She's Here!!

Tzipora Sara was born at 5:13am on 12/30/10. She weighs 6lbs 7oz and is 20 inches long.

After having the "real fake" contractions all day on the 29th, I was getting annoyed and discouraged that it was going to go on forever. So, I convinced my hubby that he needed to help me get things started (and I'll leave the rest to your imagination there.) I passed my mucus plug/bloody show around 11pm after the hubby and I, well you know. Then I was up for a bit being semi-excited that I had even passed the mucus plug. I finally laid down for bed a little before 1am and was having slightly more regular and painful contractions when I was laying down. Then, around 1:15am, my water broke. It was just like everyone had said. I felt/heard a "pop", knew exactly what it was and jumped up for the bathroom. lol I woke up the hubby by accident because I banged the bedroom door on my way to the toilet. I had a bit of fluid leakage, so it just confirmed that it was my water, and then I went to wake up Shmuel and tell him to get ready. We still had a few things we needed to finish packing, so that took us time. As for labor, well, good L-rd ladies...that was it. Having my water break caused contractions to come fast and furious!!! Every 2-3 minutes and they hurt like nobody's business. Because I was contracting so much and we were still packing the last few things into the bag (and the car), we didn't actually get to the hospital until around 2:15am. Then it took time for us to get up to triage and get everything hooked up, so my midwife didn't come in to check me until nearly 3am. And yes, I had my favorite midwife!!!!!!!!! I was 4cm dilated and fully effaced, but she said that the ferocity of my contractions probably meant it wouldn't be a long haul...and boy was she right. I got into my room probably around 3:15 or so and *really* wanted to try getting into the tub. I was willing to do nearly anything to get the pain to lessen up. Unfortunately the tub did nothing... So we got out and I tried a few other positions...nope, still writhing in pain. My doula got out her TENS machine, which definitely helped, but there was nothing touching these bad boy contractions. Everything was made worse by the fact that each time the baby moved was excruciatingly painful and would then cause another contraction. I didn't have almost any rest between them, and it was quite overwhelming. I was in so much pain that Shmuel even got a bit queasy and had to excuse himself. (He's so sensitive and just couldn't watch me in that kind of pain.) By 4:30 I was begging for mercy and any kind of pain relief they would give me (except I didn't want a narcotic). My doula suggested a sterile water injection in my back, and I was like "sure...whatever you want...just make them HURRY". While I waited, she suggested I try going to the bathroom, as a full bladder can make contractions worse. I didn't really feel like I had to go, but I went anyway. Once I got on the toilet, I relaxed and my body naturally wanted to bear down. Gee...all of a sudden the contraction didn't seem as bad and it felt really good to push. Uh oh...but I was only an hour and a half from being 4cm...I couldn't imagine that I was actually complete and ready to go. I told the doula to call for the midwife to check me before I started accidentally pushing on a semi-closed cervix. But honestly, the urge was so intense that not pushing through a contraction was a zillion times worse. The midwife was actually in the middle of delivering another baby, but soon came into the room. I had already pushed a little bit through a few contractions while she was gone, hoping I wasn't screwing things up. She checked me and (you guessed it)...fully dilated with the baby halfway down the birth canal. Woo!!! I pushed for just about a half an hour (including the few pushes I took before the midwife got there) and POOF! There was my little girl at 5:13 am...only 4 hours after my water broke! Compared to the incredibly painful contractions prior to pushing, I would say that pushing was the easy part. I only had two very, very minor tears (one superficial tear on the labia and one that the midwife called a "dimple" on my vagina). I think she gave me a grand total of 3 stitches and then was all set. So there you have it! My baby made it in time for the tax deduction AND I got to deliver with my favorite midwife (who called me a birthing goddess). Soooo perfect. :-) Enjoy these pics!!

Did I Tell You....

