Sunday, November 16, 2014

Ronan's Birth Story

Ronan was born on October 8th, 2014 at 8:56 p.m. so this story is a bit long over due. So while I have a minute, because lets face it... three kids-are a hell of a lot of work. And sorry if some of it doesn't make sense, I'm a bit sleep deprived too. ;)

So... October 8th, 2:45 am. I woke up with an excruciating headache. I took my blood pressure, it was 162/112. I thought, well shit... guess today will likely be the day, as usually my pressure isn't regulated well on my meds when baby needs to come. So being the awful patient that I am, I took another blood pressure pill, text Josh to let him know that my pressure was pretty high, and instead of relaxing like he told me to do I decided I should probably pack our bags. I was 37w5d pregnant. 

I didn't go back to sleep, as I had to get ready for work. Again, I'm a shitty patient. But, in my defense, I had a OB appointment at 11:00am. So off to work I went. And I felt like complete shit. I couldn't concentrate, my mind was so foggy, and I just felt all around horrible. My blood pressure had gone down to 148/88 so at least it had improved, but when I was a normal 110's/60's for most of the pregnancy, I knew it wasn't the best.

So fast forward to my doctors appt. I go in, pee in the cup, and go back to get my vitals taken. No protein, so that's a huge plus. But the machine wouldn't read my blood pressure. So they manually took it. It had gone up to 162/88. So there I waited. My doc walks in and asks me if I'm ready to have a baby today. Kinda had a feeling that was about to happen. Ahhh well....shit. So I asked if I could wait (which I knew the answer to) and she said it was time. I called my work to tell them I wasn't coming back, called my husband to tell him I was getting induced, and called my mom to come as well.

I left the office, went down to the check in, was told I was already checked in and was taken up to L&D. I got gowned up and the waiting began. The nurse started the check in process. One of the residents came in to do a quick ultrasound to make sure he was still head down and asked if medical students could come in. I said I didn't mind, I just didn't want them checking me.

I had a head to toe assessment, and while my blood pressures weren't being outrageous any longer, I had 3+ clonus, so things were brewing quickly. *Clonus during pregnancy is a sign of toxemia* They called my doctor and asked if she wanted to start Pitocin or cytotec. I was only dilated to 1cm, 50% effaced, and little dude decided to go back up into my rib cage at was at a -3 station (he had been at +2 the week prior). Doctor decided to just start with cytotec as she figured that would be enough to throw me into labor. So cytotec went in at 12:50pm.

Josh and my mom finally showed up and decided it would be a great time to eat chinese, you know... since I was only allowed ice chips. Around 2pm I was allowed to get up and walk around or go to the bathroom. I decided to go ahead and go to the bathroom and my bladder would likely explode sooner rather than later. I was told at 4:50pm I could get my second dose of cytotec if nothing started up, so then it was a waiting game. I was having some contractions, but they were very sporadic and not even on the pain scale.

Around 4pm the contractions started to become more regular though still not close together. The doctors decided to wait it out as it was doing SOMETHING to my body. Around 6:00pm the contractions were pretty intense and coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting at least 90 seconds. It was definitely starting to hurt. I decided to ask the nurse to check me as I wanted to be closer to 5cm before I requested the epidural. The nurse checked me, and I was at a defeated 2cm, 90% effaced, and like my other kiddos, still at -2 station.

I opted for the epidural at that time as I figured maybe it would relax me a bit. I argued with the nurse about getting a catheter as I had never needed one with my first two, and they won as they promised I would get it taken out before delivery. At 7pm I got my spinal/epidural combo. Voila all was well in the world... my brother, sister in law, and nephew decided to stop by (as they figured I would have had him by then--you know 3rd baby and all).

Little by little I'd start to feel more. I would wince, but kinda blew it off, figured I was close. I went ahead and had Josh grab the nurse. Around 815pm she checked me and I was only at 3cm. She went and grab the Resident on call to check me and he said a 4. I asked if he could break my water to get things moving, and he did so around 830pm. Then the pain really started coming. The anesthesiologist and CRNA came back in to give a extra dose, it was a no go. So they took it out and retried it. All the while I was feeling EVERYTHING.

They retired 8 more times, while I was sitting up trying to breathe through the contractions. I was pissed. And then I felt him coming. And I started to yell at them. They kept telling me to hold on, and I kept telling them I needed to lay down. I was afraid I was going to deliver him sitting up on the bed. The nurse told them to stop, that I needed to lay down and so they did. The nurse called STAT for the delivery team and I tried not to push while screaming for them to remove my catheter. I also screamed at my mom to get Josh, who was in the waiting room with my brother and sister in law.

