Day 3 of Water Breaking - She's Here!!!

I apologize but this post is going to be pretty long with a bunch of pictures.

As of Friday night, after the craziness of almost getting a c-section, I was about 5cm dilated. After the whole ordeal, Tim asked them how the sensor stays on her head. They told us it actually gets screwed in her head...yes you heard that right, SCREWED IN HER HEAD! I wrote something about it on facebook and about 5 of my friends/family have had their kids had to get it so I wasn't as nervous.

 I managed to get a few hours of sleep on Friday night due to the epidural. When I woke up I was still only 5cm dilated. I was told I was going to be having this baby on Saturday no matter what. They wanted her to come out because of the risk of infection and also because she kept having decelerations when I would have a contraction (Her heartrate would get lower).

So I started having some contractions and I realized my epidural wasn't working anymore. They decided to get me a new dose. Then after a little while, I realized it was only working on the right side and not the left. They then fixed it again. Around 2:30pm I was still at 5cm. There were talks of starting me on pitocin to move things along. While the doctors were deciding, I started feeling a lot of pressure. The epidural takes away the pain of contractions but not pressure so when its time, you know when to push. I started feeling a lot of pressure. They ended up checking me around 3:30 and I had progessed to 10cm. I couldn't believe it. They said I would soon be ready to push. They called in the doctor and the nicu staff and I started pushing around 3:45.

I was SO happy that Tim was there this time and able to see everything. Pushing was difficult but with the epidural, it wasn't unmanageable. Tim held my leg back when I pushed and he kept me motivated. He said I was so close with each push. The doctors said I was a really good pusher, but they probably say that to everyone to encourage them. LOL

I only pushed for about a half an hour and then she came out crying! They didn't let you videotape the birth or the first minute but once they get the baby stabilized, you can tape and photograph everything.

Reagen Coletta Svitak was born at 32 weeks 1 day on October 15, 2016 at 4:13pm. She was 3lbs 11oz and 18 inches long! I couldn't believe how big she was, especially after eating hospital food for the past month and a clear liquid diet the past few days. She looked PERFECT! It was a much different experience than when I had Avery. All of the home and hospital bedrest and steroids and magnesium had paid off. I ended up tearing a little bit on the inside so while they were sewing me up Tim got to cut the cord. She has a little mark on the top of her head in a few spots from the sensor they put on. They finished cleaning her up and brought her over to me and we got to hold her. She is on room air and didn't need any oxygen. She is PERFECT!!

(I apologize that there are many similar pics but I wanted to post them all. I will spare you the close up pic that Tim took of the placenta )

In this pic you can see the marks on her head from where they stuck/tried to stick the sensor.

Tim getting a lesson about placentas. It was a little gross but fascinating at the same time.

Did I say that I didn't miss pumping??? 

I got a little bit the first night!

Day 2 of Water Being Broken (Friday)--32 Weeks

So I was officially diagnosed with PPROM..(Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes)  This occurs when the membraned sac holding your baby and the amniotic fluid breaks open before you're actually in labor. According the statistics I found online, PROM (premature rupture of membranes which could happen at 37 weeks+) happens in about 15% of pregnancies. PPROM (Preterm Premature rupture of membranes which happens during weeks 24-37 of pregnancy) happens in fewer than 3% of pregnancies. Some how, I always get stuck with the awesome statistics and my pregnancy was one of the 3%.

Since my membranes had ruptured the day before, their main concern is that an infection wasn't developing. My temperature would be checked every few hours to make sure I wasn't developing a fever. I was also started on 2 kinds of antibiotics.

On Friday morning, the nurse ran in and told me to flip over. She was trying to find the baby's heart beat and was having difficulty. Then she called in some reinforcements and there were a bunch of people in the room. They had me put on an oxygen mask and take deep breaths. They had me flip on my other side and still no luck. They said they were going to go up through my cervix and stick a sensor on the baby's head to be able to monitor the heartbeat. They did a cervix check and were going to put the sensor on her head but luckily they were able to find the heartbeat on the other monitor in the knick of time. They told me my cervix was dilated to 2.5cm.

