Xander's Arrival Story Pt. 2

Part of why I scheduled an induction for Xander on his due date was because I wanted to give him the chance to arrive both naturally and in his own time (without passing his due date).  As I mentioned, it was a hard decision when faced with the likelihood of a C-section no matter what we tried.  I went home, put my feet up until my afternoon work shift, and texted Chad.  He agreed with my choice, which made me feel a little more secure.  I went into work at 1 and said goodbye to my coworkers for a time, since I would begin my maternity leave on Monday... giving me a chance to rest for a few days before delivery.

Or so I planned!

That evening, Chad picked up a couple movies from a Redbox and dinner from Macaroni Grill.  I chose Eggplant Parmesan since there are urban legends about that dish inducing labor, even making one restaurant famous for their Eggplant Parmigiana Babies!  I ate half of it, put the other away, and relaxed on the couch... propped up on cushions with my feet as high as I could get them comfortably.

But, when you're as big as a whale, nothing is very comfortable for long.  I shifted repeatedly, which was honestly quite an effort.  At one point a struggled to shift my weight and move my legs... and something suddenly didn't feel the same.  I heaved myself off the couch and hobbled to the bathroom, and I knew by the time I closed the door that my water had broken.

I used the restroom, tried to calm myself down.  I was nervous as hell, and a little scared.  As soon as I felt I could hobble to the door without flooding the floor, I did so.  I opened it and said, "Ummmm.  My water just broke!"

Chad answered with something like, "Are you serious?!" and appeared at the bathroom door with wide eyes and half-eaten ice cream bar in his hands.  I really wished I had a camera to capture that!

So I directed him to the list of things that still needed to go in my overnight bag, called the labor and delivery department to confirm that water breaking means I had to come in immediately (I'd hoped to labor at home for a while if not induced), called my mother, got a couple little things myself while also managing my broken water mess, and soon we were on our way... and driving through a mild thunderstorm.

After getting checked in, in a gown, and set up on monitors in bed, I had Chad bring me my bag of diabetes supplies so I could refill my insulin cartridge.  I probably had enough, considering they don't let you eat anything during labor at that hospital, but I wanted to be positive.  I also reduced my basal rate by half... and there were several times when I took it down to 25% or even 0.  I really managed my own blood sugar and was never bothered by a nurse about it.  Quite different than what some other mothers with diabetes have reported!  It really went pretty well as long as I labored without any interventions.  I sometimes went low, but was allowed to eat popsicles to bring it back up.  That worked just fine.  It really wasn't until interventions came into play that I couldn't handle it 100% on my own.  But for that first night, I was fine and happy that Xander's time was approaching based on him and my body being ready, not based on a deadline... whatever the end result might be.



To be continued...

Xander's Arrival Story

Things have been a little busy around here, and I anticipate that this story will take at least two or three posts, but please let me make a little jump to the end and introduce you to the newest sweetie in my life, Xander!!!

I suppose the facts give away a little of the story I'll be telling, but Xander (short for Alexander, pronounced "Zander") was born on August 13th, weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces.  He's an absolute bundle of sweet.

He, his daddy (Chad), and I have been doing pretty well... Especially since Chad is taking two weeks off to enjoy his new son and avoid me having 90% of the sudden new-baby responsibilities, and also because my wonderful mother has been visiting and helping on a regular basis.  I'm definitely having post-partum depression issues (this was expected, considering that it's so common and I'm more prone to depression than most), but honestly, things are actually good despite that.  I have a wonderful support system.

Now, on to...

Xander's Arrival Story

It's been a while since I posted because, first, I was just too exhausted from late-pregnancy to have much energy even for blogging.  I started working half days to help my extremely swollen feet/ankles/legs and to get more sleep.  It was only swelling though, as both my blood pressure and urine tests showed no other symptoms of pre-eclampsia.  I started seeing my blood sugar plummet too, but every test showed that the baby was just fine.

On Friday August 12th I went for what I knew would likely be my last prenatal visit with my OB.  I was 39 weeks and 1 day, putting me in the zone where she'd want to induce if conditions were right... only they weren't.  My cervix showed zero signs of preparing for delivery and Xander had not dropped.  She said that, since things were looking so healthy and I was being was so closely monitored, she was willing to give me a few more days (but not past my due date) to see if things would progress on their own... though she sincerely doubted they would and, in fact, anticipated a C-section even if labor started naturally (and even more so if we induced without any further natural progression).  I told her that yes, I wanted to give my body the chance to do things on its own.  But she wanted a plan of action.  The options: Schedule a c-section or schedule an induction (which was likely to end in a c-section).  It was actually a harder decision than I expected since I didn't want a C-section, but I was being told that I would likely just go through labor and end up with a C-section anyway.  Still, I decided to schedule an induction on Xander's due date, August 18th.

To be continued...