Recap of my pregnancy

This is my first blog. Thanks to a friend that suggested I start a blog about motherhood, here I am. I am not writing this because I am so self centered I believe people really want to read every little detail about my life but I really think this is a great way to express myself and get my emotions out. Plus I think it would be nice to have a place where my family and friends can easily keep up with Adrianna and all the new things she will be doing and experiencing in the coming months. I guess I can start from the beginning, from when Adrianna was first born and the events that led up to that day, July 9th, a day that I will never forget.

Ok, so my entire pregnancy was pretty normal. I was tired, hungry, tired and hungry....in that order. My changing body was making it harder for me to move around, even getting up off the couch was difficult. I joked around with Joe, my husband, that we did more and had more vacations while I was pregnant than when I wasn't. Big belly and all we went skiing in Vermont, park hopping in Disney World, sight seeing in Washington DC, helped nurse my mom back to health after a frightening but necessary surgery, explored Maine, went to ball games in Baltimore and Boston (best seats we have ever had, practically front row!)  and enjoyed every minute of our time before the baby. Here are some pictures:

Tigger and I (5 months pegnant)

My mom recovering from surgery (4 weeks pregnant)

DC with the Dolce's (7 months pregnant)

6 months pregnant...go yankees!

Those are just some pictures of the many memories we made during my pregnancy. We were just both so excited to be adding a little baby to our family that we couldn't resist spending time with our family. I was tired and swollen but I had a blast.

While we were in DC, my pregnancy had actually started to become a little difficult. The week before our trip to DC I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I took the glucose tolerance test and failed :( I had to repeat the test at the hospital and had to fast for 12 hours. I went into the hospital that day not having eaten anything since 7pm the night before. I had to have blood drawn then drink a gross sugar liquid and wait an hour. The process had to be repeated every hour for three hours....I failed miserably. Turns out the reason why I was always so exhausted was because my blood sugar was all over the place. I had to see an edocrinologist, nutritionist, and diabetes specialist just to be told three different times that I now had to limit my carb intake and check my blood sugar three times a day....yes with a finger prick. No more icecream for me =/ I did survive, however, and lost about 7 lbs. Of course just when I thought this was getting easy and I was handling my diabetes my endocrinologist decides I need insulin. Now I have to prick my finger 6 times a day and take insulin 5 times a day. Once again, things get a little more complicated...

I go to my regular OB appointment on a thursday the week before Adrianna was born and she says I now have to be seen weekly. I think "wow I am nearing the end of this pregnancy." I was excited because I had to have something called a BPP (Biophysical profile) where I would be strapped onto a monitor and the heartbeat and movement of the baby would be checked. Paired with that is an ultrasound, which I love because I get a special glimpse of my little girl. Wednesday July 7th I go in for my BPP. During my ultrasound everything seems normal. My little girl is bouncing around like crazy in there. The technician says the baby looks great but she is measuring a little small. I think nothing of that, it just didn't seem like a big deal to me. My doctor comes in and does my regular exam where she measures my belly and naunchalantly says that she is concerned about my baby measuring small and needs a second opinion. She says "I have no issues delivering you early." I was 35 weeks pregnant at the time,I had issues because I wasn't ready....I still don't think this is a big deal. I was sent to the hospital on Thursday July 8th for a level II u/s which just means it is done by maternal fetal medicine (a perinatologist). After the u/s the perinatologist says she thinks it would be a good idea to be delievered early because the baby was measuring at 30 weeks when she is suppose to be 35 weeks gestational. The perinatologist explains that my fluid level is low, and the blood flow from my placenta to the baby was also irregular which suggests that my placenta is failing to provide nutrition to the baby. They didn't know how long this had been happening which brougt them to make the decision to induce me THAT DAY! I wasn't ready! My dogs were left out of their cages because I was suppose to be home in a couple of hours. I thought to myself, "I'll go to the appointment, get my pedicure, get some food then sleep on the couch until Joe gets home then we can get my hospital bag ready." Thats right, I hadn't even packed a bag yet! Good thing I had bought everything I needed the week before. The doctor says, "Take this to labor and delivery and your OB will settle you in." Thank god my OB was on call that day and the next! So I am freaking out at this point and with good reason because if you notice I haven't mentioned anything about Joe, he was away on business and wasn't due to return until later that afternoon. I texted him right before he got on the plane with the words, "being induced come to hospital" he was a wreck the whole 3 hour flight back to MA haha! Luckily Joe has a great boss who told his wife to meet me at the hospital in order to ease my mind and keep me company throughout this whole thing. 

So I am laying on the hospital bed shaking from fear of what is to come and upset because it wasn't suppose to be like this. My parents were out of the country on vacation so I knew they were going to miss the birth. I needed my mom. Thankfully Joe's mom is wonderful and she dropped everything to come be with me throughout labor and in the delivery room with me. I just kept thinking the doctors were wrong and Adrianna was going to be born big and healthy. She had to be, my belly was huge! One day I was hanging out at home and the next I was in labor and delivery....it just didnt seem real. How could my body fail me like this? How could I fail to give my baby proper nutrition? Did I not eat enough? The doctors estimated the baby weighed 4 lbs 3 oz which put her at the 5th percentile of weight compared to other 35 week gestational babies. I didn't want to believe my baby would be born at 4 lbs. This was all on Thursday July 8th, I was admited at 10am and by 12pm I was surrounded by my support, Joe, his parents and his boss's wife. The events that took place later that afternoon and the next day deserve a blog all their own.....

I'll end it here for now. Adrianna is awake and crying, sometimes I still can't believe I am responsible for taking care of this amazingly gorgeous beautiful gift from god <3