Blakelyn Anne

To say the least our November has started off a little busy! Our daughter, Blakelyn Anne, was born Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 1:05pm! Without going into too much detail and making the blog super long, I'll recap our labor and delivery:

Blakelyn's original due date was November 7, which coincidentally, is also my father's birthday! However, she did not make an appearance that day. I had a regular doctor's appointment scheduled for November 9. When I showed up, the doctor said, "oh, you're still pregnant!" We went ahead and scheduled an induction for November 14, assuming (and hoping) she would come on her own.

That night I felt my usual contractions, but these contractions were more rhythmic, stronger, timely, and no matter what position I maneuvered into, they would not let up. At 12:30 am we decided to head to the hospital. Since I had been 3cm and 80% effaced for a few weeks, I knew that even if I was experiencing false labor, the hospital would keep me since I was overdue.

I labored at the hospital until 2:30 am when the nurses and doctor said that if there wasn't any change (and there wasn't any) by 6am they would either: let me go home and labor on my own, or keep me and go ahead and induce. I decided to get some sleep and let them induce me!

At 7am the nurse started the pitocin drip and dilation began! At 8am the doctor broke my water (ha and I was worried that I wouldn't know if my water broke!). By then I was 5cm and 90% effaced! I labored a few more hours without any pain medicine until I was 7cm and 100% effaced. I decided to get the epidural instead of the medicine they put in the IV, since the epidural doesn't cross the placenta. The other medicine would make me drowsy and cross the placenta to make the baby drowsy too.

The anesthesiologist said that I was "the patient of the day" for my animation while getting the epidural put in. Simply put, I watched too many videos that scared me. Luckily, the epidural worked perfectly and no complications occurred. I asked the anesthesiologist about the spinal headache that could result, and he said that as soon as he put the epidural in, he could tell if I would have complications or not. Good to know for the future!

The epidural slowed down my progression, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed just chillin'. Around 12:30pm the baby began to do into distress because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. The nurse put an oxygen mask on me and everything resumed as normal. Around 12:45pm the doctor arrived, all systems were ready, and I began pushing. Five contractions and 15 pushes later, out Blakelyn came...

Not crying.

Some merconium was present in the fluid and Blakelyn hadn't taken a big breath as most newborns do. The doctor said it was Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN). Her breathing was very labored, Bryan describes it as having an asthma attack. We got to see her for a few seconds before the nurses whisked her to the bassinet to take stats and figured out her breathing problem. To say the least, Blakelyn was taken to NICU for further observation for a few hours... We didn't get to officially meet her until 6pm that night.

The whole delivery was surreal. Everything happened so quickly at the end and then all of a sudden it's just the two of us again... but with an empty infant cap and a flat stomach. The experience definitely makes me respect those who put children up for adoption or for those who are surrogates. I can only imagine their deliveries to be similar or worse.

On to stats:

Name:

Blakelyn Anne

Weight:

7lbs 14oz

Length:

20.5in

Eyes:

blue/grey

Hair:

RED!?

Yep, we produced a red head! It's more of a strawberry, but still it's red.

And of course a picture:

Happy Halloween

We weren't sure if we would make it to Halloween or not... we did.  So we quickly set up our Halloween decor and waited for all the Trick-or-Treaters!  A lot of ladybugs, angry birds, and super mario brothers this year... and most of them actually said "Trick-or-Treat" this year! 

Cauldron with a mist maker near the door.  Everyone wants to touch the "dry ice" as they stick their hands into the cauldron... perhaps we should put a sign next year. 

I decided to dress the baby up whether she was physically here or not.  I made the shirt two days before hand hoping it would jinx me and I wouldn't be able to wear it... didn't work, but at least Lady Novack got to participate in her "quasi first" Halloween!!

Nursery

Finally a post that begins with an N!  I wanted to write a post involving all the sewing I have done for the Lady, but I have already packed some of it up for the hospital.  So I'll just point them out when I come across something in a picture.

We started with the nursery around the time my pelvis gave out.  The Physical Therapist said that the second trimester would be the best time physically to get things done, so we seized the opportunity!

View as you walk into the nursery: 

Curtains sewn by JJ (Bryan's mom) and me.

 

Up close:

changing table area:

Nap zone: the glider is quite soothing.

I "sewed" the quilting hoops with fabric, since this used to be my craft room.

crib:

You can't really see it in the picture, but the bed skirt was sewed by JJ and me.

Yes, that is a bumper, but it is the breathable bumper, we'll see what the pediatrician says.

Full view of this side.

Paintings done by Grandma Homlar.

 I took all the ribbons from presents and tied them around a quilting hoop.  My intention was to do a mobile, but I can't figure out how to hang it without hanging it from the ceiling.

