It's a Girl!

Ironically on the day that I posted my last blog update about how my pregnancy was going - I went into labor later that day. I was one day shy of 39 weeks and had just finished my last day of work. The plan was for me to work from home for that final week so I'd be closer to the hospital (and not an hour away) in case I went into labor. Good thing I wrapped things up at work before I left the office since the week of working from home never happened!

 

 

Leaving Work - Back in 3 Months!

 

Going Into Labor

I went into labor on Saturday evening, a day shy of hitting 39 weeks. That evening we went to see the Minions movie (at 5:30pm), and as soon as the movie started I began having contractions. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks here and there, and those were usually high and above my belly button. The contractions I had during the movie were below my belly button and were sharp cramping pains, which made me realize something else was happening. I started timing them during the movie with the Full Term baby app and saw that they weren't close enough together or getting closer together, which would indicate that we should go to the hospital.

 

A few hours later when we were at home (around 8:30pm) they were getting more intense and closer and I called the hospital. Based on the information I gave the nurse she didn't think that it was time for me to come in though so we waited. Fast forward to a few more hours later around 11:30pm the pain had gotten to a point that I was really uncomfortable and the contractions were around 3-4 minutes apart so I called the hospital to let them know we were coming. We grabbed our hospital bags, asked the dogs to be good at home alone all night, and headed to UCSD.

 

Once we arrived at the hospital I was brought to a room and hooked up for monitoring. Of course as soon as I laid down in the hospital bed the contractions started going away and when they checked I was only 3cm dilated. Around 1am my OB came in and said that I could either be discharged and go home to sleep, or try walking around the hospital for a couple hours to see if that progressed the labor. I wanted to stay at the hospital because I felt like I had already reached as much pain as I could take, but didn't really want to spend the wee hours of the night walking the halls. If you know me you know I hate to walk. I'll run, but walking sucks. We decided to leave and take my doctor's suggestion to pick up some Tylenol PM and try to sleep through the night to see what happened.

 

 

Contractions Are No Fun

 

 

As we were leaving the hospital the contractions suddenly got worse. As I walked through the hospital towards the parking lot the pain became so strong that I was doubled over and could barely move. As it subsided I'd shuffle forward a little more, and then it would hit again. About 15 minutes later we finally made it to the car and drove to CVS. Once we got to CVS the pain became so intense that I was doubled over and crying in the store. Sorry David ... I'm sure the other people in the store were wondering what the heck was wrong with me. We finally got the Tylenol PM and headed back to the car, but before we could even get back on the freeway I was in so much pain I begged David to turn the car around and take me back to the hospital. When we walked into the hospital I was a mess. Crying, hunched over ... yet I refused the first wheelchair offered to me, but was smart enough to take the second.

 

It was about 2am by the time we got back to the hospital. Somehow walking to the car, driving 2 minutes to CVS, being at CVS, and driving back took an hour. They checked me again and I was now 4cm dilated which didn't seem far enough along to me (I thought I remembered hearing that you needed to be 6cm to be admitted), but they said that 1cm was a lot of progress in the course of an hour since they last saw me and I then heard the magic words ... "Would you like an epidural?" YES PLEASE!!

This was magic to my ears and I thought my pain would be over very soon. Wrong. Between being told I could get an epidural and actually receiving it two hours passed. Two hours of painful misery. The anesthesiologist who finally showed up around 4am said that he had taken longer than usual because of my medical history and that epidurals were actually contraindicated for people who have hydrocephalus (fluid build up in the brain) ... but that since I have a shunt to relieve the pressure that it was okay. I freaked out for a minute when he started explaining why I wouldn't be a candidate but was relieved to find out that it would be okay. I had already had the discussion with my OB about this and she had cleared it with my neurooncologist. I had NO desire to have a natural childbirth and had told her that if I couldn't have an epidural that I wanted a C-section.

 

Back to the epidural - I finally had it and let me tell you it was wonderful!! Within 10-15 minutes the contraction pain went away completely! I could kind of feel the contractions if I paid attention but they felt more like a warmth moving over my stomach versus intense, cramping pain. After having gone through labor I really can't understand why someone wouldn't have an epidural. The pain was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, and I hadn't even gotten to the peak of how bad it could get!  Why suffer through that?!

 

Delivery

After getting the epidural and finally calming down after a stressful night, I was able to relax and try to get some sleep while we waited for my labor to progress. David and I got to sleep from about 5-6:30am before it was time for him to go back to the apartment to get the dogs and drop them off at boarding. The place opened at 7am and since we'd be at the hospital for a couple days they needed to be cared for by someone else.

