Declan's Birth Story - Part 1

It is officially one week since I gave birth to our little boy and I still can't quite believe it!  In the grand tradition of new mommy bloggers, I decided I need to write the story of his birth - and do it before I forget!  

It all starts on May 1, 2012...

My work schedule was such that I didn't start until 2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I woke with contractions that felt different from the Braxton-Hicks that I had been experiencing since week 25 or so of pregnancy. I didn't really think much of it - I was only 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant, I had been experiencing Braxton-Hicks already, and the cramping really wasn't that painful.  A little after lunch that day - I spent the morning running errands - I noticed that they were picking up and coming more regularly.  I called the advice nurse and we decided I could totally hang out at home, that things probably weren't really going anywhere.  

May 2, 2012...

when I woke up on Wednesday, the contractions were definitely stronger and only 3-5 minutes apart.  I called the labor and delivery nurse again and she told us to come in.  Sure enough, the monitors showed that I was having contractions 3 minutes apart.  Internal exam showed that I was 2 cm dialated and 80% effaced - officially in preterm labor.  Uh Oh!   I wasn't progressing very quickly so I was sentenced to bedrest and they let us go home - suggesting that I take Nifedipine to slow contractions down.  

3 weeks pass...

May 21, 2012

Things started feeling more intense and I was spending more time with coping techniques (crawling, breathing, squatting) than not, so we decided to go into the hospital to get checked out.  Finding out that we were only 3 and a half centimeters dilated, we decided to go back home to labor.  

May 28, 2012

Not again!  I was half sure that the crazy pain increase during dinner was nothing and didn't want to go to the hospital for another false alarm.  When they checked this time I was 4 cm dilated (FINALLY), but our plan had been to wait until I was 6 cm before going in.  However, when they checked my blood pressure, it was dangerously high and I was at risk for preeclampsia, so they decided to keep me and take measures to induce labor.  Hubby and I wanted to have a natural birth, so we weren't thrilled about the suggestion to be put on pitocin to speed things along.  Thankfully, the Dr was open to trying to strip the membranes to move things along- which was working swimmingly until they put me on Magnesium Sulfate for the preeclampsia.  At that point, the contractions slowed down and they started me on a Pitocin drip at 4am... so, I guess we're now at...

May 29, 2012

we called my mom at 5:30 in the morning to come join us in the Hospital.  Our birth team was to include her and the hubby and the hospital staff (who were AMAZING, by the way)  Things were picking up, but still moving fairly slowly.  I wasn't allowed to leave my room because of the Mag Sulfate (which can make you really off balance and dizzy) or jump in the shower (which had been helping with the contractions up to that point).  Nor was I allowed to snack or drink water.  only 1 small cup of ice chips an hour for me... That was probably the most frustrating and annoying part of the whole experience!!!  

Things were still moving fairly slowly, steadily, but slowly, so when I reached 5 cm and my bag of waters had already popped a leak, they came in and fully broke my bag of waters.  weirdest feeling EVER!!!  

Dinosaur Cake

Because I saw it
because my hubby calls me his bear and he is my dinosaur and our little babe is called a dinobear!  <3



Saw this cake on a friend's facebook wall and fell in love.  I need to figure out how to make it!

~The Errant Soprano

37 Weeks, fully baked, and still cooking

I recently discovered a blog called Healthy Tipping Point through the Fitnessista and was SO excited once I started reading... Among other things, I have the same due date as she does! She wrote a post today about her expectations of pregnancy and the realities so far.  Inspired, I decided to do the same! So...

I am 37 weeks pregnant and I laugh, because reality did not quite match up to my expectations of pregnancy!

1) I will be that crazy fit pregnant woman. (just like when I wasn't pregnant...)

post workout glow, dec 2010

HAH!
my body had other ideas.  working out beyond walking or yoga destroyed me, so I had to couch it.  Then I went into preterm labor at 33 weeks, 5 days and it's been bedrest since then (until now, since I'm full term! went on 2 longish walks yesterday and it was GLORIOUS).  I joined an amazing prenatal yoga class at 14 weeks and I wish I could go every day!  (sadly they only have class 3 days a week, and I can really only make it one day a week...)

I can still do this, though!  31 weeks pregnant!!! :-D

2) I'm going to gain a ton of weight, get huge as a house, and enjoy every second of it!  Eat my way through our house and home with NO sense of guilt!

Before...

Now - 37 weeks

oh boy... this one...  I have only gained 21 lbs.  21.  0_0  and it was a struggle to make it there sometimes.  I'm 5'2" and small framed, but I don't know if that's an excuse.  My weight - all belly and boobs.  and don't get me wrong, I get a kick out of it, but I look like I stuck padding in my bra and a watermelon under my shirt and called it "pregnancy."  I was also surprised that I'm almost never hungry.  I think the baby has flattened my stomach. I'm afraid I'll weigh less after having him than I did when I got pregnant! And as for getting huge as a house?  I see pictures of me from before and can't believe I EVER looked like that.  It's like a practical joke.  No, I really never looked that slender... the belly is my 'normal'.

