Sunday, October 3
Tuesday, August 3
Demari Emanuelle's birth story
July 5th
I started feeling a lot of cramping in my stomach and back at around 1 pm. After an hour I realized that they could be timed to about 5 minutes apart. I just thought maybe I hadn't been drinking enough water or I over did it the day before at the Zoo, so I asked Chris to watch Diara for a little while so I could lay down and drink a big cup of water. 45 minutes passed and I still wasn't feeling any better so we decided to go up the Labor and Delivery triage just to make sure everything is okay. I figured they'd just give me some IV fluids and send me on my way. When we got to the hospital they hooked me up to the moniters and they showed that I was contracting every 3-5 minutes, so the nurse brought me a HUGE cup of water and left me on the moniters for an hour so see if that slowed anything. Then the doctor came in and they went ahead and did my GBS test and took some other stuff to send to the lab. Since the doctor was using the speculum, she said it LOOKED like my cervix was closed, but when she checked she was really surprised to find out I was already 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced. That's when they told me I was being admitted. They placed an IV and walked me over to my room in Labor and Delivery. The nurses wasted no time getting me started on Magnesium, IV fluids, and antibiotics since my GBS test wouldn't be back for a couple days. I also recieved my first steroid shot at 6 pm. Chris took Diara home and we decided to see how things went before we sent her to stay with someone so Chris could be with me during the birth.
July 6th
By 2 am, the contractions still hadn't slowed down. A doctor came in and checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm and 80% effaced. The nurse said they were expecting for me to delivery that night so I called Chris and he dropped Diara off at his co-worker's house and headed over. Before he arrived, I received my Epidural. By the time Chris arrived my contractions had started to slow down. We both tried to get a little sleep. I guess the Epidural helped slow down the contractions for awhile so when Chris woke up we decided he would go get Diara, bring her to visit me, and then head home. It was really frustrating for me because I wasn't allowed to eat and I could only have 85 cc of fluids an hour due to the magnesium they had me on. The whole day was spent waiting around. Since my contractions had slowed down we decided to cap off my Epidural. Again my contractions picked back up to 3-5 minutes apart and the nurses all thought I would deliver soon. Chris dropped Diara off at our neighbors and headed back up to the hospital. They hooked my Epidural back up and I received my second steroid shot. the Epidural slowed my contractions down again and we spent all night waiting and wondering if he would be born that night. When things became obvious that nothing was going to happen that night Chris went home to get some sleep because the cot he had was really uncomfortable.
July 7th
The doctor came in and checked me in the morning and I was 8 cm. They allowed me to eat breakfast and the decision was made to go ahead and take me off the Magnesium and if I went into labor again they weren't going to stop it. We also turned off my epidural again and went ahead and took my catheter out because it was irritating my bladder and I had blood in my urine. Once again the contractions picked back up and we thought for SURE he'd come now. They hooked my Epidural up once again and then tried to fix it because it was only working on one side of my body. They pulled the catheter out of my back just a little bit and that seemed to fix the problem. That night my contractions slowed down to one an hour and we again had a night of waiting.
July 8th
This morning was especially hard for me. I was really missing Diara and was getting frustrated about being stuck in bed. Again, they allowed me to eat breakfast. Chris went home for a little while and came back with Diara that afternoon. My Epidurals was completely taken out and replaced because it went back to only working on my right side. I was still only numb on one side after that. The Dr. came in and said that they decided that it's not healthy for me to just sit around at 8 cm any longer and they were going to break my water and start some pitocin to help my contractions be a little more effective. They broke my water at 2:43 pm and things started getting REALLY painful. Luckily, I didn't have very much longer to labor before I could start pushing. He was born at 3:49 pm after only 10 minutes of pushing (and feeling EVERYTHING on one side). Chris was very set in NOT wanting to cut the cord, but he changed his mind at the last minute. Demari's APGARS were 9 and 9. He weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 1/8 in. He was doing so well that before they took him to the NICU due to his gestational age they let me hold him.
