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| Braden Cai - Week 1 |
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Braden Cai - Delivery & Hospital Stay
Alright! It's been a week since we got home. I've finally managed to get most of the pics transferred from the cameras to the computer and uploaded to Picasa. Here's the first album: (click to view the entire album - slide show is the recommended viewing method)
April 17th, 2009 - April 21st, 2009
I will be posting more pics soon - hopefully tomorrow.
April 17th, 2009 - April 21st, 2009
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| Braden Cai - Hospital |
I will be posting more pics soon - hopefully tomorrow.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Braden Cai Carroll has arrived!
Braden Cai arrived at 12:02pm on Saturday, April 18th, 2009. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 6.4 oz and was 20" head to toe.
THE STORY (may be too graphic for some readers - although, I've tried to tone it down):
We went to the hospital and checked in at 9:30pm on Friday, April 17th. After checking in, they put me on monitors, put in an IV port, and drew blood for labs. After being monitored for about 30 minutes, they called the doc to let her know what was going on. She had the nurses go ahead and start me on Cytotek to get things going a little better. After seeing that contractions had gotten going, they gave me a couple of Ambien so I could hopefully get some rest.
Evidently I did get some rest that night. However, by 3:30am, I was up again. At 3:48am, as I recall, my water broke. There was meconium in the fluid so the nurses called the doctor again. Since the meconium was very dilute the weren't too concerned. However, just to be safe, they started an amnio infusion to help further dilute the meconium. The also went ahead and started my epidural and a Pitocin drip. (At this point, I'm still only dialated to 1cm.)
Here is where time went out the window for me... I'm having contractions about every minute now - even though I'm not feeling them. The nurses have now seen the baby "decel" twice. (This means that the baby's heart rate is decelerating to an unfavorable pace.) They call the doc. She comes in and checks me. I'm still only at 1.5 cm... She tells us that if the baby decels again that it will be 3 strikes and a trip to the OR. Within the next hour, the baby's heart rate again goes below 50 beats per minute. The OR is scheduled and we're put on-call.
The OR is finally available and we're prepped. Right before they wheel me out of the room they pump me up with an extra dose in my epidural. (At this point I still have some sensation and movement in my lower extremities.) Mom is sent to the waiting room and Daniel is sent to put on scrubs.
Once in the OR, they tie my legs down and prep my abdomen. They poke me up and down with a sharp plastic object to make sure I'm numb. Then, my doc pinches me - evidently rather hard - to make sure I really can't feel anything. I can't feel a thing, so it's all good. They bring Daniel in. He's walking in as they start to slice into my abdomen.
As they're slicing into me, I try to focus on Daniel. He looks so worried... I can only see sheets and smell buring flesh. He can see over the sheets to see what's going on. After just a few minutes of cutting and terrible odors, the doctor's assistant puts what seems like all of his weight on my upper abdomen to help push the baby out. There's a lot of pressure, then a popping sensation as Braden is pulled from my abdomen. The doctor cuts the umbilical cord, which was wrapped around Braden's neck three times, and passes Braden off to the pediatrician so he can be assessed and so she can finish with me.
Braden passes his first test with an Apgar score of 8/10. Five minutes later they test him again and he passes with a 9/10. They said it would have been a 10/10, but he wasn't crying. A nurse brings him over and takes a picture of the three of us! I then get to hold him for a minute before they take Daniel and Braden away so they can finish putting me back together.
The doc tells me that it was a good thing we scheduled to come in when we did, because we would have ended up coming in and delivering today anyway. Evidently the sore spot that I had on my upper left abdomen was where Braden's placenta had begun to deteriorate. They cleaned out my uterus and started stitching it up. About this time, a nurse came over and said she was going to give me something to make me stop shaking - I had been shaking throughout the Cesarean due to medications. This is the last I remember until waking up in recovery.
Next, post-op experiences.
THE STORY (may be too graphic for some readers - although, I've tried to tone it down):
We went to the hospital and checked in at 9:30pm on Friday, April 17th. After checking in, they put me on monitors, put in an IV port, and drew blood for labs. After being monitored for about 30 minutes, they called the doc to let her know what was going on. She had the nurses go ahead and start me on Cytotek to get things going a little better. After seeing that contractions had gotten going, they gave me a couple of Ambien so I could hopefully get some rest.
Evidently I did get some rest that night. However, by 3:30am, I was up again. At 3:48am, as I recall, my water broke. There was meconium in the fluid so the nurses called the doctor again. Since the meconium was very dilute the weren't too concerned. However, just to be safe, they started an amnio infusion to help further dilute the meconium. The also went ahead and started my epidural and a Pitocin drip. (At this point, I'm still only dialated to 1cm.)
