September 29 (Day 14)

We got up to the hospital in time for Julia's 11:00 am feeding.  She did pretty well and ate 18 ml.  Her nurse said that for her 8:00 am feeding, she was tired and didn't really wake up to eat so she just had her tube feeding then.  After she was done eating and had her the rest of her feeding through her tube, Eric and I headed home to get a few things done around the house.  We went back up for her 2:00 pm feeding.  She ate 20 ml at this one.  She has had about a 45-60 minute awake period after this feeding so we played with her for a bit.  Eventually we got her settled down and back to sleep and then we headed out to run an errand.

We went to a local baby store and picked up a headband and a barette for her.  On our way back home, my brother Bob called and let us know that him and his wife were in town.  We made plans for them to come up and meet Julia.  We ended up meeting them up at the hospital for her 5:00 feeding.  Eric had planned on giving her a bottle for this feeding since she hadn't had one all day.  Julia took 21 ml from the bottle.  We were really excited at her consistency throughout the day.  Dr. Stratton talked to us briefly and said he is planning on letting Julia start having bottles in the night beginning on Monday.  We were happy to hear this.

When we left the hospital, we went out to eat with Bob and Wendy.  It was a beautiful night and we were able to eat outside which was really nice.  After dinner, they came back to our house for a bit and we visited for a while.  Eric and I enjoyed some Scratch cupcakes that they brought for us.

We are looking forward to seeing the boys tomorrow, even though it will be late when they get here.  Everything I have heard sounds like they are having a great time in Iowa.  We'll end with a few pictures from today.

Julia holding Mommy's thumb

Julia relaxing during a tube feed

Julia wearing the headband we bought her- it was a little big- I said it looked like she was sweating to the oldies

Julia with her barette 

Julia wrapped up in a swaddle-me (she has become a master of getting unswaddled with a regular blanket) with her barette in.  She looked pretty cozy for the night.

 

September 28 (Day 13)

After our first kid-free night at home since Oliver was born we headed up to the NICU.  We met Chris, Julia's first NICU nurse who happens to be awesome.  She told us that Julia ate 45 ml from her at the 8:00 am feeding! Naturally we asked a bunch of questions about what she did and how she did it.  She said it took Julia about 10 minutes to get warmed up, she ate well for about 20 minutes and then stopped the feeding (NICU feeding period is 30 minutes).  She told us that she supported her cheek very gently and encouraged her to use her muscles and that Julia responded positively.  We were *so* very excited at this news and asked if we could watch her for the next feeding.  Unfortunately, she headed out to a research talk, but said she would be back for the 5:00 feeding.  Full of excitement we started the 11:00 feeding and Julia ate 31 ml from Sara!  We thought it was possible Julia was turning a corner and starting to figure out feeding.  After her feeding we held  her during the rest of her 59 ml feeding through her NG tube (she is still at 90 ml of milk for each feeding) and then headed down to the cafeteria for lunch.

We had a nice lunch and went back for her 2:00 feeding.  We met with the occupational therapist before her feeding.  She told us that Julia's core muscle tone seemed good, meaning that she could move her arms and legs into her body which is what they like to see.  She also said that we could do "tummy time" with Julia on our chest, but she would avoid it directly on her bed until her umbilical cord heals further.  Julia was slightly tired after the occupational therapist visit, and only ate 7 ml at this feeding.  That was a little bit of a bummer, but since she wasn't very awake we didn't think she would eat well.  After her feeding we went home to pick up and wash dishes/sheets.

We returned to the NICU for her 5:00 feeding.  Unfortunately, Chris couldn't meet with us because she was pulled for another baby - the NICU is very busy right now so we understood, but a bit bummed.  We hope that she will be with Julia tomorrow so we can get some tips from her and watch her baby whispering magic :).  At this feeding Julia ate 8 ml from Sara.  She was completely zonked, and we were somewhat surprised she woke up to eat anything.  Once she woke up a little bit, it seemed like she had a good latch, but ended up not eating a lot.  We headed for home after this feeding and decided to pick up a pizza from Monicals (a BBQ chicken pizza).  The pizza was delicious and we sat in the living room watching Shark Tank and Fringe.

