Friday at the Birth Center

Lucas watching Jill check out his baby cousin. Jill is actually the midwife that delivered Lucas.

Lori is having....

Flash Backs

So I am starting to have flashbacks of the very challenging first week of Lucas' life. It turns out he didn't just have gas. He does indeed have thrush, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Last night after Curt went to bed Lucas finally slept longer than 30 minutes at a time because I was pumping and he had food in his little belly. I however got some sleep but very little because I was pumping to feed my little squirrel baby. Before I went to my appointment he was pretty much gas free and had pooped twice. Once before I could even get a diaper on him and he "painted" the changing table. I'm so glad I decided to always keep a washable pad on it!

I tried to nurse him again and he was just howling, and then I gave him my finger to suck on and he took it weakly and made the most heartbreaking whimpering. So his mouth was obviously bothering him! I was so scared that I would be back to square one with the nursing giving him all these bottles of breast milk that I tearfully called my beloved mom, the nursing Nazi because I needed her reassurance... which she gave me. (This was a repeat of the when I called her at midnight last night as well).

I called the birth center to see if there was anyway that I could push up my 1:00 PM appointment so they could suggest something for me to do but they were already over-booked. I didn't think twice about taking him there first instead of his Doctor because they have always said to call them with any problems, especially if it has to do with breastfeeding.

Well everything went fine with me. I am actually now 2&1/2 lbs lighter then before I was pregnant. I no longer need to take my iron because my hemoglobin is back to normal (good because I hadn't taken it in weeks, only because it couldn't be taken with anything with Calcium and if you know my sister and me that just isn't possible!) Also my stitches healed great and I got the green light to start back any activities that I haven't done in the last 6 weeks (shhh don't tell Curt). I also got my pap smear and a prescription for birth control.

Then it was time for Lucas to get checked out. I was told that he didn't have thrush, that it was just milk that was on the top of his mouth. The reason for him not nursing was because I was giving him too many bottles and pacifiers (he has had 1 bottle in the last 2 weeks!!) and she just wouldn't listen to me. I don't understand how a kid nursing fine for the last 5 weeks would go... hmmm I had this bottle 2 weeks ago so I'm going to stop nursing now and fake my mom out. I was very upset and fought tears back while I nodded and was told that I shouldn't have feed Lucas last night, to pump to keep my milk up, but don't give it to him, that he would nurse when he got hungry enough. (To be fair this wasn't the person I normally saw, and mostly she deals with pregnant women and babies right after they were born) My motherly intuition was going off like crazy and I went right to my Mom's house.

The minute my mom saw his mouth she could tell it was thrush so I made an appointment for Lucas with his Doctor tomorrow. I hope he gives him something for the pain because I am so sick of this pumping!!! I don't mind pumping every day or so once to store up milk, but all day long is killing me!

Luckily I did have some frozen that I thawed out and feed him because this is one hungry kid! When he drinks from the bottle he is done in 5 minutes with what would usually take him at least 20 minutes so he doesn't feel as satisfied. I'm so glad I have Curt! He would rock Lucas and talk to him while I pumped and kept him from howling! Since I was able to use the frozen breast milk at least I am ahead by one bottle. He won't have to wait for me to pump to eat. His swing is also soothing him and helping him get some sleep!

Also, thanks to Lindsay again I have a way to calm him down. Our rocking chair is right next to the crib so I just flipped the mobile around and I can rock him and he just stares up at his mobile and listens to the music and can drift off to sleep!

I just can't wait for his appointment to be over tomorrow and just be at home with my baby (and my husband when he gets home.) At least tomorrow is Friday!

A Baby Story Starring Lucas

Well now that I have taken a nap, a shower, had something to eat (THANKS LISA) and Curt is over joyed to help take care of Lucas I thought I would sit down and try to explain the events leading up to Lucas' arrival.

We arrived at 1:00 Monday at the birth center in Rincon thinking that we would get labor going, have the baby and be home sometime Tuesday maybe Wen morning at the latest. Boy were we in for a surprise!!!!

I took the second dose of castor oil and then started taking blue cohosh every 30 minutes. I also had my blood pressure taken and the baby's heart beat was being checked on a regular basis) Then we relaxed and tried to nap so we would be well rested once labor kicked in. A few hours later I started walking around to try to move labor along. My mom also came and brought us food and we all waited for the contractions to begin.

