mommies, this is for you...

On March 11th (our first anniversary) I found out that I was just over the borderline for having pre-eclampsia. My doctor called me at home on Sunday morning and told me to pack my bags and head over to the hospital, I was going to have a baby. Now, had I known what I was in for I would have taken my time, had a ton to eat, watched some TV, lounged and THEN gone over. But NO, I had to rush over there, maybe I would be giving birth today and it would be over with!! I was scared to death, I cried. I knew the time was getting close but I wasn't ready to find out I'd be induced TODAY. So around noon we head over to the hospital. I get checked in and they take me to the little bed with the little curtain around it, have me put on a robe, hook me up to monitors and I lie there for a while just waiting. So the nurse comes back and asks if I know about the Magnesium. Nope, no clue! So she tells me that since I have pre-e that I will be put on an IV of Magnesium and because of that I won't be able to eat or walk and I'll have a catheter put in. OMG a catheter?! I think I was more afraid of that than actually giving birth. So eventually I get wheeled down to my room, get hooked up to every monitor known to man kind (two on my belly, a blood pressure cuff to take my pressure every 15 minutes, an IV) and then the wonderful nurse comes in to insert the catheter. okay, it wasn't as bad as I originally thought, hey at least I don't have to get up to pee!! Then the waiting begins. I am given a pill every 2 hours to get my cervix to thin out but if they show that you are having too many contractions they make you wait longer between pills. In the mean time I'm just laying in bed doing absolutely nothing. Everyone is standing over me looking at the monitor and asking if I feel the contraction the graph says i'm having, I don't. I am dying of hunger and tired of being in bed and then I find out the hospital has a killer food court, a Ben & Jerry's ice cream store and it's the only hospital in Michigan with a knitting store. But who cares because I can't enjoy them!

Sunday is over, Monday comes, no progress... One nurse tells me I can have a popsicle. This is the best popsicle I've ever eaten, I savor every bite. Around, oh i'd say 2:00 pm, an OB resident, not over the age of 14 i'm guessing, comes in with this rubber tube and tells me she's going to insert it through my cervix (barely dilated to 1) and then they'll blow it up like a balloon to simulate the head coming down. Well, this hurts like hell, i'm in pain and I tell her to get the effing tube away from me and don't come back. An hour later another OB resident comes back with the same tube, at least this time she may be 16 or so. Again, no luck getting the tube in, i'm in excruciating pain and so she decides to break my water. They tell you this doesn't hurt but i'm here to tell you it DOES hurt. It hurt bad. By this time i'm begging to just get a c-section, i'm hungry, I hate ice chips, I hate people who are not in labor, and the nurses are yelling at me because I rolled over without their permission and they had to come in the room and re-position my monitors. I'm about ready to tear the stinking monitors off. I love my baby but I was so tired of hearing a heartbeat by the time the whole thing was said and done.

Anyway, Monday around 5 my water is broken and things start to heat up. Thank GOD. I am having some contractions but not a lot of strong ones. I am continually monitored and they finally decide around oh I don't remember, maybe 9 that they could start the Pitocin. This stuff should be banned. It should be illegal. It was the most horrific pain i've ever felt. The contractions wouldn't go away. The chart said I had a break in between but I wanted to smack the person who said I wasn't currently having a contraction. It was one continuous contraction and by the time I was 2.5 cm dilated I was begging for an epidural. I was threatening everyone that I better get one and get one now, even though the nurses kept saying I'd have to be further dilated. Screw them, give me drugs. So the epidural guy comes in and puts it in. For 30 minutes i'm feeling great and then all of the sudden, why do I feel pain? The nurses think I'm crazy and the epi is working just fine but i'm here to tell you it wasn't. I felt every twinge of pain, every contraction. The only thing feeling good was my right leg. I have to say though that between 10 when I got the epi and 11 pm, I had dilated to 10 and was ready to push. And when I say ready to push, I mean READY TO PUSH. But nope, can't push. They didn't expect me to go that fast so they had to page the doctor. It took him a long, drawn out 40 minutes to make it to the hospital and i'm sitting there feeling like i have a bowling ball trying to make it's way out of my body.

Fortunately I only pushed for 1.5 hours, although it was very painful and there was some really odd horrible pain on my left side. I was crying and moaning and in horrible pain. I pushed like there was no tomorrow even though I hadn't eaten since Sunday morning. At 1:19 am Katie emerged and I was the happiest person on earth. Oh but it doesn't end there. After 1/2 hour of trying to get the placenta out, and it wasn't coming out, the dr stuck his whole arm up into my uterus to try to get it out. If you think child birth hurts, this hurt just as badly. With no luck, I had to be rushed in for an emergency D & C. By 4 am I was done, back to my room and not able to see my new baby until morning. Very sad.

