Birth Story: The Hospital Stay

Alexis roomed in with us the entire stay at the hospital.  We didn't want this little one out of our sight :)

Monday Night: Eric and I were just on cloud nine the entire evening.  We had the olympics on because I wanted to watch the men's gymnastics team finals.  haha I didn't pay attention to the tv one bit.  All I cared about was our little family.  Eric's parents met their granddaughter.  They were in awe.
 
We did not get much sleep this night as she was just cluster feeding, and I think both Eric and I were too excited.  Every time she made a peep we were both wide awake.  The nurses also come in every 4 hours to take vitals during the first 24 hrs following delivery.  It seemed right about the time all 3 of us would fall asleep the nurse was coming in.  I didn't mind it all that much.

Tuesday: Today wasn't too eventful.  We were just loving on our little one as much as possible.

Amber & Annie both came up to the hospital to visit in the afternoon.  It was fun to introduce them to our baby girl, Alexis.

A lactation consultant came in to assist with breast feeding and gave me some really great tips.  After this I felt like she was really getting the hang of things.  She went to the nursery to get weighed, and we decided to go with.  We had our first little family outing.

 

She weighed 6lbs 5oz.  Because feeding was going so much better, sleep that night was a lot better as well.  She then had to go back to the nursery at 2:00am for her hearing test, blood tests, and oxygen test.  She was gone for about an hour.  It was so hard falling asleep without her being in the room.  I worried about her the entire time.  She passed all of her tests!

Wednesday:  Going home today!  Yay.  This will be it's own post.

 

Index

Birth Story: Recovery

5:30 pm: Alexis Jean Adcock had her first bath.  Eric was able to be right there with her and help assist with the first bath.  She got placed back in the warmer to get her body temperature back up after the bath.

 

6:30 pm: We got moved to our room, 3508.


Index

Birth Story: At the Hospital

8:30 am: We got to the hospital and went to triage.  I was contracting every 3 minutes.  I was at 3 cm 100% effaced, -2 station.  The doctor decided it was time to admit me.

9:30 am: We got moved to our room labor and delivery room, 3604.  I was contracting every 2-3 minutes at this point.  I did not like laying down during the contractions, so I just stood up and walked around the room.

10:30 am: They hooked up my first bag of antibiotics for being GBS+.  My doctor came in to check me.  I was so glad my doctor was going to be the one to deliver this little one.  Eric and I both really liked her and trusted her with our care.  5 cm YAY!!!

11:00 am: I decided it was time to get an epidural.  Man that thing was awesome.  I was actually able to move my legs pretty good after getting the epidural, but I could not feel a single contraction.  It really helped me to relax and just enjoy this entire process.  Eric says after this point the day got boring as he didn't have anything to do haha.  We had the Olympics on and I tried to close my eyes to take a nap.  I was just too excited to sleep.

Feeling pretty good now.

1:00 pm: I was now 6 cm, and my bag was nice and tight "ready to pop" according to my nurse

1:45 pm: My doctor came in to check me.  I was at 7cm, and baby was at +1 station.  She broke my water.   There was meconium present which just means the baby had her first bowel movement while still in my tummy.  It doesn't mean the baby is under stress or anything is wrong.  They do however take precautions and the NICU team had to be present during the delivery and Eric would not be able to cut the umbilical cord.  They don't want baby to cry and aspirate the fluid which would cause the meconium to go into the baby's lungs.  This can cause a lot of complications including pneumonia.  We were ok with this and didn't stress over the fact that the baby had already had a bowel movement.

Our last family photo of just the two of us.

2:30 pm: I started feeling lots of pressure but not pain.

2:45 pm:  9.5 cm and baby was at +2 station.

3:25 pm: The pressure was just getting so bad.  At this point I was complete and ready to push but we had to wait for the doctor.

3:45 pm: My doctor got there and said ok lets see how well you push.

