Womanhood

*Sorry gents, this one will discuss women problems/issues. You’re more than welcome to read through, but I doubt you’ll be able to relate much*

So, I haven’t blogged in a little while and there’s a few good reasons for it.

1. Sometimes, I just need a break from the blogging world. I try to cram so much in a day and instead of giving you crappy posts, I just take a time out and focus on me instead
2. I have been having pretty painful sciatic pain for 8 days now and I’ve been trying to deal with that, hence the title of my post. I did my first WOD since last Wednesday yesterday and will talk about it more below

I have breached this topic before, but let me dive in today. I have had pretty consistent sciatic pain since my pregnancy with Rina, 5 years ago. I have done chiropractic treatments before that have given some positive outcomes, but it always ends up coming back. It has seemed that over the years, it gets aggravated, no matter what I do. It was painful when I was an inactive mom, it is painful whether I work out or not, so before you go thinking that it’s all because of Crossfit, let me tell you right now, it isn’t. It does flare up when I squat or deadlift heavy (over 100lbs), but this last flare-up started after a WOD where there wasn’t any heavy lifting involved.

I just happened to mention to fellow Crossfitters that I’d been dealing with this for a while now and what I’d been doing in order to try to get better, when Michelle mentioned she was a PT and I should go see her. I was able to get an appointment with her the same day and I’m hoping to be able to solve some issues.

After 2 visits with her, here’s what we have discovered.

1. My sciatic pain might not be related to my sciatic at all.
2. I may be too flexible for my own good.
3. I may benefit from pelvic floor physiotherapy.

I have breached the topic lightly before on the blog, but as a Crossfit woman, it’s no surprise that I suffer from “leakage” when lifting heavy or doing box jumps or attempting DUs or even sneezing, if I’m not careful. Apparently, this could all be improved with some pelvic floor PT.

You see, apparently childbirth can be traumatic and damaging to a body (no sh** Sherlock!) I’m diving deep right now so if you’re squeamish, STOP READING NOW!

When I delivered Rina, I tore my perineum (the area between your anus and your vagina. Not sorry about the TMI right now because I’m sure I’m not the only ) to the 3rd degree and required 15 stitches in my nether region. Also, I attempted to push her out for 3 1/2 hrs. That may (or may not) have injured my coccyx. Add to that a second pregnancy with a second tear (only 7 stitches this time around!) and some baby carrying on the same hip (I am right-handed and have a tendency to carry my girls nicely propped on my left hip in order to have my right hand free for other stuff) and I have a slight shift (about an inch or so) between my hips. My left hip sits higher than my right one, resulting in an imbalance on EVERYTHING I do when I move.

Because I am so limber, I haven’t really felt the imbalance before, but after a few years of having to do extra work, my left hip, pelvis and sciatic have finally said: “Enough!” and I’m listening. It turns out that the Pelvic Floor Physio could help with what my PT thinks is mostly a coccyx injury that needs decompression. She is, unfortunately not allowed to do such a thing, but a pelvic floor PT is. I have an appointment next week and I will keep you posted when I go. As for now, I have also been told to stop stretching (just until we figure out the origin of my sciatic pain), which means I haven’t done any ROMWOD since last week. 😦 I have to say, I kind of miss it, but I’ll listen to the expert’s advice until further notice.

In the meantime, I dream of a day when I wouldn’t need to sit on the couch with my hot water bottle up my butt/lower back in order to obtain some relief. That and no leakage would be awesome too! 😉

After Kath canceled our Kitty and Cougar WOD yesterday (turns out she had too much on her plate and couldn’t fit this in her schedule), I decided to do the Box WOD at home, since it didn’t give me much time to get my stuff together for the 0930 class. Kath felt super guilty about backing out of the competition, but to me, it was just an excuse to get together with her and WOD together, we can do that anytime and don’t need the extra stress of the competition in order to do that!

Here’s what I did yesterday:

Source

We only had a 25# KB at home so I went out and decided to get myself a little treat: a brand new 35# KB! I had both girls with me (Rina had stayed home from school with a cold and Béa was on a day off from preschool) and Rina didn’t want to be left in the dust, so she convinced me to get her a cute little 5# KB.

A family that lifts together… gets strong together! Lol!

