Nate is here!! He arrived August 12, 2010 at 6:02 pm, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long.
The day started like normal. Logan woke up around 4:45-5:00 screaming "juice", so Brent got him some milk. I had a hard time falling back to sleep because I was having some contractions. I thought they would go away like all the other ones I'd been having and tried to get some rest while I could. Logan officially got up around 7:30. All through breakfast I noticed more contractions and decided that these felt different and I should start timing them. They were 8 minutes apart. I was kind of disappointed because I thought they were closer together than that. I called Brent around 9:30 and told him what was going on and that he should probably tie up any loose ends just in case he needed to leave. By 10:30 they were around 7 min apart. Brent got home around 11. By 12 they were 5 min apart. The Dr. wanted us to come to the hospital when they were consistently 5 min apart, so to be sure this was "it" I wanted to wait an hour to make sure they stuck around and I could definitely say they were consistent. Well 45 min later I couldn't stand it anymore, so we left. As soon as I got up and moved around to get in the car the contractions immediately jumped to 2-3 min apart. We got to the hospital and were admitted by 1:30. They immediately checked me to see if I was in active labor and I was! I was 4 cm and 90%. They got my blood drawn so I could get my epidural, as well as gave me some IV pain meds to last me until my labs and anesthesia came. By 3:00 anesthesia was there to start my epidural. It took a while because at first only my right side was numb, which is a really weird feeling! They quickly got it fixed though and my left side got numb. As soon as the epidural set in they checked me again, this was around 4:00. This time I was almost 7 cm. At 4:30 my OB came and wanted to check for herself. In 30 minutes I'd already progressed to 8 cm. She also broke my water. I didn't really want to do anything like that to augment labor, but at 8 cm it was inevitable regardless of how it happened. It also helped him move down the birth canal a little. I warned her that with my last labor I went from 8 to 10 cm in 20 minutes, so she decided to stick around. At 5:30 she came back and I was fully dilated but Nate was a little far back, so she wanted to wait 30 minutes to see if he'd come down on his own and create less work for me. 20 minutes later I was sure Nate was about to fall out...and he was. Everyone rushed in and we got the show on the road QUICKLY! Two contractions later my sweet baby boy was here! They immediately put him on my chest and he didn't leave it until I was ready. They did everything they needed to do from there and when I was ready they took him over to get weighed and to get his foot prints. They had a little trouble getting the placenta to detach. They give it 30 minutes and if it doesn't come they have to go after it surgically. By 29 minutes they had started pitocin to make me contract harder, were literally punching (ok, maybe not literally, but close) my stomach and had turned my epidural back on when FINALLY, with 1 minute to spare, it decided to detach. As soon as that happened I was able to breastfeed. At first I was a little nervous because it went HORRIBLE with the nurse trying to help me, but as soon as she left the room to get the Lactation Consultant he latched on and nursed like a champ! He nursed for an hour straight on one side and I ended up having to cut him off because they needed him in the nursery for his physical and quiet honestly I was ready to get to Mother/Baby so I could take a shower and get settled. I didn't really feel like I got settled in in the Labor and Delivery because everything happened so quickly. By the time they got all the admission stuff done, anesthesia, etc, it was time to have a baby. Turns out once I got to Mother/Baby I had to wait on another bag of fluid to infuse before I could take a shower. I also got a little sick as soon as I got there and I needed that shower desperately! This stupid bag of fluids ended up taking til 3 am to infuse! I was so pissed. All I wanted to do since I gave birth was to take a shower! I later learned that this bag of fluids has pitocin in it. I'm not sure why, but they were terrified I would hemorrhage. I guess there is little faith in nature these days and they have to have medical intervention in even the most natural things that occur, like childbirth! Needless to say, I was ticked to learn that I was given pitocin after birth (other than with the whole placenta ordeal, I'd definitely take pitocin over surgery any day!). I mean, really, I got there naturally. Labor started on it's own, I didn't need pitocin during labor. What made them think that nature is going to all of a sudden stop and need some type of intervention is beyond me, but by the time I'd learned about the pitocin it was too late. The nurse even said something about how red heads tend to bleed more....but the Dr noted blood loss as minimal and I wasn't bleeding excessively at all after birth. Anyways, protocol is protocol, but that protocol sucks. Once 3 am came the fluids were finally infused, only for me to learn that they won't take out the IV port. The nurse said that maybe the Dr will let them take it out the next day. I asked if I could take a shower with it. She said I could but we'd have to cover it and acted like it would be a huge ordeal so I just waited. I'm steaming by now though. With Logan I was up and in the shower, without an IV (or pitocin), within 2 hrs of delivery. I guess I was expecting the same thing this time around. Mom and Logan came around 8 to meet baby Nate. Of course they took forever in the nursery and Logan got a little fussy so they didn't get to see him long.
