3 Week Appointment

After a nearly 2 hour wait to see the Dr (and then only seeing the Dr for about 5 minutes) everything measured out perfectly!

Meghan's gained nearly 2lbs...she's up to 9lbs, 5.4 oz...and her length is now 21.2 inches. She's in the 75th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for length.

She goes back on May 10th for her two month appointment...

2wks Post Discharge Appointment

I can drive again...woo hoo! My blood pressure was up (136/96) but they didn't seem too concerned...who knows. The incision site is healing nicely and I can start lifting again...nothing too heavy, but it's a start. I asked about the discomfort I was having about 2 inches above the incision site and apparently it's scar tissue. She told me that it comes from not taking it easy - I don't know how much easier I can take it, though...unless she's going to start taking care of Meghan for me. I'd sooner believe it comes from getting up off of the couches (they sit low and you sink in) while trying to hold on to her. Sure, I could lay her down on the couch just long enough to get up, but that's a giant pain the ass and I generally don't think of it until after the fact... I go back in 4 weeks for another check up ... there was something else that they were going to be discussing, but I can't remember.

First Bath

Meghan had her first bath this morning...didn't quite care for it all that much until we were washing her back and hair. Those parts she liked.

She also got more playtime on her playmat - she's starting to get more and more alert.

First Bath

Meghan had her first bath today - it was a quickie before we left for Grandma and Grandpa McGrail's, so it was in the kitchen sink, but a bath nonetheless. She didn't like it much until we were washing her back and hair - that she loved...

We didn't get to go to Grandma and Grandpa's because Grandma's sick...but we'll be seeing her on Thursday.

Cord Stump/Playmat

I changed Meghan's diaper this morning and found that her cord stump had fallen off... :-)

Her Social Security Card came yesterday...she's getting more and more official.

We played with the playmat today - Radek didn't like that she was laying "on the ground" though and tried to remedy the situation. Mommy was more scared than Meghan was... :-P All is good though. I have, however, made a mental note that we will not be using the playmat unless (A) Radek's outside or (B) there's someone there to hold him.

First Road Trip

Meghan had her first road trip today - Daddy, Grandma, her and I went to see Aunt Helen. Meghan (Kathleen's daughter), Uncle Dos, Aunt Ceil and Michael were there...Richie showed up as we were leaving. She slept in the car the entire way there and the entire way back - much to Grandma's dismay.

Finally, some pictures!

Meghan's Doctor Appointment

We had a follow up appointment for Meghan this morning. She's up to 7lbs, 9oz and they say that everything is looking great. We take her back in 2 weeks for another weight check and that's when we'll have her first "well baby" visit.

Staples Removed

I went to the Dr today and Diana took the staples out... Otherwise an uneventful appointment. My temperature, while spiking at times, is staying in the relatively normal range. Final weight gain tally for the pregnancy was 10 lbs. I asked them to check and see where I was now and I've already lost 16 lbs. Whoo hoo!

I still can't drive (thank you Daddy for taking me to the appointment!) and won't be able to do so until at least the 28th. I also still can't lift anything weighing more than Meghan... That's the hardest rule to follow... But my body tells me if I try to! Ow!

First Hospital Stay

Last night Meghan started puking up her formula... Then today while she kept one feeding down, she didn't keep another. Based on that and Scott's paranoia (and insistence that I call) we contacted the pediatrician. The receptionist spoke with the Dr who told us to bring her right in. We got there and they examined her. She had gone from 7lbs12oz at birth to 7lbs6oz at the office...not too bad. However she wouldn't drink the pedialyte that they gave her and she was still very jaundiced so they decided that they would send her up to the hospital to be evaluated overnight. They did some bloodwork (which Meghan handled much better than Scott did I might add) and sent us up. Her and I spent the night up there and were released early the next afternoon. They decided it was just a "fluke thing" and nothing to worry about. She goes back on Friday for another appointment/weight check.

She's Here!!