I packed the girls in their double stroller and set off for my run. I had a choice between running a 720m or 920m in my neighbourhood, so I aimed high and went for the 920m loop. Because I have the memory of a fly, I couldn’t remember that I had to do taters and did AKBS.  Pushing the stroller up the hills was interesting, seeing as the girls and the stroller combined added close to 80# of lump I had to get up 3 little hills. 1 was short, 1 was medium and long and the third was short but at a steep incline which had me walking. The fun part was that I also had to go a steady downhill on my way back home. I had to pause my timer, get the girls out of the stroller and get Béatrice set up with something to occupy her while Rina and I got to work on the AKBS. Rina was more interested in chalking up her little hands than actually lifting the KB, but she did about 20 reps with me. I broke mine up in sets of 10 and only started to lose my grip on rep #47. I finished my 3 reps and looked at my timer: 9:52. Not too bad considering I had last done this one RX (without having to push a heavy stroller up a hill) so I’m guessing I probably could have done a similar time as well!

So there you go, I should be back for more Crossfit tales tomorrow, if I feel like blogging about it! 😉

The Story Of Béa

A year ago today, I gave birth to our 2nd bundle of joy. Here’s the low down on how it all happened…

December 6 2012. It was 0600 and all was quiet in the house. Everybody was still asleep except for me and I thought I would seize the opportunity to go have a quiet hot bath. I was 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant with a sore back so this moment was golden. As I was relaxing in the tub, I started having contractions. I had had Braxton-Hicks on and off for some time already so I wasn’t really worried at the beginning. These contractions however, were slightly stronger than my “usual” Braxton-Hicks so I got out of the bathtub and started the timing app on my phone. They were all 30-40 secs long and were all 5 minutes apart. I figured I would wait until our appointment with our doctor that same morning to see what she would recommend. We got through our normal morning routine with me having regular contractions every 5 minutes until our 0900 appointment with the doctor. As she was going through our appointment, I had to stop to answer her questions whenever I would have a contraction, but I was fine afterwards. She strongly recommended we go back home, grab our stuff and make our way to the hospital without any delays.

I was in labour! Naturally! I was thrilled my body had know how to start labour on its own, without needing to be induced. I was a little less thrilled that my bag wasn’t even packed! I threw some stuff together quickly (much easier to know what to bring the 2nd time around) and we drove on to the hospital. It was the MOST UNCOMFORTABLE CAR RIDE EVER even if it was only about 10 minutes! I was glad to be able to get our of the car and get moving through the contractions. We were admitted quickly and I was place in a room with all our stuff.

I got examined throughout the day, but I wasn’t dilating very fast. I remember being at 5cm for most of the day. I kept labouring with consistent contractions every 5 minutes ALL. DAY. LONG! Ben was with me as well as Rina and Aunty Sandy came to visit too. It was nice to have them all there, but during the contractions, I just wanted some silence so I could focus on my breathing and it was hard to achieve with all these people in the room.

Around dinner time, Ben went back home with Rina to figure out a sitter for Rina for the night. That was a bit stressful as Aunt Sandy was working a night shift and we had nobody to help out. Since we live in the main floor of a house, we asked our landlord (who lives upstairs) if she didn’t mind keeping an eye on Rina overnight. Ben left her with the baby monitor and promised to be back in the morning to get her up. That took about 4hrs as Ben had to give Rina some dinner, bathe her, put her to bed and come back to the hospital. I was lucky enough to delay my epidural and was allowed to labour in the shower. That was a true godsend! The hot water was constant and I could just sit there with the hot jet on my back. I had a family friend visit with me and she stood in the doorway of the bathroom. We chatted for a few hours, with me going quiet only when a contraction would come. I have to say, that was the best part of my labour. I just wish Ben could have been there with me.

When Ben finally came back to the hospital (around 2100), I stepped out of the shower and after discussing with my doctor, we decided to get the epidural in so she could go and rupture my membranes to try to speed up the process. I got the epidural in around 2200 and the doctor ruptured my membrane. The labour progressed rapidly from then on. At this point, I had been labouring for 15.5hrs. That was already 3.5hrs longer than I had with Rina and we still had no baby 😦

The epidural wasn’t really effective and the pushing was a lot more painful than it had been with your sister. I think I started pushing around 2230 and I could feel EVERYTHING. I will admit to letting a few swear words out in French to blow off some steam and some of the pain, but I was still wanting to see everything in the mirror they provided. Ben, on the other hand, just kept focusing on me, not wanting to peek at all! I didn’t care, I just wanted him to be there, next to me.

