We heard the heartbeat today!

[chickentart]

It was instantaneous. She put the doppler on muh belly and there it was, whooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh. A perfect 160. Which means our baby has excellent time, already, which is good, because it's going to be a musician.

Maybe we'll name it Johann.

Anywho, I wanted to share our joyous 10 seconds of fetal heartbeat love.
Expectedly, my husband thinks it made the whole thing more real, and as our doctor said, "There's a baby in there!"

Hilarious anecdote: My husband is in the waiting room with me, and I had been all grumpy at him because he was not giving me enough pregnancy sympathy last night, and he said he'd make eggs for me and then he didn't and he had onion breath. So he was just cracking jokes left and right in the waiting room and I was busting up laughing even though I was trying to be grumpy. He was like, "are you going to have an ultra sound today?" and I was like, no, just the doppler heart beat thing. and so he's like, "well, when do we get to hear the sex of the baby?" and i said, not for a couple months. and he gives me this look and goes, "GOD what a JIP."

;l;l


cracks me up.

http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/p/dev085pf___.png (http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/)

[half1113]

I bought this a couple weeks ago.
target (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1158286974/ref=sr_1_1/601-1359950-7660128?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B000056JOB)

It doesn't sound the same as the doppler but it's pretty neat. My husband hadn't heard the doppler, he doesn't get to go with me usually. :(

[katz]

^ i have the bebe sounds too and i never got squeaker's heartbeat with it. i could hear him moving around and kicking but never the hb and his heartbeat was very easy to find with a stethoscope and dopplar :\

there are a few places you can rent your own dopplar
http://www.storkradio.com/
http://www.fetalbond.com/

we were going to do this and just never got around to it. i wish we had, as i would have loved to have recorded Lucien's heartbeat.

i'm so glad you got to hear your little baby heartbeat today CT :) I cried the first time I heard my little man's.

[half1113]

Even though my pregnancy test was the first ultrasound, I was still in shock when I heard the heartbeat the first time. I feel bad because the doc looked disappointed when I was like ok it's a heartbeat. Now I enjoy it and I also wonder when my next ultrasound is. I can totally see why Tom Cruise bought his own machine, even though I still think Suri is a baby double because she's' really an alien. ;m

[chickentart]

So today is the big push to get the house clean and organized and ready to be taken over by baby stuff.

We're cleaning the corners with Q-tips. I'm so excited, I just can't hide it.

[katz]

-l- my living room STILL looks like babies r us threw up in it!

[chickentart]

Our house still looks messy, but it's cleaner. It's weird. We're halfway there. So there are boxes and piles, but we got really far yesterday, even going so far as running errands and returning the last bit of duplicate wedding gifts. We got a new bathmat, a coffee travel mug, slipcovers, and throw pillows.

Then we came home and made stuffed bell peppers and I promptly passed out.

It was a good day.

[Jezebelle]

So exciting!

I'm very happy for you [vibe]

[chickentart]

Well it's hard because we live in a 1 bedroom bungalow type house. It's tiny. So we're really rethinking how we use space. Thus the boxes and piles. But we can't move because the location is soooo primo. We're walking distance to everything we need, and the neighborhood is perfect. So, down to the basement the junk goes, and once that's done, we feel we can make it work.

[chickentart]

I'm totally showing!


I've had to put some jeans away. It's not proper to be Al Bundy at work, pants all unbuttoned. Just... no. But it's what I had to resort to this week. And that was the end of those jeans for awhile.

here's the issue though-- i'm still way too small for the maternity clothes. So I'm in this middle world of sizes.

And with that, I am going to go eat a bagel. :)

[katz]

-lol- be forwarned, don't get rid of any of your clothes right now, safely pack them away... you may be in some horrible middle world of sizes after the baby is born too *L* i have no baby belly to hold up my maternity pants, but my belly is still too big for my pants etc from decemeber! i'm gonna hit up a thrift shop tomorrow for some jeans, because i hate walking around hitching up my pants all the time.

are you doing belly photos? even if you don't share them, they're really fun to look back over.

[bear]

I used the old rubber band through the button hole trick to extend the wearing of my pants a bit longer. It doesn't work for all pants but it did work for a bit.

That in between stage is so awkward.

