December...

December was a very busy month with the holidays coming and since my husband works in retail! Caitlin met Santa for the first time. It went pretty well, no crying at all.


She finally moved to the tub!


Found her Thumb!!! although, soothie is still her favorite




And Best of all, we celebrated her first Christmas!!




So, that wraps up 2009...

Wow, it's been awhile!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged. Life has been completely crazy and busy! I don't even know where to start with everything that's happened since September, some good and some bad.

I returned to work in Mid-October and Caitlin started daycare. She is doing very well there!! It took some time adjusting but I think we have a pretty good routine going. Caitlin celebrated her first Halloween as a flower!


In November, she started eating solids, her first was carrots! Of course, we starated with cereal but carrots were the first veggie! definitely a hit!

She turned 4 months old and got her first photo at daycare!


and we celebrated our first Thanksgiving together!


Lots more to report in December so I'll make another post!

Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?

wow, I can't believe that I have NOT updated this blog in almost two months!! I'm a horrible blogger and an even worse blog reader. I've probably lost all of you now with my absolutely most boring and non existent blog. Well, if anyone is still checking in, here's a teaser...

Baby Cate at two months



I promise to try to do some more updating but for now, I must try to get some sleep!

My Birth Story

On Wednesday, July 8, I had an appt with my ob. The prior day, I had seen the peri who did my weekly NST and BPP. They also did a growth scan which showed Cate was measuring two weeks ahead and 9 pounds 2 ounces. Of course, being we did IVF, we know that my dates aren't off. The Peri suggested that if I was in a position to be induced, that it was time.

So, I went in to meet with my OB. I had progressed to 2cm from the prior visit where I wass only 1/2 cm. I'm not sure what happened but before I knew it, my OB was on the phone with the hospital giving them instructions on my inducement. I figured she'd be like, ok, let's do it Friday, not let's do it NOW. I started crying, completely caught me off guard. My husband was with me but in separate cars as he was going to go into work. We headed home to get my bag, clean up a bit and headed over to the hospital.

We got there around noon or so. Pam was my nurse and when I was walking down the hall, I just started to cry, I was terrified. They got me set up, took blood for the cord blood banking and set up my IV. Around 2pm, they started pitocin. Dr. Chen was on call and she tried to break my water but NO luck. Around 6pm, she checked me and I had made NO progress, still at 2cm. Of course, each doctor is different but still, nothing was happening. So, she suggested two things, I could continue pitocin or stop, get a shower, some food and we'd start cyotec to soften my cervix at 10pm that night, start pitocin again in the morning. I really wish that's what they would have done from the start!!! So, she suggested going w cyotec and that's what I was leaning towards so we stopped, I ate a salad from Panera and got a shower.

At 10pm, the nurse started cyotec. I really didn't care for this nurse at all. They also gave me two ambien. Dr. Rudolph was now the doctor on call. She was awesome! She told me that they'd do cyotec every four hours unless I was asleep since I needed the rest. I got another cyotec at 6am and at some point, they started pitocin again. I can't remember when. Later that day, Dr. Rudolph broke my water I think it was about 2pm. From there on out, things progressed and quickly. I started having regular contractions and became uncomfortable. It did start to become painful and I wasn't sure how long it'd take to get an epi so I decided to just get it. He came pretty quickly, I was surprised. It wasn't too bad getting it, kinda uncomfortable as the nurse was pushing down on my head. I had asked if I could sit indian style but he said no, legs over the edge. Then, after he did it, he was like, that might have made it easier as I could have hunched over more. UH, DUH!!

The epi was great, made me feel comfortable and I was definitely having regular strong contractions that I couldn't feel!!! Dr. Rudolph checked me again at 6 or so and I was at 5cm!! She said, she guessed the baby would arrive anywhere from 8 - midnight. Around 9pm, I was really feeling pressure. My mom checked w the nurse and she finally checked me around 9:30. I really felt the need to push. She was like, eh, yeah, the baby is RIGHT there! they called the doctor who was on the way to the other hospital. nice. She got there around 10pm and I started pushing. At some point, I started feeling the contractions so they called to get me some meds and sure enough, my epi line came undone. wonderful. The put it back and things became much better as I could rest inbetween pushes now. Around 12:15am, the doctor told me if I can't get this baby out in 15minutes, we're talking c-section. I told her, just c-section me!!! I could tell, I would feel her come down, go back. I didn't feel her moving out anymore. Sure enough, come 12:30, I was getting prepped for surgery. They came in to get me more meds and prepped Tom as well. I felt the last three contractions and they were awful. I was grabbing onto the bed rail and curled up into a ball.

I was wheeled into surgery and all I kept saying was I still feel pressure. It relieved after a bit. My primary doctor came in to assist, I was so glad to see her. She gave me a big hug! They put up the drape and I heard the aneth saying they've already started. Tom was by my side and before I knew it, they said, tom come here, take pictures!! He got to cut the cord and they said to me, here she comes! They put her over the curtain but I didn't get to see her. The first thing the doctor said was ok, well, here's the problem! Your baby is HUGE, big girl! hope you didn't buy alot of newborn clothes! I kept asking if she was ok. Tom brought her over to me and I just kept reaching for her. I think tom was in such awe that he wasn't thinking to bring her closer. It was really hard being on my back and strapped down. I was just so glad she had arrived and was safe!!

Caitlin Eve is here!!

Cate arrived on July 10th at 1:12am via C-Section. She was 9 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 inches long. I've been extremely busy taking care of her and myself! I promise I will start working on my birth story. We are all doing well and adjusting to being home!!

It's July!

Hooray!!! I'm having a baby this month!!!

Waving my white flag...

throwing in the towel! I'm done. My back is killing me, I was up every hour last night, got no sleep, so, that's it! I told my boss this morning that Thursday will be my last day in the office. I need to get some rest and I don't want to do it anymore. So, this is my last week in the office. I'll still be doing payroll from home which is every other week.

I had my weekly OB appt this morning and met a new doctor who I LOVED!!! She was great. My BP was 134/90 so they were a bit concerned. She did an exam and I was 1/2 cm and she said the baby was low. So, while I had hoped for more, it was better than nothing. She did also note that I have a narrow arch. She said it was something to keep in mind if I seem to labor and not make any progress. It could be that the baby won't fit. Of course, you never know but she was letting me know.
Since I have protein in my urine already, any abnormal bp gets them concerned. They rechecked before I left and it did go down so she was happy with that.

I have my NST/BPP on Wednesday and my next OB appt on July 8th.