Me and my baby....

Here's some pictures of Jakob and me... I am recuperating very well from the c-section. The only other pics of me and him are right after the c-section, and I look quite drugged up. :) I have been up walking around and I guess that I expected the healing process to be alot more painful, so I've been pleasantly surprised. (thank God for pain meds too) I did have my hormonal melt down today though, Jake got circumcised this morning, and the doctor said he didn't cry, or make a sound, but when I went to change his diaper he was all red, and bloody looking, and he kept screaming...I just broke down crying and couldn't stop. I have all sisters, and never really considered what went into getting a baby circumcised. I feel so bad for him. :( I get released to go home tomorrow, and I am looking forward to taking my baby boy home and getting into our own little schedule. Our first appointment with the pediatrician will be next week. I'm so ready to get my little guy home. The nurses and everyone have been really kind and really helpful here though, and I'm blessed to have been taken good care of while I've been recouping. Everybody remember to pray for my friend Nity, she's due on the 27th -same as me- and pray that she'll have a safe and healthy delivery. Also pray for Dana. She had her transfer yesterday, pray that all will go well and that she'll have her own little one on the way. Love you all. Hear a little one calling my name...gotta go. -Me

Hello from Jakob Preston...

Well, Dr. Hennessey admitted me to the hospital to be induced. When I was admitted I was still a finger tip dialated, and about 50% effaced. I was on pitocin from about 10:30 in the morning. After about 4 or 5 hours of pitocin they checked me again and I had made no progress... The doctor came in and basically told me that there are some people who just cannot be induced, or no matter how long they're on the pitocin they will not progress. I kind of got the feeling that he was thinking I was gonna have to have a c-section. He told me he wanted me to rest that night, so whenever I wanted to get the epidural to go ahead and do it. My contractions got very close together, about every minute and lasted a while, and it was getting very painful. I got the epidural around 10:00 at night. I was hoping that while on the epidural I would progress and dialate. In the morning I woke up and noticed that my contractions were very regular and waited for the doctor to come in and examine me. When doctor Hennessey examined me I could tell it was taking a while, and then he said I was still the same as last night. NO PROGRESS!!! Doctor Hennessey said we have two options... he could break my water, and we could hope I progress, or we could skip all that and go ahead and do the c-section. I said "you're the professional, what would you recommend?" he said that since he first met with me he thought that I'd have a hard time with a vaginal delivery. He said it doesn't matter the size of the baby, the way my body is made I just could not progress in labor. I just wanted a healthy baby, and no more bed rest!!! The c-section was quite an experience. I guess you cannot even really imagine what it's like unless you've been there. I knew there'd be some pressure, but there was a good bit of pain too. Thankfully I didn't have time to get nervous about it, it was probablly 15 minutes from the time I talked to the doctor and decided to do the c-section to the time I was in the O.R. and was getting prepped for surgery. After the section my blood pressure stayed high, so now I'm on Magnesium Sulfate which will flush all the water out of my body. I haven't eaten since Tuesday night, I ate a banana on Wednesday morning, but didn't want to eat much since I was hoping to be induced. Once I get off the Magnesium I get to eat, so countdown is on...one hour left. My labor day didn't go exactly as I had imagined, but I have a healthy baby, and I know that once I can get around and walk I'll heal just fine. I'm so thankful for my little miracle baby, and I just cannot believe he's mine. I'm thankful for all of you that have encouraged me through this hard time. I'm so glad Jessie and Becci could come and hang out while I've been on bedrest. This has been one very interesting journey, but it's all been worth it when I hold this little guy in my arms. Love you all. -Me

Is Today the Big Day?

Well, this is a first, so bear with me. Let me start by saying, this is Arlene, Shauna's mom. Shauna had a scheduled Dr. appointment this morning at 8. As it turned out the Dr. decided to admit her and induce. I'll leave most of the details to Shauna's discretion, but they were unable to use Cervidil as she was contracting on her own so they went straight to Pictocin . Her Dr. came in and spoke with her about pros and cons and advised her to go ahead with an epidudral so she could sleep tonight and have energy for tomorrow. I know my little post is not as colorful as Shauna's will be, but she just wanted to let her blogger sisters know what's going on and to let you all know that she covets your prayers. We left her with a sweet smile on her relaxed face, so keep her in your prayers and hopefully we'll have a picture of that sweet, chubby, little face (Jakob, that is) tomorrow. Thank you all for being such good friends. God bless.

on the way to the hospital...

I'm on my way to the hospital. BP was 152/112. The doc said I have full blown pre-eclampsia. They are gonna enduce, so we will have a baby either tonight or tomorrow. I am so excited.!!! Keep me and Jakob in your prayers. Amber brought her laptop, so I'll have somebody update along the way. Love you all, thanks for the support and we'll see what happens. -Me

Is this it???...

So it's 12:35 in the morning, and I woke up with an awful stomach ache...The pain is not high though, it feels pretty low (they say real contractions start up higher at the top of your uterus), so I don't know if it's some serious gas pains, or if I'm having really bad braxton hicks, or if this baby is coming. That's the thing about labor, I've never been there before, so I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I've got a doctors appointment in the morning at 8, so I guess if nothing happens in the next few hours we'll see him then. I'm gonna try to go lay down, I think I might have to get in the tub though...maybe Jakob will be here soon(!!!)...we'll see. Love you all, and will try to update, or have someone update for me. -Shauna

Baby Jakob's pics...

