isla's birth story. part 3

part 1

part 2

may is preeclampsia awareness month, and hopefully i am going to get back into the habit of being a good blogger by overloading you with lots of information!  i wanted to start by finishing isla's birth story, which is also basically our preeclampsia story. 

so where i left off was either sunday or monday... i honestly don't remember.  i know monday i was woken up the same way i was on sunday (and to follow until thursday) with a 6 am blood draw.  it was pretty much the same as my last few days- new nurses, constant blood pressure checks and contractions! 

i went back and checked and i did NOT have my epidural on sunday.  early monday (after midnight) is when pitocin was started and i was still only dilated to a 1.  my blood pressure was up and down and my energy was zapped.  by that morning, i was starving and just exhausted.  they allowed me to have the liquid diet tray to get some nutrients in me, but sitting up to eat that pretty much killed any little spurt of energy i had.  i was even more swollen from the fluids and  my lung capacity was diminishing.  my biggest concern was that i wasn't going to have the energy to deliver the baby and that i was going to need a c-section, which was the last thing i wanted. 

sometime around lunch the ob came to check me again.  i was only a 1.5.  during the check i felt a weird gush... water breaking.  the ob claims that she accidentally broke it... whether or not it was an accident, i guess i'll never know.  when that was happening, the nurse in the room had her hands on my belly and felt baby drop- so we were headed in the right direction.  i had been thinking about it, and around 1-1:30 i decided i was going to have an epidural.  i was just feeling crappy, and i figured if there was at least one thing that might make me feel better, i might as well have that.  the epidural totally changed everything.  it was more painful than the one i had with ian (which i later figured out was because with ian i had received iv drugs), but after it was done, i felt awake.  dave even said my face changed!  however, like with most pain meds, i was having a reaction and needed benedryl to counter that, which wasn't helping.  by 2:30 i was a 3, and by 3 i was a 4.  when my nurse checked me, she told me she had a meeting to go to, but would be back in a bit.  she said i was progressing around a centimeter per hour and at that rate we would have a baby by dinner time.  dave sent a text to our family and at that point i decided i was going to rest some- i had been chatting with friends on fb and i put my laptop away and tried to rest. 

i don't know how long i had been laying there (maybe 10-15 minutes) but i remembered being super uncomfortable.  like feeling really bad.  i looked over at my screen that was monitoring contractions and i could tell i was having them.  i just breathed through how bad i was feeling and i kept quiet.  around this time dave told me he was going to go into the bathroom and he joked "don't have the baby while i'm in there."  while he was in there, i had another painful contraction and decided something wasn't right, so i paged the nurses station.  when they answered i just told them that i was in a lot of pain and to come quick!  when the nurse came in, it wasn't my regular nurse and i was explaining to her that i was feeling a lot of pain, and she was telling me, "oh, you can just push this button here if you need more from your epidural."  well, during that time i had another contraction, and i told her, "no, i don't think that's it, i mean, i feel like i might need to push.  she came over and checked me and said, "oh, i can see her head!!"  everything went kind of crazy after that as there were people all over my room- 3 or 4 nurses for me, plus nurses and doctors for isla.  i remember a really tiny nurse jumping and trying to pull the lights down from the ceiling and my nurse rushing in and telling me, "i wasn't even gone for 20 minutes and you tried to have a baby without me."  and then, of course, my doctor comes in and she was furious... "why didn't anyone call me?!"  and a nurse replies, "she was a 4 just 15 minutes ago."  and poor dave when he came out of the bathroom, the look on his face just said "really?!"  it was chaotic, and they didn't have time to get everything in place, but i was ready to push.  she needed some vacuum assistance, and i screamed at my doctor, "i AM pushing" when she told me i would have to work harder or i would have to have a csection (which seems to be all the motivation i ever need).  i think i pushed maybe 5 times?  isla arrived in about 20 minutes i think, and they let me hold her right away for just a quick minute before the team whisked her over to the warmer and checked all her signs, weight etc.  she was wrapped up and given back to me for a few short photos and then whisked off to the nicu while i finished delivery.  the room was straightened up and dave and i were left a little confused and alone.  not long after that, the lc came in so i could start pumping because i was going to be unable to feed.  not too long after that the milk was collected and taken to the nicu and i was moved into another room. we had done it though!  our sweet little girl had finally arrived. 

