Marie Isabella Gilliam | C-Section Birth Story

Last night at 6:05 pm, our baby girl Marie made her entrance into the world weighing 4 lbs 11 oz and measuring 16 and 1/2 inches.  She was born at 33 weeks.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I thought it was going to be a typical day here in the hospital.  Typically my days consisted of 3 meals, 3 snacks, a non-stress test to look at baby, and getting my vitals checked occasionally.  However, right around lunch time I started getting some lower abdomen pain and some cramping.

After my NST (non-stress test) they decided they needed to further monitor me over in labor and delivery.  Around 4 pm, my contractions got much stronger and my pain continued.  They made the decision that leaving me contracting was not worth the risk of bleeding for me and Marie.  So they started setting up for a c-section.  They didn't want to try to stop the contractions because of the pain I was experiencing as well. They just needed to get Marie out.

Before we headed to the OR for the C-Section, several people came in and asked me a hundred questions. I was a little overwhelmed, but continued to ask the Lord for peace and he really helped calm me down throughout the process.  We headed to the OR about 545 and Marie was born 20 minutes later.  They did a spinal instead of an epidural and I was so numb that I didn't even know they had started the procedure or that anything was happening to me at all. I didn't even feel any pressure like they had said I would.  I was so thankful that the Lord really took care of my nerves and pain as I was very overwhelmed with the process and really could have had to be completely knocked out if I hadn't trusted the Lord.

After she was born they brought her to me for a few seconds so I could see her and then Kendall followed them to the NICU while they sewed me back up. About 6 hours later I finally had feeling in my legs again, so  we went for a little walk and then the nurse took me to the NICU to see my little girl.

It was absolutely amazing that she was so perfect! Although I go home tomorrow, she will probably be here for a few weeks.  They want to get her to be able to breathe completely on her own, to be able to maintain her body temperature, and to be able to feed on her own.  Once she gets there she will be able to come home with us! We can't wait til that finally becomes a reality!

She looks just like her daddy! Hopefully as she grows she will get a few more of mine :)

Love you!
Erica

33 weeks pregnant update | Hospital Stay, Placenta Previa

Hey everyone! So I have officially made it to 33 weeks in my pregnancy, which is absolutely amazing! This is such a God thing because I have bled 4 times throughout the last month of pregnancy, which is a huge thing when one has placenta previa.

A few weeks ago I did an update on what was going on with my pregnancy and my hospital stay and I wanted to share with you what has been going on over the last few weeks.  My last hospital stay lasted just a couple days under 2 weeks and then I went home after a week of no bleeding.  However, a week later, I was at a dr appointment and had more bleeding as we were walking to leave.  Since we were already at the hospital, we just went up to triage and told them.  I was then admitted to the hospital once again.

This time, I won't be leaving after a week of no bleeding, I will be staying here until Marie makes her wonderful entrance! I am currently on bed rest with bathroom privileges, which means that I can get up to shower and go to the restroom and other than that, I'm in bed.  Their goal is to get me to 36 weeks and then they will decide whether they want to deliver her then or wait another week until my scheduled c-section on September 12.  So we will be meeting our little girl sometime in the next 4 weeks! We are very excited!!

In the meantime I will be trying to find some crafts to work on as well as other things to keep me busy.  I'm not a huge reader most of the time, but if you have any suggestions on things to do, I would love your opinions!

Some things I would like to accomplish, assuming I can get the supplies to do so:

1. Felt owl mobile in pinks and browns
2. Knitting hats and some mittens
3. Knitting some wool soakers to wear over the cloth diapers in several sizes
4. Hand piece the top of a blanket

However, right now I don't have any supplies to do any of these, so hopefully soon.  I tried ordering online, but I really can't find what I was wanting, so I was a little disappointed!

Hopefully you'll be hearing from me a lot these next few weeks!
With love,
Erica

Pregnancy Update 30 Weeks || Complications

In several of my past posts I had mentioned that I was dealing with placenta previa in my current pregnancy.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, placenta previa is a condition during pregnancy when your placenta is covering your cervix.  Typically the placenta will attach to the uterus and as the uterus grows the placenta will move along with it.  However, with placenta previa the placenta does not attach to the uterus like it is supposed to and it remains in the way of the cervix. 

