The Bucket Family Has Grown!

Hello friends!

Here I am, home from the hospital, after working hard to bring Bucket Baby #1 into the world!  And it was an intense process.

Often when I blog, I try to be witty or something.  But this time, I'm just gonna tell it like it is.  There will probably be some TMI, and I'm ok with this.  Because, this, my friends, is the true story of how #1 came into the world.  And it's a pretty long one.

Now, just some FYI, before I actually went into labor, I had been to Labor and Delivery 3 times.  Once the On Call Dr told us to go because he thought my water had broke.  Not true.  The next time my contractions were every 5 min apart and getting closer and harder.  But I wasn't progressing fast enough, nor was I full term, so they sent me home.  A few days later the same thing happened.  It was a bummer.

As of the last time I had gone to Labor and Delivery, I was dilated to 4 cm, and 80% effaced.  And I walked around like that for over a week.  Not so fun.  I kept wondering how I was going to know when I was in real labor, because my contractions were just what the Dr had told me they should be to go into Labor and Delivery.  But I always was sent home.  I just started to wish that my water would break so I could know for sure.  And I just needed something to happen.  I had been having painful contractions for 3 weeks.  Contractions that followed a pattern, got closer together, got harder, and then would stop after 5-6 hours.  Lame!

As you know from my last post, Tues night/ early Wed morning Hod and I went to Walmart.  Because of our late night excursions, I slept in a lot on Wed.  When I finally did get up, I ate some cereal, and was pretty much just lazy for a few hours.  Hod had gone to work, and I was just resting a bit.  Just before 1:00 PM I decided to get in the shower.  (Don't judge me, I woke up late.)  While in the shower I had a moment where I wondered if my water had broke.  Either that or I had lost all control of my urinary tract.  I climbed out of the shower, and had about 1/2 C of something suddenly come out of me.  But I knew if my water had "broke" it should be more than that.  Wondering if I had sprung a leak I quickly dressed and called my Dr.

Oh, but wait... they are all on lunch break till 1:30.  Lame!  I fought with myself for a bit wondering if I should just wait it out.  However, the repeat of excess liquid encouraged me to go.  I called Hod's cell phone... and heard it ring in the other room.  So, I called Hod's work phone... and it was busy.  I wasn't having contractions yet, so I grabbed my purse, and jumped in the car.  While driving myself to the hospital, I tried Hod's work number again.  Success!  Only he wasn't allowed to leave until another employee got there because of a company policy stating that they must always have 2 people at work.  But he only had half an hour of his shift left, so I told him it would be fine.  I got to the hospital and checked myself in.

Hod arrived about 10 min later.

Now, my Dr, who we shall just call Dr. K had told me that if I went into labor, he could augment it by breaking my water.  Because it was regular office hours I knew that he wouldn't be sending me home.  After running a few tests to make sure that my water had in fact sprung a leak, my nurse wasn't positive about it.  She went to call Dr. K but ran into him instead.  He told her that I had been sitting at a 4 for long enough and he would just come break my water.  I was SO excited!

Around 2:30 he broke my water.

About 60 min later they started me on Pitocin because I wasn't progressing at all.

And we waited.  And waited.  My contractions were consistent but not progressing me enough.  They kept getting harder and harder.  And it hurt!  Now, I know that some people are all about natural labor.  And that is fine for them.  I however, had no desire to go through all of that pain.  Yes, Labor is supposed to hurt, but I like modern medicine and wanted to take advantage of all of it's goodness.

Just after 5:30 Dr. S came to give me an epidural.  This was done with me sitting with my legs hanging over the edge of the bed, and my head on Hod's chest.  For not doing well with blood, Hod did a great job of being strong as long as I needed him.  And as soon as I didn't, he needed to sit in the chair.  But that's ok.

Right before I had my epidural, I had a grape Popsicle.  Yum!

Soon after my epidural, I lost my grape Popsicle.  Gross!

Watching me lose my Popsicle while I was in a lot of pain, was hard on Hod.  He left the room so he didn't join me in the losing of Popsicles, and when he came back I was in a Oxygen mask.  #1 didn't react so well to me throwing up.  This was even harder for Hod to watch so he called in back-up.  My dear Mom was on backup for us because I didn't want to deliver alone, and knowing Hod has a hard time with bodily fluids we invited her to join us.  She came for a while, and played cards with Hod.  I tried to get a little bit of sleep.  She stayed until just after 9:00 PM.  By now I had finally progressed to a 6.  Really?  I had been there for over 7 hours and had only progressed 2 cm?  Not cool.

