And Then There was Simon, Part I
Mike and I have successfully created a human being, and we've named him Simon Xavier.
WOW.
Here is a small bit of his cuteness:
In this post I'll relay some of my thoughts/experiences from the labor process, and I will tone down the grossness as much as possible.
January 19th, 2014
5pm: We are playing a tabletop game with our friends, when I feel a few too many Braxton Hicks. (I felt those fake contractions frequently during my pregnancy.) I tell everyone that I'm likely in labor, but that I would prefer to continue the game. (I realize later that I'm addicted to the game: Pathfinder.)
6pm: I decide to make dinner. Hey, why not? My contractions are little more than bothersome at this point.
8pm: The game is just ending, which is good because I'm starting to feel some pain. I decide to call my family members to tell them this is it!
10:30pm: We watched Downton Abbey while waiting for my mom to arrive. I could barely focus on the show because my pain was increasing so much.
11pm: Mike drives my mom and I to the hospital. I am in horrible pain at this point. As soon as we arrive, I ask for the epidural. I have no idea how much I am dilated, and I had wanted to do a natural birth, but it just isn't gonna happen. I tell Mike to just throw out the birth plan.
11:30pm: After expelling the contents of dinner (guess I should have taken the advice of the childbirth class lady and not eaten while in labor), I am told I am 4cm dilated, and that I can have the epidural. YAY!
January 20th, 2014
12am-6am: I'm feeling blissful that I am pain free. Nurses come in every so often to tell me how dilated I am, and to turn me from side to side, because Simon had gotten his umbilical cord wrapped around his shoulder, and is cutting off blood supply to himself. I also have to have an oxygen mask and extra fluids through most of my labor. At one point they attempt to have me sit on my knees, butt up, but because of the epidural, I can't feel my left leg, and almost completely fall off the bed.
Mike nods off a bit during the night, but my mom and I are so excited that we can't sleep. My legs don't stop trembling for hours because of the anticipation/nervousness. I am playing a combo of french swing, japanese kodo, and classical piano to soothe my nerves.
6:30am: On my last round of antibiotics for Strep B (a normally harmless bacteria that could potentially harm the baby), and they tell me that I'm 9cm dilated. My water still hasn't broken at this point, so they say they can speed along the (already speedy, in my opinion) process by breaking my water. They are surprised it hasn't broken on its own yet at this point. Right when they go to break it, it breaks for them. I didn't even feel it.
7:15am: The nurses tell me I'm all the way dilated, and ask if I want to start pushing. Sure? I don't feel an urge to push, but let's get this show over with. So I follow their instructions for pushing, with Mike holding one leg up, while a nurse holds my other leg. My mom is across the room with a good view of the baby's entrance point. A doctor asks who has all the hair, because she can see the baby's hair already.
7:30am: This pushing thing is starting to really burn. The doctors remark that they feel as if they are at a Eurpean Cafe because of my musical choices. I'm just trying to push as hard as I possibly can to get the pain over with, and to see my son!
7:40am: He has a bowel movement, so they tell me I can't hold him until they clean him off. I'm barely listening because I'm still concentrating on the pushing. They tell me I can reach down and feel his head if I want to. Nope, I need to push!!
7:45: All of a sudden there are, what seems like, 20 doctors in the room. They tell me to do little pushes, so his head must be out. I still do big pushes anyway. Bad idea, I ended up tearing and hurting my tailbone. Whoops, I guess I was a little too motivated. Suddenly he is out, doctors are stitching me up, and Simon is whisked away to a cleaning station. Mike had wanted to cut the cord, but they don't have the time. Mike and my mom go look at him and take pictures, while I'm stuck watching the two doctors who are stitching me back together.
After what seems like forever, they give him to me. The first thing I notice is that he is so wrinkled!! He is like a balloon that hasn't fully expanded yet. And his fingers and toe nails look like they have pink nail polish on them. And his hair! Not just on his head, but on his ears, and back, and shoulders...
He is 7lbs 4oz, 20.5 inches of adorable, born exactly on his due date, and I love him:
After his birth I was attended to nonstop by nurses. They (luckily) taught me how to breast feed, since my little guy was anxious for food but didn't know how to get at it. I could only have 2 visitors, since flu season was in effect. It was sad, because people tried to come see him, but the doctors wouldn't budge on it. My dad came and brought a balloon, but he was the only visitor, since my mom counted as one too. I barely got any sleep the first day, since medical personnel were never ending. I took the advice of my doctor the second night and had Simon sleep at the Nursery. I cried a bit, feeling guilty and sad he wasn't in my room, but I got some good sleep that night, and he got to come in for feedings.
Some other interesting tidbits: I almost fainted the first time I went to the bathroom, and a nurse actually had to use smelling salts on me (smelled awful). Simon was born with a pink birthmark on his lower spine, but the doctors ran tests and said it was fine. He passed all his other tests with flying colors, except the jaundice test, and had to be re-admitted to the hospital 2 days later for UV light treatment. As a result, we had quite a tan baby for awhile. It was tough, with Mike and I sleeping in a hospital closet for 2 days while Simon cried in a little box by himself, but we got through it.
And then we brought him home...and our lives together really began.
