Welcome to the world Andi!

ANDI NOELLE DODD

BORN: Sunday, 9/14/08, 4:20 PM

5 lbs 10 oz

19" long

Andi hours after birth at The Birth Center

Hello friends and family,



Well I have finally had the time to jump on and post our latest and most important blog. We welcomed Andi Noelle into the world on Sunday, September 14, 3 weeks before her due date - it was definitely an experience!





Here's the low down if you are interested in reading the details:

9/13 - 10:00 AM - My baby shower - How great -I've finally got everything I need and can get it all set up! It was so great having my friends together to celebrate. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends and family - you all are amazing and I am blessed to have such awesome support and love!

Sweet friends who threw the shower: Lindsay, Kim, Amanda, and me (and Andi)

I had a great time opening the gifts - thank you everyone!

Later that night we went to a family dinner and then the nesting really began. For some reason, I can't help it. I have this uncontrollable urge to have everything opened and washed - I want it all to be at least accessible. A crazy amount of adrenaline keeps me going and I stay up til 12:00 organizing and getting the house clean.

9/13 - 12:30 PM - HMMM - is that my water??? NO - it couldn't be - I have no contractions - oh well let's go to bed and we'll call the Birth Center in the AM. Ryan and I had a great night of sleep followed by an awesome breakfast the next day with my Mom and Dad.

9/14 - 10:00 AM - OK - let's get the car seat installed and swing by the BC to see what's going on. We're thinking - probably not today.

10:30 AM - At the Birth Center - WHAT? I'm 3 CM already? Great - but not so great - we've got to get my body moving - now we're on the 24 hour delivery countdown - from last night. So 1 pill of Cytotech and away we went back home to do some laboring.

2:00 PM - Back at the Birth Center - WOW - what happened - these contractions are huge - and there is no "break" in between - It was more like: Huge Contraction, cramping, Huge contraction, little contraction, cramping, etc. What happened to the "smiley face" stage of labor??? I'm praying - God - please tell me I'm dilating - this is way intense. Ryan is a huge help. We really do work together as a team - he makes great suggestions and I do everything that he says - it was an amazing partnership!

2:30 PM - I need some IV fluids - I'm so weak - I forgot to be drinking water - I was so preoccupied with managing the contractions. So they hook me up and I start doing some pacing. At this time at the BC, they have already had 2 births that morning and another woman is downstairs laboring at the same time! Carol our midwife was AMAZING - she gave great instructions and I just did what she said. However, because of all of the commotion, Ryan and I were really on our own doing most of the work w/o the presence of the BC Team.

3:45 PM - I'm at 3 CM - this is not good - I have to get going! 1/2 a pill of Cytotech and more pacing. They decide to draw me a bath thinking: it's going to take at least another few hours. They also tell me to go outside and start walking around the park. I don't make it that far.

Instead I'm thinking:

4:10 PM - I think I have to go to the bathroom? I sit down and all of the sudden have a HUGE urge to push - I had no idea it was coming - my body just did it on it's own. But I say: "The baby is coming NOW". The BC Staff hear me downstairs and all 4 come running. They walk me to the bedroom and I squat at the bedpost: 1 huge push and I say: "I can feel her head coming out!" Her head touches the floor. The BC Staff is racing around trying to get the bed ready. I make it onto the bed by the time the next contraction hits and I give 2 pushes.

4:20 PM - Ryan reaches down and catches Andi. He places her on my belly and I am so amazed - are you really here? Of course tears come and I have an overwhelming sense of relief, joy, excitement, love. She's as healthy as can be and my body has responded great - no muscular tearing but a few surface lesions need to be stitched. This was actually more painful than the pushing stage. After 40 minutes of stitching they are able to stop the bleeding and I finally can rest with our little girl. We spent the evening at the BC. It was sweet family time! We also had a few family visitors!

We had a great time with some family visitors - My mom was there for the birth, Dad was pacing outside, Jan, Charlie, and Kristen came to visit. Amazingly, I felt great and enjoyed a yummy meal with Ryan. Andi was out - she must have been wiped out with such a busy day!Before heading home, I showered and Ryan gave Andi her first birth! She loved her bath and time with her Daddy!
We left the Birth Center at midnight and got home and went straight to bed - well sort of. Our first night was tough - Andi had some difficulty getting enough milk and kept us up nursing or fussing. The second and third nights went much smoother - I feel like I'm learning how to anticipate her needs, meet her needs, and of course take care of myself at the same time. It's been a busy time but overall I have felt great! I love her so much already, and I can't wait to get to know her more every day!

