Oh Boy! A Trip to Labor & Delivery!

Beginning at 3am Monday morning, I was experiencing a lovely episode of heartburn.  That lasted until 6am...when the vomiting began.  After 4 more episodes of barfing, we called my OB's nurse to ask what we should do.  I had been unable to hold down fluids and dehydration is a risk for going into early labor.  While Baby is "full-term," meaning that all of his/her major organs have developed and birth at this stage would be quite viable, it's thought to be best to let a baby come when ready vs. because Mama was puking so much, a lack of fluids pushed he/she out.  Not quite the best birth story.  Nor would that be a pleasant labor experience.  Not that it's super fun regardless, but I digress...

The nurse consulted with the on-call doctor because mine is out of town (awesome).  I was told it was important to get re-hydrated   The ER is apparently afraid of pregnant women so I was sent to the Labor and Delivery unit.  And was admitted.

I received two bags of fluids and lab work (which all came back normal) in the first 3 hours that I was there. I have been experiencing some contractions since before week 30 (when I was last blessed with an episode of vomitus).  The residents observed somewhat regular contractions that they thought would dissipate after the first bag of fluids.  They did not.  They also did not cease after bag 2.  After observing Baby's heart rate drop a few times during my regular contractions, they decided it was important to check my amniotic fluid and do a pelvic exam.

My amniotic fluid was measured to be 9.6, well in the normal range.  To remind you, I was induced with Matthew because of low amniotic fluid, so this was relieving information for me.  I told the two residents and nurse that I did not know the gender of Baby, so they would not tell me the gender during this ultrasound.  While the new resident was moving around my belly, the training resident said "and there's the umbilical cord."  I had to pseudo-bring Mike into the room since he was still at work and I said, "And there's the penis!"  They all looked at me with fear and surprise, like "OH NO--THIS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED!".  I quickly said, "Oh my gosh, I'm totally kidding.  I didn't see anything!  I was just thinking about if that just happened!"  They were totally relieved and the training resident, "Yeah, cause we weren't even in that area and I didn't see anything."  Hmm...didn't see anything.  Girl?

Anyway, pelvic exams (yes, exams as both trainee and trainer checked me--FUN!) revealed that I am 1.5cm dilated, 50% effaced, and baby's engagement is at -3 (scale goes from -5 to +5).  The resident wanted to check with the on call OB, but said that it was likely that I would need to stay for a few more hours for observation to ensure that labor wasn't starting.  Enter tears.  Reality check that labor and baby are near setting in.

10 minutes later...

The resident came back and said that she had not known that this was my second pregnancy and that after talking with the OB, I was free to go.

My Favorite Team Won Today

The emotional roller coaster that is the 2012-2013 Indiana basketball season continued today, albeit barely, after the Hoosiers overcame an upset bid by Temple.  IU trailed almost the entire second half before taking a one-point lead with 1:19 to play and then nailing it down with a three from Oladipo with 14 seconds left.  Similar to last year's Round of 32 win, E taped me to get my reaction to the game.  She did it largely because our friend, D.J., wanted to see just how much of a basketcase I was during the game.  I honestly did not try to ham for the camera, although I am assuming no one will believe me when I say that.  Also, the line at the end about my prayers is the truth--the last three minutes of the game went exactly as I prayed for it.  No more Temple scoring and a back-breaker three that made the final 14 seconds far less stressful.  I just couldn't take anymore anxiety.  You have your problems, I have mine.  But I can honestly say I am thankful.  The stress of this season has been ridiculous and exhausting.  And I desperately hope the stress lasts for four more wins.

 

One last thing--there is nothing better than celebrating IU wins with Matthew, who never gets upset when I go nuts; he joins in every time.

What's Poppin'?

In the fall, we went to a concert at church where the singer brought bubble wrap out of the kids to dance on for fun.  My mom thought it would be great for the boys to try this at home.  I thought that Matthew would be all about this, stomping all over it and joyfully screaming cause that's what we do in this family.  

Here's what happened:

Hide 'N Seek

A few weeks ago, Matthew decided to play Hide 'N Seek with me without me knowing.  I found him lodged between the corner of the kitchen and his kitchen set.

Our Little Arteest!

Two weeks ago we bought bath crayons.  He knew just what to do!

Now, crayon usage had to come to a halt last night as Matthew has been using crayons more for eating and shoving his fingers into than for coloring.  There's just something about a mouthful of wax that doesn't exactly equate with the concepts of "health and wellness" and "good parenting."

