Tuesday, June 30, 2009

one week old!

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caroline is one week old today! she is very much still in the eat, sleep, poop phase so it is next to impossible to catch her with her eyes open. but she's nursing extremely well. at night, she does not like the bassinet and prefers to sleep in some one's arms. last night, only i would do. during the day she'll happily snooze in the car seat or on the boppy, but at night she's a very needy/cuddly baby. and i still can't get over how much like Q she looks!!!

big brother

sitting in his chair, looking at his new little sister!
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he has moved beyond outright ignoring caroline. he'll now come sit next to her and touch her head or her nose or her fingers. he still does not want to have her in his lap, but we are making progress!

the birth story

despite the lack of sleep and time to do anything constructive, i need to get this written before i forget anymore of it! - so last monday i was scheduled for an ultrasound and a regular check-up. they were also going to give me the results of the 24-hour pee test i had done the day before. normally they do the ultrasound then the appointment so that my doctor can review the ultrasound before coming in to talk to me. but when they called me back they took me to the appointment room first. i didn't think anything of it at first, but then as i was sitting in the room waiting for someone to come in it dawned on me that this probably meant that they didn't want/need the ultrasound anymore and that this was probably because i was getting admitted. finally the nurse came in and told me just that. i flunked the 24-hour pee test, meaning that i officially had preeclampsia, not just gestational hypertension like i did with Q. they sent us over to the main hospital to get admitted. fortunately, we pretty much expected this and had brought my hospital bags with us. - i was admitted right away and was put in the best labor & delivery room in the hospital (or so they kept telling me) with beautiful views of the charles river, boston, fenway park, etc. we also had a great view of some subway train tracks so i could pretend i was quentin and say "djooo djooo" every time i saw a train (which was pretty much every five minutes!) the parade of medical students, residents, nurses, and attending doctors started immediately. in the first 10 minutes i as there i saw more doctors than i did during my entire hospital stay when Q was born. it was pretty crazy in there - a bunch of deliveries and stat c-sections. the nurses said it was particularly insane because it was a full moon. as a result, i just sat there for few hours before they got to me. this is when i started wishing that we had grabbed some lunch before starting the admission process since i wasn't allowed to eat once i was in there. i had only had a bowl of honey bunches of oats at like 6 that morning. - finally, around 1:30 in the afternoon they started the pitocin. at that point i was still only 2 cm dilated (same as the previous friday.) i started having mild contractions right away, but things were progressing really slowly. at some point, maybe around 4-ish (i am already forgetting details - i spent the whole afternoon watching a law & order marathon, so things started running together!) they manually ruptured my membranes to get things moving because i was still only 3 cm. contractions kept on increasing, and even though the pain was still bearable, they did the epidural during jeopardy (around 7:45) because they needed to start me on magnesium. they use magnesium to prevent seizures in preeclampsia patients. they like to do the epidural before starting the magnesium because the mag makes people so loopy and uncomfortable that i guess it's harder to sit still for the epidural. the anesthesiologist and nurses kept telling me how wonderfully i was doing during the administration of the drugs. all i had to do was sit still and curve my back - do other people struggle with these basic instructions??? - from here things start to get fuzzy because the magnesium makes you feel like you are drunk or missing a few screws in the noodle. i wasn't feeling contractions anymore so i had to ask a couple of times if i was still in labor. i was, just progressing really slowly. around 10 or 11 i was still only 4 cm. with Q i went from 2 to 5 in less than an hour. i had kinda been hoping that roo would make it out before midnight, but it was becoming obvious that it would be a long night. i watched some seriously bad late night TV, including the same late news broadcast at 11 p.m. and 1 p.m. - i was definitely starting to feel the pressure of roo bearing down and by 3:30 a.m. i was feeling the urge to push. they checked me again and i was the full 10 cm and ready to go. from there it went super fast. i only had to push a handful of times (about 20 minutes total) before miss caroline made her appearance, very different than the hours i pushed Q. guess he cleared a nice path for her :) the doctors, nurses, and jeremy had all been telling me how close we were but i didn't really believe them because the midwives that delivered Q started telling me that about 2 hours before he made it out. but they weren't joking. caroline was out in a hurry. and because she wasn't blue like Q when she came out, i got to hold her right away. i barely noticed them stitching up my tears and dealing with the placenta and all that jazz. caroline got and 8 and 9 on her apgars. - i had to stay on the magnesium for a full 24 hours after delivery so i don't remember much after the actual delivery. i actually don't remember much of tuesday in general. and even part of wednesday is missing in action. i do know that our pediatrician happened to be the attending physician for deliveries so we got to see her. she heard a heart murmur in miss caroline and ordered a cardiology consult. she came back to check on caroline again on wednesday and the murmur was gone so she cancelled the consult. but then thursday morning, as we were preparing to be discharged, the murmur was back. they did an EKG and some blood pressure thing, both of which were borderline. so since she had a murmur and these borderline results, they now wanted to do an echo cardiogram. we went from thinking we were getting out of the hospital at like 10 a.m. to being stuck there waiting for cardiology. i think jeremy scared the nurse because he was frustrated, knowing how long cardiology takes to read echos from his own experience. the results from the echo came back around 3:30 or so (and were totally fine - nothing to worry about!) so we finally got to be discharged - however, my blood pressure was still running high-ish so i was scheduled to have a home nurse visit on friday and come into the office for another BP check on monday. caroline was also a bit jaundiced so she was scheduled to have a weight and bilirubin check on saturday, so we were far from done. my BP was still borderline high both on friday and yesterday (high enough that they can't declare me "all better" but not high enough to justify medicine. now jeremy will be taking my blood pressure on thursday and calling it in to my doctor to decide the next move. caroline went in for her check-in on saturday and her bili level was still high so we were scheduled to come in again on sunday. we had our fingers crossed because she was flirting dangerously close with the level that would require her to go back to the hospital for photo therapy. fortunately her bili level on sunday actually went down. now she just needs to go in for another check-in tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to just do regular appointments from here on out.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