That I got a A in both of my courses this semester?? I knew I had an A in Anatomy & Physiology, and I was pretty sure I had one in Human Growth & Development, but I was still nervous that my professor might do something weird and give me less than that. Nope! My 4.0 average is intact!! :-)

As for the baby, I got all excited last night when I started to have "real" contractions. You know, the ones that hurt your back and front and all the way around... As soon as I laid down to go to sleep they started and came probably 5-7 mins apart until I fell asleep. I woke up again a bit before 4am with the same thing - contractions about 5-7 mins apart. I fell back to sleep around 5am and then woke up before my alarm around 7:15. I got up, had a few contractions...and then they stopped. Bah humbug! I did notice that I might have passed a weensy bit of mucus plug and that I had a small amount of pink/red on the toilet paper (kind of like when your period is thinking about coming), but that stopped too. All day I've had these same kinds of contractions but with no pattern. I can tell that the baby has dropped WAAAAAY down...I mean she is so far down I swear she's coming out my toes. But having one real contraction per hour just doesn't cut it, you know? lol The midwife I usually see is actually in labor & delivery tonight (woo hoo), so I'm going to call around 7:30pm and see if she wants me to come in and maybe do a membrane sweep or something to kick my body into gear. I just don't want to be doing days upon days of having completely irregular "real" contractions...that would be a bummer. I'll keep you guys updated if anything happens!

Have You Noticed?

I'm in single digits!!! There are less than 10 days until my due date. How unreal... Now what would be great is if the baby would come out to celebrate. These Braxton-Hicks contractions are driving me nuts. Not because they're painful (which they're not), but because it feels like a tease. It's like my body saying "haha...another FAKE contraction for you!" So rude! Either do it right or not at all, thanks...

No, No Baby Yet...

Sorry to say there's nothing going on baby-wise. Just a blizzard outside...that's the most exciting thing happening here. :-)

In other news (and this is TMI), I have the worst case of hemorrhoids in the entire history of the ailment. It's so bad that I'm seriously considering a tush transplant. I'm nervous that going through delivery is going to make it a gajillion times worse. *sigh* Anyone with ideas on how to make it go away is welcome to leave them in a comment.

Midwife Appointment

I got to see my favorite midwife tonight. She tried to strip my membranes, but apparently I'm dilated to 1cm on the "outside" part of the cervix but completely closed on the inside...so she couldn't get in there to actually separate the membrane from the inner part of the cervix. Well, she did the best she could, and I guess we'll see if it turns into anything. So far I'm still just having Braxton Hicks contractions, which are impossible to time because you can't *really* tell when they begin or end. I guess I'll know when they're real contractions because I'll actually know when they start and finish. Anyways, I'm also 50% effaced and the baby is at a -1 or -2 station, so at least we're making some progress! The baby has moved farther down, so that's good. Now if only we could get things moving along...

My mother-in-law is coming in tonight! She was cleared by her doctor to travel, so I'm delighted that she'll be here soon!! Now we just need to convince the baby that she really wants to meet Grandma... ;-)

I do have a belly pic from tonight, I just haven't uploaded it yet. When I do, I'll post it on the sidebar.

What a Week!!

First of all, we still haven't figured out why Dovid is throwing up overnight almost every other night. He hasn't in a few, and we think we know which foods give him reflux, but it's anyone's guess. (And we still don't know 100% if it is reflux...we're just guessing at that.) Thankfully he has an appointment on Monday with the gastroenterologist who will hopefully figure this out.

Secondly, I had a very eventful Wednesday night/Thursday. Not pregnancy related at all, either. Coming back from grocery shopping on Wednesday night, I was driving on the highway when all of a sudden my check engine light went on and my car wouldn't accelerate. Yikes!! I was going 65mph...no wait 55mph...hang on, only doing 45...CRUD! Luckily I was right at an exit, so I got on the exit ramp. The only problem was my car was quickly decelerating (and of course I was hitting the brake because the exit ramp was curvy), and the poor guy behind me was probably annoyed as all heck that I was creeping down this ramp. Anyway, I FINALLY got to a place on the ramp where there was a lot of space and I could pull over. I tried turning off the car and turning it back on, but that did nothing. I was nervous about leaving the motor on, since I had no clue what was wrong, so there I was in the freezing cold unable to go anywhere. I called AAA, who put me on their "most important" list, but I still had to wait almost 45 minutes for a tow truck. Luckily, my coat is very warm so I really wasn't all that cold (except for my nose, which was freezing). They towed me home and that was it for the night.

