Archive for September, 2016

2016
27
Sep
20:58

growing 

   Posted by: arcanai    in the sequel

The sequel had his two week checkup today and everything was great. He’s up to 8lbs 13oz and 20.5″.  I had forgotten just how amazingly fast they grow this early. He’s already trying to crawl and holding his neck up and moving it around. He’s such a strong, healthy boy!

2016
25
Sep
21:53

part II: separation anxiety

   Posted by: arcanai    in pix, the sequel

so he was born at 01:20 and i started nursing him at 01:47.  he did pretty good on the first side but his nose seemed a little stuffy so it made for slow going.  when we switched to the other side, it seemed like he was having a very difficult time getting air through his nose.  he was basically having to break his latch to gulp air between swallows.  we attempted to suction his nose a couple times and then had a nurse come in to try as well.  at 02:48, he christened me with his first meconium so the nurse took him from me to give him a quick cleanup and get a diaper on him.  during this time, his breathing became more labored so around 03:15 they took him to the nursery for a checkup.  the turkey never left our room so it made me very anxious that they were taking him away from us.  about 03:45, a dr came in without my son and introduced herself as a nicu dr. at this point, i immediately burst into tears and could barely focus enough on her words to understand that my son had been admitted to the nicu for breathing complications due to nasal inflammation and would not be coming back to me.  when she left, i had to ask my husband to explain to me what had happened and when we were going to get our son back.   Read the rest of this entry »

2016
20
Sep
20:36

part I: the perfect birth

   Posted by: arcanai    in pix, the sequel

it turns out that the sequel decided to begin his arrival on his due date after all.  the contractions i was having all afternoon were, indeed, early labor. it was hard to tell whether it was just soreness and reaction to the exam at the dr appt that morning or if it was more meaningful progress. after work, we took the turkey for a walk and i was having some pretty intense contractions but they were so irregular. they would come close together with high intensity and then they would either space out at the same intensity or mellow out at the same frequency. they didn’t affect my walking, never got to the point where i had to slow down or really pay them any real attention. at one point during that walk, i even layed down on a bench to see if they would change. i pretty much decided it was all much ado about nothing. at 23:30 that night, i was still trying to determine whether it was labor.  my contractions were still in the 7-8 minute range at that point but i was having an increasing amount of discharge with them.  since my water just spontaneously broke with my first one and i never really started having contractions until a few hours after that, i really felt clueless about what i should be expecting from a “normal” labor.  and so, at 23:33, i was googling my situation because i am that stupid girl.  by 23:40, my contractions spontaneously dropped from 7 minutes to 2 minutes and kept getting stronger.  i got up and walked around and when several more 2-3 minute contractions went by with no change, i decided it was time to have a baby.  around midnight, we called sunny to come stay with the turkey.  while giving her last minute instructions and transferring the car seat, contractions were strong enough that i had to stop walking to get through them.

while they were transferring the car seat, i managed to grin and bear my way through a selfie in the sequel's room

by the time we got down to the car to leave, i was having to fight the urge to push.  we were on the road at 00:34 with hubby driving like a maniac.  i had to warn him to slow down on the speed bump road or else he’d be delivering his son.  after running all the red lights and running into the er to get someone to bring a wheelchair, we made it to the labor/delivery ward by 00:47. they asked me a few questions and had hubby fill out some paperwork but after witnessing my 60-90 second contractions, they quickly decided to skip all the rest of the formalities and get me into a room.

away she goes

i was wheeled into l/d3… the same room that the turkey was born into.  i felt a huge calm over that coincidence.  when we got into the room, they made me take off my wonder woman gown and change into the good ol’ hospital duds before getting me into the bed and hooking me up to the monitors at 01:01.  they tried to get an iv in my arm but the contractions were about a minute and i was rolled over holding the right side rail in a death grip chanting “don’t push, can’t push, too soon to push”.  the on-call midwife came in and informed me that i was fully dilated but he was still at 0 station so i did, indeed, need to hold off on pushing.

