Once again, I find myself thinking that I am a very lucky person. Malcolm is such a good baby. My mom arrived on Tuesday to help me out and I think she's a bit bored. Mal is a cuddle bug so that's pretty much all I ask her to do - cuddle him so I can get stuff done like cook. Can you believe that I have a 2.5 week-old and can cook dinners that take time to prepare? I never though that would happen! The little one is gaining weight like he should (if he's awake, he's eating) and pooping and peeing a good amount. And, he loves to sleep! We have found that we haven't suffered from sleep deprivation - can you believe it?
Parenthood is pretty amazing. Malcolm is adorable. I'm so in love!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Birth Story
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007: I woke up with my lower back aching. It was aching enough for me to decide to not go to work. I was told by several people that this ache could last for days. Oh yay. Since sitting and laying down made it worse, I did stuff around the house to keep myself busy. I probably started feeling minor contractions in the early afternoon but they were sporadic and mild enough that I didn't give it a second thought. Tony decided to come home from work a little early to see if I needed anything. We went for a long walk in hopes of it giving me some relief. As we were walking, my contractions started getting more intense and frequent. We went to our local park and sat on a bench and talked about becoming parents in the very near future. It was quite lovely.
We arrived back home around 5 PM. Tony made me a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich - yum! By 5:30, my contractions seemed to be getting close enough to where I thought we should start timing them. I was not going to even suggest going to the hospital until my contractions were occurring every 3 to 5 minutes and lasting for at least a minute each. During this time, we put things in order around the house, I shaved Tony's head and we packed a bag to take to the hospital. We headed out at 6:30 and arrived in the maternity ward shortly before 7. I was fully prepared for them to check me out and send me home, but instead they admitted me right away. Our first Nurse Practitioner informed me that I was still only 3 cm dilated but now 100% effaced and predicted a morning delivery. We started calling family and friends to let them know that I was in early labor.
The staff was going through a shift change and our dedicated NP, Kristeen, came into the room. She checked out the baby, got the bath ready for me and we discussed pain medication options. I told her that I wanted to try going natural so she told me she wasn’t going to offer pain medications again - I would have to ask her for them. At this point, the contractions were definitely getting more painful, but not unbearable. Tony helped me into the tub where I continued to groan (loudly) each time a contraction came. After 45 minutes, I got out of the tub so Kristeen could monitor the baby. The pain was definitely increasing so I decided to try a systemic painkiller. After she monitored the baby and gave me a small dose of painkiller, back in the tub I went. Natalie arrived shortly thereafter to watch me writhe in pain. The contractions were constant by now and I knew there was no way I could deal with that level of pain for 10 more hours.
Sometime shortly after 9, Kristeen got me out of the tub to monitor the baby once again. I asked for an epidural and the anesthesiologist was called. Before his arrival, Kristeen checked my cervix and found that I was 9 cm dilated! Once my water was broken, I would be having a baby! Since the little one was almost here, I decided to forgo the epidural. I now understand that my contractions were so painful because I had transitioned which is often the most painful period in the labor process. Then, we were informed that the on-call OB would be another 10 minutes (she was finishing a C-section surgery). I was at the point in labor where I HAD TO PUSH. Kristeen went to speak with the doctor to see if she could have someone else break my water; the doctor refused and said that we had to wait for her. My choices were to not push for 10 more minutes (not happening!!!) or get an epidural to prolong labor. This is where we all become quite displeased. The reason why we chose Swedish Medical Center as the location where I would give birth is because we were told that we would be the ones in control and in this instance, we were not OK with either of those options. Fortunately, Kristeen was on our side so she told me that she couldn’t tell me that it was OK to push, but she couldn’t stop me. As soon as I started pushing, my water broke. Funny how your body knows what to do at the right time. I almost forgot to mention - we did have a resident doctor helping out, too. She assisted the doctor once she finally arrived. It was such a relief to start to use my contractions for something and I found that although exhausting, pushing didn’t hurt as much as the contractions after I transitioned. After pushing for around 30 minutes (crowning for 20), Malcolm was born at 10:22 PM. I had slight tearing on my inner labia, but that is it.
