First Few Days

Chloe has been wonderful. She's eating regularly every 3-4 hours and sleeps very well. At the hospital she did really well and wasn't fussy after any of her tests or shots. She passed the hearing test very quickly and all the nurses thought she was adorable.

We were released on Friday morning and were a little nervous about how the dogs would take the coming home. We were pleasantly surprised as we knew Daisy would be curious, but she is also very protective over Chloe. Whenever she hears Chloe on the monitor she whimpers and looks at Zach like "aren't you going to get her". Its pretty cute, but the best part is that the barking or noises that the dogs make don't bother Chloe at all!!!

The big day!

Well the big day finally arrived. We had gone to the doctor on Thursday November 4th and set up to be induced on Monday November 8th at 11pm. We had to call an hour before our appointment to make sure there was a bed available for us, and of course there wasn't. They were hoping to have one available early morning, but 6am Tuesday came around and still nothing available. It was a frustrating day as we didn't know when they were going to call or if they were even going to get us in on Tuesday.

Finally around 1:15pm on Tuesday they said they would have a room available for us within an hour and to go ahead and start heading to the hospital. So we packed our bags and headed that way. We thought surely Chloe would arrive Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning. We didn't realize the long hours we were about to endure. By 3:30pm I was all set up and having contractions 2-3 mins apart, but still not dilated. They gave me some medicine to help with the dilation before they could give me the epidural or the pitocin to really start the dilation. I was to take this every 4 hours for the next 16 hours!!! That is when we knew it may be a long night.

Around 6:30pm on Tuesday my nurse came in and checked my vitals and she noticed that my face was really red. I wasn't hot or anything, but she was nervous I was having some kind of reaction to the medicine. So as a precaution and since my contractions were so close together they decided not to give me any more of the medicine. Around 9pm on Tuesday I was just at 2 cm dilated, but because of my contractions my doctor decided to give some kind of medicine that made me loopy and was a pain medicine so she could try to break my water. That was still really painful so she decided to hold off a bit and see if she could get my epidural early. Around 11pm the anaesthesiologist gave me my epidural. I thought it was going to be so painful, but it wasn't that bad. The numbing needle was worse than the epidural. Because of the loopy medicine and my fear of needles I started to feel a little light headed, which in turn made Zach feel a little woosie as well.

So after the epidural my doctor was able to break my water and boy did it come gushing. It was funny because she would think it was done and then more would just come spilling out. With my water broken and the epidural my doctor was able to put in a different kind of monitor to better show my contractions. Once that monitor was in they realized that my contractions weren't as strong as the belly monitor was showing. Now it was time for pitocin, but there was only one more issue. My oxygen level dropped and my blood pressure dropped and once they were able to get me stable then Chloe's levels started to drop as well. It took another few hours to get both of us stable enough for pitocin. At 4am on Wednesday they gave me my first dose of pitocin. Yay! Now it shouldn't be too much longer.

It was now 11am on Wednesday and I was stuck at 4 cm dilated. My doctor now said that if I didn't start to progress soon that we would need to start talking about a c-section. That must have done the trick because by about 12:30pm I was at a 5 and then around 1:45pm I was at a 9! That is when the anxiety really started to kick in because my nurse started to get the room ready for the doctor and I felt that Chloe was just going to fall out before the doctor was in the room. It wasn't until about 4:15pm on Wednesday that they started having me push because they wanted Chloe to do most of the work. It worked because at 4:28pm on Wednesday November 10th Chloe had arrived to the world. She was 19 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 6lbs and 14 ozs.

I was exhausted and really thirsty, but it was all worth it. I had been in bed for about 26 hours only having ice chips, but once we saw Chloe it was all worth it.

Relax....Breathe...

So I've had this fear or this great worry about contractions. I would ask the doctors and they would all tell me different things or they would say that "you'll just know" when I ask what contractions feel like and what to expect. I've asked pretty much everyone I come in contact with what to expect and everyone has told me differently. I know that all women and pregnancies are different, but I think someone should make a "contraction simulator" so that way they can help show you what to expect. I'm sure Zach is tired of me saying do you think that was a contraction or do you think that if I had pain here and tightness there then that is a contraction.

