okie, the story

It has been a long couple of weeks and I feel bad about not updating, but have not really had time. 

On Monday, the 21st, I started having contractions.  They started fairly spread out but over the course of the afternoon and evening they got stronger and closer together.  However, they never really hurt that bad.  So I tried to sleep.  The next day they had slowed down a little, but gotten stronger.  Soren did not move very much at all, during the morning, when he is usually the most active, so I called the doctor.  They sent me to have a Non stress Test.  When I went in, my blood pressure was 167/92, the doctor was more than a little concerned.  Being as I was so close to term, he decided to go ahead and induce me.  They gave me cervidel (?) to get my cervix ready because I was only dilated to 2.  I spent the night at the hospital and the next morning I was still contracting on the same pattern I had been for the last two days, every 7-10 min.  So they gave me an IV of Pitocin.  That went on for about 8 hours, but I never got into hard labor, when they checked me again, I was still dialated to 2.  So we talked to the doctor and decided to repeated the process again the next day.  During the second day, I actually went into labor, for a little while, but the contractions died out eventually.  So they decided to give me a couple of days of rest and sent me home, hoping that I would go into labor on my own.  They were worried about my BP which was swinging very high randomly, but there was nothing they could really do about it.  That night I started to get a headache which would not go away.  I rested all the next day and when in the following morning (sat) to have another NST.  At that point my blood pressure was still high and the headache would not go away.  Also, although my urine was still ok, there was getting to be more and more protein in it.  The doctor decided that I should not go home, and that they would try inducing me again.  At this point I was starting to wonder if they should do a US, but nobody else seemed to think it important so I did not say anything.  So they did the Cervidel again and the next morning I went into labor on my own.  After about 6 hours the contractions died off again… and I was beginning to suspect that there was something more than a little wrong.  So they hooked me back up to the IV and did Pitocin again.  That brought labor on, but sure enough, it died off again and I was at the maximum dosage they would give me.  The doctor gave me a couple of options, but it appeared that Soren had kicked himself up out of the birth canal, again!  So my cervix was not opening because there was snot pressure on it to open it up.  Finally we decided that it might be better to have a C-Section and get it done with, at this point I had been in and out of the hospital for almost a week and my husband had not been able to work most of that time because he was expecting me to go into labor at any time.  So I opt to have it done and over with right then (it was 11 PM) and Soren was born at 12:06 am on the 27th.  He was two and a half weeks early and weighed 8 lbs 8 ozs.  That is one BIG baby for his age.  They also said that because his head is so round, he could not pass though the birth canal which is why my labor was starting and stopping on its own.  Needless to say it was not a fun week.

Once he was born I attempted to breastfeed him once I was back in my room.  We tried everything, but he just did not want to eat.  I pumped for two days, but had little to give him so we were finger feeding him in hopes that he could nurse once my milk came in.  The downside of this is that he lost a pound in the three days we were in the hospital.  I also managed to get bad instruction on the use of the breast pump and so managed to blister my nipple the first evening of use (avoid this if at all possible). So we went to bottle feeding and I still occasionally gave him a breast to nurse on, but he did not seem interested.  That is a good thing because when my milk came in, there was nothing there!  Other than him not wanting to eat, he has been a wonderful baby.  He sleeps well, goes to sleep easily, and is a dream to deal with.  He does cry, but not as much as many babies I know.  The pediatrician is happy with his eating, although we do occasionally have to wake him to eat.  My mother was here for a week and that was a challenge but we got through it.  She left this morning after purchasing many good things for Soren and a couple for me and bry.  She also COMPLETELY cleaned my kitchen and bought me a vacuum for my birthday to keep down the pet hair. 

I have much to do cleaning the rest of the house as I was on bedrest for several weeks, but I also have to give myself time to rest and relax, which is going to be a challenge for me.  It sounds like the wiggle-squiggle is starting to wake up, so I have to go get a bottle ready.