Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[indypitty]

Well, I finally have a minute so I thought I would post my birth story. I woke up Sunday morning at 4:30 to go to the bathroom and noticed my underwear was wet. I wasn't sure if it was my water that had broken or if I had leaked urine. I put on a pad and waited about 30 minutes, and I was still leaking. It was more like a few small gushes rather than one big one (TMI I know). I couldn't feel any contractions or pain. I woke up DH, showered, put a few more things in my bag, and we went to the hospital!

They checked to make sure my water had broken. I was only 1 cm. dilated, so I had to walk the halls for two forty minute stretches. I had been having terrible sciatic nerve pain, so the walking was very difficult. After walking, I was barely making progress. Since I was GBS positive, they wanted to move things along, so they started me on Pitocin at around 10:00. They said my contractions would gradually increase in length and duration. That was a lie! Once I had the Pitocin, the contractions came on so much closer and stronger. I was moving along really quickly. The pain was getting unbearable, so I got an epidural at around 11:00. Wow, what a difference! I thought it would hurt getting the epi, but I felt no pain! It was awesome.

At 3:00, I started pushing. It wasn't that bad at all! This part actually seemed so much less dramatic than I thought it would be. DH and I were making small talk with the nurse and doctor in between pushes! Nolan Ross was born after about 2 hours of pushing. The whole labor was about 13 hours. Honestly, I think the worst part of the whole experience was trying to pee that night. I was so swollen that I just couldn't pee and they had to give me another catheter!

Overall, it was a great experience. I really didn't have a ton of anxiety about labor beforehand, so I think that helped! We got home Tuesday night and everything is going well. Nolan is crying now, so I'm off to feed him! Here's a quick pic of our little man...

 

[gingerB]

awwww...i love bpf!

i believe we have the cutest bunch of preggos on this thread!

noelwr - isn''t it cute how the hubbies get so excited and the little ways they show it? my hubby doesn''t talk to him to our little gingerbaby too much, but he''s always rubbing my belly and quickly runs over if i announce movement.

cello - hang in there sweetie, we''re all rooting for ya!

mara - love those shots! esp the one with greg hugging you from behind, so sweet. ppl keep asking if we''re going to get them done, and i''ve always said no because i''m just not the cute-sy hand in making a heart shape on the belly kind of gal, which i what i associate mat pics with. but i''m loving the artsy shots you got. course it helps that you are glowing and gorgeous (seriously, that first shot should be in a magazine!). i aspire to you!

drk - you are 3 weeks behind date-wise and like 15 weeks behind me belly-wise. amazing!

meresal - see above comment on drk (adjust for dates)

. love that you and ur sis are so close in dates and both having boys! my cousins and i were like and we are super close...it was so much fun growingup together. ya''lls'' boys are going to have a blast!

qt - you are ALL belly! and that outie is adorable. my belly button is so deep i haven''t even flattened it out yet

bliss - i think i just automatically do kegels now whaen i spot your avatar..it''s pavlovian i tell ya

burk - ditto ont he all boobs and belly! i''m actually jealous...i wanted more boobage since i''m so flat otherwise. that was def a part of pregnancy i was looking forward to, but has not panned out.

anchor - we''re trying to be minimal this christmas also. def focusing on getting ready for gingerbaby. we''re also telling ppl who ask to pull from the registry.

puffy - cute cute cute!

rockpaperscissors - see above puffy comment

charger - congrats!!!

didn''t have an ob/gyn till i got knocked up

so can''t help much there.

ETA: indypitty - congrats mamasita!!! love your birth story and how calm everything seemed with the epidural. and your little man is a little angel!!!

steph - i agree, ur "helper" def wins the cutie award this week!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 12/4/2009 8:36:58 PM
Author: Logan Sapphire
This is probably an awful question, and I''m ashamed to even feel like this, but does anyone NOT really love their baby yet? I feel protective and would be upset if something happened to him, but I don''t love him, or at least I don''t love him in the same way I love my daughter. My husband says we need to meet him first, which is probably true. I''ve felt him move a lot, so it''s not that he''s an inanimate object still.