I thought contractions = pain so I had been having them for quite a while and had no clue. Really how you tell is that your stomach gets really hard, like a rock. I thought that was just the baby running out of room! (We never did quite figure out the whole timing thing exactly)












While my contractions got started Curt kept everyone updated on our progress and relaxed in the comfy bed in our room.

About 10:00 we sat down with Jill (my midwife) to decide what we should do since my labor didn't seem like it was progressing. We could go to sleep and see what happened or I she could go ahead and break my bag of waters. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so (and Curt chimed in that he wouldn't be able to either) we decided to have my membranes ruptured. I was scared this was going to hurt but it didn't I just felt this warm gush and we found out there was the faintest presence of meconium.

We thought things were going good because I seemed to be progressing. I remember when Jill finished checking to see if I was dilating further she said "she is now 4 and a wiggle," right then the phone rings and I hear Curt repeat what she said... Luckily it was my Dad on the phone calling to see how things were going. So I kept walking and we were still sure things were going as planned. So while my contractions were getting stronger Curt was back in the bed snoring.

Curt sleeping didn't bother me because he had worked part of the day and had been back at work after his back injury. Also I enjoyed spending the time talking to Jill and my mom. As the morning hours progressed my contractions kept getting stronger so I jumped in the shower... WATER REALLY IS AMAZING and then I kept drinking and snacking on things to keep my strength up. (All the while they kept checking my blood pressure and listening to the baby's heart tones).

Tuesday afternoon I started to feel exhausted and nauseous and was able to take a nap. My contractions just seemed to have disappeared. We tried to get them going again by nipple stimulation and while they did cause contractions they were not progressing like they had been earlier and I had stopped dilating. It is quite an odd feeling to be told to rub each nipple for two minutes and to take a two minute break in between, and to keep this up for an extended period of time, only to cause yourself "pain."

Still with no more progress the decision was made that I would be taken to the hospital and would have to be given pitocin to get things going again. (It is a synthetic form of the chemical your nipples release so it acts just like nipple stimulation). At this point Curt was wide awake! He was a nervous wreck! Both he and my mom left and went to the hospital to register me and Jill and I waited on the ambulance. I've never ridden in an ambulance before. Since it wasn't an emergency, just a transport I didn't get any lights or whistles, but the EMT's were both really nice! I felt like I was on ER being wheeled on a stretcher through the hospital and up to the maternity floor. It was the strangest thing. I had to keep my toes tight in my flip flops so they wouldn't fall off.

When I got to the room I went to the bathroom on my own for the final time until Wednesday morning. It was about 5pm. Then I was put into a bed and started having all these gadgets and things hooked up to monitor the both Lucas and me. This was quite a change from the birth center and I didn't like it. The most annoying thing was the blood pressure cuff that automatically inflated about every 15 minutes. Then there was the monitor that showed how strong my contractions were and were responsible for me yelling at Curt "SHUT UP!!! DON'T SAY OH WOW IT's GOING UP!" From what I understand Pitocin contractions can be stronger than "Natural ones." I was also starving and could no longer eat. I could have clear liquids and all the ice chips I could eat (but no water to drink for some reason).

At this point things start to go fuzzy because all I was so exhausted and in pain from the contractions and stressed from being strapped to a bed and hooked up to machines. Having a baby in the hospital is a lot more stressful to me then being at the birth center. I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom because I had all these monitors and catheters in my vagina monitoring different things. So I had my first (and hopefully last) experience with a bed pan. All the while my husband is snapping pictures of me.

The rest of the night I don't really remember except that I was in pain but I was so tired I could sleep in between contractions but I remember getting to a point when I no longer was getting a break in between and I could no longer take it. Also I was starting to get really nauseous and I remember throwing up and poor Curt having to hold a pan up for me to puke in while he tried not to be grossed out. Also I had to pee again and the force of puking during a contraction just would not let me hold it.

I started begging like a crack fiend for drugs and was offered an epideral and something else. Once I heard epideral (even though needles freak me out and I didn't think I would want one) I "sweetly requested" one. It seemed like ours before the anesthesiologist got there and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get one because there was no way I thought I could stay still. I don't remember seeing any drug crazed women in labor that were covered in pee and vomit on the discovery channel or the learning channel.

