Saturday, July 23, 2011

Our Gift is Almost Here

We received the go ahead for induction on Monday, July 25!! 

I had my last OB visit yesterday and the doctor stated that all looked great.  Nolan's heart rate was 150, his head was in position, I was still 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  The doctor agreed that everything looked great to be induced on Monday. 

After measuring my stomach and pressing down on little Nolan a bit, the doctor stated that she felt he would weigh about 7 pounds 5 ounces.  Sounds like a good size to me!

Because I am already dilated some, I will not need to the medication that is rubbed on the cervix.  I will only be receiving the Pitocin.  The doctor said she feels this labor will be quicker than Wyatt's labor.  She also said that she doesn't think it will be as painful. 

After receiving the paperwork with the phone number to call on Monday morning, I headed out of the doctor's office and started the countdown.  In about 96 hours we would be meeting Nolan.

Today we are down to about 72 hours.  I can't believe it.  It feels like just yesterday when I stopped at CVS on my way home from work to pick up the pregnancy tests.  I can remember taking them while holding a pin with a photo of Wyatt.  I can feel the excitement and shock as I recall what the test said.  And I remember the look on Brian's face when I ran outside to show him the results.  Here we are, 9 months later, about to hold our precious gift for the very first time. 

We are two of the most excited people on Earth right about now.  We have been counting down to this day for what seems like years.  Yes, we held our Wyatt and we cherish him every single day.  For as long as we live, he will live.  And in just a few hours, we get to hold our gift from Wyatt, his baby brother, Nolan.  Our gift is almost here!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Finally Able to Meet Our Gift

I can't believe it!  Less than a week now and our little Nolan will be here!  We are scheduled to be induced one week early on July 25 because of the kidney stone issues.  This means that this time next week, Nolan should be here.  

Brian and I have been talking each night about how close we are getting.  Several conversations have taken place around what it's going to be like.  We both seem to get choked up when we talk about the hospital experience.  We have never delivered a baby a heard his cry, this will be the first time.  Neither of us can imagine what it's going to feel like when we hear that little cry for the first time. 

Believe me there are many other things that we get choked up over, such as:
- Will Nolan look like Wyatt?
- What color will his eyes be and wonder if Wyatt would have had the same eye color?
- The fact that we will not have a full family photo in the hospital, as we will be missing our first son from the photo.

There are so many others but if I list them all here you would think I was depressed and not excited for this baby.  All I can say is this experience is so different than what other parents go through. 

I am already dreading the questions that I will be getting of "Is this your first?", "Why isn't his brother here to see him?", etc.  I have a few Little Brother outfits for Nolan to wear, one of which we are bringing to the hospital.  If Wyatt was here with us, he would be wearing the Big Brother shirt.  It is only appropriate, so we are moving ahead with it. 

Oh there are so many things I am dreading, as they will reopen the wounds that have slowly started to scab over, as they will never heal.  But with the dread comes hope, excitement, love, and happiness.  We will finally be able to meet our gift given to us by Wyatt.

Little Nolan will be here is just a few days.  His room is basically complete, he has a gift waiting for him from his brother, and we are ready to welcome him into our family!

Monday, July 11, 2011

The Worst Something or Other

Okay, geez where to start.  I am sure as you read this you will begin to ask yourself if I am making this up.  Please, I wish I were.  No, this is my life, something always goes wrong and nothing can ever be planned.

I woke up on Saturday, July 9th at 5:30am.  I went to the bathroom and laid back in bed.  To my surprise I was in so much pain I couldn't stand it.  I initially thought, "stupid kidney tube is clogged" but I looked down a few minutes later and the bag was filling up.  I continued to fight with the pain, not taking Tylenol or anything in case I was going into labor.  The pain let up a bit and I was able to go back to sleep. 

I awoke again around 9:30am and again went to the bathroom (what?!  that's good for someone who is 36 weeks pregnant).  The bag had a good amount of fluid in it so I assumed what I had was Braxton Hicks.  Well, they started again.  This time they wouldn't go away.  From 9:30 till 11, I was crying out in pain. 