Anyone?

Logan, once you hold him in your arms and do skin to skin, you''ll feel that bond. I will tell you boys are just the greatest.... They love their Mommas like no other. I am guessing you just need some tme to adjust?? You have a full plate, so take some time, and let it all sink in. You are so very blessed.

Wishing you all the best going forward.

 

[jcrow]

Date: 12/4/2009 8:36:58 PM
Author: Logan Sapphire
This is probably an awful question, and I''m ashamed to even feel like this, but does anyone NOT really love their baby yet? I feel protective and would be upset if something happened to him, but I don''t love him, or at least I don''t love him in the same way I love my daughter. My husband says we need to meet him first, which is probably true. I''ve felt him move a lot, so it''s not that he''s an inanimate object still.


Anyone?

i feel like it''s taboo to talk about it, but yes, i know what you mean. i''ve told my husband the same thing. like, maybe i have to meet it in person to fully connect + bond. i guess my brain doesn''t wrap around the idea of a real person inside of me. in a way i just envision the baby as a ball of energy instead. does that make sense?

i wish i were one of those that felt an immense love + bond the second they found out their expecting. i''m sure it will come in time, though.

 

[MonkeyPie]

indy, omg, what a sweetheart! He''s all scrunchy hehe. I''m glad your labor and birth went so well, it really is nice to hear happy stories.

puffy, your belly gets me every time you post a pic. You just have the cutest ball ever!

This is going to be a busy weekend. DH and I are going to start accumulating stuff for our new place (yay, we found a house!) and I am going to be working on my Christmas gifts all weekend, too. I''m making calenders that have, instead of a grid of days, a list of birthdays for that month so they can be used every year, with my own photography for the images. I am so stoked to get started. Yeah, I totally waited until the last minute, hehe.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Indy, congrats on Nolan''s birth! He''s soooo cute! It''s funny that all of these new babies look so tiny to me simply because I hang out with a 3 year old.

QTiekiki, yes, this is #6 for me. I''m very fortunate to have been blessed with a high metabolism. I don''t know how I''ve been lucky enough to get through this many pregnancies -- and I''ve been huge with each -- without getting stretch marks. My mom says that I got all of the good genes from the family.

Charger, what Kimberly said about the NT scans is right -- the ones I had were combined with the anatomy scan, and that''s why they measured other body parts.


About bonding to the baby when you''re pregnant: LS, please don''t feel ashamed of the way you feel! I am the same way and have been with every single pregnancy. I just can''t make the leap between the person in my belly to the person I''ll be raising. Of course, as soon as I saw my kids, I fell hopelessly in love with them, but this might not even happen. Bonding isn''t a once and done thing; it takes time! You will love your son just like you love your daughter now.

What''s funny to me is that during pregnancy, I have a hard time connecting with the baby, but once he/she''s born, I''m always astounded at exactly how protective I am. I would not hesitate to kill someone if he was hurting any of my kids. You can hurt me or take any of my possessions and I wouldn''t go all crazy on you, but touch one of my kids and you will regret it.

Well, the baby definitely has moved down! We went out to dinner last night and for the past couple of months, I have had to eat much smaller meals because I get so full so quickly. Last night I had a rib tips platter at Famous Dave''s and ate almost everything! I love food, so this made me very, very happy.

