Okay. I'm gradually composing this during moments of calm (e.g., M at school and L sleeping or nursing).
My parents had offered to keep Morgen last weekend, so we could have a little time before Liv arrived (induction was scheduled for Monday evening).
Jeff and I met downtown at his office and ran a couple of errands. Then we went to Freddie's for a quick dinner before heading to catch a movie. Sometime during dinner, my normal evening contractions began. I took a couple of laps of the restaurant between bites and drank a lot of water. Hmmm. Still coming. Perhaps I should actually time these.
After almost an hour, we'd finished our meal, arrived at the theater, and were debating about buying tickets. I called the doc who basically said - it doesn't hurt to get checked, and it's better to go sooner rather than later. Well, these were getting more intense, and it had been over an hour, and I was 4 days overdue. Let's go, and we'll see the movie tomorrow.
After getting checked in and settled, the nurse does an exam, and declares 2cm dilated, 50% effaced and station -2. Wow, a pretty good change from high and tight a few days prior. We're in for good. Too bad we forgot a few things like the laptop power cord (hence the delayed updates) and the camera (crap!).
We called the folks to let them know and waited for the doc. He came in and suggested I wasn't quite as far along as our nurse had said, but they seemed to have quite the banter going, so I ignored the comment. He suggested we start pitocin and get the show on the road.
We sat back and hung out for awhile waiting for things to get moving. When the contractions became quite unpleasant, we added stadol (sp?) to the mix. When the contractions seemed that they might split my body in half [around midnight], I upgraded to an epidural. Shortly after that, the nurse broke my water. From then till morning, things were pretty uneventful - including my progress. By 5am, I was 5cm dilated and half effaced, but the nurse thought things might speed up a bit from here and suggested we let our folks know if they were going to try to be there just in case. Jeff's Mom had set the alarm for 5am, so she was ready for us when we called. My Mom woke with our call, hopped in the shower, and headed our way (with our camera). Tim and Beth were up for Erik's feeding, so Tim hopped in the car and headed downtown as well.
A short time later, I was really hurting. A lot. It was like I didn't have an epidural at all! I called for Nurse Lindsey, and she asked more about pain vs. pressure. Pain I assured her. She checked me, and I'd fully dilated and effaced in about an hour, and the baby was completely down and ready to be born - ah, so it was actually pressure. "Don't push." Uh, okay. There was a lot of activity suddenly, as a birthing table was brought in and various people were put on alert, including the doc. My Mom showed up just before we did a few "practice pushes," so Jeff got the camera ready.
After a set of practice pushes, the doc sat down, and a few sets of pushes later, Liv's head was out. It was so different, to see the process (I had a mirror.) and to feel like such a part of it, as opposed to Morgen's delivery, where I felt so far from the process. Oh, and that "pressure" had a lot to do with the fact that Liv was face up. These girls evidently don't like to follow convention from the word go. :)
So, Liv was out, and I got to nurse nearly right away. We had her with us for the first 30-40 minutes, when she went to the nursery for a bath, while I got moved.
In general, things have been easier all around - delivery, recovery, general ease, tolerance for crying (Liv sounds so quiet and almost sweet compared to Morgen's crying. :). The only thing that's been harder this time around is nursing. Liv doesn't open very wide, so I have a hard time getting a good latch. It was much worse early on, so I'm healing from the results of a few bad latches. Also, Liv is spitting up quite a bit (mentioned in last post), but she's mostly on track for diaper output and hadn't spit up since I talked to the doc until I let her overeat this morning. She's also a little gassy, but Jeff remembered that we'd swaddle Morgen and have her nap on her side (next to us), so we've done that with Liv, and it's helped elongate naps (and she toots throughout, which is funny).
Okay, almost time for Liv to wake and eat, so I'd better rest for a few. Thanks to everyone for the comments, calls, emails, and visits. Love.
Jeff and I met downtown at his office and ran a couple of errands. Then we went to Freddie's for a quick dinner before heading to catch a movie. Sometime during dinner, my normal evening contractions began. I took a couple of laps of the restaurant between bites and drank a lot of water. Hmmm. Still coming. Perhaps I should actually time these.
After almost an hour, we'd finished our meal, arrived at the theater, and were debating about buying tickets. I called the doc who basically said - it doesn't hurt to get checked, and it's better to go sooner rather than later. Well, these were getting more intense, and it had been over an hour, and I was 4 days overdue. Let's go, and we'll see the movie tomorrow.
After getting checked in and settled, the nurse does an exam, and declares 2cm dilated, 50% effaced and station -2. Wow, a pretty good change from high and tight a few days prior. We're in for good. Too bad we forgot a few things like the laptop power cord (hence the delayed updates) and the camera (crap!).
We called the folks to let them know and waited for the doc. He came in and suggested I wasn't quite as far along as our nurse had said, but they seemed to have quite the banter going, so I ignored the comment. He suggested we start pitocin and get the show on the road.
We sat back and hung out for awhile waiting for things to get moving. When the contractions became quite unpleasant, we added stadol (sp?) to the mix. When the contractions seemed that they might split my body in half [around midnight], I upgraded to an epidural. Shortly after that, the nurse broke my water. From then till morning, things were pretty uneventful - including my progress. By 5am, I was 5cm dilated and half effaced, but the nurse thought things might speed up a bit from here and suggested we let our folks know if they were going to try to be there just in case. Jeff's Mom had set the alarm for 5am, so she was ready for us when we called. My Mom woke with our call, hopped in the shower, and headed our way (with our camera). Tim and Beth were up for Erik's feeding, so Tim hopped in the car and headed downtown as well.
A short time later, I was really hurting. A lot. It was like I didn't have an epidural at all! I called for Nurse Lindsey, and she asked more about pain vs. pressure. Pain I assured her. She checked me, and I'd fully dilated and effaced in about an hour, and the baby was completely down and ready to be born - ah, so it was actually pressure. "Don't push." Uh, okay. There was a lot of activity suddenly, as a birthing table was brought in and various people were put on alert, including the doc. My Mom showed up just before we did a few "practice pushes," so Jeff got the camera ready.
After a set of practice pushes, the doc sat down, and a few sets of pushes later, Liv's head was out. It was so different, to see the process (I had a mirror.) and to feel like such a part of it, as opposed to Morgen's delivery, where I felt so far from the process. Oh, and that "pressure" had a lot to do with the fact that Liv was face up. These girls evidently don't like to follow convention from the word go. :)
So, Liv was out, and I got to nurse nearly right away. We had her with us for the first 30-40 minutes, when she went to the nursery for a bath, while I got moved.
In general, things have been easier all around - delivery, recovery, general ease, tolerance for crying (Liv sounds so quiet and almost sweet compared to Morgen's crying. :). The only thing that's been harder this time around is nursing. Liv doesn't open very wide, so I have a hard time getting a good latch. It was much worse early on, so I'm healing from the results of a few bad latches. Also, Liv is spitting up quite a bit (mentioned in last post), but she's mostly on track for diaper output and hadn't spit up since I talked to the doc until I let her overeat this morning. She's also a little gassy, but Jeff remembered that we'd swaddle Morgen and have her nap on her side (next to us), so we've done that with Liv, and it's helped elongate naps (and she toots throughout, which is funny).
Okay, almost time for Liv to wake and eat, so I'd better rest for a few. Thanks to everyone for the comments, calls, emails, and visits. Love.
2 comments:
Congratulations again. Liv is beautiful!
Liv will love reading this post later, especially the part about her gaseous nature.
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