New Best Friends

On Sunday, our really good friends, Walker & Tiffany, brought their 14 month old son, Kai, over to meet Karsen. Tim and I attribute all of our baby managing skills to all the time we've spent with Kai over that last year. I guess you could say he kinda was our "practice" baby! We love their family and are really grateful to have them in our lives!

I just know that they are going to be the best of friends!

Love, Michaela

My Labor Day

This may be more of a record for myself but this is the story of how Karsen came into the world. (Be warned, it's kinda long.)

In an earlier post I wrote about my 41 week doctor appointment on June 3rd and having my membranes stripped. Well apparently it worked! After leaving the doctor's office, I started feeling some cramps but nothing too intense. As the night wore on though, things started to pick up.

Tim and I played Wii that night and still I wasn't having any real measurable amount of pain. Tim went to bed around 11 or so since he has to be at work at 5 AM everyday. I stayed in our office room on the couch because of my nagging cough that I hadn't been able to get rid of and I didn't want to keep Tim up all night with my coughing.

At about midnight or so, my contractions really started to pick up. I used the website contractionmaster.com to help me time my contractions. Some of them were very painful to the point of putting me in tears.

At about 1 AM, I went to wake Tim up because I couldn't stand it anymore and it was just too painful. He told me to call the hospital to see if they wanted me to come in. So I called and they said to go ahead and come in so that they could check me out.

After Tim took a quick shower to wake himself up a bit, we headed to the hospital and got there sometime between 1:30 and 2 AM. We were taken into the Triage area of Labor & Delivery and I got to change into one of those really fashionable hospital gowns. A Labor Nurse checked me to see if I had dilated any more than I was at my doctor appointment earlier (I was 3cm then) and unfortunately there was no change. So she told me to go walk around for about an hour. (Luckily she gave me a robe to put on since the hospital gowns don't really have a back.)

Tim and I walked around the hospital, which was very quiet since it was so early in the morning. We would have to stop every couple of minutes because of my contractions, that I wasn't able to walk through. We returned to Triage just before 3 AM and the labor nurse checked me again and still no change. So she said she was going to call the doctor on call to see what they wanted to do with me because they wouldn't admit me until I had a change in dilation.

After talking to the doctor, the labor nurse told me that they wanted me to walk around again for another hour! I really didn't want to walk anymore because I was so exhausted since I hadn't gotten any sleep so far that night, but off we went again. (We could probably give tours around the hospital now! Haha!)

We returned again just before 4 AM and again the labor nurse checked me and still no progress. So she called the doctor again to see what they wanted to do with me. They decided that they were just going to give me something to help subside the contractions enough to let me go home and get some sleep. At this point I was kinda grateful because I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep.

The labor nurse gave me a morphine cocktail shot in my thigh and sent us home. She told us that the shot should allow for me to get several hours of sleep. We got home just before 5 AM and we both went straight to bed.

At 7:30 AM I woke up to contractions again. (So much for several hours of sleep!) These contractions felt a bit different than the ones before, as I had this urge to push (although I thought I had to go number 2...) I got up and went to the bathroom and noticed that there was blood in my underwear, but didn't really think too much of it because I had gotten my cervix checked so many times in the past 12 hours. I then decided to take a warm bath to maybe help calm things down a bit.

I kept getting contractions while in the bath, but I was still so exhausted that I would start to doze off inbetween contractions. So I decided to get out of the bath and go back to bed to see if I could fall asleep again. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fall asleep and I kept getting this urge to push with every contraction (which I still thought was a feeling to go number 2).

At around 8:30 AM I got out of bed and went to the bathroom again and noticed more blood, but still didn't really think much of it. I was starting to think about waking Tim up at this point because I couldn't get these contractions to go away and then all of a sudden it felt like a water balloon had burst inbetween my legs. My water had broken! Luckily I was sitting on the toliet when it happened!

I managed to get up and grab a phone so that I could call the hospital again and I quickly got back to sit on the toliet again since amniotic fluid was continuously leaking from me. I called Labor & Delivery and they told me to come in. I then called out to Tim to wake him up.

