Oh Baby... Finally!!!

And the journey began on October 19, 2010...

I went to the doctor for my weekly checkup - 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant - hoping that Lyla and my cervix had made some progress during the past week. No such luck. I was still 1 cm dilated, as I had been for 3 weeks, and only getting more impatient and uncomfortable. My blood pressure had been on the rise for a few weeks and when the doctor took a look at my most recent blood pressure, she asked, "would you like to be induced?". I said YES PLEASE. She then said she would induce me the next morning! Wow, I definitely didnt expect to be induced that soon, but I was super excited! While I was getting my blood pressure taken, YET AGAIN, she came in and told me that I would need to check into the hospital that day at 3pm so that my cervix could be "ripened". I wasn't sure what exactly that meant, but that gave me just enough time to drive home, let the dogs out, make sure my hospital bags were complete, and drive back to new braunfels.

The first call I made was to Tyler to let him know he needed to get his hiney back into town. He debated whether or not he would make the drive to Houston that morning for work and decided to go for it. He had barely made it to Houston when he received my phone call telling him I was getting induced! He said he started shaking :) And then he made the drive back into town.

I made it to the hospital by 3, filled out all my paperwork, checked into my private suite :) and changed into my lovely hospital gown (my extremely fashionable outfit for the next 4 days). I then got my IV and got strapped into the heart monitors and started answering the thousand questions the nurse had for me. Tyler finally arrived to join the experience.
The nurse then gave me my medicine to "ripen" my cervix - medicine that had to be in place for 12 hours - and I was told they would break my water once the 12 hours was up. Almost immediately I started feeling slight cramping in my abdomen which continued for the next 10 hours, getting more and more painful. I started having actual contractions around 3am (about 10 hours into the ripening process). They were bearable until about 7am - which is about the time I was in agony and asking where in the world my epidural was!! I finally got my epidural, and was immediately feeling 100% better. My body was numb from my mid section on down, but at least I couldn’t feel the horrible contractions anymore!!

I suppose it was around 11am when the nurse checked my cervix again and said that I was ready to go! Baby was ready to come out!!! By this point, I could feel the contractions again, but they weren't as bad as they had been. The nurse said I had to push until Lyla was on the brink of delivery, so after about 30 minutes of pushing, we had arrived at the final destination. Tyler was so interested in the whole process, and even decided that he needed pictures of EVERYTHING. He could see and touch Lyla's little head during the whole pushing process.

Since we were ready to go, the nurse called the doctor to come deliver Lyla. She came in all decked out in her baby delivering gear and after only about 5 minutes of pushing, Lyla's head was out. And then her shoulders and the rest of her! Baby girl was born on October 20, 2010 at 12:20 pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 2 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Our first look at baby Lyla! WOW, what a wonderful experience!!! I couldn't stop crying, and Tyler couldn't stop smiling :)

It was very painful, even with the epidural. But its kind of what I expected - pushing a watermelon out of my body never sounded like an enjoyable experience. So on her way out, Lyla's umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck (Tyler said her little head was blue) but when she came out, the cord broke and squirted blood everywhere - gruesome I know. Our precious baby girl had finally arrived, safe and sound. Then, doc said that my placenta was basically stuck inside me and wouldn't come out. And since I had already lost a lot of blood, the doctor had to go on a treasure hunt in my uterus trying to find the rest of my placenta and get it out of me. This was a horrible and very painful experience and lasted about 30 minutes - thankfully since Lyla was out of me, I could get some heavy duty pain killers.

Since I lost a lot of blood, the doctor told me I had 2 options: 1) I could get a blood tranfusion, or 2) I could take iron pills 3 times a day for a month (but I would feel like crap for a while). I didn't so much like the statistics surrounding the blood transfusion... apparently there is a 1 in 300,000 chance of getting HIV from a blood transfusion... no thanks!! I decided to go with the iron pills. The doctor was right - I felt HORRIBLE for quite a while... I'm just now starting to feel normal again after 17 days. The soreness and achiness has started to fade and my energy is slowly returning.