[katz]

yeah i tried the rubber band thing today.. all my pants have funny hooks/buttons (yay old navy) so it didn't work so well.

[half1113]

How's your back doing?

[chickentart]

Thanks for asking!

My back is a lot better, actually. A lot of ice and Tylenol and it's sort of just dissapated. I went to the doctor and she was like, ummm, don't know how to break it to ya but...

you're pregnant. back pain happens.

and i was like askdhgasdkhgakh I KNOW! But I can't walk!

And she was all *shrug.*


GAD. Anywho, luckily that pain seems to have subsided for now. Thank God, I can't imagine having to deal with that for the next 5 or 6 months.

Anyway, I'm going to post belly pictures soon! There's definitely something growing in there and i'm sure it can't wait to make its big debut on the internets.

[chickentart]

When did you other mommies have your first Ultrasound?

Ours is next Tuesday, and I'll just be hitting the 17 week mark. Is that too early to tell the sex?

[Steve SFM]

*subscribes for updates on the LisaChild*

[Rose Bud]

I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks and one I think about 19 weeks and the "big one" at about 21. 17 weeks might be a little early, yeah.

Not necessarily. I was 17 weeks pregnant with Ben when we had our "big" ultrasound and it was quite clear Ben was a boy! At that point in pregnancy it depends more on the position of the baby than anything.

But let's see if I can remember, I had ultrasounds at 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 17 weeks, and about 3 more since I had placenta previa and Ben was measuring a wee bit big. But with my first pregnancy my first was at 12 weeks. I ended up having about 5 with that pregnancy too because Nicholas too was measuring large and they found that he had fetal hydronephrosis and wanted to keep an eye on it.

[half1113]

Is there chiropractic coverage on your insurance? I strongly recommend seeing a chiropractor. He's helped me with the hip pain and the lower back pain.

I had my first ultrasound at 12 weeks when I went in to confirm I was pregnant. For the life of me I can't remember when the next one was. I know it was early because of an abnormal blood test which resulted in an amniosentisis. I haven't seen her since either. :(

[katz]

i had several u/s 2 wk - first dating attemp 7wk - got the date 11wk - IPS screening 21 wk - anatomy & growth 36wk - growth i need a pair of jeans...my mat jeans = too big normal jeans = too small i have 1 pr of mat pants that fit

[chickentart]

baby!!!!


15135

[katz]

it's not showing up! :(

[half1113]

Little baby. :) I'm ready for more ultrasounds of baby.

I have another ultrasound Monday for measuring size and position.

[Antigone]

I had my first ultrasound at 12 weeks when I went in to confirm I was pregnant.

How did you wait that long? ;)

Yayyyy babies!

[half1113]

How did you wait that long? ;)

Yayyyy babies!

When I took the home pregnancy test it turned positive in 15 seconds, I wasn't even done peeing yet. I knew. I've never missed my period ever. I also wanted to wait a month and a half because my insurance was changing. I was also in some slight denial that helped me wait. ;)

[chickentart]

^^^omg. I know. I peed on the stick and it was absolutely INSTANT. There was no suspense.

[chickentart]

the baby has discovered somersaults.

wheeee!!

http://www.logomagic.com/catalog/images/somersaults.gif


apparantly that kid fitness center is in my belly.

[Steve SFM]

Wooo!

Baby is gonna be ripped.

[chickentart]

15168

[chickentart]

15169

[chickentart]

(that's me and my belly at 18 weeks. ) :D

[Steve SFM]

My fellow childfree folks might kill me for saying this, but you're just glowing. ;)

[katz]

wow ct you look great! what a perfect little baby belly :)

[chickentart]

you guys are too sweet. in my no make up and sweatpants picture, you make me feel cute. which is hard when you've gained 15 pounds.


*lovesyou*

[katz]

just remember that your body is gaining the weight it needs to make a healthy baby :) don't stress it !

you're just about halfway and looking good!

[Steve SFM]

So why did you go back to "babies make you gay"?

[half1113]

Aww you look cute.

[chickentart]

So why did you go back to "babies make you gay"?

because that was our super cool emmy's joke!

and also because, everytime i read cheeze whiz taint i cringed. so gross.

so back to ghey babies i went.

[chickentart]

OK everybody. we went and did the ultrasound today. and

IT'S A GIRL!!!

