Welcome Maxim Andrew

Maxim Andrew entered this world 10 weeks early on June 25th at 2:36pm.  He was quite the surprise to his mommy and daddy.  It was a very long and scary time, but he is here and I couldn't be more excited to have him.  Here is how everything happened.  (There might be some graphic detail in the post, sorry but I want to share the full story.)

On Monday night around 8pm I started feeling light cramps, like menstrual cramps, so I thought is was braxton hicks.  I was not too worried about it.  Around 10pm diarrhea kicked in (which is a nice sign of labor), but I didn't let that worry me either because of all my IBS issues.  As the night went on the pain slowly started to get worse and of course I never slept.  I also didn't want to call the doctor in the middle of the night to worry anybody or be that pregnant lady that makes a big deal out of nothing.  I just laid there in bed through the cramping thinking I would call the doctor in the morning.  Around 3am Andy woke and said enough is enough and I had to call the doctor.  I really was more worried about bugging somebody than my possible contractions, but I gave in and called.  The nurse on call told me to get to the hospital just to get checked out especially since I was having dark colored discharge that day.  That was another sign for me to worry, but again I wasn't worried about it. After I got off the phone with the nurse I doubled over in pain.  That is when I realized this has got to be contractions as I couldn't move nor talk.  I started to panic, worry and cry as we got in the car to head to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 4am and since our hospital tour was in two weeks we had no idea where to go.  Nobody was around at 4am so we found a worker down a hallway and she was kind to direct us in the right place.  We finally arrived at the women's triage and they got me in a room immediately and told me I was having contractions, but not to worry as they will stop them.  They were very confident as they do this all the time.  There is three ways to stop the contractions and they first started me on a shot.  That tamed them for about 15 minutes, but then we were back to square one.  They gave me another shot and I had the same result.  They also gave me a shot in the butt of steroids just in case I had to deliver that would help make the baby's lungs stronger.  They "checked" me and said I was dilated at 1cm.  I kind of freaked because I am not supposed to be dilated at all.  They were so calm and affirming me that they do this all the time and they stop contractions all the time that I started to calm down and not worry anymore.  Since the shots did not work they stepped it up and gave me two pills to stop the contractions.  After some time we noticed this was not working either.  They "checked" me again and found that I am now dilated at 2-3cm.  I was trying not to worry and the fact they were so calm made me not worry.

Since the pills did not work it was decided to start me on magnesium sulfate.  I got checked into the hospital and they moved me to a more comfortable room where they started me on magnesium sulfate.  This was the last option to stop the contractions.  They said this has to work and would keep checking on me.  As I lay in bed experiencing every second of contractions all I wanted was for them to stop since I couldn't get an epidural.  I ended up throwing up due to the pain of the contractions.  It was crazy as I projectiled into the garbage can next to my bed.  I honestly underestimated these contractions.  Before this I figured I would go into labor with a laid back attitude and if I need an epidural I would get one, but if I don't then I won't.  Holy cow!  I was not prepared for the pain at all.  I laid there thinking that if we get these contractions to stop I will have to come back to the hospital in a few weeks and do this all over again with the pain, but at least now I know what I am getting myself into. 

Again, I got the news the magnesium sulfate was not working and they were going to up the dosage and check me at 12:30 and if I dilated to a 4 or more then I was in active labor and we had to proceed with delivery.  Andy headed home to let the dogs out since we figured we had a little over an hour.  At noon the nurse was in my room when I had two really bad contractions that went all the way up my back.  The nurse was worried and "checked" me to find out I was dilated to a 5-6 and am now in active labor.  They needed to stop the drugs, get me an epidural and start the delivery process.  I asked how long it will take me to get to 10cm since Andy was not back yet and the nurses were scrambling like crazy.  They said a normal person would be about 7 hours, but since I kept progressing rapidly through all the drugs she was guessing about 2-3 hours tops.  I text Andy immediately and told him to get back fast.  While he was gone I got my epidural and the pain finally went away.  I sat in my bed as I watched the chaos around me.  The nurses were going crazy to prepare me and the room since I was not in a delivery room.  My doctor was there getting ready and Andy finally arrived just after 12:30.  The next two hours were a blur from all the chaos going on.  My good friend Kim arrived at 2pm to say hi, but little did she know on her way there that she would be in the room holding a foot while I push out baby Maxim.  About 10 minutes later they had me start to push.  Andy was on one side with a leg and Kim was on the other side.  My room was filled with my doctor and many nurses waiting the arrival of my premature baby. 

