End of the Pregnancy Blog

The bun is out of the oven! For all our current family news and updates, check out our blog http://thestuders.blogspot.com/.

Our Birth Story

It has taken awhile to get this posted because it is rare that I have two hands free these days. Here are all the details about how Desmond arrived.

It Starts
Sunday night (July 20th) before we went to bed, I noticed that my last few contractions were 20 minutes apart and actually felt a little bit uncomfortable. At 12:30 a contraction woke me up and I kept trying to go back to sleep, but they were waking me up almost every 5 minutes. Davin woke up at 2:30 and officially starting timing them. By 5 am we decided to get up and start getting ready because they'd stayed around 5 minutes apart the whole morning. We called labor and delivery at 7 am to see if we should come in or wait it out a bit. They said to wait especially since we wanted to go all natural. All throughout the day we waited for contractions to get more intense. Sometimes I'd have to pause what I was doing to have a contraction. We even walked around campus a bit to encourage things along. Of course, everyone who sees me still pregnant is like, "When is that baby coming?" This time we could say it would definitely be soon. We also took a nap that afternoon to get as much rest as possible. It was a bit hard for me to rest since every contraction was impossible to ignore.

Going to the Hospital
We went in for my nonstress test at 3:45. During one contraction baby's heart rate went down a bit so they sent me to labor and delivery to have extended monitoring. My midwife, Tom Lloyd was just ending his shift so he came in to talk to me. He said since I was so overdue anything like this is probably signaling that it's really time to get the baby out. He wanted to induce me. I was happy to tell him that I was already in early labor, and so off we went to get checked in around 6pm. Here we go! We called family and a few friends to spread the news. Gina came over and brought us dinner. They checked to see where I was at and I was 3 cm and 100% effaced. Great! Only 7 cm to go. (The longest little distance ever!)

Laboring Away
So things continued to intensify throughout the night and early morning. At 6 am on Tuesday morning they checked me and I had only progressed to 3.5 cm so they broke my water... which is a very weird feeling by the way. They found a little meconium staining. I told him not to poop before he was out, but he didn't listen to me. An hour later I was up to 5 cm. Whoohoo! Things are moving along. Contractions were getting very, very intense. I definitely couldn't move or talk when one came. At first I could relax with deep breathing, but by this point I was having to make a lot of noise to make it through. I'd focus intensely on just relaxing my forehead, hands, and feet (my tense areas) and moaning with as low tones as possible. If we were up walking around I'd lean on Davin. He and Gina were amazing at helping me through. I couldn't have done it without them.

Throwing the Birth Plan out the Window
At 2 pm they checked me again and I was only 6 cm. What? Hours of intense contractions and only 1 cm to show for it? They said my contractions probably weren't strong enough so they wanted to start pitocin. I nearly lost it at this point because I was really struggling through each contraction. They were definitely hard! I knew I couldn't take anything more intense so I'd need an epidural if we were going to do pitocin. So the all natural birth plan went out the window and they got me hooked up with an epidural. Wow. Why didn't I get that earlier? What sweet relief to not feel pain for the first time in a day and a half! I was able to sleep for 2 hours. At one point I kinda freaked out because all these people rushed into the room and they put an oxygen mask on me, had me flip to my other side, and they turned off the pitocin. Baby's heart rate had dropped from the 130's down to 80. With only 6 ccs of pitocin I had had 8 contractions one on top of the other and he was being deprived of oxygen. They got his heart rate stabilized quickly and we eventually started up pitocin again. An hour or so later I was finally to 7 cm. At 8:30 pm they checked me again and I was actually back down to a 6. My cervix was swelling shut. Our baby was going to be born by cesarean. Once I knew they were going to cut me open, I started shaking uncontrollably. They prepped me quickly and got Davin into scrubs. I was wheeled away to the operating room under all the bright lights surrounded by masked doctors and nurses. I was freaking out, but trying very hard to calm down. After some more prep they tested my feeling in my abdomen. Ouch! I could feel it! That's what I was worried about. After two more tries I was anesthetized enough for the process to begin. Davin was right by my face encouraging me all the while.

