She's here!

Our baby girl, Kyndall Elaine, was born December 30, 2008 at 2:13PM. She weighed 4lbs 14 oz and measured in at 17 inches.

We tried natural labor, but she didn't handle it well, so when the doctor came by at lunch, she decided that a C-Section was the way to go for Kyndall's health.

We are having to feed every 3 hours a mixture of breast feeding and formula to keep her weight up.

We have been told, we could be going home sometime Friday.

Hospital bed rest

Well...Christmas Eve morning, we went to the hospital because I thought I was having contractions and my head would randomly start shaking...I knew it was doing it, but I could not control it or make it stop...They sent us home about an hour later.

Yesterday, I went for my 2nd appt. of the week, and the doc took 2 looks at my blood pressure and sent us back to the hospital. The on call doc for my office decided to keep us here...probably until we deliver.

Our goal is 37 weeks, and then they will consider either inducing or taking her. My doctor will be back at work on Monday and will probably make a final decision then.

I'll keep you posted...can't go anywhere any ways...

Doctor appt. and hospital visit

Well today was an interesting one...

It started out fine. My mom and I went for my growth scan. We went, got in pretty fast. Kyndall was more active then she was on Friday, and we got a good review. She is around the 5lb mark, which the doc said later is where she should be for where we are. We also got a couple of more side pictures of her face.

After the sono, we came home b/c my doctor's appt wasn't for a couple of more hours. We worked on the nursery some and got a few things more organized. We didn't get it all done cause we had to leave, and that is the room my parents are staying in while they are here for Christmas- meaning we have all of their stuff in the room too.

We went back to the doctor's office thinking it was going to be just a normal appt. Well, of course we can't have that, now can we? They had to check my blood pressure twice, both of which were high. Kyndall's heart rate was good. Today they had to keep checking my urine- they kept finding more protein than they wanted to. She also checked me, and we are at 1cm, which is 1cm more than we were on last week. Therefore, between high blood pressure, headaches due the blood pressure, and protein, and being dilated, the doctor told me she was sending me to this hospital for further testing. She wanted multiable blood pressure checks and more blood and urine work to be done. She told me to keep my appt. on Friday, but not to make one for next week until Friday based on the fact that she is giving me a 50/50 chance of making it even to Friday.

We get to the hospital, and apparently every pregnant woman in Longview was there. The lady that checked in before me was going to L&D, the lady that checked in beside me was going up there too, and then me. The lady who took me and the one that was with me up there told us they were out of rooms and we had to wait in chairs until they could get a room open.

Of course Chad was in Tyler and "flew" to Longview after I called and told him we were going to the hospital. At the hospital, they drew blood and all that fun stuff they do there. I was on the monitor, and for once, Kyndall stayed on the monitor the WHOLE time! We also noticed that I was having contractions, only like 2 of which I actually felt. We only knew I has having them because they were showing up on the screen. The on call doc looked at my lab results and said I was free to go, but to call or return to the hospital if things got worse. I am also having to check my blood pressure here at home every 2 hours or so.

We are good for now, but who knows what will happen tomorrow...Hopefully I won't see another doctor until I go back on Friday, and even then hope I can make it until next week when MY doctor is the one who can see me.

Prayers please!

I'll keep you posted!

Uh-Oh! Not a good report!

well, i went back to the doctor today for lab work, blood pressure check, and a non stress stress test on the baby.

my blood pressure was a little better than it was Tuesday, but still not a low as they would like. Kyndall's heart beat was good, but she was not responding like they wanted her to so we had to do a sono to check her vitals. she passed her "physical" which is good.

this has turned into delivering early for kyndall and my safety and health rather than taking her early so that we can take the stint out earlier...

we have also moved from once every week to 2 times a week...i go on Monday for a growth scan of the baby and doctor's appt, and then we go back Friday for our 2nd doctor's appt of the week. however the twist is, my normal doc is out all week next week...so I'm seeing 2 doctors that neither of which are mine...that will be the interesting part...

well, i guess i will post more on Monday...

Bed rest

Well, we thought today's appt. was going to go as normal and as well as the past ones...We were wrong.

Yes, I was going to put myself on voluntary bed rest so that I could control my pain better, but the baby and doctor had a different plan.

Kyndall is fine. Good strong heartbeat, head down, I'm still closed and hard, but my blood pressure is now high. We had it checked 5 times by 3 different people.

I am now on strict mandatory bed rest, on my back in bed or on the couch. No Shreveport for Christmas.

