Birth Story of Baby Jude {Part 1}
This time around I had Gestational Diabetes, again. They detected it early, at 8 weeks, and I was on a restricted diet from day one. At first it was a bit of a nightmare and really messed with me and brought me back to my days with an eating disorder. Here I was obsessing over everything I ate, my whole day was planned around the food that was going in my mouth and what my blood sugar monitor might say. With that, I was considered a high risk pregnancy and with that I had more monitoring. In the last 4 weeks I was going to the doctors office every week, twice a week, one day was an ultrasound and follow up and the next day was an NST and a follow up. I was spending 6 hours at the doctors office every week. It was nice to be able to monitor our little guy so closely and make sure he was healthy. We were told from day one that I was due on June 20th but would be induced June 10th if things didn't move along on their own.
At our last appointment (Friday, June 3rd) the doctor let me know that the baby was still too high, and that he would like to see me again June 13th (3 days after my projected induction date), and we would discuss a new induction date from there. I was bummed leaving this appointment because I was sore, my feet were so swollen it was hurting my ankles to walk, and I was ready to meet our little guy. That afternoon we went and met baby Colby, who was originally due a couple days after Jude, who arrived 5 weeks early and was in the NICU. Seeing his sweet face and talking with Alex really put everything in perspective. The doctors know what they're doing, they've monitored me so closely, so far, so I needed to chill and trust what they say. I actually posted a photo from that afternoon saying something along the lines of "I apologize in advance for all the belly shots over the next couple of weeks, I'm embracing every last moment." Not knowing, that was my LAST belly shot and that Jude would be making his appearance, sooner rather that later.
With this birth I had so many plans and really wanted to skip as many medications as possible, especially Pitocin. So, with that said, I wanted this baby to come on his own and skip having to be induced. So Sunday, June 5th, I took to Facebook and asked for natural ways to induce labor, from friends. I was told everything from take a walk, to sex, to taking supplements. That night we took a 30 minute walk as a family, up and down our road. Nothing strenuous, mild incline, and I drank plenty of water. If anything, it felt nice to get out of the house with the boys and our doggies and move around.