4:04 pm: Baby Adcock is here!  I heard someone say, she.  I asked so is it a girl?  The doctor was like oh yes it's a girl.  With the umbilical cord and meconium they were just wanting to make sure baby was ok.  Eric and I just looked at each other with these huge grins and tears in our eyes.  Our daughter was now here.

 

Because of everything that happened, I did not get to do skin to skin right away.  They took her right over to the warmer and suctioned her out nice and good, so she wouldn't have any meconium go into her lungs.  Her APGAR scores were a 7 and 8 which is good.  They had to hold a little oxygen mask by her face for 3 1/2 minutes, but other than that she was doing great!

Daddy finally getting to touch our baby girl.

4:30 pm: Baby was now skin to skin and got to nurse for the first time.

 

Now a family of 3.

 Index

Birth Story: Today's the Day!

2:00 am: I woke up to a contraction that was uncomfortable but not painful.  I thought lets time this.  Well I went 30 minutes until I had another one.  I thought nope not labor and started to think well so all of those contractions yesterday were for nothing.  I was somewhat bummed, but thought ok lets go to sleep no big deal.  I've been having this false labor for a few weeks now.  What difference is today from last week.

3:30 am: Woke up to a contraction.  Again uncomfortable but no pain.

6:00 am: I was woken up by a strong contraction.  I got up from the couch which was a task in itself.  Man that was painful.  I decided to take a warm bath and see what happens.  Contracting every 5 minutes even while in the tub.  Still not convinced this was the real deal.

We decided to get ready for the day like we were going to work and see how I was doing at 7:30 when Eric would normally leave.  While getting ready the contractions were getting stronger and were now about 4 & 1/2 minutes apart.

8:00 am: I called the doctor's office and left a message for the on call nurse midwife.  While waiting for her to call us back we decided it's time to go to the hospital.  Contractions were 4 minutes apart.  Eric pulled the car up and loaded our things.  The nurse midwife called back and told me to head to the hospital.  This is when I finally accepted the fact that I was in labor and we would be holding our little one at some point today.


Index

Birth Story: Leading up to Labor

Because I've been having contractions 5 minutes apart for 5 hours at a time that never progress for 4 weeks, I'm not exactly sure when true labor began for me.  I will start with Friday July 27th.

Friday July 27th:  Around 6 pm I started having my "normal" contractions every 5-8 minutes.

Saturday July 28th: Still having my "normal" contractions every 5 mins but no progress as far as intensity.

Sunday July 29th: Yet again I was still having contractions all morning.
4:26 pm:  I had my first contraction that was difficult to walk through and uncomfortable.  I didn't get my hopes up with everything that had happened this far.  These were about 20 minutes apart but still not getting my hopes up.

10:20 pm: We walked Yeah-Yeah around the parking lot.  I had a few contractions that I had to walk a little slower during but I still wasn't convinced this was the real deal.  They were about 8 minutes apart but not really getting stronger.

11:00 pm: Contractions were about 6 minutes apart but it seemed that the intensity had died down.  I thought lets go to bed and see what happens.

I went to bed but I just could not get comfortable, so I decided to go out on the couch.  I had slept on the couch a few different times through out the pregnancy.  For some reason, I could get more comfortable on the couch.  I think it was because I could lie on my back yet lean against the back cushions of the couch.  I'm not going to lie my mind was somewhat racing wondering if this was it or not.


Index

Birth Story

I want to remember the birth of our daughter for years to come, so I have chosen to document the story.

Alexis Jean Adcock

July 30, 2012 4:04 pm

6 lbs 15 oz, 19 inches

Part I:  Leading up to Labor

Part II:  Today's the Day!

Part III:  At the Hospital

Part IV:  Recovery

Part V:  Hospital Stay

Keeping Busy to Pass the Time

So this entire pregnancy has flown by.  I can't believe I am already in the home stretch.  However these last 2-3 weeks have been dragging.  I'm ready to meet our little one already.  So to help, I've been busy.

Annie, one of my great friends here in Kansas City, made these super cute onesies for the baby shower.  She had them hanging up for decoration.  She just used iron on material with fabric.  She wasn't sure how they would hold up after getting washed, so I decided to hand stitch around them to add a little reinforcement.

