4 months ago...

4 months ago I gave birth to this gorgeous baby girl!!!

 

 

 

Thea Rose at 3 months old.

Thea and her Mama

Also, I will be writing my birth story this week and sharing it here on my blog so check back for that.

xoxo
Lady Stork.

Thea is here!

She's here, she's perfect, and I'm one proud surrogate mama!


Born 11/2/11 at 5:23am. 6lbs 12oz, 19in long.

I'm doing well and trying to rest up as much as possible. Thea is home in Wyoming with her family who are all absolutely in love with her, of course! I will post my birth story later and try to get a picture to post of Thea with her family.

xoxo
Lady Stork.

40 weeks - It's my due date!

Well, today has come and (almost) gone with no baby. Not that I really expected to have Thea on her due date, but it's the type of marker that everyone likes to pay attention to and every pregnant woman hopes to have their baby by or at least on the 40th week mark. I think pregnancy would seem like an impossible eternity if there wasn't some type of "end" in sight. However, I'm fully aware that a lot of women go beyond 40 weeks and I will not begin to pretend that I understand how they must feel. My son was born a few days early so there wasn't much waiting involved and certainly no over-due waiting, which is a whole different form of waiting as far as I'm concerned.

Last week Thea's parents arrived from Wyoming and have been patiently waiting. We've spent a little bit of time together but it's not easy for this pregnant lady to get her ol' bones out of the house lately so it's just been a few short-but-sweet visits so far.

I started having regular contractions and cramping about a week ago and they haven't let up at all. ALL NIGHT and most of the day I have them 5-10 minutes apart so I am tired and worn out already, and that's a terrible way to start labor. I keep trying to tell myself that they are doing work and to just be patient and that any time now I will start active labor, but it's discouraging and exhausting none the less. While eating dinner with the IPs and my son on Saturday evening I started having strong contractions every 5 minutes. I timed them for almost an hour and then decided to call my midwife to see what she thought I should do. She thought it was go time and told us to go to the hospital to get checked out. Well, after 2 hours of walking the labor and delivery halls nothing changed. My contractions didn't get longer, stronger, or closer together and my cervix didn't dilate at all, so they sent me home with an Ambien to try and sleep through the pain. Nothing changed the next day, still 5 minutes apart... and then today I woke up and they were 15 minutes apart!!! I was so freakin disappointed. I had a midwife appointment today and she said my cervix was 3cm and 70% effaced, she also stripped my membranes and we had a nice little talk about induction possibilities. We came to the decision that if by 6pm on 11/1/11 if I hadn't gone into labor that she would break my water for me and get this party started! I asked what their protocol is for administering antibiotics and/or pitocin after AROM and she said they don't have any type of time frame and they will just let my body do it's thing. This made me feel good because although I'm confident that my body will start turning these contractions into the real deal and we'll have a baby in no time, it's nice to know that they won't rush me if it doesn't do it quickly. I still hope that I start labor tonight and everything can happen more naturally but considering our circumstances I think this is a good option for us and I'm glad that there is a game plan.

I am very ready to meet this little girl and let her start her life with her family. They've waited so long for her and I'm beyond excited to give her to them. Seriously, BEYOND excited!

So, my bag is packed, Zeppelin is with his dad till Thursday, and I'm ready to "do the labor" (as my sweet 4 year old says). Wish me luck! I'll be sure to update when anything happens.

10/31/11 40 weeks

-Lady Stork.

36 week bump

36 weeks...4 more to go!

36 weeks

36 weeks

29 week belly pic

29 weeks

28 weeks!

I’m officially in my third trimester! Hallelujah, and boy does it feel good! I have less than 12 weeks left, and while part of me is sad to think that I only have 12 more weeks of this journey left, I am VERY excited about getting my body back and being able to sleep comfortably for long stretches of time without heartburn, leg cramps, the inability to breath because I’ve rolled on to my back and my uterus + baby are crushing my lungs, or simply needing to pee. It’s strange because with Zeppelin’s pregnancy I was okay with the lack of sleep during the third trimester because I felt like my body was gearing up for life with a newborn, and when the time came and I brought him home I was used to not sleeping and it wasn’t too much of a shock. So this time around I actually get to go home after giving birth and (Lord willing) sleep comfortably and for a whole 8+ hours, which most postpartum women don’t get to do!

I totally meant to update last time about my midwife appointment and I forgot. I really like the midwifery group and the midwives that I’ve seen so far are very smart and quite loving. I feel absolutely comfortable having them watch over me during my pregnancy, labor, delivery, and beyond. I had another appointment yesterday and we did the glucose tolerance test, which for those of you who are unfamiliar with prenatal testing, is basically to check to see if I have Gestational Diabetes. Well, I am happy to report that I passed the test and do not have GB. I have been having seriously intense Braxton Hick’s contractions, about 2-3 per hour, and they are very uncomfortable. I actually get short of breath and my heart starts to race. I had no idea that with your second pregnancy these contractions are worse, but the more women I talk to the more I’m finding out that this is the norm. I guess my uterus knows what’s up this time around and has decided to do daily calisthenics!

Baby is moving in less chaotic movements now and more powerful punches, kicks, and flips are being felt. The midwife said she is head down and I’m suspecting spends a lot of time on the right side of my uterus because of the way I feel her movements. Sometimes she can actually move my whole belly with a flip! It’s strange and funny to see my belly jerk to one side, especially while I’m in public. I look forward to the updates from her parents as she grows; I bet she will be an active little girl. 

I had a question from a friend about breastfeeding after birth and as far as I know I won’t be breastfeeding her because her mama is going to try to start lactating before she gets here so she can start nursing her right away. I will pump the colostrum and they (the IP’s) will either give it to her in a dropper or the IM will use a supplemental feeder, like the one shown below. I’m so glad that they intend on breastfeeding and I hope that they have great success! 

Zeppelin and I will be going to Wyoming next week to visit the IP’s and spend a few days with them (did I already mention this?). We are so excited! It will be wonderful to be able to share this pregnancy with them, even if only for a few days. I want them to feel her kicks and talk to her and do all those normal pregnancy things that soon-to-be-parents do. They are having a get together at their home with a lot of their friends and family while I’m there. It should be a blast! Hopefully the weather there is as mild as the weather we’ve been having in the NW this summer. Pregnant me has been enjoying the low 80 degree days and cool nights.

Well, I suppose that’s all for now. I am including a couple of belly pics from this week. Don't laugh, they are before we went swimming and I'm in a bikini. I sort of remind myself of a whale...

I’m thinking my next post will be a Q&A so please ask questions if you have any.

XOXO

Lady Stork.

28 weeks

28 weeks