Home again and popular!

Sorry we have not updated things in a few days. Here are all the latest photos! Jennie and Leah are doing well. Leah had her first doctors appointment on Wednesday, her fist big outing. We are all going on to Bubbe's of Friday for Shabbat supper, and that will be a much more fun outing. Thanks to everyone who has come to visit us at home or here on our blog.

My First Day!

She's Finally Here

Leah is doing well, and getting Mom & Dad broken in a little bit. Here is how the rest of the day went yesterday:

They started me on the pitocin around 12:15. By 1:30 the contractions were pretty bad, so we asked for the epidural - as my friend Mandi said about the aenesthesiologist who did her epidural: God bless that sweet man. By 2:15, the epidural was in, and I was very groggy (but feeling NO pain!). The doctor was due back around 3:30 or 4:00 to check me, so we turned the lights down & dozed for a bit.

When the doctor returned she was sure she would just check my progress and then leave me be for a few hours. Once again - first time pregnancies tend to be longer labors, etc. Well, she checked at 4:00 and I was fully dilated with the baby poised to make her entrance. When the doctor told me that, I chuckled - and she suggested that I shouldn't laugh again until they were ready for the baby! Since I was feeling no pain, and the Leah was not in distress, they waited a few minutes to get started (there was a difficult delivery in another room, and they wanted to be sure that one was adequately staffed before we got started).

The doctor & nurses got all of the equipment ready for Leah's arrival, got me into place, and the pushing began. We pushed through 3 contractions - and to give you an idea of how little pain I was feeling, the nurse had to tell me when I was having the contractions. The doctor said that the baby was almost out, and turned her back to grab some supplies at which point one of the nurses says "You might want to get that" because Leah was so anxious to get here that she decided not to wait for the rest of us! Needless to say, the doc had quick reflexes, and caught the baby before she could make a complete exit.

After less than 5 hours of labor, Leah Alice made her grand entrance, and shared with us her well-developed set of lungs. However, since that initial trauma of entering the world, Ms. Leah has been relatively quiet and peaceful. The doctor who delivered her just stopped by, and said that I will be clear to head home tomorrow morning (Monday). Leah is in the nursery with her first visit to the pediatrician as I type this. Her Daddy will be here in a few minutes (I took mercy on him & sent him home to sleep in a real bed). Her Bubbe is going to be at the doors of Nieman Marcus at noon to pick out an outfit for Miss Priss to wear home from the hospital! Leah has already met her Granny, Bubbe & Honey, and Uncle Michael. She looks forward to meeting the rest of her family & friends in the coming weeks & months. As for me, Mommy feels pretty good - as long as you keep the ice packs & pain killers coming! - J

The Gherkin Arrives

Leah Alice Medeiros arrived today at 4:55pm. She weighed 6lbs, 12 oz and was 20 inches long. Mama & baby are both doing well, and will be staying at Northside Hospital through Monday or Tuesday. Photos to follow as soon as possible!

Third Times the Charm!

After two dry runs to the hospital, this time they are keeping us! After monitoring Jennie for a couple of hours they decided, since she is almost 38 weeks along, that it was best to pop the lid off the pickle jar. (Just to be safe.) So here we are at Northside Hospital. Around 12:15 pm they released the brine and started giving Jennie "Pitocin" to help matters along. Everything is going smoothly and Pickle and Gherkin are doing fine. They think she will make her grand entrance sometime before 8:00 pm. I will keep you posted.

And the results are?

Well, the perinatologist called, and said that all of the bloodwork was normal. She instructed me to stay on bedrest until my next appointment with the OB (which is on Wednesday, 7/25). Then she called back about 10 minutes later, and said that, after further review she wanted to monitor me more closely. So, they doctors on call are expecting us at Northside tomorrow morning to recheck my blood pressure and bloodwork. If all is good, then I suppose I come back home to go on bedrest. If there are concerns, then they will most likely induce labor. Now I get to try to have a "restful" afternoon & evening until I can get rechecked. I'll do my best to make sure that Alex or I keeps the info current here. - J

No Pressure

Well, we just returned from the perinatologist, and all looks good with the gherkin. The doctor estimates that she weighs about 6lbs, 15 oz.....with at +/- 14 oz margin of error. So, she could be 6 lbs, or almost 8 lbs! We tried to get the doctor to make a prediction about when the baby will be here, and she wouldn't committ to anything. She said that the fact that I am having contractions is a good sign, but that they aren't frequent enough to be a real indicator.

My blood pressure was high today, though it came down a lot during the time we were at the doctor's office.I haven't had any of the symptoms associated with preeclampsia (problematic high blood pressure during pregnancy), so the first thought is that the decongestants I have been taking this week are probably a contributing factor. Just to be safe, the doctor ordered bloodwork, and hopes to have the results by the end of the day today. You would think they would take my blood pressure again BEFORE they tell me that bad results from the bloodwork could send me to the hospital...but of course not! My bp still went down, but it took some serious talking to myself to keep me calm while we waited.

In the mean time, no more decongestants, and the doctor's orders are to "go home and lay around the house". Here is one more of the oddities of pregnancy: when the doctors wanted me to be up & moving I had no desire to leave the house...now that I am under orders to stay put, I keep thinking of all sorts of things I need to do. The dogs are thrilled to have me sitting here & doing nothing, so at least someone is benefitting from this! I will update later when we hear about the bloodwork. - J