We are hoping that tomorrow morning is another great feeding.  We'll let everyone know tomorrow!

Julia and mom hanging out a bit before her feeding

Her weight (in grams) when she ate 31 ml.  We were so impressed that we took a picture

Julia zonked out

Still sleeping

Tummy time with mom

Don't forget about a little bit of fun time!

Okay dad, enough pictures - that flash is bright

September 27 (Day 12)

Today we hung out at home for the majority of the morning.  Coco and Sara went to the hospital this morning to visit Julia and for Coco to see her before they headed back to Iowa.   Since we were up there for her 11:00 feeding, Sara tried to nurse Julia.  Unfortunately, Julia was very tired and really had no interest in
eating.  She only took 4 ml.

After getting home, we all had lunch together.  Then Coco and Kelli headed to Iowa with the boys.  I think the boys are looking forward to spending some time in Iowa.  They happily went into the van and started watching Dora.  Sara talked to Oliver a bit tonight and although he sounded a little sad, he seemed to be doing pretty well.  Coco said Parker was making faces at her while we were talking so I'm pretty sure he was doing all right.

Eric and Sara headed to the hospital shortly after they all left.  We were to meet with the speech pathologist during Julia's 2:00 feeding.  Unfortunately, the speech pathologist we had been meeting with was sick today, but another one came up.  We talked about Julia's feeding guidelines for right now.  We feel like we are at a standstill with her feedings.  The speech pathologist said that she thinks Julia's mouth muscles need to get stronger and she needs more practice to get better at eating.  However, they are still limiting her to 1-2 bottles a day with one at night.  I am able to nurse her anytime I am up there so we went back for her 8:00 feeding tonight to try again (she only ate 5 ml).  We are trusting that the doctors and speech pathologists know what they are doing right now, but it seems very counter intuitive to us to limit her feedings when she needs practice.  I will say she does just get exhausted from eating.  Today when we tried giving her a bottle for her 2:00 feeding, she really seemed like she was doing well eating and we were getting excited that she was going to eat a lot and then when we checked her progress, she had only eaten 3 ml.  So needless to say, we are frustrated that she is not eating as well as necessary for her to go home, but we know we are on her time to learn to eat properly and well.  We did hear from her night nurse that she is showing signs of being hungry at night, especially at her assessment times.  We are hoping that the next step in her feeding guidelines may be to feed her at night if she is showing signs of being hungry.  Julia did have a long awake period after her 2:00 PM feeding.  She was very alert and fun to watch and play with. :)
(*disclaimer- she is being fed at night through her feeding tube so she isn't going hungry, she just isn't given a chance to try eating from a bottle first)

After her 5:00 PM feeding (where she at 13  ml), Eric and I headed out and grabbed dinner together.  When we finished up dinner, we headed back up to the hospital for Julia's 8:00 PM feeding.  She was pretty sleepy and only at 5 ml.  We may try going up for a middle of the night feeding tomorrow night since previously she had been doing better eating at night to see if that trend could possibly continue for us.  Now we are at home in a very quiet house.  It is strange to not have the boys here, but I'm sure they will have a great time in Iowa.

Here are a few pictures of Julia.

Julia cuddling with Daddy while getting a tube feed.

Julia all tucked in for the night after her 8:00 feeding.

Julia's NICU setup.  There are a few shelves off to the left of the picture where we are able to leave her boppy pillow and set our things when we go up to visit her. 

