Several small accomplishments:
* Went to class last night. Got there on time, though I found out after I was there that I had baby spit on my sweater, and had forgotten my book and paper. D'oh.
* Survived the first day with no back-up.
* I am wearing non-maternity jeans today. I didn't even have to lie down to get them on!
* Had my first outing with both feeshes. Managed to keep them both wrangled and happy, and get home without any minor disasters.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Yesterday, I wore something other than pyjamas
You have to celebrate the small victories.
Honestly, I feel a lot better after HM than I -ever- did after JT. I hobbled around like a little old lady for three weeks after having him. With HM, I could have walked out of the delivery room, had they let me.
Still, there's moments when my body reminds me that, hi, yes, I gave birth last week. Aches and pains, little twinges, etc. That, and we're not yet in a rhythm with the nighttime chores, so I'm tired during the day. So it's tempting just to lay around in my jammies.
We realized we needed a baby bath, though, and some things at the grocery store, so, leaving IB home with the wee one, my mother and I went shopping. He offered to go, but I felt ready. It didn't go too badly, though I'm beginning to wonder when anyone will ever let me pick up something ever again.
Honestly, I feel a lot better after HM than I -ever- did after JT. I hobbled around like a little old lady for three weeks after having him. With HM, I could have walked out of the delivery room, had they let me.
Still, there's moments when my body reminds me that, hi, yes, I gave birth last week. Aches and pains, little twinges, etc. That, and we're not yet in a rhythm with the nighttime chores, so I'm tired during the day. So it's tempting just to lay around in my jammies.
We realized we needed a baby bath, though, and some things at the grocery store, so, leaving IB home with the wee one, my mother and I went shopping. He offered to go, but I felt ready. It didn't go too badly, though I'm beginning to wonder when anyone will ever let me pick up something ever again.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Home again!
We are indeed home again, home again. It'll take a few days to calm down. There's essence of three stooges, now and then, especially since we don't have everything right at hand.
Note: what seems to be 'right at hand' in the weeks before delivery is suddenly miles away when the baby is actually here.
Note: what seems to be 'right at hand' in the weeks before delivery is suddenly miles away when the baby is actually here.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The vitals
Oh, yes. Before I forget.
Weight: 7lbs 11 oz
Length: 19 1/4 inches
Time of birth: 5:23 am
DOB: 1.9.2007
Weight: 7lbs 11 oz
Length: 19 1/4 inches
Time of birth: 5:23 am
DOB: 1.9.2007
The Birth Story
I am now a war story for some unfortunate nurses.
Technically, I went into labor on the 8th, though I sure never felt anything. Around 6pm, I thought I might be leaking fluid, so IB and I went to the hospital to get me checked out. They hooked me up, swabbed me, and assured me I wasn't leaking. During the check, the nurse looked at my readout.
"Hmm... Having contractions five minutes apart, I see."
"... Pardon?"
"See? Right here. You're in the middle of one."
"I beg to differ..." I was feeling nothing. Nada. Not even a tightening.
Well, I hadn't dilated any more, so they figured I was in very, very early labor, with a good chance that whatever was going on internally would die down on its own. They sent me home, since I was due to be induced the next morning, and there was no need to keep me overnight. "See you at seven!"
We left, had dinner at Carraba's, then went home. After collecting a few things, we went to bed.
Around 2:30, a pain woke me up. Now, this had been happening over the past month or so. One pain would come, maybe another. My record was five. Then they'd go away. I got up and decided that if they weren't gone by the time I was done watching an episode of CSI from OnDemand, I'd call the hospital. They remained five minutes apart for the duration of the 45 minute episode, but not really all that painful. I called the hospital, and thier reaction was 'Eh, might as well come in. We have a bed reserved for your induction, anyway." Woke IB, called my mother, and took a shower.
My mother showed up, and the pains were still 5 minutes apart, but nothing spectacular. I could talk thorugh them, and we chatted as we rode to the hospital. We arrived around 4:20.
They checked me in and started hooking me up to machines. My mother opted to stay until she was sure we were settled, at which point she'd go back home and start getting the boy ready for school (he had spent the night with them). It took them a while to get my IV going, due to my veins shrinking from no eating (mandatory if you're being induced). We were all still just chatting, and pains weren't so bad. My doctor had been called, and I had three nurses buzzing around the room. At this point, it was around 5am.
Then a bad pain came.
For some reason, all the nurses were gone, and I had IB or my mom (can't remember who bolted) get a nurse. One came back and checked me. I had been at 2, maybe 3 cm the night before. I was now at six. "Oh... a rapid progresser." She called the other nurses back in.
