Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Olga swaddle
named for the nurse who taught it to us. Actually she kind of looked
spherical like this the first time I saw her and the first words out
of my mouth were "little pumpkin!" It lets her kick her legs around a
lot but keeps her arms pinned.
More of the birth story
So, there was a bit of a jump in recording in my blog where I went from "no baby tonight" to "surprise! baby is born!" After a full day of pitocin (which did nothing to dilate me) they switched to cervadil, which is supposed to do more softening. I was all excited because they said I could finally eat some dinner so I sent Chris out for food. While he was gone though I suddenly began having some really intense pain. It was weird - the pain kind of came in waves like contractions but to me it didn't feel a thing like the contractions I had had with pitocin. Furthermore, the contraction monitor wasn't even picking them up. The only thing that was picking them up was the baby's heartrate, unfortunately, because every time I had severe pain her heart rate dropped abruptly. The doctor got worried and after a couple of hours pulled out the cervadil. Chris returned around this time to chaos - mom in misery, baby in some trouble. Poor guy. Worst of all, all the contracting and trouble still didn't make me at all more dilated.
Anyway, the doctor on call then came in to talk to me about my options. Her first suggestion was to start me on pitocin again at a very low dose to see if it got the labor going. She was careful to warn me though that the two most likely scenarios she saw were that the pitocin would do nothing (as it had before) or that it would get my contractions going and once they got strong again the baby's heartrate would start dropping, necessitating emergency c-section. I think the doctors and nurses here are used to people with very strong opinions about c-sections and are very wary about suggesting it. I'm not totally sure why but it's considered a very inferior method of birth (by many) and doctors who suggest it for less than the most dire reasons are seen as bad people. So anyway, the doctor nurse team was alternating in trying to sound me out about my opinions about continuing to try vaginal versus c-section. Finally we told the doctor, "I'm not opposed to a c-section. I just want to know what has the best chance of a good outcome for me and the baby." She said, "If you were my sister, I would tell you to get a c-section." I was sold. Basically there was still the possibility of vaginal birth but she thought it was small and could easily end up with me getting an emergency c-section after many hours more of pain and sleeplessness.
I signed the consent form and Geneva was born about an hour later. The c-section itself was a totally different and weird experience. I couldn't feel any pain at all from the cutting, but there was a lot of violent pushing around of my body. The anesthesiologist (who might be one of the nicest guys on the planet) told Chris when to stand up so he could see them pull her head out. As soon as she was out she started screaming and I started crying in some way I never have. Just totally overwhelmed with the emotion and violence and happiness of the experience. Chris just kept saying "oh! she's beautiful!" but it took awhile for them to check her out so I could get to see her too. They brought her over so I could look at her finally and then Chris left as they whisked her away to the nursery for weighing and measuring. I finally got to hold her in the recovery room a little later but I was so drugged up I barely remember the experience.
On the whole this has all been a great experience. The doctors and nurses have been wonderful almost without exception. The doctor who did the c-section (Dr. White) even hugged me while I got the spinal. I guess she was really just supporting me with my back curved for the anesthesiologist, but I really felt like it was a hug and it made me really like and trust her.
People cite staying in the hospital a long time as a disadvantage of a c-section but I think that's really not the case. We've had a lot of time where we didn't have to worry about my health or the baby's health. We've had the help of tons of nurses and help from lactation consultants whenever necessary.
Actually the help from the LCs has been getting a little tedious - there's pretty much as many strong opinions on the right way to do things as there are people thinking about the problem. I was getting frustrated trying to wean Geneva off the nipple shields (because one LC was adamant that they were bad) even though she latches almost immediately with them. Apparently they can lead to the baby not getting enough food and she was losing weight (down to 7 lb 15 oz). This morning though the pediatrician said not to worry - the baby is up another ounce, and things are frustrating enough without trying to listen to a million opinions. I'm doing things right, just keep at it and worry about weaning off the shields later. And don't try to take everyone's advice because it's not possible.
Ok, baby's crying. More later I'm sure.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Surprise!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
No baby tonight
Well, unless something surprising happens, no baby tonight. The
pitocin wasn't doing anything so they shut it off, gave me more
cervical softeners, and said we'll try again in the morning. Oh, but
I do get to eat now.
pitocin wasn't doing anything so they shut it off, gave me more
cervical softeners, and said we'll try again in the morning. Oh, but
I do get to eat now.
Nothing much
Just sitting in bed hooked to pitocin and iv and lots of monitors. The
contractions are getting more regular but still not painful. They say
to be patient because it can take a long time. Mostly I'm hungry and
they won't let me eat anything. The nurse says I'll thank her later
when I'm not ralfing it up again.
contractions are getting more regular but still not painful. They say
to be patient because it can take a long time. Mostly I'm hungry and
they won't let me eat anything. The nurse says I'll thank her later
when I'm not ralfing it up again.
Time to go!
I called at 6:30 this morning and they said to wait until later. But I just got the call from L&D now to come in, so we're headed to the hospital!!! I can't believe I slept at all last night but somehow I managed it.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Home again
So I went to the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitors, put in some gel, watched me, sent me home. One of the monitors was a contraction monitor, so I can now be fairly certain that actually I have been having contractions for awhile, they're just small ones. After they put the gel in I got pretty crampy and was having more small frequent contractions, but still nothing that they were about to call labor. But they're still going, so I'm still holding out hope that maybe I'll start labor tonight without pitocin. I'm supposed to call the hospital tomorrow at 6:30 am to find out when to come in. It'll be right away if they're not busy, but later in the day if lots of people come in tonight. Now, to bed. I'm surprised at how tired I feel.
First the gel
I'm headed into the hospital in about 5 minutes for my prostiglandin gel treatment. This is supposed to soften up my cervix to make it more excited about labor. Occasionally it even induces labor so we're coming prepared with my bag of warm socks and baby clothes. It would be nice if I didn't need the pitocin but I'm not holding my breath.
Friday, November 21, 2008
In China they never eat chili
It's the crack of dawn and I'm awake again. Surprise surprise! This time though it's the cats' fault. Isaac's feeder goes off at 6am and then they have an hour where they have to be really hyper and then they go back to bed until noon. So their hyperness woke me up this morning and I figured, "better not fight it." I got up, ate a cheese sandwich, I'll blog, then go back to bed.
No sign of baby yet. There's a newsletter I get online where doctors write in with advice and I was reading about what "natural techniques" they said can induce labor. (Answer: nothing.) In particular though one woman said that while there's no proven link between walking and inducing labor, many women swear that's what did it for them, so you can give it a try too. I think I now know the answer to that mystery. I've walked 2 hours each of the last two days and it really just feels like it's doing something. Of course the thing I think it's doing to me is just making me really sore - like just spent a lot of time backpacking kind of sore, or beaten by lots of sticks and then slept on the ground kind of sore. So that's my theory.
I still hold out hope that I'll go into labor naturally. I'm looking for signs but the only one I've got is that about 2 days ago my digestion started functioning really well again (which I've heard can be a sign). And I'm totally ravenous. Yesterday I ate a cheese sandwich at 6am and my stomach woke me up because it was growling so much at 8am.
The title of this post, by the way, is a very obscure reference. There's an old drinking song called The Limerick Song and one of the lines from the chorus is the title. The way the song works you just kind of make up verses and you can swap out the above line for different things and in particular in band they used to substitute "your grandmother's coffin was y-shaped." (So you're starting to get an idea of the kind of song this is...) And since I seem to naturally want to put a song to everything, I've been singing this song a lot in my head because I think my pelvic geometry has totally changed in the last couple of weeks. (Aren't you loving this strange insight into the way my mind works?? Ha.) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that my legs, instead of naturally wanting to point straight beside each other seem to now want to point out. So sitting indian style feels really comfortable and sitting with my knees all together and ladylike is not. (Apt punishment for someone who failed to keep her knees tightly together 9 months ago, no? Hehe...) Also, sleeping on my side with my legs together is very uncomfortable so I've been either stuffing a huge pillow between them or sleeping on my back. Presumably this is all so the baby can escape more easily and it will go back to normal afterwards.
