The day has come.
Super dad has taken maternity leave with me and has been home up until today. But now, he has gone back to work today, so Bella and I are home alone.
The past 4 weeks have really gone fast. Our little Isabella is one month old.
Every time I mention that to super dad he just says, "yes, and she will turn 1 year old, and 10 years old, and 50 years old. Look forward to the next 'one'"
He's right, she will always be growing and learning.
On Monday we took her for her first hike. The weather was gorgeous. UNTIL we got to the property we hike on, and I had her in the Moby wrap, HOLY HANNAH.. it got HOT! I was sweating... I had a tank top on, so at least I was sleeveless. Super dad just laughed. THANKS!!
Then Tuesday we hung around the house and took tons of "I'm One Month Old Today" pictures. Then we got Wings for dinner and rented some movies.
It was sad to say goodbye to daddy this morning, but who knows what's in store. Maybe he'll get to say goodbye to me in the mornings and he can stay home with Bella, or who knows. Hopefully, he'll be able to find a new job. Yeah, as horrible as that sounds, super dad's job is being cut... so... we're off on a new adventure. If you remember the poem written for our wedding by a super aunt, we're always looking for our path, on new adventures.
I know we'll look back and say this all happened for a reason, and something good came out of it. But being stuck in the middle of it.. right now... it's downright shitty!!!
-the mom
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
days gone by
It's such a cliche.
Time Flies...
It really has. My mom came up to visit this past weekend and I just couldn't wait to hear her say she can't believe how much Isabella has changed. (she was there at the birth) But, despite all of the things I pointed out that I thought had changed, nope... she couldn't see it.
Maybe it's just me, but I sure can.
Her cry; it was so meek that first week home. Now it always has a purpose. It's not very often either. Gas is usually the culprit.
Her hands; she was always in a "Bella burrito" and her hands would get swaddled along with the rest of her. Now.... they have to be out, and if they aren't she finds a way to make sure they are out.
Her eyes; we didn't see much of her eyes that first week, but now, they are open and ready to learn. I hope we can keep your eyes as busy as possible my Bella....
Best of all... her smile; yes, I have mentioned it before, she smiles. I KNOW it has a purpose.. I KNOW it's not just gas.
There are so many more little things that I could go on for days. But these days are fleeting, and my time with her at this age is short. I must go and enjoy my beautiful baby.
Oh, and we are still welcoming visitors!!! So far.. only 3 takers, and 2 were grandparents so that doesn't count. :)
hmmm... maybe a nap is a good idea too.
-the mom
Time Flies...
It really has. My mom came up to visit this past weekend and I just couldn't wait to hear her say she can't believe how much Isabella has changed. (she was there at the birth) But, despite all of the things I pointed out that I thought had changed, nope... she couldn't see it.
Maybe it's just me, but I sure can.
Her cry; it was so meek that first week home. Now it always has a purpose. It's not very often either. Gas is usually the culprit.
Her hands; she was always in a "Bella burrito" and her hands would get swaddled along with the rest of her. Now.... they have to be out, and if they aren't she finds a way to make sure they are out.
Her eyes; we didn't see much of her eyes that first week, but now, they are open and ready to learn. I hope we can keep your eyes as busy as possible my Bella....
Best of all... her smile; yes, I have mentioned it before, she smiles. I KNOW it has a purpose.. I KNOW it's not just gas.
There are so many more little things that I could go on for days. But these days are fleeting, and my time with her at this age is short. I must go and enjoy my beautiful baby.
Oh, and we are still welcoming visitors!!! So far.. only 3 takers, and 2 were grandparents so that doesn't count. :)
hmmm... maybe a nap is a good idea too.
-the mom
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
EEEWW.. no we're not saving it
So, today was another milestone..
Bella's cord stump fell off..
People keep asking us if we are going to save it. um, eww, NO!!
We also had some visitors today.. YAY! human contact!
Well, all has been going well.
more later...
-the mom
Bella's cord stump fell off..
