Olivia's Arrival

I've been absent, again, for a few weeks.  This time, though, it was for a good reason.  I had my baby!  Her arrival was early (5 weeks) and quite a surprise.  Now that everyone is happy and healthy and at home it's time for me to tell the tale of her arrival. It's a long one, so grab a cup of coffee before you start reading :)

Miss Olivia Barbara :)

The Thursday of my second week of bed rest I went to the doctors for my twice weekly checkup and Non Stress Test and got a nearly clean bill of health.  The midwife thought that my blood pressure had gone down a good amount, my swelling was much better, and there was no longer protein in my urine.  She even talked about maybe sending me back to work (which honestly made me incredibly nervous).  Everything seemed good, so that night I actually let myself get up off the couch to help Hubs prepare dinner. It seemed like maybe I was going to be able to make it to June before I had the baby after all.

Friday morning I woke up and was absolutely STARVING.  I woke Hubs up and asked him if he would make me something  (he was absolutely INCREDIBLE while I was on bed rest and waited on me completely.  I am a such lucky girl).  He made me some cereal (I <3 cereal) .  I scarfed it down and then went back to sleep.  When I woke up again I had a weird pain on the right side of my upper abdomen, but I figured it was just heartburn.  I kinda took it easy all morning, but the "heartburn" got worse.  The more it started to hurt, the less I began to believe that it was actually heartburn.  Up till this point, I hadn't mentioned anything to Hubs.  When I did, he wanted me to call the doctor just to make sure.  So, I did call the doctor, and they wanted me to come in right away.  I was scared.  I had Googled upper abdomen pain, and it wasn't sounding good for someone who already had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.   As I was getting dressed to go to the doctors I noticed that my stomach was feeling kinda weird and was really really hard, but since I was basically having a panic attack I didn't think much of it. There was way too much on my mind at that point anyways.

At the doctors I was poked and prodded and then told to go to the hospital for more tests.  Since it was Friday afternoon, the labs at the office were taking a while to come back, so my OB wanted me to go to the hospital to have them run again.  I absolutely didn't want to go to the hospital.  Bed rest at home was bad enough, I did NOT want to have to go on bed rest at the hospital.  Nowhere in my mind did I think that I was going to the hospital to deliver a baby.  At this point the pain in my upper abdomen was making it hard to breathe, and my stomach was still feeling weird.  I was worried about the upper abdomen pain, but the stomachache I thought was just cause I was hungry.  I hadn't eaten since breakfast (thank God Hubs had made me eat an English muffin with scrambled eggs for second breakfast around ten).   

Hubs and I had agonized over where we should have the baby.  We had initially planned on having her at Brigham and Women's, and then switched to Newton Wellesley.  Unfortunately, now none of that mattered.  Since I was only 34 weeks 6 days we had to go to Brigham and Women's.  Newton Wellesley didn't deliver babies that early.    The hospital was absolutely huge, and I was still trying to convince myself that everything was okay.

We went to registration, and then upstairs to labor and delivery.  I was taken to triage where they did their workup and tried to decide what to do with me.  My blood pressure was high, liver enzymes elevated (which meant that the pain in my upper abdomen was probably a swollen liver), and I was having regular contractions (the stomachache). The doctor on call decided that my pre-eclampsia had gotten severe, and it was time to induce.  Only then did it hit me that I was actually going to have the baby.  

They got me settled in my room, started me on pitocin and magnesium sulfate (to keep me from having seizures).  The nurse had mentioned that some people get nauseous from the magnesium.  This may have been an understatement.  It made me throw up A LOT.  What I didn't know then, was that this was just my first bout of throwing up for the evening.  There would be much more.

About four hours passed before the doctor checked me again.  As far as my "labor" was going I had progressed nowhere.  I was still having regular contractions, but I couldn't even feel them.  My labs however were progressing for the worse.  Both my liver enzymes and blood pressure were going up, and my platelet count was slowly dropping.  The doctor suggested abandoning the induction and doing a c-section.  I really, really didn't want a c-section, but the fetal monitor was showing that the baby was still doing really well.  Both Hubs, the doctor and I, thought it was best to do the c-section while the baby was still doing well, instead of continuing the induction until both the baby and I were in distress. 

So much for my medication and intervention free birth! 



At fifty minutes past midnight, on May 7th, my baby girl, Olivia, was born.   I was exactly 35 weeks pregnant.  Since she was so early, there was a team of medical specialists waiting for her arrival to access her (pediatrician, neonatologist, respiratory therapist..etc.).   She didn't cry right away, which made for the most terrifying couple seconds.  Hubs left my side and went over to see her and make sure she was okay.  Our daughter clocked in at just a mere 4 lbs 5ozs and 16 inches.  Hubs snapped a bunch of pictures of her and brought them over to me to see (since I hadn't seen her yet).  Olivia had some fluid in her lungs and needed to go to the NICU, but before her team left with her, they pulled aside my curtain so that I could meet her.  All through my pregnancy I had imagined how happy I would be after delivery when they first placed the baby on my chest.  Though it didn't happen exactly as I had imagined, the happiness I felt the moment I first saw my daughter was indescribable.  I fell in love with her instantly.

