Hellobee Boards

@lilteacherbee: Great pics, you look wonderful!

@anbanan15: Aww, teeny tiny baby. I'm glad she had the baby safely.

@Ash: I wouldn't go to a big family gathering with a super young baby either. I'm a little worried for how this is going to work with DH's family too. One of his aunt's recently asked me "you're not going to be one of those parents that's afraid of germs and passing around the baby, are you?" Um, yeah. I am :-/.

@Ash: That is a great Christmas present! That's when I got mine from DH a few years ago (serger for my birthday and sewing machine for Christmas). Amazon and Overstock usually have great prices on some good machines.

I'm totally with you on the not going thing. I know a lot of people don't really worry about germs with NB's these days, some even stop at the grocery store on the way home, but it's not worth it to me and I like to spend the first few days/weeks at home and doctors only...plus they are just so little!

ETA: btw moving my HB notifications back to my inbox totally worked! Thanks for reminding me of the obvious Hope the diaper stripping ended well too!

@Mrs. J: I bet you were cute as a button!! Valences! Fun fun how did the chair turn out?

@Ash: @ShootingStar: @Mrs. J: She was 37w4d. Everything went well (I think) but she is extremely nauseous now. The baby looks great and it so good! They said she has basically been sleeping since birth!

@lilteacherbee: I feel you on the lesson planning! I just finished a big binder for my sub and put together a bunch of files for her. She's basically on standby for a call that I'm having a baby!
@anbanan15: my Mom was 33.5 weeks with me when her water broke and I was born. The rocking chair is all done...just need to alter the valances, and I'm almost done with baby projects. Just have to whip up some cloth wipes!

I really need to make more progress on my thank you notes too...

@anbanan15: very soft flannel

@anbanan15: Hahahah, I know, I keep checking in to see if anything is going on!

I was totally sure I'd go into labor this weekend, but nope! Baby girl is still just hanging out! It's SO nuts to think that Wednesday morning, though, she'll be here! I haven't really done much all weekend, there hasn't been a whole lot to do, though! I've been taking advantage of the quiet time and laying around...a lot. Hahahah. The house is in good shape, I have the cleaner lined up to come Tuesday afternoon, so we'll be able to come home to a clean house after the hospital, the bags are all packed and loaded in the truck, freezer meals are made... I think the only thing left is to shave my legs one last time and we'll be good to go!

It's crazy to not be at work (I decided last Friday would be my last day)--but I can't say I miss it! I'm suuuper uncomfortable, baby girl is outgrowing the room in my ribs, but I have a feeling, it won't be too much longer and I'll reminisce about this time.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

@ms.janedoe: This Wednesday?! As in (most likely) less than 48 hours from now you will be holding your squish!!! Sooooo close!

@Ash: Push present works too!!!

@ms.janedoe: Ahhh I bet that's crazy to know you'll be a mommy in 2 days! I'm excited because I get to say NEXT WEEK!!!

@anbanan15: Yay for being head down!!

I found out that I'm having a surprise baby shower at work on Friday (my last day)! My boss put a note in the kids cubbies for all the parents today and I saw it (oops!). Very sweet though, I'll just pretend to be surprised We're also having one Wednesday at DH's school. Can't believe I only have 4 more days of work and 10 days until baby!!

@Mrs. J: You are so close! So I know I said that I would give everyone an update on how my c-section went since there are a number more Nov mommas that are going to have them.

Here are the details on how the actual c-section and recovery have gone for me. To begin with, I was not allowed to eat or drink for 8 hours before the surgery. When it was scheduled for 2pm, they told me to eat before 6am, but then when it got moved up to 11:30, they said not to eat or drink after midnight. I actually didn't eat dinner the night before, I wasn't really hungry. But I did have a bowl of ice cream at about 10:30pm, ha.

I was given a list of things to prep me. On that list was no makeup and no jewelry. I broke the makeup rule by putting on mascara. I mean I knew there would be pictures taken! I needed to look at least somewhat presentable. I did take my rings off, and it is a good thing I did with all the fluids they pumped into me. I didn't have a problem wearing my rings the entire pregnancy, but when I went home on Friday, I wasn't able to get my rings on (they are back on now though).

So Wednesday morning we were supposed to get to the hospital between 9 and 9:30. We go there at 8:45 and they took us right back to start getting prepped. They had me change into a hospital gown, hooked up the IV, and put two monitors on my belly: one for the baby's heartbeat and one for contractions. Then they proceeded to ask me about a million questions.