The next morning my first mistake was calling AAA instead of Kia. I wanted AAA to tow me to the nearest service station and wasn't really thinking about the fact that maybe Kia wouldn't cover repairs anywhere but their own dealers. I waited a while for the AAA guy to come, and then of course when I got to the service station they suggested I call my insurance company to see if they would pay for a rental car (which they wouldn't since I wasn't in an accident) and also to call Kia to see if they would even pay for repairs at this station. I called Kia and they said "nope...gotta go to the nearest Kia dealer" and had me call their own free towing service to get me there. They also said that if I had bought the extended warranty when I bought the car that a rental would be covered. I had no clue whether or not I had the warranty, so I decided to walk home while waiting for the tow truck to come. I walked home...found that we did not buy the extended warranty...and walked back (that's 0.7 mi one way). Meanwhile, the tow truck is a no show. They said it would take an hour from when I called, and it took me just about that long to walk home, look for the warranty, reserve a rental car near the Kia dealer and walk back. Kia actually called to check and see if my tow truck had arrived, and when I said it hadn't they checked with the tow company to see when it would come. I was informed it would be about 20-30 minutes longer. Awesome... 30 mins later, still no tow truck. Kia called again to check in on me and I said "no truck". They called the tow company again and was told it would be another 15-20 mins. 20 mins later, still no truck... Of course they called to check in again, but this time they said that the truck should be pulling in momentarily, which it was. This is now 2 hours after I first called to get the tow truck and an hour after it was first scheduled to arrive. GRUMBLE!!

The tow truck towed me to Medford, which was about a 45 min drive. The Kia dealer there said that he had an idea of what the problem could be and that it might even be an easy fix (meaning I could wait and take my car home that day). Woo! Finally some good news! It took them about 2 hours from when I arrived to get the car fully fixed, but that was fine with me. (I canceled the rental car I had reserved, so that was no big deal.) All together, I started this whole process at 7:30am and left the Kia place just before 3pm. Really, really pathetic and I could've saved myself over 2 hours by just having the AAA guy take me to a Kia dealer or calling Kia first. What a pain in the butt, but luckily we have a car. My biggest fear was not having one and me going into labor...

As for the pregnancy, everything is going well. My appointment with the midwife last Thursday went very well, and she's going to strip my membranes this coming Thursday (provided I'm still pregnant then). We had a little chat with the baby on which days she's going to be working labor & delivery (Mon and Wed), so hopefully the baby will oblige us and come then. I'll also be doing my part (taking Evening Primose Oil, seeing my acupuncturist and maybe doing some acupressure at home). The full moon happens to be on Tuesday as well, so that's working for us. We'll see!!

My mother-in-law was supposed to be coming to visit starting tomorrow, but unfortunately has come down with a bad case of bronchitis. Her first doctor was completely unhelpful and gave her two courses of the same antibiotic (when the first one didn't work, he gave her another of the same drug). That of course also didn't work! She went to see a different doctor who has put her on a new drug, but she's not allowed to travel for another week. *sigh* So the plan now is for her to come next Sunday (the 26th). If I go into labor this week (which is the plan between me and the midwife), then that's a biiiiig problem. It means no overnight coverage for the twins...which means we have to get a babysitter. Luckily our usual day care person is very willing to do this, but she's also deathly allergic to all types of nuts...and my house is anything but nut-free. So I'm absolutely terrified of her in my kitchen. Honestly, that's really not something I want to be worrying about while I'm in labor, but I don't have any other choice. My mom isn't coming to visit until right before New Year's, so I'll actually have double coverage for part of the week after this one. I wonder if my sister wants to take a week off of work...it is the holiday season after all. ;-)