[Fray]

Aww, yay! Congratulations! Does this mean you'll be thinking of names now?

[courey]

Congrats! [post28]

[bear]

Exciting!! Congrats!

[chickentart]

Yes, we have a few girl names in mind.

Claire
Emma
Jill
Aralyn
Morgan


those are a few of our favorites right now. my best friend and i just had a super squeal-fest over the phone just now, and she says she'll be calling it Emma J no matter what.

i am so super happy i don't even know what to do with myself.

[katz]

Yay! Congrats!

[courey]

I love the name Emma! [or Emily]; I think I had those up for consideration with my daughter. :)

[Steve SFM]

Lisa Jr.! ;)

I also am down with the Emma/Emily. Lovely names.

Congratulations. :)

[Kari]

Claire is my favorite girl name of all time next to Charlotte, so you must choose Claire! (I kid!)

OMG little girl clothes! You get to buy fabulous widdle dresses and widdle Mary Janes! *claps hands in excitement*

I am so happy for you!

[chickentart]

22 Weeks and 1 day.

It's so weird. I hate to admit that I wanted a girl but I totally did. Not that a boy wouldn't have been wonderful but I honestly am soooo excited about the wee little pink dresses I can hardly contain myself.

My best friend contends that the first little frilly dress should be cinderella blue with matching sparkly socks and one of those dumb little headbands to match-- because since the beginning of time, I've been a Cinderella nerd. My best friend, all about Sleeping Beauty. So she's like, you have to dress her for the appropriate princess. I can see it.

I CAN'T WAIT HOLY MOLY. squee squee squee.

p.s. you shoulda seen her little girl biscuits. i swear they were so cute. is that gross? sorry but they were.

[mycloud]

I don't know you but I wish you all the best, and please stay in good health.....mycloud

[half1113]

Congrats. Emma was my great grandma's name and I considered it as well. Girls are fun. I had to practice serious restraint when shopping before Evelyn was born.

[chickentart]

15254

it's muh belly.

[chickentart]

ok can i post a picture here successfully or what?

let's see...

15314

[chickentart]

15315
putting up christmas lights...

[chickentart]

15316

yup, i'm a big girl, it's official.

[courey]

Cute! I love the first one ;l

[chickentart]

i know! i was like, c'mon hubs, let's compare bellies. never has his beer belly looked so freaking demure.

[katz]

gah! you two are so cute!

[chickentart]

I'm officially 7 months pregnant today!

My dad says... that means March 2nd, right? And then I had to break the news to him that human females gestate for 40 weeks in real life, not 9 months, and that I was really due on March 27th.

A funny thing about my dad...he's really uncomfortable with all the "baby-growing-in-your-body" business. I don't know if he's really old school or it's because I'm his daughter, but I told him that the baby is so big now that I can feel the outline of her little body sometimes, depending on where she is in my belly. And he was like, "That's nice, honey." But he said it in a way that was SO obviously...LET'S MOVE ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC PLSTHXBYE.

And so it makes me feel self conscious like... did I say something wrong? is that weird? I don't know. He's on the baby train fer sher but sometimes hearing about the actual business of me having a uterus is just too much for him.

[katz]

^ lol my dad was a bit like that but then he REALLY got on the baby train.

i have to admit it was damn bizzare to have my biggest breastfeeding supporter being my dad (his gf is a lactation consultant/nurse at the local major hospital).

i don't think you said anything wrong, it's just hard for the dads to realize that their daughters are all grown up even if you've been "grown up" for years.

[chickentart]

hey, acid reflux!

so, um, i am officially pregnant from my forehead to my cooterhole. yeah. that's a lot of pregnant in case you were wondering. the baby kicks now wayyyy up high so i feel her near my ribs, in my sides, just, everywhere. she's just bigger, and there's not a ton of room in there, so it's just... i feel very full of baby. i also feel like a beach ball with arms. and i can tell my stomach has actually migrated. sick, dude. i had some nerves this morning and i was like what the... acid reflux hell. and i've got to blame that on my stomach being a lot higher than normal. so that's... extra freakin' weird.

i'm such a science experiment.

[courey]

Acid reflux! God how I hated it. My OB said try not to bend over at all for 30 minutes after you've eaten, and sometimes lemonade helps if it's too late for the not bending over part. Both of those did help out a lot, but sometimes reflux came, hell or high water.

[Steve SFM]

I wonder if it would be OK for bebe if you took Prilosec or something.

When are you due again?

[Jezebelle]

You're an ecosystem! Yes, I think she can take stuff for acid reflux. I haven't yet experienced it, but I'm only 4 1/2 months and I already feel quite sizable.

Take care sweetie :)

[chickentart]

thanks. i may ask the doc about it if it gets any worse.

and i am about 7 1//2 months along. due on march 27th!!! yikes! :)

[Jezebelle]

ooo - 6 weeks left! How exciting!

How are you sleeping?

[chickentart]

welll, actually, i wish it was only 6 weeks. it's more like 10. my due date is march 27th. how long women are actually pregnant is cruel joke. it's more than 9 months. it's like 9 months and 3 weeks and a few days. 40 weeks is the key--that's how long you're really pregnant. And I am almost 30 weeks along.

[chickentart]

no way!!

[chickentart]

ok, so right now the baby is kicking me in the ribs.

and i am 33 1/2 weeks along.

and i have gained 41 pounds.

and i've been looking forward to going to babies r us all week long how crazy am i?

[chickentart]

15499

that's me!

[katz]

Looking good :) At least with rib kicking, you know they're pointing in the right direction! Not too much longer now :)

I look forward to going to Babies R Us all the time. Baby gear is my new habit.

[chickentart]

isn't it addicting? once you sort through what you need and what's crap, that is. tomorrow we're going to go and spend our gift certificate on a travel system and breast pump accessories.

why i'm so excited i couldn't tell you. :)

[courey]

Ah, the homestretch. You look fantastic! :)

[katz]

I think I mentioned this, but your pump comes with a cooler bag (the Day Carrier Kit on the website) as well as the bag that holds the pump; it all fits inside the main bag. -thinks- An extra package of the valve membranes is nice (the little white flaps on the valve). I find they get lost when you pull it all apart for the dishwasher. I don't know how much traveling you plan to do, but the car lighter adapter saved my butt back in Nov. when we had to travel.

Have you chosen your travel system yet? If I may offer one suggestion, if it's a Graco, the Vienna system is just as good as the Quattro but smaller and lighter as far as the build goes. I know some of the Quattros though have insane little things on them, like a clock and a thermometer etc. One other thing you may want to look for is one that comes with the bigger infant seat. They sell the infant seats with bigger size limits now; heavier weight, longer babies.

[chickentart]

We actually ended up going for the Graco Snug Ride Infant Car Seat-- no travel system. We both think we'll end up baby bjorning her/wearing her in a sling when we go out. That + a diaper bag and we think we've got it figured out. When she gets a bit bigger, we'll get a smaller, more lightweight stroller. The strollers that come as part of a travel system such boats! I've talked to a lot of parents who had those strollers and hardly ever used them. Hopefully we've made the right choice.

[katz]

They're pretty big I won't deny that, that's why I said the Vienna is a better choice if you went that route. We have a Graco Euro as well which is WAY smaller but Lucien isn't quite big enough for it yet. I use my stroller at a mall, doubles as a shopping cart! You'll like slinging, they can be a bit of an addiction. I have a MeiTai, a hotsling and I'm getting an Ergo in the next couple of weeks.

I tried tracking your package and I think the girl lied to me when I asked for a tracking number(wouldn't be the first time). They seem to be really good at that and give me delivery confirmation numbers instead of honest to goodness tracking numbers. I'm going to call CanPost tomorrow and verify if it's a tracking number or a del. confirm. In any case you should get it soon ish. She said 8-10 days, Thursday will #8

[chickentart]

thank you so much!
yes, i'm doubting the choice to not have a stroller for the first couple of months. i really wonder if we'll need one...

[katz]

you could always do one of the "frame" strollers if you find you really need it
http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=6001BCL1&subCatId=27

[half1113]

I have a Graco travel system. I have yet to use the stroller. If we go somewhere and she needs to stay in her carrier, we get two shopping carts. I fill one with groceries and she rides inside the other one (the safe way).

[chickentart]

so i went to the doctor today, and i'm 50% effaced. the due date is still march 27th, and i'm ready to blow.

any words of wisdom as i waddle through these last few days?

[Fray]

Are you excited??

[chickentart]

i'm SO excited it's like Disneyland Christmas Birthday Wedding x 1,000. I just want to get this party started is all. When the doctor examined me, he said it would probably happen within 2 weeks. So that's awesome. I hope she comes sooner though. I can't wait to have her out in the world, especially so my husband can have her too. I feel like I've been hogging her all this time. :)

[Fray]

Awww! Too cute!

I have no words of wisdom...I'm just utterly over the moon for you!

[bear]

Sleep in and relish in it if you can. Enjoy the quiet. Enjoy the full use of being able to have both hands free. Go out for dinner and a movie or something with your husband and enjoy that too. Not saying you'll never get the chance for all these things again, they were just a few of the things I found myself missing!

Exciting! You are so close! I had my daughter in the early spring and loved it. Great time of year.

[Steve SFM]

Be as cunty as you wanna be.

;)

I'm thinking good thoughts for you, Lisa. :)

[chickentart]

thank you!

[Jezebelle]

OMG!! I'd be freaking out!!

I have no words of wisdom - I'm about 3 months away from having this same experience. You'll be in my thoughts though and I'll be checking the thread and wishing you tons of luck!!! [hugs]!!!

[katz]

I second all those things Bear said. Get some one on one snuggle time with the husband too!

Eee so very excited!

[half1113]

I third what bear said. How exciting. I'm sending you goodluck.

[Barbarella]

Keep us updated! I'll be thinking about you! [post28]

[courey]

I third what Bear said!
Along with that, do a lot of walking! It may be uncomfortable at times, but it's really great excersize for the pre-labor festivities :)

[chickentart]

i'm definitely walking...but unfortunately i'm sick again. i had bronchitis for 2 months and now it's back again. i also can't sleep at all. it's ridiculous. and it's my birthday, and i'm miserable, and too tired to think about the irony of the fact that it's my birthday and i want nothing more than to birth someone else today. and i'm at work which makes things extra cheerful.

ugh. pregnancy. it's hard. i need a nap.

[katz]

awww [hugs]

happy birthday beautiful! i hope that when you get home you kick up your feet and relax!

[bear]

ugh! Feel better and Happy Birthday!

[Fray]

Had that baby yet?

[chickentart]

nope. no bebehs yet. :(:( and here's the thing. my doc said that if i don't go into labor naturally, they won't induce me until April 6th!!! That's sooooo far away!!

i'm trying to hang in there. my husband is very supportive and so that's really nice.

the good news is, when i went to the doctor on Friday, they said I was still 50% effaced and 2 cm dialated. yay!

[BlogginBetty]

have sex and lots of it.

the prosteglandis (sp?) in your husbands semen can help kick start labour.

Well that is if your body and baby are ready. It's so easy to say just wait it out, you won't be pregnant forever, but its true. Treasure these last few days/week before the little one is born, you will never have this time back hahahaha. sometimes I wish my 2 year old would go back in. so much more portable then.

[half1113]

Why won't the doc induce until April 6th? All I did was drop before my due date and he said, if you don't have by Monday, I'll see you at the hospital then.

I'll send you labor vibes.

[chickentart]

my doctor said that they don't want to induce me because if they do that before my body is ready, then the chance that i'd fail at having the baby naturally are higher. they want to give me the best chance of natural child birth.


so... we wait.

[Antigone]

my doctor said that they don't want to induce me because if they do that before my body is ready, then the chance that i'd fail at having the baby naturally are higher. they want to give me the best chance of natural child birth.


so... we wait.

*nods* Good.

The baby will (probably) come when it's ready. But well, maybe you'll have to go to kindergarten with a microphone strapped to your stomach instead? ;)

How far along are you now?

*sends have-that-baby-naturally-and-soon vibes!*

[chickentart]

I am 39 weeks and 6 and half plus days. <---;l


So yeah. I'm ready. And TMI warning:
I lost my

mucous plug. HOORAY!! i was so excited i was like freaking out in the bathroom and i was like husband!!!!!! wanna see!?!?!?! and he was like NO!!!!!



;l;l pregnancy is so gross. but that made me extra super duper happy.

