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Thanks so much for the well wishes and contratulations! So far, we're all doing well! I'm exhausted, sore, and still a bit surprised that Seth is here already, but at the same time I'm SO excited!! Here's a rundown of what happened over the last few days. It's been quite the ride!

Sunday 2/17: 11PM, I took my last dose of Pro.cardia. I was so glad to be able to take it, because I had started having more regular contractions by 10 or so. Thankfully, after I had some water and went up to bed, they stopped, and I was feeling a bit better.

Monday 2/18: I got a few things done around the house, but mostly relaxed. I did run out to the mall to pick up a few nursing tops, because when I tried to order them online, they only had horrible colors and styles. Plus I was feeling surprisingly pretty good, so I figured why not?! Especially when the OB/MFM both told me that I could start doing a little more once I was past 36 weeks. After dinner, I relaxed some more. And was really excited about not having many more contractions, and overall feeling pretty great. I actually began thinking that I may actually make it to March 4th!
By about 11, I started having a few irregular contractions, but they were definitely uncomfortable. I went to bed and didn't think anything of it, since even on the pro.cardia, this was completely normal.

Tuesday 2/19: I woke up at 1 to go to the bathroom, and noticed immediately that I was extremely sore. By the time I got into the bathroom I had had a contraction that made me stop in my tracks. I went back to bed, and tried to fall asleep, but it wasn't happening. Every 5 minutes, I was contracting, and they weren't pleasant. Worse than any I was having before, even in the hospital. I went to the bathroom about 8 more times in the next 2 hours. Around about 3, I went downstairs to tell Nathan what was going on, and that I was debating on whether to call my OBs office or not. I then decided to give falling asleep one more try, so I went upstairs, grabbed some water, and layed down. I somehow passed out immediately.
Around 6:45, I heard Celia get up, so I went downstairs with her. I actually made it 10 minutes without a contraction, so I was wondering if I had imagined the whole thing? Maybe I was dreaming? Then Nathan asked how I was feeling when he came out of the shower, and I knew it wasn't in my head. I said that so far I was OK. About 5 minutes later, I had another contraction. And then every 5-7 minutes after that. I waited to make sure they were back and relatively regular before calling the OBs answering service at 7:40. Dr. P (the one who originally sent me to the hospital weeks earlier) was on, and called me back within 5 minutes. She was over at HC, and said to come there and get checked out. This is where I said that I wasn't sure what to do. Because DrB and I had our arrangement, and that he told me to insist on going to SG. I told her that at this point, I was so uncomfortable that I didn't care, and that if there wasn't a choice, I'd be there as soon as I could. She called DrB and called me back, telling me to go to SG, and depending on how things were going, she'd either be there in a bit, or DrB would come by after his office appointments were over for the day.
We dropped Celia off at preschool, and headed straight to L&D by 9am. They were expecting me, and sent me straight back to triage to check on how things were going. They got me on the monitor, and I was definitely still having contractions every 5 minutes or so. They checked my urine, which apparently did have a lot of ketones in it. So they hooked me up to an IV to hydrate me, took some blood, and let me contract away. It was pretty clear that I wasn't just dehydrated, because after 2 bags of fluid, I was still contracting like crazy, and they had gotten closer together and stronger. Yet my cervix was still high and closed. WTF? The nurse made a comment about my not actually being in labor (due to no cervical changes), and that they'd probably be trying to keep the baby in for at least another few days. So I was under the impression that as soon as one of the OBs from my practice came, that I'd be sent home. After about 12:30, the nurse came back, and said that the other DrB from my practice was on his way. About 20 minutes later, my DrB walked in, and I was really happy to see him, but suddenly really nervous that he was there. He basically asked if there was any reason why not to do this now, and I said nope! So, he got the ball rolling on the C-section. Apparently there was some lack of communication, because he was under the impression that the surgery was at 1. But there was someone in there with an emergency case, plus a scheduled c-section after that, before I was to go. So after chatting with him and getting him up to speed on where things were, he headed home for a bit, and would come back when they were ready for him. So I waited some more. Apparently the emergency C ended up taking over 2 hours (something about a knicked bladder?) and the scheduled C went quickly. And around 4, the nurses started getting my consents signed and got me ready for surgery. By 5, I went back and got my spinal block and everything started pretty quickly. I did find out that the reason why I didn't have a spinal last itme wasn't just because the needle the anesthesiologist had was too short (it was an approach issue. Apparently, I have a touch of sculeosis, which was news to me!), but this guy was quick, and got it pretty easily with the spinal block. Let me tell you that thing works FAST! Most of the surgery is a blur, and it happened pretty quickly. But thankfully, it all went textbook. Seth was born at 5:31, the tubal was done right after, and I was in recovery by 6. The best part?? My OB was the one to do the surgery. He delivered daughter and now my son, and it meant the world to me that he could be there. After about two hours in recovery, I made it up to my room. The movement was NOT good though...the nurse managed to get me a basin just in time to puke. After another hour or so, Nathan and Seth came to join me. They both stayed for about a half hour, and then the nurse took Seth to the nursery so I could rest, and Nathan headed out to get Celia, who was at our neighbors house. Thankfully they don't let you keep a baby in the room the first night if you've had a C-section and you don't have anyone staying to help you. I puked again after starting ice chips and water, which was not good. Explosive, and let's just say that the nurse came in and changed me and the bed. I got some meds for the itching (the meds the anesthesiologist gave me to help with pain wear off after about 24 hours, and one of the side effects is itching), which helped, but I was still pretty itchy. So I slept OK. Once 6am hit, they brought Seth into me, and I didn't let him out of my sight long.

He's amazing. He's adorable. I can't believe how much in love with him I am. After all that's happened during this pregnancy, it was absolutely all worth it. Just looking at his little face makes the pain, the discomfort, all of it just fade. He's perfect. Celia is doing great with him too. She is pretty taken with him, and loves to kiss his forehead. She's gotten to hold him a few times, and is a natural. It's just amazing to see her with him.

I was discharged yesterday. It's really good to be home and be able to sleep in the bed I've been sleeping in the last month. It may be a guest bed, but it's extremely comfortable. And I'm alone in there, which means no husband accidentally bumping me. I am still really sore, so that would be really bad right now.

Thankfully, the day that Seth was born, we also got some other good news. My mom's heart attack did not cause any damage! Her angio.gram went well, and they released her from the hospital! She called me in my room once I got there, and I got the good news right away. I'm so relieved!! She's feeling better too, which is huge! She and my step father will be coming down in 2 weeks, and I can't wait to give her a huge hug!

That's it for me tonight. I have loads more to talk about, but I'm exhausted. So I'm going to go feed Seth, pump, and try to get some sleep. Thanks again for all of the comments! I loved reading them while I was in the hospital (yeah for wireless!).