Although in nearly all cases of previa, the placenta will end up moving by the end of the pregnancy, we haven’t been as lucky.  I have what is called complete placenta previa. My placenta is completely covering my cervix and is incredibly unlikely to move. This condition comes with several risks, but the biggest being that of bleeding. I was told that if I was to have the smallest amount of bleeding, I was to immediately go into the hospital. 

Well Saturday evening I had a small amount of spotting and immediately chose to go into the hospital. I ended up having more bleeding once I got the hospital and they chose to admit me.  I was admitted Saturday evening with the understanding that the doctors would be here on Monday and they wanted to watch me until at least then.  Once the doctors got here they would decide what needed to be done. 

My bleeding ended on Sunday evening, which was a great thing.  They had kept checking on Marie making sure that she was not in distress and that her blood levels were okay.  On Monday they communicated to me that they wanted to keep previa patients in the hospital for 7 days after a bleed. So I was planning on being here through Saturday. They did an ultrasound on Tuesday and Marie is doing just fine, they also monitor her heart rate twice daily to make sure she continues to be okay.

Yesterday, I ended up passing several blood clots (sorry TMI, I know…). Although these clots were not accompanied by any new bleeding, they did count it as bleeding and had to restart my 7 day count. I am now in here until next Thursday or Friday assuming that nothing else happens in the mean time.  They want to make sure that both Marie and I are safe and that nothing would require her to have to be delivered any earlier than necessary. 

So why have I not shared this until now? This has been a week of several emotions and we did not feel that we were ready to deal with facebook or people until this point.  Although I’m still a little hesitant, I think that there are several people who would like to know that this is going on.

So what now? Assuming that nothing else happens while I’m here in the hospital, they will continue to monitor both Marie’s and I’s heart rates and such.  If nothing else happens I will be going home next week, but will remain on virtual bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy.  Because of the previa, they do not want me to go into labor of any kind as it could result in more bleeding. So I will be hopefully delivering her around 37 weeks via C-section.  We have yet to actually schedule this, but within the next few weeks I am sure we will know our little girl’s birthday. 

During this time I am going to try to figure out crafts and such to keep myself busy.  However, if you have any tips on things to keep you busy during bed rest I would much appreciate it.  I will try to post some of the craft projects that I do and keep people decently updated as we know a little bit more.

So now that I've written an entire book I will go back to watching the Olympics (one benefit of being here, we don't have TV at home!).  

With love, 

Erica 

23 Weeks | My Pregnancy

Hey everyone! I am officially 23 weeks along today! It's so exciting that I've already made it this far, but it also feels like time is going minute by minute.  Here is how my belly has grown this last week.

(don't mind my overflowing trashcan!)

craving milkshakes and La Gondola 

trying to go for longer walks

beginning to plan your nursery and putting together a registry 

wishing my feet would stop hurting so much 

definitely having trouble sleeping, lately 

1 pound 4 ounces

Moving around all the time 

Starting to kick more and more each day 

beginning to hear the things we say to her

I had an ultrasound today, which was absolutely amazing to see my little girl moving around and doing so well, however I am still dealing with Placenta Previa.  As of right now, my placenta is completely covering my cervix and birth canal. This puts me in the status of a high risk pregnancy and could require a C-Section if it does not move away from the cervix. Please be praying that it will move on it's own over the next few weeks. I have another Ultrasound in 6-8 weeks to see if it has moved at all.  

Also, please be praying that she continues to grow as she is supposed to and that there are no further complications! 

With love, 

Erica 

Cloth diapers vs. Disposable diapers?

I've always had a pull towards cloth diapers, even before I was actually pregnant.  I wasn't really sure why I had such a pull, I just knew it was there. Once we found out we were pregnant, I started to actually do my research as to which we would choose: Cloth or Disposable.

On one hand, I completely understand why so many people use disposable diapers. It's very simple, since you literally just put them on the child, let them dirty it, and then throw it away. I also see the value in time as well.  Disposable doesn't require the extra steps that cloth diapers do, so it's a huge time saver! However, I just can't seem to get over the simple cost of diapers and wipes as well as how many diapers must be sitting in landfills right now.

