Quinn is here!

The doctor suggested we eat a good breakfast before coming to the hospital on Saturday, so Joe and I went to Shari's around 6 am and got to the hospital at 7 am to be induced. Things, as they usually do at hospitals, took a while. We finally had the pitocin going at 9 am and had a few contractions. Over the next several hours they increased the dosage. They we able to get the contractions around 2-3 minutes apart, but they weren't getting any more intense. I dilated a centimeter to 3cm between 9am and about 5:30pm. The doctor broke my water to hopefully gets things going.

To say the least, the doctor definitely got things going! My contractions started getting more intense in just a few minutes. At about 6 I was in quite a bit of pain but I was only dilated another centimeter so the doctor suggested I just get something in my IV to take the edge off. The nurse came in and gave me the medication and said it would take the pain down a notch or two and last for about an hour and then hopefully I would be ready for an epidural. About 7 pm I was in severe pain. The contractions were about 2 minutes apart and I could barely think during them. Joe was great and would rub and squeeze my feet during the contractions which helped a lot to distract me, but I was ready for the epidural.

When the nurse came to check me at 7:10 I was dilated to 5 centimeters and she called the doctor to see if he was okay with me having the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in about 10 minutes and I was in major pain. She had me get on my side and when I felt baby Quinn fall into place (and my pain level increased even more.) They were ready to insert the epidural, but when the nurse checked me the baby was already crowning and ready to go.

Two pushes later, Quinn was here! It was quite an intense experience, but from 5 cm to birth was only 24 minutes.

Unfortunately, Quinn's lungs weren't quite ready for the big world, so he took a trip to the special care nursery and is probably going to be there for a few days to a week or two while his lungs develop the rest of the way. Please keep him in your prayers. We can't wait to have him home with us.

Saturday!

I just got back from the doctor. Saturday is going to be Quinn's birthday:) I am already dialated to 2 cm, so the doctor was very happy about that and said that he didn't think we would have any issues with having a regular birth (yeah! No c-section! That makes me VERY happy.)

I am so excited to finally get to see my little guy! Plus, I will enjoy not being "chained" to my couch anymore.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and prayers:)

Quinn's birthday is coming soon!

I was in the hospital (again) on Sunday for high blood pressure. Things seem to be under control again, but some of my lab tests aren't the best. Nothing horrible, but my doctor is thinking about inducing me this weekend. We just might have a little baby before next week! How exciting would that be. Plus, I will enjoy not being confined to the couch anymore. I go into the doctor on Thursday, so I will know more for sure then, but right now it is looking like I am not going to have to wait until the 26th.

Bedrest is a lot harder than it seems! Thank goodness I have had lots of people here to help out. It definitely could be a lot worse.

Doctor appointment today

I just got back from the doctor. Things are looking good still. The doctor tweaked my medication again to hopefully get me back to just one medication again. I lost 3 pounds, but a lot of that was probably water that I had been retaining when my BP was so high. Now that my medication is working better and I am staying off my feet, most of my swelling has gone away. The baby's heartbeat was good and things are looking pretty good right now. The doctor said he isn't going to induce me until the week of the 26th, but if I go into labor before then he isn't going to stop it. He also said he would be watching for a few other things which would bump up the date of delivery. He is looking for either my blood pressure to spike again and not being able to control with medication, my fluid level to be less than 8 (it is 10 right now) which they check twice a week when I go in for testing at the hospital, or if the amount of protein starts to increase. I go into the doctor once a week now also...so pretty much every other day I am being seen, so they are laking good care of us and watching us closely.

So, if everything stays "uneventful" we will have our baby the last week of the month...so 2 1/2 weeks more of being home and stuck on the couch. Maybe little Quinn will be nice and get things started on his own earlier than that.

Testing update

I went in today for my scheduled non-stress test and ultrasound. Quinn is still doing great and the amount of fluid is still good. I go see the doctor tomorrow so hopefully I will know more about when he is going to make his big entrance. The new mix of medications seem to be keeping my BP under control, so hopefully things stay stable for a while longer.

Saturday I go in again for the same testing. Just keeping an eye on the little guy:) The nurse verified that he is head down and ready for launch:)

Update

I can't believe the time is growing so near for us. I go into the doctor Thursday so hopefully I will know more about when he wants to induce. I am sure a lot will be determined by the non-stress test tomorrow and how my blood pressure is acting. The doctor had to add back my original medicine (although a lesser dose) to keep my BP under control all the time. My new meds are supposed to last 12 hours, but at around the 9 hour mark it is wearing off...so he has me taking an extra dose of the old medication at that time to tide me over. So far it seems to be working pretty well. Hopefully it will continue to work for another week or so...getting our little Quinn to 37 weeks would be great.

Things are going well here on my couch. I haven't gotten super bored yet, so that makes me happy. I have had a few visitors, plus my mom-in-law came last night and is staying until Saturday morning to help out (and keep me company.)

On the financial side, things are looking a lot better. God is definitely good. We have gotten some extra money from very unexpected sources, so that takes some of the stress off.

Thanks for all the prayers!

What a way to start the year off!

New Years Eve my blood pressure decided to be naughty again and spiked up, so the doctor had me head to the hospital for some monitoring. They were having problems getting it under control so the doctor ended up admitting me. They finally had a high-risk doctor review my chart and do a few tests. We got to see our little guy on ultrasound again. The doctor measured him and he is doing great. On Friday he was 5 pounds 11 ounces, so he is going to be a good sized boys. Originally they thought I was going to need to deliver over the weekend, but they finally were able to get my blood pressure under control a bit better with some new medications and bedrest. I finally got to come home today around noon. Sure is good to be home. Hopefully my blood pressure will behave itself and we can get a few more weeks of "cooking" for our little Quinn. Joe's mom offered to come help, so she is coming down Monday and staying for most of the week to help with the boys and make meals, etc. I am officially off work now, which is stinky since I don't have any paid time off...but I just have to trust that things will work out. We have some money saved for when the baby was born, but using some of that now is going to shorten my time at home with him. It is more important to have a healthy baby by far. Maybe we will be able to afford for me to work part-time for a bit once I need to go back to work. Other not so good news is that Dusty lost his job, so we will also be missing money from child support...sigh. When it rains, it pours, right?

The best thing, besides our baby being healthy, is that we have lots of great friends and family that have all offered to help out with the boys while I am home for the next few weeks. All of this would be much harder to deal with if we weren't so blessed.

Hopefully there won't be too much more excitement to blog about for a few weeks. Keep us all in your prayers:)