Heather Katsoulis - Google Profile
Syna was lovingly conceived (first “try”) on Mother’s Day, May 8th, 2005. She wasn’t planned, per se, but she was intended. We knew immediately that we were going to have a baby. And it was confirmed by a home pregnancy test the second we knew we could take one. I was pretty scared in the beginning. My morning sickness was just unending nausea.
08.26.06
We had a roller coaster ride of a week. It started when our ambiguous Doc told me I had a “big jump” in weight and size; twins? I’m just getting too fat? Something? Anything? No info. And a blood test…The next day day I get the dreaded call: “The AFP in your blood test was low, and you are at a higher risk for having a child with Down Syndrome. Come in tomorrow for an sonogram and a conversation on further plans.”
We were just so crushed to hear that. Not that we would love a baby with Down’s any less, it’s just frightening and disheartening.
We looked up tons of info and found out the the AFP test is very inaccurate for detecting Down’s. It didn’t really make us feel better.
Today we went for the sonogram; it was just too cool. We found out it’s most likely a little girl. There is this really great picture of her hand at the top of the pictures below. She looked so cute (as if you can tell by a sono :). She’s a wiggler with a great heart rate and all of her tiny fingers and toes.
However, the sono didn’t tell us much else. So we are scheduled for a more detailed sono at Dartmouth Hitchcock in Lebanon, NH. If there are no abnormalities detected in that sono, our chances of having a baby with Down’s are halved to about 1 in 400 – pretty low. We feel a lot better after speaking with the doctor and seeing our little girl.
08.30.06
So we had the level 2 sonogram today. All looks well. See more pictures below.
The second trimester was pretty uneventful. We thought about names forever. Solana was in the lead for a long time; coworkers and kids at school called her Solara since that was my husband’s car.
In November my mother and mother-in-law threw me a tea party baby shower.
I started getting back pain early on, and the weight just kept quickly adding up. I gained a total of 70+ pounds during my pregnancy. It was a concern. Blood tests and urinalysis always showed that although my numbers were close to gestational diabetes, they never crossed the threshold.
this is just 7 months
And there was the swelling. Much of my weight was water retention – I lost 40 pounds in 5 days after giving birth. My feet could only fit into flipflops in the dead of winter. I was sleeping in a recliner for the last weeks of pregnancy. And I was on home rest for the last week. One pleasure I had was feeling and especially seeing (my undulating belly) Syna kick and move. So cool.
At a regularly scheduled appointment with my OB, Friday, February 3rd around 4:30, the doctor was really concerned with my swelling, and asked us to come to the hospital later that evening to ensure the baby wasn’t stressed.
We went for a bite to eat at the Marina, then showed up at the hospital at 7.
The exam did show that the baby was showing signs of stress, and as she was finishing up my water broke – in. her. face. OMG.
So, that was the start of my labor. All in the hospital. Not what we were thinking, but hey, we were in good hands.
It was a tremendously busy night for the small community hospital in Brattleboro – something like 13 deliveries when the average was 2 per day.
I was progressing well. Did I mention that I was 2cm dilated for weeks before labor? For 17 hours I went pain medication free. I was in and out of a hot shower listening to Spencer Lewis’ CD In the Light of Autumn. Saturday before noon I really couldn’t take it any longer. However, being a small community hospital, the anesthesiologist was home. Calling her in took some time. I got an epithecal that lasts about 3 hours. It was sort of cool; I could feel the contractions but with no pain. I fully dilated after that but never felt any urge to push. I was urged to push, but I felt like I was doing it all wrong.
The epithecal was wearing off when Syna’s heartbeat dropped and stayed low for too long. So it was time to get her out cesarean style. It was pretty quick from that point. Jim tried keeping his head totally behind the draped cloth so as not to even risk a glimpse of the surgery. Then, at 4:01 pm, she was out – dripping over my face – all 10 pounds 4 ounces of her. So sweet. hhh
I had to be stitched up; Jim was with Syna. When I got back to my room, Syna was wheeled in. She hardly made it in the door before family was ogling her. I think I said something to the effect of, “Hey, what about me?”
She was wide eyed immediately and had a head full of dark hair. I thought it was funny that her arms were so floppy, always hanging at her sides. She took to breastfeeding quickly; my nipples didn’t. Ouch.
Healing at the hospital was good. Staff was amazing. Being a vegetarian there were fewer options for hospital food, so we ate tomato soup and grilled cheese every day.
We took her home in the outfit I was taken home in – a gift from my mom.