Me: "Babe! My water just broke!"

Tim: "Are you sure?" (Rolls over and goes back to sleep.)

Me: "Tim! Seriously, my water just broke! We need to go!"

He got up and we quickly got ready to leave again. (Luckily all of our stuff was was still in the car from our earlier adventure to the hospital.)

I had originally planned on not calling anyone to let them know we were at the hospital until we were admited, since I didn't want anyone to drive all the way to the hospital just for us to be sent home. But I decided that since my water had broken, that this was definitely it and that I should at least call my mom. It was probably around 9 AM when I called her and of course she wasn't expecting to get "the" call yet and still needed to take a shower and get ready for the day. I told her not to worry, as we thought that it would be quite a few hours until the baby came out.

Tim pulled up outside the hospital just after 9 AM and I asked him to get me a wheelchair, as I was having a hard time walking since the contractions were so intense, I was sleep deprived and I was still leaking amniotic fluid. A labor nurse met us at the front counter and took us right away to a room. Yay! We were being admited! I was so relieved to not have to go to Triage again!

Right away I told the nurse that I wanted an epidural because I couldn't stand the pain anymore. (My original plan was to see how far I could go without any medication.) She started to get things ready for the epidural as I changed into another hospital gown and tried to give them a urine sample.

After I got situated in bed, the nurse had to check me for dilation before she could start the epidural process. She checked and said very surprised that I was a full 10cm dilated already! Which of course meant no epidural for me since it was too late! (I guess my body really wanted to follow my original plan of no meds!) The nurse then said that I would be having the baby in the next hour or two! This of course was sooner than we were expecting and I was a bit concerned that my mom wouldn't get there on time, as I wanted her in the room when I delivered. Tim left to go park the truck and I asked him to call my mom to tell her to hurry as things were going faster than expected.

The labor nurse called a bunch of different people to come into my room. Since my doctor was out on vacation, she called the OB on call (who was awesome!). She also had to call a respiratory specialist because from the sample I gave them when I first arrived, they were able to tell that the baby had a bowel movement inside me and they would need to clean out his throat as soon as he came out.

The nurse told me that with the next contraction, I would need to start pushing. She held one of my legs while Tim held the other as I began the pushing part of labor. With each contraction, as I would start to feel it come on, I would just say "OK" and everyone would take their positions and then I would start pushing, without making much sound.

Before I started pushing, the labor nurse tried to start an IV in my arm, but it wasn't taking, so then she tried it in my hand (I now have lovely bruises.) On the first push or so, I successfully managed to pull out the IV as I went to grab my leg. Luckily she didn't try to put it back in. (Oh and my mom got there just after I had started pushing.)

In between contractions, I would start to doze off because of the lack of sleep, which is kinda funny now that I look back on it. How can someone is pain fall asleep so easily? Don't worry though, each contraction woke me right back up!

Also in between contractions, Tim would ask me how I was doing. At some point I finally looked at him and asked him to stop asking me that. I guess if that's all I said to him he's pretty lucky as I've heard stories of some women cussing out their husbands for doing this to them.

I was asked if I wanted to reach down and feel the baby's head, and I was quick to say no. Towards the end, the labor nurse asked if I wanted a mirror to see the head coming out, which I knew from the beginning of the pregnancy that I did NOT want. Unfortunately she had already put the mirror down there and I saw, but I quickly said no and turned my head away.

On the last push was when I started to lose my self control and started crying and making sound (luckily it was the last push!) I probably had only been pushing for an hour and a half or so before Karsen came out at 11:56 AM.

As soon as he was out, the doctor cut his umbilical cord right away (Tim was kinda disappointed that he didn't get to) and he was handed over to the respiratory specialist to clear out his throat. He did cry right away though!

The doctor then started to examine me to see if I needed stitches or anything. I had one tiny little tear that she said wasn't even worth a stitch. Yay for no stitches! They did give me a shot of pitocin in my thigh though.

The labor nurse then told me that she couldn't believe how well I handled the whole thing, and she said that she had only heard about women like me, but had never witnessed it before. Apparently I handled the contractions and pushing better than most women who are on an epidural! Everyone couldn't believe that I didn't have any medication - and honestly, neither could I!