One Last Hoorah!

For a final playday before Deuce, I played hooky (and by hooky I mean my co-worker gave me the tickets) in order for E and I to go to the IU vs. Illinois game as part of the B1G Tournament.  We left M with E's family.  We were kind of forced to bring Deuce with us.  We realized with five minutes left in the game, we technically brought Deuce to an IU game before we brought Matthew to one.  Weird.

After having a great time at the game, we went to my office so E could see the new space.  And...this happened:

E: *Sees something, makes non-PC comment*
M: "I can't hear you, what did you say?"
E: *Sees people sitting in nearby office and says she will tell me later*
M: *Looks to left, sees CEO and VP of HR sitting in office*

By the way, this is what my new office looks like:

 

An Afternoon at the Children's Museum

My mom gave me a coupon months ago to buy one get one tickets to the Children's Museum which is 10 minutes from our house.  I had been saving it for when Matthew was what I thought to be old enough to enjoy it and before the baby was born.  It expires at the end of this month, so today was the day!  But it gets better...when I got there I learned that neighborhood residents get in free on Wednesdays from 1-5.

We had such a blessed day.  I will let the pictures/videos do most of the talking:

The first room we zoomed to was the car room where they had cars that could go on tracks, a big toy car, and a car wash.

Beep!  Beep!
Matthew carries many of the traits of his Papa Geoff including a
love of cars.  We spend a good 20 minutes just in here!

Matthew is sitting while I am "pedaling" the make air blow up a huge balloon

He was able to pump this lever to get air to fill another balloon!

When I saw the water room I knew Matthew NEEDED to go in there because water = heaven to him.  It led to water-soaked sleeves but his joy was totally worth it!

What happened here?  Matthew got a face full of water when he shoved his
hand through the waterfall!  Surprised for sure, but was greeted with love with the biggest smile!

Pulling the handle made water pour out.  I shouldn't have to explain this to you.

Pressing the buttons made water spew out which spun the wheels

As I mentioned above, Matthew has similarities to his Papa Geoff.  This time, the shared interest was science, so we definitely made it to the energy room:

Papa Geoff, I may have explained to him that what caused the ball to remain
suspended in air was something called fun.  You may want to tell him
something different the next time you are here.

Matthew just had to press a button to set the sails to sea!

Okay, not my best parenting moment in the video just played.  Telling your child they could lose a limb and encouraging them to put their face into a place where it is inevitable that they will catch pneumonia and die are not techniques I recommend you try.

We made two more stops before leaving.  The first was "Potbelly's" where Matthew wore a uniform and made sandwiches (with pickles of course) and shakes.  Mmmm...

May I take your order please?

The last stop was the grocery store but he was tired and ready to go home.  And so we did.

I love my little boy so much and truly love spending time with him.  This day was so wonderful as the near future will bring less time where it is just the two of us.  I have and will continue to truly treasure our time together.

hi im matthew and i love cousin buckethead

hi im matthew i like to play with my cousin buckethead i love buckethead did you know chicken can come in a bucket buckethead likes wearing things on his head like hats and buckets.

here is a video of what i just said not me saying it but buckethead wearing a bucket

we also like to play fort at grandma basketlady's buckethead should wear a basket on his head

here is buckethead eating a pork chop shouty says this picture is foreshadowing of when we are in the frat house at 2:00 AM in college i don't know what that means but think it might be naughty milklady probably doesn't appreciate shouty's joke settle down everyone she hasn't been milklady in a while we aren't weird her new name is bellylady

here shouty is shouting i like that book

titus and i sure do love to play

here we are getting friendly although shouty said that tickling and hugging are all well and good but that's enough he said that's enough six times

My Favorite Team Won Tonight

Indiana clinched the outright Big Ten title today.  I went slightly crazy.  We actually both agreed I went more nuts today than I did after this.  The best parts were that:

1. When Zeller scored to take the lead with 13.7 seconds left, E clearly yelled out of excitement.

2. Matthew was just as excited.  As I bounced around the house screaming myself hoarse, Matthew pushed off the couch, saw me, threw his arms in the air and, with a huge smile, screamed at the top of his lungs, ran and gave me a huge bear hug.  Memories of Super Bowl XXIII, in January 1989, with my dad.

3. I did not have an adrenaline-fueled stroke, seize and die.