The good news is that I went to the doctor today and she asked if I was having contractions and I said I think so. I explained to her the feeling I was having and then she said that I was probably have contractions. I felt a little triumphant to know that I was correct in my thinking, but what really just sealed the deal was while she was measuring my belly and taking Chloe's heartbeat she started pressing on my belly and said "Do you think you are having a contraction now?" I told her that I thought I was but it wasn't really painful just a lot of pressure and discomfort and that was what I've been feeling from time to time each day. And then she said it. She said "Yes, that is a contraction". I guess when she was pressing on my belly to measure she noticed how hard my belly was and that I was having a contraction. So now I know what to expect and I know what to look for when they become more regular.

Now don't panic. They are not regular by any means. I had about 4 in a 30 minute period today and then didn't have any for another hour or so, but the doctor said I could go any time. I still didn't have her check to see if I was dilated because I thought that would freak me out even more if I found out I was dilated even though I know you can be dilated for weeks. I can't believe I just have 2 weeks and 2 days left! Let's hope Chloe isn't as stubborn as her mom or she may stay in there forever!

Almost Normal...

Well it's finally back to normal...my love of peanut butter that is. Last week Zach had told me that for lunch he had 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I thought man he is so lucky to be able to eat them. The next day we were trying to figure out what we wanted for lunch and I just blurted out PB&J. I asked if he would make me one and if I didn't like it I would just let him eat it or let the dogs eat it. So he made me a PB&J, light on the PB though. And it was so yummy! So in the past 7 days since I had that glorious PB&J sandwich I have had 5 more sandwiches for lunch. Oh how I have missed the yummy goodness of PB&J.

Once I realized that I could eat PB&J again I decided to try hamburgers. Now my love of McDonald's hamburgers have never gone away, but the kind that Zach makes I couldn't eat. They were always a bit too thick and a little too greasy for my taste. Zach grilled out some burgers and again I can eat them. Obviously Chloe's taste buds must be maturing to the yummy food that I love. (I don't know if Chloe really has taste buds yet, but I'm still going to use that reasoning.)

On a side note...I have 2 weeks and 5 days until D-day!

The Great Abyss

Well it is official...the great abyss aka my bellybutton is no more. Zach always has said that it is the deepest bellybutton he has ever seen and he calls it an abyss. This weekend it is officially flat. It hasn't started poking out and hopefully it won't at all. Zach said that finally all the lint that has collected for 25 years is now out. He still uses it as a portal to talk to Chloe even though it is flat.

On a side note...we had a great weekend. We went out baby shopping on Friday and finished up Chloe's room. Everything is waiting for her arrival. I also have worked on her baby book and started packing our "go bag". Zach also fired me from making pizza this weekend. He was putting together our little swing for Chloe and I decided to be helpful and make the pizza for lunch, but when the buzzer dinged Zach found a problem. He couldn't cut through the pizza and thought I had forgot to spray the pan, but really I left the cardboard on the bottom and it baked on the pizza. Oops. So he fired me. We were able to get the cardboard off and cook the pizza a bit longer. I thought it was just fine, but if it is fine for me then it's undercooked for Zach. He still ate 3 pieces though so I think it was fine for him too.

5 Weeks and 5 Days to go!

Time has just flown by so quickly. We went to the doctor a few days ago and had a good report. I'm measuring right on track, Chloe's heartbeat is right around 140 and the doc checked and she is already head down. I also asked him why it felt like sometimes she was going to just fall out and after he had a quick chuckle he said "We get that question a lot". He basically said it is just the weight of Chloe putting pressure on me and then he reassured me that she isn't just going to fall out.

She's moving a lot different now. Even last week she was doing a lot of kicking and punching where my whole belly would move and this week it has been more slow motion moving. The slow motion moving is like she is just stretching and squirming around rather than rapid fire kicks. She still like to play games with Zach though. We'll be watching TV and he will start to feel around for her and as soon as he puts his hand on one side she kicks the other so he moves to the other side and she kicks where his hand was just at. After a few times she will eventually stop playing this game with him, but its always funny when it happens.

