MSK & N: Our So-called Life

Let me start by clarifying: I love my baby.  I am not depressed.  There is no strait jacket in my future - I think ;)  That doesn't mean my first week with Alex was all sunshine and roses.   In fact, the first week was pretty awful.   None of this was my little angel's fault.  Hormones, lack of sleep, inexperience, and a myriad of other issues led to a bit of a rocky start to this ride called parenthood.

For starters, I was still pretty high/ out of it the next day.  N has told me things that I have little to no recollection of.  For example, sometime during my labour I called my dad on my cell phone to tell him I was heavily medicated? Hilarious!

I was also in a lot of pain and getting in and out of bed was unpleasant.  Sitting was unpleasant too.  Movement in general was trying.  I've never felt so dependent on the help of others... Neil, my mother-in-law, nurses, etc. [Aside] Speaking of my mother-in-law, she arrived on June 30th expecting a grandson.  Instead, he's born on July 6 and she had to fly home before we were discharged from the hospital. What a visit!

The first two nights we were in a semi-private room.  This was uncomfortable for many reasons; most notably because Alex screamed non-stop these first 2 nights and we got no sleep.  None.  Zero. Ziltch.  I'm sure our room-mates hated us.  I know the people on the second night did... they conversed openly about their regret at being too cheap to spring for a private room.  This agitated me greatly.  They were hardly quiet with their non-stop noisy visitors.  Not to mention the fact that their baby was having projectile vomiting episodes and was at times as agitated as Alex.  I requested a private room for the 3rd night.  We will never do semi-private again.

Then, we discovered the non-stop screaming was linked to my lack of milk production.  I wasn't feeding him enough and my milk hadn't come in yet.  He lost 9.9% of his body weight over the first 3 days.  We were flagged as having feeding issues and sent to a lactation consultant.  I ended up pumping to stimulate breast milk production and we had to supplement with formula and expressed breast milk for a few days. Finger-feeding with a tube led to other problems.  He stopped latching because he could get milk faster through the tube... it was a big circus but I'm glad to say multiple trips to a lactation consultant and we are now exclusively breast-feeding again.

Finger-feeding Alex

Last, while I can appreciate all the work that nurses are responsible for, I hated 8 of the 12 nurses I was assigned during my hospital stay.  Conflicting information, subpar assistance, and no continuity of care.  Case in point, one would say pump then the shift change would come and I'd be told not to pump.  One nurse said we couldn't be discharged due to the baby's weight loss, the next nurse got the discharge process started and gave away our private room.  Neil at this point had to step in and chat with the head nurse... and no, we weren't allowed to leave but no one seemed to know what was going on... FRUSTRATING!

Finally, I got to go home.  Home never looked and felt so good. 

Fun Fact:  The average hospital stay for delivering a baby at Women's College Hospital in Toronto is 36 hours.  My stay was 84 hours.

Seriously this has to be a sign. This is the song that was on the radio when Neil left our home to come pick Alex and me up from the hospital.

Alexander Peter Knecht arrived on Tuesday July 6, 2010 at 12:10AM at Women's College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario Canada.  He was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 21 inches long.

I started having contractions Sunday evening around 10PM.  It was a very restless night. My contractions were never closer than 7 minutes apart.  Monday morning, the contractions ceased at times and when they came they were at irregular intervals.  I went for an ultrasound that morning (everything was fine).  I was called by the hospital mid-afternoon and told to go to my doctor's appointment at 3:15PM and then to head to triage at the hospital... today was the day... I was going to be induced.

By 4PM, I was admitted and my water broken.  This apparently wasn't speeding up the process fast enough so I was given a Pitocin drip to speed things up.  Sometime later, I was in agony.  I asked for and got an epidural.  Best decision ever!  I was calm, pain was reduced, and I was 100% effaced.  It was go time... except, now the baby was in the posterior position.  Essentially, the baby was looking up and this meant the biggest part of the head would crown first -- more pain. They decided to give the baby time to change positions.  This is where things get hazy....  I was given an epidural "top-up" which I later found out was the narcotic fentanyl.  The baby never did change positions.  I pushed for 27 minutes which I've been told was an amazingly fast labour and I give credit to the drugs because I tore and got an episiotomy and never knew what hit me until Neil filled me in later. 