 

[Mara]

RPS i am soooo jealous!!!! we went out to cuban last nite with an out of town friend and as much as i love this place, i could not fit much, i was SO sad. we brought so much food home, it'll be a full meal for us on Sunday night. in fact it feels like this week my uterus is HIGHER than before. is that even possible haha. i did have a few sips of greg's sangria too, yummy.

ginger, yeah i am also not into a lot of the cutesy pics, aka my friend was like 'you didn't tie the ribbon around your belly' and i had no idea what she was talking about, she showed me a pic of a ribbon bow tied on your belly. i really like simple artwork in general so my friend's style is perfect for us. it seems like a lot of photographers are doing that more artistic b/w thing so you can prob find one that would fit your style as well!

indy...your new little boy is sooo cute...i love that pic! thanks for posting your story!

re belly buttons... mine is starting to come out and it's freaking greg out. he has always said i have a scarily deep bb and now i am like 'you'll get to see the bottom of it!' mwahaha.

re NT scan, we also had the early one at 12 weeks so there was no measuring of limbs or anything like that. if we had not had our amnio (where they looked at chambers of the heart, brain, fingers, limbs etc etc) at 15-16 weeks, then we would have had another (2nd tri) scan where they most likely did the anatomy check. at 12 weeks they just looked at some of the basics, how he was measuring, and back of the neck.

i am bummed, i was just playing around with our wall tree decal for the nursery and the two pieces they sent me don't seem to align at all. they were cut horizontally as it's a big tree and i can't get all the branches to align without cutting them up (and then the leaves too. what a PITA! i emailed the seller on etsy and asked what i should do..is this normal? i have no idea! or maybe all the stuff is individual anyway, because it's stick on. who knows.

i also cleaned up the nursery a bit since a lot of things arrived this week, and made notes about all the gifts, so i can write thank yous this wkd. i am determined to stay on top of all this and get it done before xmas! but once the decal is hung, i can hang our other prints and then it's basically just small stuff like washing clothes/blankets/sheet etc and making the changing area basket and filling the diaper bag and all that. the big stuff is all done (except evil wall decal).

now i am off to a much needed hair appt, it would typically be my last before the kid comes but i might move my timetable up a bit so that i can hopefully go one week before the due date so that i have another 8 weeks after he comes before i have to go again.

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 12/4/2009 8:36:58 PM
Author: Logan Sapphire
This is probably an awful question, and I''m ashamed to even feel like this, but does anyone NOT really love their baby yet? I feel protective and would be upset if something happened to him, but I don''t love him, or at least I don''t love him in the same way I love my daughter. My husband says we need to meet him first, which is probably true. I''ve felt him move a lot, so it''s not that he''s an inanimate object still.

Anyone?

Logan, it''s not an awful question, and I think a lot of women feel that way. My first son was unplanned, so I wasn''t initially excited about the pregnancy. I was after the shock wore off, but I still couldn''t think of him as a person until he actually came out - having a baby growing in my body was just too abstract of a concept. But then I bonded with him instantly as soon as I saw him. My husband and I also decided not to decide on names for our kids until we actually met them, so we called him our "Peppercorn" throughout the pregnancy, but once we saw him & chose his name, he was a real little person, and I was so in love.

With this pregnancy, we tried for almost a year to get pregnant, so I was ecstatic about being pregnant from the get-go. However, I still don''t feel bonded to the baby as an individual, because again, I won''t really see him as a person until he''s born.

I am so in love with my 3 year old son, that I have been really worried about maybe not loving the new baby as much as I love him, because I don''t think that it''s humanly possible, but I know that as soon as the new baby is born I''m sure that I''ll feel just as bonded to him as our older son.

I did decide to space our babies 3-4 years apart because I knew that I didn''t want to take any attention away from my older son earlier than that - I wanted to wait until he was a little more independent before bringing another baby into the mix. I felt like it would break my heart to have to divert some attention away from him, but now he''ll be 3.5 when his little brother is born, and he''s really excited about it, so I feel better knowing that it should be a nice timing for our family.

