AnnaJo's hospital pictures

Here is the link to AnnaJo's hospital photos...

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage.asp?URLID=0205079098

Visitor password = Hill

We have a ton of photos from Nana, Poppie and Papa too. I'll get them organized and post a link for those as well.

We are both doing well. We will go home from the hospital tomorrow morning. I'm sure we could have gone today, but everyone advised me to stay as long as possible. So here we are... It's probably a good thing though b/c my incision is still VERY sore and I'm not sure I'm ready to be home.

AnnaJo is here...very LONG day!

I'm sorry I haven't posted sooner, but it has been an exhausting day. AnnaJo finally arrived at 8:26 PM last night by way of a c-section...a c-section that was physically the worst experience I've ever had. We have a beautiful healthy daughter, so overall it turned out well. She is absolutely gorgeous and is such a good baby. She has been breastfeeding very well and she barely ever makes a noise. I know....barely 24 hours into the world...not a fair judgement probably. I'll keep you posted on that I'm sure.

I'm still very exhausted, so I'm keeping it short...Basically the c-section was scheduled for 8:00. Anesthesia switched my epidural to a spinal block and apparently it was bad. I felt the incision the dr made, so they administered a local anesthetic - Ketamine, a dissociative drug that is used freqently in military hospitals. It was the worst drug I've ever taken...made me very disoriented and I still felt the section. I screamed lots and cussed even more....such a sailor, you know. Cliff was there for it all and he was wonderful! At one point, I thought I was dying. It was so scary and I had adrenaline shakes that were terrible! When AnnaJo was here Trum politely told Cliff to go with her to the nursery. After he left, they knocked me out completely to finish the surgery. He ended up opening up my cervix from the inside to make sure it was okay. Good choice about the c-section...my cervix was NOT going to dilate. He had to use some sort of metal instrument to get it open. I woke up in the recovery room and had no clue what was going on. I didn't get to see AnnaJo until after 11:00, but it was worth it. She is gorgeous. It was a very long night and I only ended up getting about 4 hours sleep last night after getting only 4 the night before - I'm tired!


The grandparents and aunt & uncle didn't get to spend any time with her last night, so they came up today and spent all day. We had a few more visitors too, so our room was only empty for about an hour today. I apologize for not answering the phone today - I know everyone has been concerned. To be very honest...I just didn't have the energy to talk much. Thanks for the messages though - I promise to catch up with you soon. Here are her stats and some pics...

AnnaJo (middle name still unknown) Hill

Arrived 8:26 PM - September 27 2008

7 lbs 13 oz - 20 inches long
love to all! - Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo

Check out these feet!

Here is happy Mommy...ignorant and clueless

Here is a very proud Daddy and a nearly dead Mommy in the background!

Decision has been made....it's c-section time!

Trum came in about 15 minutes ago and decided to go ahead and do the c-section. My cervix is not cooperating still and is not dilated at all. I have to be shuffled around a hip replacement and some other surgery, so I'm not sure what time everything will go down. BUT....we'll have a beautiful baby girl in just a few hours I'm sure. So...gotta make sure my makeup is on and looking good for the pictures. :-) Priorities you know...

love you,
kate

Nearly 6pm...she's still not here!

Nearly 6:00 PM....my epidural was put in at 11:30 this morning. The nurse came in and said my lovely personality was fading. And boy was it....my bitch switch was flipped for sure! The nurse has checked me a few times today and my cervix is just plain incompetent. Damn thing won't dilate and she cannot tell if she is on my cervix at all. The dr has been delivering babies left and right today, so I'm not the main priority. I know....shocker. :-) Since I'm comfortable, he's not too concerned. The pitocin is working...my contractions are strong and VERY regular. Yes, I can still feel them, but they aren't painful.

If you are trying to call me, I'm sorry for not answering. I'm tired of being on the phone and quite frankly, I don't feel like talking. Sorry! As soon as this child is here, we'll post it and send out a text message. At this point, it will probably be a c-section as soon as he has time. With cervixes like mine it is not uncommon to labor all day long, dilated to a 1 and then all of a sudden be ready to push. We shall see...my water is still there too, so it could still be a few more hourse. In fact, you'd better plan on it. Trum said that we'll have a baby by midnight though, so hold tight.

love to all...
kate

In the hospital and hooked up to the Pitocin!

