since I last posted. Obviously, we had the baby shower back in September and got a lot of awesome things that we desperately needed. Bibs, more clothes, changing pad and covers, bottles, a bottle sterilizer, diaper bag, etc. The sterilizer and diaper bag were easily the most expensive thing on the list so we were thrilled to get them.
I also meant to post about our shower project that D undertook. We decided, one major thing that needed to happen in preparation for the Little Critter was to get rid of the leak from the shower, which included totally replacing the shower, the floor, and the piping that ran underneath it. It put our upstairs shower out of commission for a week and a couple days, but thankfully we had another shower in the downstairs that we could use. But anyways, that got done...new shower, re-tiled floor, more shelving...it's awesome!!
And, other than that, it was just waiting for L.C. to show up ( I was due Nov. 9th). My folks and my older sister came down on Nov. 8th. The morning of the 9th, my mom went with D and I to the doctor to see if there was any change that might signal oncoming labor, but there wasn't a whole lot to indicate that. My mom got to hear L.C.'s heartbeat, which thrilled her to no end, I believe. :-) So, the doctor said I could either wait another week or go in that night to prepare for induction the next morning. I chose the latter. I really wanted my folks to be able to see the baby and, since there was no real danger by induction, we decided to go ahead with it.
That was the longest evening/next day of my life. The evening was cool other than the nurses had trouble keeping LC on the heart monitors she was was moving around so much. That was a pain while trying to sleep and nurses coming in every half an hour to adjust monitors. Also, the first nurse majorly screwed up trying to put my IV in and gave me a baseball sized bruise on my right arm (which is only now starting to go away).
Wednesday started out just fine. They started Pitocin at around 7:30am. By 9:30 I was ready for my epidural. D was absolutely great; very supportive and I could see how much it bothered him that I was in pain, but knowing there was nothing he could do about it other than offer his hand to squeeze. I know everyone has heard horror stories about how women in labor can act almost demonic to the men that got them pregnant, but I was just glad he was there. My folks showed up at the hospital later that afternoon and I was quite glad to have my mom there. D's mom showed up later and then his dad came that evening. It was weird in that, I felt like I had to "entertain" everyone since they were there to support me (at least until LC was born and then I'd be chopped liver), but I was so tired I ended up falling asleep a few times. No one seemed to mind, though.
The worst part was when the nurses let my epidural run out. The two nurses assigned to me got called to the ER and their replacement only checked on me once. One of the machines had been kind of beeping for a while, but I hadn't a clue what it meant. When the occasional beep turned constant, my mom figured out it was the epidural bag. We called the nurse (replacement) in and she's all, "Oh, you're epidural bag is empty. Let me call the anesthesiologist." By the time he got there, I was in agony. My legs were no longer numb and I was feeling every single contraction. Sometimes, they didn't really stop, just lessened some and then would roll right into the next one. Derin had stepped out of the room before that, but came back just as the contractions got really intense. I swear, he was ready to go yell at somebody for allowing that all to happen.
So, I got my epidural refilled and, another anesthesiologist came to check on me to make sure things were getting better. And, lo and behold, he told me about the "pain button" on the epidural bag. The button I could press when I could feel my contractions stronger, which meant I needed a slight increase in the epidural dose. No one mentioned that before. That really pissed D off, I think...pissed me and my mom off, too.
But, anyway, by the time 9pm rolled around, I'd fully effaced, but was only 3 centimeters dilated. It was decided that a C-Section was the only option at that point. Things after that are still kinda blurry. They pumped me full of more anesthesia and anti-nausea meds and wheeled me into the OR. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. Feeling them pushing and pulling, knowing they were wrist deep inside my guts... yeah. But D and Mark (the anesthesiologist) kept me well distracted. And I tell ya, when I heard that first wail, I lost it. Crying...trying not to move because I knew they were stitching me up...wanting to see my baby...overflowing with love for D and that new little person who I couldn't see except for her tiny feet...it was intense.
The hospital stay was mostly uneventful and I've talked about it to so many people that I'm really sick of thinking about it. Let me just say that nursery nurses aren't some of my favorite people and I was glad to be out of the hospital when they discharged me.
My folks stayed the rest of that first week, which was awesome. I loved having them here and it was really hard when we had to say goodbye. But, they're hoping my next November to be moved down here. We're also working towards being able to communicate by webcam between now and then to make the time away a little easier.
LC has had good check-ups at the doctor. She's surpassed her birth weight finally. We're still having a little trouble with breastfeeding, but hopefully we'll get that remedied over the next week or so.
Well, she's waking up so I guess it's ciao for now.
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