Holly is here!

Holly's Birth Story

   Holly was born almost 3 weeks  early on May 16, 2015.  We weren't expecting her to come early, but she decided she was ready!  This is how the day unfolded:  

     Friday morning I woke up for work like it was a usuall work day.  I had been having pre-labour symptoms for three nights in a row, but it was considered very normal.  I went to Ridge View and taught my morning orchestra.  After orchestra I called the doctor because I had been asked to watch for vision changes that may mean pre-eclampsia.  My blood pressure has always been really good, so it was more just a precaution.  The other day I had some blurry vision, but thought it was just because I was super sleepy.  My hip pain had kept me up really good.  Then, Thursday night I had one of those flashes where you see lights.  It was really short, so I though it was probably nothing and could wait until the morning to let the doctor know.  So, the doctor asked me to go in to the lab for some bloodwork to be safe.  I ran to the TLC at Lourdes hospital next to our house.  While there they drew my blood and had me doing a urine test.  As I was having testing done, Holly had the hiccups.  She gets them  a lot!  She was hiccupping as I did my urine test and right after I finished I had some extra liquid come out.  I paused, a little weirded out.  I wondered, was that my water breaking?  Or, did I just have a urine leak like  I hear can be common?  I didn't know what happened and left the hospital.  I needed to head to work, but decided to go back home for just a few minutes to see if anything else weird was going to happen.  As I got home, I felt like I needed to use the bathroom again and right as I was sitting down, woosh!  Another bit of liquid came out without my control.  At that point I was thinking, this really could be my water breaking!  So, I called the doctor back and was told to hed to the birth center to be tested.  I grabbed last minute things for the hospital bag just in case this was really it.  I gave Kiara extra water and food, then drove myself to the Birth Center.  On the way I called Anthony and I told him, I don't know if this is really it, so you dont need to come right away.  I was having big doubts, but he said he would meet me still.  After hanging up (by the way, it was bluetooth ;-)) I started having more liquid leak.  By the time I got to the hospital, I was like, uh, I think this really is it!  Anthony met me and we went up to the birth center where they did a test and examined me and found out my water did break!  Holly's big hiccups were my guess as to what the cause was.  I was admitted to the hospital and the countdown began.   After your water breaks, you are given 18 hours to deliver. If they wait longer than that, the risk of infection is too high.  I did have some contrations starting, but my doctor was concerned they weren't enough with the time table in mind.  I was told I would be getting pitocin to speed things up.  I really didn't want pitocin, so I asked if I could have just a little bit of time to walk aound and see if I could naturally speed things up.  They said I could have about an hour, so after my first round of antibiotics, I walked the halls.  After checking back in, my contractions still weren't where they wanted them to be in terms of consistency and my time was up, so pitocin was given.  From what I heard of pitocin, once you get it, you're probably going to want an epidural.  My original birth plan was to come in with an open mind, but to try to keep things as natural as possible.  Basically, the fact that my watr broke first set in an entire line of interventions I was hoping to avoid.  As time passed, my pitocin dose was upped every so often until the contractions were where they were supposed to be.  Each time the dose went up the contractions got more and more painful.  I couldn't move much since I had to be monitored the entire time. Walking had been great with my early contractions.  I was having touble relaxing with the contractions, so after several hours and much debate and turmoil with myself, I went ahead and got the epifural.  We had actually met the anesthesiologist earlier when I was walking and he introduced himself and talked a lot about the epidural if i did want one.  Meeting him had helped with my comfort in deciding to go ahead and get one.  He ws great and I didn't really feel a thing.  And ooooh, the relief!  I could finally reax and let my body keep going with the labor instead of tensing up and working against myself.  As time passed I began feeling more of the cotraction creep back in, but they were quite manageable.  Finally, arouond 11pm the doctor came in to actually check me and I was about 5 cm dialated.  When I was checked an hour later, I was at a 10!  So, I went through the last 5 cm in about an hour.  It was finally time to start pushing sometime after midnight.  I was so ready for this to be ll over since I was about 12 hours at the hosptial at that point, exhausted, and oh, so, so, so hungry.  Well, this is where things didn't work out so swel either.  I pushed for a half hour, but Holly was in a little crooked, so they had me stop, rest on my side, and try to get her to turn.  About a half hour later, back at it I went.  I ended up pushing for about 2 hours total I think between the pauses they made me take. THe epidiural was not working and it was so incredibly painful.  I remember thinking, isn't this supposed to be the relief part?  i always heard pushing felt better.  Anyway, finally the doctor came in to see what was going on and he told me that he could give me 20 more minutes to try to push, but that with the angle Holly was at, he would be using the vaccuum and there was a chance her shoulders would get stuck.  I really didn't want a c-section, but I was so exhausted at that point.  I had also told myself before being in labor that if it ever came down to risky or a more traumatic experience for Holly, I'd rather have the c-section.  So, the decision was made and surgery prep began.  The actual operation I was so numb, that I didn't even realize they had started surgery until I heard the comment, you might feel pressure.  I knew that meant they were about to get the baby!  Then, next thing i knew I heard her crying!  Anthony was able to stand up and see them pull her out, then they whisked her away to be cleaned up.  Anthony was with her for the first assessment in the operating room,then they brought her to me so I could see her.  I remember being so tired I just gave her a kiss.  I don't think I said anything, then Anthony carried her back to our hopsital room for furthur clean uo and whatever else they did there while they finished up with me.  Then, they wheeled me back to the room where I finally got to hold Holly myself.  We ended up staying in the hopsital for 4 days.  An extra day was given because Holly had jaundice bad enough she had to be under the bili lights for about 24 hours.  She had gotten a big bruise on the back of her head from all of the pushing that can make jaunduce worse.  I am still waiting to hear from the doctor himself at my next appointment, but it sounds like Holly was just stuck and pushing into my pubic bone, so that is probably why pushing was so painful and why her head got so bruised.  Luckiy it healed up really quickly! It's funny how she got stuck despite being so small!  Her stats were: born at 5:01 am weighing 6 pounds and .03 ounces at 18 inches long.

