He's here!

I can't believe it!  After all that waiting, he finally arrived.  We couldn't be more in love with him.  Roman Adriano was born on September 29th at 11:38 pm.  He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 13 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long.  After the doctor talked about inducing I thought for sure I was going to be pregnant for at least another week.  But at that visit she also stripped my membranes and I really think that got things jump started.  If you don't want to read the whole long birth story you can skip to the end and just look at pictures :) 

Birth Story

 I started cramping and having mild back pain on Friday.  By Saturday afternoon around 4/5 o'clock I started having contractions.  They were 10-20 minutes apart.  So nothing too regular to call the doctor about.  Nevertheless I still got things ready for the hospital and had my mom braid my hair up.  I knew I didn't want it in my face just in case I did go into labor.  I tried going to bed Saturday night but the contractions were keeping me up.  So I sat up downstairs bouncing on my exercise ball, laying on the floor and timing the contractions.  Finally around 5:30/6 am the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and the intensity was definitely picking up. I went upstairs and told Mike, took a shower and we got ready to go.  We arrived at the hospital and I got checked into triage.  I was only dilated 3 centimeters but since I was four days overdue and the contractions were consistent they decided to admit me.  At ten that morning the doctor broke my water.  The intensity of the contractions picked up after that, so I asked for some morphine.  I was doing all I could to avoid an epidural.  I wanted to stay mobile as long as possible.  I also asked for intermittent fetal monitoring so I could get out of bed and walk around the room.  Well around 3ish the morphine started wearing off.  The intensity of the contractions was indescribable.  I was literally crying and doubled over in pain.  I tried all the techniques for natural birthing but nothing helped.  So finally caved and got the epidural.  The anesthesiologist who gave me the epidural was good but also a brute.  He said okay I'm going to have put you in this position and you cant move.  So while I'm having these excruciating contractions he flips me over into a fetal position and bends me into a C  which hurt like crazy.  But once he administered the epidural I didn't care. Finally the pain was gone!  I actually was able to nap for a couple hours.   At 5 o'clock they checked and I was only dilated 5 centimeters :p  So the doctor said okay we need to start her on the pitocin.  So the two things I didn't want, an epidural and pitocin I got.  But you know what, whatever needed to be done to get the baby out.  I was ready to have him.  From that point things really picked up, by ten o'clock I was ten centimeters and ready to start pushing.  Even though I had an epidural I could still feel the contractions since they picked up in intensity.  An hour and half of pushing and the nurse said, ok we need to call the doctor. The baby was right there but his big ol' head just wasn't coming through.  The doctor said I needed an episiotomy, ugh.  Well once that happened Mr. Roman was here in a few more pushes.  He had his cord wrapped around his neck which meant I didn't get to hold him right away.  He had to go straight to the warming table and the nurses were working on him for a few minutes.  But once they had him stable they placed him in my arms.  I started bawling the moment he was born.  I couldn't believe this little life I had been carrying for 9+ months was finally here.  During that whole time Mike was right by my side.  He did amazing, helping me the whole time, never complaining, telling me I was doing a great job.  I'm so fortunate to have him in my life.  We are so proud and happy to have Roman here with us.  So that in a nutshell was how our day went.  Here are some photos and I can't wait for Roman to meet all our family and friends.

Not in the mood for a photo

A few minutes old

Finally get to hold my baby

Proud papa

Our family

40 weeks, Day 2

So here we are overdue.  Surprised? Not really.  Saw the doctor yesterday, she ordered a Non Stress Test (NST) and Biophysical Profile to check fetal movement and how much fluid I had.  Everything checked out completely normal. Little guy is measuring just around 8 lbs and he has the fattest cheeks!  The better to nom on :)  It was funny during the NST they need the baby to move and we all know my baby likes to chill.  So the nurse buzzed my belly with this buzzer thingie and the baby was like AHHH! What the heck?! and started moving all over the place.  It cracked me up, poor little guy he was probably having a nice nap.  I saw a different doctor yesterday and she was really pushing me to get induced ASAP.  I told her, mmm, that's ok.  I just barely turned 40 weeks, I'd rather wait at least till 41 weeks to see if he comes on his own.  Plus, since all my tests checked out fine, there's no real hurry.  Also, my regular doctor is totally fine with me waiting till 41+ weeks as long as the baby is doing well.  So I have another appointment on Monday were they will repeat the NST and Biophysical Profile and we'll go from there.