I pushed through three contractions and baby Maxim came out.  I am going to guess it was about 15 minutes or so of pushing.  It felt like forever.  Even though I had the epidural I felt Maxim crowning and let me tell you, that was extremely painful.  I didn't know if I could keep doing this as it hurt so bad.  I had my doctor, Andy and Kim all guiding me on when to push so I just kept pushing.  Everything happened so fast that I didn't have time to think too much about the pain.  My water broke during the first push and that was insanely crazy.  I had no idea how messy that was going to me.  Plus, when Maxim came out the amniotic fluid all came back at Andy, Kim and I.  Andy just missed getting hit, but poor Kim got messy.  It came back at me, but the nurses had me cleaned up in minutes. 

They plopped Maxim on me for two seconds before they swooped him away to the NICU.  Andy followed him to the NICU while Kim hung out with me in the room.  That was nice because it went from complete chaos to dead silent and if Kim wasn't there it would have been difficult to be left alone in the room.

Maxim Andrew was born at 2:36pm, weighed 3 pounds 6 ounces and was 16 inches long.  We did not have a name picked out for him when we headed to the hospital, but we did have a list of options.  Once we realized we are probably going to have him that day we started to review our options and decided on Maxim. 

I did not start my Monday thinking this was going to happen.  I did not think Monday night that I was going into labor.  I did not think Tuesday morning that we would be having our precious baby boy, but we did.  I couldn't be happier to have him in my life.  Now that he is here I can't imagine our lives without him. He is so precious and sweet and it's hard on mommy that he is not home with us.  I am taking it one day at a time as I watch his progress and look forward to him coming home.

Andy getting ready to cut the cord.

No pictures please, I just had a rough day!

I couldn't be any happier.

So sweet!

30 Weeks

We are down to the last 10 weeks of the pregnancy and everything is looking good. I had a doctor appointment this past Friday and she said all my numbers were looking great and matching up with what the "chart" says. My stomach from top to bottom is 30 centimeters and will gain another 10 centimeters by end.  Apparently I am supposed to gain 1 centimeter a week.  My blood pressure and weight look good and the baby's heart rate looked great at 145.  She says I am having an easy pregnancy...uhm...ok!  I will let her believe that. ;) 

My doctor has asked me to start counting kicks to make sure everything continues to go ok. Of course I asked her what she meant and  she informed me that twice a day for an hour I need to count his movement as I should feel him 4-6 times per hour.  Well, as of right now that is not even a problem because I feel him move 4-6 times in 5 minutes. He is pretty active from 9am - 10am where I swear he is throwing a party for one in my belly.  Then from 10am - noon he is still moving, but not a lot.  He will then move here and there in the afternoon, but then throw another party from 9pm - 10pm. So far (knock on wood) he has not woken me up in the middle of the night with his movement.  I have not had any problems sleeping (knock on wood) and it may be because I am a heavy sleeper or Fred already understands how his mommy cherishes her sleep and he is being a good little boy as to not disturb me.  :)  Either way I am enjoying my sleep while I can.

Pregnant in Vegas

No seven month pregnant girl ever desires to head to Vegas.  I mean, what is there for a pregnant person to do?  You can't drink, walking every where is extremely difficult and the smoke filled casinos is a whole other issue.  I did not go there for good times, but instead I went there for my annual accounting marketing conference.  I blogged about this conference last year, but this time it was slightly different since I was pregnant.

No More Sweat
I was super stoked not to be sweating constantly and worry about SWASS.  The casinos are always cold, but not to me.  It was glorious.  I was in a short sleeved shirt every day and was never cold.  I cranked down my room temperature to 72 degrees and blissfully enjoyed it.  That was a huge highlight of my trip.

