Category: Pregnancy

Elliott’s Birth Story (Sunnyside Up)

Kyllan Leave a comment

It always seems to happen on a Saturday night…..

Many of you may have heard that I was scheduled to be induced on Sunday night, May 19th so I could deliver on Monday, May 20th.  I had just completed a busy week at work feverishly trying to tie up loose ends and hand off projects so I could enjoy my time off.  At home, William and I created a list of last minute things to do prior to Elliott’s arrival.  The list included some household chores as well as baby preparations like installing the car seat bases, pre-washing the clothes, and most importantly, packing our hospital bags.  Yes, these are all tasks that we completed a month in advance before Laurel’s birth.  🙂

We spent Saturday morning running our last minute errands and the afternoon I had a little bit of “Kyllan” time while William and Laurel attended a biology department reception for the seniors who were graduating the next day from the University of Dallas where William teaches.   They had only been home for a short time and I was just pulling a load of Elliott’s clothes out of the dryer when I had one of those “what just happened ” moments.  My shorts were suddenly wet and I was trying to figure out if I had just lost control of my bladder or if my water broke.  I didn’t experience a “gush” like they always show on tv or in the movies, so I had no idea what to think.  William was just about to head out to get my car washed and fill the gas tank so his mom who was scheduled to arrive the next day could use the car while she was here.  I told him that I thought my water broke, but I wasn’t certain.  I told him to go ahead to get the car washed, but while he was gone, it became very apparent that my water had indeed broke.  I sent William a text message to let him know what was going on and called my OB.  I then called my mom and sister since we needed someone to stay with Laurel while William and I went to the hospital.  Let me just interject here that walking around the house while your water is breaking and trying to keep up with a toddler is not fun.  Laurel decided to “wash her hands” with her Pedialyte (she was running a fever the night before).  She decided the sofa made a nice place to wash her hands 🙂

But I digress…

Once my mom arrived at the house and was able to keep Laurel occupied, William and I began packing our hospital bags, which we had planned to do later that evening in preparation for checking in to the hospital the next day for induction.  Between making sure we had everything situated with Laurel, everything we needed for the hospital, and trying to tidy up the house a bit, it took us about 2 hours before we actually left for the hospital.

We arrived to the hospital around 7:30pm.  I still had not started having contractions yet and I was only 2cm dilated (the same as I had been at my OB appointment previously that week).  My OB decided we would wait until 10pm to start the Pitocin, so I was able to get a quick meal in before the labor process started.  Of all things, I had William go to Wendy’s to get a chicken sandwich and fries 🙂

At 10pm, we started the Pitocin.  I started having contractions pretty quickly, but they were not strong nor painful at first.  Every 30 minutes, the dose was increased and for several hours, but they still were not strong.  A few hours later, maybe around 3am, the contractions finally got to the point where I was starting to feel uncomfortable and had to use my breathing techniques and go to my happy place to make it through the contractions.  I requested the epidural and once that was in place, I was at 5 1/2cm and much more comfortable.  It seemed like I quickly progressed to 10cm and we were ready to meet our son.  My OB headed in to the hospital and a short time later, we began pushing.

I was pretty amazed how comfortable I was during the labor and delivery phase.  The only time I was really in any pain was for about 2 hours when the contractions picked up and the epidural kicked in.  This was much different than with Laurel when my epidural never really worked how I imagined it would and I was not in a lot of pain, but I certainly was not comfortable.  The pushing process took a bit longer than I had hoped, but again, no pain.  In fact, we ended up stopping the epidural so I could feel the contractions a bit better to help push out the baby.  After about an hour of pushing, Elliott came out at 6:28am… sunny side up…. with his eyes wide open.  🙂  Generally babies are born with their face down, but Elliott had apparently rotated in the birth canal and was born face up, which apparently is not easy and can put baby and mom at risk, but fortunately everything worked out great and he came out without much fuss.  We spent the first hour or so getting some good quality skin to skin time and time to nurse before the nurses came in to weigh, measure, bathe, and do all the routine exams and checks.

Laurel came later that day to meet her new baby brother.  I think she was still a bit confused, but certainly intrigued.  Fortunately, she has adjusted well to the new addition to the family.  William’s mom has been here at the house, so that has certainly helped ensure she is getting lots of attention, so I think that has worked in our favor and helped tremendously with the transition.  The true test will come next week when it’s just the 4 of us here at the house, but I am very hopeful that she will continue to adjust well.  The burden will be on us to make sure we are still giving her ample “Laurel” time.  She loves reading and going outside, so as long as we continue to make that a priority, I think we will be ok.  She generally asks about Elliott when she comes home, but most times he is sleeping, so she goes to the bassinet to check on him, pats him and goes back to her usual routine.