 

[gingerB]

LS - can''t speak from a 2nd baby POV, since this is our first, but I can see where you''re coming from. i definitely feel protective of this baby growing in my belly. he definitely comes foremost in my mind when i think about what i''m putting into my body whether it be food, meds, etc... even when i was miserable sick, i refused to to take any sort of non-essential medication for fear that it might have some kind of repercussions. and this may sound morbid, but everythime i''m going up or down a flight of stairs it flashes through msy mind, what if i fall (esp more recently as i get clumsier with my shift in center of gravity). my first thought is always -- save the baby. but is it love? not in the same sense i love my husband or my family, not yet anyway. but i just figure that will come with time after i meet the fella, face to face

rps - super jealous ur food capacity has increased. the food lover in me is mourning the loss of my ability to consume at will. and currently the little bugger seems to be positioned were he kicks right at the stomach -- ugh...so not great after a large (relatively speaking) meal. this has definitely made me wary and force myself to stop before i get too full, which is unfortuanately way before I want to stop!

mara - woah you are sooo way ahead of prepartation wise! all of our baby stuff is sitting in a huge pile in the corner of our living room where it has been sitting since the shower. getting sick kind of threw my nesting schedule out of whack and now i have two big presentations to prepare

. it doesn''t help that we don''t have a nursery to store things in. and we still need to buy some of the big ticket items, but can''t get up the energy to go and do so because again, no set place to put stuff and i hate clutter/crowdedness and we haven;t figured out EXACTLY how to store the baby''s stuff until cousin moves out and we have a designated nursery. bleah.

i never posted about our shower, but it was a blast! i was semi-dreading it because i hate hate hate being inthe center of attention and a lot of the showers i''ve been to have been kind of stiff and formal , which is so not us. but my friends did a fantastic job! it was coed and totally laid-back with a fun energy, felt more like just a party celebrating us being preggers than a "shower" per se. they did do some baby shower games, but respecting my wishes i was not highlighted and they did it in a way that those who wanted to participate could, but it wasn''t forced, which made everything so much more realxed and fun, and hilarious!! and they decorated the house with baby clothes, socks, shoes and hats strung on clothesline, which was crazy adorable but not too cutesy, which then became part of my shower gifts, which was awesome. we are going to have one well dressed little nugget.

. even my husband mentioned afterwards that he and the other hubbies had a blast.

and since this is still ps, i agonized over the hostess gifts forever, but fianlly ended up going with the Tiffany 1837 circle pendant necklace which they loved. and i love and kind of wished i had bought one for myself as well

.

oh, and they set up this scrapbook station where they took a picture of everyone as they came in, gave them cardstocks and embellishments so everyone made a little page with advice, wishes, etc... and stuck it in a scrapbook so that we could print out the pics later and paste them in. even some of the guys got into this

totally fun activity that got people involved and chatting right aways and a really great keepsake from the shower.

 

[Mara]

gah ginger you reminded me about hostess gifts, DOH. i totally forgot about that! thankfully i only have 2. i might just do a mani/pedi at my fave place for them. everyone can use that and i am sooo not imagination inspired re: gifts lately. my work shower did the little advice book, it was super cute. i also had a really fun gift where it was clothes strung together with clothesline and clips and it came with a bottle of baby detergent. so creative!

my shower today is for all of my friends...i can't wait to see everyone, esp there are a few preggo pals who i haven't seen in months but we email and chat all the time, just too busy to get together. i just had breakfast with one of them who is due the same day as me, so funny.

as for nursery preparation, i am a freaky planner and i feel better when things are planned out and 'done' or there is less that i have to do. with the holidays and all that, it's just easier to get it all done before xmas so that i know that if he comes anytime in jan, we are already set. i felt such an overwhelming sense of relief when we got our car seat this week, so funny but i was like now we can actually bring him home from the hospital haha. and of course i promptly had a dream that night about him coming home with us.

hope everyone is enjoying their wkd! it is gloomy and supposed to rain starting tonite, and it's been chilly (for us) at night, brrr, the heater is almost constantly running. thankfully i am running a few degrees warmer so i don't mind the cold 'as much'.

 

[Sha]

Hi guys,

How's everyone?

Indy and Amber - congrats on your new little ones! Indy, I love that pic you posted of Nolan. He has such a cute round face!