Some really fun things and facts about Holly that I learned in her first weeks are:

1. She snorts when she cries hard

2. After her first sneeze she cried

3. When hungry, she did this head bob thing that reminds me of a shark or parana coming in to attack their food

4. If she sneezes several times in a row and it feels good, she does an ahhhh sound that is really cute

25 Weeks

This last week got a bit crazy!  But it ended well with my first trip to Blue Mountain near Dayton, WA.  Last Friday, I was bumped in the stomach by a student.  This shouldn't normally cause any issues, especially when it's a little guy bumping me, but I just kept having really weird feelings and even felt sick as I tried to finish my teaching day.  I called my doctor who had me go to the birth center.  That had me nervous, but as I was trying to get to the hospital during rush hour Friday night traffic, I started getting contractions.  I had felt them before, but these were stronger than the other ones I had felt, so still a little scary, but kept telling myself your probably making a big fuss out of nothing.  It's just coincidence and they're just normal practice ones.  At the hospital, they put me on a monitor and I could hear the little girl moving around a lot and her heart beat was good.  It ends up I was having mild contractions, so they had me drink water and wait a little longer.  Finally, I was given ibuprofen to help calm the uterus down and was discharged with instructions on what to watch for.  It took about 24 hours of rest, but I was finally feeling better after that time.  Since then I have had to be really careful and rest a lot more.  For a few days I could only be on my feet for a little bit or else I would start feeling the Braxton hicks coming back.  If I lay down they calm down, and that's what doctors asked me to do, so I've had to be out sick from parts of my jobs this week just to make sure I get enough fluids and don't have the contractions start again. I'm supposed to drink 8oz water every hour, which is really hard in my job when you get a few hours In a row of back to back classes of mainly direct instruction with little ones.  I think Friday was made worse because the kids were not being their best selves and didn't give me a chance to relax, so I am trying to put me and baby first and step back a little this week which is hard because I have concerts in two weeks.  It is really helping though.  I drank over 120 oz of water already today and I was able to space that water out better so it's not 16oz every two hours, but really 8 within every hour.  That does seem to help too.  Can't just chug it all at once.  Anyway, on to pictures from our mountain trip.  Anthony gets one day off a week, so we went up Saturday after his work.  We stayed at a hotel in Dayton, then went to the mountain on Sunday.  I found a soft chair in the window of the lodge and was able to just rest up and enjoy the view all day.  It was really relaxing and fun to watch all the skiers!  

