31 Week Eden Update

I went back to the doctor today after my scary visit to labor and delivery a week ago.

I had an ultrasound first thing. We found out that Eden weighs 3 pounds and 11 ounces, she has her daddy's super kissable lips, and she was practicing her breathing. I cannot believe how clearly we can see her. It's incredible. Her EIF is still present, but no medical person seems to be concerned.

I saw my doctor who told me that he does not think that pre-eclampsia is an issue for me. My pee jug test came back within normal limits for a preggo. My blood pressure was still elevated but had gone down by the end of the visit. My cervix is still closed. Hallelu.

Since I tested positive for the fetal fibronectin protein, my doctor wants to see me weekly, with a weekly ultrasound to check for fetal well-being and growth. To me, that sounds very expensive. Anything for Eden. I was also released to work as long as I promise to sit every chance I get and to rest when I have contractions. I also have to rest after work days. Like lay down in the evening rest. He said we will take it week by week. He said that Eden's chances of survival are good if she were to come today, better in a week, and great if we can keep her in for 5 weeks. He lectured me on keeping my blood sugar in order and resting a lot.

I am optimistic that my high maintenance baby girl will come to us healthy and ready for life on the outside. I am so blessed to have problems that are this small. And even more blessed that my hope lies in hands more capable than mine. Eden's creator has already handled all that is out of my control. I am so thankful to be able to carry this darling girl, even though there are some inconveniences. Love is inconvenient- just ask my husband. But the reward at the end is so worth it. I find so much irony in Eden's name. Paradise. These last few weeks have been far from it, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. The end of this pregnancy and the beginning of Eden's life on the outside will be sweet.

Today I'm looking forward to what is to come, with great expectations.

And Along Went The Little Orange Jug

*Warning: If you are squeamish and easily offended by talk of lady things or body fluids, go play on facebook and don't read this. For real. I warned you.*

First, I want to thank my wonderful friends and family. There were too many texts, e-mails, and facebook messages for me to answer, so I hope you'll forgive me for not personally answering them all. Thank you for the concern, the offers of food, help and childcare, and mostly the prayers. I am so thankful for you. Honestly. It's humbling, and I don't deserve love like that, I am grateful.

The snowball started 2 weeks ago when I went in for a routine gestational diabetes test. I failed it.

No big. I failed with Isaac. Pass the cookies.

I re-tested doing the 3 hour fasting test the following Friday.

On our way to test drive minivans last Tuesday (oh the glamour!) I received a call that I had failed again and was thus labeled and diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Awesome. Things could be worse.

Last Thursday we bought a minivan. And I'm in love with it. Seriously. I'm embarrassed by how much I love it. It's huge. I do not have to lift a child in or out. The doors open and close at the push of a button. It's freaking wonderful. Even if it's a van. I love it.

 

 

Then came yesterday. I went in for my regularly scheduled, third tri-mester, every 2 week OB appointment. I had experience lots (and lots) of contractions yesterday, and had decided to ask my doctor how "normal" it was at this stage.

 

The nurse checked my blood pressure, it was elevated. She checked it again in ten minutes. Still elevated. Doctor Cox checked my cervix, it was closed. He tested me for a certain protein that is usually present after 34 weeks on the cervix, but can be an indication of pre-term labor in women early in the third tri-mester. I was whisked away to the lab for blood work and given a huge orange jug. Why you ask?

 



 

Because for the next 24 hours I was to pee in it and keep it refrigerated. Barf. The contents of this jug will help determine if I have pre-eclampsia or just high blood pressure. My doctor told me to take it easy yesterday because of the contractions and plan to see a dietitian and nurse to help me form a game plan for the gestational diabetes. I called my boss to tell her I'd be taking a day off.

 

So after an evening, night, and morning of jug peeing, I woke up, got dressed, and went in to take care of a few things at work today. I tried to hurry, so that my little orange friend wouldn't need to go with me. I returned home, and after an hour or so of mindless daytime TV my phone rang. The caller ID showed my doctor's office. "Great." I thought. "The call to tell me that the crazy cervix protein test is negative."