The NICU staff was very impressed by him and joked about him being able to beat up all of the other babies in the NICU. He spent the night in the NICU to be observed, but was allowed to room in with me the night of the 9th. He was discharged on the 10th and we were finally allowed to home with a list of things to moniter until his followup appointment. He was so small that we couldn't use the same car seat we used with Diara and had to go buy a new one that was made to accommodate smaller babies.
He has been doing really well since we've been home. His discharge weight was 5 lbs. 4 oz. and he was up to 5 lbs. 14 oz. at his 2 week appt. Diara took some time to warm up to him, but now she loves to give him kisses and help me change his diaper. I can't believe he's already almost 1 month!
I started feeling a lot of cramping in my stomach and back at around 1 pm. After an hour I realized that they could be timed to about 5 minutes apart. I just thought maybe I hadn't been drinking enough water or I over did it the day before at the Zoo, so I asked Chris to watch Diara for a little while so I could lay down and drink a big cup of water. 45 minutes passed and I still wasn't feeling any better so we decided to go up the Labor and Delivery triage just to make sure everything is okay. I figured they'd just give me some IV fluids and send me on my way. When we got to the hospital they hooked me up to the moniters and they showed that I was contracting every 3-5 minutes, so the nurse brought me a HUGE cup of water and left me on the moniters for an hour so see if that slowed anything. Then the doctor came in and they went ahead and did my GBS test and took some other stuff to send to the lab. Since the doctor was using the speculum, she said it LOOKED like my cervix was closed, but when she checked she was really surprised to find out I was already 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced. That's when they told me I was being admitted. They placed an IV and walked me over to my room in Labor and Delivery. The nurses wasted no time getting me started on Magnesium, IV fluids, and antibiotics since my GBS test wouldn't be back for a couple days. I also recieved my first steroid shot at 6 pm. Chris took Diara home and we decided to see how things went before we sent her to stay with someone so Chris could be with me during the birth.
July 6th
By 2 am, the contractions still hadn't slowed down. A doctor came in and checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm and 80% effaced. The nurse said they were expecting for me to delivery that night so I called Chris and he dropped Diara off at his co-worker's house and headed over. Before he arrived, I received my Epidural. By the time Chris arrived my contractions had started to slow down. We both tried to get a little sleep. I guess the Epidural helped slow down the contractions for awhile so when Chris woke up we decided he would go get Diara, bring her to visit me, and then head home. It was really frustrating for me because I wasn't allowed to eat and I could only have 85 cc of fluids an hour due to the magnesium they had me on. The whole day was spent waiting around. Since my contractions had slowed down we decided to cap off my Epidural. Again my contractions picked back up to 3-5 minutes apart and the nurses all thought I would deliver soon. Chris dropped Diara off at our neighbors and headed back up to the hospital. They hooked my Epidural back up and I received my second steroid shot. the Epidural slowed my contractions down again and we spent all night waiting and wondering if he would be born that night. When things became obvious that nothing was going to happen that night Chris went home to get some sleep because the cot he had was really uncomfortable.
July 7th
The doctor came in and checked me in the morning and I was 8 cm. They allowed me to eat breakfast and the decision was made to go ahead and take me off the Magnesium and if I went into labor again they weren't going to stop it. We also turned off my epidural again and went ahead and took my catheter out because it was irritating my bladder and I had blood in my urine. Once again the contractions picked back up and we thought for SURE he'd come now. They hooked my Epidural up once again and then tried to fix it because it was only working on one side of my body. They pulled the catheter out of my back just a little bit and that seemed to fix the problem. That night my contractions slowed down to one an hour and we again had a night of waiting.