So I had my 37 week appointment today. My blood pressure was 132/100 (!!!!) that is very high. The doc checked my cervix for the first time and said that I am a finger tip dialated, which I'm guessing is about 1cm but I am 50% effaced. On your first baby they say you usually efface first, then you dialate, that means I'm halfway there... The doctor sent me to the hospital again for monitoring, but once I lay down my BP goes down, and Jake is fine, and my liver and kidneys are fine, so they sent me home on absolute bed rest. I can get up to eat, (no cooking) go to the bathroom and take a shower, that's it. At least there's only two weeks left. One good thing about this BP problem is that I have to have an ultrasound each time I go in. The ultrasound tech took these 3-d pictures of Jakob, and we were so excited to see his chubby little face. She even put them on a cd and gave them to me!!! Can't wait to meet my baby boy. Well, I'm off to lay down. Love you all, and can't wait to introduce you to my little guy! Love, -Me

37 week pics...

Here's my 37 week belly shot... I know that the baby has moved down some, but do y'all think that my stomach looks lower? The belly button still has not popped yet, but it's threatening to every day. Jakob keeps stretching and moving, which is kinda uncomfortable to me, I can't imagine how it feels to him. I keep telling him there's so much more room out here if he'd just come out!!! :)

19 days to go...

19 days to go...Wow. I am starting to get less discouraged and more excited as the days tick by. I have less than three weeks till I meet my little boy. I know labor will not be easy, but I'm looking forward to no more swelling, no more bed rest and just meeting this little guy. He has his own personality already. I can't wait to put a face with it. Jakob's bag is packed and ready to go. I'm still waiting on his little outfit for the hospital, which should come in today, and his bag is complete. My mom and I went to Wal-mart yesterday...I know I'm on bedrest, but there's things I've gotta have for the hospital, and the doc said if I'm feeling o.k. I can make little trips. I got everything I can think of needing for the hospital, and today I've gotta pack it all up. This last week I've been at my moms house during the day. She has been so sweet to me, cooking me all kinds of healthy food, and keeping me company, so I'm not bored to death. I feel like a burden, though of course she says I'm not, and if I was at home she'd be calling me every ten minutes. At one point last week my blood pressure was spiking and I would feel like I was gonna pass out, so I just felt like I needed to be close to someone who could take me to the hospital if I needed to go. Not to mention the hospital is almost an hour from my house, and only 15-20 minutes from my mom's house. So needless to say I'm so thankful for my mom and all she does, she is the kind of mom I want to be one day. That's about all that's going on for now. For the most part I've been reading and taking it easy. I need to put up a pic, which I will try to do sometime today. Hope you all have a great weekend!!! Love, -Me

Baby Jakob 36 weeks...

Here is a picture of Mr. Jakob... He has chubby little cheeks, and lots of hair (we could see it moving around in the fluid). He is measuring about 6 lbs. 4oz. which is about average for a baby his age. He is head down, and very low, which made it hard for the ultrasound tech to even get measurements of his head. (I'm hoping that means he's getting ready to come!!!) I didn't get to see the doctor today, which was dissapointing. I had to see the PA, which if you remember was the girl I wasn't too fond of when I had to have the first Parvo Virus test. Let's just say she hasn't improved her status in my eyes. She really just does not have good people skills, and at this point in my life I need someone to answer questions and act like they care about their job a little. According to PA I do not have preeclampsia, which I am very happy about. I guess the way they diagnose it is if you have alot of protein in your urine (meaning your kidneys are affected). My protein levels were low, so I am now diagnosed with pregnancy enduced hyper tension... PA says that they wouldn't even consider inducing me for about 3 more weeks. Baby boys due date is only a little more than three weeks away. Oh well. The nurse told me that I need to sit up and take deep breaths every now and then, even though I'm on bed rest, or I can pass out. Which is what I'm guessing happened on Saturday. I have another doctors appointment on next Tuesday, and they'll start checking my cervix. I'm hoping to get good news from that seeing as how Jakob is already moving down. I guess in all this, including IF and Pregnancy God is still showing me how to be patient. Only 24 days to go...this picture will definitely help me stay excited for a while(!!!)

Baby shower...

Here's a few pictures from the baby shower. As you can see my face is soooo puffy, not only had I been crying alot that day, but I am also holding gallons and gallons of water in my body. I haven't really noticed it in my face till I looked at these pictures. The picture of me and my friend next to the present table is my friend Jaylene. She has had 4 miscarriages and her last one was at 24 weeks. Jaylene is 24 weeks right now, and the doctor said he doesn't see any reason why she won't carry this baby to term(!!!) Praise God for that! Jaylene has been very cautious about this pregnancy, but I am glad to see some of that nervousness or wariness dissapearing, and she is getting excited. Today my mom and Shelly (most of you know her, my bf since before birth) came to the house and helped me (meaning made me stay on the couch and watch them) put away all the baby stuff, and wash all the little clothes, and put together a swing, and other stuff. They vaccumed and straightened, and barely let me help at all. My thanks to both of you. I can never thank God enough that I haven't always had a ton of friends, but those that I've had are friends through thick and thin. So...my living room is back to normal, there is a new addition, a little swing for Jakob, and his little carrier waiting for daddy to put in the back of the car. When I take the time to stop and think about how soon he could be here, I almost cannot even believe it. Continue to pray for me. I felt like I had a spike in my blood pressure today, and almost felt like I was gonna pass out. I was here alone, as I encouraged Jeremy to go to his friends house for a while, since he's gonna be here all day tomorrow with me, I won't be doing that anymore. I really need to get a BP cuff for at home. I just need patience to wait till Monday and find out what's going on. Hope you all have a great Sunday! Love, -Me