Another bad pain. "Um, I really want an epidural."
"We can't give you anything until you've taken a bag of fluid, honey."
I looked up at the bag. It was almost full. I considered offering to drink a damn bag of fluid, but another pain came. The nurse checked me again, even though it had only been about five minutes.
"She's at... eight?"
"Where is my doctor?!"
"He's only ten minutes away, honey."
"Where's the inhouse doctor?"
"We're finding him. Don't worry, he'll be right here." Then, after a pause. "And it wouldn't be the first time a nurse has had to deliver a baby."
Another pain came, and this one was... different. It was like every nerve in my body was screaming to PUSH PUSH NOW. "I want to push!"
"Honey, you can't, you're only at eight--" she checked me. "... She's at ten." The nurses tried to get me to pant, which kept me from pushing through one pain. The next, however, my water burst. I tried to pant, but it was like something else was controlling my body.
Odd thing about pushing. Labor pains suck. They hurt a lot. The only thing that makes them feel better is pushing. Not that pushing doesn't hurt, but it's like itching a scratch. Scratching feels a lot better than the pushing.
So, I pushed.
I will spare others the description of what it feels like to give birth sans drugs. Needless to say, it's an odd experience. The feeling of no pain, however, is like a drug unto itself. I sort of remember Hannah crying out, but I was still caught up in the whole, "What the hell just happened?" thing. They proceeded to clean her up and tell me what a trooper I was. The in-house doctor got there about ten minutes after I had Hannah was born. He'd had an eptopic pregnancy in the OR he was dealing with, and couldn't leave in the middle.
As he took care of the placenta and got me stitched up, he shook his head. "Next time, the magic words are 'My previous delivery was precipitous.' You get one twinge, you check in. They won't let you leave until you've had a baby."
My official doctor showed up a little while later, though it was more of a hi-bye kind of visit.
My mother, during the delivery, had been pacing outside, and got to see the nurses without their game face on. While in the LDR, they had been assured, outside, the scene resembled a hi-jinx prime time sitcom. "Where the HELL is the doctor?! Where the hell is HER doctor?! She can't be ready already!"
My mother came back in, after they were able to cover me up again, and we did the math. In about fifteen minutes, I had gone from chatting to birthing.
Hannah was checked out, and seems no worse for wear from the fast birth. Me, either, really. While I would never -choose- to have a natural birth, having to go through one that was fast wasn't the end of the world. Scary, because you really do feel like you've lost control of your body, and painful, but I've been through worse.
Other amusing notes:
* The staff that was on at 7pm on Tuesday was the same staff on duty at 4:30am Wednesday. The guy who checked us in was very jovial, and asked us if it was the great service that had us coming back.
* We're still the talk of Labor and Delivery. Every nurse that's come in has prefaced the visit with "Hey, you were the fast birth yesterday!"
* We followed the saga of another pregnant lady who we saw for the first time on Tuesday night. Outside the LDR entrance. Obviously in labor. Smoking. "Did you just see what I just saw?" IB asked me as we went in. "I was totally about to ask you the same thing." The next day, she was still in and out, smoking and looking like a woman that's been in labor way too long.
The boy is doing well with the whole thing, so far. He was delighted to discover that he didn't have to go to school, and was more interested in the fact that our room had its own TV than any attention the baby got. He was rather miffed that we wouldn't take him on a tour of the hospital (we promised him he'd get a walk around LDR today, though. Yesterday, we were all too bushed).
So, that's the birth story. We're keeping pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/katie.fulton/HannahMarie/ Expect more as the first week goes on.
Technically, I went into labor on the 8th, though I sure never felt anything. Around 6pm, I thought I might be leaking fluid, so IB and I went to the hospital to get me checked out. They hooked me up, swabbed me, and assured me I wasn't leaking. During the check, the nurse looked at my readout.
"Hmm... Having contractions five minutes apart, I see."
"... Pardon?"
"See? Right here. You're in the middle of one."
"I beg to differ..." I was feeling nothing. Nada. Not even a tightening.
Well, I hadn't dilated any more, so they figured I was in very, very early labor, with a good chance that whatever was going on internally would die down on its own. They sent me home, since I was due to be induced the next morning, and there was no need to keep me overnight. "See you at seven!"
We left, had dinner at Carraba's, then went home. After collecting a few things, we went to bed.
Around 2:30, a pain woke me up. Now, this had been happening over the past month or so. One pain would come, maybe another. My record was five. Then they'd go away. I got up and decided that if they weren't gone by the time I was done watching an episode of CSI from OnDemand, I'd call the hospital. They remained five minutes apart for the duration of the 45 minute episode, but not really all that painful. I called the hospital, and thier reaction was 'Eh, might as well come in. We have a bed reserved for your induction, anyway." Woke IB, called my mother, and took a shower.
