In honor or Trevor's Three-month birthday, here is his birth story:
On Monday, I found out that I'm walking around dilated to a 3.5-4. No big surprise since I have been having contractions on and off since Thursday, in fact, on Sunday, they got rather close (8-10 minutes) for quite a few hours. I did this with both of my other kids. It seems to be my magic number and then once I get past it, I just fly! Thomas I was at a 4 for a week before I delivered him. And Toby for 3 1/2 weeks before he arrived. I was at the hospital for less than 1 1/2 hours with each of them before they arrived. That is counting from the second I walked through the hospital doors until they were handed to me. I also dilated twice as many centimeters with Toby as I did with Thomas in that amount of time, I've done the math, and if this baby follows suit, and I don't catch on before I did with his brothers, I have about 45 minutes. That's not a lot of time considering it takes at least 15 minutes to take care of the little paperwork involved (I'm pre-registered) and get undressed.
It occurred to me that the contractions started 11 days after my last 17p injection. Interesting, huh? I guess my doctor was right when he said that the effects would wear off after 7-10 days.
I have been trying to notice every cramp, ache and twinge of pain. I'm trying my best to make it to the hospital before the contractions are right on top of each other and have me bent in two. The problem is, there usually isn't much time going from feeling relatively fine to being in pure misery. My sister made the statement that she thinks I've become sort of skittish...I believe she is right!
My doctor told me not to wait until they are five minutes apart and not to wait an hour until I've had regular contractions either. Once I am sure that they are the real deal I am to get to the hospital. Whether James is here or not! So I have friends on call to swing by, pick the boys & I up and drop me off at the hospital where hopefully James can make it before the delivery.
So, today, I am officially nine days away from my due date. I have an induction set for Sunday morning. It was going to be Saturday night but there was a conflict. Saturday night, Sunday morning...it really doesn't matter to me. You pick your battles in life, this wasn't one I cared to fight over. My doctor told me that since I'm already so far dilated, she's just going to break my water and give my body a chance before giving me any meds to bring on the contractions. Which I'm fine with!
If I go into labor on my own, I am trying to accept the reality that I probably won't get an epidural. It's a harsh reality to accept especially since having Toby almost five years ago, all I've ever dreamt about if I had another child, beyond not having another premature baby, was getting an epidural. I really don't want a 3/3 record! Sure, I go fast, but let me tell you, it still hurts like HE*L!
I still have no idea if I'll make it until Sunday. Actually, I'm uncertain that I'll make it until this afternoon. Yep. Skittish.
Until later,
Emily
I woke up Saturday morning and felt a little funky in the tummy. Which wasn't a huge surprise since Toby had been dealing with some kind of funk the day before. Nevertheless, this kind of funk isn't good for staying pregnant (I have a pattern!). So, I stayed in bed, stayed on my left side, and hydrated and hydrated and hydrated, trying to make up for the numerous trips to the bathroom that day. I felt some tightening of my abdomen which I was pretty sure were contractions.
By about 4:30 PM, I decided maybe it would be best to go to the hospital. I quickly grabbed my toothbrush, contact case, and glasses and figured if I needed some other things, James would get them later. James packed a small overnight bag for Thomas and Toby and we were all off to the hospital. (Later on, James called a friend who was ready to come retrieve the boys from the hospital if this was "the real deal"!)
I got admitted to the hospital and was taken to the maternity wing triage. They got me hooked up to some monitors and it was quickly determined that a) the baby was NOT under any kind of distress and b) I was having some fairly regular contractions. I was hooked up to some IV fluids even though it was determined that I had done a fairly good job at keeping myself hydrated (I told you so!). Well, after the first bag of fluid, my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes. I was, in the nurses own words, "not behaving at all" and "do you want to stay the night here?" A quick call to my doctor (who was in the hospital delivering a baby I assume) and it was determined that I needed to be given some terbutaline to try to stop the contractions.
I was surprised but in a good way. I assumed that since I was past 34 weeks, I would have the baby. The nurse told me that I could have up to three shots of terbutaline to try to stop the contractions but after that, they'd probably stop the medical interference. After the first shot, I could feel my body relaxing. It took a second shot to stop them completely but it worked! After about six hours at the hospital I got to go home.
At this point, we are hoping for a couple more weeks. There is some worry that the baby's lungs are not fully developed yet, but he is past the point where he can receive the steroids (34 weeks is the cut-off). And the other concern is his immune system. Once I hit 37 weeks, I can have a new goal at making it to 39 weeks and getting induced. I'd really, really, like to try out that thing called an epidural!