Our appointment on Thursday (the 9th) didn't turn out as planned. The RN checked my blood pressure and it had gone up to 158/98. Not only that, but I had swelling, visual changes, headaches and dizziness. He told me I had a half hour to get to the hospital that I was being induced. He did a quick internal and I was only a fingertip dilated (still...grumble grumble) with minimal effacement. Scott and I went to L&D and got settled into a bed by 2:40. They started the cervadil and did a NST and I was already having contractions that were 2 minutes apart - I just couldn't feel them. It took forever for them to finally get the IV...at which point they started fluids because they thought I was dehydrated. Long story short, contractions really picked up at around 1am on Friday morning. Still only 1 cm dilated...but at least I was 80% effaced. I got the stadol at that point - wow...that's good stuff. I was so "high" that I was apparently talking to the nurse about delivery trucks...which I know nothing about. She was a good sport about it and told me that she hoped they would bring my baby with them. I slept until about 7am or so. The Dr came in and checked me and I was just barely 2cm dilated. He started another round of cervadil. I labored throughout the day with the contractions getting more intense. We (the RN and I) thought I was definitely progressing. I started to "tremor" around 11am or so - then started vomiting...then started spotting...the tremors then went away.

*sigh* 2pm the Dr comes back in to check on me and I am in so much pain that I am begging him for a csection. They decide to start the pitocin and recheck me - still at 2cm. By 5:30 all the medication in the world isn't helping. The Dr calls to find out my progress (still no more than 2cm) and says that he'll call the staff back. 10 minutes later he calls them back and says the OR will be ready for us in an hour... I have been diagnosed with "failure to progress in labor". Translation: I just labored for nearly 30 hours (Scott figured it out - said it was 28 by the time I got downstairs to the OR) and still end up with the csection (that I admit I wanted anyhow!). Things were a little blurry after that for a while... I was shaved...catheterized..."flooded' with fluids and given a medication to calm the acids in my stomach...all while tremoring again. I puked up the drink that was supposed to settle my stomach ... and we were on our way to the OR. They did the epidural (which was great) and started the surgery. Thanks to a semi-reflective ceiling, I got to watch most of it.

Meghan was born on March 10 at 7:21PM. She was 7lbs, 12 oz and 20 inches long. Turns out she never dropped, never engaged, nothing. Scott said the Dr literally just about had his shoulder inside my abdomen trying to get her out and that the RN looked funny pushing down on me trying to push her down.

My recovery from the csection has been so much better than the labor itself....I was up and walking around 12 hours later (I love Demerol) and haven't stopped since. The one thing I wasn't prepared for was the numbness in my abdomen...though it does make sense to me now...another thing I didn't expect? One section of my abdomen never went numb...so there were *small* portions of the surgery that I could actually feel the pain...(not horrible)...

She is so worth it...she's a bit jaundiced so we see her pediatrician on Thursday morning...and I have a fever, so I have to go back to my OB on Thursday afternoon.

38w1d AppointmentS

I thought I was doing so well today - we left at 11:15 for the 11:45 U/S...yeah...the 11:45 U/S that was actually at 11:15. I was late...then we had a new registrar...and I almost felt bad...until I remembered 2 weeks ago and the nearly 2 hour wait I had with a full bladder. We go down to radiology and the receptionist says she has to ask the tech if I need to change...I told her that as of my appointment 2 weeks ago she did have me change - but then the tech walks out...and I WAS THRILLED to find it was the tech that I normally see down at FoxCare!!! Whoo hoo! Not only is she incredibly nice and informative, she loves looking at babies as much as I do AND she doesn't make her OB patients change... :-) Yay! She does the U/S and everything measured great. Meghan's now weighing in, however, at 7lbs 11oz!!! OI. That's nearly 2 pounds in 2 weeks! We finish up there (with more pictures *smile*) and move on to the lab. The tech stunk. Literally and figuratively. She had an entire tray of lab work that she hadn't sent to the lab yet (and you could tell it had been there quite some time already) and mine was supposed to be a STAT order. She dropped it into the tray with the rest of 'em. I reminded her it was a STAT order and she said, oh, OK and walked out of the room. *sigh*

Then we went to FoxCare as Scott needed to have bloodwork done from his Physical on Thursday. We had all that done and then went to lunch.