Tony, Natalie and Kristeen were amazing. I don’t think I could have done it without them. The whole thing happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to even consider the breathing techniques I had been practicing or any of the other coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. I had these ideas that I would use the birthing ball and I had also been doing exercises to strengthen my quads for squatting - all of that went out the window. I didn’t even have time to think about it! With that being said, I feel extremely lucky that labor was so quick - we were totally prepared for a 12 to 15 hour ordeal. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I am so glad that I didn’t get an epidural. Although the pain was really intense, I couldn’t imagine it not being part of Malcolm being born.
Several friends had come to the hospital - most all of them didn’t arrive until around 10. I wasn’t really up to seeing anyone right away - I just wanted to bond with the little person I gave birth to. Julie and Jeremiah did come in to say hello - Julie was meant to also be there during the birth but didn’t arrive in time. They all came back in the next couple of days to visit us in the hospital and meet Mal for the first time. We came home on Thursday and have had many friends visit since then and bring us lots of food. It is so wonderful to have such a great support network.
The first family portrait:
There are more pictures on my flickr gallery and on our Tony Loves Kris website :)
We arrived back home around 5 PM. Tony made me a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich - yum! By 5:30, my contractions seemed to be getting close enough to where I thought we should start timing them. I was not going to even suggest going to the hospital until my contractions were occurring every 3 to 5 minutes and lasting for at least a minute each. During this time, we put things in order around the house, I shaved Tony's head and we packed a bag to take to the hospital. We headed out at 6:30 and arrived in the maternity ward shortly before 7. I was fully prepared for them to check me out and send me home, but instead they admitted me right away. Our first Nurse Practitioner informed me that I was still only 3 cm dilated but now 100% effaced and predicted a morning delivery. We started calling family and friends to let them know that I was in early labor.
The staff was going through a shift change and our dedicated NP, Kristeen, came into the room. She checked out the baby, got the bath ready for me and we discussed pain medication options. I told her that I wanted to try going natural so she told me she wasn’t going to offer pain medications again - I would have to ask her for them. At this point, the contractions were definitely getting more painful, but not unbearable. Tony helped me into the tub where I continued to groan (loudly) each time a contraction came. After 45 minutes, I got out of the tub so Kristeen could monitor the baby. The pain was definitely increasing so I decided to try a systemic painkiller. After she monitored the baby and gave me a small dose of painkiller, back in the tub I went. Natalie arrived shortly thereafter to watch me writhe in pain. The contractions were constant by now and I knew there was no way I could deal with that level of pain for 10 more hours.
Sometime shortly after 9, Kristeen got me out of the tub to monitor the baby once again. I asked for an epidural and the anesthesiologist was called. Before his arrival, Kristeen checked my cervix and found that I was 9 cm dilated! Once my water was broken, I would be having a baby! Since the little one was almost here, I decided to forgo the epidural. I now understand that my contractions were so painful because I had transitioned which is often the most painful period in the labor process. Then, we were informed that the on-call OB would be another 10 minutes (she was finishing a C-section surgery). I was at the point in labor where I HAD TO PUSH. Kristeen went to speak with the doctor to see if she could have someone else break my water; the doctor refused and said that we had to wait for her. My choices were to not push for 10 more minutes (not happening!!!) or get an epidural to prolong labor. This is where we all become quite displeased. The reason why we chose Swedish Medical Center as the location where I would give birth is because we were told that we would be the ones in control and in this instance, we were not OK with either of those options. Fortunately, Kristeen was on our side so she told me that she couldn’t tell me that it was OK to push, but she couldn’t stop me. As soon as I started pushing, my water broke. Funny how your body knows what to do at the right time. I almost forgot to mention - we did have a resident doctor helping out, too. She assisted the doctor once she finally arrived. It was such a relief to start to use my contractions for something and I found that although exhausting, pushing didn’t hurt as much as the contractions after I transitioned. After pushing for around 30 minutes (crowning for 20), Malcolm was born at 10:22 PM. I had slight tearing on my inner labia, but that is it.
Tony, Natalie and Kristeen were amazing. I don’t think I could have done it without them. The whole thing happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to even consider the breathing techniques I had been practicing or any of the other coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. I had these ideas that I would use the birthing ball and I had also been doing exercises to strengthen my quads for squatting - all of that went out the window. I didn’t even have time to think about it! With that being said, I feel extremely lucky that labor was so quick - we were totally prepared for a 12 to 15 hour ordeal. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I am so glad that I didn’t get an epidural. Although the pain was really intense, I couldn’t imagine it not being part of Malcolm being born.
Several friends had come to the hospital - most all of them didn’t arrive until around 10. I wasn’t really up to seeing anyone right away - I just wanted to bond with the little person I gave birth to. Julie and Jeremiah did come in to say hello - Julie was meant to also be there during the birth but didn’t arrive in time. They all came back in the next couple of days to visit us in the hospital and meet Mal for the first time. We came home on Thursday and have had many friends visit since then and bring us lots of food. It is so wonderful to have such a great support network.
The first family portrait:
There are more pictures on my flickr gallery and on our Tony Loves Kris website :)
Monday, August 13, 2007
The Overdue Update
Malcolm made his way out of the womb on Tuesday, August 7th at 10:22 PM. Labor was much quicker than we anticipated and definitely painful - I'll be writing another post focusing on the birth story. We came home from the hospital on Thursday after being delayed due to our car not starting. Julie ended up picking Mal & me up from the hospital while Tony had the car towed to get looked at. Everyone is healthy and happy - Malcolm is perfect! He's also awake now and asking to be fed. More later!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
How are you feeling?
I got asked that question a lot yesterday by coworkers and friends. And yesterday I felt just fine until we went to see Dr. McDermott. She poked around and "mixed things up to get labor moving along" which just felt like an uncomfortable pelvic exam. I'm 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. She exclaimed excitedly that we're going to have a baby this week!
It's typical for me to cramp after an uncomfortable pelvic exam. I continued to cramp and bleed for the rest of the afternoon. I finally gave up on feeling any better and we left work about an hour early. After laying down at home, I soon came to realize that I felt better walking around. This made me happy since we had plans to run some errands last night. Lil' bean was also really active all afternoon and evening - much more than usual.
I was so hopeful that I would wake up this morning and feel fine, but I didn't. I awoke before my alarm as usual, got up to empty my bladder, went back to bed and soon realized that my panties were wet. So I got up to get in the shower which made clean-up much easier as my body expelled the mucus plug. My lower back is very, very achy this morning. I'm not having any contractions yet, but I'm also not feeling up to working today. I actually called in sick. I think it may be the second time I've called in sick to work since I started working there almost 3 years ago. So today I'm going to skulk about and try to distract myself from the discomfort. If it goes away, I'm heading into work. If we're lucky, these are the signs that I'm going into labor - hopefully sooner than later.
It's typical for me to cramp after an uncomfortable pelvic exam. I continued to cramp and bleed for the rest of the afternoon. I finally gave up on feeling any better and we left work about an hour early. After laying down at home, I soon came to realize that I felt better walking around. This made me happy since we had plans to run some errands last night. Lil' bean was also really active all afternoon and evening - much more than usual.
I was so hopeful that I would wake up this morning and feel fine, but I didn't. I awoke before my alarm as usual, got up to empty my bladder, went back to bed and soon realized that my panties were wet. So I got up to get in the shower which made clean-up much easier as my body expelled the mucus plug. My lower back is very, very achy this morning. I'm not having any contractions yet, but I'm also not feeling up to working today. I actually called in sick. I think it may be the second time I've called in sick to work since I started working there almost 3 years ago. So today I'm going to skulk about and try to distract myself from the discomfort. If it goes away, I'm heading into work. If we're lucky, these are the signs that I'm going into labor - hopefully sooner than later.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A cat and a pregnant lady
This week, my feet have swelled twice and I have a slight headache for most of my days. Just slight discomforts. I have to admit, I think I may miss being pregnant after lil' bean arrives. Don't get me wrong - we are both ready to meet him. It's going to be weird not being pregnant.
Poor Brenda is not having an easy time with her pregnancy. I'm starting to think that she may go into labor before me even though her doctor originally said she got pregnant after I did.
We are going to be parents before we know it. Wow. Just Wow.
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