She Has Arrived!!!

I see that my last post was Sunday December 7th. I was going a LETTLE nuts that day. Would have been nice to know I was delivering in 2 days. I might have been a tad more relaxed.

So here goes...

Monday the 8th I had an ultrasound which showed our little girl was not growing well at all. She went from the 18% to less than 10% in two weeks...NOT GOOD. So, they decided to induce me.

Then ensued a brouhaha over the state of my IV and the possiblities of any IV access. I am normally a very vascularly blessed person. Phlebotomists LUV me. However. Thanks to the pre-eclampsia my vessels were less than cooperative. Let's just say I'll have the bruises for a few more weeks.

The day proceeded without much fuss and they decided since things weren't moving along they would give me a sleeping pill and start afresh in the morning.

Anyone have Ambien before??? Me either. I'm SOLD. I've doled it out many a time to patients on hospital bedrest but had never tried it myself. No side effects, and NO drowsyness. I was very pleased.

So, Tuesday morning I woke up refreshed, got yet ANOTHER IV (why not, the bruising really should be bilateral, right?) and we got ready for a more eventful day. First off I got a lovely epidural from a stellar anesthesiologist (my OB's wanted to keep my blood pressure down during labor, which meant NO PAIN...um...OK!). I was 4 cm so I had my OB pop my bag, then took a short 20 min rest time and was ready to deliver. Woot woot!

I huffed and puffed until my OB arrived and Emmy was born a short 15 minutes later:



She was whisked away rather quickly for evaluation as she was not tolerating labor all that nicely near the end. She recovered well and weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 2 oz. I know, HUGE huh? What can I say, I make pipsqueak children.

Mama is relieved her baby girl is OK:



Papa is proud:



And Emmy better get used to being kissed:



Bubbalu is not quite sure why Mama is holding a baby:



But check it out! We now have a daughter:



Merry Christmas to everyone...

A

Hospital Caroling...

Sung to the tune of 'Jingle Bells':

Sausage toes, sausage toes, swelling all the way

Oh what fun it is to wear flip flops in the snow - hey!

Sausage toes, sausage toes, swelling every day,

Oh what fun it is to wear flip flops in the snow.

Can't put on my shoes, my socks are really tight,

starting to get frustrated about my swelling plight.

I then look in the mirror and see a scary sight,

my face looks like a marshmallow, my skin is just as white!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sausage toes, sausage toes, swelling all the way

Oh what fun it is to wear flip flops in the snow - hey!

Sausage toes, sausage toes, swelling every day,

Oh what fun it is to wear flip flops in the snow.

Thank you for joining us today on Hospital Caroling with Amanda.  We have discovered that comedic relief really DOES work!

A

Mandatory Lazying...

For those of you wondering where in tarnation I've taken off to...

We had a lovely family Thanksgiving with Lance's family where I didn't have to lift a finger...because if I did try to help I got yelled at to return promptly to my bed rest throne (aka big overstuffed chair with ottoman). My MIL even pushed my bed rest throne up to the table so I could dine in complete comfort and please my doctors at the same time.

We managed to go and get our very first real Christmas tree on Sunday. I stayed in the car and read the paper after giving strict instructions to Lance and my MIL. Can I just say they did a GREAT job at picking a tree!? Kudos to Lance for resisting the urge to purchase the automatic tree watering system and to my FIL for sharing his apple cider with Bubbalu.

Pictures to come at a later date...

Over the weekend and into Monday I didn't feel so great. I got rather puffy...think sausage toes, squishy feet and marshmallow-ish face. LOVELY. Also started seeing stars and getting frequent throbbing headaches. Kinda scary. Off to the doctor on Tuesday the 2nd, where she took one look at me and ordered me to the hospital for bed rest.

And that is where I've been, at the hospital on bed rest, awaiting the delivery of our little girl. We don't know when delivery will be, which provides a fun constant source of nervous anticipation, hope and stress.

Our Bubbalu is having the time of his life, not at all traumatized with his Mommy being in the hospital. Both sets of Grandparents have lovingly opened their homes to him and like I already said, he's not exactly traumatized.

More than likely he won't want to return home once Mama gets all better and Baby Sister arrives. Mama is SO boring compared to doting Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunties and Uncles.

He apparently is learning his letters, shapes, colors and new words, how to dance to 'Rocking Around The Christmas Tree', got to go on his inaugural swim in the cooled down hot tub, and is currently with Daddy, Uncle Alec and Mommy's parents watching the town lighted parade.

How can I compare to THAT!?

Like I said, coming home might be boring for him.

Although it is hard for me to be the patient instead of the OB Nurse, I am getting used to this mandatory lazying. I am viewing these last few weeks as prime baby incubator time and 'catch up on sleep and be rested for when I have a newborn' time.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, I will try to keep you posted...

A