BugBat's Birth Story

At 41 weeks and 1 day, Dr. Dave decided it was time to induce me, since "nothing good happens after 41 weeks."

He was to be on call on Wednesday, September 14th, so he scheduled us to arrive at the hospital at 9 pm the previous night.  I actually slept well on Monday night, since I knew I'd have all day Tuesday to be excited.  After getting up, Wombat went to work for a few hours since he's in the middle of getting his new business up and running, and I was going to take it easy, but ended up scrubbing the floors again, boiling the breast pump parts and bottles, moving the pack and play into our bedroom, doing a last load of laundry, and wiping down the bathroom and kitchen again.

Wombat came home around 2, and since I had to have my last meal by 3, he made me some steak so it would keep me feeling full longer.  After lunch, since I was getting restless and a little anxious, I decided to treat myself to a last minute pedicure, which definitely helped me relax.

Around 6 we took Jack (dog) over to mom's house, then came back and tried to nap for one more hour before we left at 7:45.  We arrived at Riverside about 10 minutes early, but we had pre-registered so they had us in a private delivery room within 20 minutes.  They moved surprisingly fast (since I'm used to waiting awhile for most things medical related) and had me hooked up to a hep-lock by 9:40.  I made sure not to watch since needles make me light-headed, but I still got a bit sweaty from the thought of it, so I asked Dorian to fan me, and he ended up fanning himself and having to get a drink since it freaked him out haha. He is NOT a fan of anything needle related.

They didn't waste any time starting the pitocin iv drip, and Dr. Dave was also in by 9:50 to insert the foley bulb.  They warned me that it would be very uncomfortable, but I barely felt a thing except for BugBat protesting and kicking me in the ribs during the procedure. Later, however, it got to be painful since the pressure increased with each contraction and did not subside at any time before it finally came out on it's own around 2 am.  They checked me and determined I was already 5 cm, so we got excited and they turned the pitocin up more.

That turned out to be a mistake since I often overreact to drugs, and within half an hour my contractions increased from 60ppi every 5 minutes, to over 110ppi every 90 seconds.  I handled the first few just fine, but when I was barely getting a break between them and knew that I still had 5 cms to go, I decided I'd better get some pain relief before I wore myself out.

We tried the IV meds first, but they didn't noticeably take the edge off, so they quickly called for an epi, and I was pleased that the PA was there within 10 minutes to administer it, which also went very quickly.  Luckily, Wombat did not watch this time.  Instant relief, and then we were both able to relax/nap for the next two hours.

Meanwhile, my dad got excited and arrived to the hospital's waiting room around 3:30 or 4 am, after a brief visit to say hi and wish us luck.  My brother also drove up from Cincy and arrived at my mom's house around 4 am for a few hours of sleep before they came to the hospital around 8 am.  They were also able to say hi beforehand and it was nice to see everyone.

Since the contractions were overly strong, they were actually less effective for the next 4 hours, and I stalled at 6 cm.  They were finally able to get them under control after decreasing the pitocin for 2 hours, and we went from 6/7 to 9/10 in the next 2 hours.  At 9 am they began prepping me to push and called Dr. Dave over from his office to "put on his jammies," which is what he likes to call his scrubs.  Wombat and I looked at each other with excitement and disbelief that it was finally happening!

I requested that they lower the mirror on the ceiling so we could watch my progress as I pushed, and we let the epi wear off enough that I could feel about half of each contraction and the pressure to push.  The nurse checked me again at 9:30, announced that I was fully dilated, and that BugBat was coming quickly down with the contractions.  Dr. Dave was there within a couple minutes, along with a medical resident that had my prior permission to observe.  I gave a couple practice pushes and could already see her crowning!  Dr. Dave slowed me down to try to prevent tearing (which is another added benefit to the epi since I could stand to pause while she was halfway out) and by 9:57 she had arrived!

I immediately started tearing up as Wombat kissed me and we saw how beautiful BugBat was as they cleaned her off.  We saw her red hair and grinned, since I had the same head of red when I was born.  Her face was perfect and I couldn't stop staring at her as they placed her on my chest for skin-to-skin bonding after her first few wails.  She quieted down to a couple coos then, and looked at us with big blue eyes for a full half hour before they took her to be weighed, etc.  After her stats, I tried my first attempt to breastfeed and she responded like a champ.  Since it was nearly 11 by then, Wombat went to announce the good news to the family waiting, and mom came in first since she was still eating.  After her first feeding, she stayed awake looking around and squeaking for until about 2, so everyone else got to see her and hold her for a couple hours before they took us to the recovery room upstairs, at which point they left us to rest.