So now we are a family of 4 with a son and a daughter and I certainly feel our family is complete and I have an abundance of joy when I look at Laurel and Elliott.  I experienced a few health issues this pregnancy and it certainly seemed like it took a greater toll on my body than it did with Laurel, so after being blessed with a healthy girl and a healthy boy, we have decided our family is complete.

Now the fun begins… 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a Boy!!

Kyllan 1 Comment

Yes… I was supposed to post the day after my last post, but the move and the pregnancy have worn me out.

As you can see from the title of this post, IT’S A BOY!!!

William and I were shocked to find out it was a boy.  I think we were both expecting we would have another girl, but it’s great that we’ll have one of each!  William wasn’t able to go to the ultrasound appointment I had for the gender scan, so the physician printed the images with “boy” written on it and sealed it in an envelope for us to open later once we were together.  I have to admit it was hard to go all day without opening the envelope.  We decided to go to dinner at one of local favorite restaurants and when the dessert was delivered, we opened the envelope and saw “BOY” and I think both our mouths dropped open in surprise.  Laurel decided to closely examine the ultrasound photos herself to see what all the fuss was about, but she still doesn’t understand the concept of a baby brother.  It was an exciting time.

We are slowly but surely getting ready for the baby, but feel we are so much further behind where we were in planning when I was pregnant with Laurel.  We purchased so many items by this time in the pregnancy with Laurel.  We finally ordered furniture 2 weeks ago, but we still have a few more items to purchase for his room.  Our stroller converts to a double stroller with a rumble seat, so that takes care of that.  We are also able to use the same infant seat we had for Laurel.  So, I think we at least have the major items out the way.  Now it’s just baby essentials like diapers, wipes, clothes, and other room decor.  William has agreed to decorate the room again this time, but I have offered to help him.

We do not have a name picked out yet, but are taking suggestions!  We have a few names on the short list, but are still having a hard time.  We were interested in “L” names or “W” names so perhaps he could have William’s initials, but at this point, I think we are exploring everything.

Well… that’s the update for now.  I am trying to multitask and watch the State of the Union address as well. 🙂

 

 

 

 

Growth!

Kyllan 1 Comment

It’s been a busy few weeks for the Cody household.  We moved into our new home last weekend, Laurel is growing like a weed and turned 18 months this past Thursday and my belly has certainly grown in the past few weeks as well!

I’ll start with Laurel.  It’s pretty amazing to watch her grow and develop.  She seems to say or do something new everyday.  She is talking and babbling much more these days and loves to repeat what you say.  Her vocabulary has expanded, so she is able to communicate basic needs to us.  It was no secret that she loves music and dancing and it seems she is singing a lot more these days.  Her daycare sent home a CD of songs they also sing at school and she loves to sing a long.  She still loves Elmo and singing with him and she also still loves her books.  She went shopping with daddy today and bought a potty chair, so I guess we will begin potty training soon.  She has her 18 month check-up this week, so I guess we’ll see more specifically what we should be working on.

We FINALLY closed on our new house last Friday and moved last Saturday and are quickly adjusting to life in our new home.  To have all of our belongings out of storage and having room for Laurel to play is really refreshing.  We love having space to spread out although we were pretty covered in boxes until the last couple days.  I finally got the kitchen unpacked last night and my mom came over today and helped unpack more of Laurel’s toys and items for the upstairs bedrooms and linen closet, so we have more “livable” space now.  Tonight I am going to try to finish unpacking in the bedroom and closet.  A few days ago it felt like we would never be done unpacking, but I am finally seeing a light.  I think the fact that William’s spring semester at school started this week and I had a busy work week with 6am meetings on two days and a 7am event to attend this morning complicated unpacking.  We were both too exhausted to really do much.  I stayed up much later than I should have trying to get things unpacked, but the pregnancy definitely makes it difficult to go too crazy.  My swollen ankles quickly brought me back to reality, but I also really want to feel more settled before I get too much further into the pregnancy and we switch gears to prepare for Cody baby #2.  So far though, we love the house and the community.  We were invited to dinner by one of our neighbors and will have the chance to meet other neighbors as well, so hopefully William and I can become more social and meet new friends on this side of town.  We are about 40 minutes away from where we used to live, but the location is great.  We are 15 minutes from the airport, 20 minutes from downtown, 12 minutes from William’s job and 30 minutes from mine not to mention close to many more amenities than we used to be, so it feels great!

On to baby news…..

We found out the sex of the baby!  I will try to scan a picture to post tomorrow, so you’ll have to hold out for one more day.  William wasn’t able to accompany me to the ultrasound that day, so the physician printed the image with the sex of the baby and sealed it in an envelope.  Later that evening, we went to dinner and ended with dessert and the big reveal.  I will say that everything seems to be progressing nicely and he baby appears to be healthy and growing on schedule.  I am 22 weeks and have been feeling pretty good with the exception of some major sciatic nerve pain that has been bothering me, but probably because I have been doing a little much lately with the move and packing and unpacking.  Hopefully that will go away soon.

