Quinn's Blog

..induced

It seems to be the word of the week. I'm surprised and frustraited. I thought I would peacfully be able to ride out at least two weeks past my due date. We went in for another session of monitoring yesterday. And thankfully again everything looked great. I keep hearing that past the due date there gets to be a greater risk of several problems. But my feelings are as long as everything looks great they leave me be.
Ethan and I talked about weighing the risks of waiting. But there is a balance. On one end the later I deliver the higher the risk of stillbirth. Or there being mecomium in the amniotic fluid because the baby just couldn't "hold it" any longer. And after a certain point the placenta begins to degrade. But even the doctor said it could go to 50% and still being doing it's job.
The balance is, what does induction REALLY mean. It means that I'm hooked up to an IV and monitors limiting my mobility (not to mention being stuck by a needle *shiver*). And Just because all the medical things have been correctly done doesn't mean my body is ready to cooperate. And Pitocin induced contractions are noted for being immediately stronger, giving no time to aclimate. This increases the frequency of pain medication. If I choose to use narcotics, they effect the baby. If I choose an epidural it could effect a host of things including mobility, getting into a good position, being able to push. And this leads to a higher frequency in cesarians and episiotomies. Which goes against my please do cut me rule. And a failed induction means cesarian.

As you can tell my head is a little full at the moment. I'm trying to stay calm and relaxed. I really would like to just let things happen. I'm willing to continue to be monitored closely. And as long as everything is A+, I see no reason to panic...


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I finished my baby hat this weekend.

It's called the unbilical cord hat:



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Nurse: You just had a contraction just now.

Allison: I did?

Nurse: Did you feel anything?

Allison: No. 






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Before everyone gets excited-

Because I'm running "late" I was in today for monitoring. We had a non-stress test. Which means I was monitored for at least an hour to check to see if the baby's heartbeat would get faster and slower, a good indicator that she's getting oxygen. The worry with going over is that the placenta begins to degrade. But I absolutly do not want to be induced.

The second half of today's hospital visit was an ultra sound to measure amniotic fluid. This is up for debate (at least by me) because I've read from several sources that this is not accurate and results can be influenced by something as simple as maternal dehydration. The doctor agreed with my concerns, but we did the test anyway.

At least we agreed to avoid any weight estimate...although she said I was looking bigger.

The final word is that I'm still at 2cm but I've progressed to 50% effaced. I'm having irregular contractions that I can't feel. Maybe I'll be the first woman to give birth painlessly....ha ha ha

I have my next appointment and another test on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

Allison




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Ethan: Hey look, I get three pillows tonight.

Allison: What are you talking about, you usually get at least one.



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Well, she made it. As of 4:50 this morning the Sun officially moved into Leo. I'm trying not to analyze this too much. We'll be a two Leo household. Hmmm...

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It too hot...can't move...I guess it's finally summer here. I'm hot, I'm tired, I'm pregnant. The cats are doing thier don't touch me yoga.

Allison

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The due date that is. Which in my understanding means nothing.
 
We've past that anticipation of reaching today. Anticipation turns to anxiety. It's too hard to keep up that kind of energy. I've made an effort to be more Zen and let the days go as they go and continue wiht my list of things to do. And I have plenty of things on the list.
 
I was able to finally finish the baby blanket I started so long ago. It required some nursing care from my friend Amber because I discoverred a dropped stitch in the middle and couldn't see how to pull it up. My worst fear is that I would have to pull it out. But Amber saved the day! Yea Amber! I'll post some pictures of it in a couple of days. (once I get a good photo)
 
I've been taking this time to work on our web stuff. This is something I've been wanting to do for some time and just didn't have the time. At Marin Community College I took an html class and that's been helpful. I still feel like our pages are the equivilant of a kindergardners, but improvments are coming quickly.
 
As far as all this baby stuff is concerned, I'm heading towards progress. The last doctor's visit was interesting. I went in and made some joke about not leaving until we had the baby. We had a good laugh, but Dr. Bluvas was ready to schedule an induction right then and there. I'd like to avoid being induced because the contractions don't have a chance to "ramp up".  You're thrown right in to a horomone bath. I finally reached a whole centimeter dialation. Dr. Bluvas did something called "stripping the membrane." Which means she gave it a go at streaching my cervix out to 2 centimeters. We'll find out tomorrow if it helped. Sometime stripping the membrane can kick start labor. In this case it didn't and I was sore for a couple of days.
 