yes, the nurses were laughing at me for smiling for the pictures between contractions

just a few contractions later, i told them there was no way for me to fight it any longer; i had to push.  they rushed the midwife back in and she seemed a little shocked to find him crowning.  finally, i was able to push and, oh my goodness, that was so hard.  the contractions hurt.  but i can’t really call what i felt during that pushing pain.  it was burning.  the most intense burning ever.  like the world’s worst uti to the millionth power.  but more than that, it was exhausting.  i pushed with everything i had, my left leg shaking uncontrollably in the nurse’s arm, and they asked for more.  i pushed again, finding a new reserve of power when i looked down and noticed that i could see the top of my son’s head.

"i can see him!!!"

when i took a breather that time, i didn’t think i could possibly go anymore.  i felt completely drained.  but as the next contraction started, i focused on wanting to see the rest of that head and i pushed until i did.  and on the verge of tears because i just didn’t see how i could possibly muster up anymore energy to finish freeing him, i pushed one last time and watched his shoulders break free and then he just slipped out while the midwife turned him.  it was the most amazing thing i’ve ever seen.  i watched with perfect clarity as my son entered this world and they immediately handed him straight to me.  at 01:20, nineteen minutes after getting in the bed, he was in my arms.

instantly in love

perfection

beaming with pride

this whole thing was such a different experience from the turkey’s birth that there really just is no comparison.  i really can’t complain about the turkey’s birth but there were things that i would go back and change (mainly getting the stupid phenergan that made me miss whole chunks of the experience).  this time, there isn’t a single thing i would have changed.  it was completely the ideal.  i was able to be 100% present for the entire duration.  i felt every single contraction and every single push and i was able to witness the delivery from start to finish.  my birth plan (what a joke those are) was going to be to ask for a mirror this time because i didn’t even know that was an option last time and i really wanted to be able to see everything.  what a blessing that i didn’t even need that.

even the hospital’s philosophy was completely different this time.  two years ago, they did all kinds of things like suctioning and roughing up before handing him to me.  i got to hold him for just a few minutes before they took him away to bathe, weigh, measure, and print him.  i didn’t get to nurse him until they were done with all of that.  this time, they handed him straight to me.  they roughed him up while he was in my arms but didn’t do anything else to him.  he actually didn’t even get his first bath until he was two days old.  i was able to hold him and nurse him at my own leisure.  unfortunately, it was during the nursing that we discovered a problem…

2016
19
Sep
22:08

on a roll

   Posted by: arcanai    in the sequel

Ten days old and the sequel is already rolling from his belly to his back. 

2016
18
Sep
22:41

locked out

   Posted by: arcanai    in the turkey

After staying up nearly all night long (literally, he was up and rolling around during all of the sequel’s feedings), the turkey was still fighting his nap today. i don’t understand what has happened to our perfect little sleeper.  it’s driving me up a wall.  he’s a whole different kiddo when he’s so over-tired. anyhow, after i got onto him a couple times about kicking the wall or hanging on the railing, i saw him scurry out of bed.  amazingly, this has only happened three or four times since moving to the big boy bed.  as i was talking into the monitor to tell him to get back in bed, i heard him messing with the doorknob.  i told hubby to get ready for his imminent appearance and we both looked at the door expectantly.  it did not open.  when the monitor cycled back to his camera, i saw him jumping back into bed.  hubby went back to check on him and found that the little twerp had LOCKED THE DOOR!  good gravy!  so guess who’s getting a new lockless doorknob tomorrow?!

2016
16
Sep
21:30

mourning

   Posted by: arcanai    in da belly, heartache

the nights have been pretty tough.  not just because i’ve got a newborn so i’m up every other hour feeding him but, when i do lay down, i put my hands on my belly and there’s nothing there.  my husband doesn’t get it.  he can’t.  but i feel so much grief over the fact that there will never be life in my belly again.  it will never again grow full and round and heavy (well, unless i keep eating ALL THE CHOCOLATE).  it will never again be filled with the movements of arms and legs and hicups.  two kids is enough.  but it’s so hard to accept that i’ll never be pregnant again.