The epidural was keeping me somewhat comfortable... well except for the top of my left leg.  It really hurt!  I don't know WHY that is where I was feeling all of my contractions, but it was, and I was not a fan.  Hod was doing better with everything, so Mom decided to go home and get some rest till the real action started.

Dr. K had predicted that I would deliver somewhere between 10:00 and Midnight.  This is because when I walked in the door, I was already half way there.  He was wrong.

Hod and I tried to sleep some... and couldn't.  The dang blood pressure cuff hated me.  It was checking me every 30 min.  And it never liked the answer it got.  So it would beep.  And beep until someone came to check it.

And #1's heart rate was a little bit off.

And I started getting a pretty high fever.  (By the end, it was up to 102)

FINALLY at 1:30 AM (only 12 hours later...) I was fully dilated and effaced.  They have a policy at my hospital that for first time Mom's if you have an epidural and get to this point, they give you one hour to just sleep and rest before the real action starts.  That way, your body can do a lot of work and you won't get so tired.

As the nurse checked me, she tried to see what way #1 was facing.  But she couldn't tell.

Hod and I tried to sleep, and failed some more.  Finally around 2:00 AM I called my Mom to tell her that the action was starting in 30 min.

I had another Popsicle.  (What I love them, and I was hungry and thirsty!)

2:30 we started pushing.

#1's heart rate was still being funky, so we started pushing on my side.  That helped her heart rate, but didn't help me progress.  But we pushed.  And pushed.  And pushed.  And I lost my other Popsicle.  Once again, lame! They normally don't let first time mom's push for more than 2 hours.  So that was my goal.  As I got tired, I watched the clock and knew I could go for that much longer.  We ended up putting me on my back again because baby's heart rate was just being scary.  I was also put on oxygen.  I hated that mask.  At this point, Hod was struggling with the fluids, so we called in another nurse, and he sat down to encourage me.

I also had really random but fun music playing in the background.  It was a good distraction for me.

At 4:30, Dr. K showed up.  Hod was holding my hand helping me along.  Mom was sitting in the background trying to help Hod be ok with things.  I was getting very tired, and #1 wasn't really getting all that close to coming.  When Dr. K showed up we had a serious chat.  He also couldn't tell what direction #1 was facing.  He just knew that things weren't quite working out.  Now, I have a few family members that cannot have a vaginal birth because of how their hips are.  Dr. K knew this about me.  And so it was a concern.  He asked me what I wanted.  I told him that I really didn't want a C-section but if that was the only option, then fine.  He asked how I felt about the vacuum suction cup thing.  I told him I was fine with it as long as it didn't put her too far down, and then she wouldn't fit and then we would have major problems.  He told me that within just a few seconds of pushing with the suction cup he would be able to tell.  Trusting him because he had been great so far (though all of his time estimates had been super far off) I told him to try it.

They hooked me all up to the vacuum thingy and I pushed.  He pulled... and it popped off.  Great.  "But," said he, "it helped so I think we'll be fine."

Dr. K also knew that I was anti forceps.  But we just still weren't quite going to make it.  But, instead of using the forceps to grab #1, he used them to help open up the birth canal.

And I pushed.  And pushed some more.  I was so done.  Between contractions I started crying and gasping for air.  My left leg hurt SO bad, and I was just tired.  I had only gotten around 5 hours of sleep the night before, and I had been in hard labor for over 10 hours.  I didn't know if I could do it.  People were very encouraging, but I just didn't know anymore.  Hod didn't know if I could do it, and he was crying too.  Mom later told me that Dr. K looked at her a few times, almost to ask her if I could make it.  But I didn't know what else to do, so I just kept trying.

Because of the epidural, I couldn't really feel that my body needed to push, so I had to force myself to do it.  I guess that's what you give up by deciding to go the less pain route.

Finally, at 5:06, after over 15 hours after checking myself into the hospital, and a full 2 1/2 hours of hard pushing, #1 came out.  All 7 lbs, 3 oz of her.  (Interesting fact, the song playing while she came out was the song I sang to Hod at our wedding.) She had been posterior.  That is why labor was so hard.  And long.  Because of my fever, and #1's funky heart rate, I didn't get to hold her right off.  That was sad.  I had just worked so hard to get her out, and Hod and my Mom were over playing with her while I sat there.  During this time, I found out that I had been tearing towards the front instead of the back.  So, to save me a lot of grief, Dr K had given me an episiotomy.  Along with that I had a bunch of little tears all around.  The stitching process took quite a while.  They cleaned up #1, ran a few tests, and decided she was well enough to stay with me for a bit.  I finally got to meet my baby!  And she was so sweet!  And poofy!  And had a crazy cone-head.  But she was mine!  And I didn't have to push anymore!

Unfortunately, because of my fever and her crazy heart rate, we had to drop her off at the NICU on our way to recovery.

And now friends, it is late.  We still have more of our story, but alas it is almost midnight.  I need to go to sleep so I can get up to go see my baby in the morning.  More to come!

It's Not a Myth!

Did you know that when Wal-Mart says they are open all night, it's true?  I had always wondered about that fact.  But this is what I learned:

1.  Walmart is surprisingly busy at 3 AM.

2.  They are in fact open.

3.  The lady who preps in the Subway inside of my Wal-Mart must be the SLOWEST prep-er ever.  Seriously. When I worked at Subway, and we opened at 10 AM the person opening showed up at 8.  However, the Wal-mart Subway opens at 7.  And she had bread coming out of the oven at 3:30.  I don't get it.

4.  I'm pretty sure the 3 AM cashier has seen everything.  Cause she didn't bat an eye when we showed up with a gallon of milk, some cold cereal, and a sweater so Baby won't freeze when we bring her home from the hospital.

5.  There are going to be a lot of people just "hanging" outside.  Personally I'd rather be in my bed, but I guess if you're that comfy when it's heck-a cold outside sitting outside of Walmart, then that's cool.

6.  There is no average age of 3 AM shopper.  Really, We saw early 20's, late 30's, early 50's, and older.

7.  I found that every person I saw I judged.  I just couldn't understand why they were there.  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Oh, were you wondering why I was there?  Cause I woke up at 1 with regular contractions just painful enough to not let me sleep.  So I folded laundry.  But then Hod woke up, cause he can't sleep without me in the bed, and he was hungry.  He was going to eat some cold cereal, but then he would have used up all of the milk, and he was now wide awake, so we went to buy milk.

My contractions kept going till around 6, and then I was finally able to sleep.

OH, but here is a random.  I have no brain right now.  And yet, I woke up with lines from a poem that I memorized in 1998.  And it's not really a happy poem, it's about a little boy drowning in the sea.  I can apparently still recite 60% of it.  But don't ask me my own phone number.  That's not going to happen without real work.

What A Nice Place!

I have recently discovered a wonderful place in my city of residence.

You can go, and stay, and the workers there take care of you.  Often approaching you just to see if they can get you a glass of water.  You have your own bed, and a couch in your room.  There is free cable TV, and your own personal bathroom.  This room also comes equipped with a personal phone, free snacks for visitors, all you can eat Popsicles, multiple light settings, and a fancy yoga ball to bounce on to your heart's content. Oh, and they have large windows giving you a great view of the city.  Doesn't this sound like a place you want to go?

Well, there is one catch.

You have to be in labor.  Oh, and progressing.

Just early labor and slow progression isn't enough.  They'll kick you out for that.

How do I know this?  Cause I have been there TWICE in the past 3 weeks.  They are very nice, and each time I am told... "Yeah, you have regular contractions 3-5 minutes apart... but... uh... we're not sure why you're not progressing, so we'll send you home."

Baby keeps toying with me.  She's all "Hey, Mom, I'm gonna come visit!"  Then after 5 hours of regular painful contractions she decides, "Actually, this is kind of warm and comfy... maybe I'll stay here a bit longer."

Well, Baby, I'm at 37 weeks.  That means FULL TERM.  There is no reason to be an over achiever and aim for a full 40 weeks.  37 will do.  In fact, I think 37 weeks and 1 day is the perfect time to be born.  Ready, Set, GO!

I need to be in that nice, fancy room again. :)

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

About a week ago, Hod and I were at Walmart, and we found out that the fish were half off.  Hod loves fish.  So much that when given the choice between new cloths and a fish, Hod chose a fish for Christmas.  (Those of you who don't know Hod won't understand what a big deal this is, but trust me, it's a big deal.)

Sadly, that fish died last April.  Rest in Peace, Mordecai.  Life has been stressful lately, so when given the chance to get a new fish, Hod jumped at it.  After fretting about a name for our newest family member, Hod settled on Mike Chang.  Yes, this is a character on the fairly popular TV show "Glee".  Oddly enough this really fits our fish.  He's a red colored Beta.  He also looks a little Asian.  Ok, that sounds racist.  He looks like the guys on Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Anyway... I'm probably digging myself in a hole of sorts.

Uh... We got a fish!