I think that's all I've got for you now... early morning ramblings.
No sign of baby yet. There's a newsletter I get online where doctors write in with advice and I was reading about what "natural techniques" they said can induce labor. (Answer: nothing.) In particular though one woman said that while there's no proven link between walking and inducing labor, many women swear that's what did it for them, so you can give it a try too. I think I now know the answer to that mystery. I've walked 2 hours each of the last two days and it really just feels like it's doing something. Of course the thing I think it's doing to me is just making me really sore - like just spent a lot of time backpacking kind of sore, or beaten by lots of sticks and then slept on the ground kind of sore. So that's my theory.
I still hold out hope that I'll go into labor naturally. I'm looking for signs but the only one I've got is that about 2 days ago my digestion started functioning really well again (which I've heard can be a sign). And I'm totally ravenous. Yesterday I ate a cheese sandwich at 6am and my stomach woke me up because it was growling so much at 8am.
The title of this post, by the way, is a very obscure reference. There's an old drinking song called The Limerick Song and one of the lines from the chorus is the title. The way the song works you just kind of make up verses and you can swap out the above line for different things and in particular in band they used to substitute "your grandmother's coffin was y-shaped." (So you're starting to get an idea of the kind of song this is...) And since I seem to naturally want to put a song to everything, I've been singing this song a lot in my head because I think my pelvic geometry has totally changed in the last couple of weeks. (Aren't you loving this strange insight into the way my mind works?? Ha.) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that my legs, instead of naturally wanting to point straight beside each other seem to now want to point out. So sitting indian style feels really comfortable and sitting with my knees all together and ladylike is not. (Apt punishment for someone who failed to keep her knees tightly together 9 months ago, no? Hehe...) Also, sleeping on my side with my legs together is very uncomfortable so I've been either stuffing a huge pillow between them or sleeping on my back. Presumably this is all so the baby can escape more easily and it will go back to normal afterwards.
I think that's all I've got for you now... early morning ramblings.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Induction Scheduled
My first exciting OB appointment in months! First the OB did the internal exam and informed me that I'm about 1/2 cm dilated, 40% effaced. Also the baby's head is sitting really low so she encouraged me to walk as much as possible because the pressure of the baby's head will cause more effacing and that will generally make labor go faster and easier.
Then she got out the ultrasound machine to take measurements. Headsize: normal. Abdomen size: normal. Legs: really long. The machine calculated that our baby would be 9 lbs 4 oz, +- 613 gm. Here's the math for you so you don't have to do it yourself: 7 lb 14 oz. to 10 lb 9 oz.
Now, her typical policy is to wait until you are a week late and then start talking about induction. But once she saw those numbers she decided to maybe up the discussion a little. Basically she seemed to say that she didn't want to wait to induce longer than next Tuesday, and she was ready to do it any sooner than that if I wanted. After a quick family meeting we decided to induce this coming Sunday if the baby hasn't come on her own by then.
I didn't really expect to feel any particular way about it but actually I'm so relieved. It's just nice to know that it won't go any later than that. It's a tiny bit of control in a situation where I really didn't expect to have any. And while those numbers do seem rather high for birth weights the doctor pointed out that I'm big and have good size hips so I should have no problem with a big baby (especially if she's just long, not huge of head).
We also got a good look at her little face in the ultrasound, which was fun. She looked very chubby. I can't wait to meet her.
In other news (gasp! can you believe I have non-baby news??) my mom helped me do some winterizing of the garden. I chopped back everything that wasn't still making fruit. I had almost enough tomato leaves to fill an entire compost been. I don't know what happened with the tomato vines in my side yard but they must have hit some well-spring of nitrogen because they were looking seriously jungly. While the tomatoes in the planterbox are pretty much over, the jungle tomatoes were totally lush and green and producing leaves like crazy. But almost no fruit. So I went slasher crazy on them so I could see what little fruit remained. Now I have to try making some fried green tomatoes because I have quite a few of those.