[bear]

;l! It is gross isn't it! That is a great sign!!!!

*fingers crossed*

[Barbarella]

Mine took a couple days to completely come out. It was yucky!

It's a sign though! :)

[Antigone]

Don't read this unless you want to read me being a party pooper...


I've read that it's a good sign, but it also can regenerate.


HAVETHATBABY!

[BlogginBetty]

I started losing my mucus plug at around 35 weeks. i didn't go into labour until 40 weeks to the day.

So it can be tonight or two weeks from now.

Make sure your bag is packed and baby stuff is washed!

[courey]

Oo, babywatch has officially started! :)
Good luck; I'm sure you're both going to do just fine!

[chickentart]

well today's the due date and so far nothing has really changed...

15655
That's me about a week ago though. Pregnant up to my ears.

[chickentart]

here's baby:

15656

[katz]

-taps foot impatiently-

come on baby! momma (and a few others) are anxious to meet you!

[Fray]

I'M excited! YOU must need scraping off the ceiling! ;l

[half1113]

I hope that little one gets out her soon.

[chickentart]

I'M excited! YOU must need scraping off the ceiling! ;l


;l;l TOTALLY!!

[katz]

so.. how are you feeling? any indicators that this show is ready to hit the road?

[chickentart]

i feel fine. just impatient. i knew that she'd come late just because that's how much i loved being pregnant. you know? like of course i'd get a few extra days of this horseshit. because that's just my luck.


grrr....

[chickentart]

*be's grumply*

[IcecreamGestapo]

*sends you eggplant*

Push that baby out!

[Fray]

Hrmm, no activity for a wee while.

Is it time?!?!

[Barbarella]

Let's hope so! She hasn't been on for four days now! :)

[Jezebelle]

[vibe]

*sends happy thoughts*

[half1113]

oooh maybe she's on the end of her maternity stay at the hospital. [post100]

[chickentart]

Baby Lucy is here!!!
15679
She arrived at 4:38am on Monday, April 2nd.
The labor/birth was great, no complications, though I did have an epidural after enduring contractions for 23 hours. Now we have a beautiful baby girl in our home and she's absolutely the most joyful, wonderful creature ever. We are in lurve!

[chickentart]

I was so excited I double posted.

[Fray]

Congratulations! She's beautiful!

[Antigone]

*yayyyyyy!!!!!*

Congratulations, she's gorgeous!

[Barbarella]

She is absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I'm so excited!

[half1113]

She's so cute. She's got sugar dripping off her cheeks, as my coworkers says.

[Kari]

Congrats Lisa! [post28] I saw it on your myspace and meant to post but I forgot. :(

She's just beautiful.

[bear]

Congrats! She is lovely! Enjoy her.

[Steve SFM]

She's absolutely beautiful.

Well done, Lisa! :)

[St. Theresa]

Welcome to Earth, Lucy!

And great work, Mom!

[katz]

Awww Lisa! She's so beautiful! I'm so glad everything went well for you :)

Welcome to the world little Lucy!

[BlogginBetty]

congratulations!!!

I hope these next few weeks are filled with lazy mornings watching baby breathe! Thats the best part.

[Jezebelle]

Welcome to the world Lucy!!!

When you're more rested, I wanna hear the whole birth story!


Congrats Lisa - she's an absolute angel!! [vibe]

[Barbarella]

How is little Lucy doing?

And is Mommy taking care of herself?

[courey]

aww, congrats! I didn't see this before now!

[BlogginBetty]

have you slept yet?

[chickentart]

I have slept! It's in 3-4 hour segments, but that's good enough for me. She's really a doll. The most mellow, sweet, little cream puff in the world, let me tell ya.