The good news is she's head down and locked into place; a minus 2 station. This is how low the head is within the pelvis. This means she's 2 centimeters above two little points on the inside of the pelvis. For reference, plus 4 is when the head is crowning...
 
But all this progress is good. The more work my body does now, the further I'll be when I start having contractions.
 
We seem to be keeping busy. Yesterday we ran some errands. Today it's stuff at home.
 
Allison


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I had to buy the tickets several months ago. We weren't sure if i was going to make it! But I've been a huge fan of Sarahs since I was in NY and saw her just as she was releaseing the album that pushed her into fame. I figured this may be the last event before the baby arrives. And this is the first tour she's given in four years for the lastest new album in six. The luckiest thing is this is only the four day of the tour and it was so obvious it was all fresh. She openly talked about taking a break, having a daughter, getting married, the inspiration for songs and thier personal meanings. Nothing sounds as good as listening to Sarah live. She has a vocal quality that can only be born with and not trained. It was one of the best I've seen. We even had floor seats. And I made it through the whole thing with out a contraction!

Allison

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So, I'm beginning to wonder if being pregnant actually means having the baby...

Allison



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This weekend we had a baby shower for everyone living up in the San Francisco Area. It was Fun. There was balloons, cupcakes and the whole bit.

The cupcakes were amazing, we still have a some, we've been snacking on them all weekend. I think we'll end up freezing some so we have cupcake snacks for when the baby comes. Our teacher at Blossom told us it was a good idea to have some frozen food on hand for the first few weeks.






Little did we know that these innocent looking packages contain a handmade sweater from Amber and a hand made blanket from Liz. They'll come into good use.







Mel coveting the amazing baby sweater that Amber made. Mel also bought us a Pack n Play (pictured in the back). It's something we've been looking at for a long time. We're thinking of using it as a Bassinet, and a second changing table for the living room.


Allison opening up the amazing blanket that Liz made. It’s just the right colors for the room. Liz told us it’s one of her first blankets she ever made. That’s hard to believe.






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We had our weekly doctor's visit today. There's no change from last week. I have gained a couple more pounds, but it's hard to keep track. Ever since my doctor moved accross the hall into her own office it's been hard to get a consistant measurement. For one the scale in calibrated differently and it needs to be kicked a few times to balance out. Luckily I'm fairly persistant on staying on the scale until a logical reading in taken. My guess is I will have gained twenty pounds by the time I deliver.

Sadly, the doctor make no prediction as to when I may deliver. But I have definitly reached the end of patience.

I can say I am very excited as we put the finishing touches on the baby's room. This weekend we put up the curtain rod and Ethan started on the murals. We'll have some great pictures soon. There's a few essentials we're still looking for, but I assume that she won't be able to protest to early!

Allison

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All My Bags are Packed...

...and I'm ready to go...I'm waiting here outside...

Well anyway..

I finished packing. My suitcase waits in the living room, ready for action. Only a few things that I need that can't be packed, like my glasses. I don't have a spare pair of my current prescription. Ethan still has to put a bag together, but I'm not worried. He has his toiletry bag out.

We met with the Doula on Thursday. She said "You're not going to make your due date." I feel inclined to agree. My opinion will settle after the next visit to the doctor on Tuesday.

Ethan has kudos for making blueberry muffins from scratch. We picked up a bag of fresh blueberries at the farmers market. You can see pictures if you go to his blog from the pack the cat home page. They were really good. My guess it's another Cooking with Google triumph.

I would just like to add that this is my least favorite holiday. And the cats agree. I'm betting which of the kids in the neighborhood will be visiting the ER. I hope it's soon, firecrackers are loud, and I'm already on the edge...

Allison

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I finished the first load of baby laundry. All the newborn-sized clothes, diaper covers, wash cloths, and a few odds and ends are all clean and ready for use. I felt like it was a kind of mile stone. Maybe I feel one more step to being ready. We have plans this weekend to finish the odds and ends of the room. I'm sure we'll have some pictures. Being fairly proud of us, at least one room in the house is fairly put together. I'm still struggling to get the projects I wanted to work on done. I spend most of my days sleeping, preparing food, eating, running to the bathroom and more sleeping.




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