After lunch, it was off to the Non-Stress Test. Apparently Meghan loved lunch as she was bouncing all over the place and we had a very good test. Then the Dr came in. Bloodwork was good, U/S results were great, 1+ Protein in the Urine (again), BP was actually pretty good 128/86 (after being too high last night), weight gain was ZERO, Scott ratted me out about the persistent headaches and the Dr noted the swelling. He said that he is going to try and keep me pregnant until at least Thursday. Then we did the internal. No Progress Whatsoever. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. In fact, last Thursday I was a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced...today? Thick, High and Closed. So if anything, I went backwards. His next words were "well, obviously we're going to need to get her out of there before anything *DOES* go wrong." So on Thursday we do another Non-Stress Test and then he says he may put me into the hospital for Cervadil. If that doesn't work and there's no progress, we'll go from there, but that should start labor....or at least some dilation. He told me to get some Indian Food, Have Sex and take a Bumpy Car Ride. I informed him that at least 2 of the 3 could happen - but not to count on the one. :-P He also told me to call him if I had regular conractions or if my water broke...I laughed and told him I never realized he was a comedian. :-)

37w4d Appointment

This is going to be a long one - so hold on :-)

The brought me in to do my blood pressure (136/92), urine (1+ protein) and weight (up 3 lbs in 3 days) and then we went on for the NST.

We get into the room and the machine was out of paper...not a huge deal, the nurse changed it and we were ready to go. They hooked me up and the nurse left as the test was running. Well, apparently she didn't hook the paper up right because 4-5 sheets of the paper tried to come through at once. It starts jamming - starts smelling "hot" - and then the paper ripped off from the other segment. (At least the hot smell stopped). I didn't know what to do - if I screamed for them, it would have scared them, so I just let it go. The other (nice) nurse comes in - everything on the tracing that they DID get looks good, so I get put into a room.

The Dr took one look at my information and says, "are you still working?". I tell him yes and yet again, he asks me why...so I reminded him that he said we would talk about it today. He looks at me, goes "oh yeah...you're done." No discussion, no nothing. He asks me about headaches (check), dizziness (check), swelling (double check), spots (check) and bedrest... I tell him about how since my appointment I've done nothing but work and walk around Home Depot for a few minutes while Scott got stuff he needed. He does an internal (OUCH...I swear the man was digging for China!!!) and I'm high, *maybe* a fingertip dialated and only 50% effaced.

He starts writing out orders...Monday morning I'm to go in for more bloodwork to be called into his office (chem profile and uric acid)...I'm also going for an U/S (also to be called into his office) where they will measure estimated fetal weight, amniotic fluid levels and a growth chart. Then I see him at 1:45 for another NST and a follow up appointment. If the results of the test come back gopd, he plans on putting me in for an induction. If she's not ready, he plans on putting me in for "stabilization" of my issues. *sigh* Sounds like either way I'll be stuck in the damned hospital.

Then he tells me that I'm on Level II/III Bedrest. What is that you ask? Good question. I ask him that very question, he looks at me and says "essentially? house arrest." Yay. (<~~~note the sarcasm?) Here are the guidelines I have for the next few days:

*Get 8-10 hours of sleep a night (hahahahahahahahaha...yeah...right)
*Rest most of the day. Lie on your left side as much as possible.
*You may get up to to go to the bathroom and to take a shower. (gee...thanks)
*You may make simple meals for yourself and/or family.
*Do not do any physical sports or exercises, including walking.

Then - he said to do a "happy median" between:

(A) you will need help with housekeeping, laundry and grocery shopping and (B) you will need help at home for all chores and family care.

and

(A) You will not be able to work outside the home and will need to be out on sick leave and (B) you will leave the house only to attend doctor appointments.