Birth Story... Part 1

Ok, I've been meaning to do this... just sort of outline how everything went down when our little guy was born. So, here goes....

I called the hospital at 4:25AM to check that we were still on the schedule for that morning. Around 4:40AM my neighbor and friend P came over to stay with our daughter. We then left for the hospital. It took us a little longer than we thought it would so early in the morning so we got there just in time. We were supposed to be there by 5:30 and we got there around 5:25AM. I was aiming for a bit earlier.
Anyways, we got taken to a temporary room because they didn't have a postpartum room available yet (waiting for other women to be released that day). I got hooked up to the monitors and we took care of some paperwork. A nurse came in to put in my IVs... It took him 3 tries to get the IV in my left arm (I warned him I had lousy veins!). He tried once on my right arm and told me he would "do me a favor and let the next shift nurse try rather than poking me any more," because he was coming off a 12 hour shift and had a terrible headache. Yeah, he basically looked asleep on his feet. Didn't give me a whole lot of confidence in the nursing staff! After that I decided to request the anesthesiologist do my other IV because when my daughter was born we had the same problem and several pokes later they finally called anesthesia who got it on the first try. Yeah, this anesthesiologist was apparently not as skilled - it took him 4 tries, but at least he was nice enough to numb each spot before sticking the huge needle in. So, basically 7 pokes later I finally had both IVs in... in the most uncomfortable spot possible, my wrists/hands (sort of the side of the hand where it meets the wrist).

After all that, we were finally ready to go to the OR.... about 2 1/2 hours after arriving at the hospital.

Happy Birthday to me....

I turned 31 today. Still don't feel like a 30-something though, so I guess that's good!

Hubby is out of town so I'm having lots of fun (not!) handling the 2 little ones myself. Thankfully my 3 year old daughter has been very well behaved so far. With the exception of always seeming to need to go potty when I'm feeding the baby, she has been pretty easy. I learned pretty quick that it is possible to breastfeed using the football-hold while wiping a preschooler's behind with the other hand. Got a nice visual of that? ;)

Luckily some good friends took care of me today. They came over and kept me company, then one of them ordered us pizza for dinner and the other one went on a St@rbucks run for me and watched the kiddos while I took a long shower. Actually, her husband even came over and cleaned all 3 litter boxes before taking the garbage out for me! I am so thankful and lucky to have such great friends!

Well, it seems that the baby might actually stay asleep this time so I'm off to bed while I have the chance. Barely got any sleep last night so let's hope that all the talk about 'letting Mama get some sleep for her birthday' sunk in on a subconscious level today and he goes for a couple nice stretches tonight! Goodnight ya'll!

Just plain wrong

I am currently the only person in my house who is not taking a nap. My son has been down for almost 2 hours now and my husband and daughter have been crashed out in the living room for probably an hour or so. Me? I'm trying to get stuff done in the house that has been driving me crazy. Lots of clutter around and laundry piling up. Of course, I've barely made a dent in what I want to get done. What I should be doing is showering. I haven't washed my hair in 3 days. Yes, I'm feeling a bit gross. But, I'm unwilling to shower while everyone is asleep in case my son wakes up and nobody hears him. Especially since he could wake anytime needing to eat if it's been even just an hour since his last feeding start-time. And as I said in my last post, I just haven't had the opportunity to pump for bottle feedings.
I just had to drop in and comment on the unfairness (in my opinion) of the situation! ;)

Adjusting... or not

So far my son does not seem interested in a schedule. Though I've tried, it has been to no avail. There doesn't seem to be a pattern... unless you count that usually every other night he will sleep for about 3 hours from 9ish to 12ish. I live for those times. Unfortunately, it generally means I get about 2 hours of sleep. He'll go down, then we get my daughter ready for bed. Then I can grab a bite to eat, brush my teeth and head to bed. It seems that no sooner does my head hit the pillow then he is starting to fuss to eat again.

Speaking of eating, that is one thing I can't complain about - breastfeeding is going very well. I think it was a big help that I've done it before. He's feeding patterns are different, especially that he will only eat on one side at a time (talk about engorgement when he has a long nap!), but other than that it is going well. I have yet to find the time to pump though so I'm worried about that. In the beginning we had to supplement with formula so he was fine with taking a bottle, but the last time he had a bottle was Dec 16 so I'm worried that he won't take one when I finally find the time to pump.

So far I've been extremely lucky - my husband has been off work all but one day since our son was born. The timing was just right because he got 2 weeks off for family leave or whatever it's called, then it was Christmas and New Years and they had minimal manning for those weeks. His coworkers covered him on the schedule so he could stay home with us. He did work basically a full day yesterday and I was surprised at how well we did without him, but once evening came it started catching up with me. Next week he is going to be out of town and I'm terrified. How the hell am I supposed to take care of a 1 month old who only allows me an hour or two of sleep at a time, and a very rambunctious 3 year old who demands a lot of time during the day? Sleep when the baby sleeps? HA HA HA! Next week will be a true test on my sanity... Oh yeah, did I mention that I have 3 cats with colds who need antibiotics twice a day? That's going to make next week so much more fun! I'm lousy at giving the cats medicine.

J is doing great though... he had his check-up on Monday. He was 11.02 pounds and 21 1/2 inches long. 90th percentile for height and greater than 97th for weight. Definitely a big healthy boy! He had to get his umbilical cord cauterized, as happened also with our daughter. I think it's called an umbilicus granuoloma. Basically part of it didn't heal right. Hopefully that will take care of it - my daughter had to have hers cauterized twice before it healed right.

Well, J is waking up from his nap and my husband and daughter should be home with lunch soon. Hopefully I'll be able to write a bit about my birth experience next....

Happy New Year everyone!