Ethan's Birth Story

As we neared our due date (aug 30) I started to go to the doctor every week.  At 39 week check I was 1cm dilated and  slightly effaced.  I was happy any progress was being made because I had yet to feel a single contraction, not even a single Braxton Hicks.  1 week later I had progressed to 50 percent effaced but still no contractions.  At that appointment we set up a day to be induced,  we were given the choice of sept 10th or 11th, it seemed so weird to potentially pick your kids birthday but we decided to go with the 10th.  We were counting on murphys law to ensure we wouldn't have to use the induction date.  Aug 30th came and went without a single sign we would be meeting our baby soon.  

40weeks! No baby :(
I refuse to enlarge this thanks to my triple chins

We headed into labor day weekend with plans to finish the nursery and celebrate our 1 year anniversary.  I was really hoping I would not have to go back to work the next week.  My parents came over on sept 1st to finish up some last minute things.  My mom helped me clean and started cooking a few dinners to stock our freezer.  Meanwhile, my dad and Alex were working on putting up the wall decal I had ordered.  I was "supervising" the decal application when I started to feel more consistent contractions.  I had felt a couple that morning but they were very irregular and I wasn't even sure if they were truly contractions.  Through the afternoon they slowly got stronger and more consistent.  I decided to try out my contraction timer app and noted the contractions were lasting for about 30 seconds and about 8 min apart.  My parents left that day making me promise to call if the contractions got worse.

Decal that went up the day before our baby arrived

I really didn't want to make anything for dinner so I decide to pick up soup and salad from olive garden.  I remember sitting in my car hoping I could make it there before my next contraction because they were starting to hurt.  Walking into the olive garden I had to stop and control my breathing because I was getting more uncomfortable.  After dinner the contractions seemed to ease up and I thought maybe it was a false alarm and we would get to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary the next day.  I went to bed around 11 that night and slept for 2 hours before the contractions woke me up.  Not wanting to wake Alex I slipped into our nursery and timed contractions for the next hour while reading Harry Potter (I was re-reading the series for the millionth time).  Sure enough the contractions were 1 min long and about 4 min apart, so it was time to call our doctor.  I went to wake Alex and tell him I thought it was time.  I have never seen him get out of bed so fast.  He ran around packing his bag and getting everything ready to take to the hospital.  He told me later he didn't realize it took so long for babies to come otherwise he would have taken more time :).

Last pic of the belly

 I remember thinking I should eat something but by this time it was 3 in the morning and I was too excited to eat.  Big mistake, next time I am eating a big Mac and fries before checking into the hospital.  By the time we arrived at the hospital the pain had intensified and I was hoping they were going to let us stay. I got checked and was 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced, based on that we were admitted to labor and delivery. It was really happening!  At that point we decided to call my parents because they would be taking care of Layla for us and I wanted my mom the in the delivery room.  I spent the next few hours laboring by walking the halls and using Lamaze breathing through the contractions.  By about 9 in the morning I had only progressed to 5cm and was starting to get very uncomfortable.  They suggested I get in the tub to help control the pain.  The water felt heavenly.  I sat in the water with a warm towel over my belly and Alex sat behind me applying counter pressure to my back with each contraction.  We spent the next 2 hours working through the contractions this way.  We were so tired we were both falling asleep in the tub between contractions. By 11am the contractions were getting unbearable.  They checked me again and I was 6 cm and going through transition (the most painful part of labor). By this time I had been in labor since the previous evening and I was exhausted.  

So tired!

I realized if I continued like this I might not have enough energy to push.  So after discussing it with Alex I decided to get the epidural.  Before they could give me the epidural I had to have a full bag of saline via iv.  So 1/2 hour later the anesthesiologist finally came to perform the epidural.  I was in agony at this point.  This was also the scariest part of labor for me.  The nurse had me curl in a ball while tears poured down my face as I waited for him to insert the needle.  Thankfully Alex was there to talk me through it.  At last the needle was in and the doctor said this is the last contraction you are going to feel and he was right.  After that it was sweet sweet relief.  I'm not sure why I waited so long!  At this point I realized I was starving and requested a popsicle.  It was delicious. 

