Labor day

Of course I always have good intentions of blogging everyday, I so love to read other peoples blogs but I just can't seem to make myself do it everyday. Let's back up to Saturday March 8th..
Saturday morning I woke up feeling okay but by 9am I started having bad menstrual like cramps and had a horrible headache. I informed my nurse Julie what was going on and she said that's how contractions sometimes feel when they start, I was scared to death I so didn't want to deliver before 34 weeks. The phlebotomist came in and pulled blood to check my White blood count, Dr.Gorman was on call over the weekend he came in and said there had been a spike in my WBC not enough to act by inducing labor but that we should check it again in 24 hours and start on some oral antibiotics, I had just finished a 10 day round of Penicillin every 4 hours in my IV so I really didn't think I had an infection. The next morning early the Phlebotomist came and pulled blood again, around 10:30am Dr.Gorman came in and gave me the dreaded news that we needed to get the baby out because my WBC had spiked even higher and we didn't need to risk the baby being sick on top of being a preemie. Immediately afterwards I was given Cytotec to start my labor and Brian begin notifying family that we'd be having a baby within 24 hours, Dr.Gorman said I'll be back in 6 hours to check you and see what progress you've made. Well the first 6 hours wasn't bad at all I had menstrual like cramps all day but wasn't even as bad as the cramping I had had the day before so of course when he came in and checked me around 4pm I was only dilated to 2cm, so they gave me another half dose of the Cytotec. Not long after I took the second pill I started having bad pain, I then figured out what labor was. It wasn't fun at all I hurt really bad and started having contractions 2-3 minutes apart, I can't remember what time it was when I told Holly my wonderful delivery nurse that I wanted the epidural I think I was only dilated to 4 but it didn't matter I was in terrible pain I could never have a baby without and epidural about the time I didn't know if I could take the pain any longer in walked my absolutely wonderful anesthesiologist Dr.Harris within 5 minutes he had the epidural in and within 20 minutes I felt 100 times better. Julie my other wonderful nurse told me before she left at 7pm that she thought I would deliver before the night was over, I really clung on to those words so when Holly would come check me every 2 hours I was just sure I'd be dilated to 9 or 10cm but it didn't happen that fast at all, sometimes I didn't dilate at all and other times Holly would say something like I'm 6cm and a wiggle she must have known I just needed to hear I'd made some progress so she'd say a "wiggle". I finally delivered at 4:56am on Monday March 9th. The actual delivery was super fast, I still can't believe how quick she popped out once I put my feet in the stirrups.

Day 8

Today has been a very long day... Brian came at lunch to see me, and Brenda Brian's aunt suprised me with lunch from Red Lobster it was soooo GOOD I'm starting to get really sick of the food here. Today is my Papa's 74th birthday Happy Birthday Day Papa!!

1 week Ultrasound

This morning I had my 1 week ultrasound done and to my amazement the baby had gained 8 ounces so she now weighs around 1 pound 13 ounces, I contributed her gain to the great meals they serve here at Willow Creek and the snack drawer that Brian created. I feel really good, I've yet to have any discomfort other then the normal growing pains. It is so odd to have to lay here and not be hurting, if it wasn't for the leaking I wouldn't know anything was wrong. I'm trying to stay positive both for my mental well being and for that of Brian's and our family.. Brian went back to work Monday we decided there is nothing he can do here and should work now because he may have to take off when the baby is born, we really don't know what to expect nor does the doctors she could come in the next 10 minutes or I could be in this bed for the next 9 weeks. I continue to ask the doctors daily if I'll be going home and they all so NO, it's hard to be away from home. I miss my dogs and my house and I mainly just miss being able to do what I want. I miss work and my co-workers, I wasn't prepared at all to be gone on maternity leave, I still thought I had close to 4 months to get everything laid out. It's left me feeling guilty for not having things taken care of and feeling sorry for the girls because their left with all these responsibilities that they don't know how to take care of. I know it's pointless to consume any time worry about this, I'm here doing what I'm supposed to be doing and that is taking care of our baby by doing exactly what I'm told so that our baby can grow bigger and stronger. We've yet to decide on a name so I just refer to her as Baby girl, there are a few names that we call her Brinley for one, Clemma Jean that's kind of a joke because I wanted to give her a family name but my family gave me absolutely nothing to work with, my Papa's name is Clem and my grandma's name is Jean so there you have Clemma Jean, I honestly like the name and think it's cute but Brian rolls his eyes and shakes his head in complete disgust.

Baby Dobbs

I started this blog back in 2007 and only posted a few times. Alot has happened in the last 2 years and I really want to remember this time so I thought I'd try to post something everyday or at least weekly not only for friends and family to stay informed with what's taking place in our life but also so I can look back on it after my baby girl is born and remember the highs and lows that we've went through.

Let's back up to last Wednesday Febrary 25th, my alarm went off at 6am and I got up and shut it off and felt really dizzy and sick to my stomach I decided to lay back down to see if my dizziness would go away. Around 645am I decided to get up and take a shower I still didn't feel great but felt like I had to go to work after I got out of the shower I felt like I was peeing all down my leg, I cleaned my self up and started brushing my teeth and more "pee" kept running out of me, I actually smelled it (I know that's gross but you'd do the same thing) and it wasn't pee. I went and called Brian who was already at work while I was trying to reach him on the phone it was very obvious by the amount of fluid I lost that my Water had broke, I told Brian to come home NOW. He ran home and got me and we were at Parkhill by 830am being examined and they confirmed my water had broke, I thought immediately that I was losing the baby I was only 25 weeks and I knew she wasn't big enough to survive. I completely fell apart but the doctors instantly started reassuring us that she could survive not to give up.. Within 10-15 minutes I was in a deliver room, stripped down having an ultrasound done, the baby's heart rate was good she was moving and the doctor said she weighed aroun 1 pound 5 ounces, the Neonatologist came and spoke with us and said they deliver baby's this small often that survive and go on to be healthy children/adults but of course there was no guarantee and he went over all the complications our baby would be born with and the likely hood of spending months in the NICU but overall was reassuring that she would survive but he didn't know what kind of complications she would have. I never had 1 contraction my water broke and continues to leak even know, my fluid level was around 2cm and a normal fluid level is around 12cm, the next 48-72 hours was extremely critical they gave me steroid shots to help develop the baby's lungs and started running pencillin and IV fluids to help prevent infection and to keep the baby hydrated. We really didn't know what to expect I thought when your water broke you had to deliver within 24 hours, that's not the case..I won't be going home until I deliver which for the baby's sake I hope is at least a month or more away, the doctors said if I make it to 34 weeks they'll induce so I know I won't be in this bed for any longer then 9 weeks. For now though and until she's born I'll be on bed rest at Willow Creek room #11.