1 week old! (And a day)

Tomorrow is my due date, and let me tell you...I'm so happy I didn't have to wait that long! Bella would be almost 8lbs if she would have taken the full 40 weeks! It was kinda cool to be due on Thanksgiving, but I'm glad I actually can share Thanksgiving with everyone, instead of being in the hospital.

Bella came home on Monday at around 4pm. She's been such a good baby, and she only cries when she needs something. She sleeps most of the day, and her favorite thing to do right now is explore her surroundings after her bottle. We've had quite a bit of family over to see her over the past couple of days, and practically everyone has seen her asleep. I'm hoping Thanksgiving will show her true colors...haha.

Our first night home (Monday night) was one of the longest nights ever, but an adventure all the same. Dorian and I took turns feeding her, changing her, and comforting her every couple of hours. I think he actually was awake more than I was though, because anytime she even whimpered he shot up out of bed to see what she needed. He's taking to the Daddy thing really well. Sometimes I can see he's frustrated (anyone would be with how often she wakes up), but he's always patient with her, and she loves to cuddle with him.

Breastfeeding has been particularly difficult for Bella and Mommy, because she had been in the NICU for her whole first week. She LOVES her bottle, and gets very upset when I try to feed her otherwise. We're still working on it, and I'm trying to not give up. We'll see how the next few days progress.

Yesterday Bella was 1 week old, and had to go see the pediatrician. Man, was THAT interesting. We had to work through a bunch of paperwork to get her enrolled, and then we waited for quite a bit more time before being called. I didn't like being in the waiting room, because there were a lot of kids there, and I really didn't want her to get sick. We made a "bio-dome" out of her car seat with a thick blanket, so I'm hoping that helped.

When it was time to weigh her and take her temperature, Bella was the most cranky I've ever seen her. She got MAD! Although, I don't blame her. I wouldn't want my temperature taken in my rear either. She is the same length, but weighs 7lbs 13oz now (up 3 oz from birth). When she was being weighed, she was so feisty that she scratched her face, yet again, and left quite a mark. I wasn't happy about it, because everyone wanted to know why she had a scratch on her face. It's much better today though, practically gone, thank goodness. Other than that, her doctor's appointment was completely normal, and was accompanied by a whole list of the "do's and don'ts" that we've heard over and over in the NICU.

Today is a lazy day of getting paperwork together, and taking care of little details that weren't ironed out before. We feel much better, and we'll be enjoying Thanksgiving tomorrow! Too bad Bella's turkey will taste a lot like formula!

3 Days Old!

So we just got back from visiting Bella again. We got to hold her and feed her this time! And yes, we took more pictures. Tomorrow we get to go and give her a bath! I'm definitely feeing separation anxiety now. I totally cried tonight when I had to leave her. The good thing is that we found out yesterday that she will be coming home Monday morning.

Tomorrow Dorian and I will be cleaning and sanitizing everything in the room...lots of work. I'll be washing her clothes and her no-scratch mittens...which we bought today and are my personal favorite item. We also bought her bunny socks and pacifiers and little ribbons. It was a good day for all 3 of us!!

Baby Bella: Being Born!!!

My labor story:

Hi everyone! I know you all want to know exactly what happened (especially those of you who still are expecting) so here goes!

At about midnight on Sunday (Nov. 11), I went to sleep feeling just like always. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday morning. I woke up around 4:15am...and there was water everywhere...my water completly broke. No warning signs, no plug, no prior discharge. But I knew...time to go to the hospital anyway. I hadn't felt any contractions, but the water just kept coming out! Dorian's aunt came and drove us to the hospital, where I was admitted about an hour later. I wasn't contracting, so they took their time admitting me...go figure. Haha. Anyway, it was kind of embarrassing sitting with a towel under me the whole way, and everywhere I walked and went!

At around 5:30, they ran an IV, and at 6 they gave me pitocin...time to induce contractions, since my water had broken. I was in labor for six hours with what felt like menstral cramps at the beginning, to really bad contractions, when I finally asked for the epidural. The epidural itself didn't hurt or anything...it was NOTHING compared to the contractions. Trust me, by the time you ask for the epidural...it's a waaay better choice. I was at 4cm & 80% effaced when I got it. For the next hour or two, I felt great. I even let Dorian leave to go get something to eat. But by the time his mom and him got back, I could feel my right side...not good. So a little later, they gave me some Demerol along with something to keep me from being nautious, and I felt a little better. They had to wait a little while before they could give me another epidural...so yay...I had to go through contractions until then, which wasn't fun again. Dorian was the best coach ever, and I don't think any daddy could have done better. He helped me focus, and I found that when he put his hand on my forehead and rubbed it hard, it was easier to deal with the pain. After I finally got another epidural (I was 7cm & 90% effaced), I actually slept for a couple of hours. When I woke up again, I was fully dilated. The nurse could feel her head already, so 20 minutes later of some seriously hard pushing, I got her out!

