Happy dad with the new boy
Monday, May 30, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
A moment of labor...
I promised a post on the whole birth event once I was in a little less pain, so here goes. I know that as I was waiting for the whole birthing process, I kept reading accounts of birth from other bloggers, wondering exactly what my experience might be. I figured I would throw my day of labor into the mix for those who are still waiting (or who hope to be waiting soon...).
Tuesday, May 17
3:30 a.m.- I woke to the sensation of water dripping between my legs and figured that I was, once again, sweating like a pig in bed. I threw off the covers and decided that since I was awake, I would go ahead and empty my bladder. As I went to sit up- GOOSH! Part of me was convinced that it was my water breaking and part of me thought I had just lost all bladder control. Luckily, I was sleeping in the guest room where I had, just the week before, made the bed using a shower curtain liner as the bottom layer. This gave me a moment to ponder my situation before needing to jump up and go to the bathroom. I highly recommend adding this to your bedding ensemble as you reach your due date.
4:00 a.m.- As it was a clean break, I decided to go ahead and get a shower and dry my hair before heading off to the hospital. Woke the hubby, who later admitted that he thought it was actually 7:30 a.m. and that I was playing a joke on him before heading off to work. No, I don't joke at this hour...
5:30 a.m.- Talked to my doctor's office who told me to get a shower, eat something, and then head off to the hospital. At this point I was not yet having contractions. However, the fluid would still gush occasionally, so I meandered around the house with a towel between my legs. It was a lovely scene. I also called my parents to let them know that they needed to care for the furry kid as we were heading off to meet their grandkid.
6:15 a.m.- At the hospital sitting in triage. I was 2cm dilated, 90% effaced, and they confirmed that my water broke (gee, thanks, I hadn't noticed). I waited around here until about 9:30 a.m.- and still no contractions.
9:45 a.m.- I finally got to a Labor and Delivery room. May I just interject to tell you how much I absolutely love my hospital? The L&D room is also the recovery room, so essentially you stay there for the whole process and get transferred to postpartum about two hours after delivery. The last thing I would want to be doing while laboring is changing rooms. They provide a CD player for music, TV if you want, a couch for the partner to nap, and they have all of the baby checking doo-dads in the room for during and after. Unless there is a problem, no one has to leave the room at all. It's great.
10:00 a.m...ok, back to the story. I was given pitocin to get the contractions rolling. I was told that they would not really be noticable for about two hours.
11:00 a.m.- I am definitely contracting. Each one is worse than the last. I may be reconsidering that epidural (I had hoped to avoid it). Dilated to 3cm.
12:00 p.m.- I adamantly requested the epidural. Contractions are coming fast and furious at this point. Dilated to 4 cm.
1:00 p.m.- The ansesthesiologist comes in to do the epiduiral. It hurts like a bitch. The pain is not gone. I am not happy. I ask if it should be working right away and he says to wait 10 mins as I might be one of those people who feels it on a delay...sounds like BS to me, but I am willing to give 10 mins for pain relief. Dilated to 5.5 cm. My parents arrived shortly after the epidural to visit.
2:00 p.m.- I have spent the last hour groaning like a crazy person to get through the contractions and begging the nurse to get someone back in there to give me another epidural, dammit. He finally comes back and I didn't feel the needle going in at all. I stopped feeling my legs...and the contractions. Finally. Thankfully. Of course, I also had no bladder control and peed all over the bed. But I didn't care in the least. Dilated to 6.5 cm.
2:30 p.m.- My parents decide to leave and my mom says that she will be back for the delivery. I made her promise that if I say anything rude in there that she will not hold it against me. "What happens in the delivery room stays in the delivery room." We decide that I will most likely deliver around 5:30 given the current conditions.
2:45 p.m. - Dilated to 9 cm. Doctor says that we will start pushing around 3:15. Call mom in a panic telling her to get back to the hospital NOW.
3:15 p.m. - The nurse tells me that we will start pushing to get the baby's head formed into the birth canal. We commence with push #1 and she freaks out because she can see the baby's full head of hair already. I'm not crowning, but he is definitely making an appearance. She begins to scramble around to get everything together and to page the doctor.
3:30 p.m. - The doctor arrives and is surprised at how quickly things are progressing.
3:40 p.m. - My mom returns to the hospital.
3:57 p.m. - The doctor starts to do an episiotomy.
3:57:30 p.m. - One push later, Gabriel comes flying out. He went from not quite crowned to shoulders in one push. Everyone in the room jumped because it was so sudden.
3:58 p.m. - One gentle push and the rest of him came out. I looked in the mirror and said "it's a boy!"
So, all in all, I was only in labor for six hours. Not too shabby. The worst part of it all was that Gabe arrived so quickly that I ended up with fourth-degree lacerations of the perineum. For those without intimate knowledge of perineal tearing, that's the worst type and means that I tore all the way through to the rectum. TMI? The healing process has been better than I expected, but not entirely pleasant. I will have to post something else on that whole scenario.
Gabriel latched on like a champ about 30 minutes after the birth and he's been feedling ever since. Yea!!!
Tuesday, May 17
3:30 a.m.- I woke to the sensation of water dripping between my legs and figured that I was, once again, sweating like a pig in bed. I threw off the covers and decided that since I was awake, I would go ahead and empty my bladder. As I went to sit up- GOOSH! Part of me was convinced that it was my water breaking and part of me thought I had just lost all bladder control. Luckily, I was sleeping in the guest room where I had, just the week before, made the bed using a shower curtain liner as the bottom layer. This gave me a moment to ponder my situation before needing to jump up and go to the bathroom. I highly recommend adding this to your bedding ensemble as you reach your due date.
4:00 a.m.- As it was a clean break, I decided to go ahead and get a shower and dry my hair before heading off to the hospital. Woke the hubby, who later admitted that he thought it was actually 7:30 a.m. and that I was playing a joke on him before heading off to work. No, I don't joke at this hour...
5:30 a.m.- Talked to my doctor's office who told me to get a shower, eat something, and then head off to the hospital. At this point I was not yet having contractions. However, the fluid would still gush occasionally, so I meandered around the house with a towel between my legs. It was a lovely scene. I also called my parents to let them know that they needed to care for the furry kid as we were heading off to meet their grandkid.
6:15 a.m.- At the hospital sitting in triage. I was 2cm dilated, 90% effaced, and they confirmed that my water broke (gee, thanks, I hadn't noticed). I waited around here until about 9:30 a.m.- and still no contractions.
9:45 a.m.- I finally got to a Labor and Delivery room. May I just interject to tell you how much I absolutely love my hospital? The L&D room is also the recovery room, so essentially you stay there for the whole process and get transferred to postpartum about two hours after delivery. The last thing I would want to be doing while laboring is changing rooms. They provide a CD player for music, TV if you want, a couch for the partner to nap, and they have all of the baby checking doo-dads in the room for during and after. Unless there is a problem, no one has to leave the room at all. It's great.
10:00 a.m...ok, back to the story. I was given pitocin to get the contractions rolling. I was told that they would not really be noticable for about two hours.
11:00 a.m.- I am definitely contracting. Each one is worse than the last. I may be reconsidering that epidural (I had hoped to avoid it). Dilated to 3cm.
12:00 p.m.- I adamantly requested the epidural. Contractions are coming fast and furious at this point. Dilated to 4 cm.
1:00 p.m.- The ansesthesiologist comes in to do the epiduiral. It hurts like a bitch. The pain is not gone. I am not happy. I ask if it should be working right away and he says to wait 10 mins as I might be one of those people who feels it on a delay...sounds like BS to me, but I am willing to give 10 mins for pain relief. Dilated to 5.5 cm. My parents arrived shortly after the epidural to visit.
2:00 p.m.- I have spent the last hour groaning like a crazy person to get through the contractions and begging the nurse to get someone back in there to give me another epidural, dammit. He finally comes back and I didn't feel the needle going in at all. I stopped feeling my legs...and the contractions. Finally. Thankfully. Of course, I also had no bladder control and peed all over the bed. But I didn't care in the least. Dilated to 6.5 cm.
2:30 p.m.- My parents decide to leave and my mom says that she will be back for the delivery. I made her promise that if I say anything rude in there that she will not hold it against me. "What happens in the delivery room stays in the delivery room." We decide that I will most likely deliver around 5:30 given the current conditions.
2:45 p.m. - Dilated to 9 cm. Doctor says that we will start pushing around 3:15. Call mom in a panic telling her to get back to the hospital NOW.
3:15 p.m. - The nurse tells me that we will start pushing to get the baby's head formed into the birth canal. We commence with push #1 and she freaks out because she can see the baby's full head of hair already. I'm not crowning, but he is definitely making an appearance. She begins to scramble around to get everything together and to page the doctor.
3:30 p.m. - The doctor arrives and is surprised at how quickly things are progressing.