Then she got out the ultrasound machine to take measurements. Headsize: normal. Abdomen size: normal. Legs: really long. The machine calculated that our baby would be 9 lbs 4 oz, +- 613 gm. Here's the math for you so you don't have to do it yourself: 7 lb 14 oz. to 10 lb 9 oz.
Now, her typical policy is to wait until you are a week late and then start talking about induction. But once she saw those numbers she decided to maybe up the discussion a little. Basically she seemed to say that she didn't want to wait to induce longer than next Tuesday, and she was ready to do it any sooner than that if I wanted. After a quick family meeting we decided to induce this coming Sunday if the baby hasn't come on her own by then.
I didn't really expect to feel any particular way about it but actually I'm so relieved. It's just nice to know that it won't go any later than that. It's a tiny bit of control in a situation where I really didn't expect to have any. And while those numbers do seem rather high for birth weights the doctor pointed out that I'm big and have good size hips so I should have no problem with a big baby (especially if she's just long, not huge of head).
We also got a good look at her little face in the ultrasound, which was fun. She looked very chubby. I can't wait to meet her.
In other news (gasp! can you believe I have non-baby news??) my mom helped me do some winterizing of the garden. I chopped back everything that wasn't still making fruit. I had almost enough tomato leaves to fill an entire compost been. I don't know what happened with the tomato vines in my side yard but they must have hit some well-spring of nitrogen because they were looking seriously jungly. While the tomatoes in the planterbox are pretty much over, the jungle tomatoes were totally lush and green and producing leaves like crazy. But almost no fruit. So I went slasher crazy on them so I could see what little fruit remained. Now I have to try making some fried green tomatoes because I have quite a few of those.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Breast feeding lesson
So, I'm going to write about this in spite of some qualms I might have about revealing TMI. If you're sick of reading about pregnancy/baby stuff, click away. If you're a boy concerned about getting TMI, look away. There, you're warned.
My sister gave me a lesson in breast feeding today, which was, for the most part, just her talking about how it works so I didn't have to go to a class to learn it. (Real world classes tend to be too slow for me after a lifetime of advanced schooling...) Anyway, she had previously told me that a manual breast pump is an excellent way to stimulate labor, so I went and got one today. Then my sister told me I should try using it today during our lesson.
Now, I'm aware that after I've been breast feeding for awhile I'll probably have no modesty about it. I'll just whip out the boob any old place to feed the child, but at the moment it feels very much like I'm buying my first bra or something. I don't think guys have anything to compare this to. Something that now totally doesn't faze me (like buying a box of tampons! from a boy at the cash register!) used to be totally mortifying. Now, whatever.
So yeah, I do manage to overcome my mortification by telling myself how natural it all is, and I use the pump for the first time and I have one of the stranger experiences of my life. Milk comes out. It's so bizarre that initially I'm sure I must just be sweating profusely into the pump, but no. Definitely milk (or you know, probably colostrum technically, but whatever). I'm still amazed. My sister laughed and laughed at the look on my face (our lesson was over video chat - ah the wonders of modern technology). I know that this is something that should not shock me at all given how it's the whole point of a boob to make milk, but I was just convinced somehow that mine would not. I mean, it's not like I learned how or something. Just, at the ripe old age of 30 my body did something completely different from anything it's ever done.
Ok, I'll chill with the displays of amazement here but I really was quite shocked. The good news is that my sister seems to think that the fact that I was able to actually produce a measurable quantity of milk before the baby is even born bodes well for my lactational success. It didn't seem to bring on any contractions though. Guess it's just not time yet.
So, I've been writing more recently because I have more time on my hands (yay!) and I'll try to keep everyone posted when I go into labor. Although, no promises or anything since I have no idea how hard it's going to be for me.
My sister gave me a lesson in breast feeding today, which was, for the most part, just her talking about how it works so I didn't have to go to a class to learn it. (Real world classes tend to be too slow for me after a lifetime of advanced schooling...) Anyway, she had previously told me that a manual breast pump is an excellent way to stimulate labor, so I went and got one today. Then my sister told me I should try using it today during our lesson.
