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So Rob and I have started cutting the proverbial cord. We went out last night...without the baby! My friend had a birthday dinner at a noisy restaurant/bar, which really wouldn't have been a great place for Jake, so my friend Gillian was kind enough to babysit for us.
Honestly, it went great. Jake and Gillian had a great time and I only texted home ONCE, though Gillian was thoughtful enough to send me back a second text later... very nice.
We only stayed out for a few hours... little steps, ya know. But the dinner was YUM... not helping in the getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight!
On that note, only about 7 pounds to go, give or take the day, but I'm finding those 7 pounds the hardest. This whole breastfeeding makes you shed pounds thing is now out the window for me. It lasted maybe a month. Ah well.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Whole Gory Story.... Finale
Well, eventually, I'm taken into another room and told to push a few times (here I don't really remember the actual order of things, but it doesn't really matter). I'm then given a pill and what I think is a small cup of water and am told it'll help neutralize the acid in my stomach. It was NOT water, and tasted like aniseed (BLECH, they could have warned me, I HATE aniseed). So of course I promptly bring it back up, along with my last dinner. Nice. They made me take another dose of the aniseed junk... SO not fair. A nice anesthesiologist man comes in and gives me an extra dose of epi, as they've decided I'm going to need to have an assisted delivery (forceps, vacuum). He tells me that the extra epi dose is for just in case they decide I need a C-section, they can do it right away without having to put me under first.
Someone hands me a form to sign to give them permission to do assisted delivery as well as the potential C-Section. I see my doctor, who is outwardly calm the entire time (if he was worried, there's no way you could tell) and tell him to do what he needs to do. I've still complete trust in him... probably his calm attitude helped.
Now, sufficiently drugged (and shaking, the epi made me shake like crazy from the waste up, which apparently is normal), I'm taken into a surgical suite and moved onto a steel surgical bed. blue paper surgery hat thing is put on my head, and I'm covered in monitor stickers, a blood pressure cuff is put on my arm and a heart rate thingy on my finger. Rob is by my head all decked out in blue that doesn't quite fit him either...including the booties. Doctor O starts at it and I have no idea what's going on because I can't see anything.
I'm told to push repeatedly. Can I now state that the way I was taught to push during the antenatal classes is NOT the way the midwife would let me push. She wanted me to hold my breath...which is exactly what the physiotherapist tells you NOT to do. These people should really talk it out!
Anyway, I push when I'm told as I can't fell the contractions. Rob tells me that Dr. O looked at him once he decided that the vacuum wasn't going to work and mouthed the word "forceps" to him. Apparently I didn't need to know. A few more pushes and Jacob was out, 7:06 AM. I later found out that if Jacob hadn't come on that last push, he was then going to do a C-Section. Thank God he came! By then I did NOT want a C-Section. Twelve hours of THIS to then have surgery! No thank you!
I saw Jacob in the arms of someone flash by me as they took him to see the pediatrician. It was a good 10 minutes before they brought him to us, the whole while I'm trying to see him through the crowd of people around him. Rob says he had oxygen on him, so his crying wasn't that loud. I do believe it took him a little while to cry though. From what I can best guess, the lengthy birth process really tired him out so he needed assistance at birth. Ok, as long as he's ok in the long run, I can handle it.
So they brought him over to us all wrapped up and was told to give him a kiss before he headed out to baby ICU (because of the gestational diabetes, he needed to be checked out there first). We both kiss him, and I say, "He looks like a Jacob William, right?" Rob agreed and there the name was settled.
I think then Rob was sent packing to get some sleep and I was put back on a bed (eventually) and was wheeled to a room to rest. I think I woke about 4 hours later (still immobile from the epi) but was given toast and some tea (lovely!). Sometime around noon I was wheeled up to one of the new-mommy wards where I shared a room with a woman who had been in the hospital for 9 weeks and who's baby was born preemie.
Rob came back to me later that day and we were allowed to go see Jacob in baby ICU. He was so tiny and red (as new babies are) but his oxygen was off and he looked good. We were allowed to put out hands into his incubator thingy. Eventually I got tired so we headed back to my room. I think I slept a lot then. I went, well, waddled back up (episiotome, baby!) and attempted to breast feed Jacob. Those midwives are MEAN, they kept on pinching my nipples. OW!!
Of course, nothing happened, but it was good to try.
Noon the next day they brought Jake to my room. Poor guy, his head was covered in scratches from all the things they did to him during the delivery... taking oxygen, attaching the monitor, vaccum and forceps. Dr. O came to visit and stated that he was really glad he didn't have to do a C Section. He reiterated that throughout the next few days... which makes me think he WAS really worried, but just didn't want to scare me. But no matter, I now am the proud mother of a healthy, gorgeous little boy... and I'm SO happy!!!!
Someone hands me a form to sign to give them permission to do assisted delivery as well as the potential C-Section. I see my doctor, who is outwardly calm the entire time (if he was worried, there's no way you could tell) and tell him to do what he needs to do. I've still complete trust in him... probably his calm attitude helped.
Now, sufficiently drugged (and shaking, the epi made me shake like crazy from the waste up, which apparently is normal), I'm taken into a surgical suite and moved onto a steel surgical bed. blue paper surgery hat thing is put on my head, and I'm covered in monitor stickers, a blood pressure cuff is put on my arm and a heart rate thingy on my finger. Rob is by my head all decked out in blue that doesn't quite fit him either...including the booties. Doctor O starts at it and I have no idea what's going on because I can't see anything.
I'm told to push repeatedly. Can I now state that the way I was taught to push during the antenatal classes is NOT the way the midwife would let me push. She wanted me to hold my breath...which is exactly what the physiotherapist tells you NOT to do. These people should really talk it out!