The first night, I was definitely annoyed and ready to go home. I was really regretting my choice to use this hospital instead of the one I used before. If I ever have the choice between the county/community hospital vs a private hospital I will forever choose the private one from now on. I felt like I was in a hotel when I had Logan. This hospital, although recently renovated and nice looking in appearance, was definitely just a hospital.
Anyways, back to the first night...The first night was hectic. They came in the room every hour to check on me, Nate, draw labs, etc. Even housekeeping started around 6 a.m. and not just one housekeeper to clean the whole room...nooooooo, they have one that comes to vacuum, one that empties the trash, one that cleans the bathroom, etc, so it was several interruptions just to clean the room. Nate did great though and he nursed very well.
Once shift change came the day got better. My new nurse immediately got my IV port out and told me I could take now take a shower! HALLELUJAH!!!! Brent went to get breakfast and they took Nate to get his circumcision. So, I go to get in the shower and I'll be damned if I can't get the thing to turn on. Finally, with lots of muscle I get the shower on, only to find out that I have no hot water. By this point (keep in mind the hormones) I'm crying, about to break down in the bathroom because all I've wanted for the last 14 hours was a shower! FINALLY, I get the water hot enough and I finally get my shower. The rest of the day went smoothly. Mom and Logan came after nap time. Brent took Logan to get some lunch and walmart so Mom could have a breather and some time with Nate.
The next morning we are just waiting on the Dr's to come around and release us. You'd think they would come early and get out of there quickly since it was a Saturday, but nope...the pediatrician doesn't show up til 11. Then we learn that they want to run a bilirubin on Nate to check for jaundice and we have to wait for those results before he can be released. Finally around 4 p.m. the results come back and we can go home.
He scored an 11 on his bilirubin. Apparently that is the top end of normal. No treatment was necessary but they wanted us to come back the next day to recheck. We went back today and he is up to 14.5. They said to nurse often and keep him in sunlight if possible, but that it still wasn't a big deal. We are to go back in the morning for more labs and followup with our own pediatrician tomorrow.
I'm so glad things happened like they did. I really didn't want to be induced and I wanted to experience labor naturally....well with pain meds eventually, haha! The morning contractions started I was a little frustrated because I was left wondering if this was the real thing or if it would stop or I'd get to the hospital and wouldn't be far enough along or too far along. I can't really compare induced contractions to natural because in both labors contractions started naturally. Pitocin wasn't administered with Logan's labor til after my epidural so I don't know how bad pitocin contractions really feel. I do however know that natural contractions are hell and I have no idea why women think they should go through that without any help. I guess they want to feel empowered and all "I am woman, hear me roar" but I just pushed a baby through my vagina, that is empowering enough, epidural or not!
I'm feeling great. My back is the most sore thing on me surprisingly. Nate is still doing great nursing however my toes curl and I have to bite my tongue every time he latches on. To be so little he sure does have an intense suck. Hopefully I will get more use to it in the next couple days. The Lactation Consultant said his latch is perfect, so hopefully time will help!