While I was working on getting her head out, sometime, I had an epistotomy. I didn't even feel it, as you can possibly imagine.

When she came out, Dorian cut her cord, and the nurses let her rest on my chest for a few seconds, then took her to be cleaned, and doctor stitched me up! I think he took quite a few stitches, because I seem to remember it taking a long time. At least my second epidural worked, because I didn't really feel him stitch me either.

So overall, 18hrs of labor. Isabella Christine was born on November 13th 2007 at 12:45 pacific standard time, weighing 7lbs 10oz. She was 20 inches long, 10 days early, and she looks beautiful!

The Update:

I just got home, and Bella is still in the (NICU) at the hospital, because I also had developed a fever that I didn't even really know about while I was having her. They are running anti-biotics through her system for a few days just in case. So I'm home, and we're running back and forth to the hospital to see her now.

We took 2 pictures of her while she's still at the hospital, but I'm sure there will be many more to come.

That's the story and the update! If you read it all, that's awesome!!! I know it was a lot. But I'm a mommy now!!!

<3>

37 Week Appointment

I woke up today in total ignorance of the fact that the time changed back to standard. It was quite funny, because I showed up to my doctor's appointment 1hr early!

My doctor's appointment today went unusually normal. My blood pressure is still up, but it didn't seem to concern them as much as before. I saw Dr. Luu, a different one than before, and he checked the baby's heartbeat (all good). Then he told me that I'll need to have blood taken, and do a 24hr urine sample to monitor protein. I was upset that I had to do more "tests", but I guess that's better than being induced. I'm under the impression that it's better that babies come when they want to. So this gives us more time, and now I can actually go to King City for the quinceañera. He said nothing about bedrest, so I think that means I can actually do stuff, but I'm not going to push myself. I plan to take it easy, because I want to go to the party on Saturday.

I talked to my friend on the phone today, and I got to hear her little baby over the phone. He's such a quiet and good one! She's a lucky mommy! I already know...mine is going to be a loud cranky princess! I get this idea from the "what goes around, comes around" theory, meaning: I was a cranky baby.

So tomorrow is the start of another week. We continue to wait some more.

Baby Stats this week:
My weight = 145lbs, down 1lb from last week (?!) *Total gained 26lbs during preggo*
My blood pressure = 152/79
Baby's heart beat = 140bpm
Fundal Height=37cm
Baby Movement = good & normal.
EDD = 11/22/07

Catch up!

So I've been kind of "out of it" as far as the blogging goes, and I should have kept the updating going, but I've been a little more busy than I anticipated.

On Tuesday, I went to the doctor again. They took my weight, and I was suprised to find out that I had gained 5lbs in only one week! This is especially strange because I've been having trouble gaining the "normal" 5lbs/month. I figured, "Well, baby's finally catching up at the last minute!". However, next I took my blood pressure again, hoping it would be much better than last week. Boy was I wrong. It was a rediculous 151/93. So as soon as I went in to see the doctor, they had me lie down for another few minutes, and came in to take it again. I was definitely worried. When the 2nd time around came, it had gone all the way down to 116/73, which is normal, but a drastic difference. The doctor was not happy to see that I had gained so much weight in one week, and that my BP keeps changing. I was given an information sheet about Pregnancy Induced Hypertention (PIH), and I was told that I have to be on bedrest until Monday. I also had the unfortunate lab results coming back from the previous week telling me that I'm anemic now...so I have to take more iron...great. The baby sounded good though, so luckily none of this has effected her as far as we know. At my next appointment, I have to go in and see a different doctor, who will tell me that I may have to be induced if my blood pressure conditions do not improve.

As you can imagine, all of this had me pretty worried, since everything up until this point has been normal and great. The good thing is, that if I do get induced, the doctor says that labors with high blood pressure usually go fast...so I'm looking forward to getting it overwith.

So it's been fun doing nothing in bed this week. =(. Luckily Halloween was Wednesday, and I did go and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. There were definitely some cute costumes! We had planned on carving a pumpkin, but unfortunately waited until the day of to buy one...and they were all ready out of the stores by the time we got there. Oh well, next year, we'll be more prepared!

The rest of the week has been pretty quiet. We're going to buy a travel system (and maybe more stuff depending on what the doc says) on Monday.

So my next update should be Monday, unless something happens on or before that! Hopefully my BP will go down, and everything's going to be great! Baby Bella may be here sooner than we think! =)

Baby Stats this week:
My weight = 146lbs. (Up 27lbs since beginning of preggo).
My blood pressure = Changing all the time. 151/93, then 116/73.
Baby's heart beat = 140bpm.
Fundal Height 36cm.
Baby Movement = good and normal.
EDD = 11/22/07....unless induced.

~Steph