Coming soon: things I've learned about parenthood so far.
WOW.
Here is a small bit of his cuteness:
 |
| The day he was born |
In this post I'll relay some of my thoughts/experiences from the labor process, and I will tone down the grossness as much as possible.
January 19th, 2014
5pm: We are playing a tabletop game with our friends, when I feel a few too many Braxton Hicks. (I felt those fake contractions frequently during my pregnancy.) I tell everyone that I'm likely in labor, but that I would prefer to continue the game. (I realize later that I'm addicted to the game: Pathfinder.)
6pm: I decide to make dinner. Hey, why not? My contractions are little more than bothersome at this point.
8pm: The game is just ending, which is good because I'm starting to feel some pain. I decide to call my family members to tell them this is it!
10:30pm: We watched Downton Abbey while waiting for my mom to arrive. I could barely focus on the show because my pain was increasing so much.
11pm: Mike drives my mom and I to the hospital. I am in horrible pain at this point. As soon as we arrive, I ask for the epidural. I have no idea how much I am dilated, and I had wanted to do a natural birth, but it just isn't gonna happen. I tell Mike to just throw out the birth plan.
11:30pm: After expelling the contents of dinner (guess I should have taken the advice of the childbirth class lady and not eaten while in labor), I am told I am 4cm dilated, and that I can have the epidural. YAY!
January 20th, 2014
12am-6am: I'm feeling blissful that I am pain free. Nurses come in every so often to tell me how dilated I am, and to turn me from side to side, because Simon had gotten his umbilical cord wrapped around his shoulder, and is cutting off blood supply to himself. I also have to have an oxygen mask and extra fluids through most of my labor. At one point they attempt to have me sit on my knees, butt up, but because of the epidural, I can't feel my left leg, and almost completely fall off the bed.
Mike nods off a bit during the night, but my mom and I are so excited that we can't sleep. My legs don't stop trembling for hours because of the anticipation/nervousness. I am playing a combo of french swing, japanese kodo, and classical piano to soothe my nerves.
6:30am: On my last round of antibiotics for Strep B (a normally harmless bacteria that could potentially harm the baby), and they tell me that I'm 9cm dilated. My water still hasn't broken at this point, so they say they can speed along the (already speedy, in my opinion) process by breaking my water. They are surprised it hasn't broken on its own yet at this point. Right when they go to break it, it breaks for them. I didn't even feel it.
7:15am: The nurses tell me I'm all the way dilated, and ask if I want to start pushing. Sure? I don't feel an urge to push, but let's get this show over with. So I follow their instructions for pushing, with Mike holding one leg up, while a nurse holds my other leg. My mom is across the room with a good view of the baby's entrance point. A doctor asks who has all the hair, because she can see the baby's hair already.
7:30am: This pushing thing is starting to really burn. The doctors remark that they feel as if they are at a Eurpean Cafe because of my musical choices. I'm just trying to push as hard as I possibly can to get the pain over with, and to see my son!
7:40am: He has a bowel movement, so they tell me I can't hold him until they clean him off. I'm barely listening because I'm still concentrating on the pushing. They tell me I can reach down and feel his head if I want to. Nope, I need to push!!
7:45: All of a sudden there are, what seems like, 20 doctors in the room. They tell me to do little pushes, so his head must be out. I still do big pushes anyway. Bad idea, I ended up tearing and hurting my tailbone. Whoops, I guess I was a little too motivated. Suddenly he is out, doctors are stitching me up, and Simon is whisked away to a cleaning station. Mike had wanted to cut the cord, but they don't have the time. Mike and my mom go look at him and take pictures, while I'm stuck watching the two doctors who are stitching me back together.
After what seems like forever, they give him to me. The first thing I notice is that he is so wrinkled!! He is like a balloon that hasn't fully expanded yet. And his fingers and toe nails look like they have pink nail polish on them. And his hair! Not just on his head, but on his ears, and back, and shoulders...
He is 7lbs 4oz, 20.5 inches of adorable, born exactly on his due date, and I love him:
After his birth I was attended to nonstop by nurses. They (luckily) taught me how to breast feed, since my little guy was anxious for food but didn't know how to get at it. I could only have 2 visitors, since flu season was in effect. It was sad, because people tried to come see him, but the doctors wouldn't budge on it. My dad came and brought a balloon, but he was the only visitor, since my mom counted as one too. I barely got any sleep the first day, since medical personnel were never ending. I took the advice of my doctor the second night and had Simon sleep at the Nursery. I cried a bit, feeling guilty and sad he wasn't in my room, but I got some good sleep that night, and he got to come in for feedings.
Some other interesting tidbits: I almost fainted the first time I went to the bathroom, and a nurse actually had to use smelling salts on me (smelled awful). Simon was born with a pink birthmark on his lower spine, but the doctors ran tests and said it was fine. He passed all his other tests with flying colors, except the jaundice test, and had to be re-admitted to the hospital 2 days later for UV light treatment. As a result, we had quite a tan baby for awhile. It was tough, with Mike and I sleeping in a hospital closet for 2 days while Simon cried in a little box by himself, but we got through it.
And then we brought him home...and our lives together really began.
Coming soon: things I've learned about parenthood so far.
Comments