People keep asking us if we are going to save it. um, eww, NO!!
We also had some visitors today.. YAY! human contact!
Well, all has been going well.
more later...
-the mom
Friday, March 09, 2007
Part 3 - Catch This
Continued from Part 2 - Contraction Action
So now that we have Mom-to-be in position it was time for the serious work of getting the baby out of her.
I'm not saying up until now was a picnic, or that Mom-to-be wasn't serious mind you. I'm only saying that now it's commitment time. No turning back. Going for broke. Giving 110%.
Ok, enough with the clichés, you get the idea.
The Midwife had some hot compresses and olive oil ready to massage the perineum. This technique is supposed to help prevent tearing. And for those of you who are thinking that an episiotomy will help prevent tearing, you might want to check out some recent studies that suggest that this is actually a bad idea and in some cases will help accelerate tearing.
Anyway, back to the story. So at about 1:30 everyone gets in position. I'm at my station talking to the wife and getting myself ready to lift the pillow during each push. Ok, I know that doesn't sound like much and in the grand scheme of things it really isn't , but it's all I'm really there to do. That and to be sure someone eats the meatloaf (see Contraction Action for more on that).
Funny thing I haven't mentioned up to this point. I started to notice that during each contraction while Mom-to-be was trying to relax. Her ears turned red. I could actually tell when a contraction was about to happen by looking at the shade of her ears.
So the first contraction; big contraction, hits and Mom-to-be bares down. We start to get a play by play from the staff at the receiving end, but from our angle there isn't much to see.
They do have a mirror on the ceiling for Mom-to-be to watch, but at this point we can't see much.
Now it's kind of a cruel joke for the Mom-to-be because during every push the baby comes out some, but then it ducks back in. After several minutes of pushing someone said they could see the head. So during some of the pushing I caught Mom-to-be trying to catch a glimpse of her baby through one eye as she was baring down. I have to say it's a really a good thing we saw SO many videos of birth in class. Simply put... "desensitization".
Birth; folks, is a VERY messy affair and you really want to be ready for it. The last thing I wanted to do was to scream, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" and then faint dead away.
Nope, that didn't happen. Instead I stood there and watched my baby being born, and I have to tell you that nothing can compare to that. Knowing that your partner would put forth this kind of effort to bring into the world a little one, that you both get to share. It's pretty humbling really. And also, there is no way she can ever say she is too tired to hike just a little further, because I now know better.
So, after pushing for just over an hour our little girl was born. I cut the cord and welcomed her into the world.
She cried and cried. I was so incredibly happy, I really can't put it into words.
So with that, I'll stop here.
Next up Part 4 - The Voyage Home
HikerDad
So now that we have Mom-to-be in position it was time for the serious work of getting the baby out of her.
I'm not saying up until now was a picnic, or that Mom-to-be wasn't serious mind you. I'm only saying that now it's commitment time. No turning back. Going for broke. Giving 110%.
Ok, enough with the clichés, you get the idea.
The Midwife had some hot compresses and olive oil ready to massage the perineum. This technique is supposed to help prevent tearing. And for those of you who are thinking that an episiotomy will help prevent tearing, you might want to check out some recent studies that suggest that this is actually a bad idea and in some cases will help accelerate tearing.
Anyway, back to the story. So at about 1:30 everyone gets in position. I'm at my station talking to the wife and getting myself ready to lift the pillow during each push. Ok, I know that doesn't sound like much and in the grand scheme of things it really isn't , but it's all I'm really there to do. That and to be sure someone eats the meatloaf (see Contraction Action for more on that).
Funny thing I haven't mentioned up to this point. I started to notice that during each contraction while Mom-to-be was trying to relax. Her ears turned red. I could actually tell when a contraction was about to happen by looking at the shade of her ears.
So the first contraction; big contraction, hits and Mom-to-be bares down. We start to get a play by play from the staff at the receiving end, but from our angle there isn't much to see.
They do have a mirror on the ceiling for Mom-to-be to watch, but at this point we can't see much.
