The birth of Madeline Victoria

As usual, nothing went according to plan.

During my last two checkups, I was registering elevated blood pressure - the first time it happened, they waited and took my pressure again at the end of the visit and it was back to normal. The second time it happened, I was sent to Labor and Delivery to be monitored.  From the beginning of the monitoring, my blood pressure was normal, and Madeline's heart rate was 'perfect'. I was sent home with no problems.

The next day (December 14th), I woke up at about 6am with some minor contractions, and went about my day. As it was tuesday, I took my weekly belly progression photo:

And then my husband and I went out with my mom. We went walking around parks, running errands and even through super Wal-Mart trying to get things rolling, since the contractions were weak/irregular.  We were at Wal-Greens when I realized I had missed a call from my doctor's office.

The message left said something along the lines of 'Hey Jess, I have your induction orders here. You need to be at the hospital at 10:30 tonight to begin your cytotec, and you're scheduled to begin ptiocin at 7:30 tomrrow morning. Please call us back to confirm.'

I called back and asked why I was scheduled for induction, as I was under the impression that was something we were trying to avoid. Their excuse was that I was 'post-dates' and they were concerned about my hyper-tension and the fact that it may develop into pre-eclampsia. I told them that I would keep the appointment, because I was already having semi-regular contractions, and I thought the cytotec (cervical ripening agent) could only help.

I took 2oz of castor oil at around 3pm, and took a nap. I awoke around 7:30pm to find that Jacob had gone through our checkists and prepared everything for bringing to the hospital. I waited for the side effects of the castor oil to hit me, and right around 8:45, they did. I experienced mild diarrhea, and mild contractions. Around 9:30 my mother arrived to pick us up for our trip to the hospital. We hung around the house for a while, and headed out close to 10-ish. We stopped at Wendy's on the way to pick up a baked potato for me, then went straight to the hospital. I was contracting in the car at 2-3 minutes apart the entire trip to the hospital.

We arrived at about 10:20, signed in,  and waited. Somehow they didn't have me on file for cytotec at 10:30pm, only the pitocin at 7:30am, but since I was having contractions, they set me up in triage for some monitoring. As it turns out, I was contracting too frequently to receive the cytotec. The midwife did an internal exam, I was up to a large 2cm, but not any further effaced. Due to the frequency of my contractions they moved me up to 3:00am for the pitocin.

dancing

I was transferred to a L&D suite sometime around 12:00am and while I waited on pitocin, I walked the halls and danced in hopes of bringing her down or furthering my progress. At 3:00am they started me on a lose dose pitocin drip (2mL/hour), and set me up with external fetal monitoring. By 7:00am, I was up to 6mL/hour and the nurses shift change was coming up, our attending nurse (Phyllis) made jokes about seeing us in 12 hours because she wanted to meet the baby, but hoped that by then I would have already delivered. The nurses (Sandra and Gail) that came in at 7 to replace Phyllis were fantastic, too. They read over my birth plan and clarified that I didn't want pain medications offered to me, they were pleased with how open to change I was and we developed a fantastic relationship almost immediately.

At around 7:50am, one of my favorite doctors from the practice came into my room to check me. I was still a 'large 2cm', so in order to try to help move things along, she offered to rupture my membranes. By 7:55 I was having contractions painful enough to want to get on the birthing ball. At about 8:15, my pitocin was raised to 8mL/hour and at 8:35, it was raised to 10mL/hour and from then on, every half hour they upped the pitocin by 2mL/hour.

Considering the fact that Madeline was in a posterior position (facing my belly instead of my spine) I had the most intense back pain during labor. It was horrible. I made it to 4cm before I was literally screaming with the pain of the contractions. Between contractions I was fine - making jokes, talking, being friendly - then I would feel a contraction coming on and I'd start whimpering 'oh, god, please, no' and by the time the contraction was in full swing I would start yelling to my mom and Jacob "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME" because the only thing that even remotely helped my back labor was counter - pressure on my back and hips.

It eventually got to the point where I was so absolutely exhausted that I would literally fall asleep between contractions and they were only 2 to 3 minutes apart and at least a minute and a half long.

For a while, I was talking about how I completely understand why epidurals were invented, and how much I underestimated the pain of back labor (which I pretty much knew I would have). Soon, the nurse came in, she said 'I know how you feel about the pain meds. I just want to let you know that soon, if you change your mind, you won't be able to get the epidural and if the pain gets worse, you'll be limited to IV medications like demerol.'. After some discussion with my husband and mother, we decided that at this point, after laboring for almost eleven hours, I should get the epidural - if only to allow me to try to get some rest.

The epidural was administered at about 1:40 pm, and they pumped up the pitocin to 16 mL/hour. It was glorious. I fell asleep almost immediately, until they got to inserting the internal monitor and catheter. For some reason, I could feel the catheter make its way in - and then for the next few hours it felt like I had to pee, really badly, but for some reason, the catheter was not draining my bladder. At the same time, I felt this horribly uncomfortable pressure in my vagina/rectum, which only started after they inserted the internal contraction monitor (they were monitoring the baby with an external fetal monitor).

The nurses removed the catheter and put a new one in - the second one hurt just as much as the first. We were all at a loss, they began discussing the possible ways to solve the problem... Basically the only thing to do would be operate. We waited it out and after Madeline changed positions, the pain was relieved and the catheter did its job.

Due to the fact that I had the epidural, I could not leave the bed at all, I could barely even move to roll over when they wanted me to. I was drifting in and out of sleep, and my recollection of the end of my labor is fuzzy. I vaguely remember being checked relatively regularly for progression - I think it was every two hours. It soon became apparent that I was not making any more progress, I had stalled out at 8cm dilated and 80% effaced. I was stuck there for four hours. The nurse came in and told us that the doctor was concerned with the lack of progression and that they may have to move on to other more invasive measures - she was talking about the possibility of me needing a cesarean section while politely avoiding saying the actual words.

I was so lucky to have the nurse that I did, she did everything in her power to avoid the c-section.  She upped my pitocin to try to increase the power of the contractions in order to open my cervix more. She also began helping me roll from side to side every fifteen or so minutes to try to get Madeline to rotate into an anterior position so she could 'drop' further into my pelvis and help my labor progress. By 9:45ish the doctor came in to check me and decide what we were going to do. I was barely at ten, but she told us to try to push through it - I could probably make it.

The nurses told me to expect to push for about two hours, considering the fact that I was still on the epidural (though I swear it was wearing off) and this is my first child. All I could feel was this intense desire to relieve the pressure I was feeling and each push brought a wave of relief, soon to be cancelled by the extreme discomfort flooding back in. I was so sure I wasn't going to be able to do it. I kept trying and trying and every time the nurse gave me instruction, I remember crying to her "I'm trying, I can't do it!". I felt that every time my mother, husband and nurse congratulated me on how impressive each push was was just a way to placate me. I didn't think I was making much progress until my mother grabbed my hand and pulled it down to feel the top of Madeline's head.

At that moment, I felt so close to having her, I remember resolving to try my damnedest. I was so close. I kept pushing and holding and pushing and holding. The nurse told me to expect the 'ring of fire' and that I needed to be sure to push through it or it would only get worse. The next time I pushed I felt the stretch, took a breath and pushed again, feeling the burn. I kept that push as long as I could, gasping, I pushed a final time and there was her head.

My husband was down between my legs, hoping to be as involved in catching as humanly possible. I heard my doctor point out the cord around Madeline's neck, and felt her unwrap it. Then I hear her coaching Jacob on how to deliver the baby. At 11:24pm, I pushed again and Jacob pulled, and together we brought our daughter into the world.

The next thing I knew I was overwhelmed with emotion, I snatched off my hospital gown while repeating over and over, "Oh my god, that's my baby! My baby!". I tore off my blood pressure cuff and Jacob put her on my chest. She was beautiful, though almost greyish and covered in vernix. The nurses were at my side rubbing and stimulating her, she wasn't crying yet.

After the first glorious seconds they took her to the warmer, she had apparently experienced some meconium aspiration and was having a hard time breathing. I watched from across the room as Jacob helped them stimulate her. He was amazing.

While they were taking care of Madeline, I delivered my placenta, and my doctor began to put in my stitches. She gave me some local anesthetic and explained that I had just a minor tear and a couple stitches would suffice.

Shortly thereafter, they brought Madeline back to me, and within 30 minutes she was nursing. She was a perfect baby born at 7lbs 14oz (the exact weight I was when I was born) with a full head of dark hair and she latched on immediately, without difficulty.

Doctor's visit (12-13-2010)

I drove into town for my doctor’s appointment, arriving at the office around 2, the appointment was at 2:30.

Because I knew my mom was trying to come to this appointment, I waited in my car until 2:27, then went and signed in. Around 2:33 my mom arrived.

We made small talk and soon I was called back. They weighed me (187.5 lbs), took my urine sample and then walked me into the exam room where they took my blood pressure. 148/80, a bit high for me considering I usually get smack on 120/80 (except for my last appointment; they took my BP 3 times, the first two were 140/80, the third was 120/80.)

When the doctor came in, she asked the usual questions, took down the baby’s heart-rate, measured my fundal height, and then began my cervical exam. For the first time, the internal exam hurt. I could tell that she had just gone ahead and swept my membranes, without me having to ask. Apparently I’m still 2cm dilated, 50% effaced and at a -2 station.