 

 

Mika & Kona Awaiting Their New Sibling

 

 

David left around 6:45am and 15 minutes later the strangest thing happened. I heard a POP and felt something strange. What was that? Was that my water breaking? With a pop? Like a water balloon? I called the nurse who checked and confirmed that my water had broken, and she also exclaimed in a startled manner that she could see the baby's head. What?? They checked me and I was 10cm dilated and I was told it was time to delivery the baby. What?? I totally freaked out because David had just left and probably wouldn't be back for 30-40 minutes and I suddenly pictured him missing the birth of our baby! The nurse assured me that most first time moms labor for an average of 2 hours and that I could wait to start pushing. Whew! David came back around 7:30am and fortunately nothing had happened yet, and I actually didn't start pushing until about 8:30am when the doctor had arrived.

 

When it was time to push I didn't know what to expect. We had watched several childbirth videos during the various classes we took and the delivery process always seemed to involve an exhausted and miserable mom who was pushing for what seemed like forever. I am happy to report that this wasn't the case. I was instructed to push each time I had a contraction (which I couldn't really feel but the nurse would tell me was coming based on the monitor), and after three sets of pushes/contractions the baby was born! Overall it took about 15 minutes and really wasn't that bad.

 

 

First Family Photo



 

 

It's A Girl!

We didn't find out the sex of the baby beforehand and were both convinced that we were having a boy. I had even bought several boy outfits for the baby even though we tried to keep things as gender neutral as much as possible. Well, when they pulled the baby out and someone said "Dad call out the sex!" we both stared dumbfounded at the baby. I was looking at the genital area very confused, wondering where the goods were for the boy. It took me a while but it finally dawned on me, I was looking at a girl! We had a girl! Our adorable little girl Eva was born at 8:48am and was 6lb 10oz and 20 1/4 inches long.

 

First Few Weeks

We stayed in the hospital for two days before getting to bring our cute little bundle of joy home. David's mom came to stay with us for the first week and his dad came for the second week and David took both weeks off as part of California's awesome Paid Family Leave plan. The weeks went by in a blur and suddenly it was time for me to be alone at home with the baby. Ack! What if I couldn't do it alone?? Fortunately it turned out okay and I found that the days go pretty quickly between feeding/burping/changing/rocking the baby and trying to do anything else in between. Aka I barely have time to eat and shower (but still get it done!) in between tending to a baby who needs to eat every 2-3 hours when the whole feeding process takes an hour itself. And sleep? What sleep?

 

 

First Day Solo - I Did It!

 

 

Working Out

I have been really anxious to start working out again and to run for the first time since January, but unfortunately my doctor said that I needed to wait until my 6-week check-up before I can start exercising again. Boo. I'm tempted to sneak in a light elliptical workout this week since that seems pretty mild compared to running ... but we'll see. Patience is not a virtue I possess but I've made it through 4 1/2 weeks, what is 1 1/2 more right? I gained 30lbs with my pregnancy which was right on track with what was recommended and I was happy to see that after coming home from the hospital I had already dropped 12lbs. Another 8lbs came off pretty quickly in the following two weeks but now I've kind of hit a plateau. If you do the math that means that I'm still 10lbs overweight, and sadly I still can't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes. (I tried, it wasn't pretty. Can we say major muffin top?) I'm looking forward to being able to workout again and lose the last 10lbs and gain back some muscle. I feel like mush!

 

 

20lbs Down, 10lbs To Go!

 

 

Eva's Ready to Run Too!

 

 

Baby Gifts

Since coming home we have been showered with baby gifts. It seemed like almost every other day we had a new package in the mail with some cute gift for little Eva. We've received some great books, beautiful blankets, and adorable outfits for Eva.

 

 

Eva's First Hello Kitty Outfits

 

MRI & My Health

Once the baby was born and was healthy a lot of my stress turned back to my own health. As I had mentioned in my initial blog post about my pregnancy, pregnancy has been shown to progress brain cancer in a percentage of patients. They think that it may be due to the change in hormones and blood volume, but aren't sure. It was a risk we knew about going in, and was something that I have stressed out about for the past nine months. The plan during my pregnancy was to have one brief, no-contrast MRI during my pregnancy, and then a full MRI with contrast a few weeks after I delivered.

 

In the weeks following delivery I started having headaches again. They weren't the same kind as the ones I had before I was diagnosed with cancer, and they were in a slightly different location than before, but still they worried me. I'm sure everyone has headaches from time to time, but for me any type of head pain is completely alarming. I tried not to worry too much and focused on positive thoughts, and during my MRI I only had a mild bout of tears while lying in the machine fearing for the worst and worrying about the future.

 

Fortunately a couple days after my MRI when we met with my neurooncologist we received the good news. My tumor hadn't changed since my last full MRI in September of last year before I was pregnant. What a relief!! I'm now back to my regular 3-month MRI schedule and will be back again for my next check-up in November. Until then, we are back to enjoying life and loving the addition of our new little baby to our family! We love you little Eva!