J's Birth Story...Part II

Sunday comes and goes with no major events. I had Braxton Hicks, but nothing I worried about.

Monday.

Monday sucked.

I was all pumped up when I got up because it was going to be my last Monday for 12 weeks!! I may have even been on time to work?

I sit down at my desk and boom. Contractions.

I ignored them because well... had them Saturday too..and nothing happened.

10 minutes later...had some more.

They were short and irregular.

I was in Amanda's room complaining..."Ya know. I'm not having this kid naturally...I don't *need* to have contractions to get ready. I don't think my body got the memo."

Apparently I was being a baby all day because every time I saw someone they would ask me if I was ok.

I was in a conversation with Amanda and got another round. She kept talking and I tried really really hard to just focus on what she was saying. I don't think I did a good job because as soon as it was over she asked "Did it pass?"

Opps. I don't think I hide pain very well...

I decided maybe I should start writing them down and keeping track just to be sure. All day I thought about Heather who had contractions all day at work...and then it carried on at her house. I won't tell her birth story...but it definitely could have just happened to us!

So I downloaded an app to keep track. Ya. That was worthless. It's hard to hit that start stop button when you have to unlock your phone every time. Doesn't really make it very accurate. Instead I used this thing called....a pen and paper.

The contractions weren't hard and I could talk through most of them. Although I didn't want to. They were not consistent and not long at all.

Walking really sucked. I tried to not do it.

I knew I must be looking bad if my boss kept offering me people to do all my errands that involved moving from my desk. He asked me a few times why I was still at work. I was definitely debating changing my end date to Wednesday so I could just relax on Thursday before surgery.

I knew I *had* to go to Target on my break. We were out of NutriGrain bars, bread, and milk. 3 staple items in my house. One of which causes major tantrums in the morning if we don't have.

Have you ever had to walk through Target while having contractions and a baby sitting on your bladder? I mean...it wasn't the most enjoyable of Target trips. I'm surprised I didn't break the plastic handle on my cart with how hard I was squeezing it.

Like I said.....I have a very low pain tolerance I guess.

So I went to Target for those 3 items and left with $100 in random crap that I thought we really needed. I had to laugh at myself when I really looked at my cart...and then updated my status. "Either there is a blizzard coming or I am having a baby this week!" My cart was seriously like a dooms day cart. I panicked that we wouldn't have enough fruit snacks and juice. Grabbed 3 boxes of cereal we like. Market Pantry nutrigrain bars were on SALE and CARTWHEEL! Boom. Bought 8.

Got back to work with just enough time to put my milk and such in the fridge.

I enjoyed my afternoon of Braxton Hicks. Got pretty much all of my important stuff done for when I'm gone.

5:56: I remember I have groceries in the fridge and go get them. Big win for me. Remembering I have stuff in the fridge at work.

5:58pm: I was annoyed at how many kids were still there when we close at 6. I figured I should take my 800th trip to the bathroom for the day. We live about 30-40 minutes away from KJ and that is a long painful drive when you have to pee.

5:58.34: I get outside my office and a terrible contraction starts. I turn to head back to my chair so I could sit through it. Then I get a entire stomach tightening, hard, yelp in pain contraction...and a gush.

My water broke. At work. Awesome.

I run in the office to get my purse. Well, I didn't run...3 of my coworkers were in there and I asked Whitney to put away my groceries. I wasn't going home for either a few hours or a few days so best not to take it. I think I explained to them my water broke and we all freaked out. 

I remember them going, "ohmygod..is this it!? Should we drive you to the hospital?!" I think that is what they said at least. I think my response was, "Fuck. Call my husband."

Which was stupid to say because none of them have Thane's number, my phone has a lock on it, and I wasn't sure if they would look under P's account in our system to get it.

I'm walking to the bathroom when another coworker comes out holding a picture day form "Pam!! What do I do with this? Do I keep it? Do I have the teachers keep it? Do we file it?"