Now it's kind of a cruel joke for the Mom-to-be because during every push the baby comes out some, but then it ducks back in. After several minutes of pushing someone said they could see the head. So during some of the pushing I caught Mom-to-be trying to catch a glimpse of her baby through one eye as she was baring down. I have to say it's a really a good thing we saw SO many videos of birth in class. Simply put... "desensitization".
Birth; folks, is a VERY messy affair and you really want to be ready for it. The last thing I wanted to do was to scream, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" and then faint dead away.
Nope, that didn't happen. Instead I stood there and watched my baby being born, and I have to tell you that nothing can compare to that. Knowing that your partner would put forth this kind of effort to bring into the world a little one, that you both get to share. It's pretty humbling really. And also, there is no way she can ever say she is too tired to hike just a little further, because I now know better.
So, after pushing for just over an hour our little girl was born. I cut the cord and welcomed her into the world.
She cried and cried. I was so incredibly happy, I really can't put it into words.
So with that, I'll stop here.
Next up Part 4 - The Voyage Home
HikerDad
Thursday, March 08, 2007
It's not JUST gas...
Today was a big day for me. Super Dad got Isabella to smile today. I'm not talking gas smiles either.
How do I know it wasn't just gas? We were in the computer room and Dad had her on his lap. (in the "on the computer" lap position; one leg crossed and up on the other leg, which makes a perfect spot to hold baby, thanks Grandma!!) So Dad had her looking up at him and she was cooing and happy, then out of the blue he starts tickling her sides and making a goofy noise.
She started to smile, and squirm. The more he tickled the more she smiled and squirmed..I couldn't believe it!! She was smiling... a big goofy, happy smile!!
(of course the minute he stopped so I could get the camera, she stopped laughing, and wouldn't do it again)
She has changed so much just in the past week and 3 days since she has been born.
I just can't take it all in, it's all so beautiful.
Everything about her is beautiful, and today, I don't know how, but it just got better.
How do I know it wasn't just gas? We were in the computer room and Dad had her on his lap. (in the "on the computer" lap position; one leg crossed and up on the other leg, which makes a perfect spot to hold baby, thanks Grandma!!) So Dad had her looking up at him and she was cooing and happy, then out of the blue he starts tickling her sides and making a goofy noise.
She started to smile, and squirm. The more he tickled the more she smiled and squirmed..I couldn't believe it!! She was smiling... a big goofy, happy smile!!
(of course the minute he stopped so I could get the camera, she stopped laughing, and wouldn't do it again)
She has changed so much just in the past week and 3 days since she has been born.
I just can't take it all in, it's all so beautiful.
Everything about her is beautiful, and today, I don't know how, but it just got better.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Quick Update
So this is going to be a quick update and then we'll get back to the birth story in a minute.
This morning off the coast of Diaperville a Poonami was sighted. It did extensive damage to both the sleeper, blanket, and the will of the people.
The hazmat team has been called, but one of the members was overheard saying, "uhuh, not me. That's nasty."
OMG this kid just had the biggest blowout I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. I mean she was sleeping happily minding her own business when I overheard a loud "brakkkkthhbitttt". I looked at Mommy and said, "uh, oh".
Then with a slight of hand skill even Houdini would have been impressed by, I spun the little one around so the business end was facing Mommy. This didn't go unnoticed, but was quickly overshadowed by what Mommy found waiting for her under just a few cm of cloth.
The wife looked at me with a very serious expression and said, "Bath. Now."
The Mom briefly contemplated just tossing out the sleeper, and if in fact it wasn't so warm and fit so well I would have agreed, but instead it is being salvaged as we speak.
Sadly, I can't say I'll ever be able to eat butterscotch pudding again.
HikerDad
This morning off the coast of Diaperville a Poonami was sighted. It did extensive damage to both the sleeper, blanket, and the will of the people.
The hazmat team has been called, but one of the members was overheard saying, "uhuh, not me. That's nasty."
