Homecoming

Finally Monday June, 15th we are on our way home!!

And what a surprise Miss Melly and Miss Shelly had my house decorated beautifully. There was a great banner welcoming Jennifer home. We had a nice little party at the house for family. Here are some snapshots from that day. Including our first family photos.

Postpartum- No Wonder People are Depressed

So we got our beautiful baby girl out- now what? Well dad went with baby to the nursery and mom got put back together. I woke up in a recovery room - I don't really think I went to sleep, but there is definitely some missing time in there. My husband joined me. The reovery room had some OBNOXIOUS woman on her cell phone (after giving birth) trying to chase down her baby daddy who just jumped on the wagon that nite, DRAMA and I was so annoyed. I kept asking Simon to shut her up (or so he says).

I finally was released from recovery to a room- Now What? We wait on Jennifer is what. About an hour later, somewhere near midnight she joins us. Now the fun really begins. The nurse shows Simon how to change a diaper and then time to breastfeed.

Jennifer had low glucose- 2 days of labor will do that to you- so she already had formula in the nursery- but here goes. I put her to my breast, not knowing what to expect- great she latches on- then poof white stuff is everywhere. "Oh NO my boob exploded" I tell the nurse. She laughs doesn't even try to hide it, then tells me that she actually spit up. Thank Goodness- I was worried. Daddy cleans baby up and I wipe myself down and we try again. Jennifer is a CHAMP!! Thankfully cuz I was really nervous.

Our next few days are marked by dirty diapers, no sleep, and a constant stream of visitors. Our stay was extended due to my getting an infection, having fluid in my lungs, and then Jennifer has Jaundice. So she had to stay under the bili lights. We only got to see her every 3 hours.

Without going into all the details I will say that I was extremely disappointed with the postpartum care at The Woman's Hospital of Texas. I had a few good nurses, but overall the care was not what you would expect from a hospital that delivers over 4,000 babies a year. The labor and delivery ROCKS though! Those nurses are fantastic. But, overall I will think long and hard before I have another baby at that hospital.

She's Here, She's Here

WOW! It's been 9 weeks since I last posted and what a 9 weeks it has been. It has been a whirl wind adventure these past 2 months. I am going to try and get Jennifer's birth story posted and then provide you with what parenthood has been like Tracy and Simon style. Let me tell you it has been amusing.

Jennifer's Birth Story. It's a long one!

Sunday June 7th- bedrest is absolutely horrible. It is so boring and I feel the need to do something (and it has only been 2 days- can you imagine people on it for weeks and months?). Everything is ready for the hospital Monday and we did (well Simon did, I directed) a few last things for baby. Suddenly I have a horrible headache and it won't go away for several hours. Which is usually a sign of high bp. So we call the dr. as I was instructed to do. She wants me in the hospital now. Bring your bags you may not leave............WHAAAA?????? Panic we run around the house getting the last few things and off we go.

LONG Story- but end result everything looks ok so they want me to go home so I can get a good night sleep and a big breakfast before the big day. So they give me Tylenol 3 with codeine. Monitor me briefly and send us on our way. It is about 10 p.m. We get home I put on my night clothes and go to bed. All of a sudden I can't breath and I am having horrible pain in my rib cage area. I start pacing around and trying anything I can think of to make this go away. I just can't get comfortable. I am having trouble catching my breath. We get nervous- Simon calls the dr back and she is worried as well. Get here immediately she says. Off we were again.

The drive down was excruciating- I was in so much pain and scared, really scared because I have no clue what the problem is. There is a constant pain, but sometimes it just hurts more than others. Simon wheels me up in a wheel chair and they are waiting on me. They start running tests, hook me up to monitors (Jennier is ok), I still have the pain, all of a sudden it is hurting worse again. The nurse looks at me and says - are you having the worse pain again? I said yeah how did you know? She says- It's a contraction!!!!!!!!!! WTH??? These are contractions- is the baby about to pop out because these hurt. Turns out I had a reaction to the Tylenol causing some problems in my liver and created an enormous amount of acid build up causing the pain. The contractions just made it worse and push on my ribs and that area giving me the breathless feeling.

Forget Monday, we are going to induce now since you are here. In goes the medicine. I will not describe this process, but it hurt!! Now we wait. She gives me ambien to sleep - wow that stuff is great when you have a million things on your mind. My contractions start to get stronger. Monday rolls around, but I don't seem to be dialting. I am in early labor, but no progress. So they decide to try another drug, but before they do I beg for food it has been almost 24 hours since I ate last. My doctor says ok since Jennifer is obviously taking her time.

Sarah (SIL) gets me some Pappasitos- she is an angel sent from heaven for doing that. I PIG out knowing it's my "last supper". They start the new medicine Tuesday morning (like 4 a.m.)

WOW, the new medicine causes more intense contractions. OK, we are moving (so i think). Mid morning the pitocin drip starts and the contractions get even more intense,but I am handling them like a champ. I start dialting- FINALLY. We start a pool about what time we think Jennifer will make her arrival and other vital stats. I am getting excited and nervous. People are arriving, phone calls are coming in- they break my water- THAT IS SO GROSS! I won't describe that either. Next, exam I am a little further - those exams SUCK they are painful. A few more hours go by and now nothing- I seem to stall. They up the pitocin a bit, but nothing. So they decide to see if the epidural will help relax me and help me get over the hump.

The epidural made me cry! Not for the reasons you would think. There was no pain or anything, but I think the stress from the past two days (by now we are heading into early evening Tuesday)and the fact that I could not feel my legs really threw me. I hated that feeling. Even the epidural did not work to get me over the hump. They insert something to monitor my contractions and even though they hurt they were not as productive as necessary to get this baby out. We were approaching decision time since my water had already been broken.

Finally- 7:00 p.m. the call was made we have to do a c-section and now! Before I know it I am being being unhooked from walls, the bed is moving, and we are off to surgery. Simon is quickly getting on his scrubs. We are running down the hall. The intensity of it all has me freaked out- I am crying it is very emotional. Everything is so hurried. As they are running me down the hall, they realize I still have my personal pillow. They instruct Simon to take it to the waiting room and return to this little room and wait. Simon leaving my side really scared me, but they assured me he wouldn't miss a thing.

We enter the surgical suite, a million people introduce themselves to me. I am so out of sorts, in comes Simon, some final instructions and we get started. I ask Simon what time is it..... 7:29 he says. It feels like an eternity, I can feel pressure, but that is it. Simon what time is it 7:30 he says. They said this would be fast, but it is taking forever.... Simon what time is it 7:30 he says. More time goes by - it has to have been 5 minutes, Simon what time is it 7:30 - "You are stressing me out Tracy" he he. I had no concept of time and it seemed like forever. I had to keep telling myself don't ask what time it is.

FINALLY- the doctor says there she is- I don't hear anything, we wait, wait, then finally the sound I have been waiting my entire life to hear. My baby girl had arrived. Tears came flooding out, I'm a MOM, I'm a MOM is all I kept thinking.

Tuesday, June 9th @ 7:33 p.m. Jennifer Anne Scott was born. She weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20 3/4 inches.

2 days of labor and a c-section, but a beautiful baby girl!

Here are some Pics of the process.

It's Time to Have a Baby

And that is a quote from the nurse at Women's Hospital on Friday.

I went in to take the 24-hour urine Friday, thinking I was just dropping it off. How wrong I was. They hooked me up to all kinds of machines, took my blood, monitored Jennifer and took my blood pressure every few minutes. My blood pressure was low which was an even better sign.

Not knowing what to expect we were packed and ready to go in case we delivered that day, but with all my test results coming back normal I started spreading the word- No Jennifer today. Then the urine results came back- HIGH PROTEIN which is a sign of Kidney problems and that combined with my swelling and the intermmittent bouts of high blood pressure must have been enough for the PE/Hypertension diagnosis.

The nurse talked to my doctor who also talked to the specialist and the nurse came in and said well your doctor thinks it is "time to have a baby" WOW what a sentence. There are so many emotions going through your mind. OF course my first question was- Now?

I am being induced on Monday and little miss Jennifer should be here by Tuesday. I am on strict bed rest until then and that part sucks!!!

I can't believe it!! But it is time to have a baby. I am going to be a mom. Since we are full term the risk to Jennifer is low of any problems, I think the percentage is around 3% chance she will need oxygen on arrival.

I will keep everyone posted!

Sorry for those of you receiving via email mutltiple times - I had a few errors and it is early this morning.

Not Much Longer!

Well tomorrow we are officially 37 weeks and "full term" which means Jennifer and all her body parts should be fully formed and functional. She can come any time now. According to my doctor today my cervix is thinning, I have begun to dialate (spelling?), and Jennifer is head down and engaged!! So when will she come? WHO KNOWS??? ONLY SHE KNOWS FOR SURE!! My goal is to obviously go into labor and deliver vaginally, but there are a few hurdles we have to clear first.

1. Today my blood pressure was high and they are testing me for pre-eclampsia (PE). I have to do a 24-hour urine test and go to the hospital Friday. Since we are full term if on Friday it is determined I have PE then we will deliver immediately. Yes immediately that means she could come this weekend.......Yikes

2. Her weight. I go tomorrow for one last check on her weight. If they determine she will be over 9 and a half pounds by her due date, then they will schedule an induction or c-section. That will be scheduled much closer to due date. And will most likely be a c-section (boo not what I want at all). They won't attempt to deliver a baby that is over 9.5 pounds because the margin of error is a pound on the Ultrasounds- so if they gage less than actual.....well you get the picture. Plus some other stuff i don't remember very well

So.... if there is no PE and no weight issues then we wait for labor. If there is PE we deliver immediately, and if there is a weight issue then we deliver in about 2 weeks (that is if she doesn't come on her own first)...........

I guess we just wait and see. I will keep you posted. My second dr appointment is tomorrow........ how much bigger has she gotten? hmmmmmmm??????????