My midwife and the surgeon came in and talked to me. They tried to talk me out of the c-section since at this point the baby was head down so the c-section was elective. But DH and I had decided that with the baby not engaged there was still a chance that she could end up back breech and more importantly, we wanted them to remove the cyst on my ovary while they were in there.

At 10:30 the nurse had completed all the prep, so DH and I were left in the room alone to wait the hour until surgery time. At a few minutes past 11:30, they came in to take me back. DH had to change into a scrub jumpsuit while they prepped me in the operating room. Up until this moment, I was completely calm and to be honest, it all hadn't really sunk in yet.

Once I was in the operating room without DH and there were about 8 people running around prepping me, I started to feel a little anxious. They put in the epidural/spinal and within about a minute, my lower body was completely numb.

Around this time they were ready to start so DH came in. The spinal/epidural made me feel nauseous and clammy. So when DH came over and held my hand I was starting to have a little bit of a breakdown. A few tears may have come out. It was pretty overwhelming. But in less than 15 minutes baby Reagan was out and I was able to see her. I couldn't feel it, or see it, but DH said the midwife was basically jumping on my tummy to push the baby out. The midwife was assisting with the surgery.

Once the baby was out, they held her up so that I could see and then took her over to the warmer in the operating room to get her all cleaned up and checked out. DH was able to be right over there. I was able to see a little bit of what was going on.

If I hadn't had the cyst removed, at this point they would have stitched me back up while DH and the baby waiting in the operating room for me. But, the cyst was more complicated than they had expected. The surgeon actually called in another surgeon to come help. Since they knew this was going to take longer than expected, they sent DH and the baby to the nursery. It ended up taking another 90 minutes to get the cyst out and get me closed.

Once the surgery was over they rolled me out into recovery. The nurse then monitored me and checked me all out for about 20 minutes before DH and the baby were able to join me. At this point I was finally able to hold me baby!! OMG, best thing ever. Baby girl was already super hungry and wanted to nurse. And she latched right on and started sucking away. The three of us stayed in the recovery area for another half hour or so.

During this time, the nurse kept asking me to try to wiggle my toes and to lift my knees. I could do neither. It was a pretty weird feeling. It wasn't until about 5pm that I was finally able to move my legs. Apparently this is perfectly normal.

Around 3 I was moved to my postpartum room. A new nurse came in and got me all settled in. To be honest, I don't remember much about this. I just remember being a little annoyed because she seemed to be taking forever and we had people in the waiting room that had been waiting since noon.

Finally around 4, people were able to come see me. At this point I was feeling no pain and was quite comfortable. I was told that I was on a liquid diet until I was able to pass gas. I felt very gassy, but it took until probably about 10pm for me to be able to actually pass gas. But this was less time than I thought it would take.

The night nurse told me that they would come in around midnight to get me out of bed and try walking. I was told that if I could only make it to the sink (about 2 ft from bed) that was fine, but if I could make it to the bathroom, that would be great. I had very little trouble making it to the bathroom. Which meant that the catheter could be removed first thing in the morning.

That was awesome. Once they removed the catheter, they also removed the IV and the leg compressor things. I felt like a normal person again, not a robot attached to all the machines. The next step was two monitored bathroom trips. Once I was able to pass urine twice, I was allowed to get in and out of bed on my own. This was done by early afternoon on Wednesday, about 24 hours post surgery.

Getting out of bed was somewhat painful. Not constantly painful, but sharp, shooting pain at my incision site. If I moved too suddenly or the wrong way, the pain would come. This was the only real pain I had, and it wasn't constant. But to guard against this pain, I did take the percocet a couple times a day while in the hospital, but only one pill at a time. I was also on motrin.

By Friday I felt great and was so ready to go home. The Dr. removed my staples early in the morning and put on steri strips. I took a percocet as a precautionary measure, but it probably wasn't necessary. Since I have been home, I really have felt awesome. I took one more percocet since I had taken the stairs twice and our bed is pretty high so I thought the pain could come. It didn't. On Sat I took 3 Advil a time, three times and then downgraded that to 2 Advil a time, three times on Sunday and today I have only had 2 Advil all day. I will probably take 2 more before bed, although it probably isn't necessary.

So this is a long post, but I was nervous about the recovery from the c-section and honestly, it is so not bad so I wanted to give some of the rest of you some peace of mind. I have been taking the stairs in my house a number of times a day and I have been fine getting in and out of bed to take care of the baby. Honestly, I feel like I was lucky to have the c-section and avoid labor. Hopefully my recovery will continue on course!

@NeekieRose: Yay, I'm glad everything went smoothly!! Thanks for all the info- very helpful to know since mine is 9 (today's pretty much over...I can say 9 right?!) days away!!!

@ms.janedoe: What time is yours on Wednesday?!

I love keeping up with this board but never get around to replying. Just wanted to let you guys know that my LO was born on Sunday morning. Yay for November babies! Baby is healthy and doing well. I'm recovering and feeling pretty much back to normal. Wishing everyone the very best and healthy babies all around!

@yin: Congrats! very cute LO, glad you're feeling good

@NeekieRose: yay, congrats, mama!! Glad to hear it went well!!

@NeekieRose: oh my gosh, she's so sweet!! It's nice to hear that things are going well! I'm afraid that breastfeeding will be difficult as well, so I'm glad you were pleasantly surprised. Maybe it will be easy for us too.

The last picture is so precious. I cannot wait to see how my husband is with Nathan!

@NeekieRose: She is so precious! I worried about breastfeeding with DS too, but it was seriously the easiest thing I ever did and he was instantly a boob monster too!

@lilteacherbee: major pregnancy insomnia? I've had it bad this last week or so! I bet your DH will surprise you and be beyond smitten with Nathan!

I bought a new bra and a jacket to wear on my morning walks and I feel like a new woman you guys! I can't believe I held out so long on the new bra. I've been mighty uncomfortable, but I just kind of figured I would wait until the very end or when my baby arrives to buy a new nursing bra at that time.

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@FarmWifeGina: You're right - it will be worth it. It totally will. I know motherhood will test my patience so I'm just getting an early taste of the need for more patience right now

@Mrs. J: Hope you had a great date night!

@Ash: Ahh, the ebbs and flows of construction work. I bet it will be so nice to see the building get started. I will think warm thoughts for you while you handle the longer walks to the car. Just think about how great that new garage and breezeway will be! I'm jealous! We don't have any room for a garage. // Also, as for the holidays, you do what you think is best for the baby and you!

@lilteacherbee: Super cute photos!!!

@ms.janedoe: You're SO ready and prepared - I'm so excited for you!

@ShootingStar: Have you had your follow-up appointment after your days of rest?

@NeekieRose: Thank you for sharing all of that with us - so happy that things are going well. She is precious!

@yin: Congratulations!

@MrsDragon: I hope that your mom is able to be there for the birth of your baby! Hugs!

@MrsTiz: @anbanan15: Haha yes! I have a cold and every time I'm up to go to the bathroom, I can barely breathe and it takes forever to go back to sleep. AND the roof of my mouth is so swollen right behind my two front teeth. It happens to me a few times a year, usually when I'm sick (I guess because of mouth breathing?) but this time, it's been a week and it hasn't gone away yet. It's to the point where I can barely close my mouth because my teeth hits it and its really painful!! I've been taking some antibiotics since Sunday but it doesn't seem to be helping. I called my dentist and they won't see me about it because I'm pregnant, so I guess I'll ask the doctor at my OB appointment tomorrow. Ugh!!

@ms.janedoe: You. are. SO. CLOSE. zomg.

So the top of my "9 months pregnant and having a good time list" would not be grooming the dogs! Ugh just gave them a shave and let's just say it was not fun times.

@lilteacherbee: ahhh hope you feel better soon! That's the worst!

@Mrs. J: only a few more days! But wouldn't that be something?! Bio lesson anyone?

@ShootingStar: Oh man! Good luck!! I'm glad nothing warranted immediate induction today at least. Staying in bed for 24 hours seriously sounds like heaven right now!! Have fun with that! Hopefully when you go in next week you will be able to work out a plan for an induction time frame you are comfortable with.

@yin: congratulations!

@ms.janedoe: good luck tomorrow! I can't imagine how awesome it feels to know you'll meet your baby in less than 24 hours!

As for me, my due date was yesterday! I am so anxious and bored and ready for baby to make his appearance. Ugh. I'm trying to get psyched up to seduce my husband in hopes that lots of sex will help move things along, but it's hard because I really don't feel like it!

Glad to see that everyone else is doing pretty well. Come on babies!