My birth story! Part 1

As a midwife, I truly believe in telling your birth story.  I often encourage patients to write theirs down so they can read for years to come.  After all, delivering a baby is a unique amazing experience.

So taking the advice I give to my patients.... Here is my story.

Because my birth story continued over the span of a week and a half, I decided to divide it into multiple posts.

My story really started about a week before Collin's arrival.  I started having really bad headaches and swelling of my feet.  I of course knew that swelling was normal but the headaches were bad and I was getting one every day.  So I started checking my blood pressures at work, and the were slightly elevated 130-140/80-90.  I did not really worry too much about it because I just figured I was stressed at work.  However, Friday March 1st I decided to come home early after my head was pounding. My provider's office was already closed for the afternoon so I just took it easy for that weekend- celebrating Joe's birthday with my family on Saturday and a small little surprise party on Sunday.  I continued to monitor my pressures and they were still high and the headaches continued.

So Monday I had off and had a wonderful lunch with one of my friends, after I went to Cvs to pick something up and checked my pressure, which was normal.  I decided I was just making to much of it and everything was fine.  Tuesday I headed in to work with another headache, this time it was so bad I wanted to hit my head against the wall.  I had my nurse check my pressures and they continued to be elevated, so I decided it was time to call my midwife.  I knew what they answer was going to be- they wanted me to go to Labor and Delivery to get my blood pressures check and to get some lab work to make sure I did not have Pre- eclampsia. I paged Joe at work on his birthday and told him I was going to the hospital, he immediately flipped out and told me he would meet me there.  I told him it was not necessary as I was sure they were just going to send me home, but he insisted.

So I arrived to the Loudoun Birthing Inn around 1120 on March 5th and was immediately placed on the monitor and had blood pressures obtained which were 140/80-90s.  They drew labs and Joe finally got there while I was waiting for them.  My head was still throbbing at this point, and Tylenol was not helping.  We had to wait about 30 minutes for the labs to get back and Margie, the midwife on that day, walked in and said "Your having a baby!"  I immediately starting balling stating he was no ready and neither was I.  Margie then told  me how bad my blood work was - low platelets, elevated liver enzymes, elevated Uric Acid and I knew that their would be no arguing as it was evident that I have mild Pre- eclampsia.    I was going to need to be induced today whether I was ready or not!

So Joe went home to get some stuff while they worked on admitting me.  My cervix was doing nothing at this point so they started off with cervadil which they placed at 4 pm.  Joe stopped and got dinner at Panera and they let me eat and we celebrated Joe's birthday in the hospital with cupcakes I had made that he brought from home. Everyone was calling him to wish him a Happy Birthday, most of the calls he choose to ignore as he did not want to lie about what was going on, and I was not ready for people to know we were in the hospital as I knew this was going to be a long run.

Margie wrote for me to have some ambien so I could try to get some sleep while the cervadil was in place, as it is placed for 12 hours to help thin out your cervix and get it ready for labor.   Ambien + Laura = bad!  I basically got really sick, and started seeing things.  Not fun especially when the contractions started.  The cervadil came out at 4 am at which point I was contracting ever 2 to 5 minutes.  The contraction were mild but uncomfortable.  They started pitocin on me at 6 am so the contractioms were getting stronger and more uncomfortable.

Paula releaved Margie at 10 am and decided to place a cooks balloon in to help maunual dilated my cervix while also being on pitocin.  This is basically a balloon they put into your cervix that they blow up.  This was the most painful thing I have ever felt especially since  the pitocin was going at the same time. I was in tears, and that is when my midwife recommend I get an epidural.  At this point I had been up for 28 hours straight and being induced for over 16 hours, so I caved.

It was the best decision I have ever made, the anesthesiologist who was my new friend had my epidural in in less than 2 minutes- it was amazing......

Up next-  to cut or not.....

What is in a name?

The two things Joe and I did not share during our pregnancy were 

1) The Due Date and 

2) The Name.

We decided to not share the due date as it really was just an estimate of when he was going to come and if he went past his due date- we did not want people calling every 5 minutes.  I was of the of the mind set he was going to come when he wants to come- if only I knew that I would have to be induced a week early due to Pre- Eclampsia/HELLP.  

The other thing we decided not to share was the name. 

 We basically had a girls name and a boys name picked out before our 20 week ultrasound.

I knew it was going to be a boy, while everyone else thought it was going to be a girl- I was right.  

For the most part we really did not have that much debate about the name.   

We both loved the name Collin as it was Joe's middle name and also his grandfather's name, who from what I heard was the sweetest man every.  

Naming a boy after two kind men was a no brainer- particularly because I loved the name Collin.  

We went back and forth on whether we should spell it with 1 "L" or 2 but went with two as this was the way both Joe's grandfather name was spelled and also Joe's middle name.  

Of note according to the IRS website- Collin was number 184 last year for boy names.  

This was another plus as I did not want a trendy or top 10 name.  

I want him to be unique but not crazy unique.

When it came to the middle name, again really no discussion.  

Since Collin would now be a third generation "Hecker" name, 

I only felt it fitting that Collin take a middle name that would be a third generation "Oliveria" name.    David is both my father's name and my brother's middle name. 

 I love the fact of passing a family name on but changing it your own little way.  

For example, I knew that a "Junior" was not an option.

But three generations of "Collin's" on the Hecker side and three generations of "David's" on the Oliveria side-  

It was perfect.  

Did I also mention he was born in March also number 3... 

Yes I love numbers and three is also a prime number.

So welcome Collin David =0)

Happy St Patty's Day

Thankfully my girlfriend purchased Collin a St Patty's Day outfit and Joe's mother made some booties!

