Dear baby Sophia,
You started daycare this morning. I didn't want to leave you there (even though it is a fantastic daycare and I knew you would be in great hands), and when we turned around to leave, I started bawling. And I cried for the next hour as your daddy and I drove to work. Because I missed you so much it hurt.
Love,
Mama
Monday, November 10, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Month Two
Dear baby Sophia,
We can't believe that you are already two months old! Where has the time gone? Right now I'm sitting on the couch with you sleeping away on my lap, which, believe me, is amazing in itself considering you rarely sleep long enough for me to get anything done. So yeah. Yay sleep!
A lot has happenned to you in the last month, which hardly seems possible because we haven't really gone anywhere or done much but spend as much time with you at home as possible because you start daycare this week and OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW HOW I AM GOING TO HANDLE THAT so I want to take advantage of the little all-day time with you I have left. I used to think that I would totally be able to manage going back to work full time, but now that you're here and I've totally fallen in love with you, I just want to be with you ALL THE TIME.
This month, you have continued to grace us with your colic, which means we're all still having a hard time getting enough sleep. You'd think that the lack of sleep would make your daddy and I irritable and cranky, but in fact we are managing pretty well. We make a pretty good team, your daddy and I. We help each other out when one or the other of us is exhausted, and we aren't as stressed as one might think because we've entirely given up on the idea of having a spotless house or having clean clothes to wear. Is it worth it, the messy house, the dirty clothes piles, the dark circles under our eyes and the inability to form coherent sentences?
TOTALLY.
This month, I took you to see a pediatric gastroenterologist just to get your digestive system checked out, since it seems to be the root cause of your discomfort. We found out that you have an umbilical hernia, but this is normal and probably isn't causing you any pain. I started on a milk-free diet, thinking that you might have an allergy to cow's milk protein, but it's been 3 weeks now and you aren't feeling much better. So the gastroenterologist told us to put you on a special hypoallergenic formula for a while to see if that will help. I hope you start to feel better soon because the formula is costing us a small fortune (which is really too bad because breastmilk is totally free! And breastfeeding will make my gigantic boobs smaller! And breastmilk is best for your cognitive development! And breastmilk is completely portable! And there isn't any bottle-washing with breastfeeding! And I'm going to stop complaining now!).
One quick comment about infant formula: it makes your poop bright green! And woah, stinkpot. And woah, volume. In fact, you pooped on your daddy this month for the first time, which made me laugh so hard! Your daddy, on the other hand, wasn't laughing. But it was still funny! Speaking of poop, that seems to be a primary topic of conversation in our house these days. In fact, most things related to your butt are a common discussion point. It really is amazing how two intellectually curious people such as your daddy and I, who USUALLY spend most of our time talking about economics or politics, are now discussing at length topics such as "was Sophia's poop more of a MUSTARD yellow, or a GREEN yellow?" and "Wow, I think even the neighbors heard that fart!".
The most exciting thing this month is that you've started smiling!!! Which is to say, you've been smiling back at us when we smile at you. You were doing the "ha ha, I have super butt gas" smile a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn't count. You are so captivating when you smile, and we spend most of our time trying to get you to smile when you aren't crying.
Other milestones you've reached this month: you are starting to grasp small objects (such as a rattle) really tightly, you are making small vocalizations (like cooing), and you can raise your body up on your hands and arms. You are also right on target with your growth, and you now weigh almost 11 pounds! Unfortunately, at your 8 week doctor's appointment, you also got your first shots. Wow was it hard for me to watch you get them, because you cried and cried, and your face contorted and turned bright red. I started to cry FOR you because I don't like shots either. I just wanted to take you away from there, hold you, and make you feel better. The next time you go in for your shots, I think I'm going to send your daddy to go with you.
This month, another incredible thing happenned that has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with history-making. Just a few short days ago, this country elected its first African American president, Democrat Barak Obama. I truly never thought I would see that in my lifetime because unfortunately, Sophia, there is still a lot of bigotry and hate in this country, a country so divided along lines of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. Because of that, both your daddy and I have become incredibly cynical about politics and politicians. But seeing Barak Obama elected President made me feel so proud, so full of hope for the future, because voters turned out in historic numbers to make a STATEMENT. The election was significant in other important ways, because a woman, Hilary Clinton, almost became the Democratic nominee but was beaten in the primaries by Obama. The Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican party was also a woman, Sarah Palin. Never in our nation's history have we come so close to having a woman or an African-American elected to the Presidential or Vice-Presidential positions. And it is this, the willingness of the American people to do something that so many never thought possible (regardless of political party), something so very significant, that makes me so glad that you were born during this very historic time because you will always be able to say "I was born the same year that the nation elected its first black president". Wow. How cool is that?