OMG this kid just had the biggest blowout I've ever had the misfortune of seeing. I mean she was sleeping happily minding her own business when I overheard a loud "brakkkkthhbitttt". I looked at Mommy and said, "uh, oh".
Then with a slight of hand skill even Houdini would have been impressed by, I spun the little one around so the business end was facing Mommy. This didn't go unnoticed, but was quickly overshadowed by what Mommy found waiting for her under just a few cm of cloth.
The wife looked at me with a very serious expression and said, "Bath. Now."
The Mom briefly contemplated just tossing out the sleeper, and if in fact it wasn't so warm and fit so well I would have agreed, but instead it is being salvaged as we speak.
Sadly, I can't say I'll ever be able to eat butterscotch pudding again.
HikerDad
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Part 1 - SURPRISE!
So it happened.
The day we've been planning for, for almost 9 months. Notice I said "almost 9 months".
Our little one seems to take after Dad and decided to arrive a few days earlier than expected.
But that's neither here nor there, so let's get down to business.
The following is the birth story from the Dad's [and mom's] point of view. [Dad-2-b is in orange, mom-2-b is in blue]
For those of you who might be expecting or are planning on expecting or are even remotely curious about the idea of expecting sometime in your life let me give you a bit of sage advice.
SLEEP!
[no shit....]
This cannot be more pointedly expressed than in the events of the birth of our child.
I had gotten word the night of the 25th that I would not have to work on the 26th so I spent more time messing around until after 1am (I usually go to bed at 10). I had done the same thing the night before because it was the weekend, but I had gotten up at my usual time of 6am both days.
[My sleep had been off as well. I called in sick to work on Friday the 24th. Like I said, I hadn't slept well, and felt kind of weird. Then through the weekend I stayed up as well, working on the shelving unit (check previous post). Then Sunday night I still didn't feel any better.. so I called in sick again.]
During the day of the 26th Mom-to-Be and myself took a short 2 hour nap around 4pm.
[thanks to me... I had to MAKE him, now who's the genius?]
So as you can see we were both a bit sleep deprived as the events started to unfold.
As the evening of the 26th approached we had a bit of snow so I headed out to shovel. Mom-to-be wanted to help and over my objections she spent some time shoveling a path from our house to the driveway (30ft).
[what?, I felt fine.. leave me alone]
When she got to the driveway I really had to tell her to stop. I mean if people thought I condoned my wife’s shoveling at over 8.5 months pregnant I'd never hear the end of it.
[he really did make me stop]
So while I shoveled Mom-to-be made mini snowmen on the hood of my car.
After the shoveling we were very hungry, but I had a little project to work on for the wife so I set out to do that around 8pm. Mom-to-be said she’d make sandwiches and bring one down to me.
[I did...and this is when we first should have realized something was up.. when I went to the basement and gave him his sandwich I realized my breasts were leaking.. this was new to me. I am in no way saying that leaking is an indicator of labor... but who knows???]
It wasn't until just before 10 that I learned that although she made me food, she hadn't eaten. Well, I had some harsh words with her on our intercom phone via the basement to the upstairs computer room (2 floors away).
[He was right though.. I needed to eat a long time ago.. but got busy doing something else]
Then just after 10pm I heard a faint whistling sound. The same whistle that we use to find each other in stores (it's kind of an audible ping we've worked out). But this was strange because we have the phone intercom system. Then it hit me, if she wasn't calling on the phone, then she must not be able to GET to the phone.
[So I'm sitting at the computer, we get off the phone, and I stand up to go get myself something to eat, then as I turn I see something on the floor of the closet, one of the LED lights we put up had fallen so I went to fix it. I bent over to pick it up and GUSH!! well, not really, more of a light trickle. Yes, it's just like everyone says.. you question yourself to see if you just wet yourself or if its the real thing.. so I get to the bathroom ASAP. YES SIR... WE HAVE RUPTURED MEMBRANES!!!!!!!! So then I'm sitting there, and I yell.. PATRICK!!!........... no answer.........PATRICK!!!!!!...... no answer......... PATRICK!!!!!!!!!!!......... no answer... shit.. how am I going to ge...*ding* light bulb, *whistle*....*whistle*.... then I hear him coming up the stairs]
I walked up the first flight of stairs calling her name with a sort of questioning tone in my voice.
