Saturday, October 16, 2010
Hanging at home
We've been busy adjusting to our little man!! He sleeps a lot, and seems to have most of his awake time at night. We're pretty tired!! We are both totally in love with Caiden though. He is just the cutest little peanut!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Heading Home
We headed home on Friday October 15!! We spent the morning at the hospital to get some help nursing from a lactation specialist. But we wanted to be out by the afternoon so we would qualify for the early discharge home visit from a nurse. So we did just that! We were packed up and headed out at 1pm. We got our first of what will be many conflicting opinions. One nurse told us it was freezing outside and made us bundle Caiden up like this:
Another nurse came in shortly after and told us that was way too much clothing. So, we took off a layer and just wrapped the little guy in a blanket.
After a cludgy departure from the hospital (it was the discharge nurses' 3rd day, and she seemed a little overwhelmed!), we were off! That's probably the slowest we've ever driven on the Mass Pike :)
As we turned down the streets of our neighborhood it really started to hit us. Whoa... we are bringing a baby home!
After a cludgy departure from the hospital (it was the discharge nurses' 3rd day, and she seemed a little overwhelmed!), we were off! That's probably the slowest we've ever driven on the Mass Pike :)
As we turned down the streets of our neighborhood it really started to hit us. Whoa... we are bringing a baby home!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
First day
Caiden had lots of visitors in the hospital! Grandma and Grandpa Harjes, Aunt Margaret and Doug, Grandpa Jack, Aunt Elizabeth, Jen, Great Aunt Laura, Nana Nan, and Bob. His first day was a big one! He was closely monitored by the nursery staff as he had problems regulating his blood sugar for the first few hours after birth. But he rebounded quickly!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Happy Birthday Caiden!!
He is here! Caiden Thomas Harjes was born on Wednesday, October 13 at 5:08pm. He weighed in a 8lbs 3oz, 20 inches. And he is perfect, just perfect!!
It began on Tuesday night. I had been having random contractions for a few days, pretty much just at night. I hadn't been getting much sleep because of them, and was really struggling at work. On Tuesday I cried uncle and told my boss I was beginning my maternity leave the next day. Fast forward to 7pm as Dan and I are eating dinner, and I realize the contractions are getting close enough to start timing them. They were never a consistent length or interval, but they did gradually get longer and closer together. I told Dan to pack up stuff "just in case". We attempted to go to bed, but I was in quite a bit of pain and eventually got up. Contractions were still irregularly spaced, sometimes with as much as 7-8 minutes apart, others only 3 minutes apart. But, they were all very strong, I couldn't talk/walk through them, and most of them lasted a minute or longer. So even though I didn't really meet the criteria to call the doctors yet, I did. The nurse told me to head into L&D. I woke Dan and started to get things ready. As I did this, the contractions got really close together and incredibly painful. The car ride was excruciating, every bump sending me into a contraction, and I knew my plan of a natural birth was going right out the window.
We arrived at the ER sometime between 1 and 2am and got registered and wheeled up to maternity. We were sent right to antenatal where they started measuring my contractions. Realizing they were about a minute apart, some literally right on top of the other, they checked my cervix and noted that I was 3 cm dilated. "Congratulations, you're in labor". Whoop de doo, I was in so much pain all I could think about were drugs, and I told them as much! After getting an IV placed, they wheeled us into Labor and Delivery, got me set up in there, and eventually (felt like a lifetime) called for the anesthesiologist. They prepared me for a painful epidural, but compared to the pain of the contractions it was nothing. I mean, really nothing. I barely noted any discomfort... just enjoyed a lull between contractions when he did his work!
By this time I think it was 3am, and things were great. They set Dan up with a cot. I was in no pain and tried to sleep. That was unfortunately difficult because the blood pressure cuff stayed on my arm and was inflating every few minutes to monitor me. There were also people coming in and out of the room the whole night.
Our nurse for the night checked my cervix at some point and said that I was completely dilated, and would likely deliver before her shift was over at 7am. I got Dan roused from his nap as it looked like the time was approaching. However, the doctor checked me and determined I was only 7cms. The rest of the morning is a blur. Dan slept, I started to update everyone on what was going on and tried to relax.
The day creeped on, and progress was slow. I started to feel pain again. A few shots of extra drugs didn't really help. The anesthesiologist began talking about removing my epidural and placing another one. I started to feel everything. I was shaking uncontrollably and began to vomit. My doctor came in and told us that before they placed a new epidural we needed to talk about a potential C-Section. I was progressing so slowly that she was not optimistic that I would be able to deliver vaginally. She said if they gave me the second epidural, that they would not be able to give me a spinal block and therefore if we went to c-section I would need to be put under general anethesia. She was willing to give me another hour of labor if I wanted to though. I could barely handle this decision under the pain I was in... I completely melted down sobbing. I told her I wanted to do this vaginally and would risk it. Luckily, she ended up being wrong about the spinal- the anesthesiologist said that even with a 2nd epidural they would be able to place a spinal block. Phew! I had made the right decision.