Love,
Mama
P.S. Have I mentioned that being your mom is absolutely, without a doubt, the most magical thing that's ever happenned to me?
We can't believe that you are already two months old! Where has the time gone? Right now I'm sitting on the couch with you sleeping away on my lap, which, believe me, is amazing in itself considering you rarely sleep long enough for me to get anything done. So yeah. Yay sleep!
A lot has happenned to you in the last month, which hardly seems possible because we haven't really gone anywhere or done much but spend as much time with you at home as possible because you start daycare this week and OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW HOW I AM GOING TO HANDLE THAT so I want to take advantage of the little all-day time with you I have left. I used to think that I would totally be able to manage going back to work full time, but now that you're here and I've totally fallen in love with you, I just want to be with you ALL THE TIME.
This month, you have continued to grace us with your colic, which means we're all still having a hard time getting enough sleep. You'd think that the lack of sleep would make your daddy and I irritable and cranky, but in fact we are managing pretty well. We make a pretty good team, your daddy and I. We help each other out when one or the other of us is exhausted, and we aren't as stressed as one might think because we've entirely given up on the idea of having a spotless house or having clean clothes to wear. Is it worth it, the messy house, the dirty clothes piles, the dark circles under our eyes and the inability to form coherent sentences?
TOTALLY.
This month, I took you to see a pediatric gastroenterologist just to get your digestive system checked out, since it seems to be the root cause of your discomfort. We found out that you have an umbilical hernia, but this is normal and probably isn't causing you any pain. I started on a milk-free diet, thinking that you might have an allergy to cow's milk protein, but it's been 3 weeks now and you aren't feeling much better. So the gastroenterologist told us to put you on a special hypoallergenic formula for a while to see if that will help. I hope you start to feel better soon because the formula is costing us a small fortune (which is really too bad because breastmilk is totally free! And breastfeeding will make my gigantic boobs smaller! And breastmilk is best for your cognitive development! And breastmilk is completely portable! And there isn't any bottle-washing with breastfeeding! And I'm going to stop complaining now!).
One quick comment about infant formula: it makes your poop bright green! And woah, stinkpot. And woah, volume. In fact, you pooped on your daddy this month for the first time, which made me laugh so hard! Your daddy, on the other hand, wasn't laughing. But it was still funny! Speaking of poop, that seems to be a primary topic of conversation in our house these days. In fact, most things related to your butt are a common discussion point. It really is amazing how two intellectually curious people such as your daddy and I, who USUALLY spend most of our time talking about economics or politics, are now discussing at length topics such as "was Sophia's poop more of a MUSTARD yellow, or a GREEN yellow?" and "Wow, I think even the neighbors heard that fart!".
The most exciting thing this month is that you've started smiling!!! Which is to say, you've been smiling back at us when we smile at you. You were doing the "ha ha, I have super butt gas" smile a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn't count. You are so captivating when you smile, and we spend most of our time trying to get you to smile when you aren't crying.
Other milestones you've reached this month: you are starting to grasp small objects (such as a rattle) really tightly, you are making small vocalizations (like cooing), and you can raise your body up on your hands and arms. You are also right on target with your growth, and you now weigh almost 11 pounds! Unfortunately, at your 8 week doctor's appointment, you also got your first shots. Wow was it hard for me to watch you get them, because you cried and cried, and your face contorted and turned bright red. I started to cry FOR you because I don't like shots either. I just wanted to take you away from there, hold you, and make you feel better. The next time you go in for your shots, I think I'm going to send your daddy to go with you.
This month, another incredible thing happenned that has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with history-making. Just a few short days ago, this country elected its first African American president, Democrat Barak Obama. I truly never thought I would see that in my lifetime because unfortunately, Sophia, there is still a lot of bigotry and hate in this country, a country so divided along lines of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. Because of that, both your daddy and I have become incredibly cynical about politics and politicians. But seeing Barak Obama elected President made me feel so proud, so full of hope for the future, because voters turned out in historic numbers to make a STATEMENT. The election was significant in other important ways, because a woman, Hilary Clinton, almost became the Democratic nominee but was beaten in the primaries by Obama. The Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican party was also a woman, Sarah Palin. Never in our nation's history have we come so close to having a woman or an African-American elected to the Presidential or Vice-Presidential positions. And it is this, the willingness of the American people to do something that so many never thought possible (regardless of political party), something so very significant, that makes me so glad that you were born during this very historic time because you will always be able to say "I was born the same year that the nation elected its first black president". Wow. How cool is that?