After a very long day and 18hrs of hard work, you finally appeared in our lives. You were born December 7 at 0030 and will forever share a birthday with your big sister! You were perfect and we were thrilled to finally get to meet you. Your Dad and I debated for a little bit about whether your name should be Béatrice or Zoé and we quickly settled the issue. You were a Béatrice and Zoé became your middle name. I even got to give you the breast for a little bit before the doctor had a serious discussion with us. Once again, my placenta wasn’t coming out and she didn’t want to delay the extraction as I was already bleeding a lot. I remember asking the doctor if it was serious and she replied with no muss nor fuss a very resounding “yes”. I knew from her answer and the frown on her face that she was getting worried and I passed you along to your Dad. I had to focus on trying to push that placenta out.

After 20 minutes of unsuccessful pushing and bleeding, she called in the OB/GYN and I was wheeled into the OR for a manual extraction. The OR was literally across my room in the hall and while I was being wheeled away, I felt 2 huge gushes of blood run out of me. Now, I was getting worried. I said goodbye to Ben and once in the OR, I just mentioned to the OB/GYN to do his thing and get me back to my husband. I could feel the blood pouring out of me and I just didn’t want Ben to be alone with the girls. The OB/GYN just replied that I was in good hands and not to worry, I would be back with Ben shortly.

I was given a lovely sedative and quickly drifted off to the wonderful la-la-land of conscious sedation. I woke up in time to see the OB/GYN showing me my mangled placenta. I will spare you the details, but it wasn’t pretty to look at. He had managed to remove it all and gave me 7 spanking new stitches while I was under to repair the tear I had endured during labour. I was grateful for that.

I was then wheeled over to the recovery room and I was not feeling good at all. I was dying of thirst like I had never been before. I found out later on that I lost over 2 L of blood, hence why I was so thirsty. My blood pressure was very low and I remember seeing it plummet at 82/44 at one point. I was given fluid replacements and I needed supplemental oxygen as well to keep my saturation up. I could tell Ben was getting worried next to me. It was now 0430 in the morning and he needed to go back home to Rina, but the LDR nurse told him he couldn’t leave me alone on the Mother-Babe Unit. I told him they had nurses there to take care of me, that it was a load of BS and to go home and get some rest and take care of Rina.

I finally was better enough to be transferred to MBU and I sent Ben back home. I couldn’t get up to feed you, but I couldn’t get up to feed you throughout the rest of the night so I rang my bell whenever you wanted to be fed and a nurse came and handed you over to me. Breastfeeding was established quickly and without any hitch and I was so happy for that. I don’t remember much from that day, other than I was not allowed to get up until that evening because of my low blood pressure. I also had a low hemoglobin (83, my normal was 140) so I was dizzy a lot and slept for most of the day when you didn’t need to be fed.

The next morning, I was finally allowed to get up for longer than going to the washroom and I had a shower on very wobbly legs. I was faint, but I was alive and we had a perfectly healthy new baby girl. We were now a family of four and Ben had his girls with him!

To be completely honest with you, I don’t remember much of your first 4 months of life. With my hemoglobin so low, the night feeding and Ben being back at work full speed, it was extremely hard to get through the days. Every day that ended was a blessing as we had made it one more day without any incident. The past year hasn’t been easy at times, but I wouldn’t change any bit of it because of the family we have.

I can’t believe you are already turning one! I truly don’t have a baby anymore: you give me “high fives”, you are “furniture walking” and pulling yourself up like it’s nothing, you have 5 teeth already, you love to dance, you are a beautiful darling girl and when you set your mind on something, you are very determined. I love your smiles and giggles, I love how you could eat the house down, I love your hugs and kisses and I am totally smitten with you. The same goes for your Dad. He truly adores you and you just ham it up for him!

Happy birthday my sweet BeZU! Take your time growing up, I feel like I can’t keep up with how fast you are turning into a little girl. I love you with all my heart and cannot imagine our lives without you in it.

Love,

Maman Xxo

P.S. You can read all about Rina’s birth here.

Feb.14, 2011: Happy lovers’ day!