I stayed in the hospital recovering for four days and Olivia stayed for nineteen.  Those nineteen days she spent in the NICU were the hardest, most emotional days of my life.  Leaving the hospital without her was excruciating.  It absolutely broke my heart.  I started crying the day before I left and didn't really stop until she got home.  I can't imagine how hard it must be for the parents of babies that need to stay for months and months before coming home. She came home the Thursday before last and has been sucking down bottles like a champ since then.  I'm so glad to have her home, that I could care less about the sleepless nights and countless diaper changes.

In summary, Olivia's arrival was a rough ride for all three of us (Me, Her and Hubs), but we're all healthy and happy and can't imagine life without one another.

Restin' Up

Last Wednesday I went to see my midwife for my regular "how's your pregnancy" going check-up.  To my surprise my "normal" pregnancy had taken a turn for the worse.  My blood pressure had risen quite high, and the swelling (that I had been complaining about for weeks) was an issue.  They whisked me off to the lab for blood work, called the OB that had been overseeing my care, and put me on a strict regimen of bed rest.

Turns out that all of the symptoms that had been making my pregnancy unbearable lately were all due to the fact that I have developed pre-eclampsia.  Now that I have pre-eclampsia, my normal pregnancy has become high risk very quickly.  It was so upsetting how fast everything changed.  When I went into my appointment, I was right on track for having the spontaneous birth, natural delivery that I had planned.  By the time I left, that wasn't looking so likely anymore.  But, it's okay, because at the end, I'll still have the same sweet baby.  So, I'm keeping my chin up :)

With all of my new found time, I've been catching up on reading and watching movies.  I finally got a chance to watch The Young Victoria.  My sister has been raving about that one for at least a year.  I watched it Thursday as part of my royal wedding preparation.  I loved it.  The costumes were beautiful, and I just can't help loving a good story about the British Royalty.

With Hubs help I loaded up my Nook and have been powering my way through the new books he added.  Right now I'm about 3/4 of the way through the first Hunger Games book.  My sister in law recommended that I read those.  I'm really enjoying it so far.

I'm thinking I'm going to try starting another knitting or crochet project too.  Of course, now that I'm simply lying on the couch full time for the next three weeks or so, I'll be better with updating the blog.  Promise ;)

Onesie Makeover

A couple weeks ago, before my hands started to bother me, I spent the weekend decorating a plain pack of onesies into something special for the baby.  Truth be told, I only got to 2/3 of the package before the weekend was over, so there's still one that needs to be spruced up. 

I started with a butterfly (of course, since I am CONVINCED that the baby loves butterflies).  I found a picture of a butterfly I liked online, copied it into Word and then printed it out when it was the size I wanted.  Once that was done I cut out all the pieces and then transferred them onto material. 
I was feeling particularly lazy that weekend and didn't feel like getting my sewing machine out, so I went the no sew route.  I went over the edges of the material with some fray check and then glued them on the onesie with liquid stitches.  Once that was all done I "embroidered" the edges with embroidery floss. 

On the second onsie I made an "Irish" design, since she will be a very Irish baby (hopefully with blazing red hair like her Daddy).

 I'm really happy with how they came out.  What do you think?

Baby Party Time

I've been really bad with updating again. I have swollen manly, old lady hands.

Now, I realize those two descriptions don't exactly go together (manly and old lady) so I'll explain. The swelling, regardless of how much I water I drink or immerse myself in, makes my hands puffy and big like man hands. The numbness, which really is caused by the swelling, makes my hands feel gnarly and arthritic, like an old lady. Hence, how I have manly old lady hands.

I'm on the computer at work all day, which is probably the worst thing ever for my hands. By the time I get home, I just can't imagine typing out my blog entries.  I had been doing them on my phone on the train, but lately I’ve been getting a weird feeling in my hands from that too.  Honestly, I am just a mess until this baby decides to come out and play.   Maybe I should get Dragon until she arrives? Anyone from Nuance out there that wants me to product test for them (I really don’t want to buy it for myself)??

Some days, most days now really, I feel like I could just sit in a room and complain until I am blue in the face, or crying.  I try really really hard not to do that, since really, these are all problems of my own making.  I wanted to be pregnant….desperately really.   Anyway, that digression over,  here I am, powering through the tingles and soreness to tell you about my Maine baby shower. Yay!

My sister through the shower for me a couple of Saturdays ago at her little house in Maine.  She rents the most adorable house I have ever seen (for about half the price of my Boston 2 bedroom I might add). I’m actually pretty jealous of the fact that she comes home to an actual house that is all her own.  I’m even more jealous of the fact that it costs half as much as my apartment does, and there’s no kid that lives above her that doesn’t know the difference between running and walking.  (This kid could be a whole blog article in itself, but I won’t, because my feelings are strong, and the internet isn’t very private.  Don’t want to get myself in trouble or anything.)  The shower had a very good turn out, and it was packed to the brim with people.