Love,
Mama
P.S. Have I mentioned that being your mom is absolutely, without a doubt, the most magical thing that's ever happenned to me?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Because Everyone Has Been Asking...
Dear baby Sophia,
Everyone we know keeps asking us for pictures of you, so we finally uploaded all the photos we had on our camera and created a photo website for you. We'll do our best to keep it as updated as possible, and will also put a permanent link to it on the sidebar of this here blog. For now, though, you can see photos HERE.
Love,
Mama
Everyone we know keeps asking us for pictures of you, so we finally uploaded all the photos we had on our camera and created a photo website for you. We'll do our best to keep it as updated as possible, and will also put a permanent link to it on the sidebar of this here blog. For now, though, you can see photos HERE.
Love,
Mama
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Month One
Dear baby Sophia,
You are now one month old, and your daddy and I can’t believe it! We have so much to write about, but we have been SO busy the last few weeks since we brought you home that we have admittedly had little time to log onto our computers and write everything down. But right now your daddy is holding you and you are sleeping away, so I am taking advantage of the opportunity to tell everyone all about how you’re doing.
We brought you home from the hospital 2 days after you were born. You had a BUNCH of visitors in the hospital- your grandma and grandpa Murphy, your uncle Bruce, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack, your cousin Mary, your daddy's friend Jason, and a lot of mommy's co-workers (since you were born in the hospital where I work). Your daddy and I got very little sleep while we were in the hospital because we kept waking up every time you made a noise... perhaps not surprisingly, not much has changed since then. You still keep us up all night, and we are still very tired, but we seem to love you more and more each and every day.
You had even more visitors when you came home from the hospital- you met your big sister Madeline for the first time, as well as your aunt Marie and uncle Dave. There are so many people who are excited to meet you! Your Nina and Nino just went back to Albuquerque, so it is really the first time the three of us (you, your daddy, and me) have been home by ourselves.
Unfortunately, it turns out that you have colic, so you don't get much sleep- and when you're awake, you're usually crying. We have a theory that you have inherited your mommy's gastrointestinal problems, because when you are trying to poop your cries get much louder and you are clearly in more pain :(. When we talked to your pediatrician, she said that it's probably because your intestinal system is still immature, but that you will likely grow out of this and have a normal functioning system in a few months. In the meantime, though, we just have to wait it out. So your daddy and I are each taking shifts with you so that we can at least get a few hours of sleep in every night!
Although you're just one month old, your daddy and I are amazed at how much you can do already! You have clearly inherited your daddy's strength, because you can lift your head up on your own and can bear your weight on your legs when you straighten them out. You can roll onto your side by yourself, and you have started to focus on objects when we hold them in front of you and move them around. You are such a curious baby, always looking around with those big beautiful eyes of yours, trying to take in and understand everything you're seeing. It might be time for us to start requesting applications to Ivy League schools, what do you think?
One of my favorite things to do right now is watch you with your daddy. I have never seen him be as goofy as he's been since you were born. He likes to make up his own lyrics to lullabies and turn innocent songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into songs with titles such as "Sophia Has a Stinky Butt". He is completely engaged in keeping you entertained, and has as much of a problem as I do resisting the purchase of adorable baby outfits. He also dances around the kitchen with you in his arms, telling me that it is never too early to teach a little girl how to do the meringue. And every once in a while, I will catch him on the couch, holding you against his chest, both of you sleeping peacefully, and I know he has found his bliss.
You are definitely a cuddlebug- you love to be held, which works out pretty well for us because we love to snuggle with you. Mostly, though,I can't stop looking at you. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I will quietly look over the edge of your bassinet, and just stare at you, breathing in your wonderful baby smell, gently wrapping your tiny little hand around my finger... I spend hours doing this, even though it means I don't get any sleep, because it is in these small, cherished moments that I truly understand unconditional love.
Thank you, precious one, for coming into my world.
