So you guys know how I feel about kids in general. "Meh" describes it pretty well. Unless I like you, in which case I probably like your kids too, so don't stress.
I posted several times about being pregnant. Here, here, and here. Now it's time for the last post (7 weeks post delivery...sorry. I've been tired and busy!)
So here's the tl;dr recap. I went into labor 5 days after my due date. The night of July 9, I started having contractions that progressively got closer together and stronger, so I started tracking them and getting myself ready mentally. The went on through the night for hours, but around 4 am when they were about 7-8 minutes apart, they just stopped. I know because I fell asleep and awoke around 9 am very confused. I called the OB who told me to come in and get checked out. The doctor on duty that day said that he would be delivering that night at the hospital and would probably see me then. He said to go home and wait (and rest!).
So I went home and about 2-3 hours later, sure enough, I went into labor for real this time! And oh my word, I had no idea how bad contractions could hurt. WOW. So at 5 minutes apart, we went to the hospital. It's 15 minutes away. By the time we arrived, I was 2 1/2 minutes apart and feeling very cranky about the pain. We went to triage and the nurse took her sweet time getting me set up and asking me questions that I could barely answer because of the intensity of the (increasingly closer together) contractions. The doctor I had seen earlier that day came in and asked, basically, if there was anything I hoped or wanted from this delivery in terms of a birth plan. I told him all I wanted was an epidural. He laughed. And then they realized how close together my contractions were.
They got me my epidural.
I was taken to a "normal" delivery room, hooked up to all sorts of machines, given an IV, and -- at last -- the blessed epidural.
So one weird thing -- it didn't immediately take on my right side so they had to reposition it and give me more of the medication. That time, it worked completely. They said they wanted me to try to give birth naturally even though it was pretty obvious to me that, given some anatomy issues, that wasn't likely to happen. Whatever. I said fine but if the baby wasn't going to come out, I didn't want to push for hours just to have them decide to do a c section after I was exhausted. They agreed.
Also, during this time frame, it became very apparent to me that privacy goes out the window when you're in that much pain. I pretty much didn't care who was in the room while things were happening... just get me the $%&! meds!
So they gave me pitocin to speed things up and then it was time to go! This was a few hours after I go to the hospital. So we tried for an hour to have a natural childbirth, but it became apparent that the baby wasn't going to be delivered that way. The doctor asked what I wanted to do, and I said let's just make the call to do a c section, so we did.
This was around 1:30 am, more or less.
They gave me the anesthesia for the procedure, which interestingly didn't take on my right side AGAIN -- that would have been bad! So they, again, adjusted it and gave me more of the anesthesia. Finally, it took and we could get started.
Jeremy gave me the play by play while I laid there listening to machines beeping and doctors calmly discussing life and such. Finally, I heard a cry! I asked Jeremy if it was a boy or girl. One doctor said "It's a boy!" and one said "It's a girl!" I was so confused. Jeremy couldn't see to tell me. Finally, they called him over to hold the bundled up baby -- and he told me it was a girl.
As soon as I saw her, I started crying. I loved her so much.
And then, I started shaking. Almost convulsing. This part of the procedure they don't tell you about, apparently. Yes, in fact you often have severe shakes that make it impossible for you to touch much less caress your baby or do much of anything. "The shakes" lasted for several minutes during which I thought I was dying. Scary stuff, but apparently normal.
We were taken to a recovery room where the three of us had a whole hour to ourselves to talk, bond, and where I could nurse the baby. It was really nice to have that time for just us.
Then we were taken to our room (this would be about 4:30 am) where family who had waited all night were able to come meet baby Alice Sunee. 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20.5 inches long.
Sunee (pronounced Sue Nee) is a Thai name shared with Jeremy's grandmother. It means "a good thing."
It was incredible and nothing like I imagined. And nothing could have prepared me for any of it. Jeremy was wonderful and my rock through the whole thing. I am so thankful for him
I will admit something to you. I don't mean to encourage ignorance at all, and I think preparing for a baby is a good idea, but I didn't really prepare. I didn't do any classes. I didn't read much of anything. The only things I read were Baby Wise and Baby Whisperer the week before she was born. I didn't watch anything beforehand or make any lists or create any schedules. My birth plan consisted of going to the hospital and having a baby. I think other decisions to do other things are perfectly great, but my personal plan was to just let it happen as it happened. I'm glad I did.
There are other things I could say. Recovering from the surgery, not sleeping for well over 48 hours straight (do not recommend... mommy hormones kick in and that's all that got me through it!), etc. . But how about I just leave you with some pictures instead? Here's our sweet girl:
I posted several times about being pregnant. Here, here, and here. Now it's time for the last post (7 weeks post delivery...sorry. I've been tired and busy!)
So here's the tl;dr recap. I went into labor 5 days after my due date. The night of July 9, I started having contractions that progressively got closer together and stronger, so I started tracking them and getting myself ready mentally. The went on through the night for hours, but around 4 am when they were about 7-8 minutes apart, they just stopped. I know because I fell asleep and awoke around 9 am very confused. I called the OB who told me to come in and get checked out. The doctor on duty that day said that he would be delivering that night at the hospital and would probably see me then. He said to go home and wait (and rest!).
So I went home and about 2-3 hours later, sure enough, I went into labor for real this time! And oh my word, I had no idea how bad contractions could hurt. WOW. So at 5 minutes apart, we went to the hospital. It's 15 minutes away. By the time we arrived, I was 2 1/2 minutes apart and feeling very cranky about the pain. We went to triage and the nurse took her sweet time getting me set up and asking me questions that I could barely answer because of the intensity of the (increasingly closer together) contractions. The doctor I had seen earlier that day came in and asked, basically, if there was anything I hoped or wanted from this delivery in terms of a birth plan. I told him all I wanted was an epidural. He laughed. And then they realized how close together my contractions were.
They got me my epidural.
I was taken to a "normal" delivery room, hooked up to all sorts of machines, given an IV, and -- at last -- the blessed epidural.
So one weird thing -- it didn't immediately take on my right side so they had to reposition it and give me more of the medication. That time, it worked completely. They said they wanted me to try to give birth naturally even though it was pretty obvious to me that, given some anatomy issues, that wasn't likely to happen. Whatever. I said fine but if the baby wasn't going to come out, I didn't want to push for hours just to have them decide to do a c section after I was exhausted. They agreed.
Also, during this time frame, it became very apparent to me that privacy goes out the window when you're in that much pain. I pretty much didn't care who was in the room while things were happening... just get me the $%&! meds!
So they gave me pitocin to speed things up and then it was time to go! This was a few hours after I go to the hospital. So we tried for an hour to have a natural childbirth, but it became apparent that the baby wasn't going to be delivered that way. The doctor asked what I wanted to do, and I said let's just make the call to do a c section, so we did.
This was around 1:30 am, more or less.
They gave me the anesthesia for the procedure, which interestingly didn't take on my right side AGAIN -- that would have been bad! So they, again, adjusted it and gave me more of the anesthesia. Finally, it took and we could get started.
Jeremy gave me the play by play while I laid there listening to machines beeping and doctors calmly discussing life and such. Finally, I heard a cry! I asked Jeremy if it was a boy or girl. One doctor said "It's a boy!" and one said "It's a girl!" I was so confused. Jeremy couldn't see to tell me. Finally, they called him over to hold the bundled up baby -- and he told me it was a girl.
As soon as I saw her, I started crying. I loved her so much.
And then, I started shaking. Almost convulsing. This part of the procedure they don't tell you about, apparently. Yes, in fact you often have severe shakes that make it impossible for you to touch much less caress your baby or do much of anything. "The shakes" lasted for several minutes during which I thought I was dying. Scary stuff, but apparently normal.
We were taken to a recovery room where the three of us had a whole hour to ourselves to talk, bond, and where I could nurse the baby. It was really nice to have that time for just us.
Then we were taken to our room (this would be about 4:30 am) where family who had waited all night were able to come meet baby Alice Sunee. 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20.5 inches long.
Sunee (pronounced Sue Nee) is a Thai name shared with Jeremy's grandmother. It means "a good thing."
It was incredible and nothing like I imagined. And nothing could have prepared me for any of it. Jeremy was wonderful and my rock through the whole thing. I am so thankful for him
I will admit something to you. I don't mean to encourage ignorance at all, and I think preparing for a baby is a good idea, but I didn't really prepare. I didn't do any classes. I didn't read much of anything. The only things I read were Baby Wise and Baby Whisperer the week before she was born. I didn't watch anything beforehand or make any lists or create any schedules. My birth plan consisted of going to the hospital and having a baby. I think other decisions to do other things are perfectly great, but my personal plan was to just let it happen as it happened. I'm glad I did.
There are other things I could say. Recovering from the surgery, not sleeping for well over 48 hours straight (do not recommend... mommy hormones kick in and that's all that got me through it!), etc. . But how about I just leave you with some pictures instead? Here's our sweet girl:
:) I love you, my favorite daughter-in-law. I love you to pieces. You're beautiful, and I am so thankful for you. I love Jeremy and love the way he loves you. I love my granddaughter, and I love the way her mommy and daddy love her. We are all so blessed - so thankful that God created you and then created Jeremy to be your love. And I am ever so thankful that He created Lady Alice and gave her into your care.
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