3) I'm going to hate knowing baby's gender.
not completely!
my husband wanted to find out, and I didn't really.  But I decided it would be too much of a strain for him to keep it from me for 20 weeks.  So, I caved.  But, you know what?  I actually LOVE knowing that I'm having a little boy.  We have gotten to get used to the name we picked for him (we have a backup in case he's a she when he comes out!), and its fun to just know sometimes... I still tried to keep our baby stuff as neutral as possible, but I can't wait to meet him and kiss his baby face, so that's enough excitement to keep me going! I think I would have loved not knowing too... Maybe the next one we can play it that way!

4) Labor and Childbirth - no worries!  ;)
Hmmm
funny thing here.  I wasn't scared, wasn't worried, never freaked.  My body is meant to do this, so it will happen.  Then I went into preterm labor.  and it never stopped, but baby hasn't arrived yet.  SO I've been in labor for 3 and a half weeks now.  and it SUCKS.  and I have moments when I'm curled up on the floor bawling because I'm in pain and i'm scared. Or a contraction wakes me up at 2 in the morning and I start crying because (and this is a quote) "I can't do this.  He's not going to fit.  Can we undo this pregnancy?"  or "I can't do this anymore.  Get him out NOW!"  I'll let you know about the childbirth part when I know!  the scary part at this very moment is that it could be tonight, tomorrow, or not till June 20... (God help me...).  So, along those lines, any prayers, good thoughts, good vibes, friendly 'ju-ju' you wanna send my way is INCREDIBLY welcome.  and accepted with love.

~The Errant Soprano

Almost Baked and reminiscing

I am 2 days from being 36 weeks pregnant! (37 weeks is considered full-term, 40 weeks is the whole deal, 42 weeks is "holy cow, I'm 2 weeks overdue!)  Scarily, I went into labor 2 weeks ago, however....

Things are holding steady!

Thanks to bedrest, Nifedipine (which I'm off of now, at almost 36 weeks), and more bedrest.
NOT how I anticipated spending my last weeks of pregnancy...

I've never been good at doing nothing.  and being mostly confined while doing 'nothing' (reading, movies, tv shows get old pretty quick - especially when you're nesting instinct has kicked in) has given me lots of time to think, and what I've realized is this:

It's been a crazy, eventful 2 years!

In the past 2 years I have:

Grad class 2010

• Graduated from Grad school:
•  Moved back to the West Coast from Boston:
• Gotten Married to my amazing Hubby: 

• Gotten pregnant: 
• 'saw' our baby for the first time: 

• Hit the mile markers of pregnancy!  

12 weeks

18 weeks

20 weeks

26 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

35 weeks

Look at him pop out!  

A midwife friend of ours estimates that he's about 7 lbs right now and we have no idea when he'll actually come!  Could be any day, or a couple weeks.  We'll see!

In basic life stories:

• Still teaching
• no longer working at the symphony, thanks to bedrest... Miss it already!
• Baby's room is starting to look like something!  We're as ready for him as we can be!

Here's hoping all goes smoothly when it goes - no promises that I'll be posting before then!  

~the errant soprano

Things are changing

It's funny, I'm mostly feeling 'normal' now. Well, exhaustingly tired, and edgy, and emotional,etc. Most mornings it takes me a second (and a feel) to remember that I have a total baby bump now:

and since I'm feeling pretty 'normal,' I keep trying to do things like moving pianos at work...

*sigh*

Thankfully the dad's who sit through rehearsal have been catching me before I do any harm. :)

The Laziest, most Inconsistent Poster in the world...

is me on this blog. Sometimes I forget it even exists, that I even started it... and now that I forget everything... Anyway. Moral is, I'm here again to post another, inconsistent post!

Since this blog is about my singing and career and life and things and my other blog is about exercise and fitness... I won't touch on that part of my life here and now other than to say I'm feeling pretty proud of my unmotivated, always-tired self right now.

Instead I'll tell you about the part of my life I'm REALLY proud of at this moment!

I'm joining a women's singing group this year for a concert (or two, maybe depending on the baby and things). I'm really excited to join them as I've decided I've been 'hermiting' (yes, just made that a verb) my singing for far too long! The March concert is called REMIX: Voices and Electronics, so I'm really excited to see what that music will be like!

I've collected a few more students - finally! I'm super excited about it, since I LOVE teaching voice and sharing all the cool things that the voice is/can do.

Family/Life wise things are going really well, Hubby and I are getting our ducks in a row to prepare for our little wiggler (so named for the wiggles, kicks, and punches I've been feeling for the past 3 weeks - maybe we should call it the little ninja or tiny martial artist...) to arrive in June. Our Estimated Delivery Date (EDD) is June 14th, but I'm told that the baby can safely arrive anywhere from 2-3 weeks before that to 1-2 weeks after, which means, pretty much sometime in June. Next project is to empty and redecorate the little wiggler's room, which i'm not sure that i'm going to do much fanciness there, so we'll see... I might be posting pictures in a couple months of that!

For now, here's a blurry photo of the bump :-P

December is here!

The Christmas tree is up and waiting for the rest of its ornaments, the hubby has started Christmas lights up on the outside of the house and in the trees :). He's insisting that this is 'baby's first Christmas, so we should do it right! I've joined a caroling group as a back up soprano and I'm loving having an excuse to sing my favorite Christmas carols! I am starting to audition more again and am singing up a storm in my heart! It's a good and blessed year!

This is a short post, but that's about all that's going on RIGHT now. :)