Love,
Mama
You are now one month old, and your daddy and I can’t believe it! We have so much to write about, but we have been SO busy the last few weeks since we brought you home that we have admittedly had little time to log onto our computers and write everything down. But right now your daddy is holding you and you are sleeping away, so I am taking advantage of the opportunity to tell everyone all about how you’re doing.
We brought you home from the hospital 2 days after you were born. You had a BUNCH of visitors in the hospital- your grandma and grandpa Murphy, your uncle Bruce, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack, your cousin Mary, your daddy's friend Jason, and a lot of mommy's co-workers (since you were born in the hospital where I work). Your daddy and I got very little sleep while we were in the hospital because we kept waking up every time you made a noise... perhaps not surprisingly, not much has changed since then. You still keep us up all night, and we are still very tired, but we seem to love you more and more each and every day.
You had even more visitors when you came home from the hospital- you met your big sister Madeline for the first time, as well as your aunt Marie and uncle Dave. There are so many people who are excited to meet you! Your Nina and Nino just went back to Albuquerque, so it is really the first time the three of us (you, your daddy, and me) have been home by ourselves.
Unfortunately, it turns out that you have colic, so you don't get much sleep- and when you're awake, you're usually crying. We have a theory that you have inherited your mommy's gastrointestinal problems, because when you are trying to poop your cries get much louder and you are clearly in more pain :(. When we talked to your pediatrician, she said that it's probably because your intestinal system is still immature, but that you will likely grow out of this and have a normal functioning system in a few months. In the meantime, though, we just have to wait it out. So your daddy and I are each taking shifts with you so that we can at least get a few hours of sleep in every night!
Although you're just one month old, your daddy and I are amazed at how much you can do already! You have clearly inherited your daddy's strength, because you can lift your head up on your own and can bear your weight on your legs when you straighten them out. You can roll onto your side by yourself, and you have started to focus on objects when we hold them in front of you and move them around. You are such a curious baby, always looking around with those big beautiful eyes of yours, trying to take in and understand everything you're seeing. It might be time for us to start requesting applications to Ivy League schools, what do you think?
One of my favorite things to do right now is watch you with your daddy. I have never seen him be as goofy as he's been since you were born. He likes to make up his own lyrics to lullabies and turn innocent songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into songs with titles such as "Sophia Has a Stinky Butt". He is completely engaged in keeping you entertained, and has as much of a problem as I do resisting the purchase of adorable baby outfits. He also dances around the kitchen with you in his arms, telling me that it is never too early to teach a little girl how to do the meringue. And every once in a while, I will catch him on the couch, holding you against his chest, both of you sleeping peacefully, and I know he has found his bliss.
You are definitely a cuddlebug- you love to be held, which works out pretty well for us because we love to snuggle with you. Mostly, though,I can't stop looking at you. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I will quietly look over the edge of your bassinet, and just stare at you, breathing in your wonderful baby smell, gently wrapping your tiny little hand around my finger... I spend hours doing this, even though it means I don't get any sleep, because it is in these small, cherished moments that I truly understand unconditional love.
Thank you, precious one, for coming into my world.
Love,
Mama
Friday, September 26, 2008
Your Birth Story!!!
Dear precious baby girl,
As everyone knows, your due date was Saturday, September 6. The couple of weeks leading up to your due date, I kept telling everyone that I was SO ready to give birth to you because my tummy was HUMONGOUS, and I was so uncomfortable I could hardly move. My feet were swollen like sausages, I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep, my back hurt, my boobs hurt, and every time I ate something, I got really bad reflux. I thought for SURE that you’d decide to join us early, because for the three weeks before your due date, I was dilated to 5 centimeters (!!!), and my doctor told me that once I started having contractions, I’d probably have a really fast labor because my body was “clearly ready to go”. Your Nina even changed her plane ticket so that she could come from New Mexico earlier in case you were born before your due date!
So when September 6 came and went, you can imagine my confusion (and frustration)! Every day past your due date, I kept talking to you, asking you to come on out and see us, but like both of your parents, you were being stubborn and decided to stay where you were. My doctor told me that if you weren’t born by 41 weeks (1 week after your due date), they’d schedule an induction for Saturday, September 13.
On Friday night, September 12, your daddy, your Nina, and I were eating dinner (with pumpkin ice cream for dessert- yum!) and watching the show “Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”. I noticed that I was having some mild contractions, but wrote them off as just typical Braxton Hicks contractions, and not “real” labor contractions. But then starting at around 8:30pm, they started happening closer together and your daddy started keepimg track of how often they happenned and how long they lasted. Still, I thought they weren’t real contractions because they didn't hurt like I thought they were supposed to!
