He arrived October 6 and we have been busy loving on him ever since.
"Hi folks."
I started laboring that Monday night, with contractions ranging between 10-30 minutes apart. After I got out of bed, they started stabilizing to about 10-15 minutes apart. The Hubs (who works from home/his car) had work appointments scheduled nearby in the area, so he was texting me after each appointment to check in. He stopped back by the house around 11:30 for lunch and I was still at about 8-9 minutes apart. I had been sitting around, but once I started walking around the house (doing laundry, loading the dishwasher, watering plants, etc), everything ramped up quick. Finally I texted the Hubs at 12:30 to let him know he needed to head home so we could head to the hospital, since my contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart & had been that way for about 30 minutes. He zoomed back & picked me up...but unfortunately he still had one quick appointment about 5 minutes from our house. It was just to pick up a title from a claimant, so we zoomed over there (Note: Curvy roads & contractions don't mix.)
He had told her we were headed to the hospital (let's hope he gets some good customer service reviews for keeping that appointment with his laboring wife in the back seat) so she hopped out of her car at the meetup and told us "Congratulations!" I winced a "thank you" mid-contraction, they wrapped things up in under a minute, and then we raced off to the hospital. The Hubs was praying we'd get there in time for me to get my epidural, otherwise he'd be in some really hot water. :)
We got to the hospital about 1:30, checked in (Note: women in active labor should not be allowed to fill out paperwork--apparently I accidentally checked that I had both smoked & drank during my pregnancy. I misread the questions and thought it was asking if I had EVER smoked or drank. Whoops. Thankfully my nurse rectified it later in the system for me while I was in recovery.)
They checked me out & I was dilated to 5cm, so they admitted me and "whisked" me off to Labor & Delivery (the whisking never seems quite fast enough when you're mid-contraction). They hooked me up to an IV (gotta have a full bag of fluids in you before an epidural can be administered) and did a blood draw (also related to the epidural)...and then it was a matter of waiting for all that to come back before they could page the anesthesiologist. Twice. Then she finally showed up (that wonderful lady) and hooked me up. Aaand while I had hoped for the "immediate relief" that was promised in my prenatal classes, she then told me it would take about 3-4 contractions for it to fully kick in. So the suffering continued...but after about half an hour it had dissipated & was very manageable. (There might have been a few extra clicks of the button in there as well. Yay drugs!)
My doc came in & checked things out--I was up to 7cm & my water broke while he was checking. He guesstimated that I should deliver around 9pm....Aaaaand then apparently had to leave the hospital from 5-6pm for some reason (I was not consulted in the matter). My RN was concerned because the baby's heart rate was dropping during contractions & he wasn't tolerating some of the positions they put me in well (they turn you pretty frequently when you have an epidural). She checked me again & I was at 8cm. That's about the time that WE all realized my doctor was no longer in the house...so they had to track down a sub. She came in to check things out, while the RN's were on the phone with my doc who was reportedly "15-20 minutes away". And then about 20 minutes later...he was still "15-20 minutes away". The sub doc decided to use one of the little "skull probes" since the fetal monitors weren't getting good readings--but everything was A-OK. However, things had progressed to the point that the sub doc felt we should go ahead & push. Ten minutes later, our sweet little man was here...immediately after which, MY doc walked through the door. Whoops--missed out on all the fun! He told us he got stuck behind a "slow Taurus". He went ahead & finished up with the gross, less fun portion of delivery (placenta, stitches) while I got to meet the newest member of our family.
Since I was pretty much completely numb from the waist down, I got to hang out in the delivery room for about 2 hours while they bathed, weighed, and checked our our wee lil' man (100% perfect!) and then passed him around for pics with docs, grandparents and daddy.
There was much paparazzi-ing...
And the Hubs & I FINALLY got to eat some food...
(Mmm... hospital chow...)
Then we paraded our way up to the recovery room (me being wheeled up in a bed, since my legs still didn't really work). Our hospital practices "rooming-in", meaning Baby J would be staying with us for the entirety of our 48 hour stay--no well-baby nursery. That was a bit intimidating--alone in a big room, me with only partially working legs, two exhausted adults with absolutely no idea what they're doing. However, the first night Baby J was having a bit of trouble maintaining body temp, so they actually ended up taking him down to the NICU for a few hours to put him under the warmers & run a few tests. Everything came back okay, and it also allowed us to actually get a few hours of sleep. He was very drowsy the next day too from the Tylenol they gave him during his circumcision, which allowed us to nap a bit more. (Sleep is SUCH a precious thing--never take it for granted.)
BUT he perked right up after the Tylenol wore off, which meant a very fussy, hungry night our second evening in the hospital. It sounds awful, but there were a few moments I remember wishing his body temp would drop again so they could take him down to the nursery so we could get a little rest. (Bad mommy, I know.)
Our last day in the hospital I got to meet with a lactation consultant, who helped us find a good nursing position and get him to latch on (he was developing a preference for only one side--ironically, now 2 weeks later, the side he didn't want to nurse on is now the side that produces more. Go figure.)
Finally got to go home around 5pm on Thursday...which is terrifying in itself. You mean I have to take this thing home and try to keep it alive without medical personnel at my beck & call, where I can over-Google every little thing and freak myself out? Yipe.
At home, the Pugster was waiting for us, having been cared for by Grandma & Grandpa while we were at the hospital. So, we then had to introduce him to the new "bald puppy". He was confused, anxious, curious...I'm pretty sure he thought we'd brought him a new toy that he's not allowed to touch. He's acclimated well over the last couple weeks, but still demands to be in one of our laps any time they are not previously occupied.
Just chillin' as a family...check out my son already judging me for taking selfies.
It's been a whirlwind of learning and tears (not all belonging to the baby), and hard to believe it's been 2 weeks...and yet still intimidating to know that I have 10 weeks of leave left, and my helpful hubby starts back to work next week, leaving me alone to try not to accidentally kill this kiddo. The days zoom by, and yet there are times I think about how long it will be until he hits milestones (holding his head up, actual non-poop smiles, having a more developed digestive system, sleeping through the night) and it feels like it will never get here. But all the same, I adore our new little addition and am super-excited to see how he grows throughout the years.
So tiny he can use a burp rag as a blanket.
Previous Adventures:
Completed Nursery
Completed Nursery
Congratulations, Bobbilynne! He's a cutie and I'm sure motherhood suits you :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is definitely an adventure!
Delete