Birth Story and Weeks 38, 39, 40 and 1 week old

So it has been way way too long since I've posted anything to do with Killian and my pregnancy.  Thought I would update everyone about what the heck happened and how he came to join our family on my due date.  So here it goes...

April 9th Due Date - I went to work that morning, it was my last day of scheduled work.  I was shutting things down, transferring responsibilities, getting my out of office message and voice message all ready to turn on.  Went to my 9am Dr. appointment to check on my 40 week progress.  It was a standard appointment to see if baby and I were progressing to birth.  My Dr. was still confused about why she couldn't feel baby when she did my cervical exam even though the weekly ultrasound showed baby head down and ready to go.  Dr. decided to do an ultrasound in her office to make sure everything was ok.  When she did she noticed that although baby was head down the head was kinked to the right and basically caught on my hip.  She informed me that there was really nothing she could do to help right baby's position and that it would be more dangerous to try and do a natural birth than to schedule a c-section.  Dr. checked with the hospital and scheduled to remove baby at 4pm that day.  I quickly went back to the office, shut everything down for the next 3 months and headed home.

I met Kyle at home, collected our bags, took a quick shower and we headed to the hospital.  We got to the hospital a little early so we sat in the lobby and discussed our final selection for names.  Just before our 2pm check in time we had our final selection for a girl and boy name.  I got all prepped for surgery, our fabulous photographer showed up (http://www.katherinebreewalker.com/) to document our birth. Unfortunately the hospital wouldn't let her into the OR with us during the procedure but she was around for the prep and for the meeting new baby.  We love the pictures she took, she is very talented and wee look forward to using her for family pictures in the future.

We went into the OR around 4:30pm, I was prepped and given the spinal block.  Kyle joined the team in the OR and our baby was born at 5:17pm...Dr. announced to the room that we had a baby boy, we told the room our name selection (Killian Arthur Childers) and Kyle was whisked away with our new son.  We met up again in the recovery room, Killian nursed for about an hour until I could move my legs again and be transferred to our mother/baby room.  We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights until we could go home.

Killian has been the best baby we could ask for, he has treated us better than we could have ever hoped.  He sleeps well, eats great and has been a trooper on his first train ride and long car rides.  We are scheduled for our first airplane trip tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited.  He is such a trooper and already a great adventurer.

Please enjoy this array of pictures we have collected over the last month and a few days.  I want to post a 1 month update of our baby boy but that will be a separate post.

FYI - our name selection explanation in case anyone was wondering...Killian is in fact an Irish name, no we are not Irish but we do have a sweet spot in our hearts for Ireland, we just loved the name and thought it was unique and fit our little man.  Arthur is Kyle's maternal grandfather's name.

Rock'n and Roll'n

Thought I would upload a little video of a sample of what my stomach does throughout the day...this isn't the best video because baby literally stops moving when I turn the recorder on.  Figures, our kid would be difficult right from the get go, good thing we love baby so much already ;-)

I also thought it would be a good idea to have a recording of baby's heartbeat when it is still a resident in my stomach.  So today during the non stress test I did a little recording.  Heartbeat is super fast but very strong, look forward to having the little munchkin in my arms and sharing the closeness of holding with Kyle.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1S7CycuSuKEZ2cyVC01THlVSTg/view?usp=sharing

Last "Push"

I'll start with the fun stuff and then you can stop reading if you want to.  BUMP pictures....

 

 

I really really do feel like there is zero room left in my stomach for this baby to grow.  Some days I feel like baby is literally trying to claw/kick/elbow its' way out.  Other days I feel like the skin is going to explode like a balloon blown up too much.  Then others I look down at my tummy and think gosh I'm not really that big until I look in the mirror and shock myself with the bump.  Baby is so in my way with normal things it literally hurts to tie my shoes, put on my pants, pick things up, etc.  I am beyond thankful that this stage of uncomfortable didn't kick in until just very recently.  I still sleep amazing when Kyle let's me keep the window open at night so I don't bake.  I do look forward to flopping down on the bed on my stomach real soon. 

