Tired, Happy Parents (sung to the tune by R.E.M.)

Wow!

What an exhilarating, thrilling experience these last few days have been. Ever since noon on Tuesday we have been flying high as we devote ourselves to watching, learning about and loving Samantha (not to mention laughing at her occasionally, too).

We were lucky to spend two full days in the hospital (by today's standards two days seems lucky!) where we holed up and were given great care by some wonderful nurses. And that self-imposed isolation has continued here at home. Everyday we learn something new. Things like how many expressions a little being can make (unintentionally!), how important it is to keep our patience with one another as we try to calm Sam, how huge the heart can expand to include a new person so absolutely, how incredibly small and perfect a pinkie fingernail can be.

We had our first pediatrician's appt today. Last night Samantha was yellow and limp as a little wet noodle - the symptoms of the typical third-fourth day jaundice. But after a couple of thirty-minute meals, she quickly gained her energy back in the middle of the night. And today at the appointment she was given a clean bill of health. And a shot in the thigh for HepB.

Slowly we are getting our routines down. I was able to take a shower today! I entered a store for the first time in a week.


So...about the delivery. Please read on at your own risk - I tried to make an abbreviated post without all of the graphic details, but was unable to. So, be prepared. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I started early labor in the evening on Saturday, August 6th. I had been told that the threat of induction brings on labor, and they were right! Of course we started timing the contractions right away and called in when they appeared more regular. I was told to go to sleep if I could and to call back if they intensified to the point where I couldn't sleep through them. At four in the morning we called in and went to the hospital. My dad drove us, and my mom accompanied David and me in triage. After an exam it turned out I was only at 1 cm dilation and 80% effacement, so they had us walk around for an hour and a half to see if I would progress further, but to no avail. So, back home we went.

Sunday was long and painful. Sunday night (well, 2 am Monday morning) David and I went back to triage (sans parents this time... we felt we could deal with the disappointment of being sent home again better just the two of us) and found out that I had progressed to...2 cm. This time I accepted the morphine shot they offered me so that I could get SOME sleep.

Which I did, but so did my contractions - nothing for the first half of the day. Talk about disappointing! Especially since I was still in a world of pain in my back. I called in to find out what was going on and the nurse thought that I was describing the symptoms of a baby that was head down but turned the wrong way (Occiput Posterior, "Sunny Side Up"). Man! David and I had worked pretty hard at devising strategies for helping me relax through contractions (we were doing hypnobirthing), but nothing had prepared me for the non-stop pain of this OP positioning. Which, I might add, has a tendency of causing prolonged labor. Lovely.

That afternoon my contractions came back. After three or four hours of 1.5-minute contractions ranging from 3 to 13 minutes apart, we decided to "average" the timing of the contractions so that we could call in (the hospital wants to see them at every 4 minutes, lasting a minute for a full hour - 4-1-1). My mom, David and I went back to the hospital at 8pm Monday August 8th. This time I had finally gotten to 4 cm so I was able to be admitted. We "graduated" David said.

My first stop was the jacuzzi tub in our birthing suite to get some relief. Our doctor came in and we went over our birth plan with her. We wanted to deliver as naturally as possible. Like I said, we had done some hypnobirthing practice, and I had practiced relaxation techniques in my yoga classes, and I was extremely interested in being able to change my positions during labor (squatting instead of pushing on my back, etc).

An hour later I was at 5 cm. Contractions were still intensifying and the next few hours were a blur as I slowly made my way to 6 cm, then to 7 cm. I would NEVER have been able to get through this without the fantastic support I recieved from David, my mom and our very own wonderful nurse, Theresa. With every contraction they were a fine-tuned machine as I breathed "In-2-3-4 Out 2-3-4-5-6-7-8" and shouted out commands according to what I needed for that particular contraction. More hours passed (I think I had been going for 8 or 9 hours at this point - not to mention those couple of days prior). I was ready for my next exam. I had gone back down to 6 cm.

Devastation. Apparently, with every contraction I was also pushing, and due to Sam's position (and size!) it was causing my cervix to swell. Swell shut, actually.

It was at this point that I asked about medication.

From this moment on, our birth plan flew out the window, and you know... if I had to do it all over again I would make the same choices.

I got an epidural, and pitocin (to keep the contractions going). Then a catheter. Then an internal uterine monitor. Then an oxygen mask because the baby was decelling (the heart rate was dropping). Then an internal heartrate monitor for the baby. I was told that I had all of the gadgets that Hotel Swedish had to offer.

I was now getting that overwhelming urge to push