Livee Maurine

LIVEE MAURINE ARNOLD

Born January 16, 2012 at 10:26 am
7 lbs 5 oz and 19 inches long
Head 13 inches

So because I was only dilated to a 2 since 36 wks my doctor told me to go in the night before to have the pill that "ripens" the cervix. So Sunday we waited to hear that my parents had left southern Idaho to get hear because they were staying with the kids. Well, I called them at 4 and they had not left. So in a panic we called Cory's sister who lives in Clarkston, which is 2 hours away and she came up to stay. I am so grateful we have someone close enough for emergencies! Anyways she got here about 8 or 8:30 then Cory left to get a present he had got me and sent to our friends house. When he got back she (my friend, Kristi) came with him and brought me a basket of goodies and a sweat suit. She is so wonderful to me. We ended up talking and the hour went fast! It was then 9:40 and I wanted to leave at 9:30 so we got all our stuff and headed to the hospital. It took a bit to get settled but we got there and checked in at about 10:15 pm on Sunday 1/15/12. I felt bad because apparently the nurse had called and been waiting for us all day. I had no idea and would have gone up earlier if I would have known. There was only me and one other mom in labor . . . so I guess it was a slow night! I got all hooked up and had the cervidel inserted around 11-11:15 I was dilated 2 and 50% effaced (I think that is what she said). I then got some graham crackers and a sprite because I had been throwing up before--- and threw up my dinner. Not sure if it was nerves or my normal sickness I would get randomly. I am guessing both. The nurse then gave me a ambien to sleep after about an hour because I wasn't quite ready to sleep yet. Then at 3 am they put in the 2nd dose of cervidel which I was still at a 2 when they did this and I started having painful contractions at 4 am. The nurse gave me 3 doses of pain meds over the course of 3 hours to try and offset the contractions because I couldn't sleep through them anymore. I remember they would work for like 30 minutes but I kept having severe back labor that I couldn't deal with much. I then got the epidural at 7 am I was dilated to a 4-5. The epidural I had to keep getting more meds at certain points because I could feel the back labor at one point they had pushed the button to the max and I could still feel it in my back so the anesthesiologist had to come in and give me more. Then at 8:30 I was checked and fully dilated in which I could feel the pressure. We then waited for an hour and a half for the baby to "labor down" which meant the baby naturally would come down without me having to push (we did this for my back). We waited until baby was almost crowning and then found out my Dr. was in a surgery. We chose to wait and ended up waiting an hour the baby was ready and my epidural kept wearing off so they gave me another dose to get me through and called for the other doctor in the office (Dr .Meltzer) He came in and said that I could chose to wait another 30 minutes for my dr but we chose to just have the baby because I had already waited 2 hours long at a 10. I pushed through 2 contractions (so 4 times) and she was here. It was actually a very different experience than my others. I was never put on pit I labored naturally after the cervidel got me going. I was actually surprised at how fast I went without the help of pit. The worst part was laboring through the night. I remember saying to Cory that I never ever want to do it
naturally . . . I don't know how people do it. Maybe I am a total pansy but I was seriously ready to scream swear words tourette's style. I was SO relieved when the anesthesiologist came to my rescue. It all went really fast and I am SO glad that I am not pregnant anymore. The relief of pressure from my back, the sickness, the peeing all night long and contractions all day. I AM SO GLAD ITS OVER! She is absolutely perfect. She came out and I thought that Araleigh's twin had arrived. She looks just like Araleigh when she was born just a little bit shorter hair. I was so glad to have shared the experience with Cory and both my parents. The kids absolutely adore her. I thought there would be some major jealousy issues but they have completely embraced her and just absolutely adore her. They are fighting constantly about who gets to hold her and they come in all the time just to kiss her. So far we have struggled with sleep. The first 2 nights we were up every 45 minutes to an hour feeding. We were exhausted. We went into the doctor on day 3 for her check up. She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and she had jaundice so they sent us straight to the hospital to get her levels checked. Her level was 13.5. We then had to feed her every two hours and supplement with formula through the night and we went and had another check up the next morning. We went back to the hospital and then to the pediatrician. She ended up being 13.5 still the next morning but her weight had come up to 6lbs 13 oz. So she gained 3 oz over night. Which was great. Her doctor told me to just keep an eye on her and make sure she is having regular diapers and she will be fine. So far I think she is getting better but I think we will check to make sure next week. My milk came in by the gallons and now I am using ice packs and dying most the time. I feel like a cow. But I forgot how much I enjoy breastfeeding . .. though it hurts and again makes me want to swear tourettes style . . . I love the time I get to spend with her and the bond that makes us closer. I again thought how can I love something as much as my other kids-- and it is so amazing to me how instant and natural it is. We absolutely love this perfect, beautiful little girl that has been brought to us. Though I was very negative and unsure about the pregnancy in the beginning I am grateful that she came to us . . and she came to us as a surprise. She is one big present for our family. We were shocked to find out she was coming, we were surprised it was a girl and we were completely surprised that she had hair and looks like Araleigh's twin. I truly thought that she would be a boy with blonde and not much hair. We are so glad she is here safely and we love her so much.

