To all followers... you are invited....

Since "My Pregnancy Journal" was focused on my pregnancy, which is over now, I will no longer be updating this blog.
Thanks to all who followed me during this wonderful journey and encouraged me to stay motivated.
To all of my followers, you are invited to continue to read about our life as a family of four by visiting my personal blog, "A world of my own", which I update weekly. It is wonderful to read all comments and kinds words! Click here to begin following that blog.
Love you all and see you on my next blog!

Induction and birth story!

I was scheduled to check in at the hospital on 07/15 at 8pm to start a Cervidil induction.... so I went in with Iggy, did all the paperwork and started to wait.. After 5 long hours of waiting and not getting checked in, I asked what was going on and they told me the hospital had no beds available for inductions... so we decided to go home.
On 07/16, we got a call from one of the hospital nurses at 5am and were asked to check in since some beds had become available... great!
We got to the hospital at around 6:30am, were checked in and put in a room. After all the basic paperwork and procedures, I was checked and was told that I was 2cm dilated already. Cervidil was started around 10am and after just 2 hours, I was checked again and told I was about 4cm, so the doctor said I could get an epidural and she would break my water to speed things up. I agreed and the epi was given.. at this point I didn't feel any pain so it was more of an elective epidural... I sat, watched TV, went online and spoke to some visitors as I waited for time to pass.. I was rather comfortable....
Around 8:30pm, I started feeling my contractions, which were strong, but not that painful... my doctor got called in and I was at 10cm already.. I was amazed about how fast thing had progressed... Around 9:05pm, I was ready to push... so I did... I pushed 5 times and out she came.. born exactly at 09:20pm, she weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 18 1/2 in long... She is beautiful and perfect in every way and I'm so happy my labor went so well....
Thanks everyone for following my pregnancy blog all this time, thanks for all the kind comments and advice.
For those of you who are interested in following my blog and our life as a family of four, you can do so by visiting my personal blog, titled "A world of my own" , which I update weekly.
I can't believe this journey is over and I'm looking forward to our new life!

Week 38

Week 38 was "ok" considering the fact that I'm on the home stretch and I've grown increasingly anxious with the sole thought of labor...

I'm 39 weeks, being induced tonight and I can't help but be excited, nervous, confused and many things at the same time....

The week went by fairly fast with no major complaints/events other than full blown heartburn, crazy contractions, sore boobs, swollen feet, increased fatigued and a quick trip to the hospital! ha ha!

I've gained a total of 23 lbs during this pregnancy, which isn't too bad (I guess!)...but I'm really looking forward to losing all the weight and getting back into my regular clothes...needless to say I feel like a huge whale although the weight gain was not excessive.

My induction will start tonight at 8pm with Cervidil and then I will be given Pitocin. God willing, we will have a baby by tomorrow afternoon if not earlier... fingers crossed! ;)

Hopefully my next post will be about Gaby's birth story and some more exciting news....

Trip to L&D

I woke up this morning and was having intense pain in my lower pelvis. I took a shower a felt a bit better so I went out to take Olivia to her babysitter.
As I was driving there, I started feeling a sharp pain in my abdomen that was stretching to my back... it was NOT a good feeling...
I called my mom and she encouraged me to go to the hospital and get checked out. I also called Iggy and he left work to come with me to the hospital.
I was taken to Labor & Delivery and remained there for about an hour or so, begging the nurse to let me come home since I already had my mind set up for tomorrow's induction.
Turns out, I was having some mild contractions, which were not strong enough and I was in fact sent home. According to the nurse, the baby's head moved out of my pelvis and I'm not dilated at all! Oh well... I guess the Cervidil will have to do its job right and Gaby's head will have to re-engage. I saw my doctor at the hospital and he was still very hopeful about tomorrow's induction....!
Please pray for a quick and easy induction/delivery.

10 days until my due date!!

As most of you know, my countdown has been reduced since I will be having an induction. However, I wanted to point out that there are only 10 DAYS til my actual due date... so even if I was to be pregnant for the whole time... I would only have to wait about 10 days! how... amazing!! and EXCITING!!!!!!!...and even more exciting the fact that in reality, there are only 3 DAYS til baby!!!!

Exciting doctor's appointment: a date has been set...

So... after much thinking and consideration, we have decided to induce at 39 weeks...that means that baby Gaby will be here in ONE WEEK!!!
I had a doctor's appointment today and it went great. I spoke with my doctor about how uncomfortable I've been feeling and she suggested we make a plan. She did a cervical exam and noticed that the baby's head is really low and the baby is ready. She suggested I schedule a "Cervidil" induction for the 15th at night, so that the baby is born on the 16th. The plan is to go into the hospital at 8pm on Wednesday to ripen my cervix and then be put on Pitocin to bring on the contractions. This is the same procedure I had done when Olivia was born.
My doctor seems to think that this will be a fast and easy induction since Olivia's induction only took 9 hours... so let's hope she's right!
I know this is what I wanted, however, I can't help but feel a bit sad about it. I'm so emotional right now... so many things are going through my mind. Not only will we be a family of four within a week, but also we will have to spend Olivia's birthday at the hospital. I wonder if I'll be able to love my kids the same, or if I'll be able to handle having two kids.... it's weird... yet exciting...
Please pray for us!

Week 37

Only 15 dates left to my due date and I gotta say I'm happy about it! I am SO miserable already and the heat is not making it any easier!

This week was rough because of the crazy heartburn and swelling of my hands and feet. I officially don't have any shoes to wear because my feet are so swollen, so I have to walk barefoot as much as I can so that I can find some comfort. Of course when I leave the house, I HAVE to wear something, so needless to say, it's a challenge to find something to put on my feet! I got a pedicure this week, so that helped a little! ;)

My belly feels huge and baby Gaby is making me very uncomfortable. She often gets stuck in my ribs and her kicks are very painful! She hasn't dropped (although I thought she had), and I know this because breathing is a HUGE task as I often have to switch positions to be able to feel a little better!

My boobs hurt like hell as well and I've developed "pregnancy induced" Carpal Tunnel syndrome, which makes my hands numb and it's very painful!

I went swimming yesterday and that made me feel a bit better!

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to check for progress! So.... let's hope for some good news!