By 9:30 the contractions were coming every 10 minutes, so I decided to call the doctor on-call at the hospital. When I told him I was having contractions and was 5 cm dilated, he said "get here right away!". So we grabbed our hospital bag, hopped in the car and off we went!
We arrived at hospital at 11:35pm where we met up with our doula (we called her on the way to the hospital) and spent 1 hour in triage, where they strapped on a monitor and they discovered that the contractions actually slowed down. We were given the choice of going home and coming back the next morning for the induction as scheduled, or just going ahead with the induction right then, since we were already there. That wasn't a very tough decision :).
We arrived at the birth suite around 1am on Saturday (September 13), and at 2am, they started a pitocin drip and broke my bag of waters. When the bag of water was broken, the doctor noted that the amniotic fluid was slightly greenish, indicating prescence of meconium (this is when babies poop inside the uterus, which is a sign that a baby is in distress). When I heard that, I got really nervous because if a baby inhales the meconium during birth, it can prevent breathing and/or lead to a life-threatening lung infection. So I knew that right after you were born, they would have to whiak you off to the neonatal team right away so that they could suction out your lungs.
At 3am, I, your Dad, your Nina and our doula took a walk around the hospital floor for a while. By 4am, I wanted to go back to the room because I was getting really uncomfortable. By 4:30, my contractions were much stronger, and your daddy noticed that I was breathing a lot harder and needing some quiet when they happened. When they checked my cervix, It was still at 5cm, but had gone from 50% to 80% effaced.
By 6am, the contractions were coming on REALLY strong, and they seemed to go from very manageable to extremely painful. Everyone was trying to help me breathe, but it was difficult because when contractions are induced with pitocin, they are a lot harder and more painful then when they happen naturally. I remember gripping your daddy's hands and saying "oh, God, help me" with every contraction. Still, I was determined to have a natural birth without pain medication, and I was doing my best to stay focused.
A little later, my body started shaking and I couldn't control it. Our doula said it was a normal reaction to the pain and muscle tension. The contractions at this point were so strong that I couldn't stop crying. My back hurt so much I couldn't move (we later found out that it was because you were turned the wrong way, so all the pressure was going to my back). When they checked my cervix again, I thought for SURE I was at 8-10 centimeters because with that much pain there was no way I couldn't have progressed that much. But of course I was wrong! I hadn't progressed AT ALL- I was still 5 cm. At that point, I knew I needed an epidural- I was already exhausted from all the pain. So, reluctantly, I called for the anesthesiologist.
At 6:45, the epidural was administered, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (watching all the videos of it in our childbirth classes freaked me out)! After 20 minutes, I barely felt the contractions and I could relax and breathe normally again. I told your daddy that whoever invented the epidural deserves a Nobel Prize!
At 9:30am, the cervical check indicated that I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced. By 10:30, I was at 9cm and had bloody show (this meant you were on your way!). I don't remember much of what happenned around this time (I think because I was so tired and focused on what I needed to do), so it's a good thing your daddy was keeping track of everything that happenned. Below is an excerpt from his notes:
11am
Mom getting very hot, applying cold towels to cool her down. Nurse also mounted a fan close to Mom so she could cool off. Mom is complaining of nausea.
1pm
Mom not feeling well, vomits twice and feels better. Dr Johannsen comes in and says that Mom might be completely dilated. Nurse Sheryl doesn’t agree, does a full (painful) cervical exam. For a brief period, the consensus is that we may need to do a C- Section. An electrode is placed on the baby’s head (which will later result in a scratch when she is born) to help monitor heartrate, this really helped because the earlier heart rate readings were being confused with Mom’s. Once we are focused just on baby’s, they are much stronger. The worry had been that with a slow heart rate, the baby might be too tired to make her way down. Even though the contractions are not as hard as they would want, from 60-80 when they are 40-60, Dr. Johannsen wants Mom to try and push. Mom’s pitocin drip is increased to help with the pushing.
2pm
Mom starts to push, with the help of Sheryl, Barb (the doula), Dad, and Nina. Mom has to push from above, hold her legs up high and wide, and push for 3 sets of 10 seconds each.