Ok, so here's how it all went. My husband and I last saturday decided to go on a big nature walk to try to get labor going. When we got to the park it started pouring, so we were like, eh, let's go to the mall, we'll do some laps. So we go, and there's this tea place that Luke loves, so we go in, and I'm like, hmmmm, I wonder if they have raspberry tea leaf, because that's said to be a natural labor inducer. And at that point I was 5 days late so I was like, this little girl is DONE marinatin' and I'm having some labor tea! So I did, and then I had a pregnancy massage scheduled for later that day. I told the masseuse, who was also a doula, that if she could I would really appreciate it if she would hit some of my uterine stim points, just, to motivate her if she needed motivating. So I get this righteous massage, it's over, and when I stand up, my water breaks... or so I think. It wasn't a lot, but it was let's say "enough" to make me go hmmmmmmm. So we call the doctor and they tell us to come into Labor & Delivery so they can examine me. We go and they make me strip down and do all that business and it was really exciting and they checked me... and they said it wasn't my water. So we were bummed, and we went home. Then, right as we got home I had my
TMI alert:
bloody show
and I was like, ok, well, maybe this is it? no idea. That was at about 11pm, and at 1:45am I started having contractions at about 5 minutes apart. So we're thinking, ok, this might be it? Ok? Our false alarm totally made us doubt what was false and what was true labor! At 3am I felt something like water breaking again, but since the last one was fake, I didn't know what to think about this onw. So I labored until about 6am and then I fell asleep for a few hours. I woke up at noon and sure enough, the labor, which had subsided during my sleep, started right back up again at 10 minute intervals. So we were like, ok, not time to go the hospital yet, so let's go down to the store and walk around and see how I feel. So I walked around this big Target-like store and would just get a contraction and stop, and then keep going. That got tiring, so then we went home, and the contractions started coming at like 3 minutes apart. Our doctor told us not to go to the hospital until contractions were 3 minutes apart for an hour. So we go down there, hoping they wouldn't send us home, and as soon as I get there my contractions slowed down. So we were like DAMN IT! But this time, when they tested me, my water had broken, so we got to stay!! [post75] It was about 6:30pm on Sunday when we learned we would stay, so the nurse said put your clothes on, walk around, and we'll check you in a couple of hours. I was only 2 centimeters dialated at that point. So we walked and walked and ate a sandwich and at 8:30 I was still at a 2. SO, the on call doctor said, welllll, since you think your water may have broken at 3am, your doctor wants us to start you on pitocin, which is a drug that *really* jumpstarts your labor and contractions. So we did that, and my labor got really hard, and then it got harder, and then it got harder, so, I asked for an epidural at 12am, because I am here to tell you that.shit.hurt. That's when I started dropping F bombs. But the anesthesiologist came in and gave me what's called a "walking epidural." You still have sensation in you legs, and you can walk, but you're not in pain. And it's patient controlled, so if you want a bit more, you can have it. Problem was, he started on too low of a dosage, so my hard labor continued without drugs until 2am. TWO A.M.!!!! I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MUCH THAT SUCKED!! ;l;l But when the drugs kicked in, whoaaaa nelly. I wanted to hug all the doctors and name the baby after the nurse. It was so nice. So I fell asleep at about 3:00am, for 20 minutes, then I felt this weird contraction. It felt like downward pressure. But I didn't say anything because I didn't know what it was. So I felt like 5 more of them, and honest to god it felt like she was being pushed down. So I mentioned it to the doctor like, "oh hai, don't want to be an alarmist, but i think you might want to check me now." They hadn't since they started the pitocin, around 8:30pm. So the doctor checked me, and at that point, I really could have been anywhere. If I hadn't dialated, it was time to start talking C-section, because my water had been broken so long. So the doctor checks me and he's like wow, you're totally dialated! Page her doctors! So the nurse comes over to double check and she's like "um...I can see hair. you're at a +4 station, and +5 is birth. " We were like umwhatnow? So the doctors got there right away, and before you know it I was pushing, and I only pushed for 20-25 minutes, and then there she was, totally perfect and beautiful and I didn't need an episiotomy or anything. It was the best experience of my entire life, and my husband was right there with me the whole time. He just couldn't stop grinning. It wasn't gross or weird like I thought it might be. It was so natural and peaceful and painless... I loved it.

Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for the sweet messages! hugs to everybody.

[courey]

Yay! That sounds like a fantastic birth! So glad everything went so well :)

[Barbarella]

Your story made me cry! I'm such a mess lately! [blue]

Pitocin REALLY is the devil! I've already told Sean that is an absolute last resort. Nate was induced, and that shit is unbelievably unbearable!

[bear]

What a wonderful story. I'm so glad it went so well and you are enjoying your new little Lucy.

[Fray]

Awww. That story made me all teary!

[ej]

Congratulations to you and your family! :)