Wednesday, September 26 - Microarray results (Day 11)

Eric and I went up to the hospital this morning around 10:00.  Julia was sleeping.  :)  We weren't sure if the speech pathologist would be coming up for her 11:00 feeding, but she didn't make it to that one. I nursed her and she took 16 ml which was significantly better than yesterday.  We asked her nurse if any test results were in and learned that  the microarray (i.e. genetics test) results were in.  However, the neonatologist was in a consult and wasn't available to tell us the results.

So we anxiously went down to the cafeteria knowing that when we returned from lunch we would hear the results.  Naturally, we both seemed to be a little more quiet while eating our sandwiches, chips, and cookies.  After lunch we apprehensively went to NICU and found our nurse.  She forwarded the doctors message that everything came back normal.  This was a huge relief, because this eliminates a number of genetic disorders.  This test obviously doesn't eliminate everything, but a big step in the right direction.

Eric went to work and Sara stayed with Julia.  It was bath day for Julia and so Sara gave her a bath.  She has liked her two previous baths, but wasn't so fond today.  Her NG tube needed to be switched from her left nostril to the right nostril, which will happen once a week while she has the tube. Julia was not too pleased with the tape being pulled off. After getting her all cleaned up and dressed, Sara asked the nurse if she could take a few pictures before putting the NG tube back in.  So I think we have our first pictures other than right when she was born where she has nothing attached to her face!

Sara fed her for her 2:00 feeding and Julia ate 17 ml.  Dr. Stratton (a neonatalogist) came and talked a little about the microarray results.  He again said they were all normal.  Sara asked if that meant conclusively that she doesn't have BWS and he said that genetically she does not have it.  He said she may have some of the physical characteristics of it, but none of the genetics for it.  He also said they are going to retest her thyroid levels on Monday to make sure they are not changing.

We are scheduled to meet with the speech pathologist for Julia's 2:00 feeding.  We are hoping to get a few questions answered and start getting more of her feeding issues figured out.  On the feeding note, Eric went up for her 5:00 feeding to give her a bottle and she ate a whopping 3 ml.  Hopefully we will get her eating more soon.  We did ask the nurse a heavy question of how long, in her opinion and experience, Julia would likely be in there.  She said it can vary greatly, but if she would take a guess, she would say probably at least another couple weeks.  She did say that Julia could change overnight and start taking feedings without any problem.  So basically, we have no concrete idea of when Julia will be coming home, but we will keep hoping that it is sooner rather than later.

The boys went to a local children's museum with Coco and Kelli today.  From what they told us about it, it sounds like they had a great time.  Coco said they were the only ones there so the boys had the run of the place.  Tomorrow, Coco and Kelli will be heading out tomorrow and are actually taking Oliver and Parker back to Iowa for the weekend.  Oliver is excited (there is talk about a parade in Amana on Saturday) and Parker growled a bit and ran off, which we take as being excited.  It will be a quiet weekend around our house without the boys here, but will be nice that Eric and I will be able to go and visit Julia as we please and maybe we'll even eat somewhere other than the cafeteria over the weekend.

Julia enjoying a tube free couple of minutes after having her NG tube removed and before her new one was put in.  These are the only pictures of her without tubes since right after she was born.

A big yawn

Now she's content

Julia checking everyone out after her bath

Just relaxing

Tuesday, September 25 (Day 10)

Today Julia went to radiology to have a cookie swallow study done (Sara tells me that is what it is called).  Unprecedented for a female Steffen, Julia managed to fail the cookie swallow study.  She didn't really fail it, but the speech pathologist said that during the study she didn't see the same signs of stress as she saw in other feedings so it was not really an accurate test.  However, the good news is that the speech pathologist did not see anything abnormal (e.g. she is not aspirating milk into her lungs while she eats) so that is good news.  She will stop by again tomorrow to watch Julia bottle feed and will potentially give some more recommendations.  Julia has been upped from 0 bottle feedings to 1-2 bottle feedings during the day, but no bottle feedings at night so that she is able to rest.  Sara can feed her whenever she is up at the hospital as the speech pathologist said that breastfeeding should not be as stressful as the bottle.  She emphasized that Julia should only associate positive things with eating and that we shouldn't force anything right now and make her associate eating as being a negative experience.