So here's what I learned: 1) Childbirth classes are only to give you the illusion that you can handle child birth and do silly things like breathing to take the pain away (it doesn't work) 2) If you have to be induced, don't rush to the hospital. 3) Your body can really endure a lot of pain and agony and you will live!!

So why am I doing this again???

Steak update!

So my wonderful husband decided to stop at the store on the way home yesterday and pick up 2 big and juicy NY strip steaks for dinner. He BBQ'd them and they were wonderful!! So I finally got my steak!

In other news...For most of the day yesterday I couldn't even keep water down. I lost count of how many times I threw up and I felt awful. It was a migraine that turned horrible and yesterday was tough. I think the steak was the first thing I was able to keep down and I was glad to finally be able to eat. Nothing like throwing up after every drink of water!!!

My addiction to Subway...and I still want a steak

This is horrible, I am hungry. I am so hungry I could sit and eat all day. I am going to break 200 lbs by the time this baby is born! I have never felt such an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. Today's lunch was Subway. And if I could, I would eat there every single day. I love Subway. I love picking out my toppings and my bread and eating that delicious sub with a small bag of chips. I should really go for the footlong but honestly, I don't need to look 6 months pregnant when i'm only 8 weeks! Anyway, I need to stop this, I need to exercise but can't (see yesterday's post!). I need to be hospitalized for my addiction :-).

Oh ya, and I still want that steak!

In other news, the boys went back to school yesterday. I really don't know how it went because when you ask them they say "fine". They really don't feel like taking the time to give details and they probably don't know any details to tell anyway. They go to school, they come home, they have skateboarding on the brain.

Katie is doing well and is sitting up all by herself now. She can sit for quite some time. I can't wait to get her weighed too, she must be nearing 20 lbs. That girl is heavy and my back is killing me. She still hates tummy time, doesn't roll around and has no intentions of moving to get a toy. She has started a new thing where she'll cry if the toy becomes out of her reach and of course who is there to give it back to her? Yup, me.

I am tired...

The title says it all...I Am Tired. I completely forgot what this first trimester crap feels like. I am exhausted, I feel like someone came and stole all of my energy and threw it away, I feel like I need to sleep for days and days. And of course I can't. Life was easy when I was pregnant and didn't have a baby to take care of already. I could come home from work and take a 2 hour uninterrupted nap, I could sleep in on the weekend and try to catch up on sleep, I could lounge on the couch and not worry about making bottles, washing bottles, packing the diaper bag, entertaining a fussy kid, carrying her heavy load around, etc... Don't get me wrong, I love her to death and am glad every day that she is here. I just want to sleep! Fortunately, because God must love me and because Nana must feel bad for me, I have a very good baby who sleeps through the night and who goes to bed early and who rarely gets very upset. And I thank God every day that is the case. There is a lady in my parenting group who was in tears at the last meeting because her baby doesn't stop crying, NEVER stops crying, he's allergic to everything under the sun and she can't keep him happy. I don't know how she hasn't gone over the edge, I really feel for her. I keep hoping that what "they" say is a bunch of crap too...that your second baby is the opposite of the first. If that is the case, i'm going to be severely punished.

Other than being tired, I have a gaping hole in my stomach begging to be filled with loaves of bread, bowls of pasta, boxes of popsicles and whatever else is in the house. I'm also craving a steak. I want a steak so badly I can almost taste it. I want a tender, juicy, thick filet with a side of mashed potatoes. I would give anything for my husband to say "hey, let's go to any steakhouse of your choice and get you a steak!!". Maybe for my birthday, but i'll have to wait a month for that. Other things on my wish list this week are for the excruciating pain in my back to go away. I think I have a pulled muscle and it isn't going to get any better carting around a probably 17 lb baby. I swear, i'm about ready to go to an acupuncturist and get some work done.

Ah but I have to laugh...this is the easy part. Just wait until i'm 32 weeks pregnant, can't sleep, can't roll over, have gigantic feet, don't have clothes that fit, have perpetual heart burn and am praying to God the baby won't go over the due date. And then it'll be born and I won't ever sleep again.

Working is for the dogs...