3:40 p.m. - My mom returns to the hospital.
3:57 p.m. - The doctor starts to do an episiotomy.
3:57:30 p.m. - One push later, Gabriel comes flying out. He went from not quite crowned to shoulders in one push. Everyone in the room jumped because it was so sudden.
3:58 p.m. - One gentle push and the rest of him came out. I looked in the mirror and said "it's a boy!"
So, all in all, I was only in labor for six hours. Not too shabby. The worst part of it all was that Gabe arrived so quickly that I ended up with fourth-degree lacerations of the perineum. For those without intimate knowledge of perineal tearing, that's the worst type and means that I tore all the way through to the rectum. TMI? The healing process has been better than I expected, but not entirely pleasant. I will have to post something else on that whole scenario.
Gabriel latched on like a champ about 30 minutes after the birth and he's been feedling ever since. Yea!!!
Sunday, May 22, 2005
It's a boy!
Hi all,
I've been a little, well, busy- so sorry for the hole in the posting. It seems that Dr. Ass was right...my little one just couldn't wait for his big entry into the world! (and Dr. Ass was the catcher, to boot)
Gabriel A.
Born 5-17-05
3:58 p.m.
6lb 5oz
19 3/4 inches
Full head of black hair (stolen from his daddy)
Nurses like a champ
Mommy is tired, SORE, happy, SORE, and, oh yeah...SORE. Let's just say that his entry was so fast that he opened up a new world for me.
Details on the delivery when I can sit for longer than this...
I've been a little, well, busy- so sorry for the hole in the posting. It seems that Dr. Ass was right...my little one just couldn't wait for his big entry into the world! (and Dr. Ass was the catcher, to boot)
Gabriel A.
Born 5-17-05
3:58 p.m.
6lb 5oz
19 3/4 inches
Full head of black hair (stolen from his daddy)
Nurses like a champ
Mommy is tired, SORE, happy, SORE, and, oh yeah...SORE. Let's just say that his entry was so fast that he opened up a new world for me.
Details on the delivery when I can sit for longer than this...
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Pregnancy update
Sorry for the delay- no time to update on Friday!
37w4d
Heartrate = 133
BP = 112/70
Cervix = 1.5 cm, 80% effaced (Technically, it was 80% effaced last week, but the other doc didn't bother to tell me. I read my chart to find out.)
So, everything looks good, again. Yeah!
According to Dr. Ass (who was nice this time) I will most likely get to meet this kid in the next week. His words were that I should schedule my next visit, but that I probably won't make it. My thoughts on this? Well, if he's right- great. But I'm not taking is as written in stone. If I had been less effaced last week, or more dilated this week, then I might be more willing to call out the trumpets. Until then, I'm just taking it a day at a time.
Now, mind you, I know that at this point I am on "any day now" alert. So, as I leave work each day I make sure to update my files and arrange things so that if I were to not return the next day- no biggie. But I have been doing that anyway for about a week.
If "notions" have anything to do with it, maybe I will have the kid this week. Last week I had a moment where I was convinced that the baby would come this week. Wednesday to be exact. Every once in a while I get a notion, and sometimes it is actually right. I have, surprisingly, had no other notions this pregnancy. Nothing on the sex or anything. It could be my body's way of giving me a head's up, or it could be a hormone-induced state of insanity. But regardless, I have no control over when labor begins, how long it will last, how intense it will be, or when I will finally get to meet this kid- so until I'm in the process of one of the above, I am not going to obsess about it.
We did finally install the car seat, though...
37w4d
Heartrate = 133
BP = 112/70
Cervix = 1.5 cm, 80% effaced (Technically, it was 80% effaced last week, but the other doc didn't bother to tell me. I read my chart to find out.)
So, everything looks good, again. Yeah!
According to Dr. Ass (who was nice this time) I will most likely get to meet this kid in the next week. His words were that I should schedule my next visit, but that I probably won't make it. My thoughts on this? Well, if he's right- great. But I'm not taking is as written in stone. If I had been less effaced last week, or more dilated this week, then I might be more willing to call out the trumpets. Until then, I'm just taking it a day at a time.
Now, mind you, I know that at this point I am on "any day now" alert. So, as I leave work each day I make sure to update my files and arrange things so that if I were to not return the next day- no biggie. But I have been doing that anyway for about a week.
