Finally!!

I finally felt the baby kick tonight. I was sitting on the couch with Troy and doing something random on the computer when I felt like something moved. Of course, I got really excited and had Troy put his hand on my belly and he could feel it too. I know it was normal that I hadn't felt the little one move until now but it sure is a relief:) I also got lucky last week at my clinical and listened to the baby's heart rate in the triage when we didn't have to be with our patient.

I also had a fabulous day at the hospital today; however, I am tired and Jack Bauer is demanding my attention as he saves the day again for the next hour, so I will blog about my day in few days. 

Also 4 more days and we will know whether will be playing with ponies or cars in few years:)

"Are you baby sitting"?

I was shadowing the charge nurse (the nurse who doesn't have a patient assignment but manages the unit for the day) for 6 hours. Right after we received a report for the day, we were called into a patient's room who was in A LOT OF PAIN. She had received an epidural about half an hour before; however, her right side was in excruciating pain due to extremely intense contractions. By the way, in my opinion this the worst scenario for a laboring mom because you are expecting to be pain free due to the wonders of epidurals and most likely not prepared for the intensive of pain. The nurse had checked her "status" about 5 minutes ago and she was 4 cm. When the doctor decided to check her again since she was in so much pain, she was 8 cm. She had changed 4 cm in about 5-10 minutes. The rule of thumb is about 1 cm an hour for a first time mom and faster for an experienced mom. She was obviously ready to deliver in just few minutes and her husband was waiting in the hallway with their 22-month old son. Since it wasn't my patient and I was just observing, I offered to watch the little boy so the dad could be in there with his wife. So I ended up sitting in the hallway with this sleepy 22-month old while I could hear his mom in agonizing pain and then about 10 minutes later, I could hear the cry of the newborn. This birth was so different from the other births that I had seen in the past 2 weeks that I was little disappointed to not be in the middle of the action. However, I feel that part of nursing is showing compassion and meeting the patient's needs and by watching their little boy so the dad could hold the mother's hand as she delivered this baby was more important than seeing all the details of the birth. All the other nurses and staff who passed me in the hallway kind of chuckled as they saw me baby sitting the little boy. However, I am glad that I was able to help the family in some way.

So the reason why this woman was in so much pain was the fact that her uterus did not relax between contractions which increased the intensity of them. I have seen plenty of videos of natural child births and see few "live" ones and this poor patient seemed to be in a whole another level of pain. 

Another twist to the story is the fact that the baby most likely had Down's Syndrome, which came as a complete surprise to the parents. I called Troy after the my shift and told him of the events and he said "so that could happen to us, right?" He meant the fact that we haven't done any kind of genetic testing and obviously there is a chance that our baby could have some kind of a health problem.  I obviously want a healthy baby more than anything; however, it is comforting to know that each child has their own special purpose here and we won't be given more than we can handle. Though, I do have to say that if our child will be a clone of Troy when he was a little kid, he or she could be pushing the limits:) He was a terror!!

The baby is upgrading the living quarters

Here is a picture of the baby bump in all of its glory at 20 weeks. I have added about 6 inches to my waist and 6 pounds so far. I know these numbers will start multiplying much more rapidly in the upcoming months and honestly I am excited about my growing belly. I know some women feel envy towards those who don't show much during their pregnancy but I welcome the roundness of my belly with open arms. I do hope to avoid puffy legs and ankles, but we shall see. I also do understand that I feel very uncomfortable in the end and that this part of pregnancy is the enjoyable time when you aren't tired or sick or just plain huge:)

When Nothing Helps

"Breathing doesn't help", "Squeezing your hand doesn't help" and "Swearing doesn't help" are some of the remarks of my patient on Tuesday as she was laboring and pushing to welcome her baby girl into this world. My second week in the labor and delivery unit is over and I am in love with working there. I have to admit that I got tears in my eyes when this baby girl's head finally appeared and I could see the dad's excitement and tears of joy as he urged his wife to push one more time to get rest of the baby out. Though my part in the last stage of labor is only coaching with the pushing and encouraging the mom, I felt like I really got to be part of something amazing.

Both of last week's deliveries ended up in C-section because the labor wasn't progressing quickly enough and the baby wasn't tolerating the contractions very well. Plus the doctors worried that maybe the baby was just too big to even be delivered the "old fashioned way".  I know that the only thing that really matters in the end is a healthy baby; however, I hope that I will not end up in the operating room when my time comes to deliver this baby. I come home each day from work and I tell Troy about what I saw and tell him to make sure that certain things won't happen unless it is a medical emergency in case I will be too tired or too much in pain to be assertive enough and advocate for myself. 

What do you think are the most important factors when it comes to good child birth experience? I know everyone has their own opinion and perspective, I would love to know more about what makes the experience good or bad for a mother. I hope to be sharing many births with women and I feel like the more I know about people's preferences or fears, the better support and education I can give them, which hopefully will result in a better experience for them.

I have about million things to blog about when it come to L&D now but I don't want to overload it since not everyone is into this stuff. 

The coolest part of this is that I will be delivering at this hospital so I have been able to see how the hospital works(the lovely policies and protocols of health care), gotten to know which nurses I would like to have in my delivery and see how the different doctors at my practice behave in a delivery situation since there is no guarantee that my doctor will deliver the baby.

Sweet Giveaway

I have never advertised a giveaway from another blog before but I figured this one is a good and other moms or future moms would like to try their luck. They are giving a way a double stroller and not just whatever double stroller but a Bumbleride, which is a very pricey one.  For some reason I am unable to load a picture of the stroller so you just have to click below to see what it looks like.

http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-25-bumbleride-indie-stroller/

Holiday pounds to blame for the thicker waist?

Some of you might remember my plan (from September) to lose 5 pounds. I accomplished my goal in about 4 weeks or so by running and not eating sweets. However, when I step on the scale now or put on my jeans, the situation is little different. And this time, I gained the weight straight to my waist area...Our trip to Finland and the consumption of delicious Finnish food and chocolate could be the reason; fortunately, this time the reason isn't my lack of self-control around food. The following pictures of Christmas presents, generous giveaways and purchases might give some clues to the reason behind the extra pounds. 

Something to help me lose these pounds eventually
I couldn't resist when we went to an outlet mall.

I can't wait to use this glider when it's nursing time(which will be most of the time for a while).

So I am 18 weeks pregnant. That's a picture of my belly at 17 weeks. Obviously, it's not too big yet since it's my first baby and I have a long torse so the baby can fit in there just fine for now. However, I can sure feel the fact that I have a belly and I am loving it:) Few weeks ago, I still felt that I just had a roll, but now it's a baby bump so I'm happy with my new shape. 

We won't find out if it's a little Eevi or a little Troy until February 13th, so it will either be a very pink Valentine's day or few blue hearts thrown in there:)  I really don't have a preference. In the beginning of the pregnancy, I was really hoping for a girl(like majority of first time moms I believe); however, right now the idea of a little boy sounds so fun  and somehow I feel like it's a boy. All we really want is a healthy baby:)

Final Semester

I just received my placement for my last semester preceptorship and I got my #1 choice at St. Joseph's hospital for labor and delivery. I am so thrilled. Now I will spend the next few days reading all the details about labor again( it has been a year since the semester when I learned everything).  I know labor (observing it) isn't everyone's idea of a time well spent but I think it is amazing. I have probably seen about 5 births and 2 C-sections and I am always just amazed about the beauty of giving birth. And also amazed by these women who go through it!!

The fact that I am graduating in 5 months makes me so happy and the fact that I get to spent my last semester doing something that I love is even better!