EuroLIfe: Day 262

Well little David is asleep on my chest after a rough morning and early afternoon here in the Frauenklinik. So far today he has battled bad gas, a terrible poke to the foot, and a rather rough wardrobe change by a stern and pushy nurse who was convinced that, in this 80 degree weather, he was cold. He is out, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a quick post. Unfortunately, I left the camera across the room, so the photos will have to come later. (Probably later today, if not then tomorrow.) Michael's mom, Terry, will be here in an hour or so--I am SO excited--and we will definitely have some fun photos to share!

Some of you already know this, but I know that others were wondering about the birth and how things went. Ultimately, things went well insofar as David and I are both healthy! The birth itself was not exactly what I'd hoped for, but it's hard to be too bothered by that with little David asleep on my chest.

We went in for the induction on Sunday, as scheduled, and I think it was good that we did. My first BP reading was 110/60, which was incredible, but an hour later it was 150/110. I had no idea it could fluctuate so rapidly! In any case, I think induction was the right choice. They use two drugs for induction here, a weaker one until you hit 3cm and then oxicotin which is, I think, what they tend to use at home. I got my first dose of the weaker stuff at around 10am and contractions started with the hour! They were weak, but fairly regular. Michael and I played Backgammon and watched some Alias on DVD and waited for things to progress.

I will spare you all of the details of the very (very) long day, but after my second dose of the first medication, things got very intense. By the third dose, I asked for an epidural. I had hoped to wait until 5cm to get one, and I was astonished to hear that I was only 1 1/2 cm after hours of virtually uninterrupted intense contractions...and definitely not going to wait any longer. (It turns out that in the short time it took them to move me downstairs and got the epidural ready, I got to 6cm!)

I am not doing a very good job of sparing you all the details, sorry! Long story short, my water broke as they were trying to get the epidural in and it didn't take me long at all to get to 10cm, so it looked like things were just going to race along. Then I stayed at 10cm for 4 hours and nothing changed--despite all manner of gymnastics geared towards rotating the baby and bringing him out! They tried everything--increasing the medication, decreasing the (already not very strong) epidural, and even stopping the contractions for a while. This baby was just not going to get into the birth canal. So, in the end, we had to have an emergency C-section. within 6 or 7 minutes of the decision, I was on the operating table and being given general anasthesia.

It was not what I had hoped for. Up until a few weeks ago, when this blood pressure business began, the plan was to try for a natural water birth in the Frauenklinik! Still, after the operation they said that there was just no way he would have made it out. (Some bone structure problem, it seems.) I am so incredibly grateful for the state of medicine today, and for the prayers of everybody both here and back home, to have this perfect little guy and to have us both be healthy. I am having a hard time seeing why anybody would ever choose to undergo a C-section for non-medical reasons--the first day I felt as if a monster had just clawed through my stomach--but I am nevertheless grateful for having had one myself. And it turns out they're telling the truth when they say that you get much better each day. I can't believe the difference, and it looks like I will be allowed to go home tomorrow!

I hope nobody minds the lengthy birth story. I know some of you were interested, and I don't have much time for writing individual emails right now so this seemed the way to go.

I promise more photos soon. I have a great one of David and Michael napping together this morning that I can't wait to share!

One more quick thing: If there is one defining feature of David at this point, it is the fact that he absolutely must be cuddled at all times, day or night. He just has to be held all the time, and it doesn't matter how deeply he's sleeping or how tightly he is swaddled. (I did get him into the crib for about 40 minutes once by extreme swaddling, and boy was he ticked when he opened his eyes and saw where he was.) He will sleep on the bed if he's on top of or right up next to your arm, but if you slip that arm away, he immediately begins to cry. It's not the easiest trait to deal with at night, but it's still extremely endearing and, really, we are generally more than happy to oblige :)

EuroLIfe: Day 261

More Pictures!

I'm typing with one hand here, so this will be brief but I'll write a real post one of these days. In the meantime, our little worm is getting cuter by the hour :)

In his very first present, made by his aunt Lauren about 8 months ago!

Trying his best to be awake...


His favorite snack...

Griffins will all recognize this brow...

The most recent--about an hour ago :)


Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers and well-wishes. We will write more soon!

EuroLIfe: Day 259 (Babyblog: Day 1)

Little Peanut (the poor little worm)

After showing me my baby this morning, the nurse looked at him lying there red, blue, and naked, and said, "the poor little worm." She said it in a sweet tone of voice. I can only assume that this doesn't sound nearly as bad in German as it does in English. He did, in fact, look something like a worm at first. However, Dolores and I decided that "little peanut" is a far better nickname. Here he is, David Josiah Morris, doing his best peanut imitation



He got better looking as the day went on, leaving all resemblances of a worm behind.

EuroLife: Day 257

One Last Belly Shot

I have to be honest, once I saw this photo I was pretty sure I didn't want to post it on the internet! Good grief, I had no idea how big I'd grown. (Though I did get my first "twins" comment about 2 weeks ago. Someone needs to tell people that pregnant folks don't like that joke.) In any case, Michael took this yesterday and it shows both my giant pregnant belly and my new hair-cut.
The hair-cut was not supposed to be as short as it is. The stylist cut just a little tiny bit off and asked if that was ok or if I wanted it shorter. I said "Maybe a little shorter"...and she proceeded to cut off the rest of my hair. I really couldn't quite believe it when she cut the first giant piece, but then I couldn't exactly tell her to put it back, or to leave the rest longer, so I just sat and watched her go to town on the rest of my head. Next time I need a hair-cut, I'm going to a stylist that my friends use. (I wanted to this time, but didn't get an appointment in time.)

The one good thing was that my blood pressure medication makes me such a space cadet that I didn't get all that upset about the hair-cut. I sat there, looking in the mirror and thinking "Well, there goes my hair...Looks pretty short...Don't really like it..." but I just didn't have the mental energy to get to worked-up about it :) Actually, now that a few days have passed, I don't mind the hair so much. It's extremely easy, and I know I'm going to appreciate that in the next few weeks!

That's it for now...hopefully, the next post will be a birth announcement! In the meantime, prayers are--as always--appreciated :)

EuroLIfe: Day 256

False Alarm.

Well, I'm back home and still pregnant. We got to the hospital with our suitcase and my Boppy pillow in hand, but the doctor who scheduled this appointment--the Chief--was not there. Instead, we met with a different doctor. He checked my BP, did an ultrasound and was gearing up to just send us home when Michael explained the situation. Well, this doctor didn't think there was any medical reason to induce at this point. (For what it's worth, he had not done any labwork despite the fact that there has been increasing amounts of protein in my urine this week and my bloodwork, last taken a week ago, showed decreasing platelets. Both are signs of preeclempsia.) He called the Chief and they spoke for a long time while we were out of the room. In the end, he said that the Chief was never definite about inducing today, and that it isn't medically necessary. He did say that they could induce by request, but he went on and on about why he thought this was a bad idea. We requested that somebody do my labwork, and decided to talk about induction together and get back to him.

The thing is, I am in general opposed to things like early C-sections and inductions planned around the mother's schedule. I was OK with being induced for medical reasons, but to have to ask for a "medically unnecessary" induction made me really uncomfortable. At the same time, we knew from Terry (Michael's mom) that, were I back home, I would for sure have been induced by now. The baby is 37 1/2 weeks along, and my BP got extremely high before they doubled the dose of my medication. Even more worrisome is the fact that, when I'm not sleeping in the hospital, I am really not being monitored closely. I had my BP and urine checked a few times this week, but no bloodwork at all--and that's what tracks the state of the liver and kidneys. (In the hospital they did daily bloodwork and twice daily urine analysis.) All that to say, I didn't really like my options. (And, of course, it was just emotionally exhausting to spend the week gearing up for labor--and for this baby--and to have the plans changed like that.)

Anyway, we prayed about it together and talked and talked, but I could not even decide how to go about deciding! Finally, Michael suggested that we sit outside for awhile and get some fresh air and talk about it there. Once outside, another doctor (whom I know from my stay in the hospital, and whom I really like) came by to say hello. Before I knew what I was doing, I blurted out our story to her. She said very simply "I see no reason at all not to induce." Michael asked her to explain and she said that, if she were in my situation, she would induce. The baby is far enough along that there is virtually no risk to him, and the risks of preeclempsia are real and can develop very quickly. So, to her, it was a no-brainer. Then she added, "I thought the Chief said you were supposed to be induced today!"

That conversation felt so clearly like answered prayer, we just went back in and requested an induction. They won't do requested inductions right away, so we are scheduled for 8AM Sunday morning in labor & delivery.

At least the hospital bag is packed!