 

Dr. update, I went yesterday and she said all my blood work has returned to pristine levels and she is uncertain why I got such a weird reading that one test.  My co-workers blame stress but how do you really prove that.  Either way I'm glad things are back to normal.  I do get to increase my visit frequencies to the OB, I go back on Monday and again on Thursday (my DUE DATE, can you believe it, it is finally here?!?!?!).  I also go back to the ultrasound place tomorrow morning for another non-stress test (NST) and measuring fluid levels.  Last week the tech asked if I could feel the contractions I was having during the NST, strange to thing they were happening and I had no idea.  Report from last Friday's tests were baby looks great, lots of movement and fluid levels are good (including my bladder that was extremely full and took over the ultrasound image). Baby is in the head down position with its' little feet up by the forehead.  Only problem is the head down isn't dropping into the birth canal.  Dr. told me it is very important if my water breaks not to dilly dally at home or work, to get my booty to the hospital so the cord doesn't start coming out because baby's head isn't there to act as a plug.  10-4 doctor, that takes a lot of guessing out of when to go other than I hope I can tell when/if my water breaks. HA!

 

 

 

Now the reflection time of the blog...it has really started to hit me how different our lives are going to be after this baby gets here.  On the excited hand I am going to have a little buddy for life, someone who will always love me and call me Mom.  I look at the relationship I have with my Mom (and Dad for that matter) and can't believe I'm going to be that lucky to have a baby of my own and build a bond, friendship and love with another human being.  I get to watch Kyle grow into an amazing father and the role model I know he is capable of being, he is a hard working, genuine and faithful man who will lead our little family to be good people and flourish.  We are excited for family camping trips, Halloween costumes, tooth fairy visits, Sunday morning soccer games, golf buddies, slumber weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's house, ballet recitals, girl/boy scout meetings, parent teach conferences, driveway talent shows...the list goes on and on. 

 

But I'm also scared of saying goodbye to the life we have, the freedom to go to a Shark's game last minute or happy hours for no apparent reason.  Quick trips to target or a boozy weekend in SLO.  I know our lives will be so filled with love and devotion to our new addition that these things will seem pointless but said baby isn't here yet and I think a morning period for this freedom is due.  I think it healthy to feel these things, acknowledge them, own them and face them, hiding from them and denying them would do a disservice to myself.  I don't know if anyone else feels/felt like this before the new baby arrived but I would hate to not say how I feel and others feel alone in their same feelings.  I don't have a single regret and I still can NOT wait for baby C to make the official appearance but I do mourn the loss of my sleepy Sunday mornings with the puppy dogs and the trip to Greece/Italy we haven't done yet. Life is changing and I know my heart will be filled with love and I will never look back but I am so so so thankful for the wonderful time I've spent enjoying my husband, dogs, family, friends and the opportunities presented to us.  I know these things don't have to stop completely they will just take some extra planning, preparation and support from friends and family. 

 

Alright, I feel better getting those words off my chest and feeling them "out loud."  I look forward to enjoying this weekend with Kyle, going to our infant care and breastfeeding class on Saturday, doing a little veggie planting Saturday after class and Sunday while it is supposed to be raining doing a little yoga and pedicure time with the girls.

 

Can't wait to share pictures and baby story when time comes :-)  Thanks all!



36, 37, Hospital Visits and 3D ultrasound pictures

Well well well, we are down to 17 days until D-day and I feel like things are going haywire.  The Friday before the shower I went to the hospital for two blurry vision headaches.  Spent about 1.5 hours getting tested and watched, they were very confident that I didn't have preeclampsia.  Things were going well until this past Sunday and I had another blurry vision headache and then 2 more on Monday.  I mentioned as much to my Dr. at my normal appointment, she ordered blood tests and urine tests.  I got a call on Tuesday night that she wanted me to come in first thing Wednesday morning for a follow up.  When I got there she explained that my urine was still not showing any protein, my blood pressure was normal but there was elevated levels of PIH in my liver results.  Dr. sent me to the hospital to have the tests run again, I was there for 3 hours hooked up to non stress test monitors and heart beat monitor.  Baby was moving like crazy and the heart beat was great, my blood pressure was excellent.  Blood tests from that visit indicated that my liver PIH levels were returning to normal but the Dr. ordered me to do a 24 hour urine collection just to verify.  I had just enough time to do the collection before it was baby shower time at work.