Everyone rushed in, the anesthiologist and CRNA got stuck in the back corner as did my mom. They weren't able to track him on the monitors so the attending (who still wasn't gowned) placed an internal monitor to track his heartbeat.  I grabbed my legs and pushed. And it hurt. God did it hurt. I told them I wanted a mirror so I could see to (since I had one with my other two, I wanted to see him be delivered). Someone ran out and got it and by the time they brought it in Ronan was on my chest. He was born at 8:56pm.

He didn't cry. He just looked at me and I freaked. I kept pushing him back into the nurses arms telling them to make him cry. They told me he was okay. And he is. He is perfect in every way. We did skin to skin for two hours (though we cheated when the nursed left and I let my mom and Josh hold him) and he nursed. He is a great nurser. Then they finally weighed him. My first two were big (for their gestational age), so we expected him to be the same. Negative. He was a mere 6lb 13oz. 18 1/4 inches long. So tiny even newborn clothes were huge on him. And I loved him even more, he was going to be a small for a little while longer, knowing he is our last...I was grateful to have a tiny baby.

All in all, the birth wasn't what I had hoped and dreamed for. My back is still messed up and hurts just by picking up a gallon of milk. Its still swollen. Obviously, I hadn't wanted pain relief for the easiest part of labor (going from 2-4cm) and not the hardest, but it is what it is. Ronan is healthy and happy and getting bigger by the second. He is loved and cherished by Gabriel and Kellie. I absolutely adore him. He is a snuggler, and momma loves to snuggle.

And without further ado: Mr. Ronan Lane Coggins born 10/8 @ 8:56pm

He had so much vernix it was insane!









Saturday, June 14, 2014

ohhh yeah... those weekly updates.

So working full time, two toddlers, and pregnancy don't mesh well in a blog world. Obviously. So I'm still pregnant. Did you know that the 3rd pregnancy seems to be the longest.freaking.pregnancy.in.the.entire.universe. You didn't? Well it is... for me anyway.

It's been the most miserable pregnancy thus far too. Morning sickness (which I never had with Gabriel, and had for like a week with Kellie) lasted, ehhhhh, 16ish weeks. I pretty much died on the couch every night after work. I'm surprised the family hadn't shriveled away. I couldn't cook, I couldn't even see or smell meat. AWFUL. BH contractions also started at an awesome 14w4d... and they haven't stopped. RLP....go somewhere please?!

Anyway... A/S went relatively well. The tech pointed to a spot on baby's heart, which was a bright white spot. They can usually mean nothing, but can also be a soft marker for Down syndrome or Trisomy 18. Now I had the 12 week scan and testing to see what the odd of these two things were anyway, and my odds were pretty slim. So a couple percentage increase likely means nothing. I go back to the doctor on Friday, so we will see from there. In the mean time here is a picture of the little babe.



Saturday, March 15, 2014

I pretty much suck...

Yep time has passed me by. It's been what?? Almost a year since I last posted?! Oops. Like I said I pretty much suck.

Soooo.... Big news in the Coggins household! Baby #3 is making its way into our lives! Yep, we are nuts. I'm currently wondering how in the world we are going to be able to go anywhere or do anything with 3 kiddos. But, its not that we only wanted two haha.

 So, I guess I should start posting weekly updates, huh?



Symptoms:
Oh Boy are they completely different from my other two. Constant nausea, horrible aversions to most food, sore belly, lots of gas :/, fatigue aka simply exhausted, very tender breasts-- to the point of wearing a bra hurts. 
Weight: 
No gain yet thankfully.Sleep: I sleep okay thus far. Though it seems I have to wake up 1000000x a night to pee. Or Gabriel is kicking me in the back or stomach. 
Food Cravings: Ha! Funniness right here. Nothing. I crave nothing :( I can pretty much eat bread, potatoes, fruit, and yeah thats about it. I can't even look at a picture of meat without getting sick. Best Moment this week: 
Getting a day or two of less nausea and exhaustion. And the warmer weather. It's been in the high 60's-low 70's here which has been amazing to get the kids out to play outside.Movement:
None, just gas thus far :-PLabor signs:
NoneGender: 
Not sure. I wanted to be team green, but Josh is not for it. I was thinking boy as did Josh--but now with all this crappiness we are starting to question it.Belly button:
Innie still...What do I miss: 
feeling normal, being able to actually help with cleaning, being able to feel good enough to play with the kiddos...What am I looking forward to: 
Not feeling like complete shit... lol. Yep, I suck right now. Milestones:
2 months down, 2 to go...Appointments:
Next Appt is April 3, I'll be a day shy of 11 weeks. Then April 14th I have a NT scan.