Now, I'm aware that after I've been breast feeding for awhile I'll probably have no modesty about it. I'll just whip out the boob any old place to feed the child, but at the moment it feels very much like I'm buying my first bra or something. I don't think guys have anything to compare this to. Something that now totally doesn't faze me (like buying a box of tampons! from a boy at the cash register!) used to be totally mortifying. Now, whatever.
So yeah, I do manage to overcome my mortification by telling myself how natural it all is, and I use the pump for the first time and I have one of the stranger experiences of my life. Milk comes out. It's so bizarre that initially I'm sure I must just be sweating profusely into the pump, but no. Definitely milk (or you know, probably colostrum technically, but whatever). I'm still amazed. My sister laughed and laughed at the look on my face (our lesson was over video chat - ah the wonders of modern technology). I know that this is something that should not shock me at all given how it's the whole point of a boob to make milk, but I was just convinced somehow that mine would not. I mean, it's not like I learned how or something. Just, at the ripe old age of 30 my body did something completely different from anything it's ever done.
Ok, I'll chill with the displays of amazement here but I really was quite shocked. The good news is that my sister seems to think that the fact that I was able to actually produce a measurable quantity of milk before the baby is even born bodes well for my lactational success. It didn't seem to bring on any contractions though. Guess it's just not time yet.
So, I've been writing more recently because I have more time on my hands (yay!) and I'll try to keep everyone posted when I go into labor. Although, no promises or anything since I have no idea how hard it's going to be for me.
But I don't want to be awake!
Well, here it is 5 am again and I"m wide awake. This has happened more than half the nights this week now. I wake up at 5, have a snack, computerize, go to bed around 6. The cats keep me company. Isaac's feeder feeds him at 6am so he's usually up with me meowing at it to try to convince it that he deserves his food early. (It's a good thing we have a feeder... I would be very easily convinced by his pitiful meowing. And then he would be even fatter than he already is.)
My mom arrived last night and promptly announced that I'm allowed to have the baby now. I keep having these pains and wondering if they're contractions. My more experienced friends assure me that when I'm in labor that I'll know it but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm not concerned I'm going to have the baby in the bathroom on accident because I failed to realize I was in labor or something. Rather, I just want to know from the very beginning... For example, Brandy didn't know she was in labor until she went to her doctor appointment and was told. She would have known eventually I'm sure, but I'm impatient and wanting to know right away. I'm pretty sure the pains I'm having though are just the baby's head jostling against my pelvis. Sure are painful though. On the ride home from the airport last night I was swearing when she did it and realizing that I'm probably going to have the foulest mouth while I"m in labor. Ah well. Guess my mom has to find out about me sometime. Chris already knows. He sailed with me.
My mom arrived last night and promptly announced that I'm allowed to have the baby now. I keep having these pains and wondering if they're contractions. My more experienced friends assure me that when I'm in labor that I'll know it but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm not concerned I'm going to have the baby in the bathroom on accident because I failed to realize I was in labor or something. Rather, I just want to know from the very beginning... For example, Brandy didn't know she was in labor until she went to her doctor appointment and was told. She would have known eventually I'm sure, but I'm impatient and wanting to know right away. I'm pretty sure the pains I'm having though are just the baby's head jostling against my pelvis. Sure are painful though. On the ride home from the airport last night I was swearing when she did it and realizing that I'm probably going to have the foulest mouth while I"m in labor. Ah well. Guess my mom has to find out about me sometime. Chris already knows. He sailed with me.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Last day of work
On my last day of work today I got some great advice. Mel told me while in labor I should just remind myself, "If Britney Spears can do this, surely anyone can." Ha. I love it. Also, in spite of not having a baby shower, I got quite a few presents today - mostly cute clothes - and I didn't feel guilty about any of them because presumably people only gave because they really wanted to. And no one had to try to guess my waist circumference. Or what candy bar was melted into the diaper.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
USB gloves
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Another good thing about being pregnant, etc
So, I thought I should add to my list of good things about being pregnant. And this one might be my favorite of all. I have not been cold in 9 months. This was sort of tough over the summer (it seemed like it must be the hottest summer on record but I doubt that's really true). But it's awesome right now! I'm never cold at work (I used to always wear a sweater and have heated fingerless gloves that hooked by USB to my computer). I'm also not cold at home. The other day I found myself thinking how pleasant it was indoors and looked at the thermostat... which was reading 55. Last winter I had to debate with myself about if it was ok to turn the thermostat above 75 if I was legitimately shivering.
