Welcome Robert William Greene 8.28.2009

Our son, Robert William Greene, decided to join our world on August 28th. He just couldn't wait to meet us, so he decided to come a couple weeks early! I had a doctors appointment on August 27th where the doctor told me that I was about 3 centimeters dilated and she told me she could tell that when I did go into labor that my water would break (somehow they know these things....don't ask me how). Well on Thursday night I kept waking up with mild cramps, but I just brushed them off as another glorious pregnancy symptom. Friday morning I woke up, ate some raisin bran and started getting ready for work. Curt was gone off to work for a whole 4 minutes when I called him to tell him "my water just broke!!!". He turned around to head home, while I instantly started bawling. It was a mix of emotions; scared, happy, mortified, excited, ready and not ready at all, panic and everything else you can imagine. Curt showed up about 2 minutes later, we rushed to set the house for the animals and headed to East Cooper Hospital to give birth to our new baby boy, the car ride wasn't too bad except the contractions that started to follow. I guess when your water breaks those puppies start to show up full throttle.

As I entered the emergency room, there were two other pregnant girls in the waiting room, I guess it was a popular day to have babies?? The nurse came down and put me in a wheel chair as Curt signed me in and grabbed by bags. I then got put into a prep room, where I got to meet the anesthesiologist (great friend to have by the way) and my doctor (who was on call that night, thank the lord, yippeeee!!) who came in to check me and told me that I was already about 4 centimeters and she could feel his little foot down there (breech baby, let's not forget). Well lucky me, I got pushed up to "emergency" status having a breech baby and all, I bumped TWO other pregnant girls back on the schedule who had planned c-sections that morning. I bet they didn't like me very much. :)

They took me into the Operating room after asking me about 1 million questions about my family history and stuff. Why they wait to ask you these questions when you are having contractions every four minutes, I HAVE NO CLUE. The operating room is a scary place, very bright, VERY cold and just scary. The anesthesiologist sat me on the table and did my spinal, it didn't hurt at all and instantly my whole lower body started tingling and then went numb. Curt put his "lab" outfit on and came in and sat by my head. I think it was about 5 minutes later when our boy was finally pulled out of me. I lay there behind the blue curtain listening to Awww's, excitement and laughter from the whole medical team and Curt, but all I really wanted to hear was him cry. It took a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, but then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. I think the first thing Curt said was "he has brown hair!!" :)

They showed him to me and I couldn't believe how beautiful he was, of course I knew I was pregnant and I knew that we were having a baby, but I had no idea how beautiful of a little person we were growing and the best part is, he is all ours!!! :) Robert William was 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. I have to admit, we make damn good looking babies. :)

The baby was taken to the nursery to get checked out and cleaned up and I had Curt follow. I guess since he was two weeks early, his lungs were a bit underdeveloped (details to follow) and he had a little fluid in his lungs, typical for c-section babies. I got taken to my post partum room and expected our baby to join me, but his issues were a little more serious than we hoped. Since I couldn't get up until later that night, I didn't even get to hold our son until 12am the next morning. If I would have known that I wouldn't get to hold him again for quite some time, I'd have sat in that nursery forever.

The next morning the nurse came into the room and explained to us that he had a pheunmothorax in his lungs and that they thought that MUSC would be the best place for him right now. They transferred him to the other hospital that morning and gave me a day's release to go see him. He was hooked up to machines and was taken to the NICU for recovery. It's been a very tough run for him and us, having a baby is emotional enough, without having to NOT be around him 24/7 and have him home. He's been in there for 1 week and 3 days now. He's making GREAT progress and hopefully he'll be home soon. I will keep you all posted. Keep him in your prayers for a quick recovery.

37 week belly pic!!

So Friday was our 37 week mark! He's coming soon! On Wednesday I had my 2nd ultrasound to confirm that Baby Robert is still breech, and yes indeed he is. He is averaging 8 lbs 4 oz, so he's already quite the hefty fella, healthy boy! That is just an average though, he could be more or less, so we'll just have to wait and see. They also said that I was already 2 centimeters dilated and 75% effaced. You have to be 5 and 100% to be in active labor, so I think my body is slowly progressing towards that big event. Since he is breech, I have a scheduled c-section on September 8th at 12:30pm. With my dilation and effacement the doctor said it's VERY possible he will come sooner than that, BUT...some women sit dilated forever, so we'll just have to wait and see, I guess he'll come when he's good and ready. :)

At the most we have 2 weeks (from Tuesday) left, could be less, so we'll see our little boogar soon enough! :) Can't wait!

I'll keep you all posted with my next appt this Thursday.

35 week belly pic!

So we are now 35 weeks! What would be only 5 weeks left, may actually be only 4! We went for our growth scan today and Baby Robert is weighing in at 6 1/2 pounds already! He is a big boy!! His head is measuring large (ouch) and he is still breech (in the head UP position). The doctor said that if he doesn't turn in 2 weeks, that we will schedule a c-section for week 39. I said "it's not likely he's going to turn at 6 1/2 pounds is it" and she said "no, not really". So unless a miracle happens, this baby boy will be gracing us with his presence 1 week early and in an operating room. It is what it is, either way, we get to meet our baby boy very soon and we can't wait!!! :) I am now going to the doc every week, but my next ultrasound in two weeks will tell us if he's turned or not. I'll keep you all posted! Wish us luck!!

33 week belly pic!

Tomorrow we will be 33 weeks! Only 7 weeks to go, I can't beleive it! What seems like took forever all of the sudden feels like it went by so fast. Baby Robert is moving up a storm in there, his movements have decreased a bit due to the fact that he's running out of room to do anything super gymnastic in there. He nudges and pushes, stretches and does other stuff that I have no idea what body part it could possibly be or how he could possibly fit in there. I'm thinking that he's about 5+ pounds now and he's should be about 19 to 20 inches long. He'll just gain fat from here on out and shouldn't get too much taller. We are just about ready for him, plus or minus some wipes and diapers. I have two baby showers coming up, one at work on the 3rd and one at the neighbors house on the 5th! Everyone loves our little boogar and I can tell he's going to be spoiled rotten! :) As he should be.

My next appt is August 6th, where I will get my last growth scan, make sure he's still sucking up all the food he needs to grow big and strong. I'll keep you all posted. :)

31 week belly pic!

So tomorrow we are 31 weeks pregnant, only 9 weeks to go! :)

I had my growth scan today and found out that Robert weighs in at a whopping 4 pounds 3 oz., he's HUGE!! He's about 2.5 weeks above the average weight at his gestional age, which means he's VERY healthy and growing strong. I'm still predicting an 8 pounder on D day!! (delivery day, not dooms day) :)

He was very active with a heartbeat of 143, which is perfect, his feet were by his head and he was moving up a storm for the technician. She could feel him pushing on the ultrasound peice when she was moving it around. He gets the hiccups about 3 to 4 times a day, I'm guessing my amniotic fluid is pretty tasty! He swallows it, and then gets the hiccups, this means that he is doing what he is supposed to in practicing breathing technique. He's so smart, getting ready for his big appearance, such a planner, just like Mommy! :)

Our next appointment is on July 22nd and my next growth ultrasound will be around August 14th, where I'm thinking he'll be around 7 pounds (if I'm calculating right). I'll keep everyone posted in a couple weeks.

29 week belly pic!

So on Friday we will be 29 weeks, can you believe it? Only 11 weeks left before we get to meet Baby Robert!!!! We are very excited. :)

I am just about done being pregnant as far as "loving" it. My back hurts, I keep bending my ankles (clumsiness), I've gained well enough weight according to my stage of pregnancy and I can feel myself getting...well..irritable. Only at work though, Curt, surprisingly, doesn't irritate me. :) YET....jk

Baby Robert is moving up a storm in there, no longer with kicks but more with rolls and pushes. Curt saw him moving from the outside for the first time last night, he thought it was pretty cool, but was glad that it wasn't him with the alien inside. :) He's about 3 pounds now and around 17 inches long (according to the books). I have an appt. on Friday to get measured and all, so I will keep everyone posted. We went to our baby bootcamp class on Monday and learned a thing or two. We have our hospital tour next wednesday so everything is coming to a close and hopefully the baby will be here in no time at all! :)

Talk to you soon!!! Wish me luck on not getting overheated in the 110 degree heat index with humidity. Oh the south. :)

27 week belly pic!

So tomorrow we are at 27 weeks. Baby Robert probably weighs about 2 1/2 pounds by now (or close to it) and can open his eyes and blink and all. He is moving more than ever, sometimes it looks like a cat is kneeding me from the inside...very alien like...pretty darn cool actually. :) He still likes to keep me up at 2am in the morning with his acrobatics, I can tell what kind of schedule he wants to be on. He seems to kick more when he hears daddy's voice. Looks like we have a daddy's boy on our hands! :) At least the numbers in the house are even, it will be 3 girls (me, dolce, lucy) and 3 boys (baby robert, curt and cleveland), so no one will be at an unfair advantage! HA!!! :) Let the games begin!! Only about 13 more weeks before we meet the little dude. Can't wait!!

I've started to negotiate with the little guy already, I promised him a new car for his 16th birthday if he can promise to keep all the poopy diapers for daddy and only give me the pee pee ones. Hopefully we have a deal, we'll just have to wait and see. :) HAH!!