estee's birth story: part 2.

You can read part 1 here.

We jumped in the car and started toward the hospital (10-12 minutes away). I called my mom to let her know that it was baby time and at that point it was a struggle to talk through the contractions. I kept urging Ben to drive over the speed limit and got frustrated on the freeway when he was going 5 mph over and there wasn't a car in sight. ;) He upped the speed to 10 mph over the limit and I focused on breathing.

We pulled up to the main entrance and rushed in to the Women's Evaluation Unit check-in right inside the doors. Fortunately, no one else was in labor at 4am and the nurses could see that my water had broken, I was in pain, and I wasn't going to be heading home anytime soon. While they wheeled me into a room to get my vitals checked, Ben ran to park the car. By the time he got back 5 minutes later we were taken up to a labor and delivery room and I was given a gown to change into. My nurse entered things into the computer while asking Ben questions since I couldn't talk (contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes) and I lied down on the bed as she started my IV. She checked me and let us know that I was at a 4. At this point the pain was pretty intense and I either dealt with each contraction quietly or said "ow" over and over. I'll admit, I cried a tear or two right before the nurse called for the anesthesiologist!

By 5:15am the anesthesiologist had arrived and worked her magic, and I was feeling pretty darn great. (I thought epidurals would make everything go completely numb. Instead, I could feel and move my legs/feet/toes but didn't feel a single contraction. It was amazing!) The nurse checked me again but since I was only at a 5 she told us to get some sleep and she would be back right before her shift ended at 7am. Because of that blessed epidural, Ben and I were able to sleep for the next hour.

At 6:45am the nurse came back in to check me. To everyone's surprise, I had dilated to a 10 but baby was still sitting ridiculously high! In order to get her to work her way down, the nurse gave me a peanut ball to put between my knees and told me to again get some sleep. The new nurse on shift, Jenny, was absolutely amazing and came in to check on baby's progress a few times over the next two hours. Finally around 9:30am Jenny had me start pushing with Ben and a nursing student each holding one of my legs. ;) After an hour and a half of pushing and chatting in between each push, my doctor came in and decided to hang out/help me push since there wasn't a whole lot else going on that morning. After another hour and a half of pushing and watching baby's heart rate slowly go down, the doctor gave me the option of either having a C-section or trying to suction baby out 3 times with a C-section after that if she didn't decide to come.

Without any hesitation, Ben and I both agreed on trying to suction baby out; a C-section definitely wasn't our first choice. Within a minute the room had filled with nurses and residents and it finally sunk in that baby was almost here! The doctor did a quick episiotomy, counted out pushes for me, and baby came on the third suction.

The next few minutes I'll never forget. It was such a sweet and special moment, and I felt like I was officially meeting someone I already knew.

After the NICU team had checked baby out (there were some breathing concerns) and the nurses had done all of their tests and measurements, we were left alone to settle into our new normal as a family of three.

Second best day of my life.  :)

estee's birth story: part 1.

During my 9 months of being pregnant I found that most people love to share their negative experiences with their labor(s) and delivery(ies), which is really a bummer because no pregnant lady wants to hear about all of the things that could go wrong! I promise that you won't read anything negative about labor and delivery here. ;)

I spent my pregnancy trying not to think about the actual labor and delivery part of it all and instead focused on being pregnant and also what I thought motherhood would be like. Unfortunately, as I got closer to the end of my pregnancy I started to panic a teeny, tiny bit as reality set in and I realized that A) baby was coming out one way or another, and B) I couldn't plan any of it! I hadn't taken any birthing classes, I didn't read up on breastfeeding, I hadn't done any research on controversial parenting decisions, my birth plan merely consisted of getting an epidural if there was time, and I didn't even know what being effaced meant until my doctor explained it to me at 38 weeks pregnant. I was totally and completely "winging it." And to be honest, it was actually really great, minus those few moments of panic.

I figured that women have been giving birth for thousands of years without having first taken a birthing class and they definitely figured out how to feed their babies without first meeting with a lactation consultant. I was 100% banking on the fact that maternal instincts would kick in. . . or that my nurses would tell/show me what to do. 

Going into the whole labor and delivery experience with zero expectations and no concrete birth plan was fabulous; I didn't get hung up on things that were "going wrong" because there was no right or wrong in my mind. . .

(Birth story below. Read at your own risk. :))

second trimester helps.

I'm now well into my third trimester but I still can't even believe the enormous difference between my first and second trimesters! (That sentence deserves all of the exclamation points.) I was still sick and throwing up, but I wasn't completely exhausted and sick and trying to avoid food at the same time, and that made all of the difference. Sure, pregnancy is different for everyone, but that first trimester for me was a killer and my second trimester was heaven-sent in comparison. (Find first trimester helps here.)

Here's what I loved during weeks 14-28. . .

1 //  Heartburn aids. Again, different for everyone, but my heartburn got progressively worse as the second trimester went on. At first I was able to get by by popping some antacid tablets (these were/are my favorite flavor!) throughout the day and night (hint: buy multiple bottles and put them everywhere! Your purse, car, desk at work, nightstand, etc.), but by the time I was waking up and eating between 6-8 at night alone, I figured it was time to try something else. My doctor suggested giving Gaviscon and Zantac both a try, but unfortunately neither one did much for me. Around weeks 26 and 27 my heartburn started making me throw up at night, and at that point my doctor finally wrote me a prescription. Life changing! As long as I take my pill first thing in the morning, I don't have issues with any foods and can make it through the night with a few Tums. Hello, salsa! Hello, chocolate!