10:00 AM... We arrived at the hospital at 7am...a little late of course, but who would expect otherwise! :-) We didn't get much sleep last night, about 4 hours to be exact. They hooked me up to the Pitocin about 7:30 and we are on our way. There is a chance that we will still have to do a c-section, but we shall see later. I'm having contractions now, so who knows! The dr hasn't checked my cervix yet, but I will keep you posted.

Dad came to the hospital with Cliff and I this morning. It was kind of sad to leave the dogs...you could tell that they knew something was going on. Poor puppies aren't going to know what to do when we get back home! Mom arrived about 9:00 and we are watching a movie now. Daddy to be is sleeping and starting to snore loudly. Nana is videotaping him as I type. Too funny...if I figure out how to post video, I'll do it. tee hee

Another contraction...can't type. Later!!

25 minutes away from AnnaJo's birthday!

Can't believe the day has nearly arrived! I just walked in my front door for the last time as an expecting mother. We just got back home from Donna & Gary's. Dad is up here too. Mom and Jim helped us get the house all ready today...put up a shelf in the nursery and cleaned the windows and the rest of the house. Jodi is still in Springfield with the kids, but will head up tomorrow morning. I'm headed downstairs to double check that I have everything I will need. The computer has been acting up today, so my post about the dr's appt was short and sweet! Sorry. I'll try to update as things progress tomorrow...so keep checking back. :-)

Love to all...
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo (nearly here)

One more pregnant day!

Here is the plan...Cliff and I have to be at the hospital at 6:30 AM tomorrow morning. The dr will start a very small dose of Pitocin to see if my cervix will react. If it does, we'll have a baby sometime in the afternoon or evening. If it doesn't, he will do a c-section tomorrow early afternoon. Either way...we'll do our best to keep everyone updated.

Last prenatal appt at 10AM today! OMG

Nearly 6:30 am on Thursday and I've been awake for the last 2 hours. Preparation for the little person that is scheduled to arrive in another 2 days if not before. I cannot believe we are only 48 hours away from having AnnaJo in our world. It's been a crazy pregnancy and this is by far the worst week as far as being uncomfortable. However, for the first time (at 4:20 am) I thought that I might actually miss being pregnant and being able to feel her move and grow inside me. If it weren't for my stupid cervix, I might be good at this whole "pregnant" deal!

My 38 week appt is this morning at 10...so excited that I didn't go into labor while Trum was in Chicago!! I am very anxious to see if I've progressed at all this week. I've been having contractions, but nothing major. At this point, nothing is going to surprise me! I am just now reaching my pre-pregnancy weight, so hopefully I won't go past it with water retention in the next few days.

The basement (our bedroom) is finally starting to look normal again. We've dried the carpet out completely, the pad is gone and the carpet has been stretched back in place (thank you wonderful husband with newly bruised knees!!). The weird carpet odor is still lingering a bit, but it's not overwhelming when you walk in the door anymore. I'm sure we'll be using the febreeze for a little while longer, but that's better than living upstairs in the small extra bedroom. :-) AnnaJo's nursery is taking shape. Mom finished sewing her curtains last night and I made her a little picture memory board yesterday too. Her dresser is due to arrive in the next few weeks, but it isn't holding up any other progress, so that's okay. Cliff is off work tomorrow and I'm hoping to finish the painting projects and any other final little projects that need to be done before miss AJ arrives. If anyone LOVES to paint, call me! I'd welcome any volunteers at this point.

Love to all...I'll update again this afternoon to let everyone know what the news is today!

kate, cliff & annajo

Week 37 Dr appt....very good!

So the dr confirmed that I went from being one of the highest risk patients in his practice to one of the most boring. :-) I guess that's a good thing! The u-sound was good today. AnnaJo is weighing in at 7 lbs 4 ounces now. We are officially 37 weeks and 4 days, so if I were to go to 40 weeks, she should be 8 1/2 lbs. My dr is headed to Chicago on Monday, so I'll be lying low until after he returns on Thursday. My appt next week is on Thursday instead of Wednesday. If AnnaJo hasn't made an appearance by then, he will induce on Saturday, September 27. He checked my cervix today also and I'm dilated to about 1/2 a centimeter and effaced 90%. Keep in mind that my cervix didn't start out at 0%, so it's not like i've made that much progress.