Goings On

Not too much happening here. My mom and her boyfriend have been in Israel for the past week or so, but they're on the flight home now. All four of us (Shmuel, the twins and I) were all sick with a GI upset this past weekend. My mother-in-law is coming on Sunday. And....I'm almost full term!! Yay!! Every time I see the midwife everything seems to be normal, so that is a relief. No idea yet when Baby #3 will make her appearance, but you can be sure that I'll blog/Facebook/Twitter during the whole birth. :-) I got to take a tour of the birthing center in the hospital tonight, and that was fantastic. It was my first time up there, so I'm glad I got to see it before the "big day". Shmuel couldn't come with me since he was taking care of the twins, but it's ok because I'll be able to direct him to the right elevators even when I'm in labor.

School is almost over, too. This is the last week and then I'm done for the semester. Yay!! I have to take my last Anatomy & Physiology exam on Wednesday (which I'm supposed to be studying for now), but I shouldn't have to take the final exam since I have an A average.

We think Dovid may have a reflux disorder, and he's going to see the gastroenterologist on Monday. After getting sick a few weeks ago with a GI bug, he's still throwing up almost every night (overnight, so you don't see the puke until morning). We think he only throws up overnight when he has acidic foods for dinner, so we've been avoiding them (oranges, tomato sauce, etc.) Poor baby!! I really hope the doctors can figure out what's going on and fix it.

By the way, if you haven't guessed in my baby pool you'd better do it now. I'm going to close the pool on the 16th, when I turn 37 weeks, so you don't have much time!!

New Belly Comparison

I thought you guys might like to see a comparison of pictures between 35 weeks with the twins and my latest belly pic that was taken at 35 weeks just a few days ago. I forgot that my friend had taken this picture of me, and it really shows the huge difference. I had to flip the image left to right, so if you're paying attention you'll notice my dimple is on the "wrong" side. Also, just because WiseGuy is curious, I do not only wear that gray sweater. I wear it for the comparison pics so it's easier to see how I've been growing. I did it with the twins, so I figured I would continue the tradition with this pregnancy. But my friend took a picture of me in a different top, so you get to see that here. :-) Enjoy!

Finally, a New Belly Pic

So sorry I haven't posted a new belly pic in over a month, but I've been really lazy. :-) But, without further ado, here is the newest pic (compared with the last one I took at 30 weeks). Today's pic is on the right.



I feel like the belly isn't growing outward as much as it's growing vertically. So I don't look that much bigger outwardly than I did at 30 weeks, but you can see how low my belly goes. The belly also seems to be changing shape and becoming more round. And, if nothing else, my butt is getting bigger (as is my face). Check out the sequential pictures on my tripod page and you'll see what I mean. *sigh* Now, let's compare this latest picture with the last pictures taken during the twins' pregnancy. The comparisons are the twin pregnancy weeks 28 and 30.





I look much bigger than at 26 weeks with the twins (both vertically and outwardly), I'm vertically larger than my 28 week picture with the twins, and I'm about the same vertically as with the twins at 30 weeks. But at 28 and 30 weeks with the twins I am much larger outwardly than I am with this pregnancy.

My fundal height yesterday (Thursday) was 35.5cm, which is perfect for where I am. The midwife also ordered a BPP ultrasound for next Tuesday, just to check up on the baby's placenta since something went funky with Dovid's placenta just at 35 weeks. She doesn't suspect anything is wrong since the baby's heart rate is perfect, and her movements are strong and frequent. But it's more for peace of mind...and who doesn't like more ultrasounds, right? :-D

And speaking of such...have you noticed? I MADE IT!!! I am now 35 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Yes, I do need to make it through the day without exploding, but based on last night's midwife appointment I'm not really worried about it. Whee!