I go back on Friday for lab work and another blood pressure check.

No more standing...

Well, I went to the doctor today.

Kyndall is fine, her heart beat was strong, and shes head down.

Chad got to feel her with the hiccups the other morning and was really excited about that because normally she stops moving as soon as he touches my belly.

As for the bed rest- its not really bed rest, but starting Saturday, I am no longer allowed to stand for more than 30 min at a time-which means, my hours at work will be cut. Dr. H is doing that due to the fact that I am having kidney complications and my job requires me to stand for 6 1/2 to 7 hours a day. Both of those are factors in pre-term labor-which we all know, we don't want to have happen. She was going to have me stop working completely after the baby is born, but because of financial reasons she said that I would need to stop working until around 36/37 weeks because once we got that far, we were in a good comfortable safe zone if I were to go into labor. However, because I can work in gas station and sit the whole shift, she is allowing me to work as long as I don't stand for more than 30 min.

We were also not supposed to start going every week for another 3 weeks, but because of the kidney complications, we are starting every week now. Which means, I have another appt. next week going until Kyndall comes to meet us.

Weekend in the hospital

Thursday night, I was cramping so badly that my kidney's were hurting- I thought... I called my doctor Friday, and told her what was going on, and she wants to run a test to check for a kidney infection.

I went to work on Friday, but didn't make it til 9. At about 6, I was in a lot of pain, but told myself that I could make it-WRONG. At about 8, I told my boss that I was in a lot of pain-not labor pain, but kidney stone. He ran down from the store to the gas station and told me to close early.

As soon as I got home, we went to the hospital. Again, we went straight to labor and deliver and were hooked up to the monitors. They did some urine and blood work, and pretty much determined that it was, in fact a kidney stone. We were admitted after Dr. Yancy came in and saw us. They had to keep us over night because the sono techs were gone for the night and they wanted to do a renal sono to find out where and how big the stone was. Of course we were still hooked up the the monitor, but I was also on an IV with antibiotic and pain/nausea meds. However, the meds didn't affect Kyndall. She was as active as ever. They kept having to come in like every 2 hours or so to find her again on the monitor because she had run away- she even did a 180 and once they found her on the other side, 20 min. Later she did another 180 and was back to the original side.

Saturday morning, after shift change, Dr. Morton came in, to check on me and baby. She did say that because there were no contractions and her heart beat was strong I didn't have to stay on the monitor, but they were going to do a 30 min. strip every 4 hours to check her heart. Once we decided that, they came and got me for my renal sono...I was out of that by 9:15, and they called the on call urologist(who just happened to be my normal urologist) at 9:30. However, because he was only urologist on call for his group, he had all the other patients too. So we pretty much just hung out until 5:30 when he finally came to see us. He said that the because of the location of the stone(blocking the trac to the bladder) and the size(12 mm) that there was no way I could pass it and the best and safest solution while pregnant was to put in a stint. Again, we had to stay another night. However, we were moved from a L&D room to a postpartum room, which is bigger, has a more comfy bed for mom, and since we had a semi-private room, Chad had a bed rather than the fold out chair he had in L&D. Dr. Erickstadt(urologist) also put me back on a solid food diet til midnight. I had been on a clear liquid until then. During the night Saturday, they had to come in to get fetal heart tones and my vitals every 4 hours-which means I got more sleep then the night before because they weren't coming in all the time to find Kyndall on the monitor. I was also given pain meds which helped me sleep.

Sunday morning, they came and got me for my surgery at about 8, which was good because we were trying to make it to our first shower-which all docs and nurses knew about and were trying their hardest to get us to. Around 8:20 the anesthesiologist came and told us what he was going to be doing. He said the safest route was to do a spinal(epidural without constant meds) because putting me to sleep could be fatal to the baby if something was to go wrong. They got me into the OR around 8:42(they was the time they said once I was on the table). He did the spinal, and then had to do a rush restart (in my wrist) on my IV because it was stopped running into my vein and my hand/arm was swollen. Once the spinal took affect, it was a weird feeling- I could see my legs, but I couldn't feel nor move them on my own. I was done with the procedure around 9:27(again, they said the time). By the time I was in recovery, I was able to move my left toes. By the time I was back in my room, I could uncontrollably move my legs. They hooked me up to the monitors again and was doing vitals every 20 min. Dr. Morton came back in and said that she was giving me the okay to leave once I could meet the requirements of Dr. Erickstadt. by 12:30, I was able to do that, which was walk and go to the bathroom. By 12:45, we were discharged.