As far as how I'm feeling?  I feel okay today.  Having some back pain and just extremely tired.  I rolled into work 30 minutes late this morning because I couldn't get out of bed and I can't rush at all.  Moving along in my slowest gear.  So glad today is my last day, there is no way I could come in next week.  I can't believe I made it through this week, I really had to push.  Plus I'm really tired of hearing people, your still here, ha!  So I'm going to try to rest up as much as I can till the little one comes next week.  We are just waiting for him to get here.  I saw this picture the other week that pretty much sums if I am having contractions or not yet, ha!

So that's it folks.  Sometime next week we should be welcoming the arrival of little baby boy regina.  I read some good advice on the babycenter website about the first several weeks of being a new parent.  Just thought I'd share it with everyone...

Tell yourself: This, too, shall pass
When you start out, you think, "I'm never going to be good at this," and then it becomes second nature. The child becomes an integral part of your life so that you couldn't imagine a time when you weren't a parent. So relax, enjoy the good and bad times, because your baby grows up so fast. Eventually, every child will sleep more (and so will you), and every child will be more independent. You'll never forget the first time your baby smiles at you or the first time he looks at you and calls you "Mama" or "Dada" or the times he falls asleep on your chest. It makes all the other frustrating stuff pale in comparison.

Can't wait :)

And, for this week's baby bump picture, I decided to do the last nine months so you can see the transformation.  I started the pictures at 8 weeks/2 months till 40 weeks/10 months.

The Final Countdown

...to the due date that is, but that really doesn't mean a thing.  According to my books and online perusing, most first pregnancies go over 40 weeks.  I will most likely be here at this stage for a while, just waiting.  Currently I'm 39 weeks with 6 more days to go.  The doctor yesterday said everything is going fine.  Baby's heartbeat is nice and strong at 148.  He's dropped the tinniest amount, he's now at station -3 instead of -5, :p whoopie-doo!  Only dilated 1cm, which is what I was at last week.  Doctor even stripped the membranes a little and that did nothing for me, not even one contraction.  I went and had a pedi after and still nothing.  Little guy is snug as a bug in a rug.  I had a feeling that he would either come at 38 weeks or 41 weeks.  Obviously he's not here yet, so I guess it's going to be 41 weeks.  At this point I feel like I have pregnant forever, blah.  And yes, I know, he'll come out when he's ready, so people don't have to keep telling me that.  Its really annoying for some reason.  Also annoying, my coworkers and boss asking me every single day, How are you feeling? Ready for that baby? You feel any changes like its getting ready? What are you still doing here?

Umm I feel the same as I did yesterday, if I felt bad I wouldn't be here.  No, I'm not ready for the baby, I want to be pregnant forever.  Since you want an update on any changes, I'll let you know when my water breaks.  I'm still here cause I need money, duh :p  So glad I only have one more week to go then I'm off on maternity leave.  I can do it!  And I'm really not ornery and grouchy all the time I just write these posts at work when I'm at my most irritated.  I'm generally very pleasant to be around.  At least I think I am ;)

Generally speaking this week has been pretty good.  Still tired all the time, I can nap anywhere at this point.  I'm getting plenty of sleep at night but its probably not quality sleep since Mike says I make a lot of noise all night long.  And rolling over I totally look like a turtle, sometimes it takes several tries.  Its not just the big belly but the pain in my pelvis.  Its actually clicks when I move, that's disturbing.  On the upside, I'm so glad it cooled down this week, I actually walked across campus a couple times enjoying the lovely fall like weather. 

As far as getting ready for baby, I don't think we have anything left to do.  The nursery is completely finished, I hung up the last two pictures on Monday, yay!

Mike already has his hospital bag packed and I have mine mostly packed.  Some stuff I can't put in there until we are getting ready to leave for the hospital.  Mike wants to install the car seats this weekend, especially the one that has the base and practice with the straps and all that jazz.  I think we have done all we can to prepare, we are just waiting at this point.

We have another busy weekend planned, going to our friends baby shower on Saturday.  People are telling me I need to dance at the party to get the labor going.  I'll let you know next week if that works ;)  So anyways, I can't think of anything else, till next week! This picture brought to you by Amber since she wanted a bump update.

Last pregnant photo maybe? Nahhh

38 weeks, i'm still here

So, we are still here.  Baby still chillin inside.  My babybump app says he should be the size of a leek and weigh about 6.8 lbs but since we know he was already 7 lbs last week, I'm going with next week's estimate. That would make him a mini-watermelon.  Yes people, I am smuggling a watermelon. We had our last checkup yesterday.  Baby is doing fine, apparently this week I'm measuring on track, so I don't know what the other two weeks were about.  He has a nice strong heartbeat of 145.  I had the foresight to record his heartbeat.  I figured I better do it before he comes out.  I think its one of the amazing things I've ever heard.

Otherwise, nothing much happening. I'm swelling up like a balloon.  Even my big rings are starting to get tight on my fingers.  I'm super tired but also super hungry all the time.  I read an article and basically it said the amount of nutrients or calories I need would be as if I was a professional athlete training for an event.  So that would explain my wanting to eat all the time.  I don't eat all the time but I could ;) if you catch my drift.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the whole nursery, so I'll try next week to get that in.  We had a very busy weekend with my cousins visiting and working around the house.  We were the Eddie Gonzales Inc. Paint Crew with Pikachu and Pregnant Lady lol!  Totally an inside joke, sorry, but it cracks me up.  So, that's its folks, till next week (or sooner, muahahaha, no seriously till next week because baby isn't going anywhere :p).

38 weeks, Day 2, doing my Kim K impression, ha!

Sorry if my post is a little rambling today.  My brain doesn't seem to be working right now and I'm having a hard time putting a coherent thought together.  Yesterday at the doctor's office I knew I had a question for her and I literally sat there for two minutes trying to remember what it was, gah! Pregnant brain!

37 weeks, Day 2, 20 more days!

That's what my babybump app says.  I like how its all excited for me with the little exclamation point going on at the end.  So baby is officially considered full term and estimated baby weight according to the app is 6.3 lbs.  But they tell lies because we had an ultrasound yesterday just to check on the little guy and he's more around 7 lbs.  So if we make it to 40 weeks (which we probably will since the technician and doctor both say he is very comfy and not coming any time soon) he may be around 8 1/2 lbs at birth.  He looks like a little chubster already, big, fat belly.  Still not letting us get a good picture of him keeping his hands and feet in front of his face at all times.  So I guess I'll have to suffer through the rest of this month carrying him around.  People are telling me to walk, bounce on an exercise ball, drink raspberry leaf tea or castor oil to get him out.  I'm kinda scared to do the castor oil but I can drink tea and bounce on a ball, that sounds fun.  Probably won't do it at the same time though :p But the people telling me to walk, have they checked the temperature outside?  Its still 90 degrees out and its September 6th.  I'm a hot, sweaty mess walking from my office to the car so you can hang up the walking.  So looks like we'll just be waiting on him to come whenever he feels like it.

His room at least is all done.  We spent our labor day weekend decorating his room and washing his 5 million onsies :p  It took me a whole evening to go through his clothes and organize them by size and then pretty much all day Saturday and part of Sunday to wash, dry, fold and put everything away.  I am quite pleased with the result.  I just have to hang two pictures on one wall above the dresser and we are done.  Here's a picture of most of the nursery.  I'll upload a view of the whole thing next week.

Well I think that pretty much sums up the week.  I can't think of anything else going on.  So I leave you with this parting shot, some people had asked me where my selfie was last week so making sure to include it this week.  I didn't take it at home because I forgot so you'll have to settle with an office bathroom photo :)

Till next week!

9 monthssssss

Seriously? Didn't I just find out I was pregnant? I mean, where has the time gone? Of course, I hear once the child is actually here the time goes pretty fast too. I remember my parents used to tell me all the time, just yesterday you were a little girl. I think I know what they were talking about now.

So I am officially in the home stretch. 4 weeks or so to go. I keep thinking he is going to come early or its more of a feeling really, but the doctor told me yesterday, nope. He appears to be in there for the long haul :p Well Doctor, I don't like your opinion so there, ha! Also, I am still anemic. So now have to remember to take my iron pills twice a day! As if taking them once a day isn't hard enough to remember. Baby measured large yesterday so the doc ordered an ultrasound next week to see how big he is getting. I wonder if he was sitting funny or it could have been the big lunch I had, heehee! Because all my other visits he's measured right on track. But my appetite hasn't slowed down a bit and I'm craving pie all the time. Thank goodness we don't keep it in the house because I can seriously eat two or three slices in a sitting. And don't you dare try to take my slice, I'll cut you.

I'm right there with you Stanley.

We did finally clear out the guest room and some of the office. Went through a ton of things and had a yard sale last weekend. Sold most of the big ticket items and all the little things we didn't sell I took them to Goodwill. So nice to be rid of all that stuff. I was starting to feel like a hoarder. Couldn't even walk in our dining room. We set up the crib, glider and dresser in the nursery. I'm going to finish decorating it this weekend so hopefully next week I can show you pictures, ooohhhh. Only item we weren't able to buy was the futon for the office. But that's because IKEA has it on backorder so we have to wait, boo!

Umm, let's see, what else?  We finished our birth classes.  They were informative and lots of good reminders.  But we'll see how many of them I'll actually remember when I go into labor :p  Baby is definitely riding lower, so I have a good waddle going on when I walk. My right foot stays swollen and feels tight all the time.  I get out of breath getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen. But that just means I'm that much closer, right?  Baby is moving all the time now, I think he is frustrated because he is running out of room.  No lie the other day I thought he was doing the rumba and shaking some maracas at the same time.  I was like what the world?

 

We are definitely getting excited though.  Ready to meet our little guy and I'm ready to have my body back :)  Since I'm near the end I'll try to update the blog once a week.  See you then!

8 months or ...

8 weeks to go, which is technically two months but not really or 56 days to go.  Which the days part sounds really scary, because I'm like wow!  We need to get crackin' on stuff b/c this baby will be here in no time.  Thanks to the baby shower we had back in May and several bags of baby clothes from a sister in my mom's hall we now have a plethora of baby clothes.  I do mean a plethora.  I still need to get him some cute little fedora hats/newsboy caps, some winter jackets and some cool meeting shoes but otherwise I think we are good till 9 months at least. We have the big ticket items for the nursery, crib and glider.  Still need to purchase a dresser though and little decorations for the room.  Hopefully we can get everything cleared out of the guest room this weekend so we can start setting things up.  I know, I know, I've been saying that for 3 months now.

I have been having more braxton hicks contractions, not all the time, but when I do have them they stop me in my tracks.  I was in the break room the other day, doubled over the table waiting for them to pass, fun times.  So if you add those on top of my pelvic pain I'm just hobbling around everywhere.  I did get a maternity support belt which helps when I'm standing or walking for long periods of time.  This kid is hanging so low I think that's why I have so much pain.  Plus, he's getting bigger, now around 3.75 lbs and the size of jicama.  I like these random fruit/veggies they pick out :p

I picture him like this right now, lol!

We did our maternity ward tour at the hospital.  It was so crazy thinking we will be there soon.  They are supportive of natural birth, they have a birthing ball, jacuzzi to ease the pain and everything so that was good news.  We start our birth classes next week, yikes! We are going to be so busy the next month or so.  Hopefully in September everything will be done so I can just use that time to relax before baby arrives. 

Had an ob visit this morning.  Baby is measuring right on track since belly measures 32 centimeters and the doctor said it feels like he's head down.  That would explain why my uterus feels like its going to fall out sometimes :p  I haven't gained any weight since last visit, yay!  I could technically gain another 10 lbs before he's born but since I've already gained 25 lbs I think I'm good.  Saw a really nice doctor in the practice today, she recommended I go to a chiropractor for my pelvis pain, she said it may help.  Also, told her I've been craving ice like crazy, so they did a hemoglobin test and I'm anemic.  So get to take iron pills in addition to my prenatals, hooray (not really).  Otherwise everything looks great.  Oh and his heartbeat was nice and strong at 167.  

Mike has been a great help, especially during the last couple weeks.  He's always helped around the house with cleaning and cooking but he's really stepped it up a notch just telling me to rest.  I really appreciate the support. We talk about our hopes and dreams for the baby and our worries if we'll do a good job raising him.  Its a lot of responsibility.  So much easier having a dog, we just have to make sure she doesn't bite anyone, lol!  Its stressful thinking about the future and kinda sad knowing it won't be just the two of us anymore.  But I've heard people say when the baby comes you don't miss it, its just another chapter in your life with a whole new set of adventures.  So just going to take one day at a time and do the best we can.  So here's my lovely 8 month, 32 weeks, day 224 pregnancy shot.  Till next time!

Really hard to find an angle where I don't look ginormous (and its only going to get bigger!)