Auld Lang Syne

I thought I'd do a 2012 retrospective post to bid farewell to the outgoing year.   And then I looked over my archives and realized that I only posted about six and half times this past year.

I knew my blogging had dropped off quite a bit, but wow . . . I had no idea how much!  I don't feel badly about it, it just is what it is at this point in my life, but I was surprised.

So .  . . no retrospective post other than to say this: I've had a baby in 2010, 2011, and 2012. I also had babies in 2006 and 2008.  Let's do a little math.  That's 5 babies in 6 years.  I'm not saying that I won't have a baby in 2013, because my fertility is epic apparently, but I'd like to mix it up a little in the new year.

(For the record,  I am not planning on a 2013 baby.  Not. N-O-T. Really, God, not planning on it or asking or wondering about it or anything.  If no new baby is Your Will and all, I am really okay with that.  Not trying to be ungrateful, I love my babies, but I'm just saying. Mama's tired.)

I'm working on writing out Septimus' birth story, but it's starting to rival The Odyssey in scope.  I'll finish it, though, if only to have a record of how this little turkey joined the flock.  In the obstetrical world his birth is merely an interesting case, but it's definitely the most exciting (?!) of my brood.  He just had to be memorable from the start, I guess.

I'm off to snuggle the little man who brought us the spark of new life in a waning year.  Happy New Year, and I wish you all many good things in 2013, my friends.

On The Second Day of Christmas . . .

 . . .  I came home to my all my true loves!  

As you can see, Mopsy is absolutely smitten with her little brother, and the way she says his name is quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard.  

Recovery is tough, but it is so, so good to be home.  It's just like Christmas morning all over again.

Septimus Says ....

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Who Comes This Night?

Well, not *this* night exactly. More like yesterday morning . . .

HE'S HERE!

Septimus was born on December 23, 2012 at 6:28 in the morning. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 1 ounce, and 20.5 inches long.

It's a very long birth story, and one I am too exhausted to type right now. I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but I am so grateful that my little guy is here and healthy.

No pictures that I can post yet because I am not allowed out of bed, but I'll work on it. Until then . . .

Have a blessed and merry Christmas, my friends!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

7 Quick Takes: The Baby's Coming Edition

So, how's things out there in the www, because I'm back, people!  

Our home internet has not only been restored, but we also upgraded and are now hurtling through the internet at amazing speeds.  I really can't believe the difference -- it's like coming out of a cave onto a highway.  I can even play embedded videos instead of giving up because it takes 25 minutes to upload a 30 second clip.

Plus, the Mayans were wrong and the world did not end.  I can continue to enjoy the super-fast internet while putting my trust in God.  Score.

And I am going to need some major trust in God this weekend, because let me share what is about to go down . . . .

One

I prayed and I did all the crazy exercises mentioned in my last post, sans crawling down the stairs head first, and they worked.

As of my appointment last week, Septimus had decided to play nicely and snuggle into a vertex position.  Hooray!

Two

Cut to midweek . . .  I started to feel strange.  Even stranger than usual anyway.  I started feeling the weird sensation of the baby turning.

I've tried to describe it to Rob, and I know I'm not doing a good job, but so far I've had 3 babies who liked to indulge their Olympic gymnast dreams while doing time on the inside and each time it has felt similar.

It seems to me that I would be able to feel the baby actually turning the wrong way, but it's more like an intense upward pressure and tightness.  In fact, it feels a little like some people have described a heart attack.  I suddenly lose my breath and I am unable to catch it, even sitting completely still.  And that is combined with a very singular lifting or rising feeling  -- almost like someone is physically lifting my uterus off the rest of my body.

See?  I told you I don't do a great job of describing it.  But that's what I felt on Wednesday night and I knew it was probably not a harbinger of desired news.

Three

I had my routine appointment today, where I told my doctor what I suspected.  She lead me straight to ultrasound where we could see the baby in the wrong spot.  Again.

This time, Septimus is a little more oblique than flat out transverse.  Basically instead of lying horizontally across my body, the baby is closer to a 45 degree slant.  The head is still on the my right side, but a little closer to my pelvis than before.

I'm not going to lie, I was (am) disappointed.

Four

Here's the major problem with this position at this point in pregnancy:  if I should go into labor on my own (which could technically happen at any time) and my water should break, the parts that would present for delivery are very, very wrong.

Worst case scenario would be a cord prolapse, which is when the umbilical cord comes out first and that is extremely bad for the baby.  I mean, scaring the snot out of my husband and my doctor bad.

Five

So, what to do?

I'd really like to avoid a c-section if at all humanly possible.  I know lots of women have c-sections and they are just fine with them, and I am not down on medically necessary c-sections.  There are several babies I know who would not be here without a c-section.

All that being said, I'd still prefer not to have one.  To that end, we are going for the external cephalic version once again.  