I am not on bed rest but have been told to "take it easy"--whatever that means. For me, that means that I am making more of an effort to literally put my feet up more often during the day. I am staying well-hydrated. In the meantime, we are finally pulling the baby things out and trying to get organized. It is a slow process, right now it looks like we just moved in again. But, I figure if he were to be born this week, he'd most likely spend some time in the NICU so we still have some time to get ready for him. It will be OK.
Until later,
Emily
James returned home from his last work traveling trip (until after the baby arrives & I am on my feet again) tonight. He spent 11 days in Germany. This was probably the best experience the boys & I have had while he was gone. Go figure, since the next time James goes away, we will have three children! They behaved and I, for the most part, kept my sanity. The weather has been nice so we have been outside a lot and that helped! The only bump in the road was on Tuesday when I found out I may have to go to the hospital to get the steroids to develop the baby's lungs. I wasn't too happy about facing that while he was gone, finding last-minute babysitting for the boys and such, but it all worked out. It turned out that I didn't need the steroids after all/just yet.
Until later,
Emily
Toby stopped taking regular naps nearly 1 1/2 years ago. But, every once in a while, he will take a random nap. Yesterday was one of those days...he had preschool, then lunch, then gym at the YMCA. We came home, he hopped on the couch with his "beautiful, tickle-y, moon-star blankie" and was out cold within 15 minutes! He slept for over two hours, and then I decided I better wake him up. I thought for sure that he'd be awful to get to go to sleep later on at night, but I was wrong, he went right to sleep & then slept about 45 minutes later this morning!
Until later,
Emily
Before we moved from Germany, Toby was almost potty-trained. He had #1 mastered, but still struggled with #2. Once we moved, he was a mess, having accidents, of both kinds, left and right and that was how it was until mid-September, until we moved back into our house and I think he started to feel some sort of normalcy. In other words: he was your typical kid with potty-training and major life changes!
Once we started getting into a routine again, and he had a sense of "where we lived", control over his bowels was no longer a problem. But, it was surprising to find that his desire to stay dry all day had left, even though he had already gotten over that hurdle once.
Day after day, month after month, he would have at least one accident. It became a power struggle for us. For some reason, he decided he did not want to use the toilet, especially if he was asked to. It was most frustrating. I tried every trick in the book. I was open to every single suggestion. Some things would help, some days were better than others. Things improved, but there was still at least one accident a day, usually between 2 and 3 PM. And when he would have an accident, he didn't care--he didn't care if he had the sensation of feeling wet or dry. He would take either. It didn't matter. Which you can imagine, added to my frustration. And after his fourth birthday, in January, I became increasingly frustrated by his bad attitude!
And, then, a few weeks ago, James requested that I buy some Jelly Belly jelly beans. Not for Toby, but for James to snack on. Toby was with me the day that I bought the jelly beans, and he was most intrigued by them. An idea came to me: why not try to use these as incentive for Toby to use the potty? Now, don't get me wrong, I had tried something similar, I had tried M&M's and Skittle's and neither of these helped. But Toby continued to be interested in trying all these colorful jelly beans, so I set the rule that every time he peed in the toilet, he could have two jelly beans! I am THRILLED to report that he has turned a corner! I still have to remember to remind him to use the toilet every few hours, but there isn't a power struggle any longer and very rarely an accident!
Until later,
Emily
James' mom & dad came and spent a week in Maryland with us while Thomas & Toby were out for Spring Break. We did little day trips nearly every day. On this particular day, we went to Gettysburg. During the time that we lived in Germany, a new visitor's center was built in Gettysburg. It is really, really nice. After we toured the visitor's center, we drove around the grounds--the kids loved it!
Until later,
Emily
While shopping in "Downtown Frederick" it really is best to leave the kids outside (with a supervising adult) rather than taking them in the cute stores with you!
Until later,
Emily
I signed the boys up for a little Easter egg hunt that was held nearby. It also included some games. Unfortunately, the day of the hunt ended up being rainy & cold so they had to move it indoors. Better than canceling it completely, I guess. Well, at least the kids thought it was fun. I don't have any pictures of the actual egg hunt, because I had to help Toby.
Until later,
Emily
Thomas' school had "Spirit Week" and each day had a different theme where the kids had the opportunity to dress up & have a little bit of fun. His favorite day was "Crazy Hair Day".
Until later,
Emily
