A Star Is Born!

Well, I am finally here to update you all and introduce you to Anderson James Lewicki. I will update with pictures when we get home as I forgot the stupid camera cable!

Here's the story...

As you can read below, I was all happy happy at 10CM dilated this morning, but man did that change! The nurse came to tell me it was time to push so she showed me "how" to push. I didn't feel very confident with it, so we tried some practice ones. Really uncomfortable and felt soooo unnatural to me. Anyway, we tried. We weren't getting anywhere so she said we can wait for a while so that my uterus could work more in our favor.

She came back shortly and I was certainly feeling the contractions and when to push- it wasn't terribly painful at this point cause of the drugs, however, 2 hours into it and pushing every 3 minutes, 3 pushes at a time - I got EXHAUSTED. Throughout this entire time, Jason was insanely wonderful. Best I could ask for. Constantly pulling back my legs or getting me ice chips, or a wet towel, or telling me how great I was doing- I didn't feel like I was doing great, but whatever.

After hour 2, I'm beyond tired and the doc comes in and tells me that they don't really want me to push too much more than 3 hours with these meds, so try for another hour and then we'll see about using forceps or the vacuum. SCARY, but better than a C-sec I thought. At this point I was literally crying- not out of pain so much but out of exhaustion and I was BEGGING for some nutrition. I started thinking about orange juice or apple juice and literally balling. Looking back, it's pretty funny I was crying about OJ! But I hadn't eaten in 30 hours!

So, were into hour 3 of constant pushing, I want to die (I actually tell Jason to kill me) and the doc tells me the AJ is sunny side up- facing my stomach, not my back as he should be. So (sorry for the graphics) he literally TURNED THIS CHILD AROUND- oh my God that was about it for me. I don't think there is a worse pain...I was screaming. Holy pain! However, this was really good cause this allowed AJ to get into the right position. The doc then called in the drug doc and he gave me more epidural (I don't know when it actually wore off, but somewhere in hour 2 or so...) So, they gave me that and it was helpful but didn't take the pain away entirely. Then, doc busts out the vacuum and I was scared to death. All I could think about was pain! There was still serious pain, but 4 contractions later (felt like an eternity) I saw AJ's head. It was seriously surreal. I was literally thinking- who is this?? Is he mine? Nah, it can't really be OUR child right??? CRAZY!

So when he was out, they placed him straight on my chest and he cried a little (so we know he was breathing) but he seemed really content to meet us. He has this incredible hair- the best Mohawk ever! He weighed in at 7lbs, 5.5 ounces and is 19.5 inches. Had I not seen him come out, I wouldn't think he was mine as he looks like Jason I think- nothing like me except his nail beds- hah

That is all for now. We haven't been told when we'll be home- tomorrow or Sunday. I hope to get some sleep tonight- we'll see how that goes.

Thank you SO VERY much for every one's calls, texts, comments on the blog and everything else. It's wonderful to know how much support and love we have!

Its Time...

Nurse came in, Im 10cm! HOLY SHIT! It's gonna be soon.....
Excited, scared, and did I mention scared?

Still no pain- ya!

Drugs Are Good!

Typing one handed so will be short. My contractions really sucked big time, but I have drugs now and life is wonderful!!!
Still at 1cm but doc is happy with progress. Trying to get some sleep now. Dont think well see baby until sometime tomorrow.
Nite!

8pm Update- GOOD NEWS!

Doc just came in things are progressing! ya! I'm finally 1CM dilated and he's very pleased with everything. Says I'm contracting every minute or 90 seconds which I can now CERTAINLY feel. I'm not close to getting pain meds, but I have to stop what I'm doing while I'm contracting and just breathe thru it at this point. I know it'll only get worse...

Doc said that he's done with the cervix meds (YA!) and he's kinda just waiting to see if I'll need Pitocin or not- but if I continue the way I am now, it wont be necessary- more great news!

Yes, I cannot believe I'm blogging while I'm birthing either- this could be my last post depending on pain, but I'll have Jason blog for me or call with updates if we move along faster.

All for now.

Some strange things happening....

Nurse came in, said I'm progressing but didn't tell me how far or anything. She gave me more cervix meds which makes me think I'm not moving too fast...

The bad news is my doctor said NO FOOD unless its clear- so that means no Noodles & Company Mac N Cheese as I'd hoped.. Oh well. So, I called room service and ordered Vegetable Broth, Sorbet, Jello and 2 Apple Juices- YUM! Actually- I'm so hungry it actually does sound delicious.... so sad..

On a good note, I'm starting to feel some contractions! They aren't painful really, but uncomfortable that's for sure. The nurse said they are about 3 minutes apart. This is good!