Our Son is Born
Soon I could feel the pressure of some strong tugging and I knew he was coming out. I couldn't see because of the screen they put up, but then at 9:44 pm I heard the sweetest cry ever. There was my baby boy! At that moment he was so real to me, and I couldn't help but cry tears of joy. They checked him out and wiped him down a bit and then handed him to Davin. Once he was next to me my shaking stopped, and I couldn't stop staring at him and saying, "He's amazing!" Davin went with Desmond to the recovery room and after they stitched me up (which felt like it took forever) I followed. We were finally checked into our postpartum room and showing off our boy to our parents and Gina around midnight. On July 22nd after a 48 hour journey, Desmond Eadric Danger Studer had made his entrance into the world. (9 lbs 6.1 oz, 21 inches long)

Nonstress Test

Baby missed our anniversary! Whew! We were worried that we might have to share our day with his birthday for the rest of our lives. Normally we take an overnight trip somewhere for our anniversary, but this year we celebrated by staying close to home and going to Claim Jumper. Here's to four wonderful years!

I had my first non-stress test yesterday afternoon. They monitored baby's heart rate for 20-30 minutes and he passed with flying colors. Then they did an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid levels and again, everything looked good. It was fun seeing him for the first time since February. He's much bigger now, and you could see him doing his fetal breathing and he was even sucking his thumb! He looked very content in there. The nurse confirmed that he was a boy. Funny how we start to wonder if they could have possibly made a mistake, but it was quite obvious... at least to the nurse. (It's hard to decipher those blobs.) If you use your imagination you might be able to make out his thumb sucking picture.
They took my blood pressure at the very end and for some reason it was a bit high. The nurse got the doctor to come in and talk to me. They were concerned because I'm 41 weeks and this is my first high blood pressure which they think could be a sign of preeclampsia although my urine was fine. I felt like once again I had to talk them out of rushing into an induction and explained why I'm really not due until this weekend. Man, if I hadn't been charting my cycle so that I knew I ovulated late, they'd be stressing me out right now. The doctor finally agreed that my due date is iffy so she told me to take it easy this weekend and call right away if I have any other warning signs that something's wrong. Good grief! I'm fine. They told the lady right before me that she had to go straight to labor and delivery because her baby's heart rate was dropping with contractions. Scary! (I actually had a dream last night that that happened to me.)

I hope he really does come this weekend. Too many more doctor's visits and they'll have me convinced I need induced!

New Due Date

My midwife, Tom, was surprised to see me today. I just had to smile. I showed him my October chart again to remind him why I think baby really isn't due quite yet. We talked it over and he agreed that we could be pushing it if we tried inducing in the next few days. He said if we induce before it's really time, my chances of needing a c-section are greatly increased. Precisely why I don't want to be induced! He said we could try an induction and if nothing is happening they could send me home to wait some more. Yeah, I'd rather just wait. He checked me to see how far along my cervix was. I'm now about 1.5 cm dilated... whoohoo! A whole .5 cm more! I was also effaced some, and he was trying to give it a percentage, but somehow the subject changed, and we never got back to how much effacement he thinks there is. Oh well. Basically, the point is that stuff is happening, but it's not time yet. We could keep the scheduled induction if I wanted to, and Tom even said I could come in tomorrow morning if I just couldn't wait. Wow. Tempting, but I've told myself all along that impatience isn't a good enough reason to rush the baby before he's ready. As much as I don't like it, I'll go ahead and wait. Now I need to have non-stress tests twice a week until he comes just to make sure everything's okay. That makes me feel better too. I'm pretty sure baby and I are both fine and normal, but at least we'll be checked to make sure waiting isn't a bad thing.

So, based on my calculations. Baby is due on Sunday, July 20th. I should have told everyone that due date all along so I wouldn't feel like such an oddity every time I show up somewhere still pregnant. Now... I really hope he's not late past that! Although first time babies usually are a week overdue. Ack! I don't want to think about it.

Gotta be Getting Closer

So I'm now 5 days past the doctor's due date. I told them he wasn't really due on the 10th! But they preferred to go with the ultrasound measurements over my 12 months of charting my cycle. Go figure. I just hope he shows up before they freak out that he's too overdue according to their date. I lost some of my mucus plug this morning. (Sorry if that's TMI, but you are reading a pregnancy blog.) :) Hopefully that means I'm dilating more. In some cases that can mean labor is just around the corner, although some women loose it weeks before. As with all things related to the female body, nothing is a clear science. However, I can't be too far off now. I also noticed an increase in Braxton Hicks yesterday. Some of them were even slightly uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure we'll have a baby within a week.

Due Date +1

Even though I've been thinking all along that he'd be later than the doctors thought, I am a bit disappointed to see the due date come and go. Oh well. We're still ready and waiting. Any day now!