We've had a few visitors swing by the house. I'll be posting more pics soon!

Some more information

OK - so here's the latest update:

I went to the Urologist yesterday at Children's Hospital to get some more information re: Baby D's kidney condition. Overall it was a good experience and I was able to get some good information re: what to expect after the birth and into the first year. Here's what I found out:

Basically, the Dr. said that right now there is no reason to worry, the baby is doing well and he is not concerned at all regarding me having a natural delivery at the birth center. He also talked with us (my Mom came with me since Ryan is out of town) about the baby's "abnormality", telling us that a few weeks after the baby is born she will have a few tests that will help determine a diagnosis -if any. Some of the possibilities are: 1) the kidney will get better and will not need medical attention; 2) the kidney will be diagnosed as having reflux - where her urine flow backs up from the bladder into the kidney - this would require surgery; 3) the kidney would be diagnosed as bieng dialated or enlarged - there are a few reasons for this - we would need to determine why it is dialated and then which surgery she would need.

After the appointment, we went to see my other Dr. who said that he and the midwives suggest naturally inducing labor at 38 or 39 weeks - so this means it could be as early as September 15th YIKES! I'm so excited and can't wait to meet her!

By the way, we have finally decided on a name but have decided to keep it a secret until the birth (if I can) - just so we don't get anymore negative comments - it's amazing the things people say! By the way friends - the "correct response" if you are wondering is - "WOW - what a great name - that's perfect"! Seriously - do I really need to say that????

On a separate note - I am so grateful to have such caring friends and family! Thank you all so much for the sweet notes and phone calls offering encouragement and support. I have really felt loved these past few weeks - which means - Baby D has also felt loved!!! You are all the best!

Love, K

The ups and downs...

Well, the last few weeks have been a little more difficult to manage. Here is some news of recent developments:

I found out I have Gestational Diabetes - YUCK! It was a real downer for a while, but then I decided to embrace the challenge and have really enjoyed playing chemist - taking my blood and balancing my carbs/sugars, exercise, ketones. It has really helped me to become more aware of my body and how I can take care of baby! She is still kicking up a storm and is right on target with her weight. We had a sonogram last week and found out that she is now 5 pounds! What a big little girl already - that kind of freaked me out until the Dr said she was "average" in her weight. PHHHEW! I was thinking I might have a 10-12 lb'er - something that is definately a risk with GD.

So, we also found out some additional news at the Dr's office when we had the sonogram. The Dr spent a lot of time looking the baby over. After he checked her measurements he moved over to the organs. When he came to the kidneys he paused for a while and then shared with us that there is an abnormality with the baby's left kidney. Of course, a surge of fear swept over me and it took me a moment to "come back down" to the present moment. Ryan remained cool the whole time and listened (probably w/o as much emotion) to the Dr as he told us that this type of abnormality may be nothing or it may be something. He also shared with us that if he were God and had a long list of abnormalities to choose from, he would choose this one. This actually made us feel better. After he drew us a diagram and talked with us about the potential effects, he told us that he wanted to do a few things:
1st: refer us to a Urologist over at Children's Hospital so that we can get more information and a better idea of what we may encounter down the road.
2nd: He wants me to come back weekly so that he can monitor the baby's amniotic fluid. He said that the baby's urine output is directly related to her kidney's. If there was a signal for distress, we would know by watching the amniotic fluid.

So, it has been a week with a lot of information! It's been hard at times - I've felt disconnected from my body, out of control, fearful, frustrated, and overwhelmed. But then there have also been some really sweet times with Ryan. He has been so emotionally constant throughout all of this news and I really feel that I have been able to draw on his strength in my weakest moments. Of course, the SW in me is wondering "are you in denial?" (ha, ha, ha). But seriously, his sense of calmness has really ben soothing and comforting. Kid of funny: I'm good at handling other people's chaos but it's always challenging to handle my own.

OK - well that's it for now. My mom is coming in on Wednesday - I am so ready for her to be here and my Dad will be here the following week. It will be nice to have them here for the extra support. Ryan's also heading out of town on Wednesday for a week - he'll be supervising the night shift - a first for him, but will hopefully be able to take an extra day or two off when the baby comes for putting his time in...we'll see. Either way, I hope baby decides to stay put for at least another week until he returns.

So, please continue to pray for us - especially the baby's healthy development. I'll know more in the next few weeks and we'll be getting more information. Thanks everyone for your support. Probably the best way to care for us from here on out is to just listen and offer encouragment without giving advice. Best question to ask: How can I be praying for you ;).

Love, K