Caylee Joy is here!

Well, I just wrote this entire post over the last few days and then it got erased.  Last thing I need right now!  So here we go again...

Monday started out just like any other morning.  I felt sick, as usual, as I got ready for work.  For some reason, I had an urge to take naked belly pics because I didn't have any.  I felt HUGE, but of course, I don't really think I look that big when I look at these now.

At a little after 8 am, I was at work when I got a call from the OB about my test results.  She suggested I stop by the hospital to get monitored for a short time and it wasn't a big hurry.  I finished up some things at work assuming I'd probably be back later or the next day.  My mom picked me up and we arrived at the hospital at 11:00.  I didn't feel very good, but it was pretty normal at that point, so I didn't really think much of it. 
My appetite pretty much went to nothing over the weekend, but I made myself have some snacks while I waited in the hospital.  They monitored my blood pressure and repeated the urine and blood tests while I rested in bed.  The more I laid there, the more tired I got, but it was also kind of nice just to rest.  The tests took an unusually long time to come back, but the nurses and doctors all seemed to hint that we would be able to leave when they got the results back.

At about 3:30, the midwife and nurse came in and sat down.  "So, you're having a baby today!"  Um, what? They felt that the pre-eclampsia was bad enough that they needed to induce right away at 38 weeks.  I was officially admitted at that point and started to get pretty nervous.  They hooked me up to an IV and started magnesium sulfate to help with the pre-e.  Unfortunately, the side effects made me very sick and weak.

I called Daddy right away so he could pick up Connor, pack our bags, and get to the hospital.  With cell phones not working in our room, it was quite an ordeal, but he finally arrived around 7. I think we took this photo right after he came in as I felt better having him by my side.  They started the pitocin at about 6:30, but there wasn't much progress at all.

As the hours went by, nothing was happening.  They checked dilation a couple times and there was no progress at all.  I was feeling pretty horrible from the meds and I started to get really nervous that they might have to do a c-section.  Throughout the night, I think I threw up about 4 times and I could hardly move at that point.  My headaches were getting worse which was another sign of the pre-e getting worse.

At some point during the night, I pulled out my new Mama bracelet for some inspiration.  Any chance of having the baby that night was gone, so it was definitely going to be Tuesday.  The night went by so slowly and I hardly slept at all.  I dozed off a few times, but the nurses were checking me at least once an hour, so I wasn't able to rest very much.  I remember waking up right around 5:10 am and saying, "Time to wake up for work!" when my alarm would normally go off.  But no, I was in the hospital about ready to have a baby! 

Around that time is when things started to get crazy.  The monitor with the epidural started to ring and I called the nurse a couple times to tell them.  It was making my headache worse and the noise wouldn't stop.  The contractions also started to get really painful and I knew something felt wrong.  I had been through this once before and I knew I was feeling way too much pain.  There was some kind of miscommunication with the nurses and no one came to help me for about 30 minutes.  By that time, the epidural felt like it had worn off and I was crying and screaming in pain.  Once they fixed everything, I started to feel a little better, but I also started to feel pressure of the baby. 

Things finally started to progress quickly and it wasn't long before all the doctors and nurses came in to set up for the birth.  I pushed for about 30 minutes and there really wasn't too much pain at all.  I felt pressure, but luckily, I couldn't feel the pushing or anything.  At 11:15 am, Caylee arrived!  She was 7 lbs, 1 oz. and 20 inches long.


She didn't cry right away and I started to get really scared.  I kept asking if she was okay and everyone assured me that she was healthy, but might have been a little drowsy from all the meds I was on.  I urged Daddy to take lots of photos as they cleaned her off and got her ready to hold.


She's here!

The newest member of our family :)

I took some close-ups once I got to hold her for a few minutes.

Perfect in every way!

Proud Daddy with his new sweetheart

I nursed her a little after she was born and she did pretty well. 

We rested in labor & delivery for a couple hours while they monitored my blood pressure and then moved us upstairs to the high risk post-partum area.  Fortunately, Caylee was perfect and healthy, but they were still monitoring me and kept me on all the meds for my high BP.  I look gross and tired here, but oh well, it's better than no photo at all.

At one point, she opened her eyes for a couple minutes so we could finally see her eyes.  They're a very dark blue/gray, so they're a little darker than big brother Connor's eyes.

And here you can see how swelled up I got from the IV and drugs.  Proud mama, but I felt pretty gross and sick at this point.

Daddy in his special chair hanging out with Caylee and watching some tv.

She surprised us by being an awesome sleeper like her big brother!

I was still getting monitored every hour by the nurses on Wednesday and into Thursday, so we hardly got any sleep.  I had a very hard time moving around from hip pain and nausea from the magnesium, so I was in a lot of pain.  Our hospital "vacation" wasn't nearly as restful as we expected, but at least we had a healthy baby.

We didn't think they were going to let me go home on Thursday because my blood pressure was so high, but I think we were both ready to go home.  I wanted to sleep in my own bed and get settled to our new life with 2 little ones.  On Thursday morning, Caylee and I both got permission to go home and we packed up all our stuff.  Little sweetie dirtied her diaper a few too many times, so we got delayed, but we eventually got dressed and headed out. 

Her headband and clothes were huge on her, but we tried! :)

As a surprise, we picked up Connor on our way home from the hospital.  I missed him so much and wanted him to see me without any machines or doctors around.  When we walked in with Caylee, he was so proud!  "Look at my baby!"  It was the best feeling to see how he wanted to show her off to all his teachers and friends.  As we all got back into the car to go home, I looked into the backseat and realized it was full now.  Our family is complete and my heart is full.