Well… my break is over.  I am going to doing a little more unpacking before going to bed.

More to come…

Laurel’s Birth Story

Kyllan 4 Comments

 

So I did have my July baby after all and she is already a week old!  I decided to take some time to share her birth story.  No worries…I won’t include any graphic details, but it is quite long.

Days Leading up to the “Big Day”

So you may remember that my original due date was July 3oth.  When I went to the doctor on Wednesday, July  20th, I was fully expecting to be told I was going to be induced since my amniotic fluid was getting low the previous visit.  However, the fluid level was fine, baby was measuring 7 1/2 pounds, and everything was ok, except my sudden spike in blood pressure.  My doctor had me come in on Friday to check my blood pressure again and I also had some labwork done to test for pre-eclampsia, but everything was normal.  My cervical check revealed I was only 1cm dilated and 60% effaced.  So after my appointment on Friday, I thought I would likely make it to my due date and perhaps longer.  On Saturday, we were out and about like any other usual weekend day.  I spoke with my father-in-law that evening who is an OB/GYN and he asked if I was experiencing any Braxton-Hicks contractions.  I told him I didn’t think I was, but reflecting back, I may have had some and just didn’t realize what they were.

Pre-Labor Begins

Around midnight or so on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I started experiencing what I quickly realized were true contractions.  They were anywhere from 6 to 13 minutes apart.  The contractions kept me from falling asleep, so I went into the family room to keep from disturbing William.  Around 4am, I woke up William and told him, “I think today is Laurel’s Birthday”, to which he replied “Really?!” with a big smile.  I decided to take a shower and make sure everything was ready to go.  William soon got up, showered and packed the remaining items in his hospital bag.  By this time, it was close to 5am and the contractions were coming consistently every 8 or 9 minutes.  My doctor wanted me to call her when my contractions were 8-10 minutes apart, so I called her and she told me to go ahead to the hospital.  So, we anxiously headed out the door knowing we would return with one more family member 🙂 …..

 

Labor

We arrived at the hospital around 6am and got checked in.  I was hoping I was at 3 or 4 cm.  I was at 2cm.  I figured we were either in for a very long day or would be sent home.  Fortunately, my doctor was on call, so she was fine with keeping me and starting Pitocin to help me dilate.  I was moved from triage to a labor and delivery room and things got going.  We called our family to let them know I was in labor.  While in triage, I was suprised that th nurse said my contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes apart.  I certainly was not that uncomfortable.  Although they were coming fast, they were not very strong.  Pitocin usually helps with that and it certainly did.  The contractions started getting a bit stronger and I began getting very uncomfortable.  I knew I planned to ask for an epidural and didn’t really see a reason to wait, so I asked to be checked to see if I was at 4cm (this is the magic number that most want you to get to before you get an epidural).  I was only 3cm when she checked me, so I labored a while longer.  William and my sister did a great job helping me breathe through the contractions.  I had my relaxation music playing and closed my eyes and went to my happy place (the beach in Turks and Caicos where William and I honeymooned).  I got the epidural around 11am or 12 noon and felt comfortable enough to watch a little television (Cake Boss).  I quickly progressed to 4cm and then 5cm.  I know most people say everything is a breeze after the epidural, but  I actually had to have mine adjusted because I was numb on my left side, but not as numb on my left and felt severe muscle pain.  I soon felt some relief.   Somewhere in between, my doctor came to rupture my water and things picked up tremendously from there.  The contractions were coming every 30 seconds to a minute apart it seemed, and I quickly went from 5 cm to 8 cm.  I became pretty uncomfortable again because I started experiencing extreme pressure that the epidural was not helping with that .   All I could remember was closing my eyes, practicing the breathing techniques I learned in childbirth class, and trying to go to my happy place again.  I was soon at 10cm and still very uncomfortable from the pressure.  I had a couple bolus injections of something to help with this so I could comfortably make it through delivery.

The delivery

I think I started pushing at 4:30pm.  I couldn’t really tell if I was doing a good job because I didn’t necessarily feel like my pushing was doing anything, but I do remember the nurse calling my doctor and telling her she thought things were going to go pretty quickly.  This made me feel good.  With each contraction, we pushed until less than an hour later at 5:21pm, Laurel Annette Cody arrived.  She let out a short cry, but apparently was breathing fine.  After William cut the umbilical cord (which he said was much tougher to cut than he thought it would be and took him 3 cuts to get through), they laid her on my chest and began to clean her off.  William and I stared in utter amazement that we were finally looking at our daughter!  After a little more skin to skin kangaroo time, they took her over to weigh and measure.  She was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches long.