She responded with, "Umm, I think my water broke".
"Oh really?" I replied.
"Uhh, yeah....” she continued with an explanation of what happened.
Yep, it was true the baby was on the way.
What happened next was a kind of blur. Not that I was in anyway panicking. Ok.. at one point I did have a bit of an oh-shit fest, but this was well out of earshot of Mom-to-be as I didn't think she needed to see me starting to unravel. After I composed myself (only minutes mind you) I called the midwife and gave her the low down. She asked us into the hospital ASAP as Mom-to-be needed to start some antibiotics.
I didn't like the idea of going in early as contractions hadn't started and I knew it would be a long night, that might be followed by an induction with pitocin, something Mom-to-be and I really opposed.
So, we spent time going over our check list, getting a quick shower in, packing a few more foods into our second bag and just really taking our time to be sure to have everything we needed.
[Dad-2-b really wanted to get going... I wanted to "putz" around the house and make sure that every last thing was ready for baby. He had to literally pull me out of the house. The funnest part for me was calling work to say... MY WATER BROKE, CALL THE SUB!!!!]
We left home at about 12:15 a full 2 hours after the midwife had asked us to. I was a little nervous about this as I didn't want her to start to worry. Little did I know, it would be the quick email to my family that would start the "Panic Train" down its tracks, (more on that later).
[I only had to call my mom, and we agreed to call her from the hospital to let her know how urgently she needed to get to the hospital]
The road to the hospital was pretty snow covered and not well traveled. Actually it looked like a very long snow covered football field. It is normally a 45-minute drive to the hospital, but this night it took over an hour. All I could do was stay between the trees and hope I was on the road.
We got to the hospital a little after 1am. We were met by a staff that was very relieved we were there. It turns out one of the Aunt's-to-be started a rallying cry from across the country to find the missing couple. Later after reading the email I sent out I could see how it might have incited panic in a person, so next time I'll a be a bit more specific with my info. The Aunt-2-b enlisted a henchman, so my brother showed up at the hospital shortly after we did!!!!
After arriving at the hospital and getting Mom-to-be checked out, on the antibiotic, and sure things were as we thought.
[We planned to not be on constant monitoring, so that meant that they needed a baseline of the baby's heart rate, and my vitals, etc. etc.. The nurse also checked me and I was at 31/2 cm, -1 station 90% effaced. the 20 minute required baseline of the baby's heart rate took about an hour. She was moving SO MUCH they couldn't track her until I held the monitor in place.]
The wonderful nurses brought Mom-to-be a little box lunch to keep her strength up. Then we set out to see if we could stimulate contractions. Walking was our best bet so we did that for a while. After looping around the circular corridor almost 40 times (2 miles) we thought it best if we go rest for a bit.
Contractions were just not happening and we really wanted to be sure things were on the right track.
[Well, contractions were happening, just not regular and NOT progressing]
We took a break and Mom-to-Be had some more food and I set out getting things ready in the room.
I had a couple of little surprises for Mom-to-be. I had gotten (from the Mother-in-law) some really nice LED candles. They gave the room a nice relaxing glow and as they weren't open flame they didn't violate any hospital rules.
[They were so nice. I really wanted the room to have a relaxing homey feel, and those LED candles did the job!!]
Mom-in-law showed up sometime after this and she got settled in as well.
It wasn't much later and we were reaching morning (6am) and the day staff was arriving. The midwife arrived around 7am to see how Mom-to-be was doing. 4cm was the results, only .5 more than the night nurse and this isn't really an exact measurement.
We were told to keep working on it, so we went for ANOTHER walk as well as Mom-to-be began some thumb sucking to help move contractions along. This seemed to work a bit, but it gave her a headache.