As for my recovery, I had to have 7 stitches, but it was all superficial, and Dr. Dave did a great job making sure I didn't have so much as a 1st degree tear in the muscle.  I also avoided getting any hemmies, so I'm pretty ecstatic about my luck, especially since I didn't expect our first-born to be a full 8 lbs.  The epi wore off pretty quickly, and I was able to walk and pee (apparently very important haha) within a couple hours.

Wombat's parents finally arrived around 4:30 or 5, and they were able to enjoy a sleeping BugBat, though it was disappointing she refused to open her eyes until after they left around 6:30.  At that time, she had her first dirty diaper and Wombat changed his first diaper ever and did a fabulous job!  I can't remember the details of the evening after that, but BugBat definitely began to cluster feed at some point, and I remember that she wanted fed every half hour for 15-20 minutes for about 3-4 hours, which I didn't expect.  I was exhausted by then, but luckily, after cluster feeding so much, she slept for a good 4.5 hours, so I caught up enough to go to a new mommy class at 10:30 the next morning.

We had a small scare at one point after she had been sleeping on her back for a couple hours.  When I got her up to nurse, she suddenly began choking on spittle and actually stopped breathing and her lips turned purple very quickly.  We called the nurse and she came in and took her to the nursery where 3 nurses worked to clear her airway of some leftover amniotic fluid that had pooled in her throat while she slept.  Poor girl!  I'm glad we were still in the hospital when that happened, because the little sucky bulb did not seem efficient enough at the time.  Luckily, she's been clear since then.

Our doctors (pedi and ob) cleared us to be discharged as early as 24 hours since we were both doing so well, but they wanted at least one more wet diaper to make sure she was peeing, since her 3 previous dirty diapers we couldn't tell if she had peed yet.  It took her until about 6 pm on Thursday, but she finally did, which led to her first funny baby story:

I hadn't changed a diaper yet, so I volunteered to handle the easy (wet) one.  As Wombat began packing for our trip home, I checked out with the nurse and changed BugBat.  Almost immediately after feeling her nice, fresh new diaper, it prompted our adorable daughter to immediately fill it again.  This time, a bit messier.  I was glad she did it before we got into the car, since I still had time to change her before leaving.  As I began wiping her up, it must have stimulated her and she began going a bit more....so I wiped it up too....then a bit more, then omigosh blowout all over the place!   Meanwhile, still recovering from birth with, ahem, stretched muscles, I was laughing so hard that I may or may not have simultaneously peed my pants, er, mesh panties and mommy diapers haha.  Wombat was standing by with a trash can and just shaking his head at his two classy, ladylike girls.

This is as many memories as I have time and energy to recollect right now, but there are so many things I want to make sure I don't miss or forget, so more to come, as well as many more pictures that we just haven't uploaded yet.   For now, I'm a proud mommy and so happy that BugBat is healthy, happy, and eating well.  :)

Introducing...

Amelie Mae Beatrice Baum.  Born September 14, 2011 at 9:57 a.m.  Weighing 8 lbs even at birth, weighing 7 lbs. 13 oz. a day later. Measuring 21 and a quarter inches long, head 13 inches.  Apgar was 8/9 due to a bit of purple in her feet.  Quite a head of red hair, blue eyes.

 

Happy Early Halloween!

We plan to do a before and after picture of BugBat in a pumpkin outfit - should be cute :)

Dear Daughter

Today I'm nearly a week overdue with you, and although I feel you moving inside me hourly, I feel like I don't even know you yet.  I don't know what you look like, your personality, your preferences, how you eat, how you sleep.  But I know I already love you and I will do anything I can to protect you and take care of you.  I've wanted to meet you for a long time, and even though I'm already waiting longer than I thought I would need to, I'm as excited as ever to welcome you into our family and make us official parents.

It's hard to explain, but I feel that becoming a mother is not only going to completely change my life as I know it now, but make it more complete.  As I sit here waiting for your birthday, I know things will be quite different in a few days, but I still can't imagine exactly how it will be for our lives to revolve around someone else, especially such a small someone.  Yet, there is nothing more that I want to do.

I wish for you so many things.  I hope you get a great mix of traits from your dad and me.  Superficially, I hope you get Wombat's olive skin tone, eyes, and great smile, and my hair, lips, and runner legs. I hope you get from both of us perfect vision, great teeth, strong bones, healthy lungs, and overall athletic condition, so you may pursue anything physically that you want to, free from sickness or hardships.  Mentally, I wish for you your dad's sense of humor, his confidence (but not necessarily his ego ;), his conviction, his energy, his practicality (both with money and life), his patience, and his ability to connect with all types of people.  I wish for you my sensitivity, my ambition, my attention to details, my endurance, my respect (both for yourself and for others), and my gratitude for blessings.