**************

Just wanted to pop in to share my birth story! I was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon, after going into labour last week Sunday. I think the last thing I wrote was that I had a bloody show and mild contractions on Sunday - we went to the hospital just to check to see what was happening - and the nurse told us we had to stay (hospital bags were already in the car). I was bit in shock that labour was starting...since just the week before the baby hadn't engaged at all (you girls were right that doesn't mean much!) It was only the night before that I finished cleaning out the room and packing the bags. Anyhoo...when the nurse examined me on arrival I was only about 1 cm dilated. The contractions at that time were pretty mild and manageable - nothing to worry about. I spent the time in my room just chatting with Mommy and DH. By the time they'd left later that evening (hospital doesn't allow fathers to room in), the contractions were becoming quite a bit more painful, and had increased to 3-5 minutes apart. I couldn't sleep that night because of the pain.

The next morning (Monday), the pain was more intense, but I was trying to manage it by changing positions (sitting on the toilet, walking), and controlled breathing. I was sure by that time I was at least 7 cm! But when the doc checked me a few hours after I was only 3 cm dilated! I couldn't believe it. The doc decided then that he wanted to move things on a bit, and broke my water bag. The contractions came on even stronger after that - again I was trying to deal with it through breathing and movement, positive thinking etc. Mommy and DH were also rubbing my back when the contractions came on. It was painful but not unbearable.

The doc examined me again a few hours later - but I had only dilated to 4 cm by that point.

That's when they decided to put me on Pitocin/drips.

I was really fearful about doing Pitocin without pain relief because I knew it would only make the contractions worse. The Pitocin kicked in after a few minutes and it was horrible! Like a big wave of contractions no end and no space to even breathe!

With the regular contractions, what helped was knowing that the pain would eventually subside, and that I would have a few minutes in between to gather my strength again. With the Pitocin there was no time to do or think anything! It was almost unbearable - by this point I was shouting in pain and holding on to the bed for strength, while Mommy and DH rubbed my back and tried to comfort me. They felt really bad to see me in pain and not be able to do much - DH was even saying, "I don't ever want us to go through this again". At this point I was begging for some kind of medication to take the pain away - the only thing they offer is some kind of general analgesic (forget the name) that helps to dull the sensations. The nurse had to check with the doc before giving it to me (they don't give it past 4 cm dilated) and he agreed - but the nurse said it would take 45 minutes to kick in!

While struggling through the contractions I was asking DH every 5 seconds, "What time is it? Is it 3:15 yet?? (time the meds would kick in), and he would say, "Almost hon'...

At around 3:00 pm I had this awful sensation like I needed to go to the toilet really badly.. there was so much pressure down there. When I hopped off the bed the nurse had just come in the room. She said, "no, let me check you first because maybe it's the baby coming". Next thing I knew I was being wheeled into the delivery room and practically forced to lie on the delivery table. I was shouting at the nurse, "I can't!! I have to go to the toilet!!!"

I just had this embarassing vision of having the biggest poop ever right there on the table - that's how it felt. She was really stern and made me lie there in pain while she called the doctor. It took all my strength not to push or hop off the table in those 5 minutes it took until the doctor came- my legs were shaking. It was such a relief when he told me to start pushing - and in a few pushes she was out! The whole pushing/delivery took only about 12 minutes! I guess she was right there...I felt when she moved down the birth canal and also when she crowned. The best sensation of all was the last push that shoved her out. All the pain magically left my body and then there was this little person on my chest! A little person with black hair and dreamy, half-closed eyes....it was so strange. I don't remember feeling overwhelming love or anything like that....just a weird sense of disembodiment and agreat sense of relief and happiness that it was all over. Also a sense of accomplishment - like I had run a race or something, and just reached the finish line. It was just a great feeling lying there after thinking, "It's over, She's here...whew!"

Anyhoo...I didn't tear or need an episiotomy, thank Goodness! Probably because she was only about 6 lbs at birth. Maybe the half-hearted perineal massages I did also helped? I'm not sure. I'm just in awe of the whole process of labour and delivery and motherhood - it's really amazing.