[I also felt pretty foolish sucking my thumb, but it worked! I was progressing the contractions, but not getting them more regular]
Then around 9 the midwife came back for another check up. Things hadn't changed much and she was talking pitocin or natural stimulation. The thumb sucking didn't seem to do it so it was on to the more interesting form of stimulation, which I'll leave to your imagination.
Next up "Part 2 - Contraction Action"
HikerDad
The day we've been planning for, for almost 9 months. Notice I said "almost 9 months".
Our little one seems to take after Dad and decided to arrive a few days earlier than expected.
But that's neither here nor there, so let's get down to business.
The following is the birth story from the Dad's [and mom's] point of view. [Dad-2-b is in orange, mom-2-b is in blue]
For those of you who might be expecting or are planning on expecting or are even remotely curious about the idea of expecting sometime in your life let me give you a bit of sage advice.
SLEEP!
[no shit....]
This cannot be more pointedly expressed than in the events of the birth of our child.
I had gotten word the night of the 25th that I would not have to work on the 26th so I spent more time messing around until after 1am (I usually go to bed at 10). I had done the same thing the night before because it was the weekend, but I had gotten up at my usual time of 6am both days.
[My sleep had been off as well. I called in sick to work on Friday the 24th. Like I said, I hadn't slept well, and felt kind of weird. Then through the weekend I stayed up as well, working on the shelving unit (check previous post). Then Sunday night I still didn't feel any better.. so I called in sick again.]
During the day of the 26th Mom-to-Be and myself took a short 2 hour nap around 4pm.
[thanks to me... I had to MAKE him, now who's the genius?]
So as you can see we were both a bit sleep deprived as the events started to unfold.
As the evening of the 26th approached we had a bit of snow so I headed out to shovel. Mom-to-be wanted to help and over my objections she spent some time shoveling a path from our house to the driveway (30ft).
[what?, I felt fine.. leave me alone]
When she got to the driveway I really had to tell her to stop. I mean if people thought I condoned my wife’s shoveling at over 8.5 months pregnant I'd never hear the end of it.
[he really did make me stop]
So while I shoveled Mom-to-be made mini snowmen on the hood of my car.
After the shoveling we were very hungry, but I had a little project to work on for the wife so I set out to do that around 8pm. Mom-to-be said she’d make sandwiches and bring one down to me.
[I did...and this is when we first should have realized something was up.. when I went to the basement and gave him his sandwich I realized my breasts were leaking.. this was new to me. I am in no way saying that leaking is an indicator of labor... but who knows???]
It wasn't until just before 10 that I learned that although she made me food, she hadn't eaten. Well, I had some harsh words with her on our intercom phone via the basement to the upstairs computer room (2 floors away).
[He was right though.. I needed to eat a long time ago.. but got busy doing something else]
Then just after 10pm I heard a faint whistling sound. The same whistle that we use to find each other in stores (it's kind of an audible ping we've worked out). But this was strange because we have the phone intercom system. Then it hit me, if she wasn't calling on the phone, then she must not be able to GET to the phone.
[So I'm sitting at the computer, we get off the phone, and I stand up to go get myself something to eat, then as I turn I see something on the floor of the closet, one of the LED lights we put up had fallen so I went to fix it. I bent over to pick it up and GUSH!! well, not really, more of a light trickle. Yes, it's just like everyone says.. you question yourself to see if you just wet yourself or if its the real thing.. so I get to the bathroom ASAP. YES SIR... WE HAVE RUPTURED MEMBRANES!!!!!!!! So then I'm sitting there, and I yell.. PATRICK!!!........... no answer.........PATRICK!!!!!!...... no answer......... PATRICK!!!!!!!!!!!......... no answer... shit.. how am I going to ge...*ding* light bulb, *whistle*....*whistle*.... then I hear him coming up the stairs]
I walked up the first flight of stairs calling her name with a sort of questioning tone in my voice.
She responded with, "Umm, I think my water broke".
"Oh really?" I replied.