coming home!

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the dress i got for caroline to come home in is way too big. the hat is even more ridiculous. they'll fit eventually. here we admire the stork and "it's a girl!" signs that jeremy put up for us as a surprise. (and ugh i still look pregnant!)
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we are slowly adapting to being a 4-member household. more posts coming soon. i just spend most of my time attached to a roo-2 - yeah, she's a latcher!!!

some more hospital pics

i can't get over how much she looks like quentin. this last photo is how she feels about diaper changes... not a fan.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Quentin meet Caroline

Last night I brought Quentin to the hospital to meet his baby sister. He was sporting his Big Brother scrubs that were a gift from his bobbob. Quentin's main concern was destroying the room as quickly as possible. When I showed him his sister he promptly greeting her with a finger to the eye. Then when I tried to put her on his lab he pushed her away. Hopefully Quentin will grow into his role of big brother. He did really enjoy climbing in the bassinet as well. You can also see we have a nice view of the Charles River too!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It's a Girl

caroline elaine rupon arrived at 03:48 a.m. on 06/23/2009, weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long

2AM Update

6cm, 80%. Pain and pressure really picking up. baby still looks good. Mom looking more and more uncomfortable :(

Monday, June 22, 2009

11pm update

Keira is about 3-4cm dilated, manually had membranes ruptured, and has an epidural. Overall, things are going well so far. will keep everyone updated. we are also updating facebook and i have a twitter site that i am updating.

Induced

pitocin started at 1:30. contractions beginning :)

Admittted

we're at the hospital and i will be induced at some point today :) there was protein in my jug of pee indicating mild preeclampsia and my blood pressure is still high, so out roo-2 must come! we have a totally awesome hospital room with a nice river view and a view of the city, including fenway :)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

trains and corn - the boy's faves

we took Q to the children's museum today, since we had to drive into the city to drop off my giant jug of pee anyway. of course it was raining here, so it was extra crazy at the museum. we mainly stuck to the under 3 room to avoid the mass chaos that was the rest of the place. not surprising that hoards of over-sugared, over-stimulated kids don't have a ton of respect for a 9-month preggo and have no problem pushing and shoving. -
Q played with some puzzles for a bit and then discovered the train table where he died and went to heaven. we have a wicked cute video clip of him yelling, "djooo djooo" while enthusiastically exploring the train table, but i can't figure out how to get it off the camera and on to the computer. maybe tomorrow.
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then he discovered a fake plastic ear of corn in the play kitchen and carried it around while trying to eat it. boy loves his corn on the cob!

Friday, June 19, 2009

well, i didn't get admitted today...

- but i did get another one of these fine contraptions. - my blood pressure was still a little bit high (though less so than monday, i'd like to think because i resisted my dunkin donuts fix this morning) and i had protein in my pee, so it's the 24-hour urine collection thingy for me. hooray! hopefully this time i will not have to use this thingy in a gas station bathroom. - the doctor felt for the baby's positioning and was like, "whoa, that head is really low!" no kidding - i can feel it. i am currently 2 cm and about 50% effaced. with quentin, i went from 2 cm to over 4 cm in under an hour, though who knows how long i stayed at 2 cm before that. - i am guessing there will be a roo-2 appearance within a week or so. i really need to go finish packing my hospital bag. seriously.

roo-2: 37 weeks

- getting ready to head in for my blood pressure check. here's hoping i don't get admitted!! still working on getting my bag packed (last night's boo boo drama prevented it once again.) -
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Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

boo boo

we had our first real boo boo here tonight. quentin was running around like a wild man, slipped, and slammed face first into our brick fireplace hearth. he has a nasty cut above his lip and a swollen nose. we debated taking him in to the hospital but he seems ok so we did not. he may have a black eye in the morning. poor kiddo. it's so hard to see my baby boy in pain :(

All of these outside toys...

...and all I really want to play with are these...
You'll notice the pine cone in his hand, the dirt, the roots and what's missing is the best toy and delicacy ever, sticks. Child won't eat meat that isn't in nugget form but loves him some dirt, sticks and pine cones. At least we know he gets enough fiber.

big brother practice

quentin is pushing his lovey "blueberry" in the infant swing. what the photo does not indicate is how violent this pushing was. see what you have to look forward to roo-2?

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

accomplishment

i have officially been pregnant with roo-2 longer than i made it with roo-1. - yeah?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

djooo! djooo!

we have an new obsession in this house... trains. i guess it isn't a new obsession since jeremy loves trains too, but quentin is now a huge train fan. every time we drive through a railroad crossing (which is a lot around here - 2 crossings each way to and from day care!) he starts chanting "djooo djooo" in the back seat. last night he discovered a train book in his room and insisted on sleeping with it and then bringing it in the car to day care this morning. plus, since my car is out of commission we've been driving jeremy to the train to get to work so we can have his car. and, if we get to the station a couple of minutes early we get to see an additional train heading in the other direction. he was beaming when the railroad crossing lights and bells came on for the first train tonight. then daddy got out of the car so he cried a little, until he could hear the next train coming and then daddy was all but forgotten. he cried again when the train left and i started the car to head home. i may need to memorize the train schedules and use that for extremely cranky days!

Monday, June 15, 2009

36 week appointment and ultrasound

i went in for my 36 week appointment and ultrasound today. everything went well with the ultrasound part - baby is moving properly and all that. my blood pressure, however, has once again increased after being perfectly fine the entire pregnancy. i was hoping it was high because there was a really obnoxious toddler in the waiting room, screaming for her mom when mommy left her with grandma to go in for her appointment. i know that kids have tantrums. i have a kid, i get it, i really do. and the first-time preggos in the room need to accept the fact that a baby isn't all cute onesies and teeny socks. however, this wee one was not relenting and ol' gram was not even trying to calm her or hush her. everyone in the packed waiting room was visibly annoyed. she could have taken her out in the hall like everyone else with screaming kids does, or shoved a sippy cup in her face, but anyway, i digress.
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when they checked my BP again several minutes later it was still high. so i had to once again have blood drawn for further testing (not sure exactly sure for what) and i have to go back for another BP check on friday (and then again on monday for my regularly scheduled appointment and ultrasound.) and when i was just about to escape the nurse popped in and told me that the doc wants me on bed rest given the issues i had with gestational hypertension last time. how does one accomplish bed rest with a toddler?? this will be fun.
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so then, we're driving down the highway back home and my @#$% car dies. it wasn't starting last friday, but we had taken it in on saturday and gotten a brand new VW-approved battery. sadly, that was obviously not the entire issue. i did play the preggo card with AAA hoping it would get us off the side of a busy highway faster, and it seemed to work. so that's good. my car, however, is not. it needs a new alternator, and oh, while they were in there they discovered that she also needs a new catalytic converter (so much so that she will NOT pass inspection next time.) the cost of these repairs plus the ones we did a month ago would total twice the car's trade-in value. so we're going to do the alternator to buy us some time to find a new (to us) car that meets our needs and some other sucker can deal with the rest of the problems. really good for the ol' BP.
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don't buy a mexican jetta. ever. you'll hate yourself.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

birthday citronella?

he's trying to blow the citronella candle out, like you would a candle on a birthday cake. i didn't even know he knew that that's what you're supposed to do to a candle. guess he's practicing for the big day in august!

beach baby

our town beach had an opening day kick-off yesterday. admission was free for the day and we could buy our season pass for the rest of the year. it was a beautiful day and quentin had quite a good time. i didn't get to take photos of the best part - when Q went into the "deep" water willingly and actually went underwater (not so much willingly) - because i was waiting in an extremely disorganized line to get our season pass. -

beach = a whole new selection of sticks and pine cones-

and these new finds must be collected and assessed -
baby's first sno-cone, though he thinks we mean pine cone -
good thing it was free since he dumped it out to put a pine cone in -
the nastier the sea weed, the better for playing -