Last Sunday, I noticed that Hod was pretty busy, so I decided to feed Mike.  Now, way back in the day, one of my dear friends had Hod and I fish sit.  She had a fairly particular way of feeding her fish, New Jeffery Wilbur.  This involved holding his food over his bowl and just opening it a little bit.  Then some food would come out.  I honestly don't have a lot of experience feeding fish, so I copied that method.  As I opened the food just a little bit, nothing came out.  Well.. thought I, maybe I just need to open it a bit more.  So I did.  And about 30 days worth of food came tumbling out right into the fish bowl.  Mike Chang looked at me like I was an idiot.  I stood there for a second, wondering what to do.  And laughing.  I thought it was funny.  I finally decided that I had to try to get some of the food out of there.  I turned to the silverware drawer to get a spoon... and noticed that I hadn't emptied out the dishwasher yet and the only spoons in the drawer were slotted.  Well that's not going to work.  I finally got a regular spoon, and a small cup to pull out the excess food.  By now, 2/3 of the food had fallen from floating around the top the bowl to raining down on the plastic Roman like columns decorating the fish bowl.

Mike Chang is set for life!

Ok, Hod was very kind and cleaned the bowl out even though it was my mistake.  And Mike is doing fine.

And for those of you who were hoping for a little movie to go with the title of this blog post... Here you go!

Maybe That Should Have Been A Secret

Hey Yo's.

Still pregnant.  (Oh, and Laree a note to you, my Dr. moved my due date up a week, cause baby is measuring big, so I'm not quite as early as things seem.  I updated my ticker to show this.)

Every time I take a deep breath, or have a look of concern, Hod is sure I'm in labor.

My contractions are still pretty regular and getting more painful.  But I don't think I'm to the "Next Level Of Pain" I was told I had to be at to go to the hospital.

Baby needs to make up her mind.  This whole, "yeah, I'm going to come so you'll have regular kind of painful contractions for 3 hours, and then when they just start to really hurt, you'll only have one, and then I'll stop" thing totally bugs.  So, now we are disciplining our child for not making up her mind.  This involves 3 things:

1- Often now when Hod gets home from work, he puts baby in time out.  This entails giving me a kiss but ignoring baby for about 10 minutes.  I don't think she notices.

2- After a contraction she tends to kick hard as if to say, "Hey, you're squishing me!  Stop it!"  I have no sympathy.  I normally respond by telling her, "If you'd just come out, you'd have lots more room."

3- We are now calling her Eunice.  Not to offend anyone who may have a loved one by that name, but I don't like it.  We call her Eunice and tell her that when she comes out she can get a pretty name.  But until then, it's Eunice.

Now, I know that I'm still early.  I need to get over it.  I was really doing fine and planning on something close to the end of October/early November.  Then the Dr told me I could go into labor in the next 24 hours.  And I didn't.  Part of me says, "Oh good, baby has more time to cook, and she'll be healthier."  The other part of me says, "I was told that I could be done feeling fat, tired, and sick.  WHY is this still going on!"

Being told that the end is here, and then the end not coming is a total bummer.  Well... unless we were talking about the end of the world, and you had an awesome date with your hubby planned for the day after the world was ending, and then the world didn't end, so you could still go on your awesome date.  That would not be a bummer.

It's strange being a ticking time bomb.  I'm just sitting here waiting for my body to start putting me in extreme pain.  Wow... that sounds hopeful.

But the end will come!  And baby will come!  And she'll get a prettier name than Eunice.  Until then, we keep going!

Baby Update!

Alright, Peeps.  Here's the story. (And because it's about baby, that means it's about my body, so you have been warned of any potential TMI)

Last night as I went to get ready for bed, there was something... different happening down under.  We called the OBGYN on call, and told him what was happening.  His guess was that my water had broke, so he told us to go to labor and delivery.  We went, got all hooked up to the monitors, they checked everything under the sun, and at 3:30 AM, with my contractions 3 minutes apart, they sent me home.  Hod and I were SO tired!

This morning I had an appointment with my Dr.  He told me that the different occurrence down under was probably me losing my mucus plug.  And with what he described, I agree.  However, apparently this is uncommon for first time moms to experience like I did.

After being checked for the 3rd time in 11 hours (And no one ever told me how much it hurts!) we discovered that in 6 hours I went from being a 1 to a 1+, and from being not really at all effaced to being 70% effaced, and from baby being where ever to being at a Zero.  Looks like my contractions are actually doing something.

Dr's prediction is that I will deliver in the next 24 hours, or in 2 weeks, or anytime in between.

And as for me: as soon as we are done with Hod's Dr appointment I'm taking a nap!

Toodles!