4:30pm Update

I wish I had more info, but it's slow moving here.... The doctor came in around 1ish to check me and kinda killed my mood- told me that he didn't think I was dilated after all, so we were back at square one. So, the nurse started the cervix medication. She'll come back at 5 to check to see if I'm progressing- if not, they'll do more cervix meds. I'm still not feeling any pain. I do feel some pressure and tightness, but it's hard to tell if that's contractions or my hunger pains.. I haven't eaten anything since 8am and that was a 1/2 bowl of Cheerios! Typically by now I'd have eaten a whole heck of a lot more. She told me that if by 5pm she didn't think he'd be coming in the next 8 hours, that I might be able to have dinner. Sort of a Catch 22 as I want to have him, but I'm STARVING!

The nurse told me again that this will be a long process and to have patience, so I'm not really thinking anythings going to happen today or tonight- HOPEFULLY by tomorrow tho..

We're just hanging out watching TV (nothing good on tho), reading books and screwing around online.

More later:)

Did I just pee myself???

I haven't ever peed my pants as an adult, so I KNEW this wasn't normal... I woke up at 2am Thursday morning and felt like I had to pee, but at the same time I felt like I was peeing! IN BED! So, I got up, and went to the bathroom, then back to sleep. Did this whole thing again at 4am..Then at 8am I lay in bed thinking "I really couldn't still be peeing myself could I???" So, I yelled at Jason and said "I THINK MY WATER BROKE!" Strange tho cause there was no pop or gush... this is what I expected.

So, I called the doc at 8:15 and told her what happened and she said to come in to their office to be checked, but to bring my bags as they'd probably admit me. I ate breakfast, we showered, fed the dogs, etc... all the while Jason is skipping around the house saying "SHUG! It's happening!" haha- so cute! We finally get to the doc office around 9:30- they check me, I'm finally dilated to 1CM and yep, my water broke! YAH!

Next they tell us to drive around to admissions, and check in... Very anticlimactic actually- I pictured screaming, yelling, running to get wheelchairs, etc...Nope, I carried some bags, walked myself in and all that... So, after 1000 questions from the nurse and a PAINFUL IV in my arm I am all set to have this kid. I've been walking around for 45 mins in hopes to move along farther- waiting to feel like I'm in labor. I've got no pain, don't feel anything. Just enjoying ice chips and watching Wimbledon- timing is great!

Ok, I'll update later or Jason will if I can't. THANK YOU for all your love and support!

Sadly, I didn't get Starbucks today..boohoo :)

My FINAL Doctors Appointment...

It all started out with the dreaded words from the nice lady behind the counter...."Wait, you're overdue right?" to which I responded "Yep" with a very fake laugh...You'd think that the gal behind the desk at the OBGYN's office would know better right?

Finally the nurse came to get us and took us back to our room where she did the normal routine; blood pressure (still perfect), temperature, and listened to AJ's heartbeat (140 and healthy-yeah!) Then we sat in there for what felt like an ETERNITY for Dr.Zart to come in. I just sit in a gown with my list of questions as Jason talks about what car to get next and contemplating redoing our backyard deck. One might think he was trying to keep my mind occupied, but I know better :)

So, Dr.Zart comes in and feels my stomach, tells me I'm measuring 40 weeks, all looks well and sees my list of questions (Jason always says I ask too many questions, but it's just a thing I do!) She says to hold off on the questions until she examines me as she's going to try to answer all of them before I can ask. (She ends up doing a great job at this!) So, she examines me and gives me the sad look I was expecting while saying "Well...I don't feel any change, I'm sorry!"

I sit up and she starts telling me what to expect in the next few days. We stick to Plan B (Plan A would mean he'd come out tonight or tomorrow on his own) which is that I'll check into the hospital tomorrow night at 8:30 to start the cervix softening medication and not to expect that much will happen with that. She said that that will probably not start me dilating, but there is a small chance it could. I guess it works for "some people". Then she said assuming all is normal, they'll let me get up Friday morning and shower and then start the (dreaded) Pitocin drip thru an IV. She said they don't just give it all to you at once, it's gradual as labor should be. She said they also don't have a specific timeline on the epidural- that I can pretty much have it anytime I want to (THANK YOU!) I figure I'll do my best to get thru the pain without the drugs until it's totally necessary. I don't plan to be a hero, thats for sure.

Best case scenario is that AJ will be born sometime Friday afternoon- although she did tell me that I have to be very patient with this process (hahah! She doesn't know me well I guess) and that it could even take until Saturday??? I'm betting I beg for a C-section before we get to Saturday...

Speaking of C-section, she did warn me that with induction comes a slightly higher risk of C-section, but not to worry that she doesn't seem to think I'll need one. She said AJ is probably around the 8lb mark, but that was just a guess- that I could be hiding a much bigger baby. So many guesses!