Anyhow, I've rambled on enough. Here's a pic of our little one - Dalila. It's been a tiring week but we're really enjoying her so far.

 

[gingerB]

sha - she''s beautiful! absolutely precious. the poop thing made me laugh and the only 12 minutes of pushing gives me hope

 

[MonkeyPie]

LOL Sha, oh I am so sorry your nurse was harsh with you, but look what a great result you got! And just imagine if you HAD gone to the toilet, omg. She is absolutely beautiful

 

[lili]

Sha--
Dalilia is so precious.
She''s teeny if she''s 6lbs at birth, but she doesn''t look tiny though ^.^
How nice that you didn''t get a tear or need an episio.
Glad to hear that your labor was fairly short and your delivery was super fast.
Enjoy these precious moments w/ your little one.
Congrats to you and your husband.

 

[taovandel]

You must have been a great pusher! I had to push for an hour and a half! Congrats on the beautiful baby girl (love her name!).

 

[AmberWaves]

Hey everyone!

I''m just coming on to say congrats to all the new mommies and preggos!

Here, at last is a pic of Piper post birth. This one is her almost immediately after being cleaned off. As you can see she has red marks on her nose, forehead and the area beneath her nose. The nurses called them "stork bites" and said they will fade soon. Hers are fading already a bit. So far she''s a great eater, 4 days after we got home from the hospital (one week old) she was back at her birth weight with no supplementing. Sleeping is a whole ''nother subject- she willnot sleep anywhere other than on me or Paul. So that''s a problem. Other than that, we''re great.

I miss being pregnant, I really do.

 

[cara]

What beautiful baby girls, Amber and Sha! Enjoy them!

 

[vespergirl]

Sha, congrats on your beautiful Dalila. I''m so sorry to hear about your labor - I had to wait for two hours for an epidural after they started my Pitocin when I had my son, and that was torture - I can''t imagine what you had to go through. I''m glad to hear that your pushing was so quick, though - you are so brave!

 

[vespergirl]

Amber, Piper is the cutest!

 

[wa]

Hi everyone, I’m back~! With Baby Caleb!

Aqua - Welcome!

Amber - Congrats! The whole birth process is just amazing… thank you for sharing your story.

Mara - your pictures are so pretty. I really like the 1st one with you and Greg. I think that is a beautiful picture; one you will look back on and bring back the same feelings you had at that moment.

Indy - Congratulations on your baby. Looks like a sweet little angel sleeping.

Sha!!! - Congrats! We went into labor on the same day! So happy for you! Wow, you did really good, you didn’t even get the epidural! Hope all is well with your new baby at home.

Ok, hi again everyone! Just to fill everyone in on the birth story. On the morning of Nov. 30th, I saw blood when I wiped myself after going bathroom at 5 am, I remember, or some time close to that. My heart actually skipped a beat. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was thinking to myself, “Omg, this IT! This is really happening.” At that time hubby was still sleeping, and since I haven’t felt any contractions yet, I just decided to let him sleep a bit. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. I decided I was going to take a shower just in case contraction do start and today is the day I go in and have my baby. After the shower, I went into my close, dragged out my half packed hospital bag, and start throwing stuff in there. I really thought I’d have another week. Guess not huh?

Hubby usually gets up around 5:45 every morning, so he called out to me when he didn’t see me in bed when his alarm went off. I think I had every light in the house on. Later he told me he didn’t know what the heck was going on, all the lights were on, doors were open (I’m really big on always closing closet doors and bathroom doors. Our dog drinks from the toilet and likes to sleep on our clothes in the closet if any of it is on the floor.). He found me sitting on the toilet wiping myself while pushing down a little to see if there’s any more blood. That was when I told him I think I’m going into labor. Shortly after at around 6:00am, I started getting really mild contractions. But things escalated REALLY fast:

6:00am - Contractions started. 6 - 7 minutes apart. Lasting 30 seconds.