One thing I learned this week was that she moves around a lot while I'm sleeping. Everyone has been asking if she is keeping me up at night moving around or kicking and I always say no she must be sleeping at night. I was wrong. She doesn't wake me up, but the other morning Zach said that she was moving around a lot while I was sleeping. I was a little shocked because I didn't feel anything or at least it wasn't strong enough for me to wake up. He said that after I fell asleep he would just watch as my belly would move around with kicks and punches and whatever else she is doing in there. I just hope it stays that way where I sleep while she moves around in my belly.

We are done with our child prep classes and they were a waste of time. I was so excited about the tour and then it wasn't much of a tour. It seemed to only take 5 minutes and the rooms were all full so we just were given a quick look. I did learn good things to pack in our hospital bag...like clothes for Zach because that never once crossed my mind that he would need clothes. I also learned that you can prepare a birth plan and let the doctors and nurses know what you do or don't want. I just figured every birth was the same and they would do the same thing, but there are so many other options or choices you can make if you want. The other big thing we learned was that this day is all about us. Our teacher said it is the one day that you can make as special as you want and that we shouldn't feel guilty about trying to make it special for our new family.

The next step is our last 2 week doctor's appointment and then we start going every week until Chloe is here. Its just so crazy to think about having a baby in about 6 weeks!

32 weeks down!

Things have been pretty quiet around the Batsche household. We had a great Labor Day weekend. After looking back I realized that it was all about food. On that Saturday we drove out to Tonopah (which is in the middle of nowhere and about 40 mins from us) to a truck stop because they sell Noble Romans Breadsticks. The real ones with the real cheese and everything. We bought 8 orders! Now for you Indy people there are only 3 in a pack and not 5 like back home so it was only 24 breadsticks. And to be fair we ate 6 at the truck stop and gave Adam 6 as well. They were so yummy! After our drive out to Tonopah we drove out to the mall to do some walking since it is still way too hot outside to get out and walk. We walked for a good hour or so and then headed up to church.

Since we were on the road most of the day or just out and about, I was pretty hungry after church because I hadn't had my normal snacks throughout the day. We decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner. We hadn't been there in a long time, but we both love their potato skins and so I was excited that I would have food in my belly quick. Like most chain restaurants they had a 2 for $20 deal and we could get an appetizer, 2 meals and a dessert. We haven't gotten a dessert in so long and they have some pretty good desserts there. After we cleaned the appetizer plate and did a pretty good job on our dinners Zach was stuffed. He didn't pace himself and he didn't think he could eat any of the dessert. I told him he was crazy because I was excited about the dessert. He caved and said that he would just have a few bites. So we got this dessert with strawberries, ice cream, whip cream and pound cake. We ate almost all of it! After that we were both officially stuffed. Then on Monday we went out to breakfast at Denny's and stuffed our faces yet one more time over the Labor Day weekend. Not to mention I had made chocolate chip cookie muffins so we had been eating those all weekend as well.

With all the food that we had ate over the weekend and the fact that I felt like I couldn't stop eating I just knew I would go to the doctor and gain like 10 pounds since I saw them last just 2 weeks ago. We went to the doctor yesterday and to my surprise I didn't gain anything! The girl who took my weight and blood pressure said I was the same as last time. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself! The doctor's visit was pretty uneventful. They now have me on a rotation so I can meet all the doctors and this doctor was like a speedy gonzalez. We were out in the waiting room for like 15 mins and then once he came in I'm not sure if it was even 5 minutes he was with us. He took my measurements, Chloe's heartbeat and answered a few questions and then he was gone. He did say I was measuring right on track at 32 weeks.

Yesterday evening was our first childbirth prep class and man was it kind of a waste of time. We were there for 3 hours and I'm not really sure what I learned. I wanted to go because I thought it may ease my anxiety for the big day. I wanted to take the tour and just understand what it is going to be like on the big day. This is a 3 week class and we take the tour next week, but this week I thin it scared me more than anything and made me more anxious. We did a lot of talking about what to do if you have certain pains or things you may experience, but some of these things she said are so uncommon, but of course we had to talk about them and of course they were just making my list of fears grow. I would have to say that two of my biggest fears have been my water breaking out of the hospital and the umbilical cord wrapped around Chloe's neck. I had read and heard that it wasn't common for either, but of course both things happened to the teacher while she was pregnant. I guess we'll see how next week goes...