the day my life changed

jackson robert was born 3 weeks early, friday, march 11, 2011 at 1022 am. he was 18 inches long, 6 pounds 2.7 ounces and is absolutely perfect. i never knew love could happen so fast, to someone so tiny. i never knew i could love my husband more and more.

thursday morning around 730 i started having contractions. B went to work and was planning on coming home around lunch to stay with me but my contractions were extremely irregular and far apart so he instead worked a full day. since it's three weeks earlier than planned, he had a lot to wrap up at work and i was even supposed to start my maternity leave until monday march, 14th. i spent the day cleaning, nesting, do what i could to get ready for my baby to come. around 3pm my contractions stopped and i felt a little sad. so, i took a nap (smart, right?). i woke up a few hours later when B got home from work (the poor guy had had a long day at work on edge with this labor process) and we went to nap. and the contractions started again and the excitement came back. i had a few things we needed (like paper plates so we didnt have to do dishes when jack got here...) and went to walmart and jamba juice (a craving i had often while pregnant) while i was having contractions...which were becoming more regular.

we got home. made stuffed portabello mushrooms. watched tv. contractions became a little closer. we lay down. B slept about a half hour or so, while in between contractions, which at this point were about 8 minutes apart, i got about 16 minutes of rest and woke up with a real strong contraction. a few minutes later, laying in bed, my water broke. 11pm. strangest feeling. and then it hit me. hard. much harder than the false labor the following sunday. i felt like everything wanted to come out of me. woke up B. called labor and delivery. took a shower. contractions were close together, only a few minutes apart. gathered items for the bag which was pretty much packed already. and off we went. it was midnight.

this time i couldnt walk. we pulled up and security brought us a wheelchair. we didnt need to check in this time, they sent us right thru. i have never felt pain like this. they admitted me at 3-4 inches dilated and fully effaced. the contractions were close. the midwife actually suggested the epiderial to me based on how i was (or wasnt) handling the pain, i had planned on it anyway (knowing i handle pain badly). around 115 the epiderial was in, and it hurt less than the iv the nurse put in. the anesthesiologist was awesome, very informative, funny, and great at his job. after that the pain was almost not even there. two of my best friends came down to hang with us, liz and monique. i always thought i didnt want anyone in the labor and delivery room but they were great distractions and loved every minute of it. my mom and sister came soon after that (maybe 4am?) my brother in law and even my dad showed up towards the end. what a crowd (well, only 2 were allowed at a time).

i was starting to feel pain again and had the anesthesiologist come back. he upped my dose. i could actually still lift my legs the whole time, sort of. the pain felt more on my right side. sometime after he left, i could still feel it, worse. the nurse called him back and he called in the midewife (maggie). it was 820am. she noticed i was feeling pain outside of my contractions...checked my cervix and bam, jack was in the birth canal and had been pushing out with the contractions, she guessed for about an hour! i had no idea...hard to know when you can t reallly feel much down there.

she told me in 20 minutes we'd start pushing. i cried. im not sure why. fear. happiness. a mixture of being exhausted and up for 24 hours. B and my mom were there the whole time. i pushed for an hour and 20 minutes. for a while were werent making much progress, then the midewife turned me on my side and with 2 pushes, his head was ready to come out. they put me back on my back and within 2 more pushes, jack was born. he cried instantly. so did B. my arms shot out for him. i wanted my baby.

and thats the story of my labor, in a nutshell. so much has happened after that. but this is all i can write, for now.

here are some of his first photos for now

full term. homerun

or maybe march 11 2011...

i have a good feeling about today. sporadic contractions since 8am. keeping my fingers crossed and nesting accordingly to some radiohead and maybe my favorite movie, little miss sunshine. papa should be home from work around noon and we hope hope today is the day! hurray, go jackie, go. homerun!