In hotel.  I am 25 weeks and 3 days in both of these photos.

Very modern and new hotel!

Just before the mountain opened in the morning!

Looked like last minute grooming.

Anthony waving.

Up he goes!

Getting skis after lunch.

There he goes!

Baby Post

So, I have been meaning to keep track of our little girl through posts on a somewhat regular basis, but here I am at 23 weeks and I haven't posted once!  Life is just too busy sometimes, but I wanted to make some time before she got here!  So here are some things I had been thinking in my head of writing down so we'd remember or be able to share it with her later:

Finding Out I Was Pregnant

We knew we were wanting to start a family around age 30, so I spent a lot of time in the last year working on my health.  I wanted to be healthy just for me too, so I spent many hours weight training and even hired a personal trainer.  The weight training seemed to really work for my body to final reduce my body fat percentage.  I had tried different cardio workouts and interval workouts, but the weight training finally helped  the most!  I'm thinking all that work helped and we were quiet blessed we found out we were having our little girl so soon this last summer.  I found out on September 20th that I was pregnant.  It was a faint little line on the test, but it was pink!  I told Anthony not in any crazy-cute way how some people do.  I just came out of the bathroom and marched to the kitchen humming a silly march tune/fanfare and showed him the test.  He wasn't so convinced by the little pink line as I was, but I repeated the test with a different brand two days later and it was a solid cross!  

First Ultrasounds and HcG Tests

I started with a doctor's office that wanted to do the blood tests to be sure I was pregnant.  The HcG tests all came back positive, so they also scheduled an early ultrasound to help verify that I was pregnant and to help solidify how old our baby really was.  The first ultrasound was a little nerve racking because you want to make sure there's a baby for sure!  They did see a gestational sac and the yolk sac, but no baby yet.  That had me even more nervous!  But, see the little bright spot at the bottom of the yolk sac?  In my mind, that was her!  

So, I went back in a few weeks later to make sure there really was a baby.  Anthony came with me this time and there we saw her!  Her heart was beating and everything was looking okay.  That moment of seeing her with that heart beating away even as a fetal pole really made Anthony and me feel like this was really happening.  Our first due date had been May 22, but this ultrasound changed it to June 10th.....way farther away!

At this time I was doing research into doctors an decided to switch to a highly recommended doctor by both people in the community and nurses.  I also liked the idea of a single doctor and not a team of ten.  I felt like the team was too much of a gamble. After we switched to this doctor, they did their initial check up and went over their plan.  They often do an early ultrasound at 10 weeks since that is usually the best time to date.  We had that ultrasound done on November 5th and I think that was my favorite ultrasound so far!  I have loved seeing pictures of her every time, but this was the first time we saw her looking like a real baby.  Right when the picture came on the screen she was all there wildly kicking away.  It was so cute to see her little legs just going back and forth.  At this doctor they also put images onto a CD for you, so we were able to bring home more than one picture including the 3d one!  So far, she seems to be a trouble maker when it comes to ultrasounds.  She is often facing away or in a tricky spot to be seen, so we got a back shot instead of her face, but I still think it is really cute.  At this ultrasound the put her due date to June 3rd and it has stayed there since.  That put her at just in 10th week.