"I DON'T know! I am really not concerned about that right now!!" Speaking of that...can someone tell her that I was going to have my baby soon..I wasn't trying to be a bitch?

I go the bathroom, come back, grab my purse and say "Well, I'm leaving." Thank god they were there so I didn't have to worry about closing up for the night.

They kept offering me to drive me to the hospital, but that would be silly because then how would they get home? So I had Nicki help me take some stuff to my car and headed out.

I called Thane, crying, a lot. I was in pain...and heading to the hospital alone.

He was thankfully at home with Parker. He told me to let him know what the doctors said and he would be right in. My mother in law was coming to stay with Parker just in case...but I think we both had the mentality that this could be a false alarm again. He didn't want to head in and leave Parker if he didn't need to. Which was totally fine because I was thinking the same thing. Although, he did finish packing up our bag. 

You are supposed to call the your doctor first and then wait for their call to head to the hospital but ya. We live far away. I felt I was in labor. Zero chances of me heading home and waiting for their call. I still called....I just happened to be on my way to Meriter while waiting for a call back. 

I called my mom on the way to let her know and started to cry. Not because I was in pain or nervous about having J. I was nervous that I wasn't in labor. Again. I would feel like a total asshat if I went in again and had to go through the test etc and wouldn't leave with a baby. Again. 

Thank God it wasn't rush hour. Thank God I only had 2 minor contractions while driving. Well, once I got to the parking garage I had a pretty intense one. 

I had apparently missed the doctor's call and had to call back. So I sat in the lobby and waited for my phone call. 

J's Birth Story, Part 1

This story begins on Saturday morning....at 130 am.

I woke up with contractions. I lay in bed deciding if I should wake Thane up or not.

no no...wait. Let's go back to Friday night. I freak out and make Thane help me clean the whole house because I am convinced I am going to have J that weekend. I told my coworker I probably wasn't coming in on Monday because he was coming this weekend.

So Friday night, we cleaned, packed our bags, and got some last minute things done.

Saturday morning when I woke up, I panicked.

I hadn't checked over Parker's bag yet. It was going to be 70 on Sunday and all I had packed were clothes for cooler weather.

I had 2 bills to pay that would be due on Monday.

I had to get my makeup bag together.

I had to unload the dishwasher. 

Did all that in like 20 minutes...I then proceeded to crawl back in bed after I convinced myself that I was not have real contractions.

I was in and out of bed from that moment til about 3am. Checking to see if my water broke. Thinking about what we forgot to pack. Walking the hallway. Debating if I should call my mom to come be with Parker.

At 3 my better judgement..the rational side of my mind... kicked in and I fell asleep.

P and I woke up at 8:30. Thane had gone to work.

I was helping P in the bathroom when I felt my water break.

So. Call the doctor. Call Thane. Call my mom.

I had time to take a shower because Thane had to get home first and my mom had to get to our house.

Thane got home while I was drying my hair and he came bursting in our room. He saw me and exhaled. He informed me he was convinced the entire way home that he was going to get in the house and Parker would be playing with his trucks...and I'd be having the baby on our bedroom floor. When he saw me standing. drying my hair, he could breath again. 

An hour later...

we had taken a last family of 3 picture.

had our car packed. 

we had Parker and Bernie settled in my parent's car.

we were on our way to the hospital.

I asked Thane how he didn't wake up at least one of the 800+ times I got out of bed last night. He told me it was actually the best nights sleep he has had in weeks. I couldn't help but laugh at how appropriate that was considering we wouldn't have a good night's sleep for the next.....18 years.

So we head it. Driving to the hospital to have your baby is a lot different when you aren't sobbing because it is 5 weeks too early.

We get there. Check in. Yada yada.

My nurse informs me that we need to do a test to see if my water did in fact break. "I have to stick this Q-Tip in your vagina. It will feel scratchy. I have to hold it there a minute."

My response? "Oh?? Only a minute?!"