Alex had arrived.  Neil and I were parents. 

Create your own free digital ecard

I'd be outright lying if I told you I thought I'd still be woddling around full blown pregnant right now.  You see, I know my due date is right.  We had been tracking ovulation for a year before we got pregnant so I know the first day of my last period.  Hell, I know the first day of my last 12 menstrual cycles but that is probably too much information.  So this kid is just plain old late.  Hmmm, wonder who he could possibly get that from????

It is frustrating.  My doctor says he is heads down and very very low.  Which to me translates into extreme discomfort when I stand and first start to amble around.  It also means that there is intense pressure on my bladder and I have to pee constantly.  Again probably too much information.

This week I had 2 biophysical ultrasounds (BPP u/s) and they are routine for people past due. They check four things: amniotic fluid levels, whether the baby can simulate breathing (diaphram is moving), lateral movements (rolls) and muscular movement (jabs and kicks).  You need to pass all 4 areas to satisfy the doctors and my first one was a FAIL because he would not kick me.  This could potentially be a problem or little APK could have just been in a sleep cycle (my guess: sleep cycle).  After this u/s we were sent to my doctor's office for an exam and then sent to the hospital for a fetal non-stress test.  Everything seemed fine.  So, the very next day, we were back to do it all over again.  This time he passed!  Hooray!

I have tried a myriad of old wives tales to get this labour started:

• cleaning the floors
• walking, walking, walking, and more walking
• raspberry tea (which I discovered in the Groovy Mama tea sampler Shannon gave me)
• cleaning the floors, again.
• eating spicy food
• eating pineapple

Nothing works.  In fact, in a week, I have only progressed from 1cm dilated to 2 cm dilated.  At this rate he'll come out in September.  Yesterday, my doctor tried to stretch me -- oh yeah -- now we are talking WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION and it hurt like a bitch.  She said she was trying to bring on labour naturally but oh my god was I traumatized.  

End result:  I am on a list of people waiting to be induced.  I was told that I could be called to come the hospital at any time but that I would likely not be allowed to go past Monday without having this baby.  Well, Monday looks like this:

1. BPP at 10:30 AM
2. Doctor's Appt at 3:15 PM
3. My Dr. told me her replacement would send me to triage to be induced after the appointment if I actually made it to my appointment that day.

So... yeah.  I am ready to get this show on the road.  

With one day left before my due date there was really only one song to use for this post.

I am beyond ready.  My house is clean.  We have all the baby-related stuff we need - at least that we can think of or know about.  N and I are just waiting.  Sometimes impatiently but sometimes it is nice to just kick back and enjoy this calm period.

3 days to go

Yesterday we were out and about.  We went to Boom for breakfast (on St. Clair in Corso Italia) and were just exiting when the Brazil/Portugal match ended and we ended up engulfed in the crazy pandemonium that only happens when the World Cup is on... people excited about a 0-0 draw.  We spent the whole day together doing mundane things together like buying toilet paper at Walmart and shopping for fancy coffee makers. Mundane tasks will be much more of an adventure with junior in tow.

In the headlines of course is the G8/G20 summits that are being held right here in Huntsford and Toronto.  This has caused us a bit of anxiety as my due date is Sunday June 27, 2010 and the G20 will be on in Toronto.  My hospital is Women's College Hospital and it is right smack in the middle of the protest zone.  We've been warned that getting to the hospital will be tricky and to give ourselves extra time.  What does that even mean?? How can you give yourself more time?  Sometimes labour lasts forever and sometimes it moves quickly.  I am currently thinking that the baby being a few days late will be a good thing. Yesterday, the protests were quite big and also were blocking our planned hospital route that had been suggested by my doctor.  She had suggested coming down to the hospital from the east (away from the official protest site at Queen's Park which is west of the hospital).  The first picture seen from this link shows the scene at Yonge and College yesterday afternoon -- this IS directly east of the hospital. Yikes!

We are taking it easy today.  Next post will likely be after the baby arrives.  It feels like the end of an era.  It won't be just about "me" anymore.