Sweet Rina!,

We left your Nonno and grand-mother this morning to drive back to your Mamie and Grand-Papa’s house. It was raining in Ontario and pretty much started to snow at the Quebec border. You, once again, travelled very well and pretty much slept the whole way through and I took the opportunity to nap as I was sitting in the back with you! 🙂 I unpacked quickly, did massive amounts of laundry (I thought your dad was producing a lot of dirty laundry, but it’s a tie between the 2 of you!), bathed you, fed you and put you to bed, did my Challenges workouts (repeating week 2 as I never did my 3rd workout last week. It’s hard to stick to a schedule when you’re on the road) and just finished eating. I am now watching House before I go fold the rest of the laundry and go relax in the tub before calling your dad.
I miss your dad a lot. We managed to have a Skype video call yesterday and I think he’s starting to miss you too! Today was Valentine’s day and I had left a card for him to open today. 😉 Here are a few pictures of your dad and I doing what we do best: loving each other and loving you!

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Happy Valentine’s day Monkey!

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo

1 week old: It’s the little things in life…

Gorgeous Rina!

I wanted to write this yesterday, but somehow, there was too much to do during the day and I completely forgot to do so. Yesterday, you turned 1. One week old that is. Your Grandma ended up staying an extra day due to a delay in her flight travels and it was very welcomed! She has been such a great help around here during her stay, helping out with laundry and making a good minestrone soup for us yesterday!

Later today, your dad will be leaving for work so this will be my true test of flying solo for the 1st time. Although, yesterday was a test-run as I had to take you to the doctor all by myself. That was exhausting in itself and it made me realize that my life will now be looked at on a micro-schedule from now on. I have to set myself smaller goals for each day and if I get to accomplish anything other than my short “To-Do” list, it’s gravy on top!

On the menu today was the following: give you a bath (check), have a coffee (check), shower (check), go for a stroll with you (not done yet) and I also managed to put a load in the laundry (wasn’t on my list, but your dad is helping before he leaves for work). Overall, I’d say it’s been a pretty good day so far and it’s not even 1pm!

The next bit will be targeted for the new moms out there reading this. My little tips from what I’ve learned so far, being a mom for a week!

1. REST: Whenever you can. I usually try to nap in the afternoon when you are asleep too, although, sometimes, you have your “awake periods” during that time so it makes resting a bit difficult. I am fortunate enough that your dad takes over once he gets home from work so I can catch a bit of a break!

2. HYDRATE: drink plenty of water. I carry a bottle with me around the house and guzzle on it all day long, particularly after I’m done breastfeeding.

3. EAT: try to have nutritious snacks around that are fulfilling: granola bars, cheese, yogurt, fruits, veggies that you can munch on. I didn’t get to have lunch until 4:30pm yesterday and I was famished by then.

4. SET YOURSELF SMALL GOALS: I am a major type A person and I’ve learned to let go a bit. The carpets and floorings need major vacuuming, but I’d rather go for a stroll with you later on today than vacuum. Your dad can help me with that tomorrow as he isn’t working.

5. LEARN PROPER POSITIONING IF YOU PLAN ON BREASTFEEDING: It will save your nipples and a load of unnecessary pain. As I recounted in your delivery story, I have caused great damage to my nipples and breast right from the start and things are only starting to improve now. As a NICU nurse, I am lucky to know a bunch of very qualified Lactating Consultants who have been kind and generous enough to help me with solving my issues with cracked and painful nipples while feeding you. The major thing that has helped me was learning to latch you on my breast in the asymetrical position properly. You can see a very good information page here. In the past week, I’ve had to deal with blocked ducts and cracked nipples. I’ve thought of quitting breastfeeding numerous times, but then I think about all the benefits of breastfeeding for you and I just keep going. It is painful, but seeing your “milk drunk” face when I’m done feeding you is reward enough to keep me going!

I will leave you with these 2 pictures. The 1st one is while I was being induced in the hospital and it’s the last picture of my belly that I have (it’s a bit grainy as it was taken with my phone). The second one was taken this morning. Don’t ask me how much weight I’ve lost, I have no idea (haven’t had time to weight myself yet!), but the pouch is getting smaller and although it’s nowhere near being on my list of concerns yet, it’s nice to be able to re-acquaint myself with my feet again! 🙂

Last belly pic

Day 8 post-baby belly

 

Finally, a picture taken of you last night and our 1st family picture!

 

Rina, 1 week old

 

1st family pic outside of the hospital!

 

 

Love,
Mom & Dad Xxo

W42: A whirlwind of emotions.

I managed to sleep from the time your dad left (around 2300) until about 0115 and then, got up to walk around and go visit some of my friends and co-workers in the NICU. I was still pretty high from the Morphine and dizzy, but walking was helping with the cramping I was feeling. I returned to bed around 0300 and fell asleep right away, only to be woken up by contractions at 0330.