We were finally able to leave the hospital after 4 days. Both Tyler and I started to go stir crazy and I could only take so much hospital food.

Packing up the precious cargo!

We are so thankful to have our healthy baby Lyla here with us now. She is the most precious, wonderful, beautiful, amazing part of our life now and we are loving and enjoying every second we get to spend with her. Its taking a little bit of adjusting, as expected, but I think we are getting the hang of it :)

Just Waiting...

Today I am 38 weeks and 4 days along. I never thought 10 days would seem like an eternity, but it does.

It's nice to be on maternity leave and not have to go into work every day but boy have I been bored.

So I have been watching a lot of TV and trying to find a hobby. I cant work on Lyla's room or the house, because it is still under construction... Yes, Tyler has been catching a lot of grief from me because the house is STILL under construction. Hopefully we can make some progress this weekend. I worked on painting Lyla's room decorations the other day...

Now I just have to finish the Jayde part, and once the ceilings are done in her room (this weekend), I can put them on her wall!

I've been trying to stay off my feet because if I walk around too much, they look like this...

We were finally able to get Lyla's changing table. IKEA has been sold out since we went months ago to try and buy it. Apparently there is quite a high demand for changing tables these days?

I had a doctor appointment on Monday. No change since last week unfortunately. The doctor keeps saying Lyla's not coming early unfortunately. I have another doctor appointment on Tuesday, which is the last one before my actual due date. I'm going to find out what the plan is if Lyla hasn't come by my due date. Induction? YES PLEASE! If I have to go past my due date, I might scream. We're ready Lyla, please come out now!!!

I sure hope the next 10 days pass quickly...


Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 38 weeks and 4 days

Size of baby: Watermelon... How is a watermelon supposed to come out of me??? goodness gracious... 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained - too much. I claim its all water weight

Maternity Clothes: Not even maternity clothes are comfortable to wear anymore

Gender: Girl

Movement: Lyla LOVES to kick me in the ribs. Tyler had his hands on my belly the other night and said "wow, that's so amazing." I completely agree with him.

Sleep: Can't sleep at night these days. Between the constant tossing and turning and bathroom breaks, I am a very tired lady. At least I can nap during the day. Lyla must be preparing me for when she arrives.

What I miss: walking normal

Symptoms: Can't sleep, heartburn with EVERYTHING, swollen feet and ankles, upset stomach, a little nausea, grumpiness, very achy hips, I could go on and on right now...

Cravings: country music has definitely been my strangest craving, if you can call it a craving. I haven't listened to a country station in YEARS and now my radio doesn't stray from the country stations. It's quite strange but that's all I want to listen to these days. Silly Lyla. Good thing grandma got Lyla a pair of cowboy boots. Aunt Danielle already wants to take her to the rodeo :)

Best Moment this week: Overall, it's been a pretty good week. I haven't been very productive, but I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Danielle this week - after my dr. appointment on Monday and for her birthday yesterday.

Until next time... Lyla's progress:

Week 38: Stuck in a holding pattern

  As you know, you've arrived at the final leg of your pregnancy journey, and if you're still carrying your little love around, they've just about reached their birth weight (somewhere between 6 to 8 pounds is average depending on whether they're a boy or girl). There really isn't a lot to report on baby this week, so lets do a quick recount of where we're at: all internal organ systems are pretty much ready for the outside world, they've got their meconium stockpile building up (their first black baby poo), lots of healthy baby fat, a rapidly developing brain (that'll keep growing with them for years to come), and they've more or less reached official baby status-- all they need to do is "head out" and say hello to the rest of the world and especially their ready-to-pop momma.

Hello blog, so we meet again :)

Well today is a great day, it's my official last day of work in 2010. I have the next 14 weeks off for maternity leave - and YES, I will be getting paid the entire time! The long hours I've put in this year have been worth it!!! And to top it off, my raise will become effective October 1st! Thank you KPMG, don't mind if I do.