Popsicle FTW!

 Finally, I was relaxed enough to sleep.  I took a 2-3 hour nap while I continued to labor.  Thank goodness we took the time to sleep.  Considering the insane sleep deprevation we would go through in the next few weeks this was the best thing I could have done for myself.  Around 4pm the nurse checked me again and pronounced me 10 cm dilated!  At that point I decided to wait and labor down a bit before pushing.  We knew I would only be allowed to push for about 2 hours due to the possibility of our baby having osteogenesis imperfecti before they would recommend a c-section.  So I wanted to make sure I was in the best possible position before I started pushing.  Well they must have got really busy because we didn't see our nurse again for another 2 hours, and were more than ready to get the show on the road.  

Waiting for the nurse to come back

During this time I had really bad reflux and ended up vomiting.  Finally there was a shift change and my new nurse requested we start doing some "practice pushing" after a few of those were were given the go ahead to start pushing for real.  I think the epidural started to wear off because I could feel the contractions again, through they were no where near as painful as they were before.  It was actually kind of nice because I could feel when I was suppose to push.  With each contraction I would push 3 times for 10 seconds each.  This is actually much harder than it sounds.  I remember joking I should have been practicing holding my breath instead of breathing through contractions.  Alex was holding one leg and would coach me through each set of contractions.  I remember just focusing on his voice as he told me how great I was doing and how we were almost there.  After about 20 min of pushing the nurse had me stop so she could get our doctor because she could see our baby's head. On the second set of pushing after Dr. Dix arrived our baby was crowning.  This is when they say you feel the "ring of fire".  Holy hell did it burn.  I remember thinking I could do this, I was just about to meet our baby.  Suddenly the doctor told me not to push because the cord was wrapped around the neck and needed to be cut.  Not pushing was way worse then pushing.  Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to push that baby out.  Plus the pain was incredible and I knew there was only 1 way to make it stop.  We had to wait for my next set of contractions before I could push again.  It seemed like forever.  Then on the next 2 pushes I delivered our beautiful baby.  The baby was lifted onto my chest.  I started crying that it was a BOY!  

Welcome to the world kid!

I can't describe the amount of love I felt for this little person but it was bigger than anything I felt in my entire life.  I couldn't stop crying and staring at our little man.  Because of the possibility of oi the neonatal NP took him for a quick exam.  It was at that time they weighed him and had Alex cut the rest of the cord.  

Looking shell shocked

As the doctor was stiching me up I started to feel a lot of pain.  The doctor told me to hit my epidural button so I did.  Next thing I knew my blood pressure started to drop and a bunch of anesthesiologists were called back in.  They gave me a shot of epi and hung a bag of colloid fluid.  This part was sort of a blur to me but Alex says it was pretty scary.  During this time he was holding the baby.  We had come to the hospital with 3 boy names in mind; Oliver,Lucas,and Ethan.  After staring at our little man Alex looked at me and whispered Ethan? I nodded my head, Ethan fit him perfectly!  

Daddy holding his baby

Once I was stable Alex left to tell our family the good news.  We basically had a waiting room full of people waiting to hear if it was a boy or girl.  Alex announced the arrival of our son,Ethan Charles schlosser 7lbs, 13oz 19 inches..  It took a while to get me cleaned up and transferred to our new room so they took Ethan for his first bath.  I didn't want to miss it so the nurse helped me into a wheelchair.  Because I had recently given myself more epidural meds in was unable to feel my legs or bear weight so I needed a lot of help.  They wheeled me down to the nursery where our baby was getting his first bath.  Outside the glass about 15 of our family members were also watching him get his first bath.  I remember wiping the tears away because I was so over whelmedby how much I loved him already.  After his bath I was taken back to the room were I got to share a few very special moments with my dad, who shares Ethans middle name.  Then our room was filled with family as Ethan was passed to each family member for them to hold.  (prepare for photo bomb of baby holding pictures)

Ethan Charles Schlosser

Nan and Pops

Uncle Sean

Grandma and Papa

Aunt Liz

There were a LOT of cameras in that room! (please note me eating the most delicious sandwich ever made)

Grandma, Aunt Carrie, Papa, Aunt MaryAnn, and Uncle Frank

It was nearing on midnight when everyone went home and we were suddenly left with just our little family of 3.

Ethan you are by far the best thing I have ever done. I promise to love you forever, I'll take care of you always, as long as I am living my baby you'll be.

Pregnancy Pics and Gender Prediction

Alex and I decided (or more specifically I decided and Alex reluctantly agreed) not to find out the gender of our baby.  I think that its one of the last great surprises and I can't wait until my sweet baby is laid on my chest and I get to see if its a mini Alex or a mini Jamie.  But just because we didn't find out doesn't stop the gesticulation.  Both Alex and I are leaning towards boy, our families are pretty well divided.  I think most of the old wives-tales are leaning towards boy as well

LINEA NIGRA

The dark line that appears on your abdomen during pregnancy.  Wives tale - if it does not extend above the belly button = girl.  If it does extend above the belly button = boy
Conclusion = BOY

HOW YOU CARRY

This one you can do just by looking south: if you're carrying high, break out the pink. If your bump is low, you're carrying a boy.
Conclusion = BOY

CHINESE GENDER PREDICTION

This ancient method uses your age at conception and the month you did the deed to determine gender.
Conclusion = GIRL

ACNE
Testosterone from a boy causes increased acne.  OR girls "steal their mother's beauty" and cause more acne. I personally lean towards the first explanation, as does our OB.
Conclusion = BOY

CRAVINGS
Craving ice cream every single day? Some people believe this means it's a girl. If you have to have salty or sour stuff, then it's a boy.
Conclusion = eating pickles like its my job = BOY

MORNING SICKNESS
Bad morning sickness = girl.
Conclusion = undetermined - I have no reference if my morning sickness is bad or not.  I do puke after brushing my teeth so what does that mean?

BASELINE HEART RATE
According to legend, 140+ beats per minute indicates a girl, and below 140 a boy.
Conclusion = GIRL, baby S heart rate is consistently above 150

NECKLACE TEST
Pop off your necklace and hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, a little guy's in your future. If it goes back and forth, you've got a girl.
Conclusion = BOY

Looks like good money is on BOY

PREGNANCY PICS

I initially had grand plans to take a belly picture each week to document my progression.  Well that quickly fell by the wayside but I did manage to take a picture every few weeks or so.  I personally like to see other people pregnant belly pictures, so without further ado...

Note this picture was added after we had our baby - obviously its a BOY!  

I personally like the way my stomach explodes between 33 and 37 weeks :)

31 week update

How far along? 31 weeks and 1 day

30 weeks

Total weight gain: 28lbs - yeesh  I'm hoping to stay under 40 - we will see how that goes.

Maternity clothes? Duh!  Did you see the above #

Stretch marks? I have 1 spot on the left side of my abdomen that might be the start of a stretch mark but its been there several weeks and doesn't seem to be getting bigger so I'll just hope for the best at this point.

Sleep: Getting more difficult.  Good news - I don't wake up to pee (yay bladder).  Bad news - I toss and turn all night because both hips get really sore if I lay on them too long.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to roll over with a basketball under your abs?  Not easy people - and I make my discomfort known with lots of grunting and sighing.  Alex is super pleased about waking up several times a night too ;)  Its good training for when then baby comes, right?

Best moment this week: Getting the invite to my baby shower in the mail.  It is too cute, thanks Leah!  Makes it feel more real.

Miss Anything? Laying on my stomach.  The ability to take a deep breath.  Not sounding like I ran a marathon after climbing the stairs.  Oh and eggs benedict and turkey sandwiches!

Movement: This kiddo is gonna be a trouble maker.  Its not just one or two kicks - when the baby is active it is an all out karate assault.  Mostly I feel movement on my right side, especially when I lay down.  Most of the time its amusing but sometimes it really hurts.  Silly 3 pound baby :)

Food cravings: Wendy's frosty - I made Alex get off the toll highway to buy one.  It was delish!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Smell of our trash cans - barf!

Gender: Unknown - still leaning towards boy!

Labor Signs: Nada!

Symptoms: Heartburn, hip and back pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue is rearing its ugly head again.

Belly Button in or out? Outtie - its been out for a while but you can start to see it through maternity pants and shirts which someone at work helpfully pointed out.

Wedding rings on or off? On - but definitely getting more snug.  The night after Alex and I had chinese my fingers were almost too swollen to take it off. Yikes!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody - sorry Alex.  I am getting to the more uncomfortable part of the 3rd trimester and I am not pleased about it.

Here we go...

So I finally decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon.  I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time but figured no one wanted to read about my devotion to reality TV or scouring the internets for lord knows what.  But then something miraculous happened..., Alex and I created our own little human!  If Alex had his way I would have been knocked up walking down the aisle.  Luckily I showed some restraint and waited until we had been married 1 whole month before chucking the birth control :)

Gratuitous wedding shot showing I am in fact NOT pregnant

I have PCOS, the leading cause of infertility in women.  So naturally we were a little concerned having a baby could take some time.  Before we even got engaged I was following several blogs about PCOS and infertility.  I was fairly convinced it was going to take us a while to get pregnant if we could even conceive without medical intervention.  So when I came down with the stomach flu in the middle of December and Alex asked if I could be pregnant I laughed it off ( but for reals stomach flu is no joke), but I took a test anyway and sure enough it was negative.  But then a week later when I woke up nauseous again I thought maybe I should take another pregnancy test. 

It was Christmas Eve and I woke up before Alex to take the test.  Less than 30 seconds later 2 lines appeared on the test strip.  It was clear as day, no squinting to see if there was really a second line there.  I definitely started shaking and freaking out by myself in the bathroom.  Its funny, obviously we were trying to get pregnant but it didn't really hit me that we might be successful until that moment.  There was totally a moment of "oh crap what did we just do".  But that lasted about 30 seconds before sheer joy took over.  I shed a few happy tears then went on the hunt for the 1 digital test I had left that would give the definitive "pregnant" vs "not pregnant" answer.  As I waited for the second test to do its thing I started to think about how I wanted to tell Alex.  I decided I would wrap the positive test and put it in the bottom of his stocking with a note about becoming a daddy.  The requisit 2 minutes had passed and I went to check the test and what did I see, a big old ERROR reading.  What the heck did that mean!  I ripped through the packaging to read the insert to see what to do next.  Basically the answer was take another test.  Problem was I didn't have another test.  So now I was faced with figuring out how I was going to get away to the store on Christmas Eve, buy another test, then get it in Alex's stocking.  I know I could have come up with a plan B, but at that point I was a little frazzled.

YAY!  Were pregnant!!

Alex finally woke up and came to sit down next to me on the couch.  He took 1 look at me and asked "whats wrong?"  "Nothing" I replied unconvincingly as he continued to stare me down.  So finally I just blurted out "I think I'm pregnant, we need to go the store and buy a test".  Not exactly the cute little scenario I planned in my head.  Alex sort of stared at me for a minute before he broke out in a big smile.  He grabbed my hand and off we went to the drug store. 2 digital tests and countless cheapo tests later it was confirmed.  We were gonna have a baby.  We sort of floated through the rest of the holiday with these big goofy grins on our faces every time we looked at each other.  It was a totally awesome to spend our first Christmas together as husband and wife with this giant secret that was going to change our whole life.

Baby S cameo!