Klaasen, Our New Addition

Birth story to come, but here's the best part...

Klaasen's Stats:

9.7 pounds

21 1/2 inches long

There have been lots and lots and lots of questions sent to me lately, so I'm going to try to answer some questions...

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to have a C-section. We leave for the hospital at noon, start prepping for surgery at 1:00 and will be in surgery by 3:00 (unless we get bumped by an emergency C-section). My mom is here to watch the kids and my mother-in-law is here to help at the hospital, and at home, and everywhere in between! :)

Tomorrow is also my due date. I am so thankful to have a doctor who let me go all the way up to my due date before scheduling the surgery (usually with VBACs they want you to schedule it sooner so that there is no chance of you going into labor). In fact, our doctor is willing to give me another week, if I feel that I want to wait longer, but with the help of our doctor and a lot of prayer, we have decided that a C-section is probably the best and safest decision at this point.

There were several factors that went into making this decision. The biggest one being that I'm not progressing (I'm not dilating or effacing). With a normal delivery, a doctor can give a mommy something to help soften her cervix and help her body progress toward delivery. With a VBAC, it's my understanding that it's just too risky to use anything like that for fear of greater chance of uterine rupture. I considered waiting another week and scheduling the C-section later on, but I don't know that my chances of progressing will go up in doing that. Going by the first day of my last menstrual cycle, my due date should have been on July 23rd, so I feel that I have allowed myself some extra time, anyway.

I have been praying a lot about this. I truly believe that we did everything we could to have a VBAC, and the rest was totally out of our control and up to God. He could have put my body into labor at any point! However, for some reason, it never happened, so therefore I'm trusting that God knows more than I do and this is the safest thing for me at this point.

Thank you for all of the prayers and support. This has been such a long journey for me (especially the last few weeks) and in some ways I'm glad it's almost over, but in other ways I really wish it were different. Surgery is definitely not my favorite thing, especially since I hate hate hate hate needles and couldn't sleep last night just because I was so worked up about a simple blood draw that I had today! However, I made it through the blood draw without passing out and I'm confident that I'll make it through the surgery, too. Besides, the prize at the end is pretty great, don't you think?!!

I'll try to keep everyone updated as we go tomorrow, depending on internet at the hospital and circumstances surrounding the day. Please keep the questions coming. I hope to document our C-section experience here because I've had a lot of questions specifically about the C-section and exactly what happens and how it happens. I'd like to include you in on our birth story while educating on C-sections at the same time, too! It's quite possible that I may just post updates on Facebook and then transfer my thoughts, feelings, and experience onto the blog at a later time, but regardless, I will share soon! And any guesses on baby's weight in the meantime?!! Looks like most of the blog readers think baby #3 is a GIRL!!!! :) We'll all find out very soon...

Baby Shower Pictures/Baby Update

Last weekend some really great ladies from church had a baby shower for me and another new mommy, Carly. Unfortunately, Carly's new baby got sick that same morning and had to be hospitalized, so she was unable to make it to the shower. The shower went on without her, however, but I don't think any of us could stop thinking of her and little Oliver. Some pictures...

Our cake! (I took this upside down, so it looks a little distorted now that I flipped it, but I wanted you to be able to see the pictures on the cake better!)

Opening presents with my little helper (who burned her hand on my curling iron before we went to the shower and had to sit with her hand in a glass of cold water for the whole shower!).

NuRocha came up with some fun games - one of them being you had to hang baby clothes up with clothes pins, while talking on a phone, and holding a baby.

Some really great women who did a TON to make this shower special - THANK YOU SO MUCH for everything!

Today I had my last doctor appointment before baby comes! And it was officially established that my body has stopped progressing. This is unfortunate, as far as a VBAC goes, because there is nothing the doctor can do to stimulate this progression (like they can do for normal pregnancies). However, this is fine since we already have a C-section scheduled and have been planning on it and prepping for it, anyway, so it was just a reassurance that we are doing the right thing. I also found out that the pain I have been experiencing over the last couple days on my right side is a strain in my round ligament. This ligament is attached to my pelvis and has a ton of pressure on it trying to support the baby. I'm supposed to take it easy (YEAH RIGHT!), apply heat when I can (which doesn't even sound good when we don't have air conditioning!), and take Tylenol if needed. Tomorrow my mother-in-law comes and it will be nice to be able to relax a little bit with her help before the baby comes.

Good News

I got a text from my mother-in-law last night, asking me if I had watched the NBC Nightly News, followed by several emails from others asking if I had heard "the news". I hadn't heard, but soon found out... I've attached two articles from NBC's website (click to read)...

New policy aims to cut repeat C-sections

New Guidelines say vaginal birth OK after C-section

Come on, baby, COME COME COME!!!

Now that "the experts" will finally give me a chance, I'd really like to take it! We have a scheduled C-section on the 27th. Please pray that I go into labor on my own before that so that I can try some labor and maybe even VBAC! Last night I actually drank Castor Oil (which I always said would be my last resort) to get things moving. Nothing has happened, yet, besides some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions (and lots of diarrhea!).

Please, God, please please pleeeeeeease give me a chance! Please let me try!

Preparing for Baby

Basically the last week has been spent getting ready for the babe to arrive. My mom came into town on Thursday and we have been getting projects done around the house, organizing baby things, and getting things ready for when she will have the kids while I'm in the hospital. Mom's been learning their routines, their likes and dislikes, and the kids have been learning to let Grandma do things instead of Mommy. On Saturday, some really sweet ladies from church had a baby shower for me! We got lots of diapers and wipes, along with lots of other cute and useful things for baby. We are blessed with such a great church family.

On Friday I went to my 38 week doctor appointment. I went alone because the kids stayed with my mom and Erik was at work. It was good to be able to talk to doctor without the kids running around and tearing up the room. Apparently my mowing the lawn trick did not help

the baby drop or help me burn any weight off because it was obvious at my appointment that the baby is gaining double the amount of weight at this time than normally expected! I had gained four pounds in the last week and my belly was measuring 41cm. These things, along with not much progress being made on my body making any attempts at getting this baby out, our doctor concluded that maybe a C-section will be best for this delivery. We're going to keep our C-section scheduled on the 27th and if I go into labor before that, we'll assess things at that time on whether or not I should labor and VBAC or just go right to a C-section. I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed about this decision, but knowing that my doctor gave me the best shot at a VBAC, makes me feel a little better about the way things are going. We all did everything we could to get a VBAC, now we just have to trust that God has decided it isn't right for me and move on.

This week we're busy finishing up laundry, getting beds ready for company, making menus, grocery shopping, and organizing a little more. We all can't wait for baby to be here!

Medical School Pool Party

Erik's medical school class had a pool party and cookout last week. It was so much fun to sit back, relax, and catch up with everyone that we spent the first two years with in Duluth, and the last year of rotations with in the twin cities. The kids couldn't get enough of the water (after Skogen realized that it wasn't so scary after all) and I couldn't get enough of the watermelon, homemade salsa, and other summer-time food!

Fourth of July

On the Fourth of July, we breezed in from Oklahoma just in time to go downtown Minneapolis and watch the fireworks with our young adult group from church! It was a good show, however, Skogen and Maida lost interest about three minutes in! :) Maybe next year they will be more interested in watching them.

Appointment Update

After the appointment, we went to a medical school party and I'm just now getting home and sitting down at the computer to update. Sorry for the delay! I'll try to be thorough with the update, but quick, too, because we're off on the road again at 6am, traveling to another wedding, so I need to get to sleep. Hopefully I can convey my thoughts, and our experience at the doctor today, in a way that makes sense... I'm so sleep deprived that I don't even know what's going on half of the time...

The appointment went well. The ultrasound showed the baby being about 7 pounds 7 ounces, which was great news (Skogen was 8 pounds 13 ounces at this exact time!)!!!! After meeting with our doctor following the ultrasound and discovering that I'm not really thinning or dilating like he wishes I would, we decided to go ahead and schedule a C-section, but not until my due date. This was important to me because all of the other doctors I've doctored with have really pushed me to schedule it two weeks early (so that there is no chance that I could go into labor), but Dr. Griffiths was really all for letting me go as long as I wanted. The good news is that he will let me try a VBAC all the way up until I feel comfortable trying! So, if I go into labor before the 27th, I can labor and try to deliver vaginally. However, I can not be induced with a VBAC, so the only way a vaginal delivery is going to happen is if my body progresses like it should.

I am SO happy with all of the decisions that were made today. I love that Dr. Griffiths trusts my body, trusts his skills, and trusts that we can do this! I also am accepting the fact that we have a C-section scheduled because if I go that long, the baby is predicted to gain about a half a pound a week until he or she comes out, so by the time the 27th rolls around, the baby might be a little big to VBAC. I'm going to try everything I can to get this baby moving down and out, but there is one slight problem to our plan - baby is posterior! Posterior babies can be delivered, but it is more difficult and really doesn't help my chances of a successful VBAC. I'm going to keep my hopes up, though, and trust that God will lead and guide us in whatever direction He knows we should go in. Please be praying about this and any advice on how to get this baby moving down would be appreciated!!!

Hopefully this all made sense. As I mentioned, we're on the road again this weekend and Erik and I are going to have a night away from the kids tomorrow night for the first time ever!!! We're dropping them off at my parents' house on our way to way-way north Minnesota. We have a wedding to go to and I'm really looking forward to not having to chase kids around for a weekend. Yippee!

Today is The Day

What started out as excitement on Monday, has now turned into nervousness and fear by Friday. All week I looked forward to our ultrasound and appointment, but now that it's "the day," things have changed a little bit.

I'm scared of what is going to happen. I'm scared to know the unknown. I'm feeling the feelings of devastation before I even hear the verdict. I can feel the heaviness of having a life-long dream shattered in just one day - one appointment - one conversation.

As we go into this ultrasound and appointment, knowing that today is the day that we will determine if I can go ahead and try to deliver vaginally or if I will schedule another C-section, I'm trying to remind myself that I have done everything that I can to make a VBAC possible. Everything else is up to the doctor and up to God.

It's amazing to me to see my body progressing toward birth. Over the past couple weeks I have started having contractions, have started dilating and effacing some, and even lost my mucus plug (TMI!!). I share all that to show that my body knows no C-section. My body is preparing to deliver the way God made it to and it is beyond me why I can't go ahead and let nature do what nature does. But, I have faith that the medical professionals handling my health are going to make the best possible decision and that in the end we will still have achieved the ultimate goal: a healthy birth and a healthy baby.

Oklahoma!

Last weekend I convinced Erik to take a one day trip down to Oklahoma with me. We left on Friday morning (after he worked the over night shift) and got to Oklahoma at 11:00pm. No one knew that we were coming, so surprising everyone in the middle of the night was so much fun!!! We stayed all day on Saturday and then left on Sunday morning early, so that we could make it back in time to go with our young adult church group to watch the fireworks. Despite being 1,000 miles in 90 degree weather with NO air conditioning in our car, the trip went pretty well! Skogen and Maida were rockstar travelers and gave us no problems. Barkley! seemed to enjoy the trip as well. Of course my main reason for going down was to meet my new niece, Kinley, but spending time with the rest of the family was great, too!

She couldn't quite figure out who I was!

You can tell how giddy I was to be there, holding Kinley and how annoyed Maida was that it wasn't her turn to hold her!

The proud uncle with his mom and dad and their three grandchildren.

Skogen was sooooo sick of taking pictures at this point, but we were trying to take a picture of Nana and her grandchildren. Looks like we'll have to take another random trip down south after our new baby comes so that we can get a better picture! :)

Maida and Skogen's First Movie

Last week our church playgroup went to the free movie! It was so fun to take Maida and Skogen to their first movie and have so many friends to watch it with! We took up a whole row in the theater! The movie was Charlotte's Web and Maida really enjoyed it. Skogen, on the other hand, was a little difficult to keep still and quiet. We did, however, make it through the movie without any major meltdowns or tantrums.

Kinley Ann

Yesterday at 4:56pm, Kinley Ann joined our family. From the sounds of it, labor and delivery was smooth (and in record timing!) and Kinley is just perfect, weighing 8 pounds and 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long! We are so happy for Brandon and Karlie!

Here are some pictures that I received from the extremely proud Daddy and very excited Nana...