Elijah's 3rd Birthday!

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Rachel's 4th Birthday

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Jeremiah's 6th Birthday!!

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Our 8th Anniversary!!!

Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Monday, July 14, 2008

Jeremiah Paul Laufer is here!!!

Wow, what an amazing last few days! Where to begin?

Ah yes. On Friday Paul kept telling me that he thought that I was going to go into labor that evening. All I could think was, "No way!" However, he was right! As we were getting ready to go to bed I noticed what seemed to be a dribble of amniotic fluid. It certainly was not the normal "gush", but they tell you to come in if you even think you might be leaking. So we called the doctor's office and explained what we were seeing and they told us to come in. We then packed up and went to the doctors office. However, we were so doubtful that this was really "it" that we didn't even pack everything on our list.

We arrived at the hospital shortly after 1:00am and they took us to a delivery room. The nurse tested me for amniotic fluid and didn't find any. However, the doctor wasn't convinced. She ordered another pH test and a separate test that is more accurate. The second pH test resulted positive in amniotic fluid and the other test result was "positive, but barely positive". It appears that there was a small tear in the sack. That's enough for infection to enter and pose a risk to the baby so the doctor informed us that it would be best for us to induce labor.

About an hour later they had me hooked up to the fetal heartbeat monitor, contraction monitor, and an IV line that they would use for the Pitocin. At this point I still couldn't believe what was happening. We were so excited! Our son was about to be born!

In the morning my mother Linda arrived. She was so excited and was very helpful. Any time we needed anything she was on top of it. Just having her there helped relieve the tension and helped me to relax.

However, after hours of being on Pitocin and being at 5cm dilated, progress stalled. By 5pm the following afternoon they decided to take me off the Pitocin and let my body try to "reset". The problem was that my contractions were irregular, preventing them from becoming strong enough to progress further. The irregularity we were told was most likely caused by Jeremiah's position. The nurses determined that he was in the "posterior position", which is head down but faced so that the back of his head is against my spine (aka back labor). My mother had back labor with her son and didn't "recommend it".

During the two hour rest they tried to get me into different positions to help him turn over into the normal position, which is head down and face against my spine. But it didn't help and they put me back on Pitocin to see what would happen.

This time my contractions started out more regular, but soon returned to the irregular state. The doctor came in and checked me. She determined that the tear in my sack must have been high up and that because his head was so low it was pinching off the flow of amniotic fluid. She recommended that we puncture the sack down low to aid in draining of any remaining fluid. Thats when everything changed.

Apparently there was still enough fluid in the sack to cushion the effects of back labor because as soon as the sack was broken every contraction felt 100 times more painful. I felt most of the pain in the small of my back. I wanted to climb out of my skin! I started to panic! I realized that between the Pitocin, back labor, and sudden onset of pain I just couldn't handle it with breathing techniques. We decided that the best thing was to go for an epidural.

The epidural insertion took about 30 minutes. During this time I had to stay extremely still, which was made ridiculously difficult by the suddenly very strong and extremely painful contractions. Our nurse Cathy was awesome and without her aide I fear I wouldn't have been able to pull myself together enough to stay still for the epidural. I can't say enough good things about her. She was by far the best nurse we had in our three days at the hospital.

After receiving the epidural I was able to relax and concentrate on the contractions again. It wasn't more than 5 minutes after lying back down that I felt immense pressure. My mom got the nurse, she checked, and I was 100% effaced and 10cm, ready to push! Furthermore, it seemed that Jeremiah had found it in his heart to turn over into the normal head down position just in time to deliver.

Another 30 minutes and several sets of pushes later, our son Jeremiah Paul Laufer was born on July 13, 2008 at 2:07am. Paul cut the umbilical cord, and they put him in my arms. Shortly after, they took him to be measured and weighed. He measured 19.25 inches long, and weighed 7 lbs 4.6oz. They cleaned him up and handed him to Paul, who held him for a minute, saw the look in my eyes, and immediately handed him back to me.

We are all home now, healthy and recovering. It's been difficult having a new baby and adjusting to our new life, but it has been made a lot easier having mom here. I'll be so sad when its time for her to go!

That's all for now!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Separation of membranes


38 Weeks & 2 Days

Today was another weekly visit to the OB. I was really excited to see if I had made any further progress from my last visit. I am now 90% effaced and 2.5-3 cm dilated. the doctor saw how bummed I was and said that she could separate my membranes if I wanted her to. This can help release some hormone that has been known to induce labor. So I went ahead and had her do it. She told me that I could go into labor within the next couple of days. Time will tell...

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Not a lot of progress!

37 Weeks & 4 Days

Well today was not that much more progress from last week. I am now 80% effaced and still 2 cm dilated. I was really hoping for more progress than this, but something is better then nothing. I am so ready to meet my son. I have enjoyed being pregnant but I am really looking forward to holding my son in my arms and looking him the eyes. I'll keep you all updated as to my progress.