In other news, Julia ate a whopping 1 ml while Sara was feeding her for her 2:00 feeding.  This was slightly discouraging, because it seems like Julia is regressing a bit in terms of how much she eats.  We went back home after this feeding, spent some time with the boys, Coco, and Kelli.  Coco and Kelli took the boys to the play area in the mall - they seemed to be excited that they were able to play there and it probably helped for them to burn some of their energy there also.  After the boys went to bed we went shopping for a little bit and bought some new outfits for Julia. The 3 that we have been sending to the NICU all managed to get blood or something else on them so she was wearing a hospital outfit when we left.  Our little girl, being not so little for a NICU baby at 9 pounds, outgrew newborn sizes after wearing her one newborn outfit 2 times, so we bought a few more sleepers for her so that she can be in her own clothes while spending time in the NICU - this is just something small that we are able to do for her, even though she probably doesn't care :).

The boys taking their bath today so they didn't join the "Stinkiest" Geotrax team (Oliver thought that was funny).  They were driving the trains along the edge of the tub making train engine sounds, which they enjoyed.  

Julia wide awake after zonking out for her 2:00 feeding.

Monday, September 24 - The roller coaster continues (Day 9)

Today we met with the speech pathologist for the second time.  She fed Julia a bottle while observing how she is eating.  She said that Julia is working extra hard to get a small amount of milk, which is exhausting her.  She showed us how Julia sucks once, gulps to swallow several times, and then starts to get stridorous breathing - kind of like gasping for breath.  She said she shouldn't need to swallow several times if she has the correct eating pattern for babies, which is suck once, swallow once, and breath once.  She then ordered what we describe as an X-ray movie.  Essentially she will feed Julia a bottle of milk mixed with barium while an X-ray takes shots of her eating.  This will show the speech pathologist what is happening in her throat as she is eating.  She said she was slightly concerned that Julia could aspirate milk while she is eating (essentially she could confuse swallowing and breathing and get milk in her lungs).  So tomorrow Julia will have another scan (time yet to be determined) to show how she is eating.  Until that time she can breastfeed, but will not be bottle fed.  When Sara couldn't feed her Julia would get her feedings through the NG tube only. So a small step backwards, but hopefully the scan will give us and the doctors more information to help her eat and eventually released from NICU.

Eric also returned to work today, but his work was interrupted by the meeting with the speech pathologist.  He biked from campus to the hospital when we learned when she would be there (after working a whopping total of 30 minutes this morning).  Since he typically feeds Julia her bottles we thought it would be good for him to be there and hear what she had to say.  We then ate lunch together to talk about what we heard and Eric headed back to work while Sara stayed to give Julia her next feeding.

Last night Julia did not do as well with her feedings - the nurse said she averaged maybe 25 ml, which is a bit disappointing since she was eating better at night.  Tonight we won't be able to compare since she will not be bottle fed. Her feedings also increased from 83 ml to 90 ml.  The nurses said that the target feedings are based on age and size of the baby. I took that to mean that they are likely to increase each day, raising the bar slightly higher for her to come home to come home.

Sara spoke with Dr. Stratton (one of the neonatologists at Carle).  He wanted to do some bloodwork on Julia to look at liver, kidney and thyroid functions.  He also did a basic CBC.  He said that sometimes thyroid problems can be associated with babies having a large tongue and he wanted to check it out.  They have been monitoring liver and kidney functions throughout Julia's whole life ;) - If I understand correctly, some of those functions can go along with BWS (Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome) and can also go along with abdominal wall defects.  I called and got the results  and for the most part, everything looked good.  Her thyroid level was a bit elevated, but not concerning.  Her calcium and phosphorus levels were a little high, but again nothing concerning.  Her bilirubin level was a bit high at 13.7, but had gone down from yesterday's 15.4 so they weren't concerned.