4:30pm
After 2 ½ hours of pushing, Dr Johanssen returns and says that if Sophia isn’t born by 5, she is bringing the vacuum. Mom tries a few more hard pushes. Sophia’s head is visible during the pushes, and then disappears. She doesn’t quite crown.
5pm
Dr comes in with the vacuum. She also has paged the NICU team because of the meconium. She attaches the vacuum to the baby's head and does 4 strong pulls.
5:11pm
Sophia is born! She has chubby cheeks, big eyes hands and feet, and is grey and purple when she is born. She also has a head of dark, curly hair. Dr J delivers the head and shoulders, Dad gets to help with the delivery of the back and bottom. Sophia starts to cry before the NICU team can extract from the lungs. She is quickly whisked to the warmer where she is extracted and cleaned up. Mom and Nina are so happy they are holding each other and crying. Sophia is placed on the scale, 8lbs and 9ozs, with an APGAR score of 9. She is cleaned up (she had pooped on the nurse!), swaddled, and placed on Mom’s chest for some bonding time. Mom had a tier 2 tear, which was sewn up while Mom was bonding with Sophia.
(end of Daddy's notes)
I have to say, kiddo, your daddy was an incredible support coach throughout your birth. Even though he hadn't slept for almost 36 hours, he kept me going and helped me stay focused. He was SO excited that he got to help with your delivery. Your Nina kept crying whenever I felt pain, but by the time I started to push, she was right there holding one of my legs and helping me count (that is, when she wasn't answering her phone when your aunts and uncles and cousins were calling! Everyone was so anxious to hear if you had been born yet!). And although I don't remember alot of the specifics after getting the epidural, I do remember very vividly holding you in my arms, looking into your eyes, playing with your little fingers and toes, and thinking to myself that I am the luckiest woman on Earth because I get to be your mom.
Welcome to the world, my precious baby girl. :)
Love,
Mama
P.S. Here are a couple of pictures taken right after you were born! :
As everyone knows, your due date was Saturday, September 6. The couple of weeks leading up to your due date, I kept telling everyone that I was SO ready to give birth to you because my tummy was HUMONGOUS, and I was so uncomfortable I could hardly move. My feet were swollen like sausages, I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep, my back hurt, my boobs hurt, and every time I ate something, I got really bad reflux. I thought for SURE that you’d decide to join us early, because for the three weeks before your due date, I was dilated to 5 centimeters (!!!), and my doctor told me that once I started having contractions, I’d probably have a really fast labor because my body was “clearly ready to go”. Your Nina even changed her plane ticket so that she could come from New Mexico earlier in case you were born before your due date!
So when September 6 came and went, you can imagine my confusion (and frustration)! Every day past your due date, I kept talking to you, asking you to come on out and see us, but like both of your parents, you were being stubborn and decided to stay where you were. My doctor told me that if you weren’t born by 41 weeks (1 week after your due date), they’d schedule an induction for Saturday, September 13.
On Friday night, September 12, your daddy, your Nina, and I were eating dinner (with pumpkin ice cream for dessert- yum!) and watching the show “Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”. I noticed that I was having some mild contractions, but wrote them off as just typical Braxton Hicks contractions, and not “real” labor contractions. But then starting at around 8:30pm, they started happening closer together and your daddy started keepimg track of how often they happenned and how long they lasted. Still, I thought they weren’t real contractions because they didn't hurt like I thought they were supposed to!
By 9:30 the contractions were coming every 10 minutes, so I decided to call the doctor on-call at the hospital. When I told him I was having contractions and was 5 cm dilated, he said "get here right away!". So we grabbed our hospital bag, hopped in the car and off we went!
We arrived at hospital at 11:35pm where we met up with our doula (we called her on the way to the hospital) and spent 1 hour in triage, where they strapped on a monitor and they discovered that the contractions actually slowed down. We were given the choice of going home and coming back the next morning for the induction as scheduled, or just going ahead with the induction right then, since we were already there. That wasn't a very tough decision :).
We arrived at the birth suite around 1am on Saturday (September 13), and at 2am, they started a pitocin drip and broke my bag of waters. When the bag of water was broken, the doctor noted that the amniotic fluid was slightly greenish, indicating prescence of meconium (this is when babies poop inside the uterus, which is a sign that a baby is in distress). When I heard that, I got really nervous because if a baby inhales the meconium during birth, it can prevent breathing and/or lead to a life-threatening lung infection. So I knew that right after you were born, they would have to whiak you off to the neonatal team right away so that they could suction out your lungs.