Joe refused to buy one as he did not want to Jinx me as my due date was March 12 and if I went a week late I would have not been induced until tomorrow.

So Happy St Patty's Day from Collin...

Mac & Cheese Cups

This is a post I wrote the Monday before I delievered.  sorry for the late entry but life has been busy.

So my form of nesting has been cooking.  I have had all these recipes that I have been saving waiting for time to try them.  So Monday when I had off, I decided to give one of them a whirl.

Mac & Cheese Cups!

First I heart Mac & Cheese so I was dying to try these and they looked like something fun to serve especially to kids- yes I am already starting to think like a mom.  COME OUT BUG!!!!

Ingredients

-  1 box elbow macaroni

- 2 tbsp unsalted butter

- 2 tbsp all purpose flour

- 2 1/2 cups milk

- 1 tbsp dijon mustard- I will be honest- I used regular mustard which worked fine

- 2 tsp onion powder

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp pepper

- Pinch nutmeg

- Pinch cayenne

-1/4 lbs sliced American Cheese- I used white American as it is what I had in the house

- 1 bag shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add macaroni and cook as per package directions.  Drain and return to pot

2) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and cook 1 minute.  Whisk in milk.  Whisk in mustard, onion powder, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.  Bring to a simmer- cook for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally.

3) Remove from heat and whisk in American Cheese and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.  Whisk egg mixture into the cheese.  

4)  Stir sauce into macaroni. Coat indents of 16 standard muffins cups with nonstick cooking spray.  Divide macaroni among prepared cups.  Top each with 1 tbsp of remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake at 375 for 18 minutes until lightly browned.  Cool slightly before running a thing spatula around edge and spooning out of pans 

All in all they turned out great-

Couple recommendations

I ended up baking them for closer to 25 minutes

Let them cool for a while- if you try to take them out while they are hot- they will not stay in their cup form.

Welcome Collin!

It is with great JOY, that Joe and I announce the birth of our son

Collin David,

Who was born March 6th.

A late birthday gift to Joe whose birthday was March 5th!

He was 39 weeks and 1 day.

7 pounds 10 ounces

20.5 inches long

Oh my god, he is huge considering I gained 21 pounds this pregnancy and was told by everyone that he was going to be a 5-6 pound baby.  But the amazing thing is his torso is so long so I am hoping he got my husbands genes when it come to height!  We totally think he looks like my father and me, even some of his facial expressions.

He came earlier than planned and for once in my life I was totally unprepared because I had told myself I was going to 41 weeks.  He was our like snow ball as he came the day of the blizzard!  Which was too funny, because everyone was texted and calling 1) to wish Joe a happy birthday and 2) Calling to make sure I was ok and no going into labor- ha ha Joe would laugh when he told people that he did not think we would have to worry about getting to the hospital, because after all we were already in the hospital- but when did not tell anyone that until he was here!

He has 10 finger and 10 perfect toes!

He has a cute little cry when he is happy!

He is alert and loves to look around!

He is amazing!

We can't wait to see him grow before our eyes.

Thank you everyone for the wishes and good thoughts!

Collin is a very lucky little boy surrounded. Friends and family.

You don't know what it like to be pregnant and not have your iPad work!

Every husband of a pregnant women can recall at least one crazy "pregnant" women moment.
After speaking with friends and family, we found most of these moments were around food, or when things were perfect etc.  My husband now too had joined the club.

At about 33 weeks, I found myself still jogging on the treadmill and I loved watching tv/movies to help keep me motivated.  My husband refuses to let us get cable and up to this point it has not been as issue. However, all weekend I could not get my ipad to work because something was wrong with the Wi-Fi signal and of course I can watch TV because we don't have cable and it is Sunday morning and the only thing that is on basic tv is "God" tv.  I lost it!

I got so mad and wanted to throw my ipad against the wall.
Of course my husband did not understand and then the famous words came...
"You do not understand what it is like to be pregnant and not have your ipad work!"

Yes it sounds hilarous now but I was so frustrated because here I am trying to be healthy and stay active in my pregnancy hoping to make my pregnancy easier, labor easier, and hopefully recovery easier, and all I want to do is watch shows on my ipad and it is not working.
Do you know how frustrating that is!!!!
OMG!!!!!!

Salty Chocolate Nutella Thumbprints

Over the last two years, I have increased my desire to try new recipes.  

We have found some we love and some that we will never try again.  

One of Joe's absolute favorites is a cookie recipe I found in the Washington Post magazine two Christmas' ago.  

So with Joe's birthday coming up I decided to make them since we were having some people over for just a low key afternoon.  

Salty Chocolate Nutella Thumbprints.

Ingredients

-  2 cups flour

-1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened coco powered

-2 teaspoons kosher salt

-2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp

-1 1/3 cup sugar plus 1 cup for finishing the cookies

-2 large egg yolks

-2 tablespoons heavy cream

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-Nutella Spread

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray.

2) Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a small bowl

3) Combine the butter and 1 1/3 cups of sugar int he bowl of a stand mixer.  beat for about 2 minutes on low speed, until fluffy, then add the egg yolks, cream and vanilla extract; beat on low speed until combined.  Add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated

4)Place the remaining cup of sugar in a shallow bowl

5) Roll the dough into 30-35 small balls.  Then roll the ball in the remaining sugar to coat evenly.  Space the balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and then use your thumb to make an indentation in the top of each cookie.

6) Bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes or until the edges are just set, the tops of the cookies will be soft.  Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool.  Spoon the nutella into the center of each cookie once the cookies have cooled.    I then put them in the fridge so the nutella hardens a little- if not it can get very messy.  Take out about 1-2 hours prior to serving or serve cold.

SO YUMMY!