A little while longer and although it was not nearly as bad as before, I was still in pain. I was given a dose of "c-section quality" drugs that made my lower body go numb. I couldn't feel my legs at all. I had to actively think of other things to keep from panicking about that feeling.
I was checked for dilation again, and still was not fully there. On one side I was fully dilated, but there was still a rim of cervix on the other side. They tried to flip me on my other side, but BBH hadn't been handling that side the entire labor. His heartrate would fall during contractions. We started to creep back towards the c-section route. Lucky for me, my BTT teammate Elaine, another OB at Newton Wellesley, was working with my doctor that day. She suggested trying to check the pressure in my uterus or something. If the pressure was there but I wasn't progressing, it meant I was not capable of going vaginally. But if it was not there, there was hope it would develop. I really had no idea what she was talking about, but trusted her. She began the procedure, and while she was in there she noted that the baby's head was turned to one side. She was able to easily turn it, so she did. I think that was the magic trick, because 30 minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to go!!
Time to push!! The strong drug was just beginning to wear off, so I felt a little contraction pain (and also unfortunately some low back pain). This probably helped with the pushing though. Pushing went on forever. They didn't page my doctor until more than 2 hours into it. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, my doctor arrived and I knew we were getting close. After more pushing, BBH finally came out! He pooped upon exit, creating a terrible mess, and after a quick stop on my chest he was whisked away to be cleaned up.
The doctor delivered my placenta, and stitched me up while I was peering across the room to try to get any glimpses I could of my new son. Finally he was brought back to me all cleaned up. Really, truly, love at first sight. I couldn't believe this little guy had grown in my belly.
It was a long and painful day... but more than worth it!!
It began on Tuesday night. I had been having random contractions for a few days, pretty much just at night. I hadn't been getting much sleep because of them, and was really struggling at work. On Tuesday I cried uncle and told my boss I was beginning my maternity leave the next day. Fast forward to 7pm as Dan and I are eating dinner, and I realize the contractions are getting close enough to start timing them. They were never a consistent length or interval, but they did gradually get longer and closer together. I told Dan to pack up stuff "just in case". We attempted to go to bed, but I was in quite a bit of pain and eventually got up. Contractions were still irregularly spaced, sometimes with as much as 7-8 minutes apart, others only 3 minutes apart. But, they were all very strong, I couldn't talk/walk through them, and most of them lasted a minute or longer. So even though I didn't really meet the criteria to call the doctors yet, I did. The nurse told me to head into L&D. I woke Dan and started to get things ready. As I did this, the contractions got really close together and incredibly painful. The car ride was excruciating, every bump sending me into a contraction, and I knew my plan of a natural birth was going right out the window.
We arrived at the ER sometime between 1 and 2am and got registered and wheeled up to maternity. We were sent right to antenatal where they started measuring my contractions. Realizing they were about a minute apart, some literally right on top of the other, they checked my cervix and noted that I was 3 cm dilated. "Congratulations, you're in labor". Whoop de doo, I was in so much pain all I could think about were drugs, and I told them as much! After getting an IV placed, they wheeled us into Labor and Delivery, got me set up in there, and eventually (felt like a lifetime) called for the anesthesiologist. They prepared me for a painful epidural, but compared to the pain of the contractions it was nothing. I mean, really nothing. I barely noted any discomfort... just enjoyed a lull between contractions when he did his work!
By this time I think it was 3am, and things were great. They set Dan up with a cot. I was in no pain and tried to sleep. That was unfortunately difficult because the blood pressure cuff stayed on my arm and was inflating every few minutes to monitor me. There were also people coming in and out of the room the whole night.
Our nurse for the night checked my cervix at some point and said that I was completely dilated, and would likely deliver before her shift was over at 7am. I got Dan roused from his nap as it looked like the time was approaching. However, the doctor checked me and determined I was only 7cms. The rest of the morning is a blur. Dan slept, I started to update everyone on what was going on and tried to relax.
The day creeped on, and progress was slow. I started to feel pain again. A few shots of extra drugs didn't really help. The anesthesiologist began talking about removing my epidural and placing another one. I started to feel everything. I was shaking uncontrollably and began to vomit. My doctor came in and told us that before they placed a new epidural we needed to talk about a potential C-Section. I was progressing so slowly that she was not optimistic that I would be able to deliver vaginally. She said if they gave me the second epidural, that they would not be able to give me a spinal block and therefore if we went to c-section I would need to be put under general anethesia. She was willing to give me another hour of labor if I wanted to though. I could barely handle this decision under the pain I was in... I completely melted down sobbing. I told her I wanted to do this vaginally and would risk it. Luckily, she ended up being wrong about the spinal- the anesthesiologist said that even with a 2nd epidural they would be able to place a spinal block. Phew! I had made the right decision.
