Lexi's Birth Story (Part 1)

At my 36-week appointment, my doctor became concerned because little Lexi had dropped from being near the 50th percentile in weight to the 18th percentile in just a couple of weeks. He asked if I had been sick, which I hadn't. My heart sunk. We were so close to getting to meet our sweet baby, and now the fear of something being wrong had filtered through my every thought. I was sent to do blood work so that we could rule out any type of infection that may have caused this. He said it could just be the placenta wearing down, but he wanted to be sure.  The nurse called me Monday afternoon right before their office closed with my lab results...no infection! Whew!

(36 weeks)

Many tears later, I knew that I just had to place it all in God's hands because there was not one good thing that worrying could do for me or for my baby. At my next appointment, I was hoping for better news. Still no change...my dr. was very quiet this time when performing the ultrasound. He said he was going to have the physician's assistant come in to perform some dopplers looking at the cord...what does that mean?! My mom was with me at this appointment, and we both just looked at each other, and didn't say a word while waiting for the PA.  In fact, I stared at the opposite wall fighting back tears. He returned before the PA came in, and said he was wanting to make sure that the blood flow through the cord looked okay. He said if it did, he'd see me in a week. The PA came in, and then left to go compare the charts to review the levels of blood flow. Next thing I know, the nurse comes in and says my dr. wants to do an NST. My mom and I follow her to a different room, and I get hooked up to all these monitors that tracked my contractions, baby's heart rate, and baby's movements. My dr. comes in 20 minutes later and reviews the results. He said it looked fine, but he wanted to send me for an additional ultrasound the next day. He said I may just have a small baby, but that they want to be sure they are doing the right thing.

Next day, go for ultrasound, everything checked out great! Thank you God!!!

38-week appointment--my doctor gives me the option to induce at 39 or 40 weeks due to baby size. We (Keith, my dr., and me) decide to wait until 40 weeks in case she wants to come on her own before then.

39 weeks--doctor said baby is doing well! He said this is the best he has felt about her in the past few weeks. Still set for induction at 40 weeks just to ease the worries about her size.

(39 weeks)

To be continued...

Lexi--one month!

Happy One Month Baby Lexi!!!

Cannot believe my baby girl, my NEWBORN, is one month today!! This has been the best month of my life sharing it alongside my husband and her. I will share her birth story soon, but did not want to forget all her stats from the dr. office today.

Weight: 7 lbs, 15 oz. 10th percentile (this is why my dad has nicknamed her 'Peanut')
Height: 22 inches, 90th percentile

She is sleeping really well...right now, she only wakes up every 4 hours in the night to eat, then goes back to sleep. She smiles (probably still because of gas), and even sometimes laughs in her sleep. She has started outgrowing some of her newborn clothes, but it is only in length.

She loves: her swing, playing dress up (well, she has no choice when Aunt Nicole is around), listening to her daddy play the guitar, and going for evening walks.

She does not like: when her binky falls out of her mouth, tummy time (she is getting more tolerable of it, and is pretty strong), and taking her vitamin D.

We are so attached, and enjoying every second with her! Still can't believe it has been a month...Coming soon..her official 1 month photo!

Lexi's Birth Story (Part 2)

We were scheduled to go in on the evening of Sunday, May 22 at 7:30. The night before my parents took us to eat at a nice restaurant because they knew it would be my last nice meal for a while, and we go to dinner with them so often that with a new baby coming, it would be some time before she would be able to go out.

So Sunday rolls around...I was a nervous wreck all day long just trying to keep myself composed. Keith did everything he could to keep my mind off of things. We went to church, for a drive, watched a movie during the day and ate fresh-baked cookies. Before we left, I asked my mom to take pictures of us...the last pictures of us before becoming parents. Keith kept saying,  "It's so crazy we are leaving our house as two, and coming back as three."

We arrive at the hospital and check in. They start my IV. I felt like I was going to pass out, so Keith has to come and fan me with a piece of paper...(really?! how the heck was I going to have a baby if I am freaking out over the IV?! You can bet that God was getting a lot of begging and pleading from my end at this point for strength and courage.) They then hooked me up to monitors to monitor the baby's heart rate, my contractions, and my heart rate. They determined that my contractions were too consistent and regular to begin cervadil, so my doctor gets called and they decide to just let me be for the night, and in the morning, they will start pitocin...pitocin...oh, sweet, sweet pitocin!!

First of all, when you know you are going to have a baby for the first time the next day, do they really think that by keeping you in the hospital the night before hooked up to monitors that go off in the middle of the night because baby's heart rate has dropped, it's going to enable you to sleep? The nurse asked me the next morning at 5 a.m. if I had gotten any sleep, because every time she came in to check on me, my eyes were wide open. That would be a NO. I had too much running through my head, and could not, for the life of me, keep my little eyes off of that monitor.

Pitocin was started at 5 a.m. Keith was still sleeping when they started it, but I was doing fine at this point. I actually  probably had too much confidence...wow, this isn't so bad. I can do this! My mom showed up around 6 with breakfast for Keith (which he would not eat in front of me, and pretended to leave my room to  go find the bathroom to eat it...what a guy!). My doctor showed up around 8:30, and attempted to break my water. He said I could get the epidural whenever I was ready, but I knew the contractions weren't all that bad yet, so I was hesitant to jump the gun and get it if I was doing okay at this point.

I had the best nurse! When I seeked her advice on what to do, she helped calm my thoughts on the situation, and gave me really good advice. We decided to wait until around 11:30 when a hospitalist would again attempt to break my water. If they were not able to do it, I would go ahead with the epidural to get my body to try to relax. I started feeling the contractions before the hospitalist came back, and was listening to my music playlist while Keith timed the contractions for me. He was such a great coach! By the time the hospitalist came in, my mom stepped out because it was too hard for her to watch me in any kind of discomfort or pain (Yes, I have the best mom ever!). I was determined to get my body to relax so that she could break my water. I had my music ready and in my ears to bring my mind to another place. It was successful! Whew!

To be continued...

K, S, + 1

Welcome! I created this blog to help me record all of the special memories in my life. Just recently, my house became Keith and Shannon plus one...we welcomed our little baby Lexi into the world on May 23. She is almost a month old now, and that is what drove me to create this blog. Time passes by way too fast! I don't want to forget anything, because I know I am going to look back and miss this time.
I guess that's why this song constantly plays through my head...I even had it on my playlist during labor. :) Enjoy!