We came home and changed and made it to the baby shower, a little late, but we made it. At the shower, we got lots of stuff- bedding, blankets, bathtub, piggy banks, paci's, etc. After the shower, we got my meds and came home.

Also, as a followup to the surgery, about 2 weeks after delivery, he is going to go back in, take out the stint, and break up the stones-yes, I said stones. the 12mm, an 8 mm, and a 9 mm one. not fun...

Dr's appt.

Well it was an adventure this time! First off, we went to our scheduled appt. on Tuesday, but the doctor was at the hospital and probably wouldn't make it back for her late afternoon appts. so we rescheduled for Wednesday.

When we got there Wednesday, we had to sit in the waiting room for over an hour. When we did get back to the office, we found out that her morning had started off with a c-section that the check in was unaware of. We finally did get to see her an hour and a half after the appt. was scheduled for.

Everything went well, but apparently for me, once I hit 30 weeks, it was like the first trimester started over. I have been sick and the heartburn is worse then ever. They may put me on prilosec twice a day instead of the normal once. They may even do more labs to find out more about my heartburn.

Kyndall is fine, her heart rate is good. My weight has finally stabled out...I have stayed the same for the last 4 visits-which is better than losing like I had been doing. I am measuring only about 1 cm more than I should be, but she said that was fine.

I am going back in 2 weeks. After that I have one more 2 week, and then we move into every week! That means its getting close!!

Trip to the hospital

Friday I didn't feel too good, and even was running a low grade fever. my lower abdomen hurt, but I just thought is was because I didn't feel good and hadn't eaten a lot for dinner.

I thought that when I got home and ate a little more and got some sleep I'd feel better Saturday morning. However, when I woke up on Saturday to go to work, I was in more pain. We decided that we'd rather be safe than sorry, and went up to the hospital. We went to the ER desk, and they sent us straight to the admitting window to go up to labor and delivery.

When we got up there, they hooked me up to all the monitors and stuff. As soon as we heard Kyndall's heartbeat, I starting to cry. it was the best sound I could have heard at that time. She also apparently did not like the monitor because she got really active and started kicking or hitting it and running from it. We had to keep moving the monitor to keep the heart beat.

They also hooked me up to the contraction monitor, which they NEVER saw anything, which is what we wanted.

In the end, I have a slight infection. They pushed a bag of fluid and an antibiotic. I have filled my prescription as well. Hopefully, this will clear up soon.

She is perfectly fine, and I am getting better.

Update

Well, we went to the doctor yesterday. I am going every 2 weeks now.

As normal, everything went well. Good strong heart beat, and I am measuring at exactly where I should be. The doctor believes that Kyndall is now head down, maybe not completely straight down, but more down then sideways. That's always a good thing!

We got a lot of our questions answered, but did find out that hip pain is due to her putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. It is NOT fun, but other then that all is well.

We will do another sono at 36 weeks to recheck her kidneys. She wants to wait until then so that she can make sure of the position, and get an estimation of size and weight- which shes not concerned about. The good thing about this sono being at 36 weeks, is that my parents will be here so they can go with us to see their first grandchild!

We also started our childbirth preparation classes this week. Chad is taking a daddy boot camp class on Saturday- all new daddy's, taught by a male, and they are bringing in a newborn.

Bloodwork

This morning I had my doctor's appointment.

I had my glucose testing and some other blood work done. My blood sugar level was 97, which apparently is really good. My hemoglobin level was high, which is good too. She said she rarely sees levels that high, which means I'm taking my vitamins.

Kyndall's heart rate was 142 bpm, which is a lower then 4 weeks ago, but she didn't say anything about that. My blood pressure was a bit higher then it normally is(mainly due to blood work and knowing that 2 shots were coming), but still in the normal range.

I also got my rogham and flu shots, which was not exciting, but needed for the safety of the baby and me.

Kyndall is no longer breech, but is now laying side to side. We know shes moved because we normally find her heart closer to the right hip, but today it was on the left side. Which means, she has probably done at least a quarter turn towards being in the correct position for birth.

Today was my last 4 week appt. so now we have moved into every 2 weeks. so, my next appt. will be Nov. 5.

I also went to lunch and to register at a girlie store this afternoon with a really good friend!

It's a...

Its a girl! Her name is Kyndall Elaine.