38 weeks

Went to the doctor today for the last time. I was still at a 2 and long is what he told me. I am a bit surprised because I am contracting all the time--- but I don't walk a lot and take it easy because of my back so my activity level has been low. The scheduled me and I will be going into the hospital Sunday night to get the meds to soften my cervix and get the group b strep meds then in the early morning they will start me off! I am actually excited to go in the night before because that means things will be progressing that much sooner than if I went in on Monday morning as planned! Only a 4.5 days and we will meet our new member of our family. We are all so excited to be DONE and just have her here. Araleigh is so excited she has even been writing her name all over her school work at school along with her name. She can't wait to be a big sister again and keeps telling me that she will be holding her all the time. lol I am so glad I have such a good helper! As for now . . I am looking forward to having my aversions to food be normal again, to get my ankles and my swollen everything back to normal, for my back to stop hurting and just to get my hormones back. (Which I know will take a bit as well after but still.) Well, until the big debut . . . . .

37 Weeks.

So today I am 37 weeks 1 day. We got up really early to have the kids at our friends house by 7 am then it was off the the hospital. We checked in at 7:15 and did the ultrasound and then Dr. Brown came in and did the amniocentesis. I was REALLY nauseated the whole time. Last night and this morning I was throwing up and not sure why. So being nervous didn't help that situation. Anyways it took them a while to find a pocket of fluid to do it in because there is not much room in there. They only found 2 small pockets . . . one was by babies head so he chose not to do that one and the other was on the top of my abdomen where the placenta was close to--- he had to be super careful but had the tech guide him to not hit anything bad. The amnio wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Which is always a good thing. I was thinking horrible pains and big needles. Which it was a big, long needle but the good thing was it was a small needle. So when they put it in it just felt like a normal shot . . until they hit my uterus and had to really shove it in to break the sac . . . I like felt the "pop" and then was cramping. That was the worst part and then waiting for him to get all the fluid out. That was the worst . . waiting to be done. Then they took me to Labor and Delivery and I was monitored for 1.5 hours to make sure everything was ok and it wouldn't send me into labor. We ended up just ordering room service (I was starving) and just relaxed. I had a lot of contractions and have been cramping and really sore all day. I also had to get another Rogam shot because of the breaking of the sac or whatever. Then I was told that after baby is born I again have to have another shot. Bummer. Those things hurt! Anyways, then we went up to get the kids and our friends Kristi and Mike-- well he just is getting trained to sell more medical equipment at his job and they just happened to have his ultrasound machine there . . . well-- I am prime practice. lol We spent the next hour playing with the machine trying to make sure baby doesn't have an "extra" appendage. I have been worried that she is a he for some reason. We never could find it --- but it was fun playing with the machine. So now the plan is to have this baby on the 16th which is in a little over a week. Gives me more time to get ready and more time for her lungs to develop! Can't wait for this to be over!!!