7:00am - Contractions 5 minutes apart. Last 45 seconds.

8:00am - Waiting out the 5 minute apart contractions, that’s when the doctor said to head to the hospital. But by 8 am. My contractions were REALLY REALLY REALLY starting to hurt.

8:05am - Headed out towards the hospital. On the drive over, I was having contractions every 2 minutes, lasting about 30 to 45 seconds. By that point I couldn’t even talk. Hubby kept asking me how I felt, and I just kept telling him to SHUT UP! DO YOU THINK I CAN TELL YOU HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW?! Man I was pissed! The whole time I was thinking I’m probably only 2 or 3 centimeters dilated. I thought, wow, how am I gonna handle the pain as the labor progresses if this is only the beginning. The weird thing is, it truly was painful, but it was probably bearable. I was just feeling scared of what’s going to come. I was scared that I can barely tolerate this pain now, but what is it going to be like once I’m nearing 10 centimeters. But little did I know, at that time I was already 7 centimeters dilated!

So by the time hubby pulled up to the hospital (8:20am), I was starting to feel pressure down there. I was thinking I might start delivering in the middle of the lobby. I told hubby he didn’t have time to park, just leave the car at the front entrance AND GET ME A WHEEL CHAIR. Thank goodness the chair came quickly. The nurse asked me if I was about to have the baby now. And I said it feels like that. So she said, ok, we don’t have time to check in, we’re going straight into the delivery room. That’s where my delivery nurse checked me and told me I’m already at 7 cm. She gave me some papers to sign, which I didn’t even read, I think I just scribbled what I thought is my name, and I went straight into telling her to give me the epidural.

She told me she had to put me on an IV first and drip at least half a bag. I was like WHAT?! But of course, the time came for the epi, the anesthesiologist told me to hold still and whatever happens don’t move. And this was done with contractions back to back now. It was so hard to stay still. I faced hubby, grabbed onto his arms and stayed as still as I could. I held my breath, and just focused on my baby. I didn’t move, but my whole body was shaking from trying not to move during each wave of contraction. After about 20 minutes, the epi finally kicked in. I was SO relieved. I can actually have a moment to breathe now. Now it was 9:00am. I was feeling really good. I can at least talk and breathe normally. I was just cold from the IV and itchy from the epi. But I didn’t mind. Little did I know, the nurse stopped the epi at 11:00am. Around 12:45, I asked her how come I could feel my legs and I’m getting all my sensation back. She said she stopped the epi at 11:00 so I have 2 hours to get my sensation back and get ready to push at about 1:00pm. And she was right. Doctor came in at 1:00 and we started pushing. The whole pushing process took about an hour before the baby was crowning. Let me tell you, it was painful! But knowing the baby is just a few pushes away, I have never in my life felt such motivation to keep going. Once the head passed, the rest of his body just slipped out. Seconds later, he was laying on my stomach, with all the gook and everything else. I didn’t care. I was in love. Granted, the pain was still throbbing, but it was the most amazing moment in my life. I didn’t have to get an episiotomy, there was one small tear that required 1 stitch, so that was good.

I have a new respect for Mothers. I always knew mom’s were amazing and totally selfless. But now having gone through this process and experiencing first hand what it means to feel, “I would give my life for his”. It’s the most amazing feeling in the world. I’m going to love being a mom.

 

[taovandel]

Wa: Caleb is beautiful! Congrats on a quick and fairly easy delivery!

 

[ljmorgan]

Look at all of these new beautiful Pricescope babies! Congratulations Amber, Sha, and Wa. Such beautiful children!

I haven''t been actively posting on this thread and I''m still in the first trimester which seems to drag on FOREVER. But on Saturday I''ll hit 13 weeks and I can officially say "good bye" to what I think feels like the longest trimester. I remember that with Natalie the first trimester seemed endless -- I think because it isn''t super fun. There''s bloat, morning sickness, and no baby movement yet. In the second trimester the tummy gets bigger, and then you eventually feel movement which was so much fun to me. Plus you just feel "safer" being out of the 1st tri...it''s nice to take a breath and relax.