Yesterday at the sono appt. it took 30 min to get her to show us. She was sitting indian style, asleep. We had to wake her up from her nap to get her to move, but she wouldn't so I was rolling from side to side and the tech was pushing and pocking and shaking my tummy to get her to open up. Once she finally did, she put her hands in front of her face.(she gets her hardheadedness honestly from both momma and daddy) Therefore, the best picture of her face we got was her sucking her thumb and giving us the peace sign.

She is breech right now with her head at my belly button feet down, (more like bottom down since shes sitting). We got to see her brain, stomach, cord, heart. However they were not able to get a clear picture of her kidneys so we're going to have another sono in a month and half or so. The doctor is not really concerned about her kidneys because the did check my fluid levels and said they all looked good and if her kidneys weren't working right, my levels wouldn't be where they are. They also guesstimated that she weighs somewhere close to 1lb 4oz.

More to come later!

Baby Update

We had our appointment today. It went well.

I am measuring 20 cm, which my doctor said is good. She could feel the baby in my lower uterus. the heart rate is 156, so down 1 bpm from 4 weeks ago. She sounded a bit concerned because i am still losing weight, 5 lbs in total so far.(2 in the last 4 weeks.) but that was the only thing she seemed worried about.

We go back on september 24 for our sono and next appointment. Which won't come fast enough!

Cribs and car seats

two things....

1) we now have a crib. it is together and in the room. just three things missing...the mattress(which Chad's grandfather will getting us, probably tomorrow), the bedding(which we'll get once we find out what it is...late September), and the baby(that'll be January).

Chad's grandfather came over and helped us put it together the other night. it was fun to watch the baby's daddy and great-grandfather working together to put it together. I'll post pictures soon.

2) we now have the car seat in the car, and amazingly i can still fit in the passenger seat. (in case you didn't know, we weren't sure the car seat would fit and still be able to get a passenger in the car.) we just had to move my seat a little up and sit it a little straighter. it'll be do-able for a while so we're not in such a big rush to get another car like we thought we were.

our next appointment is on the 27th. on that day we'll schedule our next ultrasound!

Oh Baby

well, today was our appointment. it went well. apparently its a very active busy body. it took the doctor a little while to find the heart beat, and when she would find it, the baby would move away. she said all sounded good and unless something happens, we go back in 4 weeks. we'll have our next sono, a 4D one where we find out what we're having, at the end of September.

however, we thought we had a spot at a daycare, but someone else got in before us for the same month that we needed. we went to like 4 other places and the earliest we can get in anywhere is may...we need mid-march...hopefully something will open up...we're going to call a couple of other places tomorrow and see about them.

Doctor doctor give me the news

I went to the doctor today, no not my OBGYN, but my urologist. i had a sono before the appointment to look at my kidneys and bladder (for stones) and the tech "slipped" on over to the uterus, and i got to see the baby! its gotten so much bigger then the last sono, which was just 3 weeks ago. it has flipped, the head is now on the other side, i got to see its spine, its feet and it even waved at us!

i can't wait til my next sono with the OB so i can get pictures of it!!

Matters of the heart

First, let me say that my thoughts and prayers are with some dear friends that last their baby last week.

Secondly, Chad and i went to the doctor yesterday, and we got to hear our babies heart beat. it took her a little while for her to find it, but she did and said it sounded pretty strong.

We're Pregnant!

Guess what! Chad and I found out on Mother's Day, that we're going to be parents!

We went to the doctor for a sono on the 19th. There is only one. We got to see the heart beat-which the rate is 167-169, which is good. We saw its little bitty feet! And it even jumped all at once.

She had a little problem locating it because we found out that I have a tilted uterus. Which shouldn't be a problem as it will straighten up once the baby starts getting bigger.

No luck

Another month of no luck...

man this sucks...

there was a baby shower today at work for one of the ladies, and i not so secretly wished it was for me...

Starting out

Well, here I am. Trying to get pregnant. My husband and I started trying for a baby in November. However, we are having no luck.

I went off birth control pills back in October. Every doctor has told me to wait 3 months for my body to natually regulate itself. To date, I have not done that yet. Any suggestions how?

Obviously, not being regular yet is making knowing I ovulate a bit hard. Any advice there?

Now for some questions hopfully someone out there will be able to help answer:

1) Things to help with fertility for both me and my husband? These can be herbal, myths, etc.

2) How to deal with the frustration that comes with month after month of no success when you see so many other people pregnant or with infants?

3) Just plain advice on the whole process...