Now, let me just clarify one thing... I am not a crazy environmentalist who takes every precaution to keep things out of landfills. I do, however realize that the hundreds of diapers I would use over the next few years will just pile up!

So I have made the decision to go with Cloth diapers. It took a bit of convincing for Kendall to go along with it, but eventually he just kind of gave up. :)

Here are a few of the reasons why we are going cloth with our diapers: 
1. The obvious one: financial.  Once we put the initial money into the diapers we will have very few to purchase in the future.  I know there will be a few expenses later, and some of them will wear out and such, but I think the initial couple hundred we may spend on our diapers will be much better than the $500-$1000 we would spend each year on disposable diapers. They also have a great resale value if we decide to sell them later. I've seen people pay $20 for a diaper and sell it for $15. That's over half your money back!

2. The environmental factor: Although using cloth diapers will require a bit more water usage each month, the amount will be minimal compared to the huge pile up of diapers that would end up in a landfill.

3. they are so cute!: Alright, this isn't a super valid reason, but I had to throw it in there... Cloth diapers are so cute!! You can get them in the colors of the outfits and they will match a dress or look adorable when they pop over the top of a pair of pants.

4. We can reuse the diapers on our next child as well.  Since we will be investing in these diapers, they should last long enough to even be used on our next child! That means that potentially we could end up spending next to nothing with our next child's diaper needs.

5. They can be good on sensitive skin: Although every child is different (I know people who get diaper rash with cloth diapers as well) however, many moms that i've spoken to say that they deal with very little diaper rash after they switched to cloth. I am hoping this will hold true for us as well!

There are also a few cons that go with cloth diapering as well: 
1. I hate laundry! I will definitely have to get over this one... However, I am not currently on a good laundry schedule and so I get very overwhelmed when laundry time comes.  Once I am on a better schedule, I will hopefully like it a little better.

2. It's kind of gross at times: Since we will have to dump the poop into the toilet... That will probably be a little gross at times! However, I'm sure we will get used to it rather quickly.

3. the initial finances: Even though we will save money in the long-run, we still have to dish out a couple hundred dollars for the diapers up front. Which will be a little harder than just adding it to the budget each month.

4. they aren't quite as absorbant: which means changing diapers a little bit more often. This can pose problems at night which is why some people do disposables at night (when they sleep through the night) or they double stuff the cloth diapers to make them more absorbant.

Altogether, I still feel that the pros out-weigh the cons in this situations. However, I would love your input as well! What do you think about cloth diapers or disposable diapers? 

With love,
Erica

My Growing Belly

I have just reached 22 weeks of pregnancy, which is absolutely amazing! I So far the only real cravings I've had are foods from back home, which of course I can't eat here :( However, I do really enjoy anything sweet and I will never pass up Macaroni and cheese! According to an app on my phone, our little girl, Marie Isabella Gilliam, is currently about 11 inches long and nearly a pound. It's amazing how much she is already growing!

She also started kicking within the last few weeks. She isn't a huge kicker, typically one time and then she'll wait a while. But every once in a while she will have little kicking fits! Kendall has only gotten the chance to feel once or twice though :( She usually stops when he comes around.

A few weeks ago I did have an ultrasound and found out I do have placenta previa, which means my placenta is covering my cervix.  Although 99% of women's placenta does move away from the cervix, I do have another ultrasound next week to make sure that it has moved like it is supposed to.  So please pray that this is the case! If it has not moved by the time I go into labor I will have to have a C-section as well as there is higher risk of bleeding out.  So we want everything to go safely and smoothly!

Here are some pictures of my belly's progression as far as growing is concerned!

above: 12 weeks 

 above: 13 weeks 

above: 14 weeks 

 above: 15 weeks 

  above: 16 weeks 

  above: 17 weeks

  above: 18 weeks 

  above: 19 weeks

  above: 20 weeks 

 above: 21 weeks 

I have yet to take my 22 week photo, but you can see that my tummy has really grown over the last few months! I am planning on doing several crafts and projects before little Marie is born! So keep an eye out for those! I will also be updating with a photo each week as she continues to grow inside of me :) 

I can't wait til I finally get to meet our little girl! 

Love, 

Erica