"Uhh, yeah....” she continued with an explanation of what happened.
Yep, it was true the baby was on the way.
What happened next was a kind of blur. Not that I was in anyway panicking. Ok.. at one point I did have a bit of an oh-shit fest, but this was well out of earshot of Mom-to-be as I didn't think she needed to see me starting to unravel. After I composed myself (only minutes mind you) I called the midwife and gave her the low down. She asked us into the hospital ASAP as Mom-to-be needed to start some antibiotics.
I didn't like the idea of going in early as contractions hadn't started and I knew it would be a long night, that might be followed by an induction with pitocin, something Mom-to-be and I really opposed.
So, we spent time going over our check list, getting a quick shower in, packing a few more foods into our second bag and just really taking our time to be sure to have everything we needed.
[Dad-2-b really wanted to get going... I wanted to "putz" around the house and make sure that every last thing was ready for baby. He had to literally pull me out of the house. The funnest part for me was calling work to say... MY WATER BROKE, CALL THE SUB!!!!]
We left home at about 12:15 a full 2 hours after the midwife had asked us to. I was a little nervous about this as I didn't want her to start to worry. Little did I know, it would be the quick email to my family that would start the "Panic Train" down its tracks, (more on that later).
[I only had to call my mom, and we agreed to call her from the hospital to let her know how urgently she needed to get to the hospital]
The road to the hospital was pretty snow covered and not well traveled. Actually it looked like a very long snow covered football field. It is normally a 45-minute drive to the hospital, but this night it took over an hour. All I could do was stay between the trees and hope I was on the road.
We got to the hospital a little after 1am. We were met by a staff that was very relieved we were there. It turns out one of the Aunt's-to-be started a rallying cry from across the country to find the missing couple. Later after reading the email I sent out I could see how it might have incited panic in a person, so next time I'll a be a bit more specific with my info. The Aunt-2-b enlisted a henchman, so my brother showed up at the hospital shortly after we did!!!!
After arriving at the hospital and getting Mom-to-be checked out, on the antibiotic, and sure things were as we thought.
[We planned to not be on constant monitoring, so that meant that they needed a baseline of the baby's heart rate, and my vitals, etc. etc.. The nurse also checked me and I was at 31/2 cm, -1 station 90% effaced. the 20 minute required baseline of the baby's heart rate took about an hour. She was moving SO MUCH they couldn't track her until I held the monitor in place.]
The wonderful nurses brought Mom-to-be a little box lunch to keep her strength up. Then we set out to see if we could stimulate contractions. Walking was our best bet so we did that for a while. After looping around the circular corridor almost 40 times (2 miles) we thought it best if we go rest for a bit.
Contractions were just not happening and we really wanted to be sure things were on the right track.
[Well, contractions were happening, just not regular and NOT progressing]
We took a break and Mom-to-Be had some more food and I set out getting things ready in the room.
I had a couple of little surprises for Mom-to-be. I had gotten (from the Mother-in-law) some really nice LED candles. They gave the room a nice relaxing glow and as they weren't open flame they didn't violate any hospital rules.
[They were so nice. I really wanted the room to have a relaxing homey feel, and those LED candles did the job!!]
Mom-in-law showed up sometime after this and she got settled in as well.
It wasn't much later and we were reaching morning (6am) and the day staff was arriving. The midwife arrived around 7am to see how Mom-to-be was doing. 4cm was the results, only .5 more than the night nurse and this isn't really an exact measurement.
We were told to keep working on it, so we went for ANOTHER walk as well as Mom-to-be began some thumb sucking to help move contractions along. This seemed to work a bit, but it gave her a headache.
[I also felt pretty foolish sucking my thumb, but it worked! I was progressing the contractions, but not getting them more regular]
Then around 9 the midwife came back for another check up. Things hadn't changed much and she was talking pitocin or natural stimulation. The thumb sucking didn't seem to do it so it was on to the more interesting form of stimulation, which I'll leave to your imagination.
Next up "Part 2 - Contraction Action"
HikerDad
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