My mother showed up, and the pains were still 5 minutes apart, but nothing spectacular. I could talk thorugh them, and we chatted as we rode to the hospital. We arrived around 4:20.
They checked me in and started hooking me up to machines. My mother opted to stay until she was sure we were settled, at which point she'd go back home and start getting the boy ready for school (he had spent the night with them). It took them a while to get my IV going, due to my veins shrinking from no eating (mandatory if you're being induced). We were all still just chatting, and pains weren't so bad. My doctor had been called, and I had three nurses buzzing around the room. At this point, it was around 5am.
Then a bad pain came.
For some reason, all the nurses were gone, and I had IB or my mom (can't remember who bolted) get a nurse. One came back and checked me. I had been at 2, maybe 3 cm the night before. I was now at six. "Oh... a rapid progresser." She called the other nurses back in.
Another bad pain. "Um, I really want an epidural."
"We can't give you anything until you've taken a bag of fluid, honey."
I looked up at the bag. It was almost full. I considered offering to drink a damn bag of fluid, but another pain came. The nurse checked me again, even though it had only been about five minutes.
"She's at... eight?"
"Where is my doctor?!"
"He's only ten minutes away, honey."
"Where's the inhouse doctor?"
"We're finding him. Don't worry, he'll be right here." Then, after a pause. "And it wouldn't be the first time a nurse has had to deliver a baby."
Another pain came, and this one was... different. It was like every nerve in my body was screaming to PUSH PUSH NOW. "I want to push!"
"Honey, you can't, you're only at eight--" she checked me. "... She's at ten." The nurses tried to get me to pant, which kept me from pushing through one pain. The next, however, my water burst. I tried to pant, but it was like something else was controlling my body.
Odd thing about pushing. Labor pains suck. They hurt a lot. The only thing that makes them feel better is pushing. Not that pushing doesn't hurt, but it's like itching a scratch. Scratching feels a lot better than the pushing.
So, I pushed.
I will spare others the description of what it feels like to give birth sans drugs. Needless to say, it's an odd experience. The feeling of no pain, however, is like a drug unto itself. I sort of remember Hannah crying out, but I was still caught up in the whole, "What the hell just happened?" thing. They proceeded to clean her up and tell me what a trooper I was. The in-house doctor got there about ten minutes after I had Hannah was born. He'd had an eptopic pregnancy in the OR he was dealing with, and couldn't leave in the middle.
As he took care of the placenta and got me stitched up, he shook his head. "Next time, the magic words are 'My previous delivery was precipitous.' You get one twinge, you check in. They won't let you leave until you've had a baby."
My official doctor showed up a little while later, though it was more of a hi-bye kind of visit.
My mother, during the delivery, had been pacing outside, and got to see the nurses without their game face on. While in the LDR, they had been assured, outside, the scene resembled a hi-jinx prime time sitcom. "Where the HELL is the doctor?! Where the hell is HER doctor?! She can't be ready already!"
My mother came back in, after they were able to cover me up again, and we did the math. In about fifteen minutes, I had gone from chatting to birthing.
Hannah was checked out, and seems no worse for wear from the fast birth. Me, either, really. While I would never -choose- to have a natural birth, having to go through one that was fast wasn't the end of the world. Scary, because you really do feel like you've lost control of your body, and painful, but I've been through worse.
Other amusing notes:
* The staff that was on at 7pm on Tuesday was the same staff on duty at 4:30am Wednesday. The guy who checked us in was very jovial, and asked us if it was the great service that had us coming back.
* We're still the talk of Labor and Delivery. Every nurse that's come in has prefaced the visit with "Hey, you were the fast birth yesterday!"
* We followed the saga of another pregnant lady who we saw for the first time on Tuesday night. Outside the LDR entrance. Obviously in labor. Smoking. "Did you just see what I just saw?" IB asked me as we went in. "I was totally about to ask you the same thing." The next day, she was still in and out, smoking and looking like a woman that's been in labor way too long.
The boy is doing well with the whole thing, so far. He was delighted to discover that he didn't have to go to school, and was more interested in the fact that our room had its own TV than any attention the baby got. He was rather miffed that we wouldn't take him on a tour of the hospital (we promised him he'd get a walk around LDR today, though. Yesterday, we were all too bushed).
So, that's the birth story. We're keeping pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/katie.fulton/HannahMarie/ Expect more as the first week goes on.
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