Post-Partum 

A couple hours later, we went upstairs to the post-partum unit.  Laurel was in the nursery quite a while and didn’t come back to the room until about 10:30 or 11pm.  She roomed in that first night, which I wondered if I was going to regret because I needed sleep, but it was good because I was able to have lots of skin to skin time and stare at her a while longer.  She was very content and did not cry much at all.   The bonding time was a good thing considering what was soon to come.  On Tuesday, my recovery was going very well and although I was sore, I was not in pain and didn’t have to get any additional pain medication, so I was discharged.  However,  a lab test revealed that Laurel’s bilirubin level was high and she had jaundice, which causes some yellowing of the skin).  I didn’t realize how common jaundice was, but about 60% of babies develop jaundice.  Her levels were high enough for the pediatrician to recommend phototherapy where the baby is placed under blue lights to help rid the body of the bilirubin.  This may not seem like a big deal, but when your newborn baby is taken and placed under lights wearing only their diaper and a blindfold to protect their eyes, and you cannot take them out except to feed the baby, it can be quite traumatic.  Not only that, but our calm baby who rarely cried soon started crying often because she did not want to be under the lights and kept waking herself up and was probably a bit confused about where she was, especially considering she could not see.  We had to give her a pacifier at one point, which I was hoping to avoid since I was nursing, but we really had no other option to help her sleep.  She also would not eat and we were having problems with breastfeeding, so I was working with the lactation consultants, but the phototherapy seemed to take all the energy out of her and she would not wake up for feedings.  I had to pump and feed her using an oral syringe.  That was difficult also.  I don’t think I slept at all that night.  The next morning, her bilirubin level dropped, but only a little, so the phototherapy continued.  William had left to go teach his class, so I was by myself and all I could do was cry.  I prayed her levels would drop so could just hold her and let her know I was here and did not abandon her.  My eyes are tearing up just thinking about that experience again.  I just wanted to hold my baby.  Because she was not feeding well, they also tested her sodium levels to check for dehydration, but fortunately that level was normal.  Around noon, the doctor told us she needed to stay under the lights a little while longer, but we could go home that afternoon.  I was thrilled.  I could not wait to take her home.  The pictures that William posted on Flickr of him holding her with just her diaper on are pictures from when she was finally about to come out of the phototherapy.  After another last minute consultation with the lactation consultant, we were finally on our way home!  We left right at 5pm during rush hour traffic in Dallas.  Thank goodness for the carpool lane!!  It’s so nerve racking on the first drive with a 3 day old baby in the car, but William did a great job.

At home

Now that we are home, we are adjusting to life with baby Laurel.  We are learning her routine, which mainly consists of one thing that you probably would not associate with a new baby…. sleep.  Laurel sleeps all the time.  She probably sleeps a good 22 of the 24 hours each day.  You may think this is every mother’s dream, and I must admit that I do appreciate being able to get my rest as well.  However, her lethargic nature this first week has also been my biggest worry.  Why?  Well, in most cases, you will hear the recommendation to let babies sleep… they will let you know when they are hungry.  However, most pediatricians will recommend that for the first 2 weeks until the baby has gained back the weight they lost after birth and are back to their birth weight, you need to wake your newborn every 2-3 hours to feed them.  There is a risk of dehydration if they do not eat, so I certainly want to avoid that.  All newborns lose weight after birth, and Laurel was no exception.  She was down to 6 pounds, 10 ounces when we left the hospital, so we have lots of work to do to get her back to her birth weight in 2 weeks.  So… I have been waking her up every 3 hours (sometimes 4) to feed her.  There are times when she is on board and sometimes when she would rather sleep, so this is a bit distressing for me, but I know we will get it figured out.  The sleep concern brings on even more worries…. will she stay hydrated?  Will she gain back her birth weight soon?  Will I maintain my milk supply to I can continue to breastfeed since she doesn’t feed as often?  Will she suffer from plagio0cephaly (flat head syndrome) from sleeping so much?

The other difficult part of this week has been my poor husband who is suffering from a sprained muscle in his back (likely from sleeping in an uncomfortable position on a chair while he was in the hospital with me).  He didn’t have to stay, but he chose to sleep at the hospital and go to work from there.  He has two more weeks of classes for summer session and then he gets a 2 week break.  So due to the sprain, he has been in severe pain.  He has been taking pain meds, muscle relaxers, and using heat therapy, but his recovery has been slow.  So, I am praying for a speedy recovery for him so he is back at 100% again.  Despite his pain, he has been great with encouraging me and helping with the baby when the pain is not too severe.  He is great at swaddling the baby, which we have been doing while she is sleeping.

So… it has definitely been a challenging week.  I am constantly on the internet and in books reading about various topics.  Despite all my worries, I love the fact that I am the mom and we have a beautiful baby girl that is healthy.  William told me a couple days ago… “I love our life right now”.  It doesn’t get any better than that 🙂

We took photos with our parents (minus my dad who is back in Cleveland).  Click here to view them.