My DH Chris and I were married March 11th, 2011 and have a daughter Clara born March 1st, 2010.
We are thrilled to be expecting another baby on October 1st! I have 2 sons from a previous marriage, Tristan (born 1999) and Kieran (born 2003). I was also a gestational surrogate and carried twins, Victoria & Peter for an infertile Maryland couple (born 2000).
Ultrasound at 7 weeks...
Ultrasound at 12 weeks...
Ultrasound at 18 weeks... I have an anterior placenta so it was hard for the tech to make out the measurements of the heart so I have to go back again in 2 weeks. Baby is 18weeks 1day, heartrate was 160bpm and baby weighs 8oz. It's a boy!!!!!!!
Ultrasound at 20 weeks...
26 weeks pg!
27 weeks pg!
28 weeks pg!
29 weeks pg!
30 weeks pg!
31 weeks pg!
32 weeks pg!
33 weeks pg!
Hospital bag and outfits are packed!
34 weeks pg!
36 weeks pg!
38 weeks pg!
Markus Heinrich
September 21st, 2011 at 2:51pm
38.5 weeks
8lbs 9oz
19.5 inches
Stratford General Hospital
This pregnancy was definately my hardest, first with severe morning sickness and then with my pelvis separating at 22 weeks. I spent the last 6 weeks on partial bedrest as it was incredibly painful to walk. My husband Chris and I were married when I was 10 weeks pregnant, what was supposed to be the best day of our lives was made really difficult with the morning sickness - but we made it through (somehow!)
I had two boys from a previous marriage already when I met Chris. Tristan as born vaginally on January 1st, 1999 and Kieran was born vaginally on November 14th, 2003. I was also a gestational surrogate and delivered boy/girl twins on December 16th, 2000. The twins were delivered via caesarean section as I developed prolapse cord during their birth. I was thrilled to have a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) with Kieran in 2003 and also with our daughter Clara on March 1st, 2010 (our first child together!) However, Clara's birth turned out to be very traumatic for me as she was delivered in less than 2 hours and I never received any pain medication (Clara's birth story & pics). We live an hour from the hospital and I was very stressed with Markus' pregnancy that I would end up on the side of the road, or miss an opportunity again for pain relief!
My last belly pic at 38 weeks.
I had a really great OB this time and told him my concerns and he always assured us that he would do everything he could to make this a good experience. His one concern though was that with my previous csection I was risking a rupture with a vaginal birth and I was not allowed to be induced (only have my water broken if my cervix was favourable around 38-39weeks). I was a little confused that he felt this way since I had two vaginal births already since my csection but he informed us that the more vaginal births you have after a csection the greater the risk of rupture as every contraction strains the scar more and more. There had also been some babies lost this year at our local hospital from uterine rupture with moms with the same history as me so I found this really worrisome.
On Wednesday September 21st at 8am we went in for another OB appointment and I wasn't dialated enough for my water to be broken. I was in so much pain I broke down crying as I couldn't imagine another day with the pelvic pain. My OB said we could do a csection if we wanted and immediately I knew it would be the right choice with everything considering. I was terrified to have another natural birth, I was in pain and I didn't want to risk losing our precious baby to uterine rupture or some other complication with waiting another week. There was also concern that delivering a full term baby would permanently affect my pelvis and I would need corrective surgery. My OB said he'd give us some time to think it over and would come back in a few minutes. Chris and I both felt it was the best decision and agreed we should go ahead with the surgery. It wasn't an easy decision though as I knew I'd be in pain recovery wise and it was scary knowing it was going to happen that day. But we also knew that it would be the beginning of recovery for me as we could still face another week of pain and bedrest and STILL end up with a csection anyways.
We were sent down to L&D and were told the surgery would be around 3pm after general surgeries were over. At first we went to triage but requested a private room since we had Clara with us and wanted time to settle in. We called my mom to come in and stay with me while Chris took Clara back to our house to be watched by his mom. To say I was nervous was a huge understatement and I kept telling myself I just had to get through the bloodwork, the IV and then the spinal. I have a horrible time with IV's and have never had a good experience. Thankfully I had a great team of nurses working to make sure we had a great experience and they covered my hand with EMLA to numb it up and said they had the best nurse for IV's. Amazingly she got it on the first try! Chris kept telling me "you had such a horrible pregnancy but you are going to have an easy birth... just see". I tried to hold on to what he said and also the end result... our beautiful baby that I was going to be holding later in the day (hard to believe!)
At 1pm my OB came in and said we were ready to go but Chris had still not returned! He arrived soon after and everyone started to get everything ready for us to go to the OR. The nurses sat with me and explained how everything was going to happen and really helped to calm the fears I had. I started the walk down to the OR and Chris was told to get dressed and that he could come in once my spinal was placed.
Chris waiting to go in!
At 2:30pm I went into the OR. I was so nervous once I sat down on the operating table. Immediately the anaesthesiologist began to prep my back with the cold antiseptic and kept assuring me that all was going to be well and this would be over before I knew it! I put my head on my nurse's shoulder and held her hands tightly. I kept telling her how scared I was and she kept telling me I was doing great and that everything was going to be okay. The spinal wasn't so bad, I jumped with the initial local injection and then it was pretty much over. I kept telling the anaesthesiologist with the twins birth/csection I wasn't able to breathe and they knocked me out, he assured me I wouldn't have that experience again (they told me later it was because I had an epidural and then a spinal that was placed high which can affect your breathing). Not long after the spinal was placed they laid me down on my back and immediately I felt the numbing start from my toes all the way up to my neck. I felt someone put in the catheter but didn't feel any pain with it. Everything was numb and I could breathe! For the first time in months all my pain was gone and I told everyone "I can't feel the pain anymore!" I was so happy to be painfree I did notice that I seemed to zone out a bit and was delayed in responding, my mind was working normal but it seemed my mouth/face was a bit frozen. Chris came in and sat down next to me and kept talking me through everything.... I felt so much better once I knew he was there.
My OB asked me how I was feeling and I told him good and he said "I've been pinching your belly with a sharp instrument and you didn't respond so you must be good". The OR staff all starting talking about this and that with their own personal lives and I felt a bit of pressure and tugging (very strange sensations) and then I heard the suction. I remember reading somewhere once that if you hear the suction your baby is less than a minute from being born. I suddenly got extremely emotional and started crying... it was maybe 15 seconds and I heard our beautiful baby crying! Chris exlaimed he's here, we have a baby! Our beautiful son Markus was born at 2:51pm. They took him over to the warmer and his cries were so robust and healthy sounding. It was the first birth I ever cried at, I was so happy it was over with and so happy he was okay. They held him up and I couldn't believe how precious he was and I couldn't believe his weight... 8lbs 9oz! He is the biggest baby I've had and he was born 8 days early! Clara had been my biggest baby at 7lbs 15oz and she was 3 days overdue ... I think it was the bedrest and one too many treats for mom (my other babies weighed 7.12lbs, 7.10lbs, 7.8lbs & 7.7lbs)
Markus - 8lbs 9oz
Chris showing me Markus - instant love!
They brought Markus over to us and it was so heartwarming to see Chris hold his new baby son. I was so emotional! He looked absolutely perfect to me! It was around this time that the OB said it was a good decision having the csection as my uterine scar area was very thin. I'm so happy we didn't risk a vaginal birth and have a uterine rupture, it was at that moment I was so happy we did the csection. I told Chris he could go as they said I'd be out in a few minutes... I knew my Mom was dying to see what we had (she didn't want to know the sex the whole pregnancy).
Very proud pappa!
At some point they noticed the IV in my left hand had blown so they started another one in my right hand (there was a huge lump rising - it looked horrible). Once the surgery was completed they went to transfer me to my bed and accidently ripped the IV out of my hand. They then had to start another one and had a heck of a time getting a line in. The anaesthesiologist seemed a little panicked with the whole IV situation and I know they don't like it when they don't have a good line going. All I remember is it seemed like they were smacking my veins/arms for the longest time and jabbing and I couldn't feel a thing. Even my arms were numb thank GOD! They finally got one in and I was able to go back to my room.
I would say the IV's were the worst part of the whole process!
Holding Markus for the first time.
First nurse!
My recovery was pretty easy, I would say the lack of sleep and gas pains the next day were the worst part. I haven't had a lot of pain recovery wise, the first time you get up isn't the greatest feeling but they had medication in my spinal that lasted for almost 24 hours that was really great. I then went to morphine and T3's and some sort of suppository pain medication. The worst part of the hospital stay was the constant vital checks and nurses looking at your incision... I didn't get much sleep there!!
First Bath!
Going home from the hospital.
I left the hospital on Saturday morning... it was so nice to go home! We are loving every moment with Markus and the breastfeeding is going great. I nursed my other babies for over a year and hope to do the same this time. Overall it was a great birth experience! Markus is our last baby and I am so happy to be done with building our family 
Big sister Clara and Markus at home.
It was great to go home and nap with my two babies.
More birth & first month pictures can be seen here... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...ed85bc6&type=1