She looked at me to see if I was being sarcastic or not...which of course I was and laughed, "Ya....its a super long awkward minute...for everyone."

My doctor was at Meriter that weekend on call so she came in to give me my results. "Good news? You can eat!!!! Bad news...no baby."

I felt like I had been punched. 

No baby? Thane had just talked me into being ok with him coming early. I was excited about finally holding him. I hadn't eaten in like 15 hours! I was ready to go.

I was so bummed and told Thane as he hugged me "I wanted a baby today."

He told me.." we still have a baby. We just can't meet him yet."

That snapped me out of it. We were lucky enough to still have a healthy baby inside me...growing and getting stronger. Not everyone has that. 

Not only did I feel like an idiot for thinking I was in labor, now how was I going to know when I WAS in labor??

It took so much to convince me this time that I was in labor, next time it would be damn near impossible for me to make myself go in. 

Worry Wart

It hit me this morning. 

I woke up at 6, 15 minutes early, and the first thought I had was "Something is wrong."

I thought about it for a minute and realized I hadn't felt Baby J much yesterday. The nurses always ask about kick counts. I fib and tell them I do them. 

I don't. I know he moves. He moves enough for me not to worry about it and keep track. Well at 6 am this morning I was really pissed at myself that I don't keep such counts. I tried to create a bit of an earthquake for him...which is super uncomfortable for me. Knowing there was NO way I was going to get back to sleep I decided to get up and get ready. I would have time to lay on my side then and get him to move. 

I get back to bed...lay on my side...poke the belly a bit. Nothing. I roll over, which took like a whole minute to make happen. Maybe something?

Seriously? I know it's early buddy but come on. Wake up. 

I was thinking about his most active times. They are about 10:30pm and 1:45...am. Weird how I miss those kicks. Is it possible to sleep train your kid while in the womb? Cause....ugh. 

So I google "How to get kick counts at 36 weeks." That was stupid. The 3rd article down is titled..."How kick counts saved my baby's life." Ya, I didn't read that one. 

After about 20 minutes I had felt slight movements, and I had to get up. I was debating the doctor. I knew Frannie would tell me to call to get peace of mind. The rational Pam was saying...you are over reacting..he is fine. 

Right before I got up, he gave me one decent jab. I was kinda satisfied.

I get to work sit down.....BAM. He's awake. Since then I have gotten more kicks than I need to count. 

Now rational Pam can come back. I was moving non stop yesterday. When I was pregnant with P and the art teacher, I barely felt him move because he was probably always sleeping. 

Now with a desk job....I feel Baby J move a lot.

Luckily, Thane keeps me rational. I ask him almost daily if Baby J is ok. He assures me he is. He hasn't been wrong about anything like this yet...it's best just to believe him :) 

So lesson learned. Pay more attention to his kicks. 

Kitchen Adventure

So I had this bright idea to make freezer meals for when Baby J gets here.

Ya...great idea Pam. Let's spend 8 hours in the kitchen when you have plenty of other nesting things to get done. 

Why did I think it was a good idea? Well..I hate cooking. No, I don't hate it. I don't have time for it. Yes, I would have time when I'm home on leave but I won't have time to go grocery shopping...or the determination to go. We will be on a pretty tight budget during this time. We live 20+ minutes from a decent priced grocery store. I had to think ahead!! 

To start my journey, I spent a few hours on a random Saturday finding recipes on Pinterest and then printing them, and then writing down every single ingredient I would need and how many meals we could get from it. 

Then I spent a few hours on my afternoon off price checking each item between Woodmans, Target, and Walmart. I knew it wouldn't be cheap to make over 30 meals, but I didn't want to spend more money than necessary. We aren't exactly rolling in the dough right now. It sucked. A lot, but it was actually really interesting.