What a special day that was, so many generous gifts and words of wisdom and love from my co-workers.  They went with a book theme, so the nursery is stocked full with some lovely reading materials. I should be getting pictures from the shower this week and I'll share when I get them.

Friday morning Kyle and I went to the ultrasound location and baby and I under went another non stress test. During this test they wanted to be sure baby did two big movements over 20 minutes.  The tech came back into my room at 10 minutes and said baby had been jumping around, way more than the minimum needed movements but they had to finish the test.  Then Kyle got to join me in the ultrasound room where baby was measured for growth.  Boy oh boy does baby have some chubby cheeks, not hurting for nutrients in my tummy.  They said that baby was growing right on track and that everything looked beautiful, as of Friday they estimated weight right now at 6 lbs 11 oz.  Said they would expect 0.5-1lb more of growth before baby is delivered, that would put us just under 8 pounds and I would be more than happy with that.

I went back to my normal Dr. appointment this afternoon, she did her normal exam and said she would put money on me going past my due date.  She said baby was moving around like crazy but it was one of the most stubborn she had seen in a long time.  Baby has not dropped and it would be nearly impossible to induce me if the need should arise.  So, for now baby is comfortable (mommy less and less comfortable each and every day).  I say to little baby, you have a couple more weeks and then I think it about time to show this Dr. what we are made of.    I had more blood work run this afternoon and will go back from more on Thursday before another ultrasound and non stress test Friday morning.  I'm told I will be doing this routine weekly until baby has arrived.

We did get both cars outfitted for the carseats and I have my bag contents ready just need to put them in a bag.  I feel like I have more bathroom and toiletries than I need but they take up so little room I would rather have them than not.  If anyone has a personal "must" have item please feel free to let me know.  I don't feel like I'll need all that much and to be honest the hospital is like 2 minutes from a mall and not all that far from home should I need to send Kyle out.  Our diaper bags have basic stuff in them and are ready for when we are brave enough to venture out.

I think that is enough for now, just wanted to give everyone an update on what has been going on with me.  I feel awesome and yoga is my friend, I can't wait to go again this week. I very much look forward to a deep tissue massage after baby has come, my back and shoulders and hip flexors could use a good deep rub.

36 weeks big

37 weeks and growing growing

Dr. says baby isn't dropping but my tummy appears to show differently, baby is getting heavy!!

My family seems to think baby looks like me, top ultrasound and the little picture of me, told you baby has chubby cheeks

Here is my first picture this pregnancy and the last picture I've taken.  Can't wait to do a little time lapse at the very end.

Baby Shower

What a fantastic day!  I feel so honored and blessed to have so many ladies (and men) that love me and our baby.  We celebrated the new addition to the Childers' household on a glorious day.  It was a shower to remember, with homemade umbrella cookies, a deliciously cute cake, yummy food, beautiful decorations, crafts that baby C will get to use for the first few months of their life, gifts out the wazoo and more laughter and love than all the rest combined.  My sister did such an amazing job of thinking of all the little details, what an amazing party planner she is, I am so extremely lucky to have her by my side.  Thank you to all those that joined the party whether it was in person or in spirit, baby C feels the love!  There will never be enough words that I can put together to thank my family, especially my sister, for such a wonderful party.

Shannan and her Mom Karen, helping do day of details, thank you for coming to joint he party.

Dessert table with beautiful decorations.

Onsie station

Diaper raffle

Guests enjoying the sunny morning, eating and decorating onsies

Teacup favors, what a cute idea, the guests loved it!