Julia also got a new spot in the NICU.  She now has a room with a view- meaning she now has a window.  It is nice because it is a little quieter spot and a little more private for when I nurse her and pump.  I put one of her new blankets on her bed today and wrapped her in one of her new receiving blankets.  She looks pretty cute if I do say so myself. :)

Sunday, September 23 (Day 8)

Today will be a complete post.  We will try to keep the posts up to date and catch up old posts as we have time.

Today we went to church.  Oliver went to Sunday School and Parker went to the nursery - we were pleased to hear both had a good time.  We talked to some friends after church and went to IHOP for brunch.  After brunch we came back home.  Sara and Eric packed up to see Julia - we could give her a bath before her 2:00 feeding - so we were at the hospital by 1:30 pm.  Julia enjoyed her sponge bath (the second time we gave her a bath).  After her bath Sara fed her and she ate 14 ml.  By the end of the feeding she was fast asleep so we went back to see the boys.  We played with the boys and had a good time reading stories, playing GeoTrax, and just spending time together.  Sara and Margaret took Parker for a special trip to Toys R Us - he had a good time running from toy to toy spending time with mom and grandma.  While they were checking out toys Eric went to the hospital to feed Julia for her 5:00 feeding.  She managed to eat 16 ml from the bottle (out of 83 ml).  The rest of the milk is given through an NG tube.  Julia zonked out during the feeding so Eric took that time to cuddle up with her for a while.  After a while Coco, Kelli, and Sara visited followed by Margaret, Oliver, and Sara.  During this time Parker was being watched in the family lounge by the other adult not in the NICU.  He did not like missing out on the action.

We found out that Julia will need to eat at least 75% of all of her target feedings for a couple of days before she gets to come home.  Currently her target is 83 ml (~2.75 ounces), but it has increased every day. So, based on current progress, she has a long way to go before she gets to come home.  We will meet with the speech pathologist for the second time tomorrow to see if she will recommend any other feeding strategies that may increase her intake, because her feeding at 5:00 pm was ~20% of target.

Most importantly here are some pictures of Julia from today.

Julia relaxed after a feeding

Zonked out after a feeding

Her new belly button is already looking great!

Julia cuddled into dad.  This picture was taken by Oliver all by himself and I thought it was a very good picture so we should share it.

Saturday, September 22 (Day 7)

Again this is a quick update: Julia ate 39 ml last night and 28 ml from Sara!  A great achievement.  She was switched to size 1 diapers and experienced her first full day being IV free.  Oliver visited her too.

Friday, September 21 (Day 6)

This will be updated later with more information.

A quick update: She had her best feedings this night (averaged 40% of what she should have ate, which was spectacular - we were so happy to hear this).  Her eating amount was upped to 56ml.  She started regulating her blood sugar so they eliminated glucose tests - very exciting, because she was having a hard time keeping her blood sugar up.  Julia lost her IV!  We now do basic care for her (changing her diapers, taking her temperature, and feedings).  Oliver spent time in the NICU family lounge and we did FaceTime with Oliver and Julia.  We ate in the Cafeteria (Eric, Sara, Oliver, Parker, Margaret, Karen).

Thursday, September 20 (Day 5)

This will be updated later.

Wednesday, September 19 (Day 4)

We will update this when we have time.

A quick update for this day.  The surgeon said Julia could start eating today so she had her first feeding!  The surgeon also said we should treat her belly with "normal cord care" so she was able to wear her first outfit (unfortunately her parents weren't prepared - funny story that we will add later).  Julia was also upgraded from a warming bed to a crib - so she is essentially considered less critical.  This meant that we can hold her whenever we wanted!  She also lost her suction tube from her tummy.

Tuesday, September 18 (Day 3)

Again, we will update this later when we have time.