So i'm at work and should be working. It is month end and I have a billion things to get done so I can not work this weekend and stop stressing. And I don't need the stress right now! But you know, it is the "lunch hour" and who wants to work when it is 12:15! Anywho...I haven't been feeling very well lately and my migraines have returned. I've only had a couple but a couple within a few weeks, which is two too many in my book. The doctor was oh so kind enough to give me Vicodin but on Monday when I took it I threw up my not yet digested three taco supremes from Taco Bell. I just love throwing up too. I have Matt standing outside of the door asking if he can help (don't get me wrong, it is very nice of him!!), I have the dog trying to sniff my butt, the cat trying to jump onto the toilet seat. I suppose when you live in a full house you just don't get to barf in peace. But thanks to Matt for bringing the glass of water to wash the chunks down :-). And BTW...Taco Bell isn't so good the second time. Otherwise i'm perpetually sick to my stomach but this too shall pass...

So the boys go back to school next week! Yay for me. I really don't mind them being at home but there is something to be said about the opportunity to be alone for a while. Katie is there but she doesn't do much and I don't have to close the bathroom door when it's just the two of us. I have big plans though, i'm going to get my exercise videos back out and try not to gain 40 lbs again, i'm going to hop on the treadmill and get some walking in. And in reality i'll probably just try to relax, sleep when I can and pick up the clutter that is driving me nuts.

Seriously though, I do need to exercise. I'm back on my French dip kick and i'm horrified of contracting pre-eclampsia again. I'm already having nightmares that i'm in the delivery room and the memories are way too fresh for my liking. I'm not sure what's better; not knowing what to expect, or knowing exactly just how bad the pain is?! I think i'd rather not know and be surprised!! Too late though, the deed is done and i'm in this for the long haul.

So my little chub-a-lub is still not too interested in becoming mobile. She can, however, sit up pretty well and play for a bit of time before tipping over. She still eats from a spoon very well and is definitely more interested in grabbing at the spoon (still with her left hand I might add!!!). She isn't too into her bottle anymore so that makes feeding time a lot more fun. Last night she wouldn't go to bed so Matt got her out of the crib and decided to play with her. It was so adorable, he had her on his shoulders and was running around singing various songs (including the MI State fight song I might add). Her little head bobbing as he marched around was hysterical and she found it to be quite a funny experience. I'll have to drag out our old school, still uses tapes, video camera and take some video of her. So anyway, after he got her riled back up, her eyes as big as quarters, he decided it was time to put her back in bed. Thank God she fell asleep pretty quickly.

Well, I think that's it for today. I suppose I should get back to work so I can actually get things done and be off for a long 3 day weekend!!!

My plot to save the world and our trip to Indy

Since i'm just filled with tons of free time I thought i'd take a minute to update Katie's blog. You all must be getting bored with loggin on and finding the same old post from weeks ago there! I wanted to share some pictures of Katie's new diapers. I have decided for many reasons that it is time to switch her to cloth diapers. They should be way cheaper in the long run, easier on the environment, easier on her bum and way more fun to buy! So far I only have some prefolds that i'm not super excited about and one pocket diaper (pictured with the duckies on it) that I love.
Who would have thunk that I would spend hours online searching for cloth diapers? Just call me crunchy.

We also took a trip to Indy to take Katie to see grandma and grandpa. We had a really great time there and Katie had tons and tons and tons of toys to play with thanks to grandma's addiction to garage sales :-).

Unfortunately we had a very short time to be down there but at least we got to visit. Katie has also found her feet and can grab them pretty well now!! She grabs her feet and rolls to the side all the time now so she's learning new tricks everyday!! Well, I think that's about it for updating everyone on Katie. She continues to do very well and grow and thrive and eat really well from a spoon!

Just too busy!!

So it has been over a month since I last posted! So much for doing this to keep everyone up to date. The biggest news I have to share is that I went back to work part time. I still have mixed feelings about it but i'd say that I do actually enjoy the ability to leave the house a few times a week. And I have to say it makes me appreciate the time I have with Katie a lot more! Currently I work 2.5 days per week and then work 4 days at month end. I finally feel back to normal at the office, although some days I find it hard to concentrate and get things done!

As for Katie not a whole lot to update everyone on. She has rolled belly to back and back to belly a couple of times but she's not doing it all the time. She does like tummy time a little bit more and she's starting to push herself WAY up on her hands. She gets herself up so high that she almost tips over. Pretty funny to watch. OOOH and how can I forget this, she's now eating solid foods. I started her at about 4 months. I was a bit apprehensive but the doctor told me to give her food. She actually eats from a spoon like a champ and i'm happy to report that when she grabs the spoon she does it with her left hand!! Not sure what hand she'll prefer but so far it looks promising that maybe we'll have another lefty in the family. So far Katie has eaten Bananas (her favorite), green beans, sweet potatoes and rice cereal. She hasn't not liked a food yet so i'm sure eating will be one of her favorite things to do. She gets so excited when she sees the spoon!! (and thanks to Aunt Alicia for the cool spoons!!!)