I have been terrible about updating the blog! I feel so bad that I haven't posted pictures of our adorable Kimber, or shared any stories. I'll try to start from the beginning...
Near the end of August, my blood pressure spiked one weekend. I noticed I saw prisms on Friday, then by Saturday night and Sunday, I could tell it was up. I'm a textbook bp person - it's always 110/70, so it's definitely abnormal for my bp to be high. I took bp with my home cuff - 123/96- and called the hospital. They weren't as helpful as I would've liked, so instead of dramatically rushing up to the hospital on a Sunday night, I decided to just wait and call the doctor's office first thing Monday morning. Sunday night was kind of scary, with bp reaching 137/99, even after I spent the entire day/weekend in bed. But, Kimber kept moving the entire time - I just knew she was fine and strong. Monday, the dr sent me to the hospital for observation, where they monitored fetal movement and my bp for an hour. Kimber performed fabulously. Of course. :)) I knew she was sassy. They also sent me home with a urine collection jug with strict orders for 24 hours of bed rest. They wanted to check protein levels in my urine and see if my bp would decrease with bed rest (even though I told them I'd been in bed ALL weekend). Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've collected your own urine, every bathroom trip, for 24 hours. heehee When I went back Tuesday, my mom went with me. I was alone the first time with Clayton already being deep into football season. We got so tickled at Kimber during the observation on Tuesday. The fetal monitor (as many of you know) is like a microphone on the baby. We could obviously hear Kimber's good, strong heartbeat, but she moved so much and every time was like kicking a microphone. It was so loud that the lady taking my information couldn't hear me telling her everything for all the racket. I loved it - it was hysterical. It let me know that Kimber was definitely strong and definitely a fighter. Everything looked good with movement (obviously) and my blood pressure was down, so they didn't admit me (which I had been warned about), but they did place me on bed rest officially. August 23. I was bad.....I went to work Wednedsay and Thursday - the 24th and 25th. Then, I took Friday off to REST and attend my regularly scheduled dr appointment.
My regular doctor had fallen and fractured his shoulder and had to have major surgery, so I was already seeing another dr - Carrie Ball. LOVE her. She's a tad more cautious than Dr. Irwin, and was with me especially I'm sure since I wasn't originally her patient. So, Friday, she informed me that I was 37 weeks and considered full term, and that I was officially on BED REST until Kimber came. We discussed options. She wanted to induce me Sunday night, the 28th, with the baby being born on Monday the 29th. I told her that unless there was a severe problem (at which point I wouldn't argue anything) then I wanted to wait until September 1 because the grade cutoff is August 31. Call me crazy, but knowing the baby was fine, strong, and healthy, I wanted to try to wait. She informed me that I could wait as long as I wanted, but that I had medical reason (with my bp) to induce anytime. Additionally, my observation time at the hospital the prevous week had revealed a somewhat low platelet count. She told me that if I waited too long and my platelet count continued to decrease, then there was a possibility that I wouldn't be able to have an epidural. All things considered, I decided to go in September 1 night, spend the night, and be induced early Friday morning, September 2, my offical 38 weeks.
It was weird knowing when I was being induced. I'm a planner so it was kind of nice not having to worry about the spontaneity of everything, but it was weird knowing it was the last night we'd sleep at home just the two of us, etc. Can't explain it but new mommies probably know what I mean.
As far as the birth experience, it was surreal and getting the epidural was the best decision I've ever made. It made the entire process so much easier. My nurse, Seyda, was wonderful. One great thing about Women's Hospital is that they give you a one on one nurse for the entire birth experience. She's there ONLY to assist and monitor you. Pitocin was started at 7:30 am and the dr broke my water around 8:30 I believe. I wanted to feel labor pains a little, just to see what I'd be missing haha. So, I didn't get the epidural until around 11. I was READY for it by then. Fast track to the afternoon. Since the nurse constantly monitors you and the baby, she noticed that at one point, Kimber's heartbeat didn't rebound after a contraction like they wanted it to. Since by that time they can't tell what's going on down there, they inserted a second catheter to inject some fluid into the birth canal/womb in case Kimber's umbilical cord was wrapped anywhere it shouldn't have been. By 7pm. I was at 9cm and 100% effaced so they knew it was CLOSE, but it was also shift change. At that point, Dr. Ball had to leave to pick up her kids in Sugarland, so I changed doctor and nurse. This was a HARD point for me, having been with the same people all day. That's the only time I almost got scared/teary. But the nurse was so wonderful, she had gone and handpicked a new nurse for me to make sure I'd feel completely comfortable. By 7:45, it was time to push.
Call me crazy, but I didn't realize it wasn't like the movies where the babies automatically fly out on the first try. There's actual pushing with just the nurse for a while, depending on how low the baby is, etc. This is the part that was surreal for me. For some reason, I always assumed I'd have to have a C-section or something would go wrong. So, strangely, it was gratifying for me that I got to do it the "natural" way. I use natural loosely because people also use that term to explain women who don't get an epidural and I DEFINITELY had that. Anyway, I pushed for about 35 minutes before the doctor, Dr. Black, came in. I'll never forget watching Baylor play TCU on the delivery room TV while I was pushing and delivering. Dr. Black commented on the game and said that there must be a TCU fan in the house. I politely infomed her that it was a BAYLOR FAN in the house about to knock off a ranked team. haha. It gave me something to focus on anyway. Kimber did come out right away once Dr. Black was there. She shot out like a tiny torpedo. My mom and Clayton informed me later that they actually worried that the doctor wasn't going to catch her, just because of the speed she launched out with. I think that's hilarious. It's because of all the extra fluid they had injected. Kimber's official stats were 9/2/11 8:33 pm 7 pounds, 1 ounce. She was perfect and cute right away, and so feisty. I love it. Confirms to me she's definitely mine!!
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