Caleigh Michele Anderson

I know that I am bad about making/returning/initiating phone calls. I recognize that. So in an effort to share our labor and delivery story with everyone I am going to blog it, then when we get a chance to catch up on the phone we can talk about other things, like how cute my new little baby is! ;-) Here is our story...

Monday 12/27/2010

I went in to the doctors for my regular 37 week appointment. I knew my blood pressure was rising a little because my feet had started to swell, but I didn't think much of it. I borrowed a blood pressure machine from Molly's mom and had been checking it the night before, it wasn't good. 155/106 was the highest I experienced while at home. By the time I reached the doctors things weren't any better. My doctor checked my pressure 6 times; it was, at its lowest, 148/106. Needless to say, I was sent STRAIGHT to the hospital. Dr. Benge wouldn't even let me go home to pick up John.


I was admitted to the triage unit for testing and monitoring, but within an hour I was checked into the hospital. I began a 24 hour pee test that would be looking for protein my urine, which would indicate pre-eclampsia. At this point, there was no thought in my head that we would be induced because I didn't think it was a big deal that I was swelling. Little did I know that blood pressure is one of the only things that my doctor will DEFINITELY induce you for! So, about 10 hours into my pee test my container tipped over and all my pee was contaminated by the ice water in the bucket!! You have no idea how much it sucks to cry over spilled pee! ;-)


Tuesday 12/28/2010

8 o'clock in the morning

After starting my pee test over, I was really trying to stay positive because I wasn't sure what was going on. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to wait long to find out what God had planned for our little Cali-gal! Dr. Benge came in at 8 in the morning and told me they were inducing me because throughout the night my blood pressures never came down. It took 2 hours for them to check me into labor and delivery. We were moved from an ante-partum room to a SUITE in labor and delivery. Seriously, we could have fit a football field in our room. It was awesome.


10 o'clock in the morning

Because of my blood pressure, not only did I have to be induced, but I needed to be treated for blood pressure problems. I was started on an IV drip called Magnesium, which is a natural muscle relaxer. I was not allowed to do anything but lay in bed because of my pressures rising every time I stood. With the blood pressure taken care of I was given Cervadil at 10 am...and then the games began! Cervadil is inserted behind the cervix and it is supposed to soften the cervix so the contractions can help it dilate. The bummer is that cervadil takes 12 hours to work, and at the time of insertion I was only 1 1/2 centimeters.


10 o'clock in the evening

After the 12 hours of "softening", I was a whopping 2 centimeters!! They began pitocin at 10 pm to help my contractions start up, which sounds ironic since we have been trying to stop my contractions for the last 7 weeks! Remember that magnesium though? It's a muscle relaxer, so all of my contractions that I had been having for weeks were now being stopped by my blood pressure medicine. BAH HUM BUG!!


Wednesday 12/29/2010

9 o'clock in the morning

After contracting all night long and feeling the effects of the magnesium (which includes, but is not limited to headache, flushing, dizziness, nausea) I was barely, barely, barely 3 centimeters. To help get things going, Dr. Benge broke my water around 9 o'clock in the morning. I am actually surprised at how getting your water broke feels. It really didn't hurt at all; it was actually a HUGE relief to let all that water out. They inserted an internal monitor to help monitor my contractions and a catheter so I wouldn't get up to go to the bathroom anymore.


1 o'clock in the afternoon

It took me about 4 hours to dilate another centimeter, which is really unfortunate considering I was a second time laborer and I should have dilated 1 centimeter/half hour. But because of the magnesium it was slowing all of my contractions to 2-5 minutes apart, so instead of increasing my progress I was slowing my progress. What a sad sad predicament, my health or a fast delivery. On hind sight a fast delivery may have helped my health, but I'm not a doctor!


3 o'clock in the afternoon

First epidural inserted. I wanted to try this delivery naturally, but with the conflicting medicines being used on me I couldn't handle the overwhelming contractions and the overwhelming SUCKY feeling from the magnesium. Sadly, the first epidural didn't take. My whole right side was numb, but my left side was not. I could feel everything on the left and the worst part was that Caleigh was on my left. So each contraction squeezed her and I felt each one.


