Christina Corinne’s Birth Story

It all started on Wednesday, August 27th. I was 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant and I had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon. I was only 2 centimeters dilated, but to my surprise, my doctor decided to strip my membranes. I started having contractions that night, although I thought they were just cramps and that they would stop at some point. There didn’t seem to be any pattern and that continued throughout the entire next day. I went to bed early on Thursday, August 28th and at 9:20pm I felt a leak. A few minutes later I felt another leak and then another minute later, I got a big gush.

I arrived at the hospital at 1am on Friday, August 29th. I was officially 39 weeks pregnant. The contractions now seemed to be pretty consistent at 7 minutes apart, but they still were not painful. I was still only 2cm dilated. I walked the halls of the hospital, and soon the contractions were much stronger. By 5am I was back in my room. The contractions were 5 minutes apart but since they were so long, there was very little time in between them. Some of the contractions were so unbearable that I felt like I was climbing the walls trying to escape them. Every time I got a bad one I thought I could not possibly take another. Although I had been holding out as long as possible, when I was checked and was still between 2 and 3 cm, I knew I had to get the epidural.

The hardest part about the epidural was staying still while they did it. I got one of the really bad contractions when the doctor inserted the first needle and I swear the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, was to stay still during it. Thank goodness I had an amazing nurse who really helped me through it.

As soon as that contraction was over, immediately I felt better. My legs never went completely numb, but there was no pain. At 6am, I was checked and was amazed to find out I was 6 cm dilated. Turns out that I wasn’t progressing because I was so tense and the epidural fixed that problem.

The nurse helped turn me onto my side and twenty minutes later I was fully dilated! I started practice pushes every few minutes because the baby still wasn’t low enough. The nurse also helped to stretch me out. When the doctor came in about thirty minutes later, I was ready to push for real.

After the first set of pushes, my doctor told me she was going to have to do a small episiotomy otherwise I was going to tear. It was no big deal, I couldn’t feel it at all. In the next set of pushes, out popped Christina’s head and she started making sounds immediately. Then, the rest of her came out and I got to hold her for the first time. I delivered the placenta and got stitched up without any pain, while I watched my little girl across the room.

She had a full head of brown hair, weighed in at 7 pounds and was 20 ½ inches long. Her Apgar scores were 9 and 9. We nursed right away and she has been doing a great job. I can not believe how beautiful and perfect she is. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Christina Corinne has arrived

Things have been crazy and I've been busy enjoying my beautiful little girl, so I haven't had the chance to update my blog. I promise I will give you more info and put my birth story on here shortly, but for now here are the basics . . . Christina Corinne was born on Friday, August 29th at 7:43 am. She was 7 pounds and 20 1/2 inches long. She had a full head of brown hair and so far has dark blue eyes. She is gorgeous and healthy.

I have pictures and videos that I need to get up here, but for now, here is a webpage that my mom put together on shutterfly - http://christinacorinnekalos8292008.shutterfly.com/

Still waiting

My doctor’s appointment yesterday went pretty well. I didn't gain any weight from the week before, which I felt was a great accomplishment, lol. But more importantly, my blood pressure is still good and the baby's heart beat is still good.

I had an internal exam and this time, it was NOT fun! The doctor had trouble finding my cervix and it seemed like the whole process took much longer than the first internal exam I had. But, the good news is that I am almost 2 centimeters dilated and I'm slightly thinned out. Even though it isn't much, it is still something. Any progress is good progress in my book.

My doctor also stripped my membranes. She did not tell me she was going to do this ahead of time and she certainly did not ask me if I wanted it done. Just as she was starting to do it, she told me that she was doing it. It was a bit painful, but in the long run I guess I'm glad she did it.

I'm sure most of you are wondering what in the world is stripping membranes. I have a good idea of what it is, but here is an official definition for those that are clueless: Stripping membranes is essentially just an aggressive pelvic exam in which the doctor will feel around just inside your cervix where the membranes ("bag of water") are attached to its rim. By running an examining finger around the inside of your cervix, the doctor can separate the amniotic sac from where it's stuck there. Theoretically, this will allow the bridging molecules that stick the membranes to the inside rim of the cervix to break--all at a molecular level, mind you--and so be released and then converted into prostaglandins, which are powerful stimulants of labor.

Although stripping the membranes can sometimes help labor along, it doesn't always do that. So, it might not actually affect when Christina gets here. I'm fine waiting another couple of weeks, but the downside to going over my due date is that my doctor says she will induce me at one week overdue. That means that she will give me drugs to make me go into labor. Inducing labor always brings on stronger and more painful contractions, so I want to avoid that at all costs. I am crossing my fingers that my little girl comes on her own, before my doctor gets her hands on me.

On another note, since I got home last night, all hell has broken loose in my house. I was bleeding from the exam (my doctor warned me this might happen) and I had cramps almost all night which kept me from sleeping. Besides from that, Nik mysteriously got extremely sick. From about 8pm on, he just kept feeling worse and worse. Then, by the time morning came, I was feeling sick too! Luckily, now I'm feeling better and I have realized that I was only feeling sick from being up all night and feeling crampy. But, Nik was in such bad shape this morning that I had to take him to the doctors.

We got back a little while ago. He basically has the flu, and he also has strep throat. That really sucks because he is suffering, and I'm not exactly in the best position to take care of him. Plus, I really really don't want to get sick and he is contagious. Oh yeah, and if I do happen to go into labor, we are in big trouble because he would not be allowed to be around the baby. That means he wouldn't be able to be there for me during delivery, and he wouldn't get to hold his daughter when she is born.

Thank goodness I am pretty confident that he will be better in plenty of time for my labor to start, but still, it is on my mind. The doctor gave him antibiotics and I just hope that they work fast. Dealing with a sick husband when you aren't feeling your best is not easy.

Christina's Room

I was playing with our new video camera earlier and recorded the baby's room. It is much easier to get a better idea of how it looks in a video, rather than pictures. The room is pretty much finished now, so take a look and tell me what you think.

Single Digits!

Only 9 days until my due date. Crazy huh? I only have two more days left of work and from that point on, one way or another, life as I know it will be very different. I am so excited. I can't wait to meet our little girl, to see what she looks like, to hold and snuggle her for the first time, and to take the first picture of her.

I have another doctors appointment today and I will find out what my progress is like. My mom is coming with me because Nik can't come. I know she is just as excited as I am to find out how things are coming along. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, because I know there is a huge chance that I'll still be one centimeter dialated, but how cool would it be if I was like 2 or 3?

I haven't felt any contractions so far. Usually by even 31 weeks pregnant, women start to feel braxton hicks contractions. They are like practice contractions to get your body ready. And at this point, I could even be having the real thing without going into labor, but I haven't noticed them either.

It is possible that I have had contractions and just don't know it. That would be wonderful! How great would it be if I was contracting and dialating and my body was getting ready for this baby, without even causing me any pain? It would be great, but not likely. I don't even know what contractions feel like, so it will be interesting when I finally do realize I'm having them. It won't be long now.