 

And the voice on the other end was a man's voice. Crap. No male nurses. It was my doctor. It's never good news when your doctor calls you in person.

 

Dr. Cox informed me that the dreaded cervical protein was present and due to the frequency and severity of the previous day's contractions that he wanted me to come in and be monitored. If going into labor was imminent, he wanted me to take a steroid shot to help Eden's lungs develop. And I was instructed to take this week off from work. So I hung up and went into freak out mode. I am only 30 weeks! I want Eden to be fully cooked before she pops out of my oven. I called the hubs to meet me at the hospital, put my pee jug on ice and hopped in my new van to go to the hospital. I called my mom to tell her what was going on and called my boss to arrange for a sub for the week.

 

I got to labor and delivery and God reminded me that he was still with me. My beloved former OB that delivered Hope, Dr. Gibbens, who devastated me by closing her practice, was the attending physician at L&D emergency today. I cannot tell you how glad I was to see a familiar, trusted face. After an hour of watching my blood pressure jump up and down, and seeing virtually no contractions, I was released with my orange jug to see a dietician for the gestational diabetes.

 

After nearly two hours of education on carbs, proteins, lancets, and glucose,  I returned to the lab from the previous day to bid good riddance to my orange jug. What a crazy 24 hours it has been.

 

So here's where I'm at, here are the prayers I'm asking for:

 

1) I have gestational diabetes. Please pray that I can manage it well, that I will not need insulin for it, and mostly that it won't affect Eden.

2) Pre-eclampsia. I won't know until later this week if I have it. Pray for my blood pressure to go down and stay down. Please pray that I don't have pre-E, but if I do that it can also be managed well, and won't hurt Eden or cause her to have to be born early.

3) Pre-Term Labor- Of all the things I don't want this is the biggest. Please pray that Eden stays in as long as possible. And that if she is born early that she'll be okay, and cared for by a team with the wisdom to keep her safe.

4) Bed rest- I want to be at work. I love my job. I love the support at my job. My family depends on the income from my job. Please pray that I can continue to work, but if I can't that God will provide for us financially, and in the inconvenient day to day, like child care, and keeping up my home.

 

As a sweet friend reminded me today, God is bigger than all these things. He made Eden. He knows her and loves her in ways greater than I can imagine. He is for her. He is her refuge and strength, even when my body fails, He will sustain and protect her. Pray that I can dwell on His strength and peace, rather than the shortcomings of my own body and the stress brought on by the dreaded "what-ifs".

 

And if it all goes south tomorrow, at least I won't be carrying around a jug of pee in a lunchbox full of ice. So I have that going for me...

 



The Birth and All the Fun After

Yay! I finally feel coherent enough to update you all on what my life has been like for the last week and a half. If you are a mother, you can totally relate when I say that having a baby is like a break in a timeline of your life. From the moment that you are handed a wet little crying baby there is the life that you had before, and the life you have now. Kind of like when you find your "one true love", for me there was life before Ryland and life that came after. But the funny thing is, it seems like life has always been this way, somehow even though it is new and scary, it all fits, just like a perfect puzzle piece.

The Birth Experience
On February 3rd we checked into our room at approximately 7:41AM. At 7:42 Linda, the best nurse ever, came in and made me change into my lovely hospital gown. She hooked me up to an IV, took my vitals and did all the stuff they do. Dr. K came in shortly after 8 and tried unsuccessfully to break my water. I was dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced at this point. This was one of the most painful parts of the day. They started me on a pitocin drip and I started having a lot of little, non-painful contractions. The nurse kept asking me if I wanted to have my epidural but my goal was to dilate to a 5 before I got one.

Family started to trickle in during the late morning and early afternoon. My brother, Lane was the first to get there, followed by my parents, Ryland's parents with his siblings and nieces, Ryland's grandparents Kenneth and Rosalie Bush, his uncle Kenyon, my cousins Chris and Debbie. (Please forgive me if I forgot anyone, I was on drugs at this point.)