If "notions" have anything to do with it, maybe I will have the kid this week. Last week I had a moment where I was convinced that the baby would come this week. Wednesday to be exact. Every once in a while I get a notion, and sometimes it is actually right. I have, surprisingly, had no other notions this pregnancy. Nothing on the sex or anything. It could be my body's way of giving me a head's up, or it could be a hormone-induced state of insanity. But regardless, I have no control over when labor begins, how long it will last, how intense it will be, or when I will finally get to meet this kid- so until I'm in the process of one of the above, I am not going to obsess about it.
We did finally install the car seat, though...
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Zzzzzzzzzzz...
Can't. Keep. Eyes. Open.
Must. Sleep.
This is very frustrating in light of my trying to get everything done at work for my leave. I hope to have a better night's sleep tonight and we'll try this "get everything done" thing tomorrow.
Night, night.
Must. Sleep.
This is very frustrating in light of my trying to get everything done at work for my leave. I hope to have a better night's sleep tonight and we'll try this "get everything done" thing tomorrow.
Night, night.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Pregnancy Update
36w4d
HR = 138
Head = down
Cervix = 1cm
That last tidbit shocked the hell out of me. I know that I can walk around for weeks being dilated, but at least it is a sign of progress. Something is happening down there, and a baby is on the way sooner or later. S/he is definitely low- it feels like I am walking with a cantaloupe between my legs.
At this point my bag is packed and in the car, the nursery is mostly done (the only thing not done is hanging the wall decor- a detail), and I have the other supplies I need for a newborn.
Ok, kid, you can come out now. We're ready.
HR = 138
Head = down
Cervix = 1cm
That last tidbit shocked the hell out of me. I know that I can walk around for weeks being dilated, but at least it is a sign of progress. Something is happening down there, and a baby is on the way sooner or later. S/he is definitely low- it feels like I am walking with a cantaloupe between my legs.
At this point my bag is packed and in the car, the nursery is mostly done (the only thing not done is hanging the wall decor- a detail), and I have the other supplies I need for a newborn.
Ok, kid, you can come out now. We're ready.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Back from the dermatologist- take two
Well, I had my dermatologist follow-up yesterday, and it went pretty well. The Novocain hurt like a real be-yatch and of course was not numbing me very well so she had to keep adding it and adding it. The doc was asking me about the nursery, the décor, the baby- anything to distract me. Nope, not working. The searing pain from the needle and anesthetic was just a wee little bit more present in the forefront. But nice try.
The cutting went pretty smoothly. I haven’t seen all of the sites yet as I am to keep them covered for two days before changing the dressings. This morning, one of the dressings had fallen off, so I go to see that the smallest site- originally the size of an M&M is now almost the size of a quarter. Not terribly large, but when you are missing skin it seems like the size of a meteor crater. The others should be just lovely considering that they were at least dime size to begin with. Oh well.
And the non-epinephrine anesthetic? Did I bleed? You betcha. It took the nurse 30 minutes just to get it to the point where she could add a bandage. Lovely.
I also got a clearer version of the original biopsy report. Two of the three moles were completely benign, but fell into the dysplastic nevus category. The third one was actually precancerous. So, we’ll just cross fingers that she got the entire margin of all three sites this time and I won’t be back again. But, if I need to go back- guess what- I’m going back. As I said before, melanoma is some scary shit.
Feeling like crud today- GI distress. I know, that can be a sign that labor is pending. I think it is more of a sign that one should not consume a large piece of meatloaf that can double as a doorstop (I’m not the best cook).
The cutting went pretty smoothly. I haven’t seen all of the sites yet as I am to keep them covered for two days before changing the dressings. This morning, one of the dressings had fallen off, so I go to see that the smallest site- originally the size of an M&M is now almost the size of a quarter. Not terribly large, but when you are missing skin it seems like the size of a meteor crater. The others should be just lovely considering that they were at least dime size to begin with. Oh well.
And the non-epinephrine anesthetic? Did I bleed? You betcha. It took the nurse 30 minutes just to get it to the point where she could add a bandage. Lovely.
I also got a clearer version of the original biopsy report. Two of the three moles were completely benign, but fell into the dysplastic nevus category. The third one was actually precancerous. So, we’ll just cross fingers that she got the entire margin of all three sites this time and I won’t be back again. But, if I need to go back- guess what- I’m going back. As I said before, melanoma is some scary shit.
Feeling like crud today- GI distress. I know, that can be a sign that labor is pending. I think it is more of a sign that one should not consume a large piece of meatloaf that can double as a doorstop (I’m not the best cook).
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