It's Go Time... Maybe

With each Dr. appointment I have been getting more and more anxious. She is measuring 7 lbs already and we are still 2 weeks out from the real due/induction date. That means that she could be one big baby by the time it rolls around. Because of this, Dr. Petrovski upped my due date by a week. Holy crap. That is 7 less days that I have to prepare/obsess over the arrival of our daughter. 7 less days to clean, 7 less days to train an intern to take over at work. 7 less days of pants not fitting, 7 less days of heartburn and 7 less days of other pregnancy unpleasantness.

New Due Date: 7/30 -- Our anniversary.

I worked my last day from home on Monday before "checking in" at the hospital that night. Zach and I packed up the car and took off for the biggest adventure of our lives. After our pit stop to McDonalds, we walked into the Labor and Delivery wing and would not walk out the same.

If you don't want TMI, proceed to the next post. If you want the truth of the process, read on.

That evening I was getting "prepped" (given Cervidil) for induction. This was not super fun. Basically they shove a chemical tampon behind my cervix. Behind it. How is that even possible?!?! I don't know who was more traumatized by this, Zach or myself. It hurt. A lot. So then you have to sit still forever and hope that it doesn't come out in your sleep. Sleeping in a hospital was new to me, luckily the Ambien helped and I was able to get some sleep. I knew the next day would be an exhausting one. My AMAZING, yes amazing, nurse Biji headed home and I was happy that she would be back the next day.

5am came really fast and apparently I told the morning nurse that she was mean the way she just walked in and flipped all the lights on. I have a feeling that was the Ambien talking. :)
The cervidil was removed and I was still around 1cm dialated. Ouch. I think that this hurts more than most of this labor business.

7am - Bring on the pitocin.

8am- parents arrive for the big day. I was apparently starting to have some contractions, but could not feel too many of them. Very mild.

9am - still progressing on contractions, and Biji continues to up the dosage to move me more along. Still only 1 cm dialated.

10am - still not feeling much. Biji thinks it is funny that I am still smiling... she gives me more pitocin to wipe that smile off my face.

11am - Joe sneaks me a popcicle. Ice chips aren't doing anything to lessen my hunger.

12pm - everyone gets lunch. I eat ice chips. Still not really dilating. Very minor contractions. Biji has be maxed out on pitocin. She doesn't think it is working on me.

1pm - more of the same. Dr. calls to check. Not time for baby yet.

2pm - Starving. Daytime TV sucks. Trying to sleep. Come on baby.

3pm - more of the same.

4pm - doesn't look like the induction has taken. Now we are talking about options... Re-do cervidil and try again tomorrow... or go home. I am not leaving.

5pm - Pitocin has stopped for the day. Now I can eat.

6pm - Zach and I share our anniversary in a hospital room. So romantic. The hospital did send up some awesome desserts to help us celebrate. That was pretty awesome. We walked some laps and then went back to the room.

7pm - Cervidil back on board. Double ouch this time. Apparently there is much more sensitivity the second day in a row.

8pm - 3am - Trying to sleep. Isn't working.

On to labor day 2...

Showers!

I was blessed to have 2 showers for sweet Miss Dylan. One of my best friends, Anna, threw a great friends/couples shower. Everyone got to decorate their own onezie for the baby... and this was quite amusing.  Anna had quite the spread of food, which was expected. She is qite gifted in the kitchen. Everyone was very appreciative as were we. One super cool thing that we didn't expect was that each person brought their favorite childhood book. Some even sent her a note on the inside. It was a very special thing to do. Once we were finished with the shower, we headed over to Peter's place where we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool.

Later in July, my sister-in-law and cousin threw me an amazing shower. It was beyond beautiful and I am so thankful! Here are some pics from the day:

 I am so grateful for everyone that came out and helped to welcome Dylan into the world. We are very lucky indeed.

Quite the Weekend

Zach is no longer allowed to travel. Period. It seems that only when he travels does something catastrophic happen with the dogs. This OVERNIGHT trip was no exception. Thursday night, my dog Jackson suffered 5-6 seizures. It was a long night at the ER vet and the next day waiting for the call that I didn't want to get as he was "under observation" at my regular vet. Since all of his blood work came back as normal, it is most likely a brain tumor. Since he is nearly 12 years old, we elected to not have all the scans done to confirm since we would not be operating or putting him through any strenuous surgeries at his age.

He is now on anti-seizure medication now for life. A small price to pay to keep our sweet boy comfortable for the rest of his long life. See, we have an agreement. It will be a long life. :)