Anyway, I push when I'm told as I can't fell the contractions. Rob tells me that Dr. O looked at him once he decided that the vacuum wasn't going to work and mouthed the word "forceps" to him. Apparently I didn't need to know. A few more pushes and Jacob was out, 7:06 AM. I later found out that if Jacob hadn't come on that last push, he was then going to do a C-Section. Thank God he came! By then I did NOT want a C-Section. Twelve hours of THIS to then have surgery! No thank you!
I saw Jacob in the arms of someone flash by me as they took him to see the pediatrician. It was a good 10 minutes before they brought him to us, the whole while I'm trying to see him through the crowd of people around him. Rob says he had oxygen on him, so his crying wasn't that loud. I do believe it took him a little while to cry though. From what I can best guess, the lengthy birth process really tired him out so he needed assistance at birth. Ok, as long as he's ok in the long run, I can handle it.
So they brought him over to us all wrapped up and was told to give him a kiss before he headed out to baby ICU (because of the gestational diabetes, he needed to be checked out there first). We both kiss him, and I say, "He looks like a Jacob William, right?" Rob agreed and there the name was settled.
I think then Rob was sent packing to get some sleep and I was put back on a bed (eventually) and was wheeled to a room to rest. I think I woke about 4 hours later (still immobile from the epi) but was given toast and some tea (lovely!). Sometime around noon I was wheeled up to one of the new-mommy wards where I shared a room with a woman who had been in the hospital for 9 weeks and who's baby was born preemie.
Rob came back to me later that day and we were allowed to go see Jacob in baby ICU. He was so tiny and red (as new babies are) but his oxygen was off and he looked good. We were allowed to put out hands into his incubator thingy. Eventually I got tired so we headed back to my room. I think I slept a lot then. I went, well, waddled back up (episiotome, baby!) and attempted to breast feed Jacob. Those midwives are MEAN, they kept on pinching my nipples. OW!!
Of course, nothing happened, but it was good to try.
Noon the next day they brought Jake to my room. Poor guy, his head was covered in scratches from all the things they did to him during the delivery... taking oxygen, attaching the monitor, vaccum and forceps. Dr. O came to visit and stated that he was really glad he didn't have to do a C Section. He reiterated that throughout the next few days... which makes me think he WAS really worried, but just didn't want to scare me. But no matter, I now am the proud mother of a healthy, gorgeous little boy... and I'm SO happy!!!!
The Whole Gory Story... Part 3
Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been between posts. I suppose having a baby on your breast CONSTANTLY makes the time go quickly!
So, where am I? I've now been given the epidural and the pain is slowly fading away. Heaven! I was then told I had to be very careful to not damage the epi line in my back... but of course the midwife is then calling me over and over to move, "Jennifer! You need to move onto your left side," "Jennifer, I need to do a pelvic exam so I need you to move onto your back." WTF! How am I supposed to not damage my line if I'm constantly in motion? And of course, as the night wore on, they had to re-up the epidural, so I then lost any ability to move my legs to help people move me. The second dose of epi-drug made me totally immobile from the waste down. Poor Rob had to move me, shove me here, pull me there. Poor guy, he really was a trooper! That's one of the difficult things about being a larger woman on an epidural, it's much more difficult for people to move you, especially when you're a dead weight.
By now I have lost all sense of time. I know it's late enough that Rob can't go and get food because everything's closed, and all that's left of what I packed for him is trail mix. Ugh.
The epi made me want to sleep...since I couldn't feel the contractions, I might as well sleep through them, right? Well, I did that as much as possible, in between being forced to move. I think Rob even got a few minutes of shut eye. And I mean FEW. But you take what you can get, right? I think the worse part for me was when the midwife woke me up because the baby's heartbeat was dropping during each contraction. They had a doctor come in twice to take a blood sample from Jacob's scalp to check the oxygen levels. Both times they were in the safe zone (second time was borderline), so I didn't really worry.
I did my best to not worry. Instead I chose to have complete faith in my doctor. I think that may have helped because you never know what your stress can do to a baby.
So, where am I? I've now been given the epidural and the pain is slowly fading away. Heaven! I was then told I had to be very careful to not damage the epi line in my back... but of course the midwife is then calling me over and over to move, "Jennifer! You need to move onto your left side," "Jennifer, I need to do a pelvic exam so I need you to move onto your back." WTF! How am I supposed to not damage my line if I'm constantly in motion? And of course, as the night wore on, they had to re-up the epidural, so I then lost any ability to move my legs to help people move me. The second dose of epi-drug made me totally immobile from the waste down. Poor Rob had to move me, shove me here, pull me there. Poor guy, he really was a trooper! That's one of the difficult things about being a larger woman on an epidural, it's much more difficult for people to move you, especially when you're a dead weight.
By now I have lost all sense of time. I know it's late enough that Rob can't go and get food because everything's closed, and all that's left of what I packed for him is trail mix. Ugh.
The epi made me want to sleep...since I couldn't feel the contractions, I might as well sleep through them, right? Well, I did that as much as possible, in between being forced to move. I think Rob even got a few minutes of shut eye. And I mean FEW. But you take what you can get, right? I think the worse part for me was when the midwife woke me up because the baby's heartbeat was dropping during each contraction. They had a doctor come in twice to take a blood sample from Jacob's scalp to check the oxygen levels. Both times they were in the safe zone (second time was borderline), so I didn't really worry.
I did my best to not worry. Instead I chose to have complete faith in my doctor. I think that may have helped because you never know what your stress can do to a baby.
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