A determined little boy

On Sunday March 25, 2012 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was 7 weeks early. Here is his birth story.

Friday evening my husband and I decided to have a date night. We decided to go out to dinner and go to the movies to see The Hunger Games. While sitting in the restaurant I felt little "gushes" with every move I made. I immediately thought I was having the unfortunate pregnancy leaking. I went to the bathroom and thought I was good from there. We went to the theater and while in the movie I was having the same sporadic gushing feeling. I went to the bathroom during probably the most climatic scene in the movie and again thought I was ok. I'm not going to lie, I was so embarrassed by this that I didn't even tell my husband what was happening. When we got home I changed my clothes and went to the bathroom where I found that I was starting to bleed. Naturally I thought I was losing my mucus plug throughout dinner and movie and started my "bloody show". I was relieved by this and went to bed knowing there was nothing to fear since I wasn't having contractions. 

The following morning I found that I was bleeding a little bit more so I geared up if you will and went out with my mother to meet my sister for a shopping trip. While out with my sister I explained to her what I had been experiencing and she said it sounded like my water had broke. This was something I had not considered since I was still 7 weeks away from my due date. I was feeling fine and had absolutely no pain but the bleeding continued and that was making me more and more concerned. Finally while we were at lunch I decided to call my doctor who instructed me to head to the hospital for examination. 

We arrived there about 3 p.m. They hooked me up to a few machines and saw that I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes and I was still feeling nothing. They ran some tests and decided I was fine but wanted to keep me longer for examination. They also ordered an ultra sound and saw that my amniotic fluids were at a normal level. I asked if they were going to check to see if I was dilated and they said they wouldn't to prevent more bleeding. A few hours later the nurse decided to give me some medication to stop these contractions that I wasn't feeling. 30 minutes later she gave me another dose because I was still having them. Guess what happened next? I went into hard labor. The nurse was instructed not to check for dilation but was having a feeling she should anyways. She did and wouldn't you know it, I was 5cm dilated!!! She informed the rest of the staff that I was in labor and ordered my epidural. Needless to say I was IN SHOCK! I just kept saying I can't be in labor, I haven't even bought diapers yet and I have 2 baby showers next weekend!!! I was pretty much a panicked mess until the anesthesiologist arrived and sunk me into a serene hot tub feeling (gotta love those epidurals). 

I was really hoping that the epidural would slow down labor so I could get some rest and emotionally prepare myself for what was coming but that didn't happen. Once I went into labor it only took 4 hours to get to 10 and start pushing. I pushed for 10 minutes and out came the most beautiful little boy ever. 

The nurses told me that because I was only 33 weeks along I shouldn't have delivered at their hospital but because I was already so far along in labor they couldn't transfer me. So instead they called Mercy San Juan and requested an ambulance to transport my new baby to proper care - the neonatal intensive care unit. It was beyond heartbreaking not being able to hold, snuggle, and nurse my new baby but I knew in his condition he was going into the right care. I watched my baby get wheeled away in a isolette gurney while I waited in agony to be released from the hospital so I could go visit him. I had to wait until I had been there for 24 hours so by 3p.m. the day I gave birth I was walking out the door and on my way to the other hospital.  

I knew my entire pregnancy that I would be early. The way he moved and stretched led me to believe he wasn't very comfortable in the womb. There is no way to be certain but I would bet it was his movements that ruptured my water in the first place. Regardless of what happened we were very excited to welcome little Broderick Harley Madsen into the world. 

This was when I thought I was just there for observation 

Oh wait, SURPRISE!!! 

Broderick's stats 

His little swollen face

On the gurney leaving the hospital 

Sweet angel face 

Finally meeting my baby 

Daddy takes a turn 

Have you ever seen a baby born with a hair style? Ours was! 

The cute sign a nurse made for him in the NICU

My pregnancy survival

I am 30 weeks today and I can't believe that my "d-day" is so quickly approaching! Being pregnant is hard work, especially when you're older. Not that 28 is old but I had my last when I was 19 and the difference is quite drastic! I wanted to post some of my favorite things that have helped me survive pregnancy thus far. Starting with:

Canned Chicken. Everyone knows that you can't have seafood while you're pregnant and not just for the mercury but for the bacteria as well. Did you know that included processed lunch meat? It has been so hard cutting that out of my diet so this has been a great substitute. All I'd do is strain the chicken, throw in mayo, celery, red onions, and maybe some alfalfa sprouts and voila - a delicious pregnancy approved sandwich. I've eaten countless cans of this stuff - thank goodness they sell it at Costco!

When I was pregnant last time (age 19 mind you), I had some back pain in the very end but I never experienced the "zingers" I've had the entire stretch this time. You know, those sharp tortuous pains in the lower back? The ones that come from doing nothing and pretty much collapse you? Yeah those. Some days are definitely worse than others but this next one really helped relieve some of that pain:
Maternity Yoga 

I love this yoga movie. Its only about 30 minutes long and provides safe, helpful relief to any pains you might be having. I got it on Amazon for under $10 - can't beat that. Plus, it has a section for post pregnancy yoga which I will be doing in about 10 weeks!

My next maternity fav has been this 3-panel tank top which I wear under EVERYTHING! As you can see its completely designed for the growth throughout your entire pregnancy AND to wear after. "Pregnancy belly shape wear girdle made for any pregnant mom before, during, and after pregnancy."
 I got mine off a website called babysteals.com for about $16 but here is the direct website. LOVES IT!



I realize now that I have not posted one picture of myself pregnant. Probably because those mostly all get posted on facebook. So here is a picture taken today - 30 weeks down, 10 to go!

My secrets out...

I feel so behind in my big announcement post, especially since my secret has been out of the box for one whole week now! Deke and I discovered we are expecting a little peanut in the spring... yes that's a pregnancy test from the dollar store. Two lines means POSITIVE! 

I called the doctor a few days later and she said she wouldn't see me until I was 10 weeks along. I didn't want to make any announcements until I saw her because I have had little to NO symptoms and needed the confirmation that there was indeed something brewing. 

I shouldn't complain but a little nausea would of made it feel real. But here I am 11 weeks pregnant and still no morning sickness. *Knock on wood*

About 5 days before my appointment I was out to lunch with my sister and mom and got this fortune cookie. (sorry for the horrible quality, it was taken with my phone)

I felt it was a hit ya over the head sign that I should tell them right there and then. So I did. After the squeals of excitement my mom says "I can't believe you told us in a Panda Express!"... I had to mom, the fortune cookie told me to! 

We finally made it to the doctor and to our surprise she wanted to take an ultra sound! I was not expecting this but she likes to get the exact measurements for an accurate due date. This was a treat! 

While taking the measurements the doctor stated that she had never seen a baby in such a perfect position and sit to perfectly for measurement. My response, "So I'll finally have a well behaved child?!?" YES!

Due date May 7th