I got a quick bath/shower (cause with this tube I can't do just one or the other), got dressed, and decided we were heading to the ER.  I called the doctor at 11, to determine if I should go to L & D or the ER, but at 11:20 there was no return call back.  So we left and headed into the ER. 

Upon arrival, I was quickly taken up to L & D by wheel chair, placed on an IV, and monitored for fetal movements and heartbeat.  Everything was good, but the pain was getting worse.   The nurses called to radiology but the only doctor who could do the procedure was over in a different hospital, we had to wait.  I was told, "No pain meds until the doctor in radiology sees you."  This was at 2:00pm, I had been admitted to L & D at 12:00pm.  After getting sick from the pain, the nurse called the OB and they agreed to a small dose of pain meds around 3:30pm.

Finally, just after 5:00pm, I was rolled down to radiology.  The doctor took one look at the tube and thought it had fallen out.  He scanned me and realized it was still in but blocked.  His words were, "this tube is severely blocked."  The procedure to replace the tube was to only take 20 minutes.  After several attempts to push the new tube in and take out the old, the doctor gave up.  He said, "This tube is so bad, we need to pull the entire tube out and start from scratch."  Fine with me, but I assumed I would be receiving pain meds or something.  Um, negative!

Next thing I knew, I had this horrific, indescribable pain running through my back into my bladder and ureter.  He was pulling as hard as he could on what, THE TUBE.  After several minutes of me screaming to the point that my throat was raw, pleading with the nurse to make him stop, and asking for a break because the baby was crushing my hip (had to lay on my side), it was out.  I could feel the urine drip down my back, but the pain was unbearable. 

The doctor was frustrated.  He was yelling at the nurse and I was pleading with her to please make it stop.  She had tears in her eyes and kept saying, "it's almost over, I wish we could give you something for the pain but we can't cause of the baby". 

I thought it is done.  I was wrong.  No sooner did he pull the wire tube from my back, he decided to push the new tube right down into the same hole that was used for the old tube.  Nothing like adding salt to the wound.  It hurt like crazy. 

The doctor finally said, "there it's in, we just have to bandage you up".  I kept reaching back trying to feel the tube, it was burning and hurting bad, but no where near like it did when he pulled that tube out.  They taped me up and brought Brian in. 

The doctor showed us the tube and how clogged it was.  It looked like it had cement poured in it and around it.  No wonder it hurt so darn bad when he pulled it out.  It was like pulling the sword from the stone. 

After returning to my room in L & D, the nurse said that several of the doctors called to radiology to find out what was taking so long.  The 20 minute procedure had turned into almost an hour and a half.  No wonder my hip was killing me.  The nurse said, "The tech said that was the worst tube replacement that they had ever seen."  Huh, just my luck.  I am always the worst something or other.

Sunday morning, I had my first internal.  I didn't honestly think I would be dilated or effaced but believe it or not, I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  They continued to monitor me and had me stay overnight one more night to continue with antibiotics.  I was released on Monday, July 11 only after scheduling Nolan's induction for Monday, July 25.

The doctor said, "I will put you down for Monday, July 25, but I don't believe you will make it to that date." 

Only a few days left now.... I can't wait to meet our little gift, bring him home, get these stones and this tube out, and move on with the next chapter in our lives.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

He Will Be Here

For whatever reason, I have had a feeling for the past month or so that our little gift would be arriving the week of 7/11.  It would be really neat if he arrived on 7/11/11, as Brian and I met at a 7/11 and Wyatt has a thing with 11's.  We are even pretty sure (based on the IVF doctor's numbers) that we conceived this little gift on 11/11/10. 

I feel as though today I am carrying lower than yesterday, and Mr. Nolan will not stop punching or kicking me in the crotch.  I am to the point where my back pain is pretty much gone and I can say I am pretty comfortable for the first time in many weeks. 

The doctor mentioned possibly inducing the week of 7/25 because of the kidney stones, but I don't think he really wants to.  I am fine with either so long at I don't have to go past his due date of 8/1.

To think, our son could be here any day.... It's just amazing.  I can't wait to hear his cry and look into his little eyes.  Two things I never did with Wyatt.  I can't wait to bring him home and sit and stare at him while he sleeps. 

Just a few more days or weeks, and our gift will arrive, he will be here!