All the packing lists for what to take to the hospital say to bring warm socks and I keep thinking how that probably won't be necessary for me. Of course then my friends tell me that the built in warmer is attached to the baby and I'll be cold right away. What a shame. Speaking of packing lists, I was looking at one provided by the hospital the other day and realized that if it had not specifically said "baby clothes" on it, I might not have remembered them. How terrible is that?? I think of labor as this thing I'm going to the hospital to do, and forget that I will divide while there and the other part will need to be clothed too!!!
So being pregnant is going ok. Just 3 days left of work and 8 days until my due date. I think I have a cold so I'm sniffly and headachy and so so tired. Otherwise I'm ok - all baby growth is basically straight out at this point so I feel like I'm noticably bigger every day. Also she's still kicking like crazy which the OB says is a good sign: happy healthy babies move a lot. Hopefully she's not too comfy in there though...
I should explain the henna belly entry from last time... my next door neighbor is trying to start a body art business and apparently henna on the belly is a new way women are celebrating baby showers and such. Anyway, she wanted an example to show potential customers and asked to experiment on me. I said sure and you saw the results. She did a thing I'd never seen before though - henna is a wet paste when they put it on so she brushed glitter over it. Chris was joking that he thought that glitter must be an aerosol - it was seriously all over the house. I peeled it all off that evening but it was pretty while it lasted and now I have the stain on my belly, which is also pretty nice looking.
So, only pregnancy/baby news today, but besides working that's pretty much all that's happening. Oh, except Chris has a defense date - December 1st. We're going to make the baby a little onesie that says "Please let Daddy graduate" and bring her along to make eyes at the hard hearted professors.
Just so you know I'll probably post any labor news/photos here first, so add me to your feed reader to be sure of all the latest updates.
All the packing lists for what to take to the hospital say to bring warm socks and I keep thinking how that probably won't be necessary for me. Of course then my friends tell me that the built in warmer is attached to the baby and I'll be cold right away. What a shame. Speaking of packing lists, I was looking at one provided by the hospital the other day and realized that if it had not specifically said "baby clothes" on it, I might not have remembered them. How terrible is that?? I think of labor as this thing I'm going to the hospital to do, and forget that I will divide while there and the other part will need to be clothed too!!!
So being pregnant is going ok. Just 3 days left of work and 8 days until my due date. I think I have a cold so I'm sniffly and headachy and so so tired. Otherwise I'm ok - all baby growth is basically straight out at this point so I feel like I'm noticably bigger every day. Also she's still kicking like crazy which the OB says is a good sign: happy healthy babies move a lot. Hopefully she's not too comfy in there though...
I should explain the henna belly entry from last time... my next door neighbor is trying to start a body art business and apparently henna on the belly is a new way women are celebrating baby showers and such. Anyway, she wanted an example to show potential customers and asked to experiment on me. I said sure and you saw the results. She did a thing I'd never seen before though - henna is a wet paste when they put it on so she brushed glitter over it. Chris was joking that he thought that glitter must be an aerosol - it was seriously all over the house. I peeled it all off that evening but it was pretty while it lasted and now I have the stain on my belly, which is also pretty nice looking.
So, only pregnancy/baby news today, but besides working that's pretty much all that's happening. Oh, except Chris has a defense date - December 1st. We're going to make the baby a little onesie that says "Please let Daddy graduate" and bring her along to make eyes at the hard hearted professors.
Just so you know I'll probably post any labor news/photos here first, so add me to your feed reader to be sure of all the latest updates.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Sunday, November 02, 2008
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