Encouraging Baby to Come

I had another appointment yesterday afternoon. Davin was able to come this time because it was late in the day and because I made him. I saw Vicky for the second time and she tried stripping my membranes again. I was pretty nervous because I remembered the pain from last time. I almost told her to skip it, because who knows if this really does anything, you know? But it really helped to have Davin there. It also seemed easier to reach because she got it this time, and the pain was hard but wasn't unbearable. Okay, I can do this.

Vicky guesses that baby is around 8.5 lbs right now. That matches up with the 8 lb guess last week since babies gain about .5 lbs every week at the end. Of course, they can be way off in their guesses. One thing I found interesting is that baby has twisted around so his back is on my right side instead of my left. He's been facing the other way the whole time so that really surprised me. I did feel his feet on the left side later in the day which felt weird. They've always been on the right. Whatcha doin'? Maybe his twisting his way down further.

We got the induction pushed back. It's now scheduled for Saturday night, July 19th. Well, I guess it would kind of be Sunday morning since we'd go in at midnight. Weird time. What about sleeping? At least we're not planning to have him on our anniversary unless he picks that day. They'll do a nonstress test on the 17th just to check and make sure he's okay. I like that idea better. If everything looks really good, maybe I'll have them push back the induction further. We'll see. So next week something's happening every other day: Tuesday - check up with Tom Lloyd, Thursday - nonstress test, Saturday - induction (maybe).

We're doing what we can to encourage him to come. Even eating spicy food at Baiyok's, a Thai restaurant, down the street. Tara's water broke a few hours after eating there. No such luck with me... yet. We're also talking to him and telling him how great it is outside, but I don't know if he's listening. :)

T Minus 3 Days

I'm ready to get the ball rolling on having this baby!!! Patience has never been a strong virtue for me. It's hard when every thought and every conversation is about when he'll come. Even total strangers have become more vocal about my imminent delivery. I know I've been saying all along that he'll probably be late, and he probably will, but I'm hoping more and more that he'll be a little early. I've been having frequent and fairly regular Braxton Hicks for the last several days. (On Saturday I counted 9 in one hour.) I'm also getting some cramping now and then. But as ready as I might be, this baby will come when he's ready, and obviously it's not time yet. *Sigh*

Finished Glider

Here is the finished glider project. Doesn't it look much nicer? I had to remake the back several times... long story... but I'm happy with the end result. It was defnitely easier than the love seat (in the back ground). I like to sit and rock the baby, although more times than not, I end up rocking myself to sleep, so I have to be careful when I sit in it. Once baby comes, we'll take it upstairs to the nursery for those late night feedings... or maybe we'll leave it downstairs for a bit for all the daytime feedings... we'll see.

Trying not to Freak Out

Well, here I am at 38 weeks 6 days. Baby's due next week. We're definitely getting closer, and the reality of everything is starting to set in. We're all packed for the hospital and ready to go. Now it's just a waiting game.

I had my weekly appointment this morning with Tom Lloyd. I think this is the last one I'll go to by myself, because now we're starting to get into stuff like stripping my membranes and scheduling inductions, and I realized today that I need some extra support to not freak out too much.

Tom tried to strip my membranes to help produce the hormone that ripens the cervix so we can avoid an induction later on. Boy, that hurt. I wasn't quite prepared for how it would feel, and there I am all alone trying to RELAX! I need my coach! I hope I can handle labor. I did a little better the second time he went in, but he still couldn't quite get far enough to really strip the membranes well even though he was sure pushing hard and reaching far. It will help when baby's head is a bit lower so I guess we'll try again next week. This may help things along so hopefully we won't go too far past our due date. I really don't want to be induced. I'm not even due yet, and I'm already worried about induction. I just need to relax and take it one day at a time. This baby will come! Tom assured me I wouldn't be his first mom to not give birth. :)

Baby is just under 8 lbs as far as Tom could tell. (We had to wait for a contraction to pass before he could get a good feel of the baby.) I'm still only about 1 cm dilated and my cervix is soft although Tom said he wouldn't say it's really effaced yet. I think the baby's just chillin'. Just don't chill too long. Tom scheduled an induction for a week past our due date, July 17th. Yeah, that would be our anniversary. I might try to get them to bump it back just a couple days so we can give baby a little more time and so it's not scheduled on our anniversary. Hopefully we won't even go that far so we won't have to worry about it!