During all of this, the doctor was talking about how she was concerned by my blood pressure. She thought I may be developing Pre-Eclampsia, so she wanted to send me over to L&D to have some blood work, a NST and other basic monitoring done.

After the internal exam, she hands me a pad saying that I would need it because she ‘did some things’ while she was down there, and there would be some blood, then she left to call the hospital to let them know that I was coming.

We set up our next appointment, received copies of my files, and drove over to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 3:20. At the reception desk, I signed in, filled out some minor paperwork, and signed my consent forms. We waited… Around 4:30, I was taken back and asked to undress and provide a urine sample.

I got into the hospital gown, and peed in the cup, and shortly thereafter, someone came in to take my blood. Usually, I have no problem with blood being drawn - in fact, I donate blood whenever I can - but this lab tech was horrible. She somehow managed to make it hurt when she pulled the needle out, and forgot to untie the elastic from my arm. She also managed to leave a tube of my blood in the exam room.

As soon as the lab tech left, and ultrasound tech came in and took a look at Madeline. Everything was perfect. She’s healthy, there’s a good amount of amniotic fluid, and she’s in a good position for delivery.

By the time I was actually hooked up to the monitors, it was about 5. I laid in the bed for an hour and a half with the two monitors strapped to my belly, and an automated blood-pressure cuff on my arm. Every ten minutes, the cuff would fill with air and measure my blood pressure. The first one was 124/74, the second was the same, and as I laid there, my blood pressure continued to stay at a comfortable, healthy range. The external fetal monitor showed a healthy relationship between Madeline’s heart rate and my infrequent, painless contractions.

At about 6:20, the nurse came in preparing me for discharge, she said that She was surprised how big my baby is - apparently, Madeline is estimated at 8lbs 14oz - and remarked that my blood pressure and baby were both perfect.

I was sent home, and have been having mild contractions and light spotting since,  so I'm hoping I go into active labor soon!

My Pregnancy

So many people write birth stories, explaining in gorey detail what they experienced bringing their precious bundle of joy into the world - rarely do people write stories of their pregnancy. Probably because pregnancy is a months long adventure with too many ups and downs to accurately keep track of, versus the hours or days of labor. I have had an 'easy' pregnancy - but it has definitely been interesting, and I think it's worth writing a pregnancy story to have  a solid record of what I went through in the past 9 and a half months. This may be horribly painful to read (I'm not usually much of a writer) so please, bear with me.

I suppose the best place to start would be the first day of my last period. February 20th, 2010. A mere five days before my birthday, I was horrified. Obviously I could remember that date, I mean, who wants to be on her period for her birthday? The five days went by, and by the 25th it was over and I was happy that nature had given me the day without having to worry about pads, tampons or TSS.

Then, a little over a week after my birthday - around March 7th/8th - I began breaking out. I was confused, as I normally have clear skin until the week before my period/during my period. I remember mentioning it to Jacob and he said something along the lines of 'That's weird, isn't it early for your period to be starting?', and that was that. We put it aside figuring maybe the weather change was messing with my skin, and went on with our daily lives.

As the month of March drew to a close, I began to suspect that something was up. By March 22nd, I could almost say with certainty that I knew I was pregnant. I am rarely late, and I knew I should have started around the 20th. I walked to Save-A-Lot, and bought a test for a dollar - it was negative.
A few days passed and I had still not started, I decided to walk to the 'Christian Ministries' down the street, because I knew they advertised free pregnancy testing. After waiting an hour and a half, I was called back and tested. Again, it was negative. I told the woman that I thought the test was wrong and was then lectured about how I seemed to want to be pregnant, and I was too young to be thinking about having children.

By March 23rd, I was panicking. If I wasn't pregnant, and my period was not starting, what else could be wring with me? I went to wal-greens and bought the EPT double pack. I took one test immediately, because I felt like I  needed to know, and saved the next to be taken the next day with my first morning urine. Again, the tests were both negative.

At this point I was frustrated and worried because I had no idea what my body was doing. Why was my period so late? Why was I suddenly losing weight? What was wrong with me?

On a subconsious level, I knew I was pregnant, I just needed a test to prove it. I had various 'symptoms'; missed/late period, slight and random food aversions, and an odd and sudden hatred of cigarette smoke (I had been smoking cigarettes off and on for a total of about 3 years, and at that point I could safely say I was addicted - so a sudden aversion was very strange).

March 24th, I was sitting in my humanities class taking notes, when suddenly it hit me. I am pregnant. It is a girl. Her name will be Madeline. Just like that. I somehow just knew these things on a deep, inexplicable level. I could feel it in my gut.

April 5th, 2010 I went to the health department and asked for a pregnancy test. I filled out my paperwork, waited, peed in a cup, got sent down the hall, and waited. Eventually my name was called and I went in to see the triage nurse for my results. She sat me down and verified my birthdate/social/name and then told me my results. The test was positive. Literally the first thing out of my mouth was "Oh thank god.", not usually something they hear. I had to explain to her that I had suspected pregnancy for weeks and was somehow unable to get a positive test, therefore I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me. We then spoke about the options, and what I wanted to do, considering I was so young and unemployed, I told her that I planned on going through with the pregnancy, and we went from there. I had my blood pressure taken, received a prescription of prenatal vitamins, paperwork about WIC and various other programs.

Shortly thereafter I told my mom, whose immediate reaction was "Are you sure?" to which I responded "Well, I can't eat sour cream anymore...." (big deal because I usually can eat the stuff by the spoonful) she said; "Oh. Yeah. You're preganant."

I wrestled with how to tell my dad for a few days. My dad is an intimidating dude. So I decided that when he came over to try to help fix my brakes, I'd tell him. After hours of working on the car, he needed to go get food and another pack of smokes, so after he left my apartment, I called him.
"Uh, hi dad.... I need to tell you something."
"Okay?"
"I, uh, I... We're having a baby."
"You're kidding...Well, congratulations!"
"Wait, what? Uh, wow. I did not expect that reaction. Thanks for taking that so well."
His reaction was wonderfully accepting, he even ended up bringing Jacob and me some 'celebratory frosties' when he came back.

After letting my family know, I began looking into choosing a doctor, and since my insurance coverage was ending at the end of May, I had to choose a doctor that would accept Medicaid. I made my decision based primarily on the fact that my car was not in functioning condition at the time, so I picked the office on the medicaid list that was within walking distance of my apartment. I was generally impressed with myself, the office I chose was an all-female, highly rated practice.

I set up my first apointment, and when I went in they gave me my estimated due date, November 28th, The day after the due date the Health Department had given me. I talked to the nurse-practitioner and got a new prescription for prenatals - the generic ones I had were making me sick - and set up my next appointment for my first ultrasound.

The night before my first ultrasound, I had nightmares that they were going to tell me that there was something wrong with my baby. I was horribly nervous going in for that appointment, and when I was laying on the table and the technician said "Oh. Well, you're a lot less pregnant than we thought" I panicked. "What does that mean? Is there something wrong? Is the baby okay?"

According to her, the baby was fine, just not as far along as they seemed to think. According to the crown-to-rump measurement, I was apparently 2 weeks 'less pregnant'. They adjusted my due date to December 12th. I, of course, wanted to see for myself what the average measurements were for my time frame (I thought I was about 11 weeks along) according to my books and various places on the internet, if the fetus measured at 5cm,that puts the gestational age between 11 and 12 weeks.

At my next appointment, I saw the nurse-practitioner again, and she said that according to my new due date, I must have conceived on March 23rd. I told her that was impossible because my missed period would have been during that date. She told me "Don't bother trying to figure out when you conceived, it'll just give you a headache.". I attempted to point out the fact that the ultrasound tech had seemingly made an error with her estimation of gestational age, but the nurse-practitioner wouldn't even look at the ultrasound, she said something about how she had the information in the file and the UT had been doing her job for years and knew what she was talking about.

After that I decided that I'd just let them think whatever they wanted, because I knew I wanted to avoid being induced, and if they had my due date on file as two weeks later than the due date calculated by my menstrual cycle, I was far less likely to be coerced into an induction.
I called my mom (who is in nursing school) and told her about the due date discrepancy, and she essentially said the same thing, let them think what they want. When she was pregnant with me, my mom's doctors did the same thing.

On May 19th, I was at Wal-Greens and saw this odd little test; The intelli-gender test. Apparently, for about $30, one could test their urine and find out with about 82% accuracy the gender of their unborn child. Supposedly it tests testosterone levels and tells you as early as 10 weeks whether you're carrying a boy or a girl. Since I had already decided that my baby was a girl and had been calling this baby Madeline, I decided to buy the test to check. I read the instructions thoroughly, multiple times, and took the test the next morning at about 5am with my first morning urine, like the directions said.

After swirling it around and letting it sit, I checked the color of the results, orange to yellow means girl, and green to black means boy. Mine was definitely an orangey-yellow but I still didn't want to get my hopes up without confirmation from the company, so I sent this picture in for verification;

 I received the following response; "Yes, you have a girl result. We'll be thinking pink for you! Congratulations and please let us know when you confirm!"
I was ecstatic.

June was a relatively uneventful month as far as my pregnancy goes.

We had our second ultrasound on June 4th, and I had to explain to my grandmother that, if they can't tell the gender for sure yet, they can't tell for sure yet. I managed to get my car fixed, and then re-registered it. June 28th, Jacob and I got married at the courthouse, and that was pretty much it.

From July 13th to July 21st, we went on our honeymoon to Washington state. We stayed in downtown Seattle for the first three days, in a beautiful room at the Seattle Westin hotel (a gift from Jacob's mother).

On July 15th, I met my husband's Uncle, his wife and their five children. The next day, Jacob's mother, sister, Jacob and I drove down to Olympia, to visit them. Meeting his family was a wonderful experience, Jacob and I actually ended up staying with them at their house - actually they had their camper set up for us to stay in - until July 19th, when we went back to Seattle. July 18th, we celebrated Jacob's 21st birthday at Anthony's Hearthfire Grill, thanks to his Aunt's suggestion, and after dinner, we went and saw some fireworks. It was a beautiful day.

The next day when we returned to Seattle, it was somewhat cold and foggy so Jacob and I went to the original Starbucks store on Pike Place and I bought a hot Chai Tea latte. The caffeine had a pretty strong effect on Madeline, and when we got to our hotel near the airport, Jacob got to feel his daughter move for the first time.

The day after we got home from our trip, July 22nd, we had an appointment for the 'big' ultrasound. We were going to be able to see, physically, whether we were having a boy or a girl. We went to the appointment with my mom, and when the technician asked if we'd like to know the gender we all got excited. At first, we thought we'd be unable to tell because Maddie had her legs tightly crossed, but eventually she changed position so we could see.  The technician moved the receiver back over to see what was going on down there, she asked us if we'd like to take a guess. My mom was the first to respond; "That's my GRANDDAUGHTER!". The technician confirmed, we were expecting a girl.

I couldn't (still can't, honestly) get over how perfect the ultrasound images were from that day. I had a daughter, and a beautiful one at that. I could tell from her profile that she has her father's nose and judging by her picture she was going to be perfect.

Then there came the big surprise. Once we found out we were pregnant, and due so close to the end of the year, I had called my landlord. I told her that with the pregnancy ending so close to the end of our lease, Jacob and I would like to plan on staying and signing a lease for another year. The news was received well, and we had tentative plans to sign the lease for the next year in October, to have it out of the way.
The day after our ultrasound, we got a call from the landlord, She asked how our trip was, and made some small talk before dropping the bomb; due to some family issues, we would not be able to rent from her next year, and if we wanted we could break the lease early with no penalties.

That doesn't sound too bad, but the day before we left for our trip, I had spoken to her, and she was talking about signing next year's lease even earlier than October. Over the next few months, whenever we saw her, she'd ask if we found a new place yet. We got calls asking if we planned to move. One day she called and asked if we would be staying out our lease, I said "Well, we've been looking for a new place, but there's really not too much available in our price range right now. We're trying."

As the months wore on, I documented my belly's growth weekly, attended my appointments regularly, and kept an eye out for places for rent. I still measured on track with the November due date, and  so I planned for the off-chance that I could, possibly have a baby by the end of November.
(Now, I think it should be mentioned that my maternal biological family seems to have a history of some things.
The first child generally seems to be a girl, the first child generally seems to be late, and doctors seem to have a hard time estimating due dates for us. For instance, my mother was told that she was measuring 'small for dates', and that she conceived [me] during a time period that it was physically impossible. Then, when I was born, I was three weeks late. My biological grandmother recently mentioned to my mom that the doctors had apparently messed up the due date for my mom, too. My mom's birthday is July 9th, but she was apparently due May 22nd. That's like, 7 weeks late.)
I knew it was incredibly unlikely that I would go into labor early, but I still like to try to be prepared. I figured at the earliest, I may have my daughter by November 13th, at the latest, by Christmas. We had set a goal to move out by the middle of October - that way we wouldn't have to worry about where to store the baby shower gifts.

July 29th, I started planning my baby shower. I made the shower invitations on shutterfly, and created baby registries at Target and Wal-Mart. When I received the printed invitations, I was amazed at how well they came out;

August and September were spent planning the guest lists, menu and decorations, on top of apartment searching. My mother's best friend/my aunt was hosting the shower, and I wanted to make the process as easy for her as possible. I picked the decorations, made the 'belly cake', came up with the games and made the prizes. I had one fantastic case of pregnancy brain, where I went to the store to buy game supplies, and somehow left my entire purchase there, not noticing until two days later. Luckily, when I went back to the store, they were willing to accept the "Hey, I'm a moron" excuse and gave me all my stuff. I ended up sending out the invitations in the middle of September, and in the beginning of October, I began working on Madeline's baby book, because I wanted the guests to be able to sign the baby shower page.

We were unable to make our goal of moving by mid October, we had kept checking out apartments, but we only found one place that was perfect for our price range and happened to be a two bedroom, everything else was either horribly set up, or too expensive.

The baby shower was held on October 17th, and it was fantastic. The foods went over well, the cake and cupcakes were a hit, and the games were a blast. Everyone had fun and we got essentially everything we needed to be ready. Here are a few pictures from the party;

We hemmed and hawwed about actually putting in an application for the one apartment that we seemed to like. We went and checked it out a few times, and I went with my mother another time. Shortly after we decided against it, a murder suspect drove his car into it, burning the unit to the ground. I don't think I've ever been more thankful about deciding not to move. The car crashed through the living room wall and considering the fact that I spend most of my time in the living room, had we decided to move there, I probably would have died. If I had lived, everything we had for the baby would have been destroyed.

During October our landlord got on us about moving again, at one point she called and asked if we were planning on moving back in with our parents. We started looking harder. We went to a housing project, we went to various apartments (one was a garage on an alley advertised as a 2 bedroom), and finally at the end of October, we found a place. It was a bit further from our families than we'd like, but it was an incredibly affordable, 2bedroom with a laundry room. we somehow managed to view the apartment, sign the lease, and move everything between October 29th and November 1st (the day we had our deposit inspection at the old apartment).

After moving everything we own in 48 hours, we needed to start work on our new apartment. The entire interior needed to be repainted, every surface needed to be scrubbed, especially in the baby's room.

During the move, I began having Braxton-Hicks contractions relatively regularly, so when it came to preparing the apartment, we started with Madeline's room as we figured that would be the most important. We painted the walls a fresh coat of white paint, and painted the trim a lovely shade of lavender. Soon after the paint dried, we set up the room with her crib, dresser, play yard and changing table.

After painting and setting up Maddie's room, we painted the rest of the house, and unpacked.

November 12th was my first weekly appointment, a mere 2 weeks before my November due date, and since they were doing the Group Beta Strep test and were already 'down there', they checked my cervix. I was already beginning to dilate and efface (1/2 cm dilated and 60% effaced). At my next appointment, I was measured at 1cm and 50% effacement, I was excited by the progress. My next appointment was November 23rd, with my favorite doctor in the practice, I brought in my birth plan, and went over it with her. I asked if she could check my station, too as the other doctors hadn't yet, and when she did my exam, she told me that I was 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, and engaged at a -2 station. It was official, Madeline was dropping.

Thanksgiving came and went, and immediately after, I started trying harder to make progress. I walked every night, I drank 3-6 cups a day of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and ate entire pineapples to myself.

December 2nd, I went in for another appointment and was measured at 2cm, 50% and -2 station.
So far I've made some progress, and as of December 13th I will know if I'm likely to give birth any time soon.
I'm hoping that since my next appointment is the day before my December due date, my doctor might be willing to preform a membrane sweep to help move things along. At this point I feel like I've been pregnant forever, and  I'd love to finally get to meet my daughter.

Watch my belly grow!

Since about 9 weeks into my pregnancy, I have been taking 'belly progress' pictures every Tuesday. I wasn't sure what to do with them aside from making some sort of scrapbook for Madeline when she's older. I then started comparing my week-to-week pictures to see the differences is size. Sometime I would compare 5 weeks apart, sometimes I would compare 10 weeks apart. I recently decided that there is no better way to compare my pictures than to put them all in one image, this is the result;

(photo clicks through to full-size)

I plan to continue adding photos throughout the remainder of the pregnancy, as well as for six weeks postpartum, but this is all I have now. 

Online Baby Pool!

As we get closer to the later due date, I figured I'd post this link for all to vote on when they think baby Madeline will decide to grace us with her presence. Click the image below to go to her page.

'Natural' Ways to Induce Labor at Home - Plus My Personal Experiences!

Since the beginning of my pregnancy, I've heard of many different techniques that are supposed to help induce labor in women who are overdue (past 40 weeks gestation, or past the due date). I had been compiling a list of things to try, and researching why they supposedly work throughout my pregnancy, and I had decided that come November 27th, I would begin attempting to 'induce' my labor. The list of things that supposedly help encourage labor is very long and includes everything from walking on a curb to accupressure. Some things making at least a tiny bit of sense others seeming downright ridiculous. Still, once a woman reaches 41 weeks, she will be willing to try ANYTHING (castor oil is a good example) to meet her baby. And sadly, here I am at 41 weeks wanting nothing more than to go into labor. So, here's a list of labor induction techniques that I've compiled, and why they are supposed to work.

Pineapple -
This myth is actually really misunderstood by most people who try it. What gets generally suggested is 'fresh' Pineapple, but what is actually effective is unripe Pineapple. Unripe pineapple is very pale yellow and hard, not juicy or sweet at all and causes sharp stinging pain in your mouth. In tropical countries young pineapple is used as an herbal abortifacient, and it is said that in order to cause uterine contractions, one must ingest 4-5 WHOLE unripe pineapples over the span of 2 days. Even so, if the woman has a healthy and strong uterus, it may not work.
Seeing as I live in the city in a non-tropical area - where pineapples don't just grow everywhere - it's a bit harder to come across actual unripe pineapples, especially the small, young ones used to cause contractions. So I've had to settle for 2 large, not-quite-ripe pineapples from the local grocery store. After eating the entire pinapples myself, the only pains I felt afterwards were the stinging in my mouth and a crampy stomach. No contractions, nothing even close to labor.

Walking -
Walking is said to help bring on labor because the swaying of the woman's hips and the pull of gravity bringing the baby down into the pelvis, thus irritating the cervix and causing dilation. There is also a theory that the physical activity puts stress on the mother's body, causing the uterus to contract, thus bringing on labor.
Personally, I've been walking every night. On nights when I'm in pain, we walk about a mile, on nights I'm feeling well, we walk up to 4.5 miles. Every walk seems to bring on contractions, but the longer walks seem to do the most (the night we walked 4.5 miles, I had contractions 5 mins apart for 45 mins, but I also managed to injure my foot, so...). So far, walking seems the most effective, yet not enough to bring on labor.

Sex (if you're easily offended, please skip this section) -
Some women swear by it, saying their water broke within hours of doing the deed, resulting in them delivering within 12 hours. Scientifically/medically there are a couple reasons sex is suggested to bring on labor. The first reason being that when a woman orgasms, not only does her uterus contract, but her body then releases the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is the hormone that causes bonding/love between people that is generally felt after sex, as well as being the hormone that actually causes labor. In a medical induction or augmentation, the nurses often put the mother on intravenous Pitocin, which is a synthetic/manmade version of the hormone naturally released during labor, the difference being that since it's man-made it does not have the natural euphoric and pain-killing properties that oxytocin has.
Then, of course, there is the actual uterine contractions. If a woman has a strong enough orgasm, it can help dilate the cervix up to 2cm (on top of whatever dilation has already occured). The other reason sex is suggested is because there is a hormone found in semen called prostaglandin - prostaglandin, when applied to the cervix, helps the process of ripening or softening to prepare for effacement and dilation. The catch to this is that you have to find a position that is comfortable, but allows for deep penetration so as to ensure the semen comes in contact with the cervix. Also, for the cervix to gain any sort of benefit from the prostaglandins, one must lay with her feet/hips elevated for a period of at least 30 minutes to allow for absorbtion.
As far as my personal experience, sex right now is not the foremost thing on my mind, so it's harder for me to 'get in the mood'. Also, most positions I usually enjoy are not exactly comfortable with my hugely distended belly - leaving us very limited on options. I also find that after a particularly strong orgasm, I feel guilty, because I can feel how hard the contraction is, and I feel like I'm squishing my baby. Though on the plus side, I have managed to see an increase in cervical dilation (over the span of a week I had dilated a full cm, whereas my previous progress seemed to be about 1/2 cm per week, if that). I'd say sex is up there with walking as far as producing the best results.

Fenugreek -
Fenugreek, also known as greek hay and bird's foot, is an herb often used in flavoring artificial maple syrup. It has been used for centuries in china to help induce labor, but due to the lack of studies performed in the US, it is generally not suggested during pregnancy - especially not before 37 weeks or full term. Fenugreek is commonly found used as a spice in Thai and Indian cooking, and has many health benefits ranging from regulating blood glucose levels to helping increase milk production in new mothers. (more on the health benefits of Fenugreek)
Fenugreek capsules can be found at many health food stores, and the dosage per capsule is generally between 500-620mg. As far as what dosage to consume to induce labor, I haven't found any specific numbers, but I plan on taking up to two 620mg capsules a day, beginning tonight.
It should be mentioned that ingesting large amounts of fenugreek may cause the sweat and urine to smell of maple syrup, and this can be passed on you your unborn child resulting in a false diagnosis of maple syrup urine disease.

Spicy foods -
Almost every pregnant woman knows that eating somethiung spicy is supposed to help bring on labor. Almost every pregnant woman also knows that this seems to rarely work for anyone. The theory is that the spicy foods will irritate your bowels (similar to castor oil) and thus cause your uterus to contract.
I love spicy food. Madeline seems to love spicy food. I eat spicy food pretty regularly, and it has never even put me into false labor. I mean, it's not like it'll really do any harm, so if you want to try it, go for it - it's just never worked for me.

Castor Oil -
Although castor oil is considered a 'fail-proof' method of 'natural' labor induction, it is generally NOT suggested - especially by those who have tried it. Castor oil is a nasty texture, a nasty flavor and does horribly nasty things to your body. It supposedly works by making you absolutely ill. Common side affects include nausea, vomiting, painful abdominal cramping, and explosive diarrhea. Women who have tried it, and had it work, often suggest avoiding Castor oil because it is so absolutely unpleasant. The theory is that the castor oil essentially causes every part of a woman's gastro-intestinal tract to convulse, thus somehow stimulating the uterus to contract. Personally, I think this should only be used as an absolute last resort for self-induction. I haven't tried it yet, and I only plan on trying it once I hit 42 weeks, December 12th, and only in hopes of avoiding a medical induction.

Eggplant -
Eggplant is another widely misunderstood method of self-induction. Supposedly, after eating a meal composed primararily of eggplant, a pregnant woman  generally expects to go into labor within 48 hours. This myth seems to have started because of a certain restaurant in Georgia, Scalini's. The dish that is supposed to help bring on labor is their eggplant parmigiana. The thing is - Eggplant itself has no documented labor inducing properties. The only reason this specific dish may work is because both basil and oregeno (seasonings commonly used in eggplant parmigiana recipes) are known to cause uterine contractions.
If you like eggplant, go for it, otherwise, I suggest you not waste your time. One may be better off trying basil or oregano extracts.

Nipple Stimulation -
This one is pretty simple, massage the nipples, one-at-a-time, for a period of 5-15 minutes. The idea is to simulate the suckling of a newborn, because once the baby begins nursing, the uterus contracts to help expell the placenta and later on to help shrink back down to its original size. This is why nursing mothers feel cramps when nursing.
The suggested methods of nipple stimulation include; rolling the nipple between thumb and forefinger, using a breast pump, or rubbing with your palm. From my personal experience, I can say that nipple stimulation DOES help the uterus contract, and that the contractions are strong, but I'm not sure if they're effective. This is another one of those 'it can't hurt to try'.

Acupressure -
There are several acupressure points associated with labor the specific points I have found to be the most beneficial are the underlined ones.
BL 32 - Located approximately one of the woman's index finger lengths above the top of the buttock crease and one thumb width either side of the spine. (just below the dimples) This point is also used for counter-pressure during labor.
Hoku - Point found in the webbing between the thumb and forefinger, is generally tender. Can also be used to relieve migraines.
SP 6 - Located four finger widths above the inside ankle bone, is tender when found. This point is known to help the cervix dilate.
BL 60 - Found between the outside ankle bone and the Achilles tendon. Also very tender. This point is known to help the baby 'drop' further into the pelvis.
K1 - Found on the bottom of the foot, at the point where the ball of the foot meets the arch. VERY tender, almost painful. Seems to bring on contractions almost instantly for me.

Introduction.

My name is Jessica Nicole Potts, and my life has changed significantly since 2009.

I've always been the type of girl who changes her mind constantly. I enjoy body modifications, but prefer piercings to tattoos due to their lesser permanence. I dye my hair various colors every few months, I've had black, blonde, brown, red, orange, purple, pink (baby girl pink and hot pink), fuschia, lavender,and green (by accident) hair. I enjoy the following hobbies; cooking, reading, singing, drawing, painting, sewing, dancing, swimming, and photography (you can find my 365 photo blog here). I am generally offensive because I usually don't know when to shut up, but I consider this a positive thing because you can trust me to be brutally honest.

In April of 2010, I confirmed what I had suspected since mid-March; I was pregnant. My pregnancy was unplanned but not unwanted, especially considering the fact that Jacob and I had planned for having a wedding in February and TTC almost immediately thereafter. Sadly, due to our financial restrictions, we had not been able to pull off the wedding when we had originally planned, leaving us pregnant and unwed. We were wed on June 28th, at the local courthouse, and a week later we went on our honeymoon to Washington state. We have since decided that as soon as it is financially feasible, we will be moving across the country to the Olympic Peninsula.

I had been documenting the ups and downs of my pregnancy at my other blog, but recently decided that I needed something more reliable, so I created this. As far as my pregnancy goes, I've been given three different due dates (November 27th, November 28th, and December 12th) so right now, I'm just waiting to meet my daughter, Madeline. Since December 15th, 2010; I'm a full time mother.

I am Jessi, 21 year-old momma, married to the most amazing man I've ever met, and we are the proud owners of our three 'kitty-babies';

Trystan

Muice (pronounced 'Moose')

Persephone Jones (aka Percy or Pj)

This is my life.