Headed to bed now...hoping to wake up to a much better smelling house!

37 wks - 4 days...we made it!

It's only Wednesday and it feels like the longest week ever! Our basement is finally drying out, but it still smells terrible. Did you know that wet carpet pad smells like cat urine? I would blame the cats normally, but there would have had to be a freakin pride of lions peeing down there to create the smell that we've had going on. Needless to say, we removed all the carpet pad and shampooed the carpet. We've got 2 dehumidifiers going and 2 fans and we've been sleeping upstairs all week. I'm hoping to get the furniture moved back into the bedroom by the weekend. The smell is getting a little bit better and will hopefully be gone by the weekend. If all else fails, we're going to steam clean the carpet with a vinegar solution. I'm hoping we don't have to do that though....I'm not a huge fan of vinegar odor either. :-)

Our weekly dr appt is at 4:00 this afternoon. I can't believe we made it to 37 weeks! Such a big difference from where we were in May....just trying to hold on until 28 weeks! AnnaJo is pretty comfortable apparently. She hasn't made any major attempts to make an appearance yet! Good thing too...the house is turned upside down from all the stinkin water!

Good thoughts and prayers for today...

Noah's ark...I mean Cliff's

What a terrible morning! Who would have thought that two hurricanes in a two week period would effect Missouri? We've been awake since 3 am this morning. Vegas woke up whimpering at 3am and then at 4:30 or so Cliff got out of bed to find a bathroom full of water. We've had water in the basement before, but never where it was this morning. It was coming in through the foundation into our bedroom. By the time we noticed it, the carpet and pad was soaked all the way into the bathroom and there was 2 inches of standing water in our bathroom. Anyone know a good foundation person? :-) Called Mom and Jim at 5:00 to come over with the shop vac and then called Donna and Gary at 6:15 to come over with theirs. Poor grandparents thought they were getting the well anticipated baby call! Once it stopped raining, the water finally slowed down and we were able to catch up with it. It was about 10am by the time we were done. I've never seen water come into a house like that! All I could do was laugh for a little while because in 10 years, are we going to say "what a life...when all we had to worry about was water!"? Through it all, I had some contractions, but nothing major. The irony of it is that yesterday i finally felt like we were ready to bring home a baby. So much for that! It's true...we'll never be "READY". We had date night last night - went to see Righteous Kill....last one for who knows how long! Very good movie by the way! Vegas is still whining...his leg is hurting again. Seriously...can we get a break?!

What a day....a full days work put in before noon on a Sunday. Craziness! Guess I might ought to get used to waking up at 3am, huh? :-)

By the way, I'll have my computer at the hospital, so I'll update this blog and send out an email as soon as I can. I'll also send out a text message and leave a message on my voicemail to let everyone know she's arrived. If we don't answer the phone when you call, don't worry!

Love to all! Send us some hopes and prayers for dry weather for a little while!

-kate, cliff and annajo

Stitches are out!! - Week 36

Week 36 appt was kind of stressful. Our ultrasound showed that AnnaJo's heartbeat was irregular. The u/s tech was sure we'd have the baby tonight. After the u/s, we headed for labor and delivery to get the cerclage removed. When we saw Dr. Trumbower he indicated that he wasn't really concerned about the heartbeat - he figured it was because I was pissed at Cliff. (long story short...cliff went out with the boys on tuesday night instead of coming home to help me the night before the stitches came out. I was pretty mad about it to say the least! :-) ) He took the stitches out and we hung out for about an hour being monitored. I had a few contractions, but nothing major. I'm dilated to a one now and I'll see the dr on Wednesday again unless we go into labor before.

Thanks for the continued support, thoughts and prayers! They are working!!

Love to all,
Kate, Cliff & AnnaJo

Pictures I have promised...