People all swear that Woodman's is cheapest, but it's not for everything! Jack's pizza for example. Woodman's is more expensive than Target AND Walmart. It may sound like a pain in the ass, and it was, but when I'm shopping and see a "sale" I can figure out quickly if it's actually a good deal...or if Target wins. Target usually wins in my book. But anyways, totally worth it to save that 20 cents on pizza. I can use that 20 cents to buy formula.....I wish. 

If only I had had the ambition to look up coupons before I went...sigh. I could have saved a buttload more. 

When it came down to it, I got pretty much everything at Woodmans. I asked Thane to go to Wal-Mart for me to pick up the pasta because it is dirt cheap there. Target had a great meat sale the other week so I got almost off of the chicken from them. You can't beat a "spend $20 save $5" and 20 % on cartwheel!!! or something sweet like that. 

I decided on Saturday that I would at least get the chicken cooked up and the spaghetti sauce made. Um...thank God I did that. If I had to add that to my Sunday cook-a-thon I might have lost it.

So 21 chicken breasts later....I had to chop them all up and shred some. Shredding chicken breast is awful. It is so annoying. I finally remembered that I have a chopper from Pampered Chef that I thought may help me out a bit. It worked pretty well..huuuuge killer on my stomach muscle that is killing me though.

Need some Pampered Chef stuff? Check out my girl: Pampered Chef

 

I didn't buy enough chicken so I panicked. I had to sort out what I needed for each recipe to see what ones I could pull a little bit from to give to another. 

 So Sunday morning rolls around....I have $200+ of groceries waiting for me. I had no choice. I had to do it.

I started at 10...ended at 5:30. Almost spot on to my prediction of it taking 8 hours.

I did take a quick nap in there while Thane went to town...but besides that I was pretty much on task. Go me!!!

I make 6 batches of spaghetti sauce on Saturday....wasn't enough. I had to make 2 more on Sunday and barely got what I wanted from it. Sigh. 

This was the first meal I did...the Southwest Rolls. I am pretty excited about those. Super easy to make and they looked really good. 

I had every intention to take pictures of each meal and be like a real legit blog. I took 2. 2 pictures. I'll never make it in this world...

This was after round one. At this point I had to do the dreaded wrapping of each pan. Talk about stressful. If any of these go bad or get freezer burn I am going to be so annoyed.  I got 200 feet of aluminum foil...and thankfully it was enough. That's so much tinfoil. 

On to the recipe I am most excited about!!! Chicken Pillows. Kind of a pain in the butt to make..but man they look good!!

This can...this can explains why the crescent rolls only cost 99 cents. Who cares though...Thane was able to jab it with a knife enough times to get it open. 

At one point I was thinking, "My god...I wish I could drink wine. Wine would be so great right now...or a Bud Lite Lime.  Sigh..." and then..THEN I realized that I had some NA beer in the fridge. Let me tell you...that is a close second to winning. 

I needed it for the very last dish...pot pie. I had been putting the pot pie off the entire day. I did not want to chop up the potatoes. I didn't want to make the sauce. How annoying. It was my LAST meal. I HAD to push through. 

Apparently I should buy potatoes more. Parker was in awe of them and me peeling them. I explained to him that he doesn't know what I'm doing because we don't live in 1940..or at grandma's house. If we need potatoes like this...we can just buy them in a can. 

Jokes jokes. I peel red potatoes all the time...I swear. 

This pot pie though...it looks amazing. I can't wait to eat it. 

So stats from my day:

*21 chicken breasts
*8 pounds of hamburger
*7.5ish hours of cooking
*30 minutes for a nap
*2 swollen feet
*1 super achey back
*32 freezer meals
*1 meal made for this week but groceries for all 3 meals
*$239 in groceries.

Final meal cost???? 

$6.82 a meal. 

Boom.

I call that a big ole win. 

It was such a long day...this is exactly how I felt. Bernie gets me. 

Big Day Yesterday!

I have been so on edge about Baby J coming early literally since I found out I was knocked up. So when I realized that if he was like his big brother, he would arrive Friday morning...talk about anxiety. 

The only thing getting me through said anxiety this whole pregnancy has been my P-17 shots. Obviously they are not guaranteed to work but whenever I would start to worry I had that in the back of my mind to calm me down. 

Some kids never live down there birth stories because they caused their mom so much pain. My kid will not live down coming before 36 weeks because of these awesome shots I am getting. 

I know I have blogged about them before and how painful they are. Thankfully the nurses were right, the pain does stop..but the welts? Oh the welts are SO itchy. I feel like Bernie itching his ears when I have to itch them. Luckily when I have to itch them at work, I work with like 50 women so I don't care. I don't care that they see scratching at my pants with a pained annoyed look on my face. Cause lets be real...while I am itching it fucking hurts the welt. But it hurts so good because the itch is way worse than the hurt. But the hurt..ya it makes itself known. 

Throw in the 5 men that I work with...it's a little awkward explaining that one to them. So now, if they catch me itching...I just act like its normal and keep talking. I don't mind being that awkward person. I have no shame at this point.

I only have 1 more shot to get and then Baby J is on his own.

He has turned. Which would explain why I thought I was starting labor on Sunday. I knew I'd feel when he turned because I'm pretty sure at this point he will be a 12 pound baby and I feel every single little jab he makes. They all pretty much take my breath away or make me bend over a little bit...which talk about awkward. Try giving a tour to a total stranger and all of a sudden your body jerks as a result of your child telling you to start moving so he can fall back asleep.

I don't think its as bad as the poor mom I was giving a tour to who almost lost her breakfast thanks to morning sickness. You couldn't tell she was pregnant, but no one burps that many times, looks like she hates her life, and uses the counter to hold herself up unless they are. Poor lady. My tour changed real fast. It included water and a chair...close to the bathroom. 

Anyway. Yesterday. Yesterday marked the longest I have been pregnant. 

When I realized on Thursday what Friday was...I text Thane. His response, "Ya...I knew that one. I wasn't going to tell you."

Now that is true love.Don't give your wife any more anxiety than she already has...let her figure it out on her own.

I went into hyper mode of Thursday just in case I wasn't there the next day. Made sure to get the most annoying of my weekly tasks done so someone else didn't have to worry about it. I was on edge all day, paying way to close attention to how my body felt. "Oh shit...is that a contraction or am I just gassy?" 

It was even worse on Friday. Finally my boss asked me, "Are you planning on having your baby this weekend?" 

I had my baby shower with my coworkers Thursday night and that took my mind off of it...because it was AWESOME. Frannie did a great job of organizing it and I couldn't be more thankful!!

Going to bed that night was not fun. With Parker I woke up at 4am with a broken water main and had to get to the hospital without a single bag packed....or my camera. You are my Facebook friend. You understand how bad that is. This time, I went through my checklist in my head of what I can finish packing...annd nothing. The rest of it has to be as we are walking out the door. So annoying. 

I did wake up once to go to the bathroom and smiled because it was like 430 am...so far so good. I thought about waking Thane up just to mess with him. He later informed me that it would not have been as funny as I thought it was.  

Whatever. I'm hilarious. 

So needless to say, I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty proud of myself and Baby J for being able to keep our shit in order one more day. We rock buddy.

Annnd then I felt awful at work all day. Ever have those days when you just feel SO pregnant everything you do hurts or is a huge ordeal? Ya, that was my Friday. I made it. Barely..but I made it. 

Because things literally fly out of my hands on their own now...I wait until the pile of random pens and paper clips on the floor by my desk is big enough and then I pick them up. Or I make someone else do it.

C-Section vs Natural

This has been a topic that is on my mind quite often lately. 

I am the lucky portion of those who has had a c-section and can choose, as of right now, to try a V-BAC. Some women don't get that choice. The only reason we had a c-section with P was due to the fact that he was breech. Neither of us were in danger...at the time. 

On my birth plan with P: 1.) Don't have a C-Section. 2.) Don't let nurses stick their hands in me to try and turn him. If he doesn't want to turn, leave him damnit. (Thank you Leslie for your birth story.)

On my birth plan with Baby J: 1.) Get him out so that we are both safe.

As of now we have a C-Section scheduled. Some people are surprised that we have elected to do that and not try natural. Some people are intrigued. Some people don't care. Some people think I am wrong. 

Me? I don't care what you think. Have an opinion that's great..but it won't change my mind. I am enjoying the fact that we have a plan. P was so unplanned. 5 weeks early at 4am the week before we had our hospital tour planned. Can't be much more of a surprise than that. 

This time around I need to feel like we are all set to go. I know what we will do with P for the days we are in the hospital. I know how long I have at work to get my crap in order. I know how much money we will have set aside by that date. I know how many more days I have to smother my first born. 

Baby J just has to cooperate now. 

I can choose what way I'd like to go right up until I walk into that operating room. But a of right now...C-Section is my plan.

Of course my main worry is 'how in god's name will I take care of Parker?' It is often hard to remember that I am not the first woman on the face of the Earth who has been pregnant. or the first woman who has had a C-Section with a crazy 2 year old at home. People figure it out and so will we. 

I also worry because I vaguely remember the whole c-section and recovery in the hospital. I wish I didn't. I wish I had that luxury of having no idea what I am getting myself into like I did that first time around.  

I worry that if I tried a natural birth, I would be in labor for like 18 hours and then something would happen and we would be in surgery. God that would piss me off. 

Some people feel bad for me that I have not experienced a natural birth...I am just thankful I have a healthy crazy little boy to call my Little Love. Who cares how he got out here...he is here and he is amazing.

Baby J will be the same way. I can't wait to meet him.

I was driving home the other day and got so excited to see him. What is he going to look like!? Will he have acid reflux too? God I hope not. Will he sleep in a bassinet and not on my chest for 5 weeks? Time will only tell :) 

So...We Are Having Another Kid...

in like 5 weeks. Kind of a lot to wrap your head around. 

or maybe it is just for me? 

I am quickly realizing how true that whole "second child syndrome" is...in this case I haven't blogged his growing time.

Parker has a whole book of blogs that in my eyes are amazing. I get to read them and remember everything about being pregnant with him.

It's better than a baby book. 

This kid....well...I'm sorry kid.

So let's play catch up shall we?

This time around has been a little more difficult. 

Morning sickness, while not every day, was all day sickness when I had it. One day in particular was extra terrible but I refused to go home because I thought it was just morning sickness. If I went home every time I had morning sickness I'd never be at work.

Ya...it wasn't. I had the flu and got other people sick. Sorry guys. 

This time I am huge. I am only 34 weeks tomorrow and I am waaay bigger than I was with P at 35. I know that is normal, but my god its uncomfortable. 

I think I may have pinched nerves in both of my hip areas, so at night I wake up when one side has fallen totally asleep or is totally pinched or something. When this happens I need to rotate sides...ya that is an experience. My belly is so big I have to get momentum to heave it to the other side, all while trying to find room for my feet because my huge dog is laying sideways in my bed. Thane hasn't been sleeping well this week..and I'm pretty sure its due to my beached whaleness every night. 

With Parker I rarely got up to pee. This kid. Every night. And trying to get the momentum to get out of bed. God, that is more of a task than walking to the bathroom. 

The big kicker is a muscle in my stomach. It is killing me. Usually it only hurts after a long day, but this week...it has hurt every day. When I got out of Thane's car tonight I literally couldn't keep walking because I was in so much pain. Don't worry. I have talked to my doctor about it..several times. It is nothing. I have no other symptoms so I just have to deal with it. 

I knew this time would be rough. Parker was so easy and there is no way anyone can get that lucky more than once. 

As I told someone tonight, in the end it is all worth it and everything will be ok because we will have a brand spankin new sweet baby boy. Who I'm sure will sleep all night.