Sunday, June 24, 2007

baby is home!

i feel kinda boring, with only one topic of conversation. many subheadings, but only one main topic! but i'm not bored, and you chose to come here, right?

Angela came home today, and we're all just ecstatic. sleep-deprived, stressed-out, and ecstatic. the boys are actually much happier. it's been a rough road.

her bilirubin came down after she spent 16 hours under lights, and we'll hope it continues to do so and we won't have to put her under lights again - we want to hold her, not light her!

she's doing better with nursing when she wakes up. she's another stubborn baby like Tyler was, won't wake up until she's good and ready. unless you change her diaper, but even then once her butt is covered she's fine. i don't like thinking about all she had to have done and how she must be associating something nasty with diapers. *shudder*

it's late and i have to feed her again in a little over an hour, so i'll give more details than you really wanted to know LATER. we're just glad she's HOME!

Friday, June 22, 2007

apologies

i JUST got home, so this is as early a post as i could manage. i've been exhausted and haven't called as many people as i had planned.

BIRTH STORIES:
short version: Angela Grace Erdosy was born Wednesday, 6/20/2007, at 6:07 p.m., weighing 9 pounds 2 ounces, and measuring 20-1/2 inches long.


she has been in the NICU because she passed meconium before we went to be induced, and has had some respiratory problems. also, infants of diabetic mothers have lots of "possible" problems, or tend towards more, and need them all ruled out. she had some jaundice, but not enough to need a light. we hope she will come home Sunday. any prayers are very welcome!

long birth story: i was called at 5:30 a.m. Wed. to come for my induction. it took us a whole hour to get there, we weren't ready b/c we were trying to make Murphy's law work for us!

after admission paperwork, my OB for the day finally came and broke the water, which was stained throughout with meconium (first BM for baby). of course, i had met and interacted with everyone in the practice EXCEPT this doc. hooked into IV and epidural, and started on pitocin.


the pitocin never came up to a high level b/c i responded very quickly. i had to keep begging for more drugs. by 1:30 i was complete. we were hopeful of another quick delivery like #2 (17 minutes of second stage labor), and started off pushing with enthusiasm and energy just before 2 p.m.

we progressed slowly but consistently. doctor kept turning the epidural down so i could progress, and i'd have to fuss at him that i couldn't progress without pain relief. her head was a little off-center and we had to try side positions for pushing.

finally the epidural wore off YET again and the doctor wanted me to push anyway. i curled up in fetal position and yelled at him. DH says i only yelled for a few minutes before he figured out that i was being honest when i said "I CAN'T ANYMORE!" but it seemed like a very long time. he said, just a little more and she'll be here! and i replied "but you've BEEN saying that for HOURS!"

everything hurt beyond my tolerance - to lift a leg again to push was more than i could do. i had pushed really well while baby was on my sciatic nerve b/c it hurt LESS to push; it lifted her up. and i said to him, if she's so close, can't you get her with forceps? after a discussion, he decided i really could have more drugs, and we'd use a vacuum.

she was born over ONE contraction with this method. four hours after we started. it's really not doctor's fault - he had no experience with my previous deliveries, since we'd moved. i got really lucky with #2 and an OB who understood how to get me to progress.

so she's born! i decided kind of last minute (last week) to have a postpartum tubal ligation. i had to wait until the next day and just about went crazy from all the lines they left in. fasting from midnight until after all of the emergencies that kept cutting in line, i finally had the procedure and got back to my room at 3:30. so that was thursday. i was exhausted but i took a shower anyway b/c i had to be clean!

baby went straight from delivery room to NICU b/c of meconium and infant of diabetic; they had to monitor her sugars for 4 hours minimum. then they kept finding more things to keep her for. she was under an oxygen hood, so i couldn't hold her, couldn't nurse, seemed like forever. she's made good progress and i HAVE started to nurse today, even though she has nasal prong oxygen still. if she keeps improving, she'll be home sunday! was getting depressed with the picture and not holding my baby, but i'm much better with those nursing hormones!

one last thing: don't believe anyone who tells you a tubal ligation is minor; it HURTS!

and the first thing i did was come post my birth story. nobody can say i don't love you!

Monday, June 18, 2007

not quite last

i'm booked for induction on Wed., subject to availability. i should be high on the priority list with my gestational diabetes AND preeclampsia. fingers crossed! as i'm 4 cm and 60% effaced already (which never happened without pitocin before), things are looking good for a quick delivery! can't wait!

Friday, June 15, 2007

the last update!

we hope...

if you missed stewbert's comments, the prior updates are as follows:

6/11: "FYI: Mamabear is at the hospital. She's been admitted for preeclampsia observation. They are hoping to wait until next Monday (6/18) to deliver baby girl, but if her blood pressure goes up or her proteinuria increases, they'll be inducing ASAP. She's okay right now, though. :) "

3:44 PM


6/13: "FYI: Mamabear and babybear did so well, they sent her home today with no plans to induce anytime soon. Hopefully she'll come and post an update soon."

9:33 PM


6/15: Today's update is by me! i know y'all appreciate that. saw OB AGAIN. had ANOTHER NST. and they made a plan that has a definite point! i will be back to the office on Monday (for ANOTHER NST), whereupon they will phone the hospital and ask when i can be induced per their schedule; should be Mon. or Tues! so this will be the last update until the announcement/birth story! yes, i'm excited; yes, i'm MUCH less frustrated than i was Wed. when they sent me home with a plan that was very much iffy-in-the-air.

i'm also sure DH is thrilled to know exactly what to plan for work, too! thanks for all your well-wishes - keep the prayers coming!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

inspired by dooce

if you're not reading her yet, you're missing out.

so i'm reading dooce's blog today, and she's talking about sending her daughter to preschool, and how they hyped it up and up and up so as to make the transition as easy as possible.

and i remember how EAGER #2 son was to go to school. we didn't have to hype it; he was so anxious, we had to jump through hoops for six months to get him let in a year early. because he could not wait another year, no he could not. we DID talk about learning to read regularly, however (which they do in kindergarten here, so yup, my son learned to read at age 4!).

and then he came home from school every day for probably the first week, but it felt like the first month, exasperated b/c "I didn't learn to read again TODAY!" he thought it was an overnight process, and it probably seems like one in retrospect.

life was simpler then, when what we wanted was going to happen when we wanted it, wasn't it?

makes me sound schizophrenic, IMO...




What Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich Means



Your eating style is gluttonous. If you like something, you're going back for seconds... no matter how full you are!



You have an average sweet tooth. While you enjoy desserts, they aren't exactly your downfall.



Your taste in food tends to be quite eclectic and wide. You are an adventurous eater, and you like many types of cuisines.



You belong to a class that's all your own. You resist rules and traditions of any sort.



You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you.



You are laid back and extremely easygoing. You never make a fuss, and you try to enjoy every moment.

Monday, June 04, 2007

feeling

i've been feeling kinda overwhelmed and fed up - typical 8-month stuff. like the belly is all there is to me, nothing feels or looks like me anymore, and i'm lost in this body that exists solely to feed its parasite. hard to explain, harder to cope with. :p

then, as i'm walking out of the bathroom, i turn and catch a glimpse of my rear in the mirror. oh. THERE _I_ am. good, i'm still here. but the view? major downer.

have i told you lately?

have i griped lately about how miserable i am? if i'd PLANNED this pregnancy, i'd be cursing myself out hoursly. it hurts to walk, to stand, to move. don't mind the testing, but hate the insulin needles (although one good thing about saddlebags is they don't have lots of nerves so i use them when i can).

however, got my lame butt to church yesterday, and every time someone would ask "is it a boy or a girl?" i would BEAM and say "it's a girl!" gotta remember that one... i'm that happy about having a daughter, just gotta hit that happy button hard and often.

i'm sick of showing the house already. everybody says nasty things - because we LIVE here. there's stuff everywhere! (no, there isn't; you should've seen it before. it's very tidy and organized at this point.) it's filthy! (same story.) it's dark and dated! (don't know what house they were looking at when they said that.)

somebody will come down the road and fall in love and everything will work out fine. really.

Friday, June 01, 2007

non sequitur

I went into the gas station today and asked for five dollars worth of gas... The clerk farted and gave me a receipt.