Saturday, December 8, 2012

the one about water breaking

One of my very sweet friends came by today and told me about when her water broke. It was the middle of the night and she woke up but thought she must have just peed herself. When her water broke, it wasn't a big gush, it was a steady trickle. She told her husband and he asked what they should do. She said they had a doctor's appointment in the morning anyway so they should just wait and see what he said. They went back to sleep. She sat on a towel in the waiting room because she was still kind of leaking and her doctor told her to go to the hospital immediately. I thought this whole story was hysterical!

I was induced with S, and my water broke on its own while I was in the hospital. It was a pretty good sudden gush but I thought maybe my catheter had fallen out somehow. That got a good laugh from the nurse who checked on me. By the way, that catheter was one of my very favorite things about being admitted to the hospital. I was so relieved when I got it and I didn't have to disconnect myself from my blood pressure cuff and gather up my IV and waddle over to the bathroom. And after I gave birth, I felt like I lost 10 pounds by peeing alone but it was all with the catheter and it was glorious to not have to do anything.

Just thinking about labor and delivery types kind of things! And hoping my water doesn't break or contractions start or anything else along those lines this weekend. Back to hoping I make it to Tuesday with my next appointment and then it'll be hoping for Thursday for my c-section!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

the one where i pause for a minute

Just counting down the days now. My c-section is scheduled for 12/13 and it looks like that's really going to be the day. It's really crazy to me. S was born at 38 weeks, so this is the longest I've ever been pregnant. No pre-eclampsia, just pregnancy induced hypertension which is a lot easier to manage and something to be thankful for. I had a non-stress test and an ultrasound on Tuesday before I sat with my doctor and she hugged me and told me I looked amazing and she was proud of me for making it this far. She is more astounded than I am that when my blood pressure started creeping up it wasn't until week 35 AND although it is a bit high, it's not in the real danger zone even now. And this baby is huge. The estimate they gave me on Tuesday was 9 lbs, 3 oz. We'll see where he lands at next week!

I'm just trying to take it easy. There's some things I would still like to get done, but basically all the really important stuff is taken care of. I wish my house was a little cleaner, but it's going to have to wait or not be done by me at least. The last kind of taxing thing to do is a big grocery trip so my guys have food and easy meals while I'm in the hospital. K is going to stay with me the first night and then hold down the fort and do some S wrangling the other few days I'll be in the hospital. We are both hoping that it'll be a good chance to have a solid start to recovery from surgery and for breastfeeding. We just still have to tell both of our moms that they can't come see the baby every day while I'm there!

It's going to be weird to go from it being just one kiddo to two. I hope it doesn't take long to find my footing and that I can make sure to still have one-on-one time with S in the midst of all the time Baby C-2 will require. I know we are going to be a great family of four. I am admittedly nervous at starting this journey right in the middle of so much family visiting from California and having to decline invites to at least five Christmas events and most likely staying home on Christmas Day. It'll work out though. And we'll have a cute brand new little guy to share when we venture outside!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

the one with the revelation

I have just a few things left to do before I will feel like I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be to have this baby. Move the bassinet into my room, clean out my car and put the carrier car seat base in the backseat all ready to go, pack my hospital bag, and pack as much of S's bag as I can ahead of time. After that, I'll work on doing things like mopping and other things to make the house a bit more presentable in case people want to visit us right away.

My dad is going to pick up K on Wednesday to get the tv they are passing down to us (I love it when my parents upgrade electronics--they very often give the old ones to us or give us a very good deal on buying from them!) and then come to our house and put the crib back together and assemble the dresser we have for Baby C-2. I had kind of a meltdown yesterday that is embarrassing in hindsight but still managed to create a good outcome so two of the biggest things I was worried about making happen are actually done now (the futon is in the living room and the closet by our front door is cleared out). Clothes are sorted. Going home outfit has been selected. We have diapers and wipes. It's going to be okay.

I'm really excited that I made it to December! There was no big reason I wanted to other than it's the month of my due date. Nothing has really gone the way I was hoping it would for the duration of this pregnancy but it's all been okay anyway. Regardless of what day this little guy is born, it'll be an extra cool date since he has 12 and 12 as bookends. My next appointment is Tuesday and I'll have a non-stress test and a growth ultrasound which will help my OB tell me if we're going to make it to the scheduled c-section date of 12/13 or if we'll be meeting him a bit sooner. I'm still hoping for 12/13. It seems very close and just incredibly far away all at the same time!

My meltdown revelation yesterday was that I need to speak up a LOT more than I usually do. I am thoroughly exhausted right now and don't anticipate that changing for about six weeks at this point (at least anyway). And you know what? There is not a single person around me that has a problem telling me what they need or what they want and doing fairly well at making it happen for themselves. It's time for me to stop being the only one standing around wishing things were a bit different. I'm not planning on being purely selfish from here on out. I have a friend who is a really good host and is also amazing at kicking you out when she's done without being a jerk. That's what I'm aiming for.

I am determined that it is okay for me to disappoint people by staying home if that's what is best for my health and/or my new little guy's health. They will either understand or they won't. But I don't get two chances to recover from surgery right the first time. I also will be breastfeeding again and am hoping super hard it goes much more smoothly this time than it did with S and I need to focus on that unabashedly especially during the first couple of weeks so we can have a solid foundation.

K and I will be able to figure this out as we go. I'm not very worried about being able to speak up better because when it's for my kids, it's much easier. Hopefully that will spill over into the rest of my life and I won't fall into being "Baby C-2's Mom" and not Melissa for the first year like I did with S.

This is going to be a good month.

Hopefully I can turn my a/c back off soon!