Closet: 

Cravings, Aversions, and Quirks

Everyone always asks if I'm having cravings, when in reality it's not a craving I got, but aversions during pregnancy.  During the first trimester I noticed aversions towards anything that would give me heartburn, especially mustard! I have dealt with a lot of heartburn throughout the entire pregnancy and have been able to deal with most foods that are prone to give you heartburn, but mustard and hot drinks, forget it!  Of course the first trimester is usually the hardest in regards to "morning sickness." I can't say I really had morning sickness, so the aversions didn't really affect me in that regard.

I have noticed some quirks in my eating and drinking habits.  I now have a necessity for ICE COLD drinks!  Water must be served with a full glass of ice, water, and preferably with a straw too!  I also prefer all fruit, fruit cups, and drinks to be refrigerated and cold before consuming. Usually I could eat and drink those at room temperature.  Perhaps it's the heartburn.  Another quirk I have noticed is that when I am hungry, I become starving very soon after.  So I have to keep a snack with me at all times.  Speaking of snacks, I have had a few episodes when I'm driving and I get a hunger strike for something specific, such as artichoke dip, that I must go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients, and cook it asap. Does that count as a craving?  The cravings I did have occurred from week to week.  A better question to ask me is, "what are you craving this week?" Usually it was something sweet and candy related: air heads, blow pops, jolly ranchers, and now and laters.  Good thing cravings didn't occur often!

I'm Not A Baker

On July 11, 2011 we decided to tell small group the gender of our baby.  I decided to bake a strawberry cake and frost it in green.  Let me reiterate I am not a baker.  I have a history of failing in the bakery department.  The first cake I baked was for Bryan's 23rd or 24th Birthday. Failed. I didn't spray the pans and the cake was literally stuck to the bottom and sides, tasted great, looked horrible.

This time I remembered to spray the pan, but I only used one pan... apparently you're supposed to use two pans. As the cake was baking, a pink substance began oozing out the bottom of the oven.  It looked kind of cool, but it was messy.  I decided to wait until the cake was done baking/oozing before cleaning it. The cake still tasted good!  The frosting, as I mentioned, was supposed to be green, but I accidently grabbed the blue bottle and squirted a few drops before noticing, so the frosting ended up a sea teal color.  Oh well, it matches the walls of the nursery!

Again, I should have taken pictures, but I forgot...

It's a GIRL!!

On July 1, 2011 we found had our anatomy ultrasound.  This ultrasound is the lengthiest of all of them because they are checking not just the gender, but all the internal anatomy as well.  Bryan came with me and he was just as mesmerized as I was seeing all the body parts.  A few times he jumped out of his seat to take a better look.  I was hoping they would give us the ultrasounds of the heart chambers, kidneys, and  bone structure, but they gave us the standard ones.     

Sucking her thumb:

Her middle toe is longer than the rest... just like Bryan! He was pretty stoked!

We asked the technician if we could guess what the gender was before she told us: I instantly said, GIRL!

After all the standard anatomy shots, the technician clicked the machine over to 4D, since I drank a coke before the appointment (it is said to help the baby "show" itself).  The technician kept having to chase the baby to get the shots she needed.

Probably more than necessary, but it's so cool!

Lady Novack!

That weekend we were going to see both sides of our family in Atlanta for the 4th of July.  Bryan and I decided to surprise them with the gender of the baby.  We had told them that our appointment to find out the gender wasn't until July 8th.  We purchased pink (and blue, which we returned) maracas from Party City and gave them to the grandfathers.    

13 week ultrasound

Due to the tornado, I was unable to go to my 12 week appointment and the usual appointment schedule would be thrown off by a week for the remainder of the pregnancy.  At my 13 week appointment I was able to get an ultrasound of the baby!  Not because it was cool or that I could, but because the doppler wasn't picking up the baby's heart beat!  I was excited at first when the nurse said "if I can't find the heartbeat we'll have to do an ultrasound," but when she couldn't find the heartbeat, I was a little concerned. 

I had begun to feel something in my lower abdomen that week, but didn't know what it was.  The books say that when the baby kicks at first it can be confused with gas bubbles, please tell me what gas bubbles feel like?  I would feel some kind of twinge, like something tumbling, every now and then, maybe once a day, but didn't know what it was.  When the nurse put the probe (where she needed it to get a reading), I could see the baby move around!!  I saw the baby curl up into a ball and then splayed out it's entire body and appendages, not to mention I FELT the baby do that right at the exact moment.  From then on whenever I felt that tumbling twinge, I knew it was the baby making a big movement. 

This image captured the heart rate, 160! 

Apparently the baby was still in my pelvis and hadn't risen to my abdomen yet.

Beginning to look more like a little human!