Space was an Issue
Space was an issue this year.  I found out very quickly that it was best if I took a seat on the end in each of my sessions.  It was hard for me to squeeze in between the tables and the chairs as I found my belly either knocked into the glasses behind me or bumped the back of the person in front of me as I was passing through.  I learned this after the first session so the rest of the week I tried to get to each session early enough so I could get an end chair.

Walking was a Challenge
As you know when you go to Vegas you walk every where and get great exercise from this.  Normally I enjoy this, but after one day of walking my feet, legs and hips were struggling.  I had to go up to my room before dinner and put my feet up for an hour in order to make it out with fellow marketing professionals.

Early Nights
Who ever thought I would end up in my room at 9:30pm in Vegas?  I never thought that would happen...then I got pregnant.  I was in my room about 9:30 because I was extremely tired and had no desire to go to a bar, suck down smoke and watch my marketing friends enjoy their beverages.  Just was not attractive.  I preferred to head back to my room, put my feet up  on the stacked pillows I created every day and just rest up for the next day.

Bathroom Breaks
As many woman know, mapping out bathroom breaks when you are pregnant becomes a big part of your day and Vegas is no different.   Some of the sessions went longer than one hour (which is usually my max capacity for my bladder) and those sessions were definitely tough on me.  I would sit as close to the door as possible so I could be the first one out and into the bathroom without having to wait in line.  Walking to dinner revolved around bathroom breaks as well.  I felt bad for all of my marketing friends who had to deal with me, but it is what it is.

I did have a nice view from my room of the Bellagio fountains.  Can't complain about that.

Here is a photo of my communications specialist and myself at the AAM Awards event.  I was a big fan of this dress as I found it in the back of my closet and it made my pregnant self feel really good and not huge like most of my clothes do.

Pregnant Bridesmaid

I was honored to be the matron of honor for AJ in her wedding this past Friday.  It was an extremely long day for this 7 month pregnant girl, but I put on my big girl panties and hung out all day and until after 1am.  That is the latest I have stayed up since Christmas.  I am so proud of myself for making the very long day and Andy even told me that he was proud of me and that I hung in there really well.  Maybe that is because he was just so happy he did not have to pay for a cab ride home.  Andy, was also in the wedding as a groomsman. 

Since it was a sweltering 107 degrees out that day this walking heater did struggle with the heat, but I held it together through the ceremony until we got to get back inside where it was much cooler.  I was also extremely uncomfortable in my dress as it didn't quite fit properly, but I didn't expect it too since it was not exactly a pregnancy dress.

We had a great time at the wedding with the bride and groom and all of our closest friends.  I am extremely happy for Mike and AJ as they had a beautiful wedding and AJ looked absolutely AMAZING on her wedding day.  We are glad to have been a part of their big day.

29 Weeks

I am super excited to say this is the last week in the 20's.  Today was exciting because I really got to feel Fred move.  I even felt a body part.  I am not sure exactly what it was, but my guess would be a foot. It was very obvious as he was moving so I put my hand on my belly and it felt like a foot kicking hard.  It was so cool, but weird all at the same time.  I called for Andy to come feel the same thing.  It's so sweet to get to see his face when he feels Fred move.  I look forward to many more of those moments.

Second Trimester Overview

I am officially in my third trimester.  Somedays I think the second trimester was extremely long, but other days I think it went by really fast.  Either way, I am done with the second trimester and moving onto the last third of the pregnancy.  I feel like most things started happening during the 24th week.  That is when I started to REALLY feel the emotional roller coaster, hot flashes and of course the baby.

Movement
I first felt the baby move around the 18th week, but I really didn't know it.  I initially thought the weird movement in my abdomen was just IBS issues because that is what it felt like to me.  After about a week of this and no other IBS symptoms I assumed it had to be the baby moving.  I really started to feel the baby move about week 20, but week 24 is when Andy got to feel him move since it was a lot stronger.  He was waiting and waiting to feel the baby and I kept telling him to be patient.  When it finally happened for Andy to feel the baby move, it was so nice to see Andy's reaction.  It was really sweet to see him in awe of the movement.