Are these not the cutest?

Well she inspired me to make my own little onesie.  Eric drew out this cute little monkey to copy the monkey from the bedding.  I then cut it out, ironed it on and then I hand stitched around it.  This picture is from before the hand stitching.  What do you think?  I can't wait for our little monkey to wear this.

So usually on the weekends we are just super eager to do something for the baby.  This weekend I decided to make some freezer meals ready to throw in the crockpot once the baby gets here.  I found this from pinterest.  I have 2 meals of each: Teriyaki Chicken, Savory Chicken to go over pasta, Lazy Day Stew, and then 1 meal of Italian Sausage and Peppers.  It took me less than 2 hours to chop all of the veggies, put everything together and seal them up using our sealer.  All of the ingredients cost about $60 so that comes to less than $10 a meal.

Just trying to do anything and everything to pass the time until this little one arrives.  Do you have any suggestions of things I can do to pass the time?

Emotionally Drained

WARNING: Honest post below.

So I knew pregnancy was going to be an emotional journey, but I did not expect the last few weeks to be like this.  As you have read with my earlier posts I have been having lots of braxton hicks or false labor whatever you want to call it.  I don't quite consider them BH since the timing of them fit more along early labor and they don't change with my activity level, they're just not causing any progress.

All of it is such a tease.  I've been contracting now for over a week.  I've learned how to ignore the tight belly.  It's when they get a little stronger with some discomfort that gets to me.  I think ok maybe this is the start of the real deal.  Lastnight I had a few good ones.  I thought ok so maybe this is it but I really didn't want to get my hopes up.  I decided to take a nice bath and try to go to sleep, and I was expecting to have to wake Eric up in the middle of the night with ok babe it's real.   My mind was racing all night long.  Nope nothing. :(

Obviously the pending labor is on my mind all the time.  It seems Eric and I think about it constantly.  It's hard enough to know I'm contracting but nope they don't turn in to anything impressive. It is just emotionally draining and I try not to think about the contractions.  UGH!

Such a Tease

So I actually slept great last night and felt well rested this morning despite getting home from the hospital after midnight.  I had noticed my belly would get hard some through out the morning.  Last night while on the monitors, Eric would see a contraction start and ask if my belly was getting tight.  Then when I would feel my belly oh ya I guess it is.  I couldn't tell I was contracting unless I touched my belly.  It was still that way all morning.

My doctor's nurse had called me this morning around 11 to give me my results from my GBS swab.  I filled her in on what all happened last night with our trip to L&D.  She asked if I was still having contractions this morning and I told her ya some what but I hadn't really been paying attention since I was only noticing them if my hands were on my belly.  She told me to pay attention to the frequency and time them.  She said if they are consistent and regular about every 5 minutes to call back and I can get squeezed in to check and make sure I'm not progressing.  So I decided to use my little app on my phone to time them.  From 11-2, I was contracting every 5-8 minutes.  They weren't painful and were still just ok ya my belly is tight.  I put a call in to her and she called me back wanting me to come in to get checked to make sure I wasn't progressing.

So Eric came home from work so we could go to the doctor.  We decided to go ahead and take our hospital bag with us just in case, but we really weren't thinking this was it.  I still wasn't hurting.  I could now tell when a contraction was starting and I was getting some pressure down below but no pain.

We got to the doctor's office and hooked up to the monitors to check the baby's heart rate as well as my contractions.  I was on the monitors for 20 minutes and I had 7 contractions, so they were almost as frequent as every 3 minutes.  She was somewhat shocked that I was contracting that frequently.  She checked me though and no progress.  I'm still hanging out at 1cm.

She sent me home and told me to take it easy this weekend.  I have my baby shower tomorrow, which she said was ok for me to go to.  Other than that she wanted me resting on the couch, staying out of the heat, and drinking tons of water.  (I have a 20 oz water bottle and I drink 3 of those during the day at work alone.  Then there is no telling how much I drink when I get home, so I'm not dehydrated.)  I have my normal 36 week exam on Monday, so she will check and see if I'm progressing at all then.

Today was such a tease but that's ok because I'm not considered full term for another 11 days.  Keep cooking baby.

Trip to L&D

So last night was a stressful night in the Adcock home.  All day yesterday I was having some dull menstrual like cramps.  I just attributed it to getting checked for the first time the day before.  Then on my way home that afternoon, I thought you know baby hasn't been that active today.  I decided lets just take it easy that evening.  I laid on my left side and drank some orange juice to get baby moving.  I finally got some movement but nothing like the usual.

Then after dinner, I went to do my kick counts.  This is the time that baby is usually the most active and I always do my kick counts at this time.  It's somewhat of a joke for us to see how fast the baby will get his/her 10 kicks.  On average, I get 10 kicks in less than 5 minutes.  However most of the time it's in a minute and a half.  I just really wasn't feeling the baby move, so I took a bath.  Sometimes the baby will be really active once I get in the water.  Then I had some of my left over slush from sonic (full of sugar) to get the baby moving.  I also drank a cup of orange juice.  After all of that in an hour I only had 4 kicks.  This was totally not the normal for Baby Adcock.

I was getting somewhat worried, and Eric could tell.  He told me well just call the on call nurse.  I called the answering service and the nurse midwife called me back.  She was actually somewhat rude and snotty.  Immediately she said well if you want you can go to the L&D and get hooked to the monitors to check.  I then asked well could getting checked yesterday have caused the baby to slow down a bit because I figured that was what was causing my menstrual like cramps.  She said well if you want to ease your mind you can just go in.  I can go ahead and call them to let them know you're coming.  She made me feel so stupid and was rude about it.  I am definitely glad she is not my doctor's nurse.

Well we get to the hospital and the nurse there was super nice!  Her name was Katie.  She hooked me up to the monitors right away so I could hear the baby's heart beat and that immediately helped ease my mind.  I still hadn't felt movement so I was still concerned.  She had me give a urine sample to make sure I didn't have a UTI causing the cramping I had during the day.  When she came back a few minutes later she asked if I knew I was contracting.  I looked at her like do what???  I was contracting every 2-8 minutes.  I was not feeling a thing.  They kept me on the monitor for an hour and she spoke to the on call doctor for my group.  The doc decided not to have the nurse check me since I had just gotten checked yesterday, I wasn't feeling the contractions, and he didn't want to stir things up.  Since the heart beat was great and I felt some movement during the NST I got to go home.  YAY!!!!  Baby Adcock was just wanting us to do a test run to L&D.

Ready for Baby!

On Thursday I had a panic freak out mode with tears.  I realized, we only have around 6 1/2 weeks until Baby Adcock is due to arrive.  Yikes!!!!  I was born 6 weeks early, so I realized baby could come any moment now.  The doctor said once I hit 34 weeks, they will not try and stop my labor.  I then thought wow med school sections were only 6 weeks long and that's how long Eric and I would go without seeing each other.  Putting it into perspective like that somewhat freaked me out.

Then the tears started flowing.  Initially they were tears of joy.  To think that we would meet our little one so soon and they changed to panic tears.  I thought OMG we do not have anything ready for a baby, so I made myself a to do list of everything I wanted to get done this weekend.

1. Get the crib and changing table organized and ready to go.  The mattress should arrive this week.  I washed the sheets and they are ready to go.  We also bought a box of newborn diapers to have ready.  I received a pack of wipes in the middle of the diaper cake from my shower.  We haven't really been buying diapers in case this little one doesn't like a specific type of diaper.

2. Put the car seat and stroller together.  We purchased the car seat and stroller back in November at a Black Friday Sale.  The box has been sitting in our bedroom ever since.  Eric put this together and enjoyed showing me all of the details and how to fold it up etc. 

3. Clean out our cars and install the car seat.  I was expecting this to be a pain but with the newer vehicles having the latch system it wasn't difficult at all.  That black seatbelt looking strap was on the car seat base and it just clips onto these silver hooks that I have near the seatbelt buckles.  Then the car seat clicks into the base.

                                          

4. Purchase a swing.  I couldn't decide what type of swing I wanted.  Eric really liked these Mamaroos, so we did a little research.  Instead of just the front to back or side to side motion like typical swings this gadget is suppose to mimic the motion the baby feels in my belly while I'm up moving around.  There are a few different types of motion you can select.  There is a side to side swaying and then there is a U shaped so it goes up on the sides and then there is more of a bouncy up and down while it sways side to side.  It seems really sophisticated and from the reviews and friends we've talked to the baby loves it.  Hopefully Baby Adcock will love their Mamaroo as well. 

I also cleaned out the fridge while Eric was putting the car seat and stroller together.  We started to pack our hospital bag but didn't get too far with that. 

Still left to do on our list.

1. Finish our Hospital Bag

2. Clean out the freezer

3. Organize bathroom drawers/cabinets to make a special spot for baby's stuff

4. Use a groupon to get our cars detailed and washed

5. Hire someone to do a deep clean on the house  (I read on some blogs/message boards that a lot of moms wish they would have done this before the arrival of the baby, so they are coming to a super clean house)

6. Use our groupon to have the carpets cleaned

7. Schedule my pre-natal massage that Eric bought me for my birthday

What else should I do to prepare for Baby Adcock's arrival?

Belly Pics

One of my friends took these pictures for me as a gift for the baby.  We had so much fun taking these although I have chigger bites everywhere!!!  Thank you so much Devin for capturing this special moment for us.  (You can search for SeeKING Photos on facebook)

Do you know what you're having?

Nope...I get this question all of the time.  My response is always, "Nope, we want it to be a surprise!"  Then I get to hear it all.  What you're crazy....How can yo not find out...So how are you decorating...You can't dress them in all yellow and greens...

It kind of gets annoying to hear everyone's opinion as to why I need to find out the gender.  This is our baby, and no we don't want to find out the gender.  We want to be surprised!  You always know Christmas is coming and that you will get gifts but you typically do not know what you are getting. The two deliveries I assisted on that the parents did not know the gender were so fun for everyone in the delivery room.

We decided there are not too many surprises left in life, so why not let this little miracle be a surprise.  Also I didn't want to hear the oh you're having a boy, they're so much fun (what about girls, they're just boring?)  Oh you're having a girl, little girls are such a blessing (and boys aren't?).  We just want a healthy baby and could care less if it's a boy or a girl.  Either or will be a blessing from God. 

Eric was the one that mentioned not finding out the gender and the more I thought about it I decided ya that will be fun.  I am a major planner as in I had already figured out when the best time would be to have a baby prior to talking to Eric about trying etc. haha  Everyone has been so shocked that I did not find out because I do have to have everything planned out and organized.  It really has not been that hard to plan things.  I actually think not knowing the gender has been a blessing in disguise.  I have not bought every cute little outfit I see since we don't know the gender.  It has saved us a ton of money! haha

1. Nursery:  When we began looking at bedding, I was never drawn to the all pink/blue decor.  That just wasn't me.  I loved the earth tones and neutrals as well as animals.  This is what we decided on for the nursery decor.

2. Stroller: Again I was drawn to the brown and sage green.  This was back when I was still in my first trimester, so we hadn't 100% totally agreed on not find out yet.

 

3. Clothes:  We have not purchased too many clothes.  We have about 15 gender neutral onesies to get us through that first week in newborn size as well as sleepers.  I will purchase a going home outfit in both genders to have ready to go.  Once the baby is here, then Eric can wash which ever one is appropriate.  We can then always take the other one back.

4. Names:  We have a boy and a girl name picked out.  Carter Douglas or Alexis Jean  Both of the middle names are our middle names that have been passed down.

5. Toys:  Majority of the toys that we registered for are animals and bright colors, so they don't really matter if it's a boy or a girl.


After reading this post, do you think you could go without finding out the gender?