My doctor came to visit me in the hospital. He said that since I am not showing signs of infection, they are not going to speed up the labor. They are just going to let nature take its course. I had been having contractions but I wasn't in active labor because they weren't consistent enough and didn't seem to be changing the cervix at all.

I ended up having another episode of them not being able to find the baby's heartbeat that afternoon around 2pm. It was so scary when everyone comes running in. Again, they were able to find the heartbeat in the knick of time. I was still only 2.5cm dilated.

It was so hard to sit in bed and pretty much not move during this time. Everytime I tried to lay on my left side, we lost the heartbeat. When I layed on my right side, I would lay on the catheter cord which was not comfortable. I literally had to sit in one position for the whole day. I was super uncomfortable.

They said the reason her heartrate keeps disappearing could be because she has less fluid to float around in and she could be sitting on her umbilical cord sometimes. They aren't sure but I am happy they were able to find it so I didn't have to get an emergency c-section.

Friday night my contractions started to get really bad. I was rating them a 9/10. I decided I would feel better with the epidural. They ended up putting it in while I was laying down on my side.  They don't normally do that but they didn't want to lose the baby's heartbeat again. Getting an epidural isn't fun but neither are contractions.

About an hour later, everyone ran in the room again. This baby was going to give us a heart attack. They lost the heartbeat again. This time everyone seemed a bit more frantic. They stuck a shot in my leg which I was told was to stop contractions. I had on the oxygen mask. They did the cervix check and ended up putting the monitor on the baby's head. Right before they were going to wheel me away to the OR for an emergency c-section, they found the heartbeat. Things then finally settled down a little. The nurse came in later and I lost it. I told her I couldn't do this for too much longer. I was so uncomfortable and had 1 hour of sleep total in the past 36 hours. I finally fell asleep for a few hours because the epidural helped me be more comfortable.

I didn't take a lot of pictures on Friday but here is a pic of Avery at her pre-op appointment on Tuesday, 10/11. She is having more dental surgery on Oct 27. I ended up going to this appointment with her and Tim (even though I probably shouldn't have). It was good to see Dr Love after almost a year! It was very cute when we were leaving. Dr Love asked Avery for a hug and Avery actually gave her one! I was amazed. :)

My Water Broke

I was 31 weeks and 6 days on Thursday, October 13. At around 12:30, I started to feel a watery discharge. I didn't really think much of it because being pregnant and on vaginal suppositories, there is always some sort of discharge happening. (gross, I know).  I decided to make some lunch and take a shower. When I was drying off after the shower, I kept dripping. The discharge was clear and watery and very different than the normal discharge I was having. I knew it was most likely amniotic fluid/my water breaking because it was constant. I called Tim and told him to come home so he could drive me to Hillcrest. While I waited for him to come home, I packed a bag with some clothes, phone chargers, etc, called Hillcrest labor and delivery to let them know I was coming and then called my OB office. My OB office was going to put a message in to the doctor and then call me back. I said don't worry about it, we are on our way to the hospital. I knew something wasn't right and I didn't want to wait around for a response from the doctor.

During the 10 minutes I was packing, I went through a normal sized pad. It was soaked and the fluid wouldn't stop coming out. I put one of those huge hospital pads on (that are pretty much like a big diaper) for the ride to the hospital and sat on a towel just in case.  About 40 minutes later, we made it to the hospital. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic or it would of taken us longer.

We got to the hospital and were placed in the triage room. They did a swab to see if it was really amniotic fluid. They also put it on a slide and waited for it to dry. If it spreads out and looks like a fern, it means my membranes have ruptured. Sure enough, it was positive for amniotic fluid and my membranes had ruptured. Thank God we decided to come to the hospital. I was scared but I also felt comfortable knowing we were where we needed to be.

They checked my cervix and I wasn't dilated. They ended up giving me the first round of the steroid shots for the baby's lungs. They decided I was probably going to go into labor soon, sometime between Thursday and the next few days so they decided to cut the cerclage out. I was nervous of them cutting up there so I had them give me something to calm me down. They gave me nubain. They also started me on magnesium. The magnesium helps the baby's neuro development. I had heard a lot of bad things about magnesium:  it could make you sick and vomit, that you get really hot and feel like you are burning up from the inside, you get dizzy and light headed. Needless to say, I wasn't excited about it. I also wasn't excited about it because they insert a catheter when they give you magnesium because they don't want you up and walking around and hurting yourself. They inserted the catheter (ouch!),  gave me the magnesium and then transferred me to a labor and delivery room. The magnesium made me very hot. I had cool washcloths on my forehead. Luckily I didn't get sick but I did get double vision. Tim said I looked like I was out of it.