2016
14
Sep
17:33

twang

   Posted by: arcanai    in the turkey

where on earth did the turkey pick up this country twang?  he didn’t have it last week. we went to the hospital for a few days to have a baby and came home to a boy that suddenly speaks with a huge southern drawl. i could understand it if he had been staying with the alabama family for the weekend but he was with my family and they don’t talk like that at all.  it’s really the strangest thing.  not only does he have an exaggerated twang to all his speech now but he seems to end almost everything sentence with “right there.”  as in “that’s a blue car right there.” and “there’s chicken parmasan right there.” i’m totally befuddled by the sudden and dramatic change in vernacular over the last few days.

2016
13
Sep
22:18

first A+ progress report

   Posted by: arcanai    in the sequel

The sequel had his first checkup with the pediatrician today because they have to be seen within the first 48 hours after leaving the nicu. It was nice to learn that our Dr was actually trained by the dr who had taken such great care of our sequel in the nicu. He was very pleased with the sequel’s health and development already. At four days old, he is already up half an ounce and a quarter inch from birth. Thanks to the two days of iv fluids, he never had that dramatic weight loss that most newborns have (he was only down 2.5 ounces from birth when we left the hospital, compared to his brother who had lost nine ounces before coming home). His breathing was good with no signs of labor or blockage. It was great to get a good report after such a stressful weekend.

2016
8
Sep
20:11

40 weeks

   Posted by: arcanai    in da belly, pix, the sequel

happy due day to me, happy due day to me, happy due date dear me, happy due day to me!

the sequel is very comfortable and is in no rush to meet us.  the dr was laughing about how wrong he’s been when he came into the office this morning.  the sequel is measuring 7lbs 8oz, which puts him right there with his brother’s size.  growth restricted my pinky toe! i’m 4cm, 90%, 0 station.  the dr was very confident that he’s coming this weekend.  “i know the feel of ripe for birth and you’re there.”  um, no offence doc, but i’ve been listening to that for the last four weeks!  the practice has a policy of not allowing patients to go past 41 weeks for the safety of the baby.  if i’m still pregnant next week, they’ll break my water.  i’m really hoping he decides to join us naturally before then.  in the meantime, i’ve had some wicked contractions all afternoon but they’re not staying regular.  between the soreness from the exam and the contractions, it’s been a fun afternoon.

8 Sep 2016

2016
5
Sep
20:24

heart melt

   Posted by: arcanai    in pix, the turkey

this is perhaps one of the most heartwarming moments of my life… i followed my hubby and the turkey around the pool this morning taking pictures and videos of his first time using swimmies.  he did so great with them and even did some totally solo swimming which i thought was awesome for his first try.  so after me taking all these pix, the turkey grabbed the camera from me, ran to daddy and gave it to him saying “i want picture with mommy”.

as requested

2016
1
Sep
20:58

39 weeks

   Posted by: arcanai    in da belly, pix, the sequel

1 Sep 2016

at our appointment on tuesday, there were no changes and the dr seemed pretty surprised.  his first words coming into the exam room were that he was shocked he hadn’t seen us at the hospital over the weekend; that he was sure after the exam last week that i wouldn’t make it another week.  so much for his intuitions.

i actually thought today was the day.  contractions started at 04:00 strong enough to wake me out of a sound sleep.  they continued every 6-7 minutes for about an hour and a half and then backed off enough for me to fall back asleep for a little while.  they started up again while i was at the gym and got stronger and stronger during my workout.  i came back and put my legs up while i worked and they continued every 5-8 minutes for another four hours.  they never got more regular though and they never got more intense and, a little after noon, they fizzled out.  i’m in no hurry to see this pregnancy end but it was exciting to think that we were going to finally meet our little sequel.  soon.  very soon.