Lenore's Birth Story

When I left off on pregnancy updates, we were scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, 10/29 (40 weeks 5 days). Tuesday night, we packed our bags and went to bed, ready to wake up to call the hospital at 5am to check for bed availability. As long as there was a bed available, we were to check-in at 7am to start the induction.

Well, well, well...I woke up at 2:30am to pee, and, much to my surprise, as I stood up from bed and walked to the bathroom, my water broke!!!

I didn't know what to do at first--go back to bed? Walk around? I decided to call the hospital, and they instructed us to come on in since my water had broken. We took showers and finished packing our last-minute things and headed out. Check-in was smooth (we arrived a little after 3:30am), and we were put in lucky Labor & Delivery room 13.

The nurse was getting everything set up and ready for the induction--even though my water had broken, I wasn't in labor yet (labor is cervical change). I hadn't had any contractions, so they were going to start me on pitocin. The nurse checked me, and I was still just 1cm and the baby was still very high. She also seemed a bit unsure of what she was feeling when she checked me, head vs. butt, which of course made me anxious. She went and got the doctor, who did an ultrasound, and we instantly knew something was awry. 

Baby had flipped again, back to the transverse position. :( Head was up in my right ribs, and butt was pointing at my left hip, just as before. The doctor said that the baby would not be able to be born vaginally, due to its position. I asked about a version, if it was too late, and she said that was no longer an option--they have to have the waters intact to use as a cushion, and mine had already broken, counting me out. 

Before we knew it, anesthesia, baby nurses, etc. were all coming in to talk to us, and we quickly realized we needed to call the grandparents to get to the hospital asap. It was around 5:15am at this point, and the anesthesiologist told us we'd have a baby by 6am! (Our heads were spinning...)

We went into the operating room around 5:30, and baby was born at 6:06am. They let Kevin say what the gender was as they lifted her up over the drape--'It's a girl!' I think I said, 'WHAT? A girl?! WHAAAT?' (I think we both were convinced it was another boy.) We both started crying, and Kevin went over to watch her exam with the baby nurses. Her APGAR scores were 9 and 9, which is excellent. Meanwhile, I was still on the table getting sewed back together and trying to hear everything. And crying and smiling in disbelief.

After they finished with me, they moved us into an anesthesia recovery area. Kevin went out to the waiting room to tell his parents and my parents that it was a girl and her name and stats, and then Lewis came back into recovery to meet Lenore. I think we were in there around an hour, and then they moved us over to Mother/Baby.

In the course of that day morning, I went from being elated about going into labor on my own (or what I thought would be labor), to great disappointment in having to have a c-section. The pain is no joke, but hopefully it gets better soon. The whole day was so fast-moving and a blur, but we've all come out of it healthy and happy (and sleepy) on the other side.

Lenore Elaine Thompson

Born 10/29/14 at 6:06am

10 pounds, 1 ounce

21.25 inches

Fall Festival at Gallrein Farm

Kevin and I were talking, and we think we have officially gotten our fill of fall festivals this year! Our last stop was a trip to Gallrein Farm on Saturday with my parents--you'd think that walking around for hours might kick start labor, but alas. 

Lewis and I had been out to this farm once last year with Tonya and Carlton, but it was during the week, without the full scope of activities up and running. I'm so glad we went back--it was a beautiful weather day, and just about everything they offered was right up Lew's alley.

First stop was a farm-themed bouncy house with a tractor inside--hello!

He spent most of the time in there running up one side of the tractor and leaping/bounding/sliding down the other.

Before we left that morning, I told him there was a John Deere tractor train that I remembered from our last visit, and his eyes lit up. I think it lived up to the hype:

Heading out, verrrry excited

He's the one, 6 barrels in from the left. That ride was a pretty empty one, obviously! He was pretty brave, going all by himself.

Returning back, with a 'that was awesome' face :)

Poke, poke, poke

He found that piece of straw and was pointing it around, like a wand, saying, 'Poke, poke, poke.'

After getting sufficiently straw-covered, we headed to the pony ride and petting zoo:

I think the donkeys were his favorite. :) Looks like he was ready to climb in the pen with them.

Next up were the pedal cars...Kevin was prepared to have to pedal Lewis around again, but Lew was totally able to do it himself:

Look out, here I come!

Onto the real tractor, pulling our hayride

We rode out to the pumpkin patch but just stayed on for the return trip (we have enough pumpkins already).

We still had some tickets left, so Lewis asked Gramma if she would ride the barrel train with him a second time:

She said he really seemed to think he was steering his barrel--he'd turn when the train turned and was taking it pretty seriously. :)

Our final stop was just a big play area of straw bales. Kids were throwing it everywhere, and it seemed like the 'thing' to do was to bury yourself in it. Lewis got right on that:

I am buried. Can you see me???

It cracked me up how he covered his eyes with his arm--I bet he felt like he was really all covered up, my sweet boy. :)

The best!

Lewis slipped/wiggled off the bale, straw was everywhere, etc. I love it/them.

We stopped on the way home at the new outlet mall in Simpsonville, and I was excited to find some big kid-sized footed pajamas for Lewis--last week, he was waking in the middle of the night, needing the covers put back on because he was cold. I didn't realize they made the sleepers after size 5T (which he has outgrown), so I'm glad we happened upon them in bigger sizes for our big boy.

40+ Weeks: Baby's Been Served

40 Weeks 2 Days with Baby #2

(3 Days Before Induction)

41 Weeks with Lewis

(Day of Induction...2 Days Before Birth)

We are officially into extra time now, and this baby has an eviction plan in place. At my appointment last Friday (my official due date), things remained unchanged, so we moved on to discuss induction. Of course, she wanted to give the baby a chance to come on its own, and she again said I could go to 41 weeks (which is Halloween). She asked if I wanted a Halloween baby, which I do not, so Wednesday (tomorrow) is the day (40 weeks 5 days). She isn't on call anytime in the near future, so we are going to be with one of her partners who she was able to get to cover our case (and his on call day is Wednesday). I've seen, and been induced at, 41 weeks 2 days with Lewis, and who knows if this one would stay put that long if we let him/her. At this point, I feel like no, definitely not...he/she will never, ever be born. Ever. :)

Thankfully, I have had plenty of time to complete everything on my to do list (and then some!). I was feeling sentimental about the end of pregnancy and the end of life with 'just' Lewis, but I am ready now. 

Note: I did just get sad, reading to him at nap time, realizing it would be our last time to do so without also having a baby to tend to. I am not totally jaded/cold-hearted. :)

Lewis and I have a cold, which is great timing. His is worse than mine (and I caught mine from him). He had a fever Thursday, so I called my parents to come down and start their pre-baby stay with us (on Friday). He had to miss school Friday, and he might have to miss tomorrow, too, depending on how he's doing this afternoon after nap. The fever has been off/on since Thursday, along with a cough, runny nose, being hoarse, fussy, puny, etc. I finally took him to the doctor yesterday to make sure it isn't an ear infection, and it is not. The doctor said it's just an upper respiratory thing, but she went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic, in case there is an infection and to try to help it along faster with baby #2's impending arrival. 

Unfortunately, it has affected his sleeping. He woke up at 3:15 Monday morning, rearing to go--I heard him taking off his PJs and opening his drawers to change into comfy clothes, but I was able to go in and sleep with him until a more reasonable 7:30am. This morning was not as nice--he was up at 4am and he (and I) stayed up. Kevin took a while falling back asleep, too, so, we're all a mess, just in time for the new baby! Hooray! I did catch a nap today while my parents took Lew to open gym, and I'll try to (ha!) go to bed early tonight. I guess we have many more sleepless nights ahead, so why not get a head start?

I have some fall festival pictures from the weekend to post, and then the next will be about the new baby! (Finally!)

Catching Up/Other Fall Fun

These are a potpourri of pictures, if you will, from the past week or two from my camera and Kevin's phone. (There was a potpourri category on Jeopardy the other night, so that is the only word I can currently think of to describe what I'm trying to say.)

 Hanging with Hattie

 Always has a watchful eye on Lewis and his actions. :)

Sweet basement snuggles with Dad

And more!

This was what I found on Sunday morning when I woke up--pure, snuggly, laidback-weekend goodness. :)

This is Lewis' photo wall in his room! 

I finished it a month ago, but just got around to taking a picture of it. The middle picture is him at one day old, and I ordered the fire truck and railroad crossing prints from art.com. I got the idea for the tractor and roadway initial from Pinterest--the tractor body is his footprint (with construction paper cutouts) and the roadway is just a painted 'L' with cars super-glued to it. I left it spaced out so that we can add to it as we find more pieces.

Yesterday after school, we got to work on our pumpkins. I'd picked up a sticker set for Lewis to use on his pumpkin, and he designed it her all by himself. She has a hairbow, 'like Minnie and Daisy wear,' and she has 5 teeth (he was very specific about the #). :)

I don't need to look at the camera! The pumpkin needs to look at the camera!

He seems very proud of his finished product.

After his was finished, I quickly carved a basic jack-o-lantern for the back porch. I think I spent more time gutting it and cleaning up the seeds to be roasted (yum!):

Lighting up the jack-o-lantern last evening before bed

It's back to the doctor for me tomorrow, so I'll update as we know more about when this baby will arrive!!

***Also, I just added a short video at Huber's of Lewis riding a tricycle--it's about 2/3 of the way down the (really long) post.

Blackacre State Nature Preserve and Historic Homestead

Earlier this week, we met Tonya and Carlton out at Blackacre for a morning of farm fun. It's only about 15 minutes from our house, but I've never been out there before. I had heard of it, both back in my environmental education days and as I was looking at places to volunteer--I'm really glad we finally made it out there. Next time, we'll have to take some snacks to feed the farm animals. They were sweet, even without treats for them.

First stop, of course, was the old blue tractor:

The very sweet baby horse saying hi to Lewis

The more timid baby cow 

Checking out the waterfall

 This pond will come back into play...notice Lewis' clothes now vs. later in the visit. :)

 Up into the hay loft

Lewis was a bit scared of climbing back down the ladder, understandably! This old barn reminded me of when I was a kid, playing at my friend Ellie's grandparents' farm, in their hay barn. So many fun memories. :) 

 The goats were a little less willing to hang, since we offered no treats. :)

A plane!

 Best buds

I am cracking up at how dirty Carlton's pants are--he found every mud puddle. :)

'Fishing' in the pond

A few minutes after this, Lewis stood up on that rock, verrry slowly and dramatically lost his balance, and went head over feet into the pond. He was noooooot happy about it. Thankfully Tonya had brought a fresh change of his clothes (from falling in mud at their house the last time we were out there). So it worked out! He did have to put his water-logged boots back on, but he was okay with wet feet.

Playing with Lewis' toy tractors

From then on, we stayed off the rocks and just hung around the perimeter. :) And Carlton lost his pants at some point because of how wet they were. Oh, boys. :) 

 Back to the tractor

Lewis was yelling out, 'I need a trailer!' and 'I need somebody to get the gate!' That might have been what Carlton was doing in the picture above...maybe? Who knows. (He's barely there on the left, messing with the gate.)

Saying hi to another sweetie--she was a very big/tall girl and very sweet (and slobbery) :)

It was a great morning with perfect fall weather. We'll have to go back on a weekend, too, when they are open for tours (I think Sunday afternoons, only). Lew would be happy just going back to play on the tractor, I'm sure. :)

Fall Fun at Huber's

On Sunday, we decided to brave the crowds and head out Huber's, SINCE we haven't yet had a baby and all. We figured, what the hey, right? I still had yet to get a (decent) apple cider donut or apple cider slushy this fall, so Kevin obliged and off we went. We went early, which was key, as it was filling up as we were leaving.

Lewis would have been fine just sitting on this red tractor all day:

:)

We did finally peel him away to go on a hayride to the pumpkin patch, which ended up being a wagon ride to the apple orchard. We realized as we were waiting in line that we already had 3 pumpkins at home, so we decided to jump on the apple ride, instead, that arrived first. Then, because we didn't know how many stops there would be (FYI, only 3!), we ended up not getting off to pick apples at all because we missed our chance. Oops! Lewis didn't care--he was happy to just ride along (he said it was his favorite part of the day):

We stopped in the market for a cider slush (1 of 2 for me during our trip because, why not?) and a rice krispie tractor for Lewis (that, unfortunately, was way better-looking than tasting...we ended up throwing it away after two very tiny bites were taken). But, hey, at least it was cute, right?!

We then headed over to the Family Fun Park:

The electric tractors were a big draw for Lewis, but he had some trouble keeping his foot on the pedal to make it go. It was more of a stop-and-go/stutter.

Thankfully Kevin was there to save the day:

:)

The Mountain Slide

Farmer Lew

All sorts of cool wooden structures at the playground

Inside a Pumpkin Hut

The Big Rocking Chair

This picture is a little misleading, as Lewis was really trying to squirrel his way away from Kevin. :)

My favorite part of the trip was watching him 'race' around the tricycle track. He had a grand ol' time, chasing and being passed by other kids. And his pedaling has improved so much, thanks to his 'ride-on time' in the gym at school:

I love his sweet little looks of determination. :)

Here is a short video that Kevin took with his phone:

The bamboo maze

The Grain Train was just a quick ride around a field, pulled by a tractor, but Lewis seemed to enjoy it. I mean, it was a tractor, pulling a train, so how could he not? :)

Tired Lewis = Sweet Snuggles (sometimes)

We were almost out of the fun park, but Lewis spotted and wanted to ride these pedal cars. He wasn't tall enough to ride alone, so Kevin took him for a spin:

It was such a fun morning, and I'm so glad we went. I feel like my fall is complete now. :) Ahem, that means you can come out now, baby!