0330: I got out of bed and asked the nurse if I could get something else to help ease the pain of the contractions as it was getting pretty intense. I have always gone into this whole pregnancy thing with the idea that I was going to take things in stride when it came to pain control and medications. The nurse on A/P (Antepartum) said she would need to assess my status before giving me pain medication. It turns out I was 80% effaced and dilated at 2-3cm. I moved over to LDR (Labor and Delivery Room) right after I called your dad to tell him he should come back to the hospital as things were progressing.

0415: By now, I was dilated to 5cm and the contractions were unbearable. (To me, they were anyway). I have never suffered such pain in my entire life. I tried the Nitronox (laughing gas), but it was making me über dizzy and I felt like I was about to pass out every time I took a drag of it. I requested the epidural. The pain was making my whole body tremble uncontrollably from all the adrenaline rush.

0445: Epidural is in and this Babymama was feeling a whole lot more relaxed. I felt like I could conquer the world. I was dosing in and out of sleep, trying to recuperate a bit from all the pain. By then, I was dilated at 8cm.

0630: I am completely effaced and dilated at 10cm. Time to start pushing with the contractions. It came so easy and natural, thanks to the relief of the epidural. All I had to do was lift up my legs and push whenever I felt a contraction coming. I asked them for a mirror as I wanted to see the progress I was making as I was pushing. Your dad on the other hand, chose not to peek. It was fine with me. I wanted him at my side and also wanted him to aknowledge his limits without pushing his boundaries. It was more important for me to have him there than to force him into things he wasn’t comfortable with. He probably felt like he wasn’t doing much, but he was my pillar of strength through what was to come.

At this point, I lost track of time a bit, so I’ll go with approximate times.

0830: My labor has been stopped for about 40mins. We have tried different positions, but no contractions are felt or monitored. Oxytocin is increased to help kick things back into gear.

0900: I still can’t feel the contractions (even though my epidural is working at the right levels), but they are showing up on the monitor. I tell the nurse just to let me know when they are coming, that I am more than willing to push with them. Apparently, I am a great pusher!

0930: You are experiencing some decels and even though it makes me panic inside, I try to remain calm for your dad who looks completely helpless as he realizes that your heart rate is dropping at times. We are both crying at this point because the mention of a vacuum extraction is something we had discussed and I was strongly against. However, you are crowning and since you’re in distress, I would do it. As I am such a great pusher and you’re crowning, the doctor decides to let me push you out, but we now have a pediatrician in the room, waiting for your arrival. By now, we are 9 people in the room: you, myself, your dad, our GP, 2 LDR nurses, a student nurse, a pediatrician and his resident. That’ a lot of people for such a small person… The anxiety in me just keeps rising.

1013: I give a push and your head comes out then our GP announces that your umbilical cord is looped around your neck. I don’t like the sound of this. Shortly after, she announces there is a second loop. Not liking this even more.

1014:I am told to give one more push in order to get you fully out and thanks to the mirror that is strategically positioned, I see that you are shortly followed by meconium. Lots of it. Meconium in the womb is a sign that the baby was in distress. When the baby is born and there is presence of meconium, we usually don’t want the baby to start crying before it has had a chance to be suctioned in the lungs as meconium aspiration in the lungs could have very serious repercussions. You are whisked away by the pediatrician and his resident and the start working on you. Your dad and I are now bawling in tears and I’m trying to watch what’s going on with you through my tears. The pediatrician intubates you and suctions your lungs. He then goes on to suction your stomach too. He dries you up in an effort to stimulate you. You are limp and pale and still haven’t taken a breath yet or moved. I am urging you to do so through my tears and I still don’t know if you’re a boy or a girl.  Finally, you let out a wail and I do the same. To me, this is the sweetest sound in the world. They bring you over to us, you are bruised on both eyelids and your scalp, giving you this sad little look, like you’ve already been in a fight. I shorten your umbilical cord as your dad declines to do it and we fall in love instantly. We are now a family and are given a few minutes to bond before I am put to work again to expulse my placenta. Normally, you would want the placenta out within 30minutes from the delivery of the baby.

1045: We are still trying to get my placenta out to no avail. The doctor is gently pulling on it as I am asked to push. My oxytocin is increased and my uterus is massaged furiously, still the placenta isn’t coming out.