We had scheduled one with Mopsy and I got all the way to the hospital to find out she had turned on her own.  She was scared straight, I guess, and I'm hoping this one does the same thing.

Six

The rest of the plan is this:

If L&D has room on Saturday, I'll go in for the version on Saturday.  If there is no room on Saturday, they will try to do it on Sunday.

If the version is successful, then an induction will be started immediately and I'll stay at the hospital to have the baby.

If the version does not work, or the baby does not tolerate being pushed around, then I will stay and have a c-section.

As you can see, there are a lot of "ifs"  to this whole scenario.  And I am so not good with "iffy."

I alternate between feeling almost calm and feeling panicky and trapped.  I know I've done everything I can do, and so much of pregnancy is out of my hands, but I am human and I like to think I'm in charge.

I've decided that my real course of action has to be to pray, pray, pray for the peaceful acceptance of God's plan for this baby's arrival.

I will offer up my anxiety and the pain of childbirth for some specific intentions, and I would be so tremendously grateful if you would keep us in your prayers.

None of us were really anticipating things to happen so quickly, so to say things are unsettled here would be generous.  Please pray for my other kids who know that this is a major departure from what we had been planning.

Seven

I usually like to do a little baby pool to guess the date, gender, weight, all the good stuff, but this time around has obviously caught me unprepared.  

I'd love to be distracted by reading your guesses, so please leave a comment and help my mind not to wander to anxious territory.

Bonus Take!!

I'm ending on a happy, happy note because I should -- life is uncertain at best, but always good, so go and see Margaret's new wee baby.   It does a body good.

Not So Quick Takes

I am typing this post on borrowed time. I know, technically we are all on borrowed time, but I also have no Internet access at home. I am typing this on my iPad using our meager 3G subscription, so if I suddenly disappear, you'll know what happened.
I blame the Mayans.
One
We've been without Internet for close to a week and it will not be fixed until late next week.
It's a long story involving poor customer service, several companies blaming each other for the problem, many hours spent navigating phone trees, a corrupt modem, and at least one occasion of a fully grown service technician actually rolling his eyes at me.
Even Rob, the mildest of the mild mannered, got off the phone one night proclaiming the service technician to be "less than useless." And here I thought it was just me . . .
So it's been the usual life of leisure around here.
Two
I fully realize how, in the face of all that is happening in my personal life and the world at large, this problem sounds so frivolous. Even the fact that I can awkwardly type this on the iPad, kooky line spacing and all, is luxurious.
I am sure that God has an explicit plan for this sudden Internet fast . . . but still . . .I am really not good at fasting. I mean like epically bad, and I am sure that my twitchiness is a sign that I have the spiritual depth of a teaspoon.
Three
All my grand plans for finishing up my online shopping have been shut down, and I've even taken to phone conferencing orders with Rob since he has Internet access at work.
Someone suggested I just go to a place like Barnes and Noble and use their wifi on the iPad, which would be totally awesome if I wasn't the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Barnes and Noble, shockingly, does not provide babysitting while customers sip coffee and browse the web reading blogs and answering email.
Who's idea was it to have all these kids anyway? Oh yeah, right . . .
Four
Speaking of kids, guess who is NOT in the right position for birth?
Septimus Prime has decided an "unstable transverse lie" is the way he or she wants to chillax these days. As of my last appointment, SP was lying like a rainbow across my abdomen, with the head on the right and the bum on the left and all the little handsy/footsy parts dangling down and presenting first.
I can see how that would make a doc nervous, especially considering the cord could also slip down there and present first, which would be bad mojo indeed.
Luckily, my doctor is fairly calm and she is of the opinion that the baby will move on his or her own, just like Bun and Mopsy did.
I am praying and praying that SP decides to head out, literally, but my anxiety level is also creeping up there. Any spare prayers would be greatly appreciated, my friends.
Five
In an effort to flip the baby and avoid a c-section, I consulted Dr. Google, just before our modem went belly-up.
My favorite suggested exercise to flip an inconveniently positioned baby?
Take my 9 months pregnant self and crawl HEAD FIRST on my hands and knees down a flight of steps.
Whatnowwhat?! I don't even think that's anatomically possible for me anymore, even with a spotter.
Forget about a c-section for a transverse baby, you'd have to be rushed to the hospital for a closed head injury!
Six
One of the easiest exercises for flipping the baby is to rotate the hips back and forth and around and around -- "like a belly dancer," say the instructions.
To which Rob quipped, "that's how you got in this predicament in the first place."
Seven
The battery signal on the iPad has been glaring at me for the last 10 minutes and now it went and turned red, complete with a pop-up warning that my time runneth out. I guess that's my cue to scoot.
Until I can get myself yoked to the modern world again, happy weekend, my friends!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad