Logan's First Halloween

Nathan and I took Logan to the pumpkin patch a couple of days ago and Logan got his own pumpkin.


Logan is wearing the Halloween outfit that his Grandma Witte bought for him and an owl hat that I bought for him. Both items are a little big, but still very cute on him.

Logan's Birth Story

In continuation of my late night contractions post...

I continued having progressive contractions that went from 5 minutes apart to about 3 1/2 minutes apart. At 4:45 I called my mom to let them know that I was in labor and we were both really excited! Unfortunately, a couple of hours later and my contractions had become really sporadic. I had been up since 1:00 am and was tired and actually managed to sleep for about 1 hour. I woke up at 7:00 and talked to Nathan about whether I should attempt going to work on no sleep. I called my mom and told her that it seemed to be a false alarm. I was really disappointed, as was my mom. I felt bad too, because I decided to stay home and my parents pretty much had to as well. I called work and explained the situation. Nathan hadn't decided whether or not he would attempt work yet as he kept waking up during the night.

Shortly after I called my office, I felt something happen and it looked like I was bleeding more. A few minutes later and there was a lot more fluid coming out. Because of my low lying placenta, Nathan and I decided to take no chances and we went to the hospital. It was like a 5 minute preparation and we were on our way. I had taken a shower during the night, but Nathan hadn't. I had, also, planned on putting on a teeny bit of makeup, but that didn't happen. I felt really dumb going to the hospital, because I was sure they would turn us away, but I wasn't about to put Logan at risk because of my hesitance.

We arrived at the hospital at about 8:00 am and went directly to the labor and delivery ward. They set me up in a room and I met the labor nurse, Michele. She was absolutely great! She set everything out for me and looked at what was going on and told me that she thought my water had broken! That got me really excited. What had confused me was the fact that it was pink in color, because of it's mixture with blood, but that wasn't an issue. She checked the fluid and confirmed that my water had broken. At that point I called my mom again and they were on their way to Valparaiso. Nathan started calling his family, too, to let them know. I was officially admitted at about 8:15 am and the whirlwind began.

The nurse immediately set up an IV of Pitocin to get my contractions going again. For a couple of hours my contractions got progressively worse, but I wasn't dilating anymore. The nurse asked a few times if I would like any pain management medication and I put it off until about 11:00 am. At that point she injected my IV port with Morphine and that helped the pain a lot for about 1/2 hour. It was strange, Logan kicked me and the real pain began during a contraction. The nurse helped me change my position a few times because Logan's heartbeat was lowering. We found that laying on my right side really helped. The labor pains were quite bad at this point and the nurse checked and confirmed that I had progressed from 2 cm dilation at admittance to 3 cm. She told me she would be back at 1:30 pm and that was the longest hour ever as my breathing techniques seemed to barely help me manage the pain. 1:30 finally came and I was 5 cm dilated. The epidural was ordered at that point and the doctor came pretty quickly. Let me tell you, I couldn't wait for the epidural. Getting the epidural really wasn't that painful and the medication started working within 10 minutes. For I while I couldn't feel much more than some pressure during contractions and I quickly dilated from 5 to 7 cm and finally to 10 cm. The nurse was getting really excited and by around 4:00 pm I was fully dilated and Logan was at stage 1.

During this time I could feel a lot of pressure and was really ready to push. I could tell that Logan was ready to come. We waited to see if he would move down further, but by 5:30 the nurse had me start pushing. My doctor arrived a bit later and I continued to push. What surprised me the most about pushing was how I went from not sweating to sweating in about 2 minutes. The amount of exertion and power it took to push amazed me and I really needed the recovery time after each set to get my breath, try to cool off, and mentally prepare myself for the next set.

I knew that it was almost over when my doctor put on scrubs and they started readying everything for Logan's arrival. As the doctor got into position, I remember asking her for an estimate of how many more times I would need to push. She said about 2 more sets and she was right. All I needed to hear was something that I could shoot for. Logan arrived on schedule and screaming!


He was all puffy, a little bloody, and as precious as could be! They wiped him down quickly on me and then took him to the warmer and assessed him. He scored a 9.9 out of 10 on the Apgar test and continued to scream until they handed him to me. I started talking to him and he immediately stopped crying. (Look to the photo for the first time I got to hold Logan.)