the rest of my hospital stay is a whole 'nother entry.  maybe one day... 

isla olive mcfadden.  june 17, 2013.  3:48 pm.  4 lbs.  3 oz.  18 inches. 

if you don't like pictures of babies being born... now's the time to leave...

 poor misshapen head baby!

she's here!

my newest niece, madison eloise "ellie" roberts was born @ 8:30 this morning weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz & 21" long.  proud parents willie & shannon roberts and big sisters grace & annabella

week 11

here's what happened during week 10-11 in ian's life!

i ran around like a crazy woman packing for our trip to atlanta. if i thought it was bad packing myself, try packing a baby for a 12+ hour trip! we had a suitcase for me and husband, one for baby, a bag full of bottles, the pump, the bed, easter stuff, and who knows what else. i felt relieved that we would be leaving some of the stuff in atlanta, but we have such sweet friends and family that we ended up coming back with more than we left with!!!

ian traveled very well. we stopped 2x to feed on the way down. he was so good with all my family and friends. he did really well for pictures. he did really well at his first trip with mommy and daddy to church (bad, bad mommy and daddy- seriously, my son is 10 weeks old and this is his first trip to church- but husband does play hockey on sunday mornings which is ridiculous).

the easter bunny spoiled ian rotten!

mommy & daddy thought it would be fun to take ian to opening day for his first braves game (or as daddy would say, cubs game). let's just say it wasn't a great idea. it was 90 degrees. so i sat with ian in the running car in the parking lot until we decided to go in. by the time out of shape mommy climbed the stairs to our seats, with baby on her belly in the baby bjorn, she was ready to leave! ian was passed out though, so we watched 5 innings, and called it a game (daddy was mad anyways b\c the cubs were getting their butts whooped)!

we made a pit stop in ringgold to see friends and then headed back. mommy thought her marriage was going to end early on the way back. mommy was so devastatingly tired she just wanted to sleep in a hotel, and daddy just wanted to make catnap stops every 2-3 hours. but luckily, all was salvaged, and we did make it back in once piece- and still very happily married!

this is one of the first times i can say i've reallly started to notice changes in ian. of course he's different from when he was born, but i felt i could really tell a difference. for starters, he seemed like he's grown a lot. i'm guessing he's close to 12 lbs now, which is almost double his birth weight, his eyes are turning bluer, and his hair is really growing and is getting darker. plus, i've noticed developmental changes. still no laughs, still doesn't seem ready to roll over, but he is now really noticing some of his toys, and he seems to grab at things with a purpose instead of just batting at them.

ian is still sleeping well (except that now he seems to be waking up at 7:30 am EASTERN time (not good for us). i'm hoping that he gets back on central time very soon! ian is also still eating very well. i'm so happy to say that i'm still breastfeeding, and it is still an amazing and very bonding thing. plus, it's easy, cheap and convenient!

we are still experimenting with different sleeping "aids" for ian. whether to just use the sleep sack, let him sleep just in his pj's or to use the swaddle pod. he's become very active with his legs, and he tends to pick both of them up, and then slam them down, which doesn't help him to sleep. i am also planning on extending his nighttime sleep for next week (week 12), and we are going to start transitioning ian into his own room. mommy and daddy need alone time sometimes! also on the agenda: i am planning on shortening nursing time (he has already started to show signs that it's time to), more independent play time, and i want to introduce his bumbo seat. big week coming up!!

i will have a bunch of pictures that i put up for our trip and this week, if i ever get around to it. we've been super-tired since we've gotten back!