Finding Out She was a She

On November 24 we had our nuchal translucency scan.  Everything in that scan was looking good and healthy thank goodness, so I asked the doctor if she could tell if it was a boy or girl yet.  I had heard that sometimes good ultrasound techs are able to tell around the 12 week mark and I was supposed to be 12 weeks and 5 days.  Our little girl kept her legs in the way, but the tech said she was leaning girl, but she couldn't say for sure yet.  At this appointment we also decided to do the Panorama genetics test which will also tell if it is a boy or girl since we found out it would only be a max of $25.  (They still sent me a bill for $5,000, but I was forewarned of this.  I called them up and I send them the $1000 check that insurance wrote to me.  I was still really nervous and ready for a fight saying I am not paying the rest of the $4000 when I was told a max of $25.  They said though, well lets, look at your discounts, oh, you a patient of this doctor?  Okay, if you just send $25, that will settle your account.  Crazy,huh?!)  Anyway, a week later I got a phone call and learned that everything was looking great genetically and that it was....a GIRL!

I wanted to do something cute to let Anthony know so I went shopping and put this cute outfit in a box for him to open when he got home.  He found out it was a girl when he opened the box!  

It's a good thing we did do the blood test as well otherwise we would have been wondering for a really long time and would not have received the cute pink baby items we did at Christmas!  At her anatomy ultrasound on January 9th, our little girl was sitting in a way that made it really hard to get all the images they needed including being sure it was a girl, but they did say they never had a blood test go wrong in determining if it was a boy or girl.  Since she was blocking images of her hands and umbilical chord, I was going to need to do another ultrasound at my next visit.  They also wanted to look at her hearts again at the next visit just to be safe since I was born with the slight hole that repaired itself.  

We just had that ultrasound done yesterday and everything looked great!  She still made it hard to get perfect shots, but they saw what they needed to and everything is looking good.  They tried to do realistic images for me too, but the tech said they are usually best at the 30 week mark.  It was still really neat to see what images she could capture!  This is usually the last ultrasound unless there is a need to check the baby later.  It is really neat to see how much she has grown in just a month!  

How I Am Doing

It has been interesting to see how I am changing!  I was quite the bloater during the first trimester.  I looked really big really fast, but luckily that died down during the second trimester.  I was really lucky and didn't get morning sickness the way some gals can.  I did get really strong food aversions and it was getting to the point where I didn't know what I was going to be able to eat by the end of the first trimester because after I ate something, the thought of eating again was horrible!  My belly really started turning into a real belly in December and I have been working maternity clothes all the time since January.  I have been trying to keep up with exercise to keep my body strong and becauseit is  supposed to be really good for baby.  I started having problems with my hips hurting at night towards the ed of December at night.  I tried several tricks including buying a more specific knee pillow.  That didn't seem to change the hip pain, so I also tried a second pillow (my old knee pillow) under my ankles too.  While it felt nice, it didn't help the problem, plus my problem was with the hip I was sleeping on.  I finally ordered a fancy pregnancy pillow that raps all the way around you and helps keep you supported in the hips so you don't twist.  I think I was twisting.  My doctor also referred me to physical therapy to help.  He had mentioned it once before if my tailbone was bothering me.  So, I have been going to therapy for about a month now and I just started getting a good nights sleep again as a result.  I had a month of not sleeping well and I still need to spend some time sleeping sitting up to let my hips rest, but last night I stayed laying down the entire night!  So, I think it is finally getting better.  I have had to really back off my exercise routine and change how I move through the day.  It can be frustrating at times, but I see it paying off, so it is well worth it.  My pelvis was just getting so loose that the sides weren't staying in line.  Often my right hip would slip backwards, so now I do hip adjustments a couple times a say on top of specific exercises to help with stability of those joints.  I also wear a sciatic belt most of the time to help hold my hips steady.  The other thing that I was going to write down was that I am feeling her move around!  I think I was actually feeling the first flutters around 15 weeks.  I remember one night laying in bed and trying to sleep when I felt her fluttering in their.  I kept second guessing myself until the end of December when I was sitting on the couch one evening and she either punched or kicked me two times in a row.  There was no doubt it was her!  It felt like something poked me twice!  It made me giggle, it felt so silly.  Since then, I have been feeling her more and more.  It is neat to see how she gets stronger and moves more.  I read that I should start to feel her routine her soon so I can keep track of her movements better. Here are some photos of me (I am photo shy so I haven't been very good about sharing them or even taking them every week, but I know I will enjoy looking back on them later!)