Hot Flashes
I know in an earlier post I was excited for the hot summer to arrive and the winter to go away.  I now take that back.  I have never experienced hot flashes before and I have never, ever been so hot in my entire life.  I am hot All THE TIME.  It's ridiculous.  This summer is absolutely making me miserable.  I am just doing my best to keep my body cool, but when it's 110 degrees outside and heat warnings it's becoming more difficult.

Emotional Roller Coaster
I am not an emotional person, but you put a baby inside of me and all of a sudden I am riding the emotional roller coaster with both hands raised high.  I am so up and down and all over the place that I don't even know me anymore.  Poor Andy!  He is not sure how to respond to me.  I had one complete emotional breakdown about week 26 that included all out tears.  This really just stemmed from me being hot ALL DAY LONG.  The heat got to me and I was just upset at how hot and uncomfortable I was.  Andy had never seen me so out of control before that he was just lost and did his best to try and calm me down.  It didn't work.  After my cry fest I felt a lot better and was ready to continue the evening.  Andy didn't even know what to do but ask if I felt better after crying.  Of course I did.  I told him that I am sure that will not be the last one.  Poor guy!

Exercise and Weight Gain
I have gained 16 pounds so far and the doctor says I am right on track with the 25 - 35 pound weight gain.  If I continue with the way I have been going I am looking at a total weight gain of 28 pounds.  I have continued my workouts through the second trimester, but I definitely had to change it up to fit my new uncomfortable body. I quit hiking the mountain about the 23 week mark as it just got way too hot outside and just too difficult for me.  I am doing my pregnancy DVD's by Tracy Anderson and those are really good.  I am also still doing spin classes on Monday nights, but I just keep it light.  I don't go too hard. I listen to my body and slow down when I need to.  I also do my step DVD as well just to mix it up during the week.  My workouts always make me feel better and that is why I continue them throughout the pregnancy.

Food Cravings
People always ask me about any weird food cravings that I have.  I guess the only really weird thing is that I want peanut butter sandwiches every day for lunch.  I crave fruit and chocolate.  I have never had a sweet tooth before, but now I do.  Chocolate sounds good quite often and I like to kill that craving with chocolate frozen yogurt or little Dove bites.  Other than that, I really don't crave anything strange like I have heard other women have.  One thing is that I found I can tolerate foods that I never really could before.  I could not eat anything spicy whatsoever.  What I call spicy is not spicy to other people so most of my food is bland.  For some reason the baby allows me to tolerate spicy food without my stomach getting upset.  It's really weird.  I have also been trying a lot of new foods.  Usually I have to stick to what I know since I have such a sensitive stomach, but I always want something new and never want to eat the same thing over and over again, unless it's a peanut butter sandwich.

Headaches and Heart Burn
As I have said before, I am prone to daily headaches.  I only had two headaches in the first trimester and I have not had one headache in the second trimester.  This is crazy to me, but I am very happy that I don't have to deal with daily headaches too.  I now assume my headaches pre-pregnancy might have something to do with a hormonal imbalance.  Heart burn...where do I start?  I didn't even know what heart burn was until a friend explained it to me last fall when she was pregnant.  I started to feel the same symptoms around week 24.  Pretty much every day at 5pm.  I started to pop a tums as soon as I experience this awesome pregnancy symptom and it goes away.  Hopefully heart burn is only a pregnancy thing and goes away after Fred is born.

Well, I am chugging along towards the finish line and I have approximately 12 weeks to go unless Fred decides to come early.  He better not come late because I will be ready to meet him and get him out on September 1st, if not before hand.

28 Weeks

27 Weeks

Oh man, I am starting to feel HUGE!  I am not saying fat, but I feel like my belly has really grown.  I feel like Fred has tripled in size and I am doomed for a 10 pound baby.  Ok, I just wanted to me dramatic for a second.  Here is your weekly photo.