First 24 hours home

We have officially been home with Jackson for over 24 hours now......it has been quite an eventful 24 hours but we are making it! The first night with the baby was rough, we all were sleeping at 9:30, Jackson included until he decided to wake up at 10:00pm, just 30 minutes after we had put our heads to the pillows. We did our routine feeding with him (he is doing great at the breast feeding now) and we expected him to do what he did in the hospital, eat and then go to sleep for three hours.......not the case last night. He was awake and fussy from 10:00pm until 4:30am STRAIGHT. What a way to break us in as parents!!! We both took turns with him pacing the house, rocking, feeding, burping, giving gas drops, etc. and FINALLY at 4:30 am, after I had been sleeping for an hour, Jon got him down and we all slept soundly until 7:30 or so. Jon and I both jumped awake around 7:30 surprised that we had been able to sleep for a few hours at a stretch and JOn turned to me and said "where is the baby"?? I said "what do you mean, you had him last, what did you do with him"?? Of course, he was in the bassinet sleeping where Jon had left him, but it was such a wild night, neither of us was surprised at our startled awakening this morning. The day started out normal, but my neck and headache that I had been experiencing since we left the hospital got worse and worse all day today, so bad that it was making me throw up and also I could not be in the light, and could only lay down in bed with ice packs on my head and neck. Luckily, Jon had the smarts to page my doctor and he called back and said I had a "spinal headache". I did not know there was such a thing but now that I have had one, I do not wish this on ANYONE. It is a complication that occurs in about 5% of people who get an epidural. Apparently, when they removed the epidural, they nicked something in my spinal cord and caused a leak in fluid causing all the pressure and pain in my head and neck. I had just thought I pulled a muscle during delivery, but this was just so bad. I ended up having to go back to the hospital to the ER to have the on call anesthesiologist due a procedure that is called a blood patch. NOT FUN, basically they insert the epidural needle over again at the original spot it was put in, go up my spine to a certain point, then draw blood from my body, and insert my own blood into the spinal column to "patch the leak". It was quite an experience, but about 3 hours after leaving my house with Dan and Nancy who thankfully could take me and help us out so Jon could stay with Jackson, I was on the mend and back at home tonight. The pain is gone now, it is like night and day.......thank goodness Jon called the doctor. We have gotten the baby on a good schedule today and are hopeful for a better night tonight and for sure a better day tomorrow with me feeling back to normal. We'll post some pictures of our time at home tomorrow!!

We're Coming Home!!!!!

Jenny is still in a lot of pain yet, but making progress everyday. As for Jackson, he is doing much much better. He passed his hearing test this morning and is now feeding on a more regular schedule. Obviously taking after his dad! Here are some of the recent pics from the family and friends, also a few this morning of him with eyes open for a change.

More Photos...........

Jackson Case Peshke

1:39PM... 7.3 lbs... 20.5 inches

He is finally here. Here are some shots of him from today. We had some scares just after birth. He grabed his cord on the way out and cause a drop in flow thus causing him to gasp for fluid, he swallowed a lot of meconium. He spent about 4 ours in NICU and they were able to vacuum it out and get his lungs clean and is now doing great. Jenny is staying at the hospital and I am home to watch the dogs.

A quick synapsis of the day. We got to the hospital at 2:00am she had contractions until 7:00am. Then they broke the water and started pitocin at 9:00. By 12:00 she was fully dialated and by 1:39 it was all over. Jenny did a wonderful job and is now recovering comfortably (or at least as comfortably as possible).

Here are some pics:

Tomorrow is the big day!

We saw the doctor this morning and I am currently one centimeter, and the doctor said the baby's head has dropped much more from last week and is now pressing on the cervix so we are close. I have also been having some mild contractions and a lot of severe back pain all day so who knows, maybe we are closer than this morning. We are to report to the hospital tomorrow morning at 7am and they are going to start the induction process. They will use some tablets to make the cervix continue to dilate (sp?) and then based on how long that takes and how my body reacts to that, they will start the pitosin to get contractions and labor going. We could have a baby boy as early as later tomorrow, or as late as sometime on Thursday. We'll keep everyone posted as things progress:) Finally...the big day is almost upon us!!!

Doctor's Appointment

I am not as good with the detail on the post so bare with me. We are going into see Dr. Leavitt this morning with what I hope to post later as good news. Jenny has started to see some signs of labor over night (Back pain, contractions although slight, and some spotting). The appointment is at 10:30, and we hope that he admits her to the hospital tonight. Please keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. To the Grandma's I have walked the dogs, packed the bags, got the trash out, notified the dog sitters, called the cleaning lady, so everything is under control.

Jon

The end is nearing!!

So, I am STILL pregnant, but there is light at the end of the tunnel…finally!! The Dr. called today, my second round of test results from yesterday came back great, even better than the first so I def. do not have preeclampsia, just pregnancy induced high BP which was a relief. He said that if I do not go into labor on my own before Wed. the 28th, he wants to see me on Wed. am. If at that point, I am not dilated, he will admit me to the hospital right then and there so I can be prepped for induction with a cervical tablet to cause me to dilate. If I am dilated, he will schedule me to be induced first thing on Thursday morning……..as long as we both tolerate the induction ok, there will be no c-section, thank goodness!

So, either way, at least the end is in sight. I don’t know why he is just taking the baby on the due date if he does not come on his own before that, unlike what he did for a couple of other people that I know who recently had babies and had to wait a week past their due dates, but I really do not care! I am so excited to have a “deadline” for the birth……this is how I operate in life with my job so I am very date oriented, We are SO HAPPY to get this news! Now watch, now that all this is squared away, the baby will just come on his own before Wednesday!

I will keep you posted.tomorrow is my last day in the office as I am supposed to not be driving and be on bed rest. The other good news is that regardless of when I go out of work at this point, my office is being really awesome and not counting my maternity leave until the start of the next pay period which begins Monday June 2nd so I am home next week, but NOT docked for any of that time!! I feel very very fortunate to work for the firm that I do:)

three years ago today.....

Today is our 3rd anniversary! In all the commotion and anticipation with the pregnancy, we both almost completely forgot this special day. I never thought I would be doing a 24 hour urine collection test on my anniversary......how romantic.....but we have to do what we have to do. I will take it easy today, complete the test, work from home, and then we have reservations to go out to dinner tonight at a nice restaurant on the beach called The Tides. We've never been as it is a bit pricey, but I have a gift certificate from a client so no better time to use it than the present!! I don't think we'll be going out much this summer once Jackson is here. It is hard to believe it has been three years already, we have had a great time and are ready for even more fun once we become parents.

and the Dr. said.........

Here is the low down:


I have to do ANOTHER 24 hour urine collection test from home tomorrow. That is NOT fun. The bp was up again today, higher than before, and that is with being on the bp medicine. I have to do the test, based on the results, he will make me strictly enforce the bed rest or worse, stick me in the hospital and monitor me for cervical change or do a c-section if it is bad enough, who knows. I don't see why he just cannot induce me now, but he said the cervix is still closed as of today, he said it is softening, but no dilation yet so not inducable. Plus, I think the induction causes BP to go up so that is a concern. The first time they took the BP it was 140/74, second time it was 130/90. It is that bottom number that is really not good. If there are proteins in the urine (we should know by Thursday afternoon) I will likely be spending some time in the hospital before the baby is going to be born, ugh. This end part is getting to be rough. I feel fine, just restless and anxious for this to be over with. I had all those cramps yesterday and then it never amounted to anything last night or today. They did another fetal non stress test today and the baby was doing fine. He was asleep for the first 20 minutes, then they gave me a capri sun drink and he woke right up and started kicking away. It was cool to see the print out, you could completely see the difference between him sleeping and being awake and the heart beat was strong the whole time. The doctor also checked the fluid to make sure that was not low, no problems there either.

I am working from home tomorrow, I turn in the collection Thursday morning and go for yet another round of blood work, then I will go into the office for a bit and based on those results, we see what happens on Friday. I am trying my best to make it through the week at work, I will be done after Friday and officially start the leave on Tuesday so I get credit for the holiday on MOnday. If I start the leave now, Monday just counts as a regular day for me and I will lose like half a week at this point. It all depends on if I get stuck in tHE hospital though. We'll update everyone Thursday afternoon when we have the test results back.

still no baby!

So, we are now within the due date range, today is May 20th........finally, only 9 more days and then I can be induced if this baby does not just come on his own! We thought maybe Jackson was going to send us to the hospital last night after some cramps, backache and upper leg pains all day yesterday and last night, but the night was uneventful and we were disappointed to wake up to a relatively normal Tuesday morning with both of us going to work!! I even slept on a towel last night and set out my clothes in case we had to dress for the hospital in the middle of the night, things never seem to happen when I am prepared.........why is that!!??

Jon says this is God's way of teaching us both patience.....something we don't have too much of, especially these days. We see the doctor again this afternoon for another fetal non stress test and a check up. Hopefully I have made some progress and dilated and the baby has dropped down more since last week Tuesday. We'll give an update later.

JCP Pregnancy photos are here!

I got the pregnancy photos back this morning......I emailed them all out to most everyone that will likely be checking the blog via snapfish this morning, here are a few of our favorites!!

still nothing!

We saw the doctor again today. We also did a fetal non stress test for the first time. The baby passed the test with flying colors, great strong heartbeat, and lots of movement as they wanted to see. He is doing fine in the uterus, maybe that is why he seems to want to stay in there and is NOT ready to come out and play just yet!! My BP is still elevated, today it was in the high 130's over high 70's, even with being on the BP meds. The urine was clear though and also even I can tell that the swelling in my feet and ankles is better than last week. It is so random, one day things look great, the next day, not exactly great. One day at a time right now, that is how we are looking at things. So, for now, I am back out of the pre-eclampsia woods and just supposed to be taking it easy and staying as mellow as possible while working, etc. No new updates on dilation or anything. I see the doctor again next week Tuesday, maybe I will go into labor before that!! I have had a lot of false labor contractions these past few days, but none that are the real thing.

More waiting

We saw the doctor this afternoon and the protein level in my urine from the urine test was at the high end of normal, but nothing like he was expecting based on my Blood pressure and swollen feet and legs. The blood pressure was still elevated today and the swelling is still there, although he thought it looked a bit better than on Tuesday. So, now we continue to wait and I am supposed to basically do nothing when I am home except for sit or lay with my feet up and keep work to a minimum.....does anyone really think I am going to just be able to sit around??!! I am still going to go to work and finish out the remaining projects that I have and just try to keep stress low. I don't have any court appearances or upcoming transactions like a closing or will signing so that is good. The doctor will continue to monitor everything closely as he said this is still a problem and not likely to just disappear. I have another appointment on Tuesday. He did put me on some blood pressure medicine so hopefully that helps things out. I got my first cervical exam today........absolutely nothing going on, what a let down! I was so deflated when I got home and just worn out from the events of the week. We were really hoping to have some progress by now that would indicate labor would be coming soon, instead we got nothing of the sort. He said it could be as much as 4 more weeks as first babies are usually late........this child definitely does not have my personality if he takes 4 more weeks, that is for sure! We'll keep you posted. We're pretty tired of being in this state of limbo, it is time for something to start happening!!

no news yet

No news yet, I turned in my "collection" yesterday first thing at the lab, and had blood work drawn. The doctor should get the results today and go over them with us during our 2:15 appointment. We'll update everyone more later!!

Possible complications

I had my latest OB appointment today and the Dr. did not like the looks of my feet that have continued to swell, and also my blood pressure was elevated. Nothing in the office test was wrong with the urine test, however due to the other symptoms and the suspicions of toxemia or preeclampsia (sp?) I have to work from home tomorrow and do a 24 hour urine collection test.......not pleasant, I will spare you all the details. After the test, I take the "collection" to the lab, they test it and they also test my blood. If there are problems, I will likely be admitted to the hospital and/or put on bed rest, who knows. We'll just have to see. I hope that if there is a problem, they will not make me sit around and will just induce labor so we don't have to worry. For now I am scheduled for another Blood Pressure check with the doctor on Friday at 1:00, I am sure that will depend though on the results of the other tests that I will do Thursday morning. He should have the results by Thursday afternoon so we'll see. We are both pretty keyed up from all of this so please keep us in your thoughts. We are scrambling to get bags packed and things done around the house in case I do get put into the hospital at the end of the week.

On a more positive note, the doctor did indicate that he thought the baby had dropped down more and his head is now down in the pelvis, no longer floating so he is head down and will stay that way for the remainder of the pregnancy. Also, we got more wonderful surprises in the mail this week from our Exchange Club of Vero Beach friends, and also our neighbor brought by the most beautiful diaper cake I have ever seen. I have posted pictures so everyone can see!

The Waiting Game

No news to report this week really........just waiting around for Jackson to make his arrival! More gifts and wonderful things have continued to arrive in the mail all week, this time from our friends at The Exchange Club. We feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family and I don't think we will be needing much as far as supplies go by the time Jackson finally gets here! We have about 3-3.5 weeks to go, so really it could be any time now. As best I can tell, the baby still has not fully "dropped" "engaged" whatever medical term you choose to use. I see our doctor again on Tuesday so we'll see what he says. These last few weeks are a killer, I have been really tired, sleep is hard to come by, and my feet are still swollen, but hopefully we will have a baby soon and it will be worth it. I got everything organized at work this past week in case Jackson makes an early arrival. All of my files are in order, etc. I have a closing to do on Thursday of next week and after that most major projects and transactions I am working on are behind me. Jon and I are getting so excited to meet this little boy...we'll keep everyone posted and as soon as we get the maternity photos, we'll post some of our favorites. Hope everyone has a nice weekend.......Jon is at a golf tourney this morning, I have to run errands, grocery shop etc. then we have a surprise 30th b-day tonight for a friend. Tomorrow we were given VIP passes for a tennis tournament at a local club so we'll check that out in the afternoon, hopefully it is not too hot!!