I never thought it would be easy thats for sure but this mom thing is alot harder than I thought...

We're doing fine but I do find myself overwhelmed at times to the point of tears. I'm sure a big part of it is being overtired and the other part of it is I feel so house-bound. The weather hasn't been good to take Isaac out for a walk or even for a random drive.

We are establishing a few things though

1) Isaac is in charge

2) He wants to do what he wants when

3) Even if Mommy and Daddy are busy

Lol, its not that bad but when everyone says "Oh its just the beginning" I kinda want to scream.

I realize its not about me anymore but somedays I can't even figure out when or how I'm supposed to get in a shower nevermind do grocery and clean my house.

And I'm so tired... how do we teach Isaac that daytime is for play and night  for sleeping?

Well, enough about that, he's fussing so I have to go change him and feed him.  Today is his bath day and I have an appointment with the OB at 1:00 to have my c-section incision checked (routine).

We went to the pediatrician today! What a great visit! I am so happy with the doctor's in the practice we chose! So we saw Dr. Nottleson today and she was great. She couldn't believe the size of Isaac! He is weighing in at 9.11 pounds now and has grown an inch and a half since he was born. She was surprised how alert he is and checked him over for whatever but found nothing of concern. We go back at the end of February for a 2 month check up.

Kevin returned to work on Monday so its just meand Isaac now. We are doing fine I'd say though I miss Kevin's help.

I can't believe thie little guy will be 2 weeks old this Friday!!

We had some pictures taken at Wally World this past weekend. I'll be picking them up on January 19th!

Thats all for now! Not much time to play on the computer these days!

OK, for those of you who are looking for the gory details of my labor and Isaac's delivery... here it is! Isaac is now a week and a day and Kevin and I are trying to settle into our new Mommy and Daddy role so as one can imagine, computer time is pretty limited but I'll try to update and keep you all informed.

Birth details

Original due date: 12-24-08
Type of delivery: Cesarean section
Duration of labor: 26 hours
Weight @ birth: 9.1 lbs
Length @ birth: 20.5



I woke up on December 25th at 3:30AM with contractions. I walked around the house, used the bathroom and tried doing the things they recommend to rule out false labor. Nothing helped and the contractions seemed to be coming every 5 minutes so I woke Kevin up and we sort of went back and forth trying to decide whether or not we should head to the hospital. The contractions were regular and positively coming every 5 minutes so we decided we better go. Knowing that 1st babies don't usually come too quick I took my time getting ready and showered before calling the hospital to let them know we were on our way.

The nurses at the hospital were annoying (not just because of the pain I was in). I called to give them warning that we were on our way and the nurse on the phone seemed doubtful that I was in labor at all. When we got to the hospital she wasn't much better. She set us up on a monitor and asked me a few questions then sort of left for a while (I guess because her shift was ending...)

The next shift came on and told me that my contractions were regular and 5 minutes apart but not quite strong enough to cause my labor to progress. I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They sent me home it was about 8 AM.

We tried to make the most of Christmas. We played scrabble, exchanged gifts and visited with my parents who had driven down from Maine to spend the holiday with us but I was not comfortable. I had the worse pressure and found certain positions made the contractions so much worse while other positions made them almost stop. I didn't want either. I was excited but really nervous.

My uncle and his partner came over for Christmas dinner and just as we were sitting down to eat I asked Kevin to PLEASE take me back to the hospital. My contractions were so much worse, I didn't feel I was getting any breaks between them and I had the worse pressure. So we left my family eating dinner at my house and away we went again.

We returned to the hospital around 6PM. I was again hooked up to the monitor and checked. I had progressed to 4cm and was on my way (or so I thought...)

I had hoped for a natural drug-free birth but the pain was too much. I asked for something for pain and was told the on-call doctor would have to be paged...ON-CALL doctor...where was my OB????Oh that's right its Christmas. So, we wait for what felt like an eternity and the on-call doctor ordered Stadol for me which let me tell you did absolutely nothing but make me feel drunk and tired.

Once the Stadol wore off my nurse and my doula suggested a dip in the birthing tub. I sat in there for about 40 minutes then returned to my room cold and in pain. Sadly I had not progressed at all. I asked for an epidural. This is when all the bad stuff started to happen...

The anesthesiologist hooked me up and hung around to make sure I was ok. They also started Pitocin. The anesthesiologist said that the epidural should not take all the pain away because they wanted me to be able to feel when it was time to push. It was only in place to take the edge off. The only problem I was still having was the extreme pressure I had been feeling right along. It felt like I needed to have a BM or pee really bad. I asked to go to the bathroom but was told with an epidural there was no getting out of bed. So they offered me a bed pan which I was only able to squeeze a few drops into. I pleaded with them to let me sit on the toilet but no luck. They decided to insert a catheter.

I couldn't tolerate the catheter at all. They said the baby's head was pressing right on my bladder. I was literally climbing the walls. It only added to the discomfort I was having and while it did drain my bladder I continued to have extreme pressure and an urge to go. It was like nothing I had ever felt and I started to have an anxiety attach my blood pressure and pulse elevated, I was hyperventilating and my face was tingling and numb. The nurses became very concerned and my response to the catheter resulted in the need to have an EKG. The test came back normal and they realized my issue was a result of the catheter so they removed it and almost immediately my vital signs returned to normal. The bad news...still no progress. By now it was nearly 11 PM and I was getting so frustrated.

The next shift started and things continued the same way. I was in pain, feeling pressure and crying. I started to think the baby was never coming out. The nurse checked me and said I was 3 maybe 4 cm dilated and only 75-80% effaced. I was going backwards and had been in labor since 3:30AM.