Most importantly, I hope we can teach you the things in life that will make you happiest and give you all the advantages you need to be successful at whatever you try, while simultaneously bringing joy to others as well.

You are already a joy in my life, and ever since the day we discovered we were expecting you, I have felt a sense of peace, happiness, and purpose in my life that I did not have before.  I promise I will love you unconditionally, and I'll always be here for you, even if and when we go through some hard times and decisions down the road.  I know that being a parent requires not only personal sacrifices, but emotional ones that mean I might have to let you fall or suffer consequences on your own, so I will try my best to let you grow by experience when you need to.  I know your father will do a great job as well, and I am so lucky to have found such a great man to be there for you.

I still can't believe I'll be holding you in my arms in less than 3 days.  I can't wait to wish you a happy birthday in person soon, baby girl.  Thank you for making me a mother and showing me what unconditional love at first sight really means.  Love always, MomBug

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Good:  BugBat passed her non-stress test this morning with flying colors, moving 3-4 times in 20 minutes, and raising her heart rate each time.  She is still surrounded by plenty of fluids and she's measuring approximately 7 lbs 6 oz, according to some quick ultrasound estimates.  Her head is also in a perfect position for birth, facing down and towards my spine.  It's already very low (which explains the bowling ball feeling I've had lately), and my cervix is quite soft, but not dilating any further than past visits yet (1 centimeter, darn it).  It was fun to see her on the ultrasound - her legs look so long already!  They were folded up tight, and I can't help but wonder if she's getting uncomfortable, poor thing.

Bad:  Still no signs of active labor, and I'm scheduled to go in for an inducement on Tuesday, September 13th at 9 pm, so that she will likely be delivered on Wednesday, September 14th when Dr. Dave is on call at Riverside.  Hear that, Bugbat?  Your eviction is in 5 days!

Ugly:  The chance that I'll need a c-section is over 30% if I am induced, since the baby may experience more distress, and since my body may take longer to progress than if I naturally went into labor.  The ugly is also my emotions this week after the fatigue of always being ready and anxious to meet her is beginning to get to me.  Physically I still feel fine (amazingly), but I think I'm getting pre-partum depression from the lack of control in starting labor naturally and the added pressure of an inducement date creeping closer.  Just ask poor Wombat who had to endure my first real breakdown last night when I HAD to have cookie dough from the store because nothing else sounded good at 8 pm, just after he returned from the grocery store an hour earlier haha.  It was so important that crying was the only solution for 20 minutes until I could get some.

His recitation of the "f*** you, hormones!" from "Knocked Up" was also not amusing until after I satisfied my craving with two whole bites, at which time I decided I didn't need any more.

So 5 more days max until we finally meet our little one.....a full month after she has been considered full term haha.  Oh well, a bigger baby is a healthier baby, which is especially good if I need a c-section since it may take up to 4 days for my milk to come in.  I just want to be able to take care of her properly - it will make me sad if I can't hold her and feed her right away, but I'll accept it if it's safer in the long run.  And if I need the surgery, then at least I'll already have a scar for the future tummy tuck I'll want....the important things ;)  Can't wait to finally meet you, little girl, one way or another!

Anniversary and Wedding Recap

*Warning:  picture heavy post*

So besides using more toilet paper in the last week than I usually do in a month, it's been a lovely anniversary with Wombat.  Being 40 weeks pregnant kept us at home most of the day, but we enjoyed being alone together with some great foot rubs and homemade meals :)   Wombat also did an amazing job surprising me with fun gifts on our "paper anniversary":

These should be handy at the hospital or while BFing soon.

Bonus Present:  an outfit I was drooling over at Gymboree for BugBat - with Papillons!  :)

Katamari earrings haha (one of Dorian's favorite games)

Since I began this blog post-wedding, now would be a great time to recap one of the best days of my life.

September 5, 2010:

the day

the rings

the gift bag

the morning

the lunch

the preparation

the venue

the flower girls

the groom

the bride

 the chuppah

the kiss

married

the wedding party

the reception

the dance

the photo booth

  the cake

the hora

the flowers

the favors

the happily ever after

BONUS Music Video:  http://www.vimeo.com/17980478

So happy anniversary, Wombat, I love you even more now than I though I could one year ago.  I couldn't imagine a better life with you and I can't wait for even more amazing years to come!  

Love always, Buggy

Sweet dreams ;)