 

we want to meet you little baby....

and 36 weeks 3 days

this last week was super busy busy busy for me. go go go final conference of the grant i work for. a big deal. lots of work, planning, putting together, creating, etc. i like to think of it as glorified party planning for teachers all over the state. what made this conference easier than the rest (besides that mo and i are rockstars at this by now) is having the event on our own campus. we didnt have to shove anything in luggage with weight restrictions or in a car. it was all there.

so friday and saturday were long days for anyone, including a prego. friday i was at work by 830....and by 10am my poor little sausage feet hurt. after clean up around 630pm, we all laid on the floor of the event center, exhausted. we had leftover catered lunch for dinner and waited around for 730 to set up the dance party at the hotel down the street (these teachers love their parties). i had planned on going home since i knew i'd be exhausted by B reallllly wanted to go out (poor guy we've been spending the last 7 months at home getting ready remodeling being responsible adults) and i couldn't deny him that. so he met us there and i fed him left over lunch for dinner. around 10pm (after not feeling very well with the indigestion and the constant feeling that my food doesn't digest) i felt the urge to dance. and there i was, 9 months pregnant, on a 13+ hour day, dancing, baby and all. we had a great time. and it felt nice (and heavy ahaha) i ended up going to bed around 1am.

and up again and 545 to get ready for the final day of the conference. 730am, security is having a 'priority issue' and cant open the doors yet, we have a yoga session and breakfast buffet at 8am... im exhausted. i couldnt sit thru the sessions. ended up falling alseep on mo's couch while she was checking her emails and she let me stay there. i almost missed the end, the sentimental part, of our last conference. i woke up hot and couldnt get up my bladder was so heavy! but i made the last 15 minutes..clean up and went home around 6pm. looooong days. and i got flowers from my baby.

sunday i spent mostly bumming around. not doing my weekly chores. hubby cleaned and vacuumed and everything looks just great! around 545pm, i started getting intense cramps in my lower uterus, strong painful menstrual cramps. took a bath and it helped for the time being. once i got out they started again. i switched sides, sat up laid down, drank water and they were still coming but completely inconsistent.  after 4 hours of pain that i expected to go away, i call D and she tells me i need to call labor and delivery...which i had been avoiding.

so i call and tell them its been four hours, not consistent times inbetween or the length of the pains and she tells me 'its happening now and you should take a shower and make your way in...' and im like, 'are you sure? i mean it's real low in my uterus and not consistent and im only 36 weeks and 3 days...' she says, 'yeah you probably thought you had a few more weeks but, it's time.' hubby and i are like O.O what? what? i had packed hte hospital bag a couple of weeks ago and pinned a list to it of what else needed to be added and he scrambled around and did that while i got in the shower. we hung around the house for 3 more hours, killing time, cleaning, resting, talking, getting ready, waiting. waiting for the contractions to get closer together and longer than 45 seconds. he was so excited, i couldnt help but smile through my contractions which were getting stronger. by the time we did leave, they were 50 seconds or longer and about 3-4 minutes apart. right when they tell you to come in...and now its midnight march 7th. no traffic at that hour. we joked on the drive there that we were exhausted already.

as soon as we get there, the contractions become farther apart, of course. it feels eerie, its storming, windy as heck, leaves blowing across the parking lot, a weird whistling noise, desolute. we both were like, this seems weird. hahah. the security guard makes up sign in as guests, im having contractions there, kinda laughing. we move up to floor two, thru the double doors, and back into labor and delivery check in. we get into admitting and its soooooo hottttttt. my contractions had sloooowed way down, my blood pressure was high, we were nervous and excited. it got to the point where my hubs could tell when the contraction was starting before i did. we get checked in, and the midwife comes in to check my stats. it was a trip to see and hear the contractions on the fetal monitor. his heart rate changes a bit when they start. jack was moving around a lot probably wondering what the heck was happening. so she checks my dilation and cervix and i was only one cm and my cervix was not thinned at all. we were a little disappointed. seemed so strange to have such regular contractions so close together and have to just go home! so its 2am and we go home. i take some Tylenol and we fall alseep but we dont sleep very well. hot, excited, nervous. i continued to have some pains thru the night but was so exhausted i slept thru most of it.

since we went to bed soo late, and were soo tired aaannnd had a regular check up at 845am, B didnt bother going into work at 730. while seeing dr kav we tell her our exciting night time story (which see read on my chart already) and she did another pelvic exam on me. this time, it didnt hurt so much and i was now 1.5 cm dilated and my cervix had almost completely thinned...a huge change from 1am to 9am...she was reeeealy excited for us and got us excited again! the baby could come tomorrow, or two weeks from now. but she said more than likely he'll come soon since i made such progress over night...and he is soooo looooow, i can feel it. she says i have always measured a half a week ahead of where i was week wise, so it makes him full term at 36 weeks and 4 days. she said i might not see her next week, tho she would love it if he would wait till she is on call next tuesday (also his best friend's baby's one year birthday!). and he will probably be 6 pounds, the perfect size for me.  bry and i think he will come sometime this week, maybe his weekend. she told me i could go back to work, or not, my choice. so im going in tomorrow and finish out some paper work and see how it goes from there. next monday was to be the start of my leave....

after the excitement at the dr, B went to work, exhausted and i stayed home, anxious but lazy. took a nap, did all the laundry possible, at one point telling him i wished we had 2 washers. hahaha. after making dinner, he fell asleep, poor guy, while i nested some more. then i noticed i lost my mucus plug...that keeps out bacteria, etc from the uterus. another sign of labor being on the way. i woke him up to tell him and he looks at me like my water broke, poor guy. we just want one or two more nights of full sleep.

and here i am! wow. i thought we had more time. but i guess we are ready. still need to get some things and build the crib but, ready and now we just want the little guy here, ready or not :D so excited.

cheeks

this week we hit the beginning of month 9...that's right, 4 more weeks (cross our fingers). we've moved up to seeing dr kav every week now. shes a hoot and we truly enjoy every visit with her. B has gone to every SINGLE appointment with me, for everything, minus the blood glucose test, what a GREAT husband he is. he's been so supportive of everything, all my cravings, little moments of breakdowns and desperation. he truly knows how to make me smile when i'm mad and even though i act like i hate him for it, i love him even more. he helps with the chores without me having to ask, he builds sheds for my artwork, cooks dinner on the weekdays i'm too tired, goes out to food without me and without dragging his feet, he's truly amazing and i am so very lucky. i couldn't of chosen a better partner for life.

anyway...back to the dr visit we had yesterday...we waited an hour! but she's worth the wait and is ALWAYS running late (she's popular and the head of the whole department). while waiting we had a funny visit with our social worker we see everytime we go in and she kindly reminded us that baby could come at any point now... O.O once we get to see dr kav, she asks me how i'm feeling and i tell her im puffy, tired, my stomach is the size of a yogurt container and my food doesn't digest and she goes 'isn't that fun?' ahaha. all normal signs everything is fine. we hear his heart beat, he wiggles around and makes her do a little work to get a strong reading. he's always wiggling around, i can see when he shifts and rolls his position, it's so trippy. most of the time his butt is in my right rib :) (and he wiggles it alot!) i had the nurse bring in the sonogram machine since we hadn't seen him for probably 6 weeks and actually never confirmed he was infact a boy, which crossed both our minds recently. it's funny how much harder it is to see baby when hes all crammed up in there, running out of space with only 4 weeks left. the first thing we saw were his adorable cheeks. so round. then he wiggles his nose! B and i were tickled inside. he moved his hand around in front of his face. dr checked his bottom and he IS infact a BOY...so clearly obviously and as all the weekly updates i get via email and phone applications say, he's balls have descended down...hahahaha, obviously. she went back to his face and was in awe of how big his cheeks were...and looked at me and said, he looks like you :D both B and i had puffy baby cheeks (well me, still) it was so very cool to see baby jack. i can't wait to see him in the real, but i can wait 4 more weeks...i already feel so much love for that little guy. <3 cheeks

in two weeks, i'll be on leave and getting ready for baby baby baby.

baby