Go Big or Go Home 2012

A new home that is!!

We are officially in Escrow on a 1964 ranch style house in Wine Country!! Whoot whoot.

And if the inspection and appraisal go well, not only will we be home owners, BUT we'll be doing a reno. We hope to knock down a few walls, put in some new floors, and possibly gut the kitchen.

Cross your fingers.

Birth Story Part 2: All that matters is a healthy baby!

So I had just found out that I was 3cm dilated, and I was still waiting for a room. (Part 1)

It was almost 8am, so I had been in labor for 6 hours and my contractions were just over 3 minutes apart. At this point, my labor was intense.

Everything that I thought I would like I didn't: I did not want to walk; I did not want a massage; I did not want to listen to soothing music; I did not want to 'dance' with my partner through contractions- I just wanted a room, to sit still, and the damn drugs.

Like I said before, the only thing that offered relief was Mr. Spice pressing his thumb on the middle of my forehead.

They were finally ready to escort me to a room. Of course, while walking to the room, I had a contraction. The nurse directed me to face the wall and she started putting pressure on my back (which I hated, but I was in too much pain to say anything). What I didn't realize- I was leaning next to a door to a bathroom. In the middle of my contraction a nurse opened the door- took one look at me and went right back into the bathroom. Even at the time- it was pretty hilarious.

A few more yards later, I was FINALLY in a labor room (it only took 1.5 hours from when I arrived), and my epidural came within 30 minutes. By the time I got my epidural at around 9:30am, I had been in active labor for 7.5 hours, which was more than enough for me. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart, and I think I can safely say- Mr. Spice was ready for me to get an epidural as well. He was being such a champ- but both of us knew that I wouldn't be able to sustain that type of pain.

The epidural itself was pretty painless. The only issue- my contractions were so on top of each other that I did have a couple contractions during the epidural (which is probably why I don't remember the pain of the actual epidural). The good news- within minutes of getting the epidural- life was so much better. In fact, the rest of labor was pretty pain free.

The other good news- Mama Sugar was already at the airport when she found out I was in labor. She had bought her ticket weeks before- talk about great timing!!

From this point on- my labor story might get a bit fuzzy.  I didn't get checked from a doctor until about 11ish. Like I said before- 3 babies were born during the early morning shift.

I was already 6 cm!! Holy awesomeness. This labor thing was going!!

Around noon, I asked my nurse if I could change sides. I had been hanging out on my left side since 9:30 am, and I was feeling pretty numb on that side. With her help I switched sides, and almost immediately, Baby Berry's heart rate dropped. Within a minute, I had four doctors and three nurses in my room.

Basically, they have monitors all over the floor- and all the doctor's saw her heart rate drop. They moved me back to my left side, and within seconds her heart rate returned to normal.

It was a bit dramatic, but it was good to know that I was in such great hands. The doctors all stayed in the room to watch her heart rate for a few more minutes, and I was checked again. I had progressed to 7cm!! Whoot whoot.

I think this is the point where my nurse said that I may feel my water break soon. She said that it would feel like a warm rush and I might hear a pop. Moments later, I heard a pop. I didn't feel a rush of warm water, but I was pretty sure that was my water popping.

This is also the point where Mr. Spice saw more than his fair share- my water had broken and I had my bloody show. Talk about a mess. While they were trying to clean up and put new sheets on the bed, I moved to my left side, and again, her heart rate dropped and everyone rushed back into the room.

Again, her heart rate returned to normal once I went back to my right side. Since my water had broken, they decided to put a heart rate monitor on her head (it is a little screw like probe) so they could more accurately monitor her.

For the next hour things were pretty calm. I was texting with friends and talking to family. We felt great and knew that the baby would be coming before the day was over.

Around 2pm, my back started to hurt, I was numb on my left side, and I was dying to move sides. The Anesthesiologist came back into the room and told me that the epidural could help with the contractions, but not the back pain. I had a new nurse, and she decided to try to get me on my right side again.

And again, Baby Berry's heart rate plummeted.  Two doctors rushed back into the room. This time they noticed that my contractions were right on top of each other. They weren't giving Baby Berry time to recover between them. They decided to insert an internal monitor to get a better handle on my contractions. They checked me and I was back to 6 cm. URG. I wasn't progressing.

They decided to give me a drug to slow down my contractions. The doctor decided to talk to us about what would happen if we needed a c-section. She was very clam and we figured that this would be much later in the day.

Five minutes later, the Doctors were still in our room watching the monitors and they made a decision. It was time for a c-section!! Baby Berry was in distress. If I was 9 or 10 cm dilated they would have let me continue with a natural labor, but the truth was-- I wasn't progressing and they couldn't let her stay in distress for the next 6 or 7 hours!!

OMG.

I was NOT prepared for a c-section.

The nurse asked if we could wait another 5 minutes to see if the Baby's heart rate returned to normal.  The answer was a clear- NO.

The next hour was the most emotional hour of my life.

I told Mr. Spice to text my sister so she could relay the message to our families. The nurse saw the panic and tears in both our eyes and tried to reassure us that everything would be OK and that we were in good hands. In an effort to reduce our stress- she took pictures- can you see the panic in Mr. Spice's eyes:

While I was internally panicking because a c-section was not in my plan, I found out later that Mr. Spice was panicking because he was worried about his two girls. Thinking about this moment still makes me tear up inside.

Minutes later I was wheeled into the surgery room- which randomly, I remember had a really great view. It took about ten minutes for them to prep me and before they got Mr. Spice.

As soon as they gave me the extra numbing drugs, I got the shakes. They were horrible. I have to be honest, the whole experience was awful. I couldn't feel the c-section per say, but I couldn't stop shaking. Have you ever been super scared or had a really bad flu and had the shakes?? Well, for me, my shakes were way worse. The anesthesiologist was right next to me the whole time- and told me not to fight it.  I couldn't clench or relax my jaw- it was all just  uncomfortable. I also couldn't really look into Mr. Spice's eyes because the shakes were so bad. I had to close my eyes, and I focused on his voice, which of course, freaked him out even more. He was a great partner- and talked about how she was going to be an Olympic swimmer in 2030.

And finally, at 3:04 pm- 13 hours after labor started, we had a baby girl.

The c-section may have been awful, but she was healthy.

6lbs. 9oz. and 19.5 inches long. A small little lady, but perfect.


It felt like it took forever for them to stitch me up. Mr. Spice got to cut the cord, and then they brought her over to me. It was surreal, and I wanted to hold her so badly.

The shakes had finally stopped, and we were officially a family:
 
 
And then, finally, my little Sugar Bear was in my arms:


Not the labor I had prepared myself for, but she's been the light of my life every since.

Go Big or Go Home 2012: Goal #1

Hi Lovelies,

I promise to finish Baby Sugar Bear's birth story at some point. It's half way written.

But I have an excuse.

Remember my 2011 Goals: Go Big or Go Home 2011?? I wanted a new job, a new house and a to lose a bunch of weight.

We all know that I gained a ton of pregnancy weight in 2011, and I had to put the other two goals on hold.

Well, on hold no longer. I got a new job!! Whoot whoot.

I will still be working for the great state of California, but I will officially be a Supervisor and it is up in wine country!!

 Hazel's first trip to wine country for my first of two interviews.

Which means that goal #2- buying a house is now our top priority. We are mad on the house hunt. We are just waiting for the right house.

Let's hope the beautiful Spring weather we are having will encourage someone to put an awesome house on the market ASAP.

The only down side- I start in a month. YIKES. Just over four weeks left of my time with Baby Bear.  I always thought I'd be ready to go back. In fact around week 6,  I was ready to go back to work but now. YIKES. Raising this little lady is the hardest thing I have ever done, but by far the most rewarding thing ever.  I am pretty overwhelmed about going back to work, but I know that not working is just not an option. The good news, while my new job will be demanding, I will still maintain a certain amount of flexibility with vacation and time off.

So I start a new job in a few short weeks; we hope to move ASAP; and I am now looking for Day Care. Talk about overwhelming.

All this means that I will probably still be pretty quite over here. In fact, I am not sure this little blog will make the transition, but I wanted to share the start of some great news with all of you- my on-line cheerleaders!! And of course, here's my beautiful baby Bear sleeping yesterday:

 Hazel yesterday with her new favorite- Mr. Bunny.

I hope all of you are having a fabulous 2012. Any recommendations to survive my new transitions- new job, new house, new place to live, new day care???