34 weeks

Feeling pretty big now...

My feet are disgusting and swelling, but I'm coping.  I got my nails done on Saturday and they actually didn't swell as much that day.  The doctor checked the protein in my urine and my BP because of the swelling, but everything is normal.  Good, but now I just have to deal with it for 5 more weeks.

The doctor also said I have the option of inducing at 39 weeks if I'm miserable because of all the issues I've been having.  I'm really not that big on inducing as of right now, but I might consider it if I feel horrible or go past 40 weeks.

Speaking of being miserable, my hip pain is horrible!  Since the baby moved down, my pain has moved to my upper thighs and lower hips, so we have to start all over again with PT.  I went on Tuesday, but it was hurting pretty bad by Thursday.  I've been taking Tylenol to help with the pain and so I can try to play with Connor and keep up with life.

A handful of people have all told me they think I'm going to go into labor early.  I'm not sure what to think about that and maybe I just look horrible and tired?  I'm going to go about another 2 weeks and then I'll start to get the hospital bag and things like that ready.  I don't have any feeling that it would happen earlier than that.

We worked a lot on the baby's room today, so we're almost done now.  We just need to hang up wall art and shelves and get the rest of the bedding on the crib once it's ironed.  I'm good on baby clothes at this point and the outfits for the hospital are washed and ready to go.

Cannot believe tomorrow is 35 & 35!

33 weeks

I feel like it's really starting to hit me now.  People have started to ask, "How long do you have left?" rather than "How far along are you?" so maybe I'm starting to look pretty miserable and huge!

The weather got warm this week and that makes me so happy! Unfortunately, it's also taking a toll on my feet.  I got some men's flip-flops at Old Navy because I thought they might be a little wider, so now I just need to break them in.

I try to lay down and rest in between activities to avoid getting too swollen, but sometimes, I can't if I'm at work or running around.  My hip pain got a lot worse this week and I don't have a PT appointment for another week because they didn't have any openings.  I had to start taking Tylenol to help with the pain and I may try to call to see if they have any cancellations.  My allergies also got really bad during the last few days, so I don't know if that has something to do with the warmer weather.  I'm glad it's not a cold, but it's not very fun to try to sleep when I can't breathe.

On a good note, I feel pretty good! My morning sickness wasn't as bad this week and I'm really trying to stay hydrated.  We're making progress with the baby's room and I feel pretty prepared with things at this point.  I ordered some random baby things and pump parts from Amazon and washed most of the baby clothes.  My hospital list has been started, but I haven't packed anything yet.  That reminds me that I want to start a little list for Connor's routine, so maybe I can do that now while I have a few minutes...

26 weeks & third trimester!

Wow, it's hard to believe I'm at third trimester already.  The time felt like it went by fast, but it also went slow when I think about the fact that I've had morning sickness the whole time and I still have 3 more months of back and hip pain left.

My stomach has felt tight all this week and it makes it hard to eat a lot at one time.  I do feeling more hungry, but I think it's just because I have to eat small amount at one time and I still don't have a normal appetite.  My back & hips hurt on and off even with physical therapy.  I think the weekends are worse when I'm running around and bending a lot with Connor.  I bought a new fancy jumbo ice pack to try out this week while I rest in bed.  Also, Baby Girl has been wiggling and giving me some Braxton Hicks (right now actually). 

We need to start working on our name list so I can get room decorations started.  I have the names narrowed down after reading 6 books, so it's definitely going to be one of the ones on the list.  I refuse to read any more name books and I am convinced that I found all the best ones already.  I'm not really ready to decide, but I need to know so I can get name decorations done and feel accomplished with the room.  In other room news, we made some great progress with the wainscoting!  Now we just need to caulk, fill nail holes and paint it.  I also dragged Daddy and Connor out shopping to look for wall art on Saturday and I think I might have found something I like!  I also picked up some fabric to start on a flower pillow for the rocking chair.  I'm excited to get started on that new project!

Tubes Surgery

Last Tuesday, Connor got his second set of tubes.  They fell out sometime in the fall and he's had a lot of fluid in his ears since then.  It's affecting his hearing, so the ENT suggested that he get another set.  We had to be there at 6 am, so we woke him up extra early and he got to watch Mickey in the car on the way there.  The nurses were so sweet and gave him a little bag of goodies to play with while we waited.

Luckily, Mickey was also on tv, so that kept him distracted while we waited for things to start.

The little hospital gown just makes me tear up for some reason.  It's so tiny and no one that small should ever have to wear one.  He didn't mind the gown, but he kept taking off the socks!

One of the toys he got from the nurse was a little toy car that he happily held on to the whole time we waited.

He was such a champ and a brave little guy!  We went with him to pre-op and played peek-a-boo with the curtains while we waited for the nurse to come take him into surgery.  They had us wait in the post-op area since he'd be done so quickly and 15 minutes later, he came out.  After some hugs and snuggling, he was able to go back to our room where we had to rest and check his vitals for the next hour.  He looked a little out of it, but he was in good spirits.

Once his snacks came, he was back to normal!  He gobbled down graham crackers, applesauce and water very quickly!  He kept asking, "All done?" and I think he was ready to go home.  When they nurses cleared him, he put his dinosaur jammies and crocs back on and we headed home.

The doctor and nurses kept telling us how he would be crabby and groggy all day, but he was the complete opposite!  As soon as we got home, he was running around, jumping, and wanting to play!  Mama and Dada were tired!  After a long nap in the afternoon, he had a special ice cream treat for being such a good boy at the doctor.