At 3am, I, your Dad, your Nina and our doula took a walk around the hospital floor for a while. By 4am, I wanted to go back to the room because I was getting really uncomfortable. By 4:30, my contractions were much stronger, and your daddy noticed that I was breathing a lot harder and needing some quiet when they happened. When they checked my cervix, It was still at 5cm, but had gone from 50% to 80% effaced.
By 6am, the contractions were coming on REALLY strong, and they seemed to go from very manageable to extremely painful. Everyone was trying to help me breathe, but it was difficult because when contractions are induced with pitocin, they are a lot harder and more painful then when they happen naturally. I remember gripping your daddy's hands and saying "oh, God, help me" with every contraction. Still, I was determined to have a natural birth without pain medication, and I was doing my best to stay focused.
A little later, my body started shaking and I couldn't control it. Our doula said it was a normal reaction to the pain and muscle tension. The contractions at this point were so strong that I couldn't stop crying. My back hurt so much I couldn't move (we later found out that it was because you were turned the wrong way, so all the pressure was going to my back). When they checked my cervix again, I thought for SURE I was at 8-10 centimeters because with that much pain there was no way I couldn't have progressed that much. But of course I was wrong! I hadn't progressed AT ALL- I was still 5 cm. At that point, I knew I needed an epidural- I was already exhausted from all the pain. So, reluctantly, I called for the anesthesiologist.
At 6:45, the epidural was administered, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (watching all the videos of it in our childbirth classes freaked me out)! After 20 minutes, I barely felt the contractions and I could relax and breathe normally again. I told your daddy that whoever invented the epidural deserves a Nobel Prize!
At 9:30am, the cervical check indicated that I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced. By 10:30, I was at 9cm and had bloody show (this meant you were on your way!). I don't remember much of what happenned around this time (I think because I was so tired and focused on what I needed to do), so it's a good thing your daddy was keeping track of everything that happenned. Below is an excerpt from his notes:
11am
Mom getting very hot, applying cold towels to cool her down. Nurse also mounted a fan close to Mom so she could cool off. Mom is complaining of nausea.
1pm
Mom not feeling well, vomits twice and feels better. Dr Johannsen comes in and says that Mom might be completely dilated. Nurse Sheryl doesn’t agree, does a full (painful) cervical exam. For a brief period, the consensus is that we may need to do a C- Section. An electrode is placed on the baby’s head (which will later result in a scratch when she is born) to help monitor heartrate, this really helped because the earlier heart rate readings were being confused with Mom’s. Once we are focused just on baby’s, they are much stronger. The worry had been that with a slow heart rate, the baby might be too tired to make her way down. Even though the contractions are not as hard as they would want, from 60-80 when they are 40-60, Dr. Johannsen wants Mom to try and push. Mom’s pitocin drip is increased to help with the pushing.
2pm
Mom starts to push, with the help of Sheryl, Barb (the doula), Dad, and Nina. Mom has to push from above, hold her legs up high and wide, and push for 3 sets of 10 seconds each.
4:30pm
After 2 ½ hours of pushing, Dr Johanssen returns and says that if Sophia isn’t born by 5, she is bringing the vacuum. Mom tries a few more hard pushes. Sophia’s head is visible during the pushes, and then disappears. She doesn’t quite crown.
5pm
Dr comes in with the vacuum. She also has paged the NICU team because of the meconium. She attaches the vacuum to the baby's head and does 4 strong pulls.
5:11pm
Sophia is born! She has chubby cheeks, big eyes hands and feet, and is grey and purple when she is born. She also has a head of dark, curly hair. Dr J delivers the head and shoulders, Dad gets to help with the delivery of the back and bottom. Sophia starts to cry before the NICU team can extract from the lungs. She is quickly whisked to the warmer where she is extracted and cleaned up. Mom and Nina are so happy they are holding each other and crying. Sophia is placed on the scale, 8lbs and 9ozs, with an APGAR score of 9. She is cleaned up (she had pooped on the nurse!), swaddled, and placed on Mom’s chest for some bonding time. Mom had a tier 2 tear, which was sewn up while Mom was bonding with Sophia.
