The time has come....

Our baby is over a month old....as of today actually she's one month and six days old....not that either of us are counting or anything....

She's gotten so strong these last few weeks...holding her head up longer and actually showing some control of it..

She has also found her voice...she can cry when she needs to...which isn't very often.

As we continue on our way through parenting I am quite satisfied with how things have gone...we are still cloth diapering (thanks Carin and Denise!) and we have tried a few baby wearing slings and like being able to wear her places instead of carrying her either on her own or in a car seat. Her stroller has been used though and that was fun..that thing corners on a dime!!! LOL

Our family has some pretty big news to announce and we figured this was the best way to let people know.

As most of you know, we have been unemployed for some time now and even though we have both had a few interviews even those calls have stopped....we can't keep the house(luckily it was a land contract and we are working it out). Lansing has always been a place we have loved. We have family and friends here and we love seeing everyone lots. We have tried and tried to make the best for our family here and now our family is bigger and requires a lot more...and Lansing can't seem to provide that anymore.

So we have sat down and made a decision...as a family - Heather and I - we made a decision to give a try to a move that we have always dreamed of doing. So at the end of August we will be picking up our family and moving to the Pacific Northwest. We will be staying with my parents and grandma and crashing Heather's cousin's sometimes too.

This is something Heather and I have always wanted to do...move to Washington and the time seems to have been thrust into our laps. This will give us a chance to find jobs in a state that's in better shape than Michigan, and it will give Heather a chance to legally adopt Lucy which is an amazing thing.

We hope everyone will be able to come visit at some point. Once we have a place of our own, our doors will always be open to friends and family visits....we'll take you to the ocean, the mountains, camping, hiking, and anything else you would like to do!!!

Please keep us in your thoughts and hopes as we make this big transition in our lives.

Jessica

Long Time No Blog

Wow...didn't realize how long it had been since we last blogged as a family!! I hope the blogs during labor kept everyone updated on what was happening...it was a crazy process but we have our baby girl safe and sound and that is the most important thing.

We are learning alot these first few weeks....a few highlights for your enjoyment....

We have learned the virtue of cloth diapers over disposables. The cloth ones hold ALOT more!! not saying that we don't change her often...but our major blowout was cause we forgot we had used a disposable instead of a cloth and she pooed all over her Great Grandma Burton....oops....

We have learned that even if the kid just ate..half an hour later she can actually be hungry again....

A boppy pillow is really a necessity!! It can not only be used to feed....but to help prop up tired arms while holding the baby, great for putting the laptop on when the baby is sleeping, wonderful for resting a book on while feeding as well as a great holding spot for the blackberry so I can check my facebook at three in the morning during a late night feeding break! Life without the boppy would be a bit tougher.....

We never knew how important it was to have a change of clothes for us when we are out...until we had to cut a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Church short because of needing to go home and change.

We had always heard that when you have a kid, you won't be able to believe the amount of stuff that you need to pack up to go anywhere....and dang if that isn't true!! We have filled the trunk of the car for an overnight visit...now that does include our stroller and the portable crib..but just a trip to the store involves checking the diaper bag, making sure we have at least a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, the bag for the dirty diapers, changing mat...the list keeps going. The funny part is that sometimes the items you know were in the bag have managed to make their way to other areas of the house.

Getting a task done around the house takes alot longer....We feel accomplished if we can pick up a little, don't have dirty dishes everywhere and get a load of laundry done....this would be a seriously great day.....let alone change diapers, feed, hold, burp etc for the baby.

The learning about how to take care of our little girl has been amazing. We have been blessed by family and friends who are willing to help out with things other than just holding Lucy...there aren't enough words to say thank you to those who helped us do common household chores while we were in the hospital and once we had come home....

We have loved the visitors and if you haven't come to see us we hope you do soon!! Lucy is great at sleeping in peoples arms....it's what she does people...she's an infant..the pediatrician says it's normal at this age!!!!

Thanks to everyone for their support and good thoughts!!

Jessica, Heather and Lucy

Lucille Nora Martinson

Lucille Nora Martinson
8 lb 8 oz
21.5 inches long
3:26pm
June 15, 2009

2 tired Moms .... going to bed. Sweet Dreams for us .... and God's blessings for our daughter!

incoherent .... lack of sleep

running on 6 hours of sleep since Sat at 9 am ... ugh.

Sometime around 11:30 pm, Jessica accepted the epidural. She was feeling too far apart from her labor process because of the magnesium. It was making her groggy and she was sleeping, contracting, sleeping, contracting .... etc.

She has since gotten more consistent sleep. And when checked about 1/2 hour ago she had FINALLY progressed past 4 cm. (Our number for most of yesterday.) She is now 8 cm!!!

We will have a baby soon that give her mom the best birthday present ever.

I'm not going to promise another blog from me soon. I may pass it off, or you may just have to wait till she born .... I'll see what I can do.

Off for 1 more catnap before we start the real work ... pushing.

-- Heather

Love you all!!! And thank you sooo much for all your well wishes. I will let you know after she's born if Jess is up for visitors and where to find us. :)

Water Balloons

Around 2 pm they broke Jessica's water. She is progressing much better now.

Her contractions are stronger, she is having more and more often.

Lucy looks great! She is a strong girl ... and they are really happy with her readouts.

I am going to try and do another update soon. My brain is little fried and Jess needs a hand to squeeze.

BTW -- We are at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing in case people are interested. :)

Pitocin Party

Having a mini party in the Labor and Delivery room. :) Not really, but lots of folks showed up to visit the sleepy Jess. Just minutes before this was taken they hooked up the Pitocin and it could start a reaction in as little as 20 min or more like and hour or two.

Thanks for all the well wishes!! I can't wait to show you my daughter! :)

Oops ... fixing something I said

The hospital mandate is a 3 hour wait between the suppository and the petocin.

The nurse says that she gave the most recent suppository at 11 pm which will put us a time of 2 am for the petocin, if they choose to go that route. They are currently (really! as I type) discussing a 4th suppository to finish giving her cervix a "flex boost". LOL

The nurse checked her cervix about 15 min ago and she is finally anterior (her cervix is dropping and it is really thin.)

-- Heather

3rd dosage ...

She has been given her 3rd round of this suppository. And I'm sorry that I'm a little miscommunicatory (big word, but is it real?) today.

The suppositories are to try and thin her cervix and dialate her. Not jumpfire contractions. That will come in the form of petocin once we have gotten her to a well thinned and slightly more dialated state.

At this point the estimate is around 12:30 am before they would push the petocin. (3rd suppository was administered approx 10:30 pm and there is a hospital mandated 2 hour wait before the petocin can be pushed.)

Jess is currently getting some rest between contractions and trying to get her body to relax. She is still slightly dazed at our day. I am sure this blogs will be read in a month or so just to try and remind her what was happening. The magnesium they administered for the preeclampsia has made her a little sleepy, so she's letting it help her quest for rest. :)

As far as things are now, I am keeping watch over my dry-mouthed beauty and feeding her ice chips as often as she requests. :)

OH, on a great note, the doctor okayed Jello for Jessica, which seems silly, but is a small victory in the fight for food, for energy.

-- Heather

Progress ...

I'll spend a little more time letting you know the state of things now. We aren't being hustled and bustled. :) FYI - may be a little more info here than some of you want. You are forewarned.

Jessica was given a bucket Thursday night to collect 24 hours worth of urine for testing. She started around 9:30am Friday, and the bucket was due back at 9:30 am Sat. (today.) We thought we would drop it off, get her blood pressure checked and head to the Michigan Pride festival. A little shopping for Jess' pending birthday was in order.

However, they made Jessica wait around for the results of the urine test and the results came back that there was a little protein in her urine which could be a sign of preeclampsia. Because of that worry, they decided to talk to us about inducing.

At this point, inducing is not a worry for the baby. The preeclampsia is more of a worry for Jessica. So we decided that since Jessica is so far along (full term) that we would go ahead with it.

As of now, Jess has had 1 induction suppository. They will give another approx around 7:30pm. Contractions have been more noticeable to Jess who is currently munching ice chips and wishing she had eaten a bigger breakfast. :)

I am just being my antsy self. Wishing there was more I could do. Sitting and waiting ....

I'll let you know more later. :)

Sitting and Inducing

I'm sitting, Jess is being induced.

The inducer, which is in the form of a suppository. LOL

We are waiting for it to take affect. Will let you know as soon as it does!

-- Heather

Oops....sorry folks....

Sorry for the whole "I promise a new blog on Friday and then not delivering"....no pun intended ;)

Things have been hectic here. We met with another new doctor this week for our weekly appointment who walked into the room saying how glad she was that we had a scheduled a C-section! Then she saw the look on our faces and commented how she could see it wasn't our first choice...yeah no kidding genius!!

She then tried to use some new scare tactics on us for doing a C.....percentages that we didn't completely understand cause we were pretty sure one of them was we would have a 10-15% chance of not being able to deliver naturally and have to have an emergency C....i don't think those are horrible odds....plus i do love a chance to prove them wrong :)

So we asked if she had any recommendations for natural induction...she recommended Castor Oil....all three of the doctors we have asked said try it....so we did.

First we tried Grandma Church's advice which was just buy the bottle and that will scare the kid out.....didn't work...so then i took a dose mixed with orange juice and a pinch of baking soda to make it fizzy....contractions got stronger...and that night after dinner and a game at Ranelle and Bill's I got sick, had a huge gush of fluid and so off to the hospital we went...unfortunatly...no water breakage.

So yesterday i tried a second dose....and am now feeling the effects digestively...and stronger contractions...so here we sit..hoping and praying...we only have a few more days before the doctor wants to do the scheduled C....if she doesn't at least start to come naturally before then...we're going to have quite a fight on our hands...

Well that is all for now, just a quick update...hope all are doing well.

Will try and write more often!!

Jessica

Building our Vocabulary

Some of you may already now from my facebook status that the a C-section was mentioned during Wednesdays doctor appointment. I thought it only fair to update you all more about that.

Our busy week began Tuesday with an ultrasound that our primary doc ordered to check on the size of the baby. Jessica's uterus has been measuring consistently a few centimeters larger than average for the last month. On our appointment on Week 37 and 4 days (which was May 28) she was measuring 44 cm (average at that time would be 37 cm.) This prompted the doc to order the growth u/s.

So Wed (the day after the u/s) we go in to see the doctor. Weird vibes were running through that place. We had a card that said we were suppose to see our primary, Dr. Kelly. They said as we checked in, "Dr. Halverson is out giving birth to her baby today so you will be seeing someone else." UH, ok ... well we weren't suppose to be seeing Dr. Halverson. "Hmmm ... " was their response. Followed by a prompt ... "Someone WILL see you shortly."
We ended up seeing Dr. Tucker. GREAT and friendly doc, but she threw us for a loop as she delivered the following news: (take in mind I am paraphrasing ... I don't remember exact wordage)
The baby is measuring big ... somewhere around 8 lbs and 3 oz (+/- 10 oz). I am going to check your cervix today, and I'm also going to try and judge the size of your pelvis. If your pelvis doesn't seem "wide enough" to birth a large baby we are going to have to look into a C-section.

Upon checking she stated that Jessica's pelvis was rather small, and she was afraid that the baby would suffer from Shoulder Dystocia. (For those unaware like we were: after the delivery of the head, the shoulders of the infant cannot pass below the pubic symphysis, or requires significant manipulation to pass below the pubic symphysis.)

We left the room in shock ... having not considered to that point having a planned C. We were scheduled a date, June 17 at 4 pm. We can cancel at any time. (Sounds like a no-contract cell phone plan.)
Heading home Jess was in tears. She's never had major surgery and a planned C-section wasn't how she had envisioned giving birth. We set our minds to doing some research and went about distracting ourselves to try and process our thoughts.
We sat down Wed. evening and talked about a lot. Whether we wanted to fight for a natural birth, how a C-section would affect Jess and the baby ... we developed a list of questions and at the end of everything decided we didn't have enough information to settle on any thought.

Thursday morning we called the doc's office and had them squeeze us in an appointment so that we could shoot off a list of questions to the doc and we begged and recieved that time with our primary, Dr. Kelly.
Thursday afternoon Dr. Kelly spent 45 min with us going over more precise reasons why they are suggesting a planned C, what harm a natural birth and C could prevent to the baby. Dr. Kelly explained that the weight of the baby and the reason for the worry about shoulder dystocia was based on measurements of the baby's head, abdomen and femur. She explained that at this point if she could give birth soon, we would have a higher chance of natural birth success. The three of us agreed that we would continue to try natural at home methods of progressing her labor.
We left with a better understanding of what was being suggested, what the risks were, but still no ultimate decision on our part.


Now, while I write this, Jessica is sleeping on and off, still having contractions. She has said that she feels "weird" and "unsettled" in her abdomen and pelvic area. She took a long walk this evening and has had a lot of contractions.

We are still not 100% on any decision. We don't want to "give in" to the doctor's suggestions, but we don't want to risk our daughter. We have conceeded at this point to focusing on natural labor inducing methods (walking, sitting on an exercise ball ... ) and leaving the C-section date planned.

I can't say at this point what we will end up doing. I just know we are still processing and trying our best to be good parents.
Everyone says "This is just like when you have the kid. Your plans never go how you want." And we understand that, but we are going to fight hard, like anyone with plans does, to try to keep them as close to the original goal as possible.

-- Heather

The Waiting Game.....

It's starting to feel like it will never happen...we are three weeks out from our due date and it feels like she should be here already!!

The doctors are saying we are probably not going to make it all the way to June 21st which is fine by us but i do wish they would give us something more updated other than she'll probably be early.

Tomorrow we have a "growth ultrasound" just to see how she is doing, growing and all that stuff. We'll see what the doctor says after that cause on Wednesday we have another regular doctors appointment.

-- Jessica

Getting Larger and Sleeping Less

A quick update from the Martinson house. Last Thursday we were at the doc's office for our 35 week 5 day visit and the doc said Jess is fully effaced (her cervix is thinned completely and stretchy).

So we spent the weekend finishing the nursery (pics to post soon) and getting some spring projects done around the house. Contractions continued and it seemed like that was all that was going to happen until the due date.

However!!!!!! Jess spent most of Monday with stronger contractions and a weird feeling over her entire belly. Everything was feeling tight and achy and just not right..... so on Tuesday we called the doctors office and they said to go get checked out and monitored at the Mother Baby Center at Sparrow Hospital.

After a three and a half hour visit with a very nice nurse and a very tardy resident we discovered that Jess has progressed to a finger of dilation. Which translates simply to: Jess is closer to giving birth. The weird feelings are the cervix opening more and contractions leaving residual tension in the uterus.

All doctors and nurses praise Lucy highly for having such a strong heartbeat and being so active! They say from all monitoring that she is a super healthy kid. At this point, we plan to not see the triage until Jessica's water breaks and we are in there to bring Lucy into this world.

Family Updates

Starting a new blog and starting a new family at the same time. We realized how handy a blog can be to keep family updated after looking at a few friends' blogs. So this is the start of keeping everyone in the loop of what is happening with this branch of the Martinson/Burton/Garner/Church family.

Lucy is doing well...she's moving lots everyday and every night :)

I am still having contractions. They stem from mild to severe...although I'm convinced that I'm not even feeling the mild ones. We've been to the hospital twice for them but no "active" labor yet.

Heather is doing good. She's putting together all the baby stuff we have gotten and is good about indulging the pregnant lady and keeping Lucy and I happy and healthy. She's also gotten very proficient with a stopwatch timing contractions so we know if we need to head back to the hospital at all.

At this point, they are saying the signs to look for labor are perfectly spaced always strong contractions, my water breaking, and dilating.....not sure how we're supposed to know if that happens unless we go to the hospital though :)

She has definitely dropped, eased up on my stomach but sitting firmer on my bladder, so i can eat and drink more finally but i just make more frequent trips to the little girls room...

As far as pets...Zoe loves to sleep on a stuffed duck named Will who is currently residing in Lucy's room, Baby Kitten has become a more frequent visitor at night, we think she's getting that motherly instinct and knows I'm on the verge of giving birth..although she shows it by trying to sit on Lucy. Sophie is enjoying the attention now and the spoiling of her new doggie bed and as of Wednesday will no longer be able to ever be a mom herself. As far as we can tell she seems OK with the idea and has promised in her puppy way to help be another mom to Lucy. Plus she thinks my stomach smells good now...i don't get it....

Well I think I've caught you up on all of us. We look forward to sharing all our fun of the newest addition to our family with you soon!

Stay tuned for updates on labor, delivery and the storks' visit...especially since the hospital has free WiFi!!

--Jessica