2 // Sleeping with an extra pillow. Everyone raves about pregnancy pillows and they sound really great. But. Shelling out $80+ for a body pillow wasn't something I was comfortable with. I did the next best thing and found an extra pillow laying around; I found that as long as I placed the lower half between my knees and the upper half under my belly, I was waking up with less back pain than before.

3 // Prenatal massages. Although sleeping with an extra pillow definitely helped with the lower back pain, it didn't completely get rid of it. So I searched for a Groupon and booked myself an appointment for a massage, went to said appointment, and left vowing to return. It was several days before I started to have back pain again!

4 // New bras. Around the start of my second trimester as everything started expanding and growing, I was in desperate need of some new bras. It took a few trips to various stores to find the right size/fit, but it was a necessity. Sports bras also turned out to be helpful for sleeping comfortably at night!

5 // Maternity jeans. Before hitting the stores to find some pants fit for an expanding waist I had nightmares of loose-fitting grandma jeans with a surprisingly high crotch. (Something to the tune of this.) Fortunately, I was wrong. So very wrong. Maternity jeans are sparkles, cupcakes, unicorns, and rainbows all rolled into a single clothing item and that makes them fabulous. My favorite jeans came from H&M and Target, and I never paid more than $40 a pair.

6 // Body lotion. Stretch mark cream, body butter, plain old lotion--whatever you want to use--was so, so helpful for me! Although I had been dutifully lathering up after getting out of the shower each day in order to avoid stretch marks, I started getting super itchy toward the end of my second trimester and really began to appreciate the goodness that is lotion.

What helped you through your second trimester?

Any suggestions on third trimester helps?

first trimester helps.

There are lots of things I would never wish on someone: cancer, homelessness, blowing a tire on the freeway, being framed for a crime, canned black olives, shrinking new clothes in the dryer, being forced to kill a giant spider, a bad hair day, and constant morning sickness. Sure, I haven't experienced half of those, but canned black olives are no joke.

I'd also argue that constant morning sickness is no joke--but it's bearable when you find what works for you. I feel like it took me a rather long time to figure out what worked for me and my nausea, whereas some women figure it out quickly. I guess I just like to do things the hard way. :)

Here's what worked for me...

1 // Plain, simple snack foods. Basically, anything that didn't have too much flavor. My go-to's were saltines, animal crackers, fruit snacks, and dry cereal. I found that if I ate something as soon as I woke up (literally, the moment I opened my eyes! I kept a box of cereal on my nightstand.) and if I continued to eat something (anything!) every 2 hours, I didn't throw up as much. Constantly keeping some fruit snacks and a bag of animal crackers in my bag was a lifesaver on more than one occasion. In fact, since I'm still getting nauseous and throwing up every once in a while, I keep 1-2 snacks in my purse at all times.

2 // Gatorade and Sprite. Hydration, hydration, hydration. I quickly learned that throwing up was even worse when you haven't been drinking very much. I've never been a fan of soda/carbonation, but Sprite really helped with my upset stomach and those times when food sounded like the worst thing in the world, it was nice having something in the fridge to fall back on.

3 // Unisom + Vitamin B6. Okay, if I were the kind of person to worship things, I'd worship this drug combo all day long. This stuff saved me. My doctor wouldn't prescribe Zofran since he's against it (he's also just a weird guy in general and I'm looking for a new doctor) and basically told me to call him if I was still sick at 14 weeks. Since I was convinced at one point I was going to throw up an organ wasn't okay with that, I started googling things and found that taking 25mg of Vitamin B6 and 1/2 of a Unisom (two thumbs up for the cheap knock-off brand!) at night worked for severe morning sickness. I always took/take mine at night since Unisom is a sleep-aid and I didn't want to be falling asleep at work, and they seemed to last until the next evening. I only wish I had discovered this sooner!

4 // Ziplock baggies. It's gross, but these were great for throwing up. I didn't even think of using ziplock baggies until my mom gave me a handful as we headed out the door to drive home from Utah. They fold up small and are easy to stash in your purse or in the car door, they contain the smell (so gross- I can't believe I'm blogging about this), and they're disposable...no mess to wash out/clean.

5 // Preggie Pops. A girl at work recommended trying Preggie Pops. I bought the kind with vitamin B6 added and they helped quite a bit the first week or two that I had morning sickness before it got worse. They're especially helpful when you can feel the nausea coming on but can't entertain the thought of eating anything.

6 // Sleep. So simple, so helpful! Days when the morning sickness was really bad, I'd come home from work and sleep for an hour or two before Ben got home and then I'd end up going to bed early so I could get 9-10 hours each night. It definitely wasn't productive, but it helped!

7 // Ice water. I've been a little turned off from the taste of water the last few months, but I found that drinking ice water (or just really cold water) helps with the taste and I was/am able to get my recommended amount. 

Let me know if you have any morning sickness tips or tricks! Anything is appreciated!