I was able to get the epideral and it was heaven! It kicked in immediately. All I remember is thinking "I wonder if Katie Holmes' parents secretly wear 'Free Katie' T-shirts" before I drifted off to sleep. I know randomly people would check to see if I was making progress but I was off in happy dream world.

The possibility of having a c-section was very real! Especially since my membranes were ruptured Monday night and this was now Tuesday late night early Wednesday morning. Finally, there was good news and I was 8 cm dilated and around 5 AM I was 10 and ready to push.

Now you don't instantly know how to push out a baby! They tell you to push deep in your bottom like you are trying to poop. At this point my epideral was turned off so I could start feeling my pushes. Let me tell you, in labor you quickly get over any problems you have about being naked in public! I felt like I was going through yoga poses trying different ways to get Lucas out. I was on my hands and knees, on both sides, and then with my legs braced pulling on a sheet (think the same idea that you use elastic exercise bands for) to be able to bear down. Once the epideral started to wear off it felt like I HAD to push even though it hurt and it hurt more to push. Everyone was really encouraging and Curt who couldn't stand to watch the labor videos during our childbirth classes was watching and encouraging me.

I remembering hearing "if you want to you can touch his head) and I quickly stuck down two fingers and felt the top of my baby's head before I pulled them back. It felt so tiny. BOY WAS I WRONG AGAIN! I was a little more focused to push at this point and at 6:13 AM on July 27th Lucas finally arrived! I was 1 day shy of being pregnant for 42 weeks.

Because of how long my labor was and the meconium factor he was quickly whisked away to the warmer to get checked out. Normally he would have been brought to my chest and Curt would have been able to cut the umbilical cord. I wasn't really thinking about anything at this point my senses were overwhelmed and because he was 10 lbs 4 oz I tore the slightest little bit. Curt went running back and forth between me and our baby.

He stayed with me while I was being stitched up and I told him he could go over to Lucas that I was fine, but he stayed with me anyway. Finally for what seemed like forever I was done and they brought Lucas over for me to hold him.

Soon after he was whisked away to the nursery for further tests and I was brought breakfast and I think my sister Lori came in at some point and she ended up taking Curt home to get a change of clothes (because he didn't think he could drive). Sometime before they took Lucas away I think I breastfed him for the first time.

After I ate the sweetest Nurse named Natalie helped me out of bed and to the bathroom to pee and clean me up before she rolled me down to my room and brought our stuff down. I think I napped a little and before I knew it Curt and Lucas were both in the room and for the first time we were this little family of three.

I will post more about our first few days later. Life as we knew it no longer exists!

How Much is That Doggie in the Window

This morning I dropped my little Jadie dog off at Godley Station Animal Hospital and left her there to get spayed and her shots updated. Then I went to Target to add things to our registry like diapers and wipes and went by my parents house where I stayed until 3. I knew I would be lonely if I went home. I never thought I was a dog person until Katie and Curt talked me into getting one... she was supposed to be Curt's dog, but she has really become part of our family. I can't wait to go pick her up tomorrow... but it won't be until 11:00 after my Appointment.

Tonight dinner was pretty good here is the recipe:
Pizza
Preheat oven to 400 Remove Pizza from cardboard and then from plastic wrap Cut in half and place one half in toaster oven Bake for 20 minutes, take out, put in the other pizza half to cook while you eat the first half.

I am excited about my appointment tomorrow. I love going, but I am disappointed that the schedule was wrong. Originally tomorrow was supposed to be a night class so that the husbands and "baby daddy's" could be there, but the schedule is wrong and the night classes don't start for 2 more weeks. I was looking forward to dragging Curt along.

I love the Family Health and Birth Center where I am going and I'm seriously thinking about having the baby there. It is just so much more relaxed and family centered. They don't rush you, everything is to make the birth as natural as possible... and by that I don't mean without drugs, cause you can have them and I plan on getting them. Plus they have the huge water tub there! Family Health and Birth Center

Well the rug came today for the baby's room and it really adds color to the room. The only things left to do in there I think is to finish painting the doors, and put a baseboard behind the bookcase and then paint that. When it is all done I just don't know what to do with myself. Maybe by then it will be warm enough to go swimming everyday.

The Baby Gate Curt just had to install right away Red rug

My Mood : lonely
Now Playing : Some home improvement show on TLC that Curt is watching