1115: Still working on getting the placenta out. The OB/GYN on-call comes to assess me and lets me know that if the placenta isn’t coming out, I’ll have to go to the OR (Operating Room) STAT in order to get it out. He gives us 10minutes to keep working on it. I am told to keep pushing, being the great pusher that I am and all…

1130: The OB/GYN on-call comes back and puts the 2 of us to work. He tells me to put you on the breast (to stimulate contractions) while I am ordered to push again. Imagine the scenario: Lying on my back with  you at the breast, legs up in the air and trying to curl myself up in the pushing position (chin to chest) without squishing you. I am not focusing on your latch and will suffer from it later, but right now, I have a job to do and I plan on doing it, type A that I am!

1145: I finally manage to get the placenta out with the help of many hands pulling from inside my uterus, affording me a dose of Ancef (antibiotic) to prevent infections. The placenta seems to be complete and is sent to pathology for analysis. I am then announced that I have torn my perineum to 2^nd and 3^rd degree and need stitches. 15 stitches to be exact. The epidural is still doing its job so I say go for it. I will feel the pain later… I will also find out later that I have suffered important blood loss trying to push out the placenta (600cc, to be exact).

1600: My IV is finally removed and I am allowed to stand up. My left leg is still a bit lazy from the epidural, but I am allowed a much needed shower. By the way, when you’re in the hospital, showers are totally underrated! I also get a glimpse of myself for the 1^st time in a while in the bathroom mirror and I now understand why your dad is teary-eyed every time he looks at me: I also look like I’ve been the loser of a boxing match. My eyes and face are swollen beyond recognition. And yet I shrug it off. I wear this new face with pride: it is the face of someone who has been through hell and back. It is the face of someone who has given life to a human being and at that precise moment, I embrace the battered look. It is my badge of womanhood. I am now part of a group of women called Mothers and I am damn proud of myself for having survived the process.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. Your dad brings me McDonald’s for dinner as I am starving, not having eaten anything in over 24hrs. I devour it.  We spend the evening feeding you, crying when we look at you, overwhelmed with joy and love, dozing in and out of sleep and attempting to mend my nipples. Because you weren’t latched on  properly and I was focusing on pushing out my placenta, you have given me blood blisters on my nipples and made breastfeeding pure torture. I resort to pumping until my nipples are somewhat less of a bloody show.

Welcome to the world little Monkey! We are sure thrilled you are finally with us!

Rina Simonne Uliana born December 7 2010 @ 10:14am. 7lbs, 3oz and 19 1/4" long. We all look exhausted, but we are truly happy!

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo.

W41D6: Here we go!!!

Hi Monkey!,

I’ve received the best wake up call this morning at 0745, telling me I could show up anytime to LDR for my induction. I was the happiest Babymama there is! Not that I don’t like carrying you, but it’s time for you to come out! It’s a mix of weird emotions: nervous, anxious, excited, stressed out and worried.

1100: At the hospital. Got my cervical exam done. You’re still not engaged and I remain effaced at 50%, dilated 1cm. 1st round of Cervidil is put in and we’re monitoring for about 1hr.

1600: They have decided to keep me overnight after I told them they would have to admit me to the psychiatric ward if they tried to send me home without a baby! 🙂 Your dad went back home a little while ago to get some rest since not much was happening here. I can feel stronger contractions and more pressure on my lower back, but nothing serious or regular. I will be re-examined around dinnertime to see if we’ll go on with a 2nd Cervidil or progress with Oxytocin.

2100: Having some pretty strong contractions anywhere between 2-4 minutes apart. I tried to walk it off with your dad, but the lower back pain irradiates all the way to my thighs and is making my legs buckle and shaky. On the way back to my room, I’ve asked my nurse for some pain relief. After she examined me, I was still only at 1cm dilated, my cervix was a bit softer, but not by much. She repositioned the Cervidil as it had moved a bit and I was the lucky recipient of Morphine, chased with Gravol. It took about 20 minutes to kick in, but Morphine is slowly becoming my new BFF! An itchy BFF though… Prurit is a common side effect of Morphine.

Apparently, this Babymama is very entertaining when she is under the influence. Your dad had a blast videotaping me before he went home to get some rest. I’m sure I’ll regret the video once the Morphine wears off, but right now, it makes me really comfortable and relaxed! 🙂

W41D5: Our life, as we know it, could end very soon.

Hi Monkey!,

Technically, tomorrow, I should get an induction to get things moving to get you out. I don’t know that I,ll get much sleep from the anticipation of this procedure. I am completely determined to go in the hospital, get the induction and prevent them from sending me back home. The procedure at the hospital is usually to perform a pelvic exam to see where things are, insert the Cervidil, monitor your vital signs for about 30-40 minutes and usually send the pregnant woman back home until she enters real labor or until she is due for her next dose (usually 24hrs later). There is no way I am coming back home without a baby with us. I think your dad and I have put up with more than our share of things, being almost 42 weeks pregnant and are at the end of our rope mentally. This whole waiting game has really taken its toll on us, we are on edge and will not tolerate anymore delays to your arrival. If we need to go through a C/S (c-section) in order to meet you, so be it. I never had a definite birthing plan to begin with, but this is getting ridiculous. 42 weeks is where I draw the line.

Your dad has been a tremendous support throughout all this waiting, but I can tell he’s feeling anxious too. It is driving us insane just having to sit around and wait for your arrival. Your dad looked like a lion in a cage today all day and I know he’s at the end of his rope too. Let’s just hope the hospital calls early tomorrow morning and puts an end to all this waiting. If not, I won’t be held responsible to mine or your dad’s behaviour! 🙂

See you tomorrow (hopefully!)

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo

W41D3: Signing off for now…

Sweet Monkey,

Waiting game

(Source)

Today, you are 10 days overdue. There is still no change to what was said yesterday. I will not update the blog until something changes as it is slowly starting to do my nerves in. Your dad and I love you, we are ready for you and are patiently awaiting your arrival.

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo

W41D2: So… What now?

Hello Monkey!,

 

We had our 2nd NST and amniotic fluid assessment today. It was long. The ultrasound showed that the amniotic fluid was still within normal range at 8.5cm, but a bit lower than it was on Monday. Then, we were off to the NST part of the test. We were there for about 1hr (40 mins longer than last time). You weren’t showing the heart rate variations they were looking for. I had to drink cold water, eat cheese, lie down on  one side, then the other when you finally decided to oblige!  They will send the results to the doctor and I have another NST scheduled for Monday in the event that I won’t deliver over the weekend or that I will be bumped off the induction waiting list for Monday. I tried to call the doctor’s office to make sure I was on the list, but the office was closed, so I just left a message hoping they will get back to me tomorrow.

 

So… The waiting game continues. On the ultrasound we had today, it showed that your head still wasn’t engaged. You are one stubborn little one. I am getting worried though. I haven’t really voiced these fears other than with your dad and your grandparents, but I have a weird feeling that I’ll have to get a C/S (C-section) in order to finally meet you. You are taking too much time and I have a hunch I’ll be a “failure to progress” even if I do get induced. I just want to make sure you’re going to be fine and that nothing happens to you. You see, with the job I have, I’ve worried up until I reached 35 weeks of gestation. Now that I am almost 10 days post-dates, I worry about what could be wrong with you if we delay the induction much longer. I try not to focus on the negative things, but it’s getting harder as the days go by. Hopefully, I’ll get some clarifications tomorrow and everything will be smooth sailing from now on.
As for your dad and I, we are totally ready for your arrival. Your dad has cleared his work schedule for next week and I even found a Christmas stocking for you to hang on the chimney. The only thing missing is you, then I’ll be able to put your name on your stocking. Your Oma will come spend a week with us next Wednesday, so you might as well be here by then!

 

Hang in there little one and keep being a healthy baby for just a little bit longer.

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo

W41D1: 1/2 elephant, 1/2 Babymama!

Hello Monkey!

I was awake early again this morning and was reading up on elephant on the web. It turns out, my pregnancy with you is perfectly on par and the fact that you are technically 1 week overdue can be reasoned with the following fact: I am growing an elephant! Literally!

“The elephant has the longest gestation period of any mammal; they are pregnant for approximately 22 months, that’s 669 days… It’s difficult for us humans to imagine being pregnant for almost two years!” (Source) Ahem! Not so difficult to imagine in this case! According to my lovely What to Expect App on my iPhone, I have been pregnant for 288 days! If you do the math, I have reached almost half of the elephant’s gestation time. Does that make me 1/2 elephant? Should I start thinking of you as a calf instead of a monkey?

Will you look like this?

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Or like this?

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It really doesn’t make any difference to me as both cases are simply adorable and your dad and I love you plenty and will be happy no matter what you look like. Even if you’re a bit of a FLK (Funny-Looking Kid in the medical field) ;)!

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo