MAY

05/06/02:
I haven't felt much like making journal entries. But I figured I better update it. So here goes. Spent the afternoon last week in the hospital. The doctor wanted me to go to see if I still have the UTI or if I was in labor. The news is, I was in labor. It's just the early stages but I'm in labor.
That was almost a week ago and no change. I have tried everything I have either read or was told to do to get labor going. Who would have thought that it would be so hard to make labor get harder after it has started. UGH!!!
Today I had my 39 week appointment. I have lost two pounds and am measuring 40 weeks along. The heartbeat was 132. This was the lowest it has ever been.
I mentioned how I was kicked in the belly on Sunday. Nate was swinging and I got kicked on accident. So we had to go for a non stress test. After being monitored for 30 minutes, I got sick to my belly and they undid all the monitors so I could throw up. They didn't hook me back up and let me go home. But I have to go for an ultrasound at 7 tomorrow morning (the soonest they could get me in). They want to make sure the placenta is still fine. If I start to cramp or bleed, I need to get to the OB floor ASAP.
I mentioned to my midwife how I have been in the start of labor for a week and I can't take much more. Plus I'm not sleeping at night. She wants me to take Benadril before bed and call her in the morning. She will talk to the ob about what is going on and we will go from there. So I don't know if that means I might get induced or not. At this point, I hope I do. While I was anti-drugs a few months ago, I am wore down and don't care what has to be done. I had to be induced with Nate because labor never went past the stage I am at right now. Plus I have tried everything on earth to get the labor going and nothing has worked. So maybe my body just can't get into full labor without help. Who knows.
Jim was teasing Nate and me about the ultrasound in the morning. He said we will find out that sissy has a penis. Fingers crossed, the baby is still a girl!!! LOL
I was not checked to see if I was dilated. This has me upset. I have not been checked by the midwife or doctor since I was 36 weeks along. I was checked last week when I was in the hospital by the nurse. The midwife knows I have been having contractions but still not checked. Like I told Jim, if she had checked and told me that I was dilated more than the last time, I would feel so much better about all the contractions for a week. Heck, I may even not encourage being induced. But I have no idea if anything has changed. I feel like I'm beating my head up against a wall.
Depending on the contractions and how uncomfortable I am, depends on how I feel about having the baby with help. When everything is fine, then I feel like I can wait a few more weeks. But today I have been dealing with too much pressure and contractions. Plus not knowing if anything is happening down there isn't helping my mood.
05/07/02:
I did my ultrasound this morning. The tech didn't let me see what she was doing. But I did have her check to make sure Eve is Eve. She said that the legs were closed but she didn't see anything that would belong to a boy.
I had dreamed that the ultrasound discovered that the boy really is a boy. Plus I got to see his face and he had a mouth full of teeth. But the nurse assured me that all but two teeth would fall out before he was born. Then add in how the baby weighed almost ten pounds already.
Still freaking out from the dream, I asked how big the baby is. She said that she wasn't asked to take measurements so she doesn't know. But from what she can tell, the baby isn't abnormally big.
Since I wasn't able to sleep again last night, I called the midwife like she wanted me too. Looks like being induced won't happen because it's not necessary. Being uncomfortable in pregnancy is normal. So I just need to keep trying different over the counter medication to see what will help me sleep at night. I don't like this suggestion so I won't be doing it.
I plan on spending the day to myself today. I need to get out of the frame of mind that I have to get labor going. Nothing I have tried is doing it. Oh the joys of pregnancy.
Someone asked me what all I have done to try to get labor going. So I decided to add it to my journal. Have fun reading everything I have done. FYI, NONE of it has worked.
Castor Oil... 3 times with no luck.
Blue & Black Cohosh... Both of these are so gross tasting. I tried mixing them in with juice, pop and tea. I still tasted it. YUCK!!!
Raspberry Leaf Tea... It tastes great and it maybe working. I guess it takes a while to get labor going.
Evening Primrose Oil... I started on these today. They don't get labor started but help the cervix. So we shall see if that is true.
Sex... So far this hasn't put me in labor. I think some man made this up. LOL
Nipple Stimulation... Brought some contractions on but stopped when the stimulation stopped. Plus my nipples hurt for days afterward.
Blowing Balloons Up... Didn't do anything.
Pineapple... Tastes great but the acid starts to eat away at your mouth after a while.
Changing Temps... What can I say, I was desperate.
Swinging... Had fun with Nate but didn't do anything labor wise.
Chinese Food... Did it twice and it didn't do anything.
Walking... I have walked so much with nothing happening.
Bumpy Roads... I think I know all the bumpy roads in the county we live in, but that's about it.
Hot Showers... I always take hot showers and it doesn't do anything for labor.
I think that covers everything I have tried. I know some of it is weird but tell a full term woman something and she is bound to try it. None of it worked for me. Maybe this proves that I am related to elephants and will be pregnant for ever.
05/13/02:
No baby yet. I had my 40 week appointment today. Nothing new to report. I haven't gained any weight and still measuring 40 weeks.
No pelvic was done. But on Friday I was almost dilated to 3 and I'm sure I haven't changed much.
The most my doctor will let me go is between 41 and 42 weeks. So I made the 41 week appointment. In a way I don't want to make that appointment but on the other I do. The ped is on vacation this week. I had to deal with my OB being on vacation last week. How dare they go away when I am due Tuesday. LOL I came home and road the riding lawn mower. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. The grass needed to be cut and maybe I would go into labor. The labor part doesn't seem to have happened. Oh well. I was three days early with Nate so maybe being over due is something I need this time.
Something did happen to Jim and I today. We went to pick Nate up at school and was going to stop at the bank. A man along the side of the road was shaking and falling all over the place. So we stopped to see if he was ok. His speech was slurred and he couldn't talk very well. He was getting very frustrated because he couldn't talk like he wanted. So Jim called 911 while I ran to get Nate.
The man was having a seizure. He was trying to get back to his truck and drive for help when we arrived. So until the ambulance arrived, Jim asked the man questions to keep him alert. When we left, he shook both our hands and thanked us for helping him.
What made us mad was how people passed him by without helping. One person just stood on the side of the road and watched him. Yes I can understand about safety but Jims call was the only call to 911 about the man.
05/15/02:
On Tuesday, I woke up at 4:30 with contractions. After we dropped Nate off at school, we went to the hospital. By the time I was put on a monitor, contractions were three minutes apart and getting strong.
When they checked me, I was only dilated to a 2. So they gave me a cervidil. I had to lay still for two hours and then was allowed to do as I pleased. Well my contractions stopped which was frustrating.
So between walking, using the birthingball and the whirlpool, I got the contractions going hard. That was until the OB paid me a visit and give me another cervidil. Contractions stopped again.
He told me that if by morning nothing had changed, then he would discharge me and bring me back in a few days. He felt the baby and said he thinks the baby is well over 9 pounds. His fear is if we allow the baby to come on her own, she will weigh too much for a vaginal birth.
When I was checked around 9, I was dilated to a three. Not much change so I knew I was going home this morning. When the OB came in this morning, there was no change from the night before. He saw how exhausted I was and said he didn't want to make me more tired. So he released me but I need to be back to the hospital by 7:30 on Friday so induction can take place. I'm honestly fine with being home. Jim needs to go to work tonight and tomorrow night. If they had kept me, he wouldn't have went to work and his pay check would only be for one day next week.
The only thing I am upset about is how the midwife was wrong. She told us on Friday that I was dilated to three and no matter when I deliver, the baby won't be more than eight pounds. I know the doctor can be wrong about the weight, but the dilation part isn't wrong.
The doctor said something about breaking my water. The nurse said they will try one maybe two more pills and pit. I am fine with this. I decided long ago that the birth plan I made is not important. If I can't handle the pain, getting something to help me won't make me a failure. I'm not going to beat myself up over it.
I do hope that when they give me an IV, they find another place besides my left hand. They blew a vessel on my wrist which hurts really bad and is swelled. Then they finally were able to find a vein on my hand. I only had it flushed once so my hand hurts really bad.
So it looks like the next post from me will be the birth announcement. Yippy!!!
05/21/02:
On Friday at 10:01 p.m., I gave birth to Jenavieve LeAnne. She weighed 8 pounds 11.8 ounces and was 22 inches. I pushed for 6 minutes and watched her enter in to this world. It was an amazing birth that I will never forget.
We got home from the hospital last night. Eve was kept an extra night because of severe jaundice and sometime during labor, her blood came in contact with mine. My blood is negative and her's is positive. So my blood started attacking her blood.
She is home but must be on a special jaundice "blanket" at all times. It must be helping because she is starting to pink up again.
The birth story is located HERE. ENJOY!!!