Contractions + Hospital + Bed Rest = No Bueno!!

Here's the story....

I started feeling tightness and pain in my lower abdomen and back about 2 weeks ago. I thought this was the stretching of my uterus to accommodate my growing baby, but as this pain continued and started getting worse, I realized that I was actually having contractions. Yikes! A 21 weeks, this is definitely NOT a good thing. My mom suggested that I call the midwives to get their advice. I called late last Thursday and they immediately called me back early Friday morning. The nurse told me I needed to get to the office as soon as possible. So, instead of heading to work, I headed straight to the medical center.

Once I got there, one of the midwives, Diane, checked my cervix to see if it was dilating. Luckily, I was not dilating, but the midwife thought my cervix seemed short, which could mean I was going into pre-term labor. The next step was an ultrasound to measure more accurately the length of my cervix. Baby Christian (we finally decided on his name!) was very active, once again, during the ultrasound. This made me breathe a sigh of relief. At least the baby was doing well! The tech measured my cervix and said it was not shortened. Yay! One hurdle crossed! But, the tech said she could see that my uterus was contracting and of course, I knew that because I could feel it.

After the ultrasound, Diane put me on a monitor to watch the patterns of my contractions. At this point, the contractions were coming every few minutes. They were not very painful contractions, but extremely uncomfortable. After 30 minutes or so, Diane said that I was having labor patterned contractions, and I needed to go to the hospital to be under observation. I was not expecting that at all! But, I knew that she knew best. So, the midwives office is actually in the hospital, I just had to make my way to the labor and delivery floor, where another midwife, Dawn was delivering a baby. She would be the one to observe me.

On my way to the labor & delivery floor, I called my husband and my mom to let them know what was going on, and they immediately arranged to come to the hospital to keep me company.

Once at the hospital, I was given an IV and was out back on the monitor. My contractions were still pretty steady for the next few hours. So, the midwife, Dawn, gave me some medicine to stop the contractions. It didn't completely stop the contractions, but it made them much less frequent. Next, Dawn wanted to do another ultrasound to make sure my cervix was not changing. Again, my cervix was fine. At about 6:30 in the evening, Dawn gave me 2 prescriptions of medicine and released me from the hospital. But, she told me I had to go home and be on bed rest for the next few days. She didn't want me lifting, cleaning or walking around. Basically, she wanted me to stay in bed and rest. So, ALL weekend I was a complete bum! Ugh! No fun at all! But, the contractions went away almost completely! I only had a few of them on Saturday and a few on Sunday. I did notice that when I was on my feet like taking a shower and blow drying my hair, that I would start contracting. Once I was back on the couch, they eased up.

Dawn wanted to see me again yesterday (Monday). I was expecting to get the okay to go back to work and back to my normal routine. However, that was not the case at all! Even though the contractions have eased up a lot, Dawn fears that if I go back to work that my contractions will start back up again and I could go into pre-term labor. So, she wants me on bed rest this entire week! Ahh!!! I'm going to go crazy! But, for the sake of baby Christian, I will do what she says. It is WAY too early for him to make his entrance into the world! I can't wait to meet him, but he needs to stay put for at least another 15 weeks.

Giff & I are staying positive and we are praying that everything turns out okay.Here is the newest pic of Christian. He finally cooperated and we got a great profile picture of him! I love him so much already! :)

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!

This past Tuesday, October 14th, I had my anatomy ultrasound at St. Lukes Hospital. Giff and I both took the whole day off of work, so we could enjoy the time together! We got up early and made our way to the medical center. Baby Leu was extremely active during the ultrasound! He was tossing and turning and shaking his head every time the ultrasound machine passed over him! It was super cute! Then at one point, he put his hand to his cheek and it looked like he was waving to us! Such an amazing experience! The technician waited until the very end of the ultrasound to tell us "Oh! It's a boy!" My heart skipped a beat! I looked at Giff and he was grinning ear to ear! Such a proud daddy to be! We spent the rest of our day off going to baby stores, looking at furniture and buying cute little onesies for our little man! We had the best day! Check out what we got:

My favorite- the blue one that says "Small, Dark & Handsome." How precious is that?? Our next task, is coming up with a name. We have it narrowed down to a select few: Christian, Kevin or Brayden. Middle name possibilities are: Taylor, Alexander, Adam (after Giff's Grandpa) and Leeland (after Giff's Dad). My favorites are: Christian Taylor and Brayden Alexander. My hubby just can't seem to make up his mind. It's a big deal naming your first son! :) We hope to have a name picked out within the next week or so, so this baby doesn't have to go by baby anymore- we can call him by his name!

p.s. It has been wonderful watching Giff turn into a giddy, daddy to be......I think knowing that he will have a son in a few months has made him truly happy! I LOVE both of my boys!

Nesting already?

I have the strongest desire to make something for this little one on the way! What? I don't know! But, I see all of these projects these other moms-to-be are creating for their babies, and I want to do the same! I am very creative, but I've never learned the ability to sew. Maybe now is the time to learn! Look at these adorable bibs and onesies I found on etsy:

Now why can't I do something like that? I would LOVE to create some personal items for my newborn. It can't be that hard. Right?

I also came across some all natural, organic, non-toxic, fragrance free, good-for-your-baby laundry detergent on etsy. It's called Clean Rinse.

It costs $9 for one jar, and you get 36 loads out of it. It comes out to $0.25 a load. Not bad. But, still more expensive than my regular detergent. I am really considering purchasing the detergent before the baby arrives. I don't want to put chemicals into my baby's clothing and bedding. I will definitely keep this in mind.

Midwifery vs. OB/GYN

I have thought a lot about what kind of birth/delivery I want to have with this baby. I am a big believer in doing things as naturally as possible. So, I have been researching my different options when it comes to my care as well as my baby's care during the birthing process.

I came across a group of midwives who are part of the Woman's Specialists of Houston. It's a group of 4 midwives and 7 ob/gyns. I have read nothing but fabulous reviews of the midwives! And, the philosophies they have about pre-natal care and giving birth are right in line with my own. So, I made an appointment with them and I had my first visit this past Monday. I get to meet with a different midwife each time I go, so that I get to know all 4 of them. I won't know who will deliver my baby until I go into labor. Whichever midwife is on call at that time will be there with me through delivery. Dawn, is the first midwife I met, and she was awesome! She talked to me for over an hour! I got to know her better in this hour than I had with my previous ob/gyn the entire 3 years I had been going to her! She really put my mind at ease! Here are just some of the differences between a midwife and a regular ob/gyn:

Ob/Gyn:
Too many patients to handle
Non-personalized care
More c-sections & medicated births
IV during all of labor
Laboring happens mostly in a bed
Delivery is posed on your back w/feet in stirrups
Baby is taken to nursery immediately after birth
Breastfeeding starts hours after birth
Doctor has little to do with actual labor

Midwife:
Small # of patients
Personalized care
Very few c-sections & medicated births
No IV unless absolutely necessary
Labor on a birthing ball, in the water, or walking around
Unlimited options of positions to give birth in
Baby remains with mom after birth
Breastfeeding starts within one hour of birth
Midwife is there almost the entire time during labor

Needless to say, I have completely switched my pre-natal care over to the midwives! They will tailor my birthing plan to exactly my specifications, and they will try to help my stick with it during labor. They are more supportive and more like coaches, than actual doctors. Another great perk is that the midwives have their patients deliver at St. Lukes Hospital in the medical center. So, if there was to be an emergency during my labor, I will immediately be transferred to the care of one of the ob/gyns on call that day.

I feel so much better about labor and delivery now that I have made this change in my care! I go back on October 14th for my anatomy ultrasound, and Giff and I will be able to find out the sex of the baby! I couldn't be more excited! Less than 2 weeks to go! :)