A little while longer and although it was not nearly as bad as before, I was still in pain. I was given a dose of "c-section quality" drugs that made my lower body go numb. I couldn't feel my legs at all. I had to actively think of other things to keep from panicking about that feeling.
I was checked for dilation again, and still was not fully there. On one side I was fully dilated, but there was still a rim of cervix on the other side. They tried to flip me on my other side, but BBH hadn't been handling that side the entire labor. His heartrate would fall during contractions. We started to creep back towards the c-section route. Lucky for me, my BTT teammate Elaine, another OB at Newton Wellesley, was working with my doctor that day. She suggested trying to check the pressure in my uterus or something. If the pressure was there but I wasn't progressing, it meant I was not capable of going vaginally. But if it was not there, there was hope it would develop. I really had no idea what she was talking about, but trusted her. She began the procedure, and while she was in there she noted that the baby's head was turned to one side. She was able to easily turn it, so she did. I think that was the magic trick, because 30 minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to go!!
Time to push!! The strong drug was just beginning to wear off, so I felt a little contraction pain (and also unfortunately some low back pain). This probably helped with the pushing though. Pushing went on forever. They didn't page my doctor until more than 2 hours into it. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, my doctor arrived and I knew we were getting close. After more pushing, BBH finally came out! He pooped upon exit, creating a terrible mess, and after a quick stop on my chest he was whisked away to be cleaned up.
The doctor delivered my placenta, and stitched me up while I was peering across the room to try to get any glimpses I could of my new son. Finally he was brought back to me all cleaned up. Really, truly, love at first sight. I couldn't believe this little guy had grown in my belly.
It was a long and painful day... but more than worth it!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Practice Run (week 40)
Otherwise known as a false alarm!! We knew it would be a false alarm before we left for the hospital. I had a few days where I was wondering if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I brushed it off until I did research online and realized it was potentially dangerous because I had tested positive for Group B Strep at my 36 week checkup. After waiting for a decent hour this morning I finally broke down and called the OB's office. The on-call nurse said it sounded like nothing, but because of the Group B she told me to go get it checked out. Better safe than sorry.
Off to Maternity we went on a beautiful, cool Sunday morning. We got checked into Antenatal where the first order of business was to get a non-stress test, blood pressure check, and temperature check. All came back good, and it was actually Dan's first time hearing BBH's heart rate. He's seen it on ultrasounds several times, but this was the first time listening. Next we got settled into a room and had the on-call doc check me out. At first glance she said "yup, looks like your membranes have ruptured". She took a PH test to be sure, but it came back borderline. So she took a sample and looked at it under the microscope. That came back negative for amniotic fluid. Since they were getting conflicting reports, they sent us to have an ultrasound to determine whether there was a sufficient amount of fluid in there. The ultrasound tech did a full check on BBH- took measurements, checked position, watched for good movement, and estimated the amount of fluid. All came back clear on this test too. BBH is now up to 8 pounds 9 oz, 75% percentile, "give or take 20 ounces". Yikes. Hopefully it's not give.
We returned to Antenatal to have the nurse up there review the ultrasound report and give us the all clear to go home. All in all we were there for 3 hours, not too bad. It was a little bit of a let down- for a few minutes there we thought we'd be checking into Labor and Delivery (and on 10/10/10 too!). But, BBH is doing well which is all that matters. Hopefully he doesn't get too much bigger over the next few days!
I'm still going in for another non-stress test on Tuesday, but I'm supposed to keep an eye on things and call my doctor with any changes.
Off to Maternity we went on a beautiful, cool Sunday morning. We got checked into Antenatal where the first order of business was to get a non-stress test, blood pressure check, and temperature check. All came back good, and it was actually Dan's first time hearing BBH's heart rate. He's seen it on ultrasounds several times, but this was the first time listening. Next we got settled into a room and had the on-call doc check me out. At first glance she said "yup, looks like your membranes have ruptured". She took a PH test to be sure, but it came back borderline. So she took a sample and looked at it under the microscope. That came back negative for amniotic fluid. Since they were getting conflicting reports, they sent us to have an ultrasound to determine whether there was a sufficient amount of fluid in there. The ultrasound tech did a full check on BBH- took measurements, checked position, watched for good movement, and estimated the amount of fluid. All came back clear on this test too. BBH is now up to 8 pounds 9 oz, 75% percentile, "give or take 20 ounces". Yikes. Hopefully it's not give.
We returned to Antenatal to have the nurse up there review the ultrasound report and give us the all clear to go home. All in all we were there for 3 hours, not too bad. It was a little bit of a let down- for a few minutes there we thought we'd be checking into Labor and Delivery (and on 10/10/10 too!). But, BBH is doing well which is all that matters. Hopefully he doesn't get too much bigger over the next few days!
I'm still going in for another non-stress test on Tuesday, but I'm supposed to keep an eye on things and call my doctor with any changes.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Happy Due Date! (week 40)
Well, it's here... a day I thought would never arrive... the due date! It's been a very, very long 9 months. It seems like ages ago that we were in Park City reading those pregnancy tests. Even though BBH still hasn't joined us out in the real world, at least there is no more than a week to wait, no more than 4 days left at work, no more than a few days until I can eat a cookie (or a brownie, or a muffin, cupcake, pie... you get the picture)(and okay, that's not a huge priority, but still something I am looking forward to). I can't wait to see him, to get to know him, to start our new family. It's so surreal!
We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the due date and to celebrate an award that Dan received from Draper on Wednesday. It's the second year in a row that a team Dan has been working on has been acknowledged and awarded for their outstanding achievement. The awards banquet on Wednesday made for a long day, but it was worth it to see Dan get recognition for all of the (very) hard work he puts in for that company.
Yesterday was the first Non-Stress Test. I got to sit in a super comfy reclining chair in Maternal Fetal Medicine for a half hour with sensors on my belly. One to record any contractions (haha, fat chance), and the other to monitor BBH's heart rate. I had a little clicker that I had to hit any time I felt a movement. They needed to see his heart rate go about 15 beats per minute above the baseline a few times. It was very relaxing lying there and listing to BBHs heart rate. It's a soothing sound! Funny to hear the thumps
whenever he bumped against the sensor too. His HR was hovering around 140 for a baseline. I have to say, I really like everyone in the Maternal Fetal Medicine department. They are all so friendly, cheerful, and chatty.
Only one trip left to Newton Wellesley before induction day!! Just one more non-stress test... and then just the big trip left!!
We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the due date and to celebrate an award that Dan received from Draper on Wednesday. It's the second year in a row that a team Dan has been working on has been acknowledged and awarded for their outstanding achievement. The awards banquet on Wednesday made for a long day, but it was worth it to see Dan get recognition for all of the (very) hard work he puts in for that company.
Yesterday was the first Non-Stress Test. I got to sit in a super comfy reclining chair in Maternal Fetal Medicine for a half hour with sensors on my belly. One to record any contractions (haha, fat chance), and the other to monitor BBH's heart rate. I had a little clicker that I had to hit any time I felt a movement. They needed to see his heart rate go about 15 beats per minute above the baseline a few times. It was very relaxing lying there and listing to BBHs heart rate. It's a soothing sound! Funny to hear the thumps
whenever he bumped against the sensor too. His HR was hovering around 140 for a baseline. I have to say, I really like everyone in the Maternal Fetal Medicine department. They are all so friendly, cheerful, and chatty.
Only one trip left to Newton Wellesley before induction day!! Just one more non-stress test... and then just the big trip left!!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
More appointments (week 39.5)
I think I can navigate Newton Wellesley in my sleep at this point... I feel like I am there every day! This week, there will be 3 trips! I had my last trip to my OB's office this morning. She scheduled me for two NSTs (Non-Stress Tests) in Maternal Fetal Medicine- for this Friday and next Tuesday- and since they'll take my vitals at those appointments she deemed it unnecessary to return to her office since the induction is next week.
No progress since last week- still dilated to 1 and "thinned out". I predict he's not going anywhere anytime soon (the doctor wasn't too optimistic either). Although I am beyond ready for him to get here (and to not be pregnant anymore), it's a good thing that he's hung in there this long. I can now ride my maternity leave through New Years, which I really wanted. Everything looked good, my blood pressure was 110/60 and his heart beat was strong.
BBH is constantly on the move in there, and unfortunately it can be uncomfortable. Punches to the bladder are downright painful!
No progress since last week- still dilated to 1 and "thinned out". I predict he's not going anywhere anytime soon (the doctor wasn't too optimistic either). Although I am beyond ready for him to get here (and to not be pregnant anymore), it's a good thing that he's hung in there this long. I can now ride my maternity leave through New Years, which I really wanted. Everything looked good, my blood pressure was 110/60 and his heart beat was strong.
BBH is constantly on the move in there, and unfortunately it can be uncomfortable. Punches to the bladder are downright painful!
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