5 o'clock in the evening

Second epidural inserted. The anesthesiologist must have seriously upped my epidural meds because when it did take my legs were so numb that I couldn't feel a thing. BUT only my legs and stomach were numb, the only thing NOT NUMB was the center of my body (including my who-ha!) Again it took me another 4 hours to dilate another centimeter. SAD SAD! It was at this point that the nurses informed me that if I wasn't 8 centimeters by 8 o'clock they were going to take me for a c-section. Yikes, at my current rate I wouldn't be 8 centimeters for another 12 hours because it was taking me 4 hours per centimeter.


7 o'clock in the evening

Yay, I was 7 centimeters! Getting what little relief I got from the epidural was apparently enough for the nurses to turn the pitocin all the way up and get me going. And I must say that I was praising God at this point because I really didn't want a c-section; not because I was afraid of surgery, but because I knew I could do it if I was just given enough time. I told every nurse that came in my room, "Tell Dr. Benge, I can do it!" They must have thought I was crazy, but it was very important to me that I be given the chance to try.

8 o'clock in the evening

8 centimeters…9 centimeters…9 ¼ centimeters…9 ½ centimeters…9 and just a little at the top centimeters. At one point I told the nurse I needed to push, but was shot down because just a few minutes earlier I was still on 9 centimeters. The nurse actually walked out of the room and told me I needed more time. That’s when I looked at John and said, NO REALLY I NEED TO PUSH! That’s when the nausea hit…Let’s just say that when you can’t move and you’re flat on your back, throwing up isn’t pretty! I literally threw up the worst bile I have ever seen/smelled/heard in my life! It was in my hair, in my ear, down my back, on my blood pressure cuff, and pretty much EVERYWHERE on the right side of my bed. The nurse the n walks in and says, “Oh she must be ready to push; vomiting is a sign of delivery!” REALLY?

I started pushing with every contraction, but because of the magnesium each contraction was about 2-3 minutes apart, which sounds lovely because then I could “rest” in between each contraction, but when the baby is in your birth canal you don’t really WANT to extend the time in between each push. You just want them OUT! It took me about 20 minutes to get her head to crown (which sadly is ALL the time it took me to get Hailey out; 19 minutes flat!) And that’s when they asked me to stop pushing. I know it’s for my own good to wait, but that’s probably one of the most uncomfortable and painful things to do when they baby is crowing, stop pushing!! I tried to wait, but ultimately I couldn’t. I pushed her out before the doctor and my body were ready. It was such a relief though to have her out!

9:06 in the evening

Caleigh Michele Anderson was born!! She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. She scored a 9/9 on her apgar, which means she was very healthy from the moment she came out. Her head was misshaped and her nose was broken, but we were assured that all of that would go back to normal overtime.

I plan to update our blog with all the hospital and health drama tomorrow. Thank you for all of your prayers, support and love. At this time I am still on bed rest, so please feel free to stop by. We would love to show off our newest addition!

Love you long time,
JME

Doctor Check Up

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that I am going to the doctor this morning (11/15/10) to find out what Dr. Benge wants me to do. I have 9 more weeks before Caleigh is due, so please pray for Dr. Benge to have the wisdom to make the right decision for both me and Caleigh. A part of me wants to go back to work so there isn't a financial burden on our family, and the other part of me wants to stay on bed rest so we can do what we think is best for Caleigh. I don't know which is right, but I am praying that the doctor will give me an exact and confident answer based on all the information; the medicine is working at slowing the contractions, but they have not stopped.
Thank you for all of the prayers,
JME

Shaky Mc Shakerton

That's my new nickname. Shaky Mc Shakerton. The medicine they put me on to stop the contractions has made me EXTREMELY shaky. Not like full body, arms flailing kind of shaking, just constant tremors in my hands and arms, feet and legs, and most annoying my jaw. It makes my heart beat a little faster too, but that's not nearly as disturbing as the tremors. I know that in the end this is all worth it, to have Caleigh come later, so I am trying to keep a positive attitude. Although, when I spill the milk because of the shaking, I do want to cry a little.

Please pray family, that things will go as God has planned. I believe that this was known by Him before it even became a problem, so I know He has us in His hands. I also believe that this is the reason I felt so strongly about going back to work when I found out I was pregnant. If I had stayed home to watch my friends' kids I would be really struggling to find someone else to watch them right now, and it would NOT be good. As God would have it though, I now have paid disability and great insurance, so all of the testing that had to be done Tuesday was free and we can rest easy knowing that I will eventually be paid by disability for this bed rest.