I finally got to meet the doctor who would be delivering my baby at some point after midnight. By this time I was so frustrated with my whole situation I could hardly understand anything she was saying. I told her I was done laboring and wanted the baby out.
I wanted a cesarean section.

She explained the risks of the surgery to me and I signed consent forms. She called the operating room staff to set up and told me that there was a woman ahead of me who also needed a c-section so it would be a few more hours. She turned off my Pitocin and for the first time in almost 24 hours I was comfortable or exhausted enough to close my eyes.
They had to reinsert the catheter for the procedure which I still couldn't tolerate and had the same reaction to as earlier. I tried to keep my face covered with cool cloths and wait as patiently as possible.

They wheeled me into the OR around 4:45AM to get started but I was able to feel the sharpness of the instruments as they began the surgery so we had to wait longer for the medicine to work. The doctor was fast and my boy was born at 5:49 AM.

He is perfect and more than anything I ever imagined but I had a horrible experience with labor and childbirth so I've warned Kevin to enjoy Isaac every minute because I don't know if I can go through it again.

We had our baby! More details to come I promise but right now things are CRAZY!! I'll get back and post pictures and a birth story very soon!!

Isaac Dennis Boyd

Born December 26th 2008

9.1 pounds

20.5 inches

and perfect!!

Hi everyone!!

I braved the ice storm today to schlup off to the OB this morning and nearly fell in the parking lot of the hospital...

I had another good visit with Dr. Howard. I think he's my favorite. It was a pretty quick visit overall because aside from a few contractions here and there and a lot of cramping nothing really has been going on. They checked my urine which they always do and as usual it was fine. I got weighed and there was no mention of a gain or loss so I assume its probably the same as last week although now that I'm home I have plenty of time to snack (as a matter of fact I'm gonna bake cookies today!!). My blood pressure was 124/82!! I was pretty happy about that. Also, my group B strep culture came back (-) so no need for IV antibiotics during delivery!!

I finally convinced him tell me whether or not I was dilating and he said I'm about 2 cm same as last week... At this rate Baby Boyd will miss Christmas...

Kevin and I went to the police station last night with our car seats and had them properly installed and inspected.

Earlier this week his co-workers thought it would be funny to call him and tell him that I called and my water had broken so he called me in a panic to check on me...needless to say that was not the case.

I took a look at the baby pool and already a few people are out of the running with dates that have come and gone. Uncle Andy and Kevin were too early... next up Grampy Jeff, me and Grammy Carmen...Who will win the baby pool??

I'll take some new belly pictures and post them.

I go back to see Dr. Howard on Thursday.

I just returned from a visit with the OB. If you've been following along, you know that after my last visit with the NP I was very stressed. She had brought up some concerns she was having 1) was my elevated blood pressure and 2) a strange blotchy area on my legs. She had suggested I follow up with a doctor at my next visit which brings us to to today.

I saw Dr. Howard today and was very happy leaving the office. He is great anyway but he really put my mind at ease. He said my numbers were fine and not to worry about them . He admitted that there were some BP readings in the last few visits he was not too happy with but today 132/80 was great.
He was also happy to see that I haven't put on any weight in over a month . I was told that I should avoid gaining any more since I already put on 35 lbs with this pregnancy and so I was concerned about how the heck I was going to get through Thanksgiving without gaining like 5 or more pounds but I did!!

He addressed the reddened areas on my legs and tells me they are normal and it is circulation but related to the pregnancy and since I do not have a lot of swelling he wasn't alarmed by it and says my legs will return to normal after baby comes.He swabbed my va-j-j for the Group B Strep test and we listened to the baby's heartbeat (such a great sound to hear).

He asked me about contractions, discharge (I lost my mucus plug this week) and pain or pressure. I complained again about the pain I've been having in my pelvis (I think I have SPD; The combination of unstable joints, the growing baby and changes in the centre of gravity and posture can result in varying degrees of pelvic pain which is centred on the joint at the front of the pelvis. Even for those not so severely affected, pelvic instability can have a profound effect on day-to-day life.  Previously simple activities such as getting in and out of bed, climbing stairs, getting in and out of the bath, driving, standing up, dressing, bending down, turning over in bed etc can become difficult and painful.) and I told him it hurts the most after work. He wasn't to happy to learn that I was still working full time and said at this point I shouldn't be with the job I have because its too hands on with lifting, bending, squatting, etc. So tomorrow is my last day of work...I'm pretty sure they are going to have a fit over it but like the doctor said its not about them its about me and my baby!

And so it goes until my next appointment next Thursday I'll try not to go stir crazy...

I was scheduled to go to the OB tomorrow for Group B strep test, my 1st internal exam, and to follow up on my BP and blotchy leg issues, however,  the doctor apparently will not be available tomorrow so I've been rescheduled to Thursday...

Meanwhile, I have posted new pictures so all of you can check out my freaky legs for yourselves and also peek at the belly bump.

Just so you know, I've been monitoring my blood pressure at work and it has been low 130's over mid 80's (yesterday it was 131/84). I really don't think that's too bad.

And to comfort all worried minds,  I scheduled an appointment to have our car seats inspected/installed next Wednesday (December 10th).

Thats all for now

36 weeks today!

And just a quick update, I had contractions yesterday!!!

Probably related to doing more than I should have at work but exciting none the less...

Baby is in position as we know and I've had a lot  of pressure down low (almost like the cramps you get at "that time of the month") and now I can add that I have had contractions!

It was probably Braxton Hicks (the fake ones) but whatever...still means body is getting ready!

I'm off till Saturday and plan on stuffing myself tomorrow at Lana's. We have so much to be thankful for this year I may even treat myself to a glass of wine!

Whatever you are planning for your holiday I hope you have a wonderful day with lots of happiness and food!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

xoxo