Here is where time went out the window for me... I'm having contractions about every minute now - even though I'm not feeling them. The nurses have now seen the baby "decel" twice. (This means that the baby's heart rate is decelerating to an unfavorable pace.) They call the doc. She comes in and checks me. I'm still only at 1.5 cm... She tells us that if the baby decels again that it will be 3 strikes and a trip to the OR. Within the next hour, the baby's heart rate again goes below 50 beats per minute. The OR is scheduled and we're put on-call.
The OR is finally available and we're prepped. Right before they wheel me out of the room they pump me up with an extra dose in my epidural. (At this point I still have some sensation and movement in my lower extremities.) Mom is sent to the waiting room and Daniel is sent to put on scrubs.
Once in the OR, they tie my legs down and prep my abdomen. They poke me up and down with a sharp plastic object to make sure I'm numb. Then, my doc pinches me - evidently rather hard - to make sure I really can't feel anything. I can't feel a thing, so it's all good. They bring Daniel in. He's walking in as they start to slice into my abdomen.
As they're slicing into me, I try to focus on Daniel. He looks so worried... I can only see sheets and smell buring flesh. He can see over the sheets to see what's going on. After just a few minutes of cutting and terrible odors, the doctor's assistant puts what seems like all of his weight on my upper abdomen to help push the baby out. There's a lot of pressure, then a popping sensation as Braden is pulled from my abdomen. The doctor cuts the umbilical cord, which was wrapped around Braden's neck three times, and passes Braden off to the pediatrician so he can be assessed and so she can finish with me.
Braden passes his first test with an Apgar score of 8/10. Five minutes later they test him again and he passes with a 9/10. They said it would have been a 10/10, but he wasn't crying. A nurse brings him over and takes a picture of the three of us! I then get to hold him for a minute before they take Daniel and Braden away so they can finish putting me back together.
The doc tells me that it was a good thing we scheduled to come in when we did, because we would have ended up coming in and delivering today anyway. Evidently the sore spot that I had on my upper left abdomen was where Braden's placenta had begun to deteriorate. They cleaned out my uterus and started stitching it up. About this time, a nurse came over and said she was going to give me something to make me stop shaking - I had been shaking throughout the Cesarean due to medications. This is the last I remember until waking up in recovery.
Next, post-op experiences.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Over-Due by 1 Week
Well, the "official" due date has come and gone. We're now a week over-due... Hopefully, today's office visit will be less stressful/emotional/upsetting than the last two. If anyone has some GOOD ob-gyn recommendations, please send them!
Today will be my last day at work until June - as long as the delivery goes as planned that is.
I'll do my best to update again after my appointment.
Today will be my last day at work until June - as long as the delivery goes as planned that is.
I'll do my best to update again after my appointment.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Pic Catch-up
Okay - I know I've fallen behind on posting pics... Here are some updated pics:
A reminder of where I started:
March 22nd:
April 5th:
Other Pics:
A reminder of where I started:
March 22nd:
April 5th:
Other Pics:
Week 40
Baby
- Hooray! You're in your fortieth week of pregnancy and your baby is now due. Don't worry if you're still waiting as you due date passes. It's not unusual to still be waiting for your baby to be born since a normal pregnancy may last for up to another two weeks.
- An average size baby now weighs about 7.5 lbs (3400g) and measures about 21.5 inches (50cm) long. Crown to rump measurement is about 14.8 to 15.2 inches (37 to 38cm). As you will see when your baby is born, these are averages only and vary from baby to baby. Your baby may weigh and measure more or less that this.
- The presenting part is down in the lower portion of your uterus and pressing through your softened and partially opened cervix.
- You may be surprised by the initial appearance of your baby when it is first born. Her head may be slightly misshapen from passing through the birth canal, though this usually does not last more than a day or two. Her coloring may initially appear bluish, purplish or pale yellow and she may be covered with vernix, blood, lanugo and some meconium if she passes her waste in utero. Her genitals may also be swollen due to high hormone levels that were passed from you during your pregnancy, and she may have some skin discolorations or spots which will probably fade quite quickly.
Mommy
- Congratulations! You'll be a mommy very soon. You're about as big as you can get and you're also ready for your baby to be born.
- Along with your pregnancy symptoms that may include discomfort, fatigue and Braxton Hicks contractions, you probably feel very excited, nervous and anxious about labor, childbirth and having a baby.
- Your skin feels stretched and taut across your belly and it probably feels itchy. You may experience "pins and needles" in your legs.
- If you haven't shown any symptoms of labor by week 42, your doctor or midwife may become concerned and may discuss inducing labor.
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