I slept horribly on Thursday night. I couldn't get comfortable especially with the catheter in, being hooked up to the IV, having a blood pressure cuff on and the compression stockings that squeeze your legs. I think I got one total hour of sleep the whole night.

In the triage area

Still in the triage area

Moved to the labor and delivery room. Everything is ready for the baby!

This room is HUGE! Its probably so big because they know when I deliver, I will need a lot of specialists in here because the baby will be 8 weeks early.

Not feeling well at all :(

 I thought my diet was bad before when I was on the antepartum floor..boy was I wrong. I was now on a clear liquid diet. Look at all of the choices I get for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

31 weeks!

So I made it another week in the pregnancy while being on bed rest at home. I am now 31 weeks as of Friday. Being on bed rest at home is much more difficult than at the hospital. We are very thankful for Tim's family and my family for helping the whole time I was on hospital bed rest and now. They have really helped us a lot.

Things have been going pretty well since being home. I do feel like my stomach is super heavy when walking around and I do have braxton hicks contractions quite often. I went for a follow up with my OB today and he said our next goal is 34 weeks. He said after I get there, we can all take a deep breath and relax. If I make it to 35 weeks, he said he would let me return to work..actually go in and not just work from home like I have been doing this past week. I believe the high risk doctor said they would remove the cerclage at 35 weeks as well.

I have an appointment with the high risk doctor on Friday for ultrasound/growth scan to see how big the baby is. They will also check cervix length. My regular OB wants to see me next Monday to go over what the ultrasound shows and what the high risk doctor says.

We finally painted the baby's room this past weekend. It is grey and we are putting a white tree decal on the wall. We started putting the tree decal on and it takes FOREVER because each leaf is a separate piece. I felt like we were so behind getting things ready for the baby, especially since she can come at any moment. I bought a dresser online this morning. Once we get that, we can start washing all of the baby clothes and putting them away. After we get the nursery complete, I will feel a little more relaxed.

Avery has a pre-op appointment on Tuesday. She will be having dental work done under anesthesia on Oct 27. Hopefully things will go much smoother than the last time she had dental work done.

I'm not sure I know how to smile...Mommy told me to smile and this is what I did...

Do you like the picture I drew of my family? :)

Here is my sister's room before being painted

Its now Grey but will look much better once all the decorations are up and the trim is back around the windows and floor

This is a picture of the tree that Mommy is going to be putting up..except the birds will be purple and the name will be different. 

Here is the start of the tree. Each leaf is a separate piece. My baby sister's name has 6 letters.

Passed out after a long day of looking cute.

Eating some ramen.

The dogs cornered me for my banana

The baby is looking lower and mommy is looking bigger!

Here is my school picture from last year in case you forgot how awesome it was

And this..ladies and gentlemen...my school picture this year. Its CLASSIC! Mommy and Daddy were dying laughing when they saw it :)

I don't look too bad in the class picture. I am in the front row all the way on the right. Mommy still doesn't know how to rotate these pictures. 

I am Home!

I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday! The contractions calmed down and I was able to go home around 4pm. It was really good to come home and see my pets and be able to hang out with Tim and Avery. I am trying to just take it easy and not get up too much. I will be starting back to work on Monday. Luckily I can do my job from home. My doctor says as long as I don't have to drive anywhere and can do my job from my computer, I can return to work. I was told not to stand for longer than a half hour. I can take a shower, prepare meals and go to the bathroom but other than that, I should be sitting or laying down. I go for a follow up in a week with my doctor. Now, I just have to stay pregnant for as long as possible.

Vanilla bean cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, yes please! Thanks, Nichole!

Leaving the hospital after 20 days...this isn't even half my stuff!

 Thanks Sharon for the toy for Avery!