Logan was born at 6:19 pm on October 16, 2008. He weighed 8 lbs 0 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Introducing Logan Foster Witte

I can't believe that Logan is already a week old! I promise to write more about his birth and get you up to date on how we are doing. Our internet has been down and my parents have been visiting for the last week, so I haven't had the chance to update you.
Nathan and I certainly love our little man!

Is This It?

As I mentioned earlier, my doctor stripped my membrane at my office appointment today. I've had a little bit of spotting due to that, which is normal. I noticed after dinner that I was cramping every once in a while and I thought they might actually, gasp, be contractions. The doctor warned me that I might actual feel one of those too.

If you look at the time stamp of this post you will see that it's after 2:00 am. I went to sleep at 9:00 pm because I was a little more tired than usual. Nathan came to bed at some point and then I was noticing that I was using the restroom a lot. Something kept waking me up and at first I thought that the stripped membrane was just hurting. I looked at my watch thinking that it was 4:00 am and it was actually 12:45 am. I tried going back to sleep, but realized that that wasn't going to happen as I was having contractions. I decided to get up and start timing them. Nathan is asleep upstairs and I am using the internet as a stop watch.

My contractions are 5 minutes apart for 1 minute long and have been for the last hour. I'm waiting, per the doctor's orders, to go in to the hospital when they are 3 minutes apart for 1 hour. They are definitely strong right now, but not too bad. It's a cramping sensation that has a peak and then subsides and my abdomen tightens as well. The contractions have actual begun to progress to more of 4-5 minutes apart by now. It's nice that the hospital is only 1 minute away. Even if the contractions started coming much faster I think it would be pretty impossible to have the baby on the way. It takes longer for me to walk to the car than it does for me to drive to the hospital!

Now here is the silly thing. I came downstairs and turned on the TV, pulled up the internet for the stop watch and then started looking up the signs for real labor. It's funny, because the contractions really can't be anymore regular, but I'm still paranoid that I'll end up going to the hospital for nothing.

I can't wait to call our family and tell them that Logan is on his way!

PS: Don't worry, I'll write to this blog this morning if this turns out to be false labor, so you won't be misled. If I haven't written after this post, you can expect to see a picture of Logan as the next post!

Still at Work

I saw the doctor again this afternoon. She asked me if I've felt any contractions and I said that I haven't. Her response was, "Well that's not what I wanted to hear."

I am 2 cm dilated now and still 70% effaced. She estimates that Logan is going to be an average sized baby and that he weighs about 7 lb. 10 oz. right now. The doctor did strip my membrane at the appointment. That was not a comfortable feeling, but she said that I might actually start to feel a contraction now. We'll see.

I'm just glad that a human's gestation time isn't 3 years like an elephant's.

Week 38

I had my latest doctor's appointment yesterday and everything seems to be just fine. I have not dilated any more, but the baby has dropped and is in position. He just needs to let me know when he's ready to come and I will head over to the hospital. At this point these appointments are quick and easy, but I can't wait to be done with them!

Leo is One Crazy Cat

For the last two days Leo has been obsessing over me. He refuses to leave my side and he keeps meowing at me if I try to make him go away. I don't know if its because my hormones are changing or what, but he's driving me crazy. He keeps trying to step on my belly too. Last night he kept trying to play with my vitamins.

Congratulations Nathan!

Nathan's Portage Park Pavilion has won the Small Project: Project of the Year award from Midwest Construction Magazine! I am so proud of him and I adore his design. The Pavilion will be having its Grand opening on November 2nd from 2:00 to 6:00 if any of you are interested in going. It will be a chilly day to go to the beach!

Am I Fat or What?!

This might be the last weekly photo because I am getting sick of taking these pictures. Next week I might just post a photo of a beached whale for you to look at!

I don't think I've dropped at all, but I have been feeling increasing pressure in my pelvis since last Wednesday.

It's finally gotten to the point where I can't lay on my back anymore because it is uncomfortable. The last two nights have been side sleeping only. Luckily I fall asleep very easily.

Not for the faint of heart...As I'm not very icked out by things I will relay to you that my mucus plug came out on Friday. According to all the books and professionals in the know that means that he will most likely come in the next week or two.

Little Note

I had another weekly visit to the doctor yesterday and I am 1 1/2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Pretty exciting. I have not dropped yet, so I probably have a bit to go yet. The good news is that the baby is full term and healthy, so he can come whenever he wants now.