A quick highlight: Julia was baptized before surgery.  She also had an ultrasound of her kidneys and echocardiogram of her heart before surgery - both looked good.  Her surgery went well and the surgeon said that in about a year she should have a normal looking belly button.  Sara was discharged from the hospital so we spent some time and saw the boys, which was nice.

Monday, September 17 (Day 2)

We will fill this in later.

A quick highlight: We found out Julia will have surgery on Tuesday.  At 12:30 AM on Monday Sara was able to see Julia again after the doctors were happy with her blood pressure levels. She also held Julia for the second time later in the day.

Sunday, September 16 - After Julia's birth

We will fill this in later when we have time.  Unfortunately we are exhausted at the end of the day and are falling behind in updating everyone.

As a quick highlight:

This day Eric met with the pediatric surgeon over a telelink (similar to Skype/FaceTime) and Sara had complications with high blood pressure even after birth.  Julia did well after birth, but had a hard time regulating her blood sugar levels.

Sunday, September 16 - Baby Pictures

Baby Julia after birth showing off her omphalocele, really she was just crying because it was bright and a lot of people were poking a prodding her

Doctors and nurses are checking her over

She really liked to stick her tongue out after delivery

Julia and her mom

The lights from the room were bothering her, so dad was trying to shield her from the lights while taking pictures

Julia and her dad

8 pounds 10 ounces

After we held her she got her leads put on (body temperature, heart rate, etc)

Dad was holding her hand while they were assessing her on the warming bed

Down in the NICU one of the nurse practitioners, who has seen plenty of omphaloceles, pushed her bowel back into her belly and showed us the membrane inside of the umbilical cord.  In the picture it is the pink portion that she is pointing to.

Julia sticking out her tongue at everyone

After I returned to the NICU she had been bandaged up and had breathing tubes in her nose to help her breath.  The nurses said she had stridorous (squeeky/laborous) breathing so this was just room air to help her breath while adjusting to life outside of her mommy's belly.

She also had a small tube in her mouth with very mild suction to pull anything out of her stomach (air and liquid) to ensure there was no pressure on her omphalocele in preparation for potential surgery.

One of the nurses also gave her a pink bow in her hair :)

After one of the shift changes they switched her bandages to a bag to keep her omphalocele from drying out.  

Here is a picture of her bow and all of her hair, which is very very soft and her dad calls it 'whispy'

She really likes her pacifier so they were trying to prop it up using rolled burp rags to help her keep it in her mouth

It didn't work super well, but she didn't mind giving up and taking a nice nap

Sunday, September 16 - Baby Julia Born (Day 1)

Shortly after midnight, our plans changed. I had a contraction around 12:30 and I had to call the nurse because during that contraction, my water broke. I had high amniotic fluid levels which was part of my being uncomfortable and when my water broke, I instantly felt my skin relax. They checked me again and I was dilated to 4 cm and the baby had dropped significantly. Contractions came on quite a bit harder and faster almost immediately and they started prepping for delivery. I asked for an epidural so we started that process. They had to push a bag of IV fluid through before I could get the epidural and of course my IV blew. They switched it out and it actually went in much better that time. I had to get my blood drawn again to make sure my platelets hadn't dropped too much (I had found out earlier if they dropped too much, I wasn't going to be able to get an epidural- not good news to someone beginning labor who wants an epidural). Luckily, my platelets were staying somewhat consistent so I was able to get the epidural. I had gotten a sudden headache during labor, I at one point just said, my head is going to explode. My blood pressure was still high so they were a little concerned. By the time the epidural was in, it was probably about 2:45. I was having pretty painful contractions and they were coming pretty fast. I finally got laid down and was getting some relief from the epidural and within about 5 minutes, I said I was starting to feel some pressure that I needed to push before long. They checked me again and I was to a 10 and pretty much ready to push. I pushed through 3 contractions with just my nurse in the room and then she had me stop and wait for the doctor to arrive.