Dr. K came back about 1:45 and was able to successfully break my water and I quickly dilated to a 5. I asked for an epidural around 2:00. :) The epidural was the scariest part of the process but Ryland stayed with me and looked right in my eyes throughout the whole ordeal. I immediately felt better.

I started feeling really intense pressure around 3:45 and told my nurse that I felt like I wanted to push. The nurse told me that I was 9 and three quarters dilated and it made perfect sense that I would feel the need to push. (Sidenote: It is amazing that your body knows exactly what to do. My body is never going to look like my pre-pregnancy self, but I will never take for granted how amazing it is.) The pressure became so intense that I needed more of the good stuff in my epidural. The anesthesiologist gave me some really good stuff and I was completely numb from my waist down. I even fell asleep for a few minutes before I started pushing. At one point I was so loopy that I told my dog, Sadie, to "lay down".

The nurse had me try and push to move the baby down. I pushed unsuccessfully through several contractions and they called my doctor to come in. At one point Isaac's heart rate dropped because the umbilical cord was around his neck. The team moved me to my side and he quickly recovered.

Dr. K showed up around 5:00 and began having me push. Isaac was stuck on my pelvic bone and wasn't moving down like he should. Dr. K made the decision to use forceps to grab him and then I pushed him the rest of the way out. Ryland and my Mom were both there to witness Isaac's entrance into the world.

At 5:32 I laid my eyes on the most beautiful, slimy little creature that I have ever seen. They laid him on my chest and my whole world shifted. I saw all the tears and heartaches and bad days wash away and I saw God's mercy and goodness wash over me. God gave me my perfect, complete, nothing that I could have done on my own, Isaac.

Next to sealing my wedding vows with a kiss, it was one of the most perfect moments of my entire life.

The Aftermath

Our anxious clan of family members waited to meet Isaac but the doctors left him with us for about 45 minutes so that I could feed him and we could bond. It was a precious time to reflect on what had just happened.

Our families flooded in shortly there after and passed him around to get a good look. The nurses whisked him off to give him a bath and check him over.

On Wednesday were had tons of visitors and we appreciated all the love that has already been poured upon our sweet boy.

The Recovery

Having a forceps delivery has presented some interesting facets of getting better. I had to have an episiotomy and on top of that I had third degree tearing up into my muscle tissue. I was unaware of just how painful and long the recovery part would be. Today Isaac is 9 days old and it is the first day that I have not taken any prescription pain medication. Simple things such as going to the bathroom or sitting flat were intensely painful. Much more so than actually giving birth. Fortunately my wonderful Momma came home with us and stayed for 4 days taking care of cleaning and laundry so that Ryland and I could focus on Isaac. These four days were the worst pain wise and I don't know how we would have done it without her.

At Home

Isaac met our furry kids and they have all gotten along great. Sadie takes every opportunity to lick Isaac on the head. Lexus treats him like a puppy and lifts his bottom up with her nose if he has a dirty diaper, she also gets very upset if we don't get to him immediately if he is crying. Bentley ignores him for the most part which is fine since Bentley is the most spoiled of all my dogs. I think they are all going to get a along great.

Ryland and I are learning the finer points of sleep deprivation and caring for a helpless little person, but more than anything I think we are are constantly in awe of what God has done through us. Everytime Isaac smiles or cries or eats we are reminded of where we came from and that even at 4AM we need to be thankful for the opportunity to change a poopy diaper or rock a crying baby. There was a time we prayed for that. And God answered our prayers with Isaac.


Please keep us in your prayers as we learn and love our precious gift from God. Pray that time moves slowly and that we can enjoy every minute that we have with our sweet baby. Thank you for the prayers along the journey, we couldn't have made it without them. And sleep well tonight, most likely we will be awake taking care of the best thing God ever gave us. We love you all.

Mindy, Ryland, and Isaac