We''ll see how much relaxing I do -- Thursday I have an appoint with the UMD perinatologist I consulted with over the summer after Natalie''s stillbirth. We''ll do the typical NT scan, but we''ll also do the DNA testing of my blood to determine the Rh status of the baby (which also tells you the sex!) I am just preparing for an Rh+ baby because I don''t want to be upset, plus I am telling myself that the test will be fun since we''ll learn the certain gender so soon! How many ladies get to know for SURE through DNA testing at 13 weeks?

My little cousin was supposed to be a girl according to the ultrasounds... and when HE was born, he was welcomed home to a nursery decked out in pink

If the test comes back Rh+ or inconclusive, I''ll start the IViG therapy next week. I can''t believe this is all happening so quickly! I am ready for whatever, with the hope that I will be holding a healthy baby in my arms next May/June. I hope that you ladies are doing well, I will be dropping in much more frequently now!

 

[jcrow]

Amber, Sha, and Wa: congrats on your beautiful babies!!

wa, thanks for sharing your story! it gives me hope that i can do it too. i love how you describe the last of the pushing, how there''s light at the end of the tunnel. and how you can give it your all knowing there''s a baby waiting for you on the other side of the pushing. something that i''ll keep in mind too!

 

[drk]

Wow, what cute babies!

Wa - I don''t get why the nurse turned your epidural off? We generally don''t, unless the mom''s too numb to feel a bit and push. Even then it often works. Unless they were running super concentrated local anesthetic in it? There''s really no reason to feel more than pressure during the pushing.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Amber, Piper is SO cute! That little nose and those chubby cheeks, she just looks so cuddly and adorable.

wa, Caleb is absolutely gorgeous - I love his expression, like he''s so amazed to be out, lol.

 

[taovandel]

drk: I was wondering the same thing. We wound up having to turn mine down/off because I couldn''t feel anything. But otherwise they wouldn''t have touched it if I hadn''t asked them to do it.

Lindsey: Happy to see you over here. That''s exciting that you get to find out the sex so early---Like you said, focus on the exciting part of the test to try and keep your mind off of the main reason for the test.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Wanted to say congrats to all the new mommies... Sunkist, Amber, Sha, and Wa.

The baby pics I''ve seen have absolutely melted my heart. Enjoy every moment with those precious little babies. They''re adorable!

Congratulations again, and praying for a wonderful time for you all in motherhood!!

 

[gingerB]

amber - awww.... piper is a squiggly squishy bundle of cuteness! thanks for coming back to post her pic!

wa - caleb is just gorgeous! and i love his name! i giggled re: hubby repeatedly asking how ur feeling...that situation would SO be happening for me and hubby. luckily i live about 2 minutes fromt he hospital so there isn''t too much time to bite hubby''s head off on the ride to

 

[ChargerGrrl]

PSers make the most gorgeous babies! Sha, Amber and Wa- your LO''s are so precious.

Many THANKS to everyone for your NT scan experiences. Mine is tomorrow- I''m nervous, but excited to see Bebe!

Lindsey, I''ll be thinking of you this week and sending good vibes for your appointment and tests. I too cannot wait until the 1st trimester is over! According to http://www.pregnology.com/, I''ve got 10 days to go.

THANKS again, ladies! Here''s to another happy and healthy week of pregnancy.

 

[qtiekiki]

Sha
Congrats. Dalila is so adorable. Love the name, BTW.
How awesome that you didn''t tear or need an episiotomy. That''s my biggest concern before I gave birth last time, but I recovered pretty quickly.

Amber
Piper is such a cutie pie. Look like she is smiling in her sleep.

wa
Congratulations. Love Caleb''s expression and hair. Such a handsome little man.

ChargerGrl
Good luck at your NT scan tomorrow, and post some u/s pics if you have the time.