The room started filling up with the doctor for me, nurses for me, the NICU doctor, NICU nurse practitioner and 3 or 4 NICU nurses. Once the doctor came in and got ready, I pushed through one full contraction and then started out pushing through the second contraction until the baby's head was out and the doctor said to stop pushing. Once the baby's head was out, the doctor basically pulled the baby out the rest of the way to be able to control the umbilical cord and omphalocele a little more. The baby came out crying and looked pretty good. Eric announced that it was a girl! Julia Marie Shook was born at 3:08 am. They put her on me right away and Eric was able to cut the umbilical cord (about 12 inches away from her belly). We reminded to doctors to clamp really high for her cord, because the surgeon told us that the number one complication related to an omphalocele is that the doctors accidentally clamp too close and could clamp/cut part of her bowel that is inside the umbilical cord. Shortly after delivery, they took her over to the warming bed and the NICU team looked her over. She got 8 out of 9 and 9 out of 9 for her APGAR scores. She looked good to the NICU team and they got her all wrapped up. The on-call NICU doctor (neonatologist) said it definitely looked like an omphalocele to him. We were then able to hold her for probably 20 minutes between the two of us. This was exciting because we weren't sure if we would be able to hold her right away, and if we could hold her it would only be for a few minutes. While we were holding her the NICU team looked very relaxed, which we took as a good sign. They took her to the NICU and Eric was able to go along, which again was exciting because we were told that Eric would need to stay out of NICU for about an hour while they ran assessments.

 We will continue adding to the posts today and tomorrow, which will now include pictures of Julia so keep checking back. For now here is a family picture with Sara, Eric, and Julia.

Saturday, September 15

Saturday, September 15 I was tired today and tried to do some napping on and off throughout the day. My blood pressure was still high and the doctors decided that they would induce me tonight. I was able to eat until 2:00 PM today, which was nice because I actually had an appetite. I spent most of the day trying to get some rest, getting lots of blood pressure checks, getting blood drawn, and being checked on by the nurse. Eric had went home and brought up all of the Harry Potter movies and we were preparing for a Harry Potter marathon throughout the induction process – he even brought popcorn for tonight. I also got to take a shower today which felt pretty good at that point. After 2:00, I couldn't eat or drink anything because I was going to begin the induction process at 4:00 PM. Of course, the doctor who was going to put the Cervadil (beginning medicine of the induction) was in a delivery at 4:00 and didn't get into me until 5:45, I was getting pretty hungry again at this point. The doctor who placed it actually brought in a sonogram machine because she couldn't feel the baby's head at all and wanted to make sure it hadn't flipped and the whole induction process would have been pointless. Luckily, the baby was still head down, just really high, so we proceeded. I had to wait for 2 hours after the Cervadil was placed before I could eat - in case I started having any contractions that led to labor. So at 7:45, I was finally able to eat some dinner. The boys came up and visited me for a little while, I think Parker was a little scared of me being hooked up to and IV and monitors while in a hospital gown. My mom came along and Eric's parents who had drove in late Friday night. Around 8:30, my nurse suggested I could take some Ambien to help me get a better night's sleep since they would start pitocin the next morning shortly after 6 am. I took the Ambien and pretty much fell right alseep. Eric was able to get some sleep too. Around 11:30, I woke up and couldn't get comfortable and kept needing to get up and use the bathroom. I think I was driving the nurse (and probably Eric) crazy, each time I'd get up or move, the nurse would have to adjust my monitors because they would lose track of the baby. They did check me to see if I was making significant process and if the baby was coming soon. Unfortunately, I was only dilated to 2 cm and the baby's head was still really high. I was having contractions that I could feel, but weren't super bad and not very consistent. I continued feeling uncomfortable and figured my nurse, Eric, and I would just be having a long night ahead of us.

Friday, September 14

The following 5 days were basically a blur so I apologize if some of the things end up out of order.