(end of Daddy's notes)
I have to say, kiddo, your daddy was an incredible support coach throughout your birth. Even though he hadn't slept for almost 36 hours, he kept me going and helped me stay focused. He was SO excited that he got to help with your delivery. Your Nina kept crying whenever I felt pain, but by the time I started to push, she was right there holding one of my legs and helping me count (that is, when she wasn't answering her phone when your aunts and uncles and cousins were calling! Everyone was so anxious to hear if you had been born yet!). And although I don't remember alot of the specifics after getting the epidural, I do remember very vividly holding you in my arms, looking into your eyes, playing with your little fingers and toes, and thinking to myself that I am the luckiest woman on Earth because I get to be your mom.
Welcome to the world, my precious baby girl. :)
Love,
Mama
P.S. Here are a couple of pictures taken right after you were born! :
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
And.... Still.... Waiting...
Dear precious baby girl,
I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, and guess what? I am still dilated at 5 cm. So, only a little progress from last week, and apparently you are happy as a clam inside my tummy right now. But it must be really fun in there, because you are dancing all around in there and don't let your mama get any sleep. *yawn*
The good news is, if you aren't here by this Saturday, we're going to go to the hospital to have a non-stress test. This test will involve hooking me up to a bunch of monitors that will track your heartrate, your movements, and all of my contractions to make sure that you aren't in any distress. Even if everything looks good, my doctor said that if the Labor and Delivery unit isn't very busy that day, she will probably induce labor by giving me a drug called pitocin.
Generally, when pitocin is used to start labor, the contractions will be a LOT stronger (because it's a synthetic form of a human hormone called oxytocin, it works a little differently on the body so contractions aren't as natural as they would be otherwise). Luckily, because I am dilated halfway already (I still can't believe it!), labor with you will be pretty short. In fact, if I have any major contractions at ALL before Saturday, I am supposed to rush to the hospital instead of waiting until they're 5 minutes apart.
So right now, I'm just waiting for your arrival! Everything is ready for you to come home with us, we just need you to decide to join us. At the very least, it looks like you will be with us by Saturday at the latest! Wow, I can't wait :).
Love,
Mama
I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, and guess what? I am still dilated at 5 cm. So, only a little progress from last week, and apparently you are happy as a clam inside my tummy right now. But it must be really fun in there, because you are dancing all around in there and don't let your mama get any sleep. *yawn*
The good news is, if you aren't here by this Saturday, we're going to go to the hospital to have a non-stress test. This test will involve hooking me up to a bunch of monitors that will track your heartrate, your movements, and all of my contractions to make sure that you aren't in any distress. Even if everything looks good, my doctor said that if the Labor and Delivery unit isn't very busy that day, she will probably induce labor by giving me a drug called pitocin.
Generally, when pitocin is used to start labor, the contractions will be a LOT stronger (because it's a synthetic form of a human hormone called oxytocin, it works a little differently on the body so contractions aren't as natural as they would be otherwise). Luckily, because I am dilated halfway already (I still can't believe it!), labor with you will be pretty short. In fact, if I have any major contractions at ALL before Saturday, I am supposed to rush to the hospital instead of waiting until they're 5 minutes apart.
So right now, I'm just waiting for your arrival! Everything is ready for you to come home with us, we just need you to decide to join us. At the very least, it looks like you will be with us by Saturday at the latest! Wow, I can't wait :).
Love,
Mama
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Still Waiting....
Dear precious baby girl,
Well, your due date came and went yesterday, and it seems that you are reluctant to come out and meet us! It must be really fun in my tummy, because you are wiggling around in there a BUNCH! We were hoping you would be born this weekend, because your aunt Marie and uncle David drove up to visit us from Portland. It would have been so fun if you decided to be born when they were here. Next week, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack are flying to Seattle from Albuquerque, and they would love to meet you in person. I wonder if you'll be here by then?
Could you please be here by then?
Please?
(your mama's gettin' really uncomfortable as you are growing bigger and bigger, is all I'm sayin'.)
Love,
Mama :)
Well, your due date came and went yesterday, and it seems that you are reluctant to come out and meet us! It must be really fun in my tummy, because you are wiggling around in there a BUNCH! We were hoping you would be born this weekend, because your aunt Marie and uncle David drove up to visit us from Portland. It would have been so fun if you decided to be born when they were here. Next week, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack are flying to Seattle from Albuquerque, and they would love to meet you in person. I wonder if you'll be here by then?
Could you please be here by then?
Please?
(your mama's gettin' really uncomfortable as you are growing bigger and bigger, is all I'm sayin'.)
Love,
Mama :)
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