The day started like normal. Logan woke up around 4:45-5:00 screaming "juice", so Brent got him some milk. I had a hard time falling back to sleep because I was having some contractions. I thought they would go away like all the other ones I'd been having and tried to get some rest while I could. Logan officially got up around 7:30. All through breakfast I noticed more contractions and decided that these felt different and I should start timing them. They were 8 minutes apart. I was kind of disappointed because I thought they were closer together than that. I called Brent around 9:30 and told him what was going on and that he should probably tie up any loose ends just in case he needed to leave. By 10:30 they were around 7 min apart. Brent got home around 11. By 12 they were 5 min apart. The Dr. wanted us to come to the hospital when they were consistently 5 min apart, so to be sure this was "it" I wanted to wait an hour to make sure they stuck around and I could definitely say they were consistent. Well 45 min later I couldn't stand it anymore, so we left. As soon as I got up and moved around to get in the car the contractions immediately jumped to 2-3 min apart. We got to the hospital and were admitted by 1:30. They immediately checked me to see if I was in active labor and I was! I was 4 cm and 90%. They got my blood drawn so I could get my epidural, as well as gave me some IV pain meds to last me until my labs and anesthesia came. By 3:00 anesthesia was there to start my epidural. It took a while because at first only my right side was numb, which is a really weird feeling! They quickly got it fixed though and my left side got numb. As soon as the epidural set in they checked me again, this was around 4:00. This time I was almost 7 cm. At 4:30 my OB came and wanted to check for herself. In 30 minutes I'd already progressed to 8 cm. She also broke my water. I didn't really want to do anything like that to augment labor, but at 8 cm it was inevitable regardless of how it happened. It also helped him move down the birth canal a little. I warned her that with my last labor I went from 8 to 10 cm in 20 minutes, so she decided to stick around. At 5:30 she came back and I was fully dilated but Nate was a little far back, so she wanted to wait 30 minutes to see if he'd come down on his own and create less work for me. 20 minutes later I was sure Nate was about to fall out...and he was. Everyone rushed in and we got the show on the road QUICKLY! Two contractions later my sweet baby boy was here! They immediately put him on my chest and he didn't leave it until I was ready. They did everything they needed to do from there and when I was ready they took him over to get weighed and to get his foot prints. They had a little trouble getting the placenta to detach. They give it 30 minutes and if it doesn't come they have to go after it surgically. By 29 minutes they had started pitocin to make me contract harder, were literally punching (ok, maybe not literally, but close) my stomach and had turned my epidural back on when FINALLY, with 1 minute to spare, it decided to detach. As soon as that happened I was able to breastfeed. At first I was a little nervous because it went HORRIBLE with the nurse trying to help me, but as soon as she left the room to get the Lactation Consultant he latched on and nursed like a champ! He nursed for an hour straight on one side and I ended up having to cut him off because they needed him in the nursery for his physical and quiet honestly I was ready to get to Mother/Baby so I could take a shower and get settled. I didn't really feel like I got settled in in the Labor and Delivery because everything happened so quickly. By the time they got all the admission stuff done, anesthesia, etc, it was time to have a baby. Turns out once I got to Mother/Baby I had to wait on another bag of fluid to infuse before I could take a shower. I also got a little sick as soon as I got there and I needed that shower desperately! This stupid bag of fluids ended up taking til 3 am to infuse! I was so pissed. All I wanted to do since I gave birth was to take a shower! I later learned that this bag of fluids has pitocin in it. I'm not sure why, but they were terrified I would hemorrhage. I guess there is little faith in nature these days and they have to have medical intervention in even the most natural things that occur, like childbirth! Needless to say, I was ticked to learn that I was given pitocin after birth (other than with the whole placenta ordeal, I'd definitely take pitocin over surgery any day!). I mean, really, I got there naturally. Labor started on it's own, I didn't need pitocin during labor. What made them think that nature is going to all of a sudden stop and need some type of intervention is beyond me, but by the time I'd learned about the pitocin it was too late. The nurse even said something about how red heads tend to bleed more....but the Dr noted blood loss as minimal and I wasn't bleeding excessively at all after birth. Anyways, protocol is protocol, but that protocol sucks. Once 3 am came the fluids were finally infused, only for me to learn that they won't take out the IV port. The nurse said that maybe the Dr will let them take it out the next day. I asked if I could take a shower with it. She said I could but we'd have to cover it and acted like it would be a huge ordeal so I just waited. I'm steaming by now though. With Logan I was up and in the shower, without an IV (or pitocin), within 2 hrs of delivery. I guess I was expecting the same thing this time around. Mom and Logan came around 8 to meet baby Nate. Of course they took forever in the nursery and Logan got a little fussy so they didn't get to see him long.