We had our baby shower last Saturday and had a great turnout of family and friends! Thank you Danielle and Shayne for helping put the whole shindig together - couldn't have done it without you guys! Lyla got a TON of diapers and clothes and some great essentials. We are so thankful to have so many wonderful people in our life!!! I will try and put up some pictures of the shower shortly. We now need to go purchase all the other things that Lyla needs... changing table, bathing stuff, stroller, etc...

We will finally be attending a baby class tomorrow! YAY! Prepared Childbirth from 10am to 4pm. I hope they don't make us watch a birth video.

Next Tuesday is our last baby doctor appointment before the big day. It should be a fun one, I get to climb in the stirrups again. Woohoo.

How far along: 35 weeks, 5 days
Size of baby: Honeydew melon, over 5 lbs now
Total weight gain: ~50 pounds
Maternity cloths: the clothes I bought a few months ago are still fitting, believe it or not. However my one pair of jeans that fit me are starting to get a little tight :(
Gener: baby girl
Movement: All the time - Lyla had the hiccups forever the other night and it made me laugh
What I miss: fitting into my old clothes and shoes
Cravings: ginger ale, ice
Symptoms: hip pain, back pain, heartburn, swollen feet
Best moment this week: baby shower

Week 36: Wee fingers o' steel

The countdown continues… and in fetal developments: most of the bones (soft skull aside) in their little body are now completely hardened, providing a solid structure from which they can now make their grand debut into the world. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are structurally ready for a secure launch. In physical fitness news: their muscle tone has also improved over these past few weeks, and you’ll definitely be impressed by their steel-like Ulnar grasp (a newborn reflex that occurs if you lay your finger in their palm). And in genital development: if you’re having a girl, her labia are now fully developed. Finally, in the fluids/excretion department: the amniotic fluid-to-baby ratio has fallen over these past weeks, although they’re still swallowing fluid (building up even more meconium for that historic first poop), and some vernix caseosa. They will be more than ready to swallow and digest milk after birth. Just in case you didn’t get it quite yet: you’ve got yourself an adorable and hungry 6.5 lbs 20 inch baby—are you ready?

 

Montessori School

I had to share the conversation Tyler and I had this morning during our carpool to work... I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down may face.

(As we drive by Montessori School International)

Me: I wonder how much montessori school is?
Tyler: Why? Do you want to go?
Me: Huh? Do you know what montessori school is?
Tyler: Yeah, it's like God school...

(Here starts my laughing spell. Through my tears of laughter, I manage to eek out...)

Me: Maybe you're thinking of monestary school?
Tyler: Yeah I think you're right

I laughed for about 10 minutes. Tyler didn't think it was so funny. I'm just glad I hadn't put on my mascara yet.

On that note, it makes me excited that montessori school takes kids from age 18 months and up! And its about the same price as day care. Good to know... :)

Honeydew

33 weeks = Our little Lyla is now the size of a honeydew!

Recent Developments

Well, we have managed to get the old carpet out of the house (with the exception of our room) and the new wood in about half the house. We still have our room and the other two bedrooms to finish laying wood in and the 2 bathrooms to tile. After all that is done, we have to put new trim on all the doors and new baseboards everywhere... Can we finish it all in 7 weeks or sooner? I sure hope so!

We did get to put together Lyla's crib and dresser this weekend! Soon enough, we will have all her bedding washed and set up in the crib... once all our home construction has slowed and all the dust settles, literally.

Marmaduke has already tested out the crib and he seems to love it. I hope Lyla loves it as much as Duke does.

We have another doctor's appointment today at 4:30. It'll be another quick one, taking my weight, listening to Lyla's heartbeat, the usual. We'll find out today when our next and last sonogram/appointment will be. I can't believe the end is so near!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 33 Weeks, 2 days
Size of baby: Lyla is a honeydew
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained ~ 40 lbs... give or take a few pounds
Maternity Clothes: I'm all stocked up on maternity clothes! Three more weeks of my business casual clothes and then I plan on living in my Target tank tops.
Gender: Little princess
Movement: Lyla is moving like crazy these days - mostly during the day.
Sleep: Ehh not so great lately. I recently bought a Snoogie (body pillow) from Babies R Us and it definitely makes sleeping a little more comfortable.
What I miss: wearing heels, bending over, my old jeans :(
Cravings: ginger ale
Symptoms: severe heartburn.
Best Moment this week: Putting together Lyla's crib and dresser this week! They look beautiful in her purple room :)

I got the "Pregnancy Highlights" idea from gotta run...catch me later. I love reading Jenny's blog!

Lyla's Developments

Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month.

Fetal development in pregnancy week 33: fetus in eighth month For all the weight and bulk you’re lugging around these days, you’d think your little champ should weigh much more than a mere 5 lbs and measly 17 inches in height, but nope, that’s about the average size for a baby in its thirty-third week. In terms of appearances, they’re getting cuter and pudgier every minute as they pile on the baby fat for those adorable little wrist rolls and chubby toes. And as we’re sure you’ve already noticed they’re getting stronger with every passing day. Nowadays, it’s possible to observe a well-placed kick just by watching your belly—but you already knew that didn’t you? Although they’re getting stronger, your bigger-by-the-day baby is losing space to move around, so the actual rate of movement will drop off in the last few weeks, despite that powerful drop-kick they’ve been working on. Hey, did you know you’ll continue feeling their movements even during labor?

Crossing Off Stuff on the To-Do List!

Baby Furniture ~ Almost Done

We finally made it to IKEA last week around 6:15pm and they close at 7pm... So it was a little bit of a hectic trip once we got there. I felt like I was in a maze. After finding the dresser and changing table we wanted, we got to the checkout section only to learn the changing table was out of stock! At least we were able to get Lyla a dresser.

We will have to make another trip to get the changing table. But it feels great to be almost done with the furniture shopping. Now once the floors and ceilings are done, we can actually put the dresser and the crib together! Can't wait!


Speaking of Floors and Ceilings ~

We made a decision after months of debating what we were going to do with the floors and actually bought the flooring! Hopefully we can get the floors installed the weekend after next. And when I say we, I mean Tyler :) Its getting more and more difficult to bend over these days.

Baby Classes & Our Little Sqaush's Development

I finally signed Tyler and I up for a baby class! Believe it or not, they are kind of hard to find! It seems like hospitals offer the most options. So it looks like we will be attending "Prepared Childbirth Class" on 9/25 ~ a 6 hour course at Southwest General Hospital. Apparently we will be learning what to expect and what to do while in labor. I'm pretty excited... I hope it provides us with a lot of information since I don't really know what to expect and have no idea what to do while in labor! Eek.

We are also looking into a few classes that are being offered at Methodist Healthcare... Hopefully these will work out with our schedule because they seem interesting!

~ You & Your Baby - Find out how to transition into your new role as a parent, prepare for your baby's homecoming, learn basic infant care and much more.

~ And Away We Grow! - Learn fun ways to enhance your baby's potential. Topics include feeding, tummy time, sensory development, maximizing strength, coordination and flexibility.

~ Boot Camp for New Dads - Veteran dads (with their babies!) show expectant dads what it's all about! In this class you will learn tips on how to support mom and how to handle the new demands of a baby.

Week 31 Developments ~ Lyla is this size of a squash this month! Next month she becomes a honeydew :)

Another day... another ounce - Fetal development in pregnancy week 31: fetus in seventh month Your not-so-little-one is just a bit closer to their birth weight and height at around 4 pounds and 17 inches. With each added layer of baby fat, your baby's skin starts to look more and more like it will when they finally get to see the light of day. The heavy news: you can expect your miracle-gro muffin to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth. Great. That's just what you needed. Even more weight to carry around!

Your baby's still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting them in full gear to face our disease-ridden world o’ wonders. Obviously, a large majority of your child’s immune strength will be derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements. Their cute little noggin’ (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just purty peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together. As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, their “skull softness” allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labor—something both you and your little swimmer will appreciate when it’s finally time to “go!” Also, some babies will have that “soft spot” on their head for up to one year after birth.