Friday morning, I woke up and still wasn't feeling well. Eric had a meeting at 10:00am and so I tried eating breakfast and resting a little extra, but by about 10:30am, I called the office to see what they wanted me to do. They wanted me to come in and get monitored and looked at again. I texted Eric to let him know they wanted me to come in and to meet me at the office. I walked over to the hospital (by myself!) and Eric came over and met me at the office. By 11:30, I was hooked up for a NST and still feeling terrible. The baby had was not being very reactive and I was having a few smaller contractions. The doctors weren't too pleased with how the baby was looking or how I was looking. My blood pressure was still running higher and a few numbers were hitting their concerning numbers for pre-eclampsia. They sent in a lab guy to check my blood for platelet counts and liver enzymes. These results were both within the normal range so that was good to hear. After being hooked up for about an hour, they sent me to get an ultrasound to check and see how the baby was looking. The baby was doing fine, nothing too concerning, but they just weren't happy overall with how I looked and how the baby was responding during the NST. So they sent me up to labor & delivery and said we would probably just do the induction tonight instead of waiting until Sunday. As I was being wheeled up to labor & delivery, I told them all that I had finally done it- I walked to the hospital to have a baby and to make it even better, Eric met me there and so I walked to the hospital by myself to have a baby. :) We said it would only be a better story if there had been snow on the ground. Everyone smiled and we had a good laugh about this as we headed up.

Once I got up to labor & delivery, they got me all settled in. They attempted to hook up an IV, which took 3 times and 2 people and all 3 were definitely the most painful IV attempts I have every had. I tried to sleep for awhile and get some rest. Eric ran home and got our hospital bag and told the boys that we'd see them in a few days. Luckily my mom was here through all of this so we didn't have to worry about where to take the boys. I had blood work done a few more times that afternoon and my platelets were starting to drop a little bit. I was hooked up to a monitor to keep an eye on the baby. The nurse kept a close eye on my blood pressure which was still running high. Mid-afternoon I was starting to get hungry and asking about food- I had only had ½ a piece of toast and a little oatmeal for breakfast that morning. They weren't sure if I would be allowed to eat because of the induction and I think they were a little concerned about the possibility of a C-section if I didn't progress well enough. Finally around 4:00pm, they said that they were just going to monitor me for the night and see how I did, then probably do the induction the next night. I was excited about this because they meant I was able to eat something for supper that night. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. I was monitored all night and received lots of check-ins from the nurse. I was still not feeling well and fairly uncomfortable, but tried to get some rest that night. I slept on and off through the night with lots of check-ins from the nurse and trips to go to the bathroom. By morning, I think I was more exhausted than I had been the night before.

Thursday, September 13th (The beginning of delivery)

Eric and I went in for my last appointment today.  The baby passed the BPP and the non-stress test without any problem.  The NST was a little less reactive than they would like though, so they watched a little longer just to make sure.  They didn't seem too concerned about it.  My blood pressure was a little concerning, I normally run in the 90s/50s, but today my blood pressure was 130s/80s.  I also wasn't feeling very well, but we weren't sure if it was me getting sick, going into labor, or just in general, uncomfortable at almost 39 weeks pregnant.  They doctor gave us instructions for going in for our induction on Sunday night, but said she wouldn't be surprised if she saw me prior to that going in on my own.  They sent me to the lab to get blood drawn to check for other signs of pre-eclampsia since my blood pressure had risen so dramatically in just a few days.  They did leave me with instructions to call the next day if I still wasn't feeling well or if any other symptoms came up.  We headed out from our appointment, went and got blood drawn, and then stopped for donuts and coffee (or chocolate milk) to celebrate our last appointment.  The doctor called and said my lab results were normal and did not show pre-eclampsia. The rest of the day, I took it pretty easy and tried to relax to help my blood pressure.  I still wasn't feeling great, but was hoping a good night's sleep would help.