July 8th
This morning was especially hard for me. I was really missing Diara and was getting frustrated about being stuck in bed. Again, they allowed me to eat breakfast. Chris went home for a little while and came back with Diara that afternoon. My Epidurals was completely taken out and replaced because it went back to only working on my right side. I was still only numb on one side after that. The Dr. came in and said that they decided that it's not healthy for me to just sit around at 8 cm any longer and they were going to break my water and start some pitocin to help my contractions be a little more effective. They broke my water at 2:43 pm and things started getting REALLY painful. Luckily, I didn't have very much longer to labor before I could start pushing. He was born at 3:49 pm after only 10 minutes of pushing (and feeling EVERYTHING on one side). Chris was very set in NOT wanting to cut the cord, but he changed his mind at the last minute. Demari's APGARS were 9 and 9. He weighed 5 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 1/8 in. He was doing so well that before they took him to the NICU due to his gestational age they let me hold him.
The NICU staff was very impressed by him and joked about him being able to beat up all of the other babies in the NICU. He spent the night in the NICU to be observed, but was allowed to room in with me the night of the 9th. He was discharged on the 10th and we were finally allowed to home with a list of things to moniter until his followup appointment. He was so small that we couldn't use the same car seat we used with Diara and had to go buy a new one that was made to accommodate smaller babies.
He has been doing really well since we've been home. His discharge weight was 5 lbs. 4 oz. and he was up to 5 lbs. 14 oz. at his 2 week appt. Diara took some time to warm up to him, but now she loves to give him kisses and help me change his diaper. I can't believe he's already almost 1 month!
Tuesday, March 30
It's a...
...BOY! There's no mistaking it and Chris guessed it before my eyes could even adjust to what was showing on the screen. He was really excited and had Diara screaming at the top of her lungs and clapping while the tech printed out our pictures.
We actually saw the Thumbs up before we found out it was a boy and Chris said it was him saying, "Yup, I'm a boy!!" I was measuring about a week ahead, so I'm hoping when I go see my Dr. next month she'll move my due date up.
In other news, Chris and I also celebrated our 2 year anniversary yesterday and I started another quarter of school. All-in-all...a busy, but happy day.
We actually saw the Thumbs up before we found out it was a boy and Chris said it was him saying, "Yup, I'm a boy!!" I was measuring about a week ahead, so I'm hoping when I go see my Dr. next month she'll move my due date up.
In other news, Chris and I also celebrated our 2 year anniversary yesterday and I started another quarter of school. All-in-all...a busy, but happy day.
Thursday, March 4
Wash your UNDERWEAR!!
This news story is completely unbelievable!! Please wash all of your new underwear and swimsuits before wearing them....
It's not illegal to sell used underwear!
It's not illegal to sell used underwear!
Sunday, February 28
Hallmark Love Comes Softly Series
So this weekend I recorded the entire Love Comes Softly series from the Hallmark Movie Channel and have been working my way through them. The first one is pretty close to the book, but as I get further into the movie series it's beginning to be NOTHING like the books. It's just so disappointing. The credits at the beginning of each movie state that it's based on the Janette Oke Books, but the only thing they got from the books is some of the names. I'd probably enjoy the movies if I had never read the books, but to say that it's based on the books might as well be an outright lie.
Friday, February 26
A late post all about Diara
I feel like I'm always behind. I know I didn't post anything for Diara's birthday so I thought I'd write a little bit about it now.
For Diara's birthday, I took her to run errands during the day. We bought decorations and stuff to make a cake for her birthday. I know that sounds really boring, but since we never get to leave the house she really loves going to run errands and seeing all the different people, and especially waving at anyone who will look at her. When Daddy got off work, we went to buy a TV for our living room. We also ordered Diara's new crib and crib set online which was her birthday present. Once we finally got home, we went ahead and sang happy birthday and gave her her cake (Chocolate with chocolate icing, of course). We must have her trained pretty good because it was right in her face and we were encouraging her to just put her hands in and all she did was sit there looking back and forth between us and signing "more" over and over. So finally I had to give her a little help and put her hands in the cake. She eventually got the hang of it though and went to town on it.