I love you all long time and thank you for all of the prayers. Now that I have some free time I will do better about updating you on our family's progress, especially Caleigh's.

Love you long time,
JME

Bedrest

I figured I owed it to several people to let them know I have been put on bedrest, but didn't know how to contact them all at the same time so I am writing a blog about it. At least this way I can answer as many questions as possible all at the same time.


I have been having mild contractions since 22 weeks with this pregnancy, but up until the last couple of weeks they have been just mildly annoying, not anything to worry about. At the start of my 28th week (10/26) however they began to become more than annoying. As of Monday (11/8), when I finally started writing down the times of each contraction, I realized how many I was actually having. From 6 am - 9 am I was only having 1-2 an hour, but after that things got a lot worse. I started having anywhere from 4-6 an hour and that is NO GOOD at 30 weeks. Yesterday (11/9) I was consistently having 6 an hour and that prompted me to finally call the OB. The nurse told me that this was not ok, and that I needed to come in immediately. I called John, and was prepared to go to the OB alone because he has been carpooling to work and didn't have a ride home. I didn't want to pressure him because I knew there was nothing he could do, but I really wanted him there.


I was so blessed when I got to the doctor's though, because both John and Amber came walking towards me from her car! When Amber overheard John at work talking about what was going on she told her boss she had to leave and drove John to the hospital. Thank you so much for ALWAYS being there for me Amber. You would think it would be awkward for her to be there, given the private nature of the visit, but she was there when I delivered Hailey. And you don't really ever see more than that, ever! ;-)


Fortunately for me, while Dr. Benge was running very late, I was rushed into the office and put on the fetal monitors. I was indeed having contractions (glad to know it's not all in my mind) and was seen immediately upon his arrival from labor and delivery. There were a lot of angry pregnant women in the waiting room when I was rushed back, who had been waiting to be seen a lot longer than me! And trust me when I say, that's a scary sight when you're 7 1/2 months pregnant and couldn't run to save your life!! Fortunately, they were all pregnant too so the fact that they couldn't run either, kept me safe!


I'm not going to lie, I have been very scared the last couple of weeks, but, I have learned a lot in the last year meeting with my mentor Candy and I just keep reminding myself that God is in control and there really isn't much I can do about the situation.

I was given a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions and a prescription for management control. Dr. Benge has put me on bed rest from this point forward. My appointments are now every week (that's not supposed to start until you are closer to 36 weeks), and he will evaluate me each week to see whether I can go back or not. I truly plan to use this week off to take it easy. Since mid September I have either had a photo shoot, family party or huge event that I have needed to be at every weekend, so this is finally time for me to relax. John is taking Wednesday and Friday off to help me, so that will be nice.

Please keep our sweet Caleigh in your prayers. We can wait to meet her.

Love you all long time,
JME

Radical or Responsible?

I did the same thing with this post as I did with the "Caleigh-fornia" post....I'm a dork. :)

Today's lesson at church was about living the radical life Jesus called us to, and I have really been struggling with this idea lately because a lot of my friends are reading the book Radical. Radical is about living radically in the biblical sense, leaving all you have and following after Christ. And I couldn't agree more. We should live a totally radical life that brings glory to God. But, I have also been doing a lot of research about paying off debt and how that relates (if at all) to biblical principles. As I have posted before, there are many scriptures about our responsibility to pay off our debt and once paid off to live debt free. So I have been feeling very torn about what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it.

After today's lesson I found Paston David and just asked him, "Where do you find balance between living radically and living responsibly?" I expected him to tell me that radical living comes first, period. But he didn't. He said the answer to that question is TIME. He continued by saying, "At this time you are living biblically by paying off your debt and not being a slave to your past and debt. At this time you are living responsibly by paying off the debt you owe, and in time you will be able to live radically." It made me feel good about what John and I have been doing lately, because I haven't felt a call to live radically...yet. I have though, felt a HUGE call to pay off our debt. He ended by saying the most important thing we can do when trying to decide whether to live radically or responsibly is to examine our heart. If we are living responsibly out of selfishness or fear then we should reexamine our priorities. But if we are living responsibly because we want to follow all that the Lord has said then we are in good shape.

Pay off your debt so you can finally live free of the burden of being slave to your money. Why do you think the Lord's prayer includes a line about forgiving our debts? Because it's a big deal to be debt free. I can't wait for the day that we can say, "WE ARE DEBT FREE!"

Caleigh-fornia

So...apparently I have more blogs than I know what to do with! I can't see my blogs from school because the actual blog is blocked by the district. I can however post things. So I wrote the following post from school two weeks ago and then I posted it to the WRONG blog! Sorry you didn't receive the update when I originally posted it, but here it is now. Enjoy! :)

Yay! I have hit the 27th week in this pregnancy! At the end of this week I will be entering the third trimester, which is both exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time. I have been drinking my gallon of water (dehydration is one of the causes of contractions) everyday, at this time I am wearing my Camelbak (a backpack made to hold water) and I look like a huge dork doing it! But do I care? Heck no! My students already know that I am crazy, now they have proof! ;-)

I am taking magnesium and folate supplements, which are supposed to help reduce the amount of contractions I have. And I am trying to take it easy as much as possible. The contractions seem to be more intense at the end of the day, I had 5 in one hour yesterday evening, and when I am exerting ANY physical activity, IE walking up the stairs, bending over, lifting Hailey. It's been a real bummer not being able to pick up Hailey any time I want, but maybe that's God's way of helping her become a little more independent.

John has been a huge help during all of this. He has really stepped up to the plate. I still try to give Hailey her baths and we cuddle at night before bed, but John has mostly taken over doing the dishes, playing with Hailey after work, drying her and dressing her after her bath. It has been really nice. Maybe this is God's way of preparing John for after Caleigh is born! ;-) He is still doing his schooling, but has decided to go at it full speed and is trying to be finished with 8 more weeks of school in the next 4 weeks. I know he wants to be done before Caleigh is born and I am sure would love to be done before the holidays hit.

The last update we have is about Dave Ramsey and our financial peace. We just recently paid off another credit card! Yay! We are now up to $15,547 of paid off debt! Again, it's hard to see that number and not get annoyed that in the last 10 months we have paid that much money into "nothing", but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Only 2 more loans, 1 car loan, and 1 credit card to go and we'll be screaming from the rooftops, "We are DEBT FREE!"

I know times are tough for everyone right now, but I recently heard someone describing what true worship of God looked like. It's not necessarily singing in a church, but it is finding God in everything you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Find Him in the little things and thank Him for them. Thank Him for these struggles, for you don't know what purpose they serve. Find Him in it all and then you will truly be worshipping the God of the universe.

Blessed

Life around here has been pretty blessed. John and I have been getting along great! Hailey is learning how to share with her new friend Kadence Lorelei (Mommy's friend Nydia brings her over everyday to be watched at our house by our new sitter Laci) and Hailey can even say Caleigh (pronounced cali). It may sound a bit like Daleigh, but at least she is trying. We tell her everyday that she has a little sister coming soon and she points to my belly and says, "Baby!" She likes to go in Caleigh's room and put her dolly in the baby swing. She points to the bed and says, "Shh, ni night." I think she is going to be a great helper. She helps mommy fold laundry and loves to do the dishes, so I am super excited about how she can help when Caleigh does get here. :)

On a little bit more serious note, the biggest concern for our family right now is that I have been having braxton hicks contractions (the doc says they are not "real" contractions, but tell that to my uterus when I am walking down the hall and have to double over because of the tightness and pain) for several weeks now. The doctors have recommended I drink LOTS of fluid (a gallon of water a day) and take limited duty at work. What all that means is, I have to pee a lot, which doesn't sound like limited duty to me, and I can't walk around like teachers do. I am stuck sitting in a student desk for the remainder of the pregnancy, or for as long as I will fit in one! I am currently 27 weeks, which is exciting because at the end of this week we will be in the third trimester, and due January 18, 2011. Our prayer for the moment is that Caleigh will remain comfy and safe until at the very least January 15, so she can be born on the same day at Hailey. As you may know, John and Matt were both born on the 14th and Michael and I were both born on the 28th, so it would be super cool if Hailey and Caleigh could be born on the 15th. :)

The last bit of news is that John is currently back in school getting his Master's Certificate in Lean Six Sigma. He has already received his green belt (bring on the karate jokes) and will be receiving his black belt in December (remember those karate jokes? who's laughing now? ;-). I just want him to know how proud I am of him. There is no way my brain could have any more room for schooling at this point, so I don't know how he does it! A Bachelor's degree and now a Master's Cert, all in the last 2 years! You go boy! ;-)

We love you all long time,
The Andersons