So that's the scoop- Jason will be bringing the laptop to the hospital tomorrow so we'll try to keep this blog updated as needed.

Feel free to comment on things that can keep me occupied tomorrow as I know it's going to be a VERY LONG DAY!

Update...

I think I may have freaked a few people out with my last entry... All is still fine here- no baby and I am feeling fine. I'm still having contractions (I think) but it's not stopping me from doing my thing. Not calling the doc- not running to the ER or anything. I still plan to go for a nice long walk tonight. Maybe that'll help things progress?

Anyway, thanks for the concern (and the texts, emails and voicemails) but I'm coo :)

Could these be contractions???

Last night I had a really hard time sleeping.. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (YUM!) and while I ate my fair share, I don't think I over did it more than I normally do... On the way home, I just wasn't feeling right. My stomach was SO tight, but I just chalked it up to the food having less and less room to sit due to the baby growing. Well, I couldn't sleep much and had some menstrual type pain. Finally fell asleep around 1am.

Woke up this morning feeling ok- crabby from lack of sleep but otherwise ok. Didn't walk the dogs, it was too hot and I was too tired, but I did hit the book store and had an appt to get my oil changed. Since about oh... 10ish I have felt pretty crappy- not just tired, but like my stomach is SO hard still and more pain like last night. It's not anything that I can time cause it seems pretty consistent. I like to tell myself that maybe I'm in labor and this is as bad as it'll be- haha- I don't think I'm that lucky.

I'm not calling the doctor or anything as there's no point. Last time they told me if I can breathe or talk thru the pain not to call. Well, I'm breathing and talking- just moving slower and making lots of grunting noises...

Still have my doc appt tomorrow at 2pm which I fully expect I will be at. I've asked Jason to come with me as I have a TON of questions and I never seem to remember the answers. Everytime I tell him how I'm feeling he gets this big grin on his face and says "ALRIGHT!" meanwhile, I'm in pain!

Also found out today that I have to be at the hospital on Thursday at 6pm, not 8:30pm as I was originally told, then they start the actual induction Friday at 6:30am. Wouldn't it be nice if the induction went really well and easy and he was born by like...noon?

Speaking of the induction, I woke up completely TERRIFIED of giving birth- probably another reason I couldn't sleep last night. All this time, when anyone has asked me about how I feel about actually having the baby, I thought and said "well, he's coming out one way or another right? So, no reason to freak"... And now I'm freaking.... Partly cause if I do get induced I just have NO CLUE what to expect (IV's, drugs, contractions, possible C-section, LOTS of waiting, etc...) and partly because...well, I don't like the unknown.

More updates later if anything changes...

Cleaned the blinds finally...

And it turns out that doing that doesn't induce labor either! UGH! The good thing is that they needed it DESPERATELY so it was really good I did it. I had only been saying I was going to for 3 weeks. Now, I really don't know what my mother will do when she comes to visit, other than get me daily Starbucks, wake up for nightly feedings with AJ and vacuum! (haha- only kidding mom)

Took care of some last minute things today- booked the dogs at Camp Bow Wow (Doggie Day Care) for Thurs-Monday to keep them outta our hair and got Buster's vet appt moved to Thursday morning. Also made an appt to get my oil changed tomorrow. I feel like I'm planning to not have time for ONE THING when this child comes... I will still be able to do these things once he's here right? Just won't be as easy.

Four days max... I'm gettin excited! Jason has a new saying every morning... He says "OH! I thought of something for you to do today!" and I say "What's that? Cause I have a list, have you seen it??" and he then says "How bout having a baby??" Ya..I'm WORKIN on it! haha

Oh, and note to self- stop watching A Baby Story... it's freaking me out!

Still here, Still prego..

Just thought in case anyone comes on here to get the latest "scoop" that I'd let ya'll know that I'm not in labor and yep, I'm still pregnant. Today we went to Cherry Creek mall to hang around after a nice breakfast at Le Peep. We walked around the mall for a bit- didn't buy anything, but man, there's some SUPER cute clothes I want BADLY! Talk about inspiration to lose this weight quickly! Then we headed home and I took a much needed nap. I NEVER used to nap, but it's become something super necessary for me in the past few weeks. I was soooo crabby, that I think I was pissed off at just how the air was entering my lungs- just pissed off at the world. I'm happy to say the napped helped and Jason is still alive..

Tonight we're heading out to dinner with Joel, Holly & the kids as a thank you for giving us our book rack in AJ's room. We always have a good time with them so tonight will be no different I'm sure.

I'm REALLY looking forward to my next appt on Wednesday (only thing better would be if I don't make it!) so I can find out if I'm dilated or not. I'm REALLY hoping I'm progressing a little. We shall see...