Stitches are out tomorrow and I'm very nervous about it. I've finally realized what I'm such a nutcase about. It's not diaper changing or crying or even losing sleep. It is being responsible for raising a child to be a responsible adult and contributing member of society. I am a perfectionist... self admitted. If I don't know how to do something, I'm not the first to jump in and try it until I'm fairly certain that I'll be really good at it. I'm pretty sure that this is the reason I didn't head to medical school like I had always said I would. My first bad grade in college sent me into a downward spiral that changed my life forever. This is also the reason that I do not play softball and have never taken up any sport other than volleyball. I'm determined to be a golfer though - we'll see how that goes. If I can make some sort of mathematical sense out of it, I should be able to do it. So...that is my challenge...to be less of a perfectionist while learning how to be a parent.


OK...here are the pics that I've been promising...

This is my mountain man of a husband after one week's hair growth. He'll never be able to play Santa...that is for sure!

And Cliff putting AnnaJo's crib together. Such a proud Dad! And he did a good job too! He still looks sleepy. I'm pretty sure that was one of his days off that I was up early and ready to go! Poor guy's sleep pattern will never be the same!

Stitches are coming out next week!

Great report for week 35!! AnnaJo is measuring at 6 lbs 2 oz!! She has moved into the 72nd percentile! I cannot believe she is getting so big. Although I am reminded everytime I see how big my prego belly is getting... I'm not sure why I'm so shocked at her growth. My blood pressure was back down to the normal range too...yea! I still have some protein in my urine, but Trum isn't overly concerned. He agreed to take my cervical cerclage out next Wednesday after our regular appt. He'll take it out over in Labor & Delivery and then keep me to see if I'm dilating. If by chance my blood pressure is out of control again, he will go ahead and induce to start labor. I'm not a big fan of pitocin, so he'll try the Cervadil first I think, if it comes to that. I'm not anticipating having to go down that road though. The bedrest seems to work for my blood pressure, so I should be able to go home Wednesday night. After that, she could arrive at any point! :-) I am still amazed that we are going to have a baby! Even more amazed that they will send her home with us alone...with no directions.

We still have lots of things to do around the house to get prepared! Her nursery needs to be finished and all the little honey do projects need to be finished. Cliff has a few cabinets to build (or buy or make happen somehow) in our bathroom and laundry room. Should be an interesting few weeks! Not to mention all the cleaning that needs to happen before she arrives. I hope my nesting instinct kicks in before long and lasts a little longer than most! :-) I know...keep dreaming. Have a great week and try to stay dry!

love to all.... kate, cliff and annajo

Made it to September!!

Not promising much today...still recovering from a bout of the flu or some kind of bug that made me want to die. Cliff and I were both miserable on Sunday night about 2:30am. I woke up and didn't feel very good. To be honest, I was a little concerned that labor was starting. I'm not a good puker and Cliff did his best to console me...a back rub and a cold washcloth. I was convinced that we were on the way to labor and delivery until Cliff started too. We had had dinner that night at Mom's house with the nephews so i was praying that they weren't all sick too. We were up until 6am at least making trips back and forth to the bathroom. It's a great weight loss plan - i think we both lost about 5 lbs. He was supposed to work on Monday morning and made a good effort to do so. He went into work and ended up in the floor, unable to stand up. Luckily his boss was coming down from Columbia and he was able to come back home to bed. And that's exactly where we both stayed....all day long. I was worried that sleep wouldn't be possible last night, but I was wrong. I passed out about 10pm and didn't wake up until about 4:30 this morning. And then went back to sleep about 7am and slept hard until 11. To make things worse, I think i have a bit of a cold too. The drainage and coughing didn't help matters. Plus, my daughter moving around inside me (although comforting that she was safe) was pushing on my organs and made it a little more unbearable too. All I can say is that I am praying that I am not a puker during labor...i can only imagine how miserable that must be!

Other than being super sick on Sunday night, the rest of the weekend went very well. I had a shower on Saturday that was so much fun! I'll post those pictures as soon as I have them. Did I post about the surprise shower during Bunco last month? If not, that one was A LOT of fun too! It was a total surprise and was very sweet of the bunco bunch to do...thanks everyone!