The best part was when they handed Karsen to me. I instantly started crying and Tim even was teary eyed. It really was the best day of our lives!

My mom thought we needed pictures of me in bed:

At least someone was having a good time:

Falling asleep in between contractions:

Karsen's first picture ever:

After Karsen was out, just waiting for him to be cleaned up:

Karsen getting his system cleaned out:

First picture as a family:

Love, Michaela

Hospital Kiosk Pictures

At the hospital, they have a kiosk that you can put your baby in to get their "first" photos. You can take as many pictures as you need and then pick your 4 favorite to be printed out for free. You can also pay to print out more copies.

Anyway, here are the 4 pictures we picked from the kiosk:

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Picture 4:

These pictures are still available online for purchase, if anyone is interested.

Go to: http://www.birthprint.com/

Baby ID: 233133

Last Name: Freitag

State: WA

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Thank you to my boss Tracy (and everyone else who pitched in to my gift from work) for the outift and to my great aunt (Karsen's great, great aunt), Judy, for the blanket used as the background!

Love, Michaela

He's FINALLY Here!

Karsen Timothy Freitag finally arrived!

Here are the stats:

Born: Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Time: 11:56 AM

Weight: 7 pounds 4 ounces

Length: 20 3/4 inches

He is just beautiful and we couldn't be happier with our new little bundle of joy!

I am doing great and will post the whole labor story a bit later.

Here are a few pictures of our little angel!

First time I got to hold him:

Proud Daddy:

First Bath:

Sticking his tongue out:

All my siblings came to visit:

With Grandma:

With Grandpa:

Sticking his tongues out with Uncle Brandon:

With Aunt Dani:

With Aunt Tori:

With Aunt Renee:

Just sleeping:
(He really likes to keep his hands up by his face)

Will post more pictures later and even some video (once I figure out how to get it off the camera).

Thank you to everyone for visiting, calling, texting, emailing, Facebooking, etc!! We love you!

Love, Michaela

41 Week Doctor Appointment

Today I had my 41 week doctor appointment (even though I'm not 41 weeks until Friday, but my doctor will be out of town then.) And to be honest, I really wasn't expecting to hear anything promising, except maybe a scheduled induction date.

The nurse told us that our induction date isn't until June 10th, which is next Wednesday. SERIOUSLY?!? That seems like FOREVER away! But since my doctor is out of town this weekend, Wednesday is the soonest they could schedule it. :(

The doctor came in and checked me and said that I was about 2cm dilated - which is more than the last month where I've been only 1cm every time!! So I was happy about that! But then he said that he was going to strip my membranes and that automatically took me to 3cm dilated! YAY! He also said that I was about 80% effaced and the baby's head is in the right position and ready to go. Finally some progress!! (Let me just say though, that getting my membranes stripped was VERY uncomfortable!)

So then the doctor talked to us about the induction but said that he doesn't think that we'll need to wait that long because he thinks I will go into labor on my own before then. (Kinda sad that he will be out of town this weekend, but I guess at this point I just want to hold my baby!)

I told him about the fever on Sunday night and not feeling the baby move, and he didn't seem concerned at all, which is good. I then told him that I was up almost ALL night last night because I couldn't sleep through the contractions I was having. I was trying to time them (using contractionmaster.com - makes things soooo much easier!) and at one point I was having them about every 5 minutes for about an hour - the kind that you can even feel in your back too!

By the time Tim got up to get ready for work at 3:45am, I was STILL awake and SUPER tired. I also had a headache and couldn't stop coughing, so I decided to take some Tylenol to hopefully help me sleep. Tim asked if I wanted him to stay home today, but I told him not to and that I would call him if my contractions got worse.

The Tylenol must have really worked because I was able to fall asleep for a few hours and when I woke up around 10:30am, I wasn't having anymore contractions. I was thinking maybe the Tylenol worked so well that it stopped my contractions - so I won't be taking anymore until this baby is out! Haha!