Daddy then whisked her off to a quick bath and then I helped her open her presents from her cousins, aunt and uncles, and grandparents before I had to leave for class since I had a test. All in all I think she had a pretty event filled day.
She had her 12 month check up the next day. She's now 20lbs. 7oz. and 28.5" long. Woo-hoo!! No longer is eh below the 5th percentile. The doctor was pretty impressed. I guess she's just a late bloomer. Now if she would only get some teeth!! The doctor said that they don't worry about not having teeth until they are 15 months so I guess we have a couple months so try to coax them out of hiding. Do they make dentures for babies?! lol!
Just this last week she's started to prefer walking to crawling so it's been a real struggle to keep up with her. She's also mastered climbing the stairs and if I'm with her downstairs and take my eyes off her for one second she somehow gets over to them and is halfway up. So the next thing on our to-do list is to get a permanent gate for the stairs. We also got her crib in and all set up. She LOVES it. It's so much bigger than the pack and play and she sleeps so much better in it.
This week I've been working on packing away things that don't fit her anymore and rearranging her room so that it will be ready for the second crib when we get around to buying it. I've also been helping her practicing being GENTLE. It's a work in progress I guess....
For Diara's birthday, I took her to run errands during the day. We bought decorations and stuff to make a cake for her birthday. I know that sounds really boring, but since we never get to leave the house she really loves going to run errands and seeing all the different people, and especially waving at anyone who will look at her. When Daddy got off work, we went to buy a TV for our living room. We also ordered Diara's new crib and crib set online which was her birthday present. Once we finally got home, we went ahead and sang happy birthday and gave her her cake (Chocolate with chocolate icing, of course). We must have her trained pretty good because it was right in her face and we were encouraging her to just put her hands in and all she did was sit there looking back and forth between us and signing "more" over and over. So finally I had to give her a little help and put her hands in the cake. She eventually got the hang of it though and went to town on it.
Daddy then whisked her off to a quick bath and then I helped her open her presents from her cousins, aunt and uncles, and grandparents before I had to leave for class since I had a test. All in all I think she had a pretty event filled day.
She had her 12 month check up the next day. She's now 20lbs. 7oz. and 28.5" long. Woo-hoo!! No longer is eh below the 5th percentile. The doctor was pretty impressed. I guess she's just a late bloomer. Now if she would only get some teeth!! The doctor said that they don't worry about not having teeth until they are 15 months so I guess we have a couple months so try to coax them out of hiding. Do they make dentures for babies?! lol!
Just this last week she's started to prefer walking to crawling so it's been a real struggle to keep up with her. She's also mastered climbing the stairs and if I'm with her downstairs and take my eyes off her for one second she somehow gets over to them and is halfway up. So the next thing on our to-do list is to get a permanent gate for the stairs. We also got her crib in and all set up. She LOVES it. It's so much bigger than the pack and play and she sleeps so much better in it.
This week I've been working on packing away things that don't fit her anymore and rearranging her room so that it will be ready for the second crib when we get around to buying it. I've also been helping her practicing being GENTLE. It's a work in progress I guess....
Tuesday, February 2
Not very good at this
So apparently I'm terrible at keeping this updated. I think I just feel like nothing all that important is going on here. It's just the same old, same old. Another day in the grind. But I know that Diara has changed quite a bit since I last posted anything. We're getting ready for her birthday on Monday. We're not really going to do anything for her birthday until Feb. 13th though. We decided to just have a party with us three. So nothing too fancy. I'm planning on making her cake and decorating the house. I think she'll really like seeing the house all done up and both of us making a big deal over her. Since she's almost one I thought I'd post a couple videos of her. One is of her walking behind her little push toy and the other one is her dancing. She LOVES to dance while she watches Yo Gabba Gabba. She'll stand up in front of the TV and just shake her arms and rock back and forth the whole time. It's just too funny.
Sorry they're not very good quality. I took them on my cell phone.
Sorry they're not very good quality. I took them on my cell phone.
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