The first night, I was definitely annoyed and ready to go home. I was really regretting my choice to use this hospital instead of the one I used before. If I ever have the choice between the county/community hospital vs a private hospital I will forever choose the private one from now on. I felt like I was in a hotel when I had Logan. This hospital, although recently renovated and nice looking in appearance, was definitely just a hospital.
Anyways, back to the first night...The first night was hectic. They came in the room every hour to check on me, Nate, draw labs, etc. Even housekeeping started around 6 a.m. and not just one housekeeper to clean the whole room...nooooooo, they have one that comes to vacuum, one that empties the trash, one that cleans the bathroom, etc, so it was several interruptions just to clean the room. Nate did great though and he nursed very well.
Once shift change came the day got better. My new nurse immediately got my IV port out and told me I could take now take a shower! HALLELUJAH!!!! Brent went to get breakfast and they took Nate to get his circumcision. So, I go to get in the shower and I'll be damned if I can't get the thing to turn on. Finally, with lots of muscle I get the shower on, only to find out that I have no hot water. By this point (keep in mind the hormones) I'm crying, about to break down in the bathroom because all I've wanted for the last 14 hours was a shower! FINALLY, I get the water hot enough and I finally get my shower. The rest of the day went smoothly. Mom and Logan came after nap time. Brent took Logan to get some lunch and walmart so Mom could have a breather and some time with Nate.
The next morning we are just waiting on the Dr's to come around and release us. You'd think they would come early and get out of there quickly since it was a Saturday, but nope...the pediatrician doesn't show up til 11. Then we learn that they want to run a bilirubin on Nate to check for jaundice and we have to wait for those results before he can be released. Finally around 4 p.m. the results come back and we can go home.
He scored an 11 on his bilirubin. Apparently that is the top end of normal. No treatment was necessary but they wanted us to come back the next day to recheck. We went back today and he is up to 14.5. They said to nurse often and keep him in sunlight if possible, but that it still wasn't a big deal. We are to go back in the morning for more labs and followup with our own pediatrician tomorrow.
I'm so glad things happened like they did. I really didn't want to be induced and I wanted to experience labor naturally....well with pain meds eventually, haha! The morning contractions started I was a little frustrated because I was left wondering if this was the real thing or if it would stop or I'd get to the hospital and wouldn't be far enough along or too far along. I can't really compare induced contractions to natural because in both labors contractions started naturally. Pitocin wasn't administered with Logan's labor til after my epidural so I don't know how bad pitocin contractions really feel. I do however know that natural contractions are hell and I have no idea why women think they should go through that without any help. I guess they want to feel empowered and all "I am woman, hear me roar" but I just pushed a baby through my vagina, that is empowering enough, epidural or not!
I'm feeling great. My back is the most sore thing on me surprisingly. Nate is still doing great nursing however my toes curl and I have to bite my tongue every time he latches on. To be so little he sure does have an intense suck. Hopefully I will get more use to it in the next couple days. The Lactation Consultant said his latch is perfect, so hopefully time will help!
1 comment:
You were feelin fiesty when you wrote this one, weren't you?!?! LOL. I laughed so loud at the hear me roar part! bahaha
-LW
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