My niece and nephew were there early so that they could greet everyone and help setup.  They however, were told they were going to a “baby party” not a shower.  My nephew, Tommy, is terrified of the shower. When my sister asked if he was going to come to my baby shower he didn’t understand.  He thought he was going to have to get into the shower.  To keep him from being scared, they decided to tell the kids it was a “baby party”.  I think this is the most adorable story ever, well aside from how they have to tell him that they are “going to play in the rain” when he actually needs to take a shower.

The decorations were adorable and very girly (my favorite).  And Hubs and I got tons of stuff for Baby O.  I don’t think I’m going to have to buy her a stitch of clothing until her first birthday J It was really fun to see everyone, and to catch up. 

I don’t have very many pictures of myself at the shower, since I was preoccupied with being the guest of honor, but here are a few I took of the decorations and preparations before.

Tommy - my nephew - adorable

I <3 Cupcakes 

My Niece - Brooklyn - "helping"my sister.  She really loves helping.

Diaper Wreath my sister made - still can't bring myself to take it apart

Decorations on the food table - English Daisies - my absolute favorite

The Devils in the (Nursery) Details

For the last two nights Hubs and I have been working on the baby's room.  We had been working on it for awhile, but hadn't completely finished.  All the big cleaning had been done, but there were a few little details that still needed to be completed.  We figured this week was a good time to do it since my baby shower in Maine is tomorrow. 


While Hubs did all the handy and heavy lifting tasks (hanging bookshelves and moving crap to the basement), I worked on finishing the wall hanging banner thingy I had made to go over the baby's crib (which we still don't have...lol).  Awhile ago, way before my hand froze up, I crocheted a heart for each one of the letters in the baby's name.  Recently, I had added the letters of her name to each of the hearts, crocheted up a few butterflies (the baby's favorite, or so I have myself convinced), and sewed them all to a pretty pink ribbon.   When I tried to hang it, things didn't go so well.  The hearts were floppy and I sewed them to the ribbon way too close to the middle.  It looked like a bright pink mess...with butterflies.

I decided what the hearts needed was a nice starch and iron. So last night, that's exactly what I did.  I am in LOVE with spray starch.  Hubs had bought Niagara starch (is there another kind? I don't even know), and I absolutely LOVE the way it smells.  I don't know when I'll ever get a chance to use it again, but it smelled awesome.  Hubs agreed with me that it smelled great, but will probably use it again shortly, since he loves a nicely starched dress shirt.

Once the hearts were nicely starched and ironed I brought the ribbon out and started to assemble.  I had decided this time I was going to hot glue the hearts onto the ribbon.  I thought it would be sturdier..and wouldn't hurt my hand so much.  It seemed like a great idea, until I glued all the letters on backwards.  TWICE!

Hubs had to come and lay the hearts out for me so to make sure that I didn't glue O-L-I-V-I-A backwards (A-I-V-I-L-O) for the third time.  Finally, I got it right.  It really took some finagling with the ribbon, since there was no way that they were coming off on their own.  I had to cut each piece off of the ribbon and re-glue them to a new piece.  Actually, in the back the hearts are glued to white ribbon, cause I ran out of pink.

It's a little fuzzy...but can you see what I did??

Once we got it on the wall I thought it looked adorable, and wasn't so worried about how silly and messed up the back looks.  Hopefully the baby won't want to know why it isn't all hanging on the pretty pink ribbon. What do you think?

With the shelf that Hubs hung. How cute is it that Minnie and Mickey's tails are hanging down?? I died.

Baby Olivia :)

Inspiration: Baby Sewing

Looks like my crochet days are over. I had hoped to be able to finish the booties I had started before she came, but I just don't think that's going to happen anymore. The swelling and numbness in my right hand is just too much to aggregate more with something I don't technically have to do. I mean it's aggravated enough by my job, which sadly I have to do.

I've decided to switch my crafty nesting focus back over to sewing. I figure that should be pretty low impact on my ever swelling body.

For days I've been scouring the internet for adorable baby pieces that I want to attempt to copy. Here's a few of my favorites:

Sara Sara

Etsy - Pregnancy Journals

Hug Me First

Baby Gap

Pure Baby

MoonCakes

AE Kids 77

Shoot...I don't remember about this one either...maybe Old Navy?

Shoot....I don't remember where I got this one....sorry...

Hug Me First

Is there anything absolutely adorable that I should make for the baby that I'm forgetting??

Swollen

Saturday marked my 31st week of pregnancy. Woo hooo! I have less than nine weeks left now (thank goodness). I feel huge.



The Friday before last marked the last time I my right hand felt normal. Since my third trimester started I have been experiencing some swelling in my hands. I didn't think it was that bad, but apparently I wad wrong. That Saturday morning I woke up and my hand felt weird. It was numb and kinda tingly. I assumed I had slept on it funny and it would go away.

I was wrong. It didn't go away. Turns out I probably have carpal tunnel in my right hand now. Google tells me this is very common in pregnancy. Great.

So, here I am complaining, cause if u can't complain to the whole Internet who can u? I'm swollen, getting huge and have a constantly tingly hand. Waah!

Let's hope these last 9 weeks fly.