Caleb's Birth Story

Monday night (2/23) at about 11:30 I thought my water broke. It was a continual leaking and definitely not controllable! I called the OB and he told me to head on in to the hospital. On the way, I started to feel very light contractions. I was admitted to a room at about 12:30am. At that point, I was 100% effaced and 3cm dilated. I did not want to start any pitocin, but Dr. Alvarez recommended it since I was not actively contracting. The pitocin definitely started my contractions and at the next check at 3am I was at 5cm. I asked for an epi at that point. The anesthesiologist had trouble getting it in correctly and it took several tries. I also had a contraction in the middle of getting the epi - not fun! After the epi kicked in, DH and I were able to sleep until about 7am.

By 10am I was 10cm dialated, but Caleb was still not dropped down low enough to push. His heartbeat was unpredictable - they kept having me change positions to find one where he would have a regular heartbeat. Dr. A gave me 1 hour to passively labor and see if Caleb would move into position. At 11 am he had not moved, but we tried pushing through 3 contractions. There were no changes and his HB was still all over the board. They started to prep me for a C/S.

The OR staff was really great in calming me down - I was hysterically crying. They also coached DH on how to properly distract me from what was happening! We were discussing movies while I was being cut open. At 12:35pm DS arrived! They tried to take the baby away without telling me what the sex was - but I asked and found out we had a SON! DH went with Caleb to get weighed and cleaned up. After I left the OR I was crying and so anxious to see Caleb and my family. I got to hold him and nurse him while I was in recovery.

Monday and Tuesday 23rd-24th

Monday started with this:

And Tuesday came in like this:

Caleb Hudson arrived Tuesday February 24th at 12:35pm. He weighs 7lbs, 5oz and is 20.5" long. HE IS PERFECT!! I'll post a birth story soon.

6 days until Due Date!!

Baby Hess is due in 6 days! Today I started my leave and wanted to take advantage of the time by cleaning the apartment. I started small with the foyer and coat closet. I took out some trash, rearranged some things and did some dusting/mopping. I made space for some more things in the closet including the diaper bags. Here are my before &; after pictures! Glen & I have a doctor's appointment at 2, so I'll try to update this afternoon with our progress!

38 Week Appointment

As of Friday, Baby Hess is 38 weeks and 5 days old. Momma gained 4 lbs in one week - wow! The doctor attributes most of that to water weight since my ankles & fingers are so swollen. There was traces of protein in my urine (again) so they are still concerned about preeclampsia/hypertension. My blood pressure has continually been fine. I go back on Monday for results for my bloodwork and to see if anything is changed.
Baby Hess is sitting super low, I definitely waddle now! I have not dialated at all, but am a little effaced. I feel like nothing is happening! I know all of the "signs" don't mean much, but it would be reassuring to have some. My cousin who was due a day before me had her baby this week, I'm a little jealous! I'm so excited for s/he to arrive!!!!
Today was my last day at BRU until at least 4/26! It is hard to believe! I just hope the baby doesn't arrive really late, because I don't want to "waste" my leave time. I plan on hardcore cleaning this week - my goal is to do a room a day. We'll see how much progress I actually make!
ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL BABY IS DUE!!! 

Week 37 Appointment

Today was another visit to the doctor! Baby Hess is 37 weeks old and is measuring exactly on schedule. I gained 2 lbs and everything looks normal. I go back next Friday and the dr. will check my cervix to see if anything is happening. =) 
My maternity clothes are officially starting to be a little small. I'm living in elastic waist pants and big t-shirts! This is Glen's favorite shirt - he says I look like the bunny! 


Work has been rough, I can't wait to go on leave! I got my paperwork today and hope 2/22 will be my last day. 
Only 17 days until baby Hess is due!!!

Childbirth Classes

Glen & I finished the 2 day weekend "Childbirth Education" class at WakeMed today. We are delivering at Rex, but their classes filled up too quickly for us! 

Overall it was good. The first day was 9-4 and reviewed the stages of labor, breathing techniques, positions for labor, edis & other medical options etc. It was good to practice the breathing & positions, but hard to imagine actually DOING it during labor. I'm sure it will help though! They also bought us lunch at the cafeteria. I had fries & a BBQ sandwich, and both were tasty!

Today was 9-1 and we went over pushing positions, saw the birthing video, c-sections, postpartum care, and then the hospital tour. The instructor was talking about after you have the baby and the nurse cleans everything up, she'll leave you alone "just the three of you." OH MY! There is going to be three of us, a family, Mom, Dad & baby. It's so hard to believe that! DH & I skipped out on the tour since we aren't delivering there.

We both feel more prepared after the class. I don't think I really learned a lot, but it reassures me that I know more than I think. Glen definitely learned a lot. I have been wanting to have a natural birth, and the class was empowering to me that I can do it. It's great to know I have Glen's support and that he realizes labor will be hard work for him too. 

Estimated time to arrival: 21 days and counting......

36 week appointment

Here is my belly shot for this week! I feel like it's expanding by the day - I can't believe how big I am!

Glen & I just returned from our 36 week appointment. I only gained 1 lb. in the last week, which is amazing considering how much snacking I've been doing! =) 

Baby Hess is measuring exactly on point today! Dr. Henderson says she is a "medium" baby which means anywhere from 6lbs - 9lbs. Anything over 10lbs would be a "large" baby. She is also still head down. 

I've been getting a lot of headaches lately & there was also protein in my urine. I go back in 3 days for my next visit. The Dr. wants to make sure I don't have hyper-tension. My blood pressure has been fine so far. 

I'm going to take a nap before work, being pregnant is exhausting!