Clare comes home!

I'm sorry that I have not posted an update since Clare's arrival, but we had a little bit of delay in bringing her home and I'm just now catching up. Clare stayed in the hospital's Intensive Care Nursery for an additional 7 days as a result of "dusky spells" that she had during the few days following her birth. These episodes caused her to have a low oxygen level, but she also self recovered from them. The last episode happened on Monday (2 days after her birthday) and the hospital requires a 7 day observation after the last one. She is absolutely fine now. Brian and I were very worried in the beginning but after the doctors ruled out every possible issue, it was determined that she had just had difficulty making the transition from breathing inside to being outside. We were fortunate that we were able to stay with her each night with the exception of two. Presbyterian Hospital has a "Parents' Place" room which serves as a hotel room for parent's with children in the Intensive Care Nursery. So, now all is well and we were able to bring her home on Memorial Day.

Our beautiful daughter has definitely made an impact already. I can't help but tear up looking at her. She is amazing! Right now, Brian is sitting across from me holding her while she sleeps - that too makes me cry. I am so in love and so thankful that Brian is a part of this with me. We've been home since Monday and so far we're all doing great. Clare is pretty easygoing with the exception of a few evening outbursts. We went to our first pediatrician visit yesterday. She is continuing to gain weight. When we left the hospital, she was 7 lbs. 4 oz. She was back up to 7 lbs. 7 oz. She is eating well and sleeping a ton. She does not like to sleep in the cradle in our room and has spent the last several nights sleeping on my chest while I recline in the chair in the nursery. I have slept in my bed for a total of 6 hours in 2 weeks and I'm starting to miss it.

Brian's parents and his sister, Susan, spent the weekend at our house. They were lifesavers - they did laundry, fed us, did yard work. Clare's grandfather planted a Japanese maple in our yard while they were here - it's Clare's tree! I just wish we'd actually had Clare home for their visit. Clare's grandmother and aunt spent a lot of time with me at the hospital holding her and sitting with me while I nursed her.

My sister arrived yesterday and has been cooking up a storm since she got here. She is feeding us and taking care of me. We took Clare for her first walk today. I was surprised at the amount of energy it took for me just to walk around the block.

Ana Clare Piascik has made her debut!

Ana Clare arrived by c-section on Saturday, May 17th at 12:14 AM. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz and is 20 inches long. I'm a little biased, but she is absolutely beautiful. I'll post more later.

No birthday today!

Today is the official due date and there is no sign of Baby P. We just spent 2-1/2 hours at the doctors office. I had an ultrasound and another non-stress test. The baby looks fine. She is measuring 9lbs. 2oz., so that raises a bit of concern because they are generally one pound more or less than the ultrasound estimate. Either way - she's big. I'm going back tomorrow at 12:30 to have one more non-stress test. She was a little uncooperative today and wanted to sleep through the whole thing.

My doctor is on call tomorrow, so I'll get to talk to her about where we go from here. I'm not dilating yet, so that limits the induction opportunities. Basically, if I'm induced at this point the chances of a c-section are very high. I told the doctor that from the beginning that induction was not something I wanted to do. I'm not miserable and don't see any need to rush anything unless it was medically necessary. Since we have a few issues - my blood pressure is still a concern, her size is a potential issue, I'm now officially overdue, etc., we'll have a little more direction once we talk to my doctor tomorrow.

Otherwise, I'm feeling okay. I've now hit the 3 week mark for bedrest and asked if I could go for a walk and was told "heck no" by the doctor, so I am back to the couch. My back is starting to bother me, but other than that, I'm just uncomfortable. I still believe that I could go a few more days.

Nothing happening...

Today's appointment was fairly uneventful. I had another NST which was good - the baby is moving and the heartbeat is good. My BP was 140/80 - the higher number can be attributed to stress (maybe Brian's driving?). I have had a couple of headaches which is a little bit of a concern. If I have one tomorrow, then I'm supposed to call the doctor and go in again. I also have to go to the drugstore on Saturday and check my own BP just to be safe.


I'm having lots of irregular, mostly painless, contractions - maybe two or three an hour. It's not worth counting them. The doctor told me he knew of a woman who actually counted 3000 contractions before she even went into labor. I laughed and asked if she was on bedrest, too. I've thought all along that my due date should be May 9th (tomorrow). We'll see if anything happens. I feel like I could go anytime, but I'm not overly anxious. Brian would like to get through the weekend at least. He has a lot going on for work. The on-call schedule for my OB practice is not particularly to my liking, but I guess I don't have much control over that. My regular doctor isn't on call until next Friday (16th). She said she would try to be at my delivery if she could - since she's known me since I was single. I'm one of her first patients since she began practicing. This weekend - another practice is taking the on calls, so I could end up with a stranger delivering her.

Today's update

I went to the doctor yesterday and had an NST (non-stress test). The baby is doing well. My blood pressure is back up - I suspect it really never went down. I continue to be on bedrest. I have to go back on Monday and Thursday next week. There are no signs of me going into labor anytime soon. I asked Dr. L about her size and she said she could be a pound smaller or larger either way, so I'm hoping smaller. But, a friend pointed out that the larger she is the less we'll have to worry about her weight gain once she's born (as far as eating, etc.)

I'm definitely in nesting mode, but can't do much unless Brian is home to order around. He's doing an awesome job taking care of me and indulging my requests. He put the pack and play together last night. It's huge - I think it will now end up in the sunroom because otherwise it will really be an obstacle. Her cradle is ready - all that took was putting the pad and sheet on and putting a blanket over it for now.

BP update

My OB called Monday evening and told me she wanted me to come in Tuesday morning instead of waiting until Wednesday. Brian had a meeting in Greensboro and I was hoping he would be able to go with me, but Dr. L said that I could drive myself. I had an appointment with the on call doctor Tuesday morning and it went well. My blood pressure was back to normal - but, I do have my doubts because I think the nurse that took it is clueless, but that's another blog.

They also did a non-stress test on the baby. For those that don't know, this is a 30 minute fetal monitoring test where they look for fetal movement, track the heartbeat and monitor any contractions. That went well. Then, I had an ultrasound where they took measurements of her head circumference, abdominal circumference and length of her thigh bone. Very interesting! We verified that she is indeed a girl - I've been having thoughts about her coming out a boy. The measurements indicate that, as of Tuesday, she is over 8 lbs.

I go back this morning for another NST and an ultrasound for a biophysical profile of the baby. I think this measures the number of breaths she takes over a period of time and several other things. I'll update later. I will be seeing my own doctor today, so I can ask more questions and get a better idea of where we are and what to expect over the next two weeks or so.

I am doing well with the bedrest and haven't gone insane yet. I will say that I'm tired of trying to find something good on TV. I think I'll try reading today instead. Brian is also working from home today, so I'll at least have some human interaction.