That would be me :-)  trying to stay cool in the warm sun

homemade cookies, still enjoying them

Grandma, Mommy, baby C and Twink

Gifts setup outside, ended up opening them inside due to the warm weather

G. Grandma and Grandma to be, beautiful ladies

Me and Shannan catching up and enjoying the weather

decorations and dessert station, thank you Devarae for all the pictures and the beautiful decorations

How adorable is this cake?!?!

Onsie from Auntie Devarae and Uncle Mychal

Trying to pick my favorite of the homemade onsies, that was a difficult decision

Basketball ladies sans Kale, thank you for coming to the party

Cousins!!

4 generations, love these ladies (and maybe a couple boys???)

Auntie Cassie, thank you for making the trip to join the party

cool timeline Devarae put together, neat to see the progress all lined up

My mom surprised me with pictures of Kyle as a baby, how fun to see us side by side.

Weeks 33-35 updates, Quick LA trip and Sneaky Peaky of Maternity Pictures (shower in a separate blog)

Wow, it has been a couple weeks since I've updated the blog...where to start, bump and baby I suppose.  So up to this point my pregnancy has been going so smooth I wouldn't even know I was pregnant expect this large bump growing before my eyes.  But this last 2-3 weeks have taken a toll on my health, nothing serious I've gotten a couple head colds that due to my system concentrating on baby have turned into much larger colds than normal and have hung around longer than they should. In all my years working I have rarely taken days off work due to colds but my energy and concentration levels have been zapped more from the cold than normal so I've had to call in sick and hang with the pups to get better.  To top things off I made my first trip to the hospital to get checked out after work on Thursday due to blurred vision before and after work.  Things checked out fantastic, baby was very healthy and it seems no sleep and stressful work gave me a migraine, thankfully no preeclampsia.  Although I never want to go to the hospital when not necessary, it did give me a little glimpse into what I will experience with the hospital staff in the very near future.  I was very pleased with the bedside manner and the attentiveness I experienced.  

As for baby, now that I am at 35, almost 36 weeks, I go to the Dr. once a week for check ups.  She has done two pelvic exams to check my progress and each time she said nothing should happen for another 2-3 weeks but she has been surprised before.  If something were to happen now, she would not stop the progress if things were to get rolling now.  So will we have a March or April baby, only time will tell.  When I visited this week, Dr. couldn't tell position of baby so she is going to do an ultrasound on Monday to get a better look at how baby is sitting in my belly.  At 32 weeks the tech told me baby was butt up under my ribs and it doesn't feel like anything has changed with the pressure so we will see on Monday what we see.  

Besides the head colds and migraine, I feel great, tight tummy skin and lots of peeing but baby is dancing up a storm.  Sleeping has been difficult for me and I can't figure out why, I'm not uncomfortable and I'm not worrying about things, sleep is just playing hide and seek from me.  Oh well, I'll make it through.  

Quick trip to LA...when Kyle and I were flying home from the surprise trip to San Diego, I said whelp that is the last trip until baby arrives, little did I know not 2 weeks later we would get back on an airplane.  My dad's mom has been diagnosed with stage 3/4 lung cancer and her time with us is limited, so Kyle and I, my mom and dad, and Mychal and Devarae all converged on her house for the weekend just to hand out and spend some time with her.  She was doing amazingly well and I am hopeful that she will get to meet her great grand baby very soon.  We had gorgeous weather while we were down visit and got in some time with my mom's mom too. This trip was the first time we got to really see Devarae's bump, can't wait to meet her little baby in June/July.  

To round out this blog post I am sharing the two sneak peak photos that were shared with us from our maternity photo shoot.  We Bree in Monterey on 17 mile drive so a chilly day of photos.  She did an extremely good job making what can be an awkward experience into something fun and very special.  We had a great experience and can't wait for her to document our delivery and meeting baby for the first time, then doing our infant photos.  If you are in the area and need a photographer, please check out her website, she does amazing work.  http://www.katherinebreewalker.com/  This is such a special time for us and to have such beautiful pictures to document it is an even more special gift, thank you Bree!

Next blog I will share photos and thoughts about the out of this world baby shower my sister, mom and grandma threw for me this weekend.