After we left the doctor's office, I started cramping and have been having some contractions off and on the rest of the day. So fingers crossed that the membrane stripping worked!!

Love, Michaela

Baby Shower for Tami

Yesterday I got to attend a baby shower for my cousin Tami. She is due on June 20th with her 4th child, but 1st girl!! My mom and I had so much fun going shopping for girls clothes for her and it really made me want to have a girl....hopefully someday! (My focus right now is just for Karsen to come out into this world!)

My sister Dani was also able to go to the shower too as she had the day off from work.

Here we are at my Aunt Marcia's house during the shower:

I actually didn't know very many people there but it was great to see the people who I did know. Plus it was really fun to get to see Tami open up all her little girly gifts!

Here's the present from me:
(I didn't get a chance to get pictures of her taking out the contents)

Here she is opening the gift from my mom:

Here's the gift from my mom:
(She started it the night before and just has the binding left to finish. She's AMAZING!)

This was by far one of the cutest things that Tami got:
(So perfect for Seattle, right?)

During the present opening, dessert was passed out and boy was it yummy! It was a chocolate Frango mousse with whip cream and a raspberry. It was very rich though, and I wasn't able to eat all of mine.


After a lot of people left, Tami suggested that I go jump on the trampoline to try to get Karsen to come out (since I was 4 days overdue!) Even though it was super hot outside (it was almost 90 degrees!), Dani and I went outside to jump a little. I thought my mom was going to have a heart attack about me being on there, but she agreed to take a few pictures for fun. (She then made me get off after about 2 minutes, haha!)



I kept telling Tami that at this rate, she might have her baby before me!

Here we are together, with our bellies "kissing":
Hehe :)

It was really fun and I'm really glad that I got to go!

Love, Michaela

Sunday Night Fever

So if you look at the baby ticker on the side of the blog, it's starting to count up from the due date. So that's how many days PAST due I am!!

I've been battling a cold for almost 2 weeks now and have a VERY irritating cough that likes to act up at nights especially, which prevents me from sleeping and keeps Tim up.

Well, last night I felt a little feverish and decided to take my temperature and it was at 100.2 degrees. I was a little freaked out because I got a paper from the hospital a few weeks ago with a list of things that I should call for if they occur and having a temperature of 100.3 is on the list. So I took 2 Tylenol Cold pills that would help with my cough and stuffy nose too.

I kept taking my temperature and it just kept going up! It got up to 100.6 degrees at one point and then wouldn't budge from 100.5 for just over an hour!

I also hadn't really felt the baby move in quite a while and was concerned that the fever was affecting him in a negative way. (Decreased fetal movement is also on the list of things to call the hospital about.)

At this point I'm really stressing and called my mom. She told me that I should call the hospital just to make sure that they didn't want me to come in to check things out.

I called Labor & Delivery and was transfered to a labor nurse. She told me that she wasn't that concerned about the fever and was mostly concerned about the baby not really moving. So she told me that she wanted me to drink a big glass of juice and then a big glass of water and then lay on the couch for 30 minutes and focus on feeling the baby move. After the 30 minutes, she wanted me to call her back to let her know if the baby was moving.

So I drank a whole glass of OJ and then drank almost a full glass of water (I was getting really full) and then layed down. Karsen started moving almost right away and even kicked me really hard a few times. I tried counting how many times I felt him move but it's really hard, especially when I am coughing every 2 minutes!

I called the nurse back and told her that he seemed to be moving just fine and that my temperature had finally gone down to 99.6 degrees. She was glad and told me to take it easy and keep hydrated.

That's what I've been doing most of today. I signed us up for Blockbuster by mail and had gotten our first movie on Friday but hadn't watched it yet, mostly because it was a chick flick that Tim had no interest in seeing - Bride Wars with Kate Hudson (one of my favs!) and Anne Hathaway. So I watched that today in bed. Probably the only thing productive I've done all day is take a shower! Haha!

So long story short, I'm ok and so is Karsen - he just is still in my belly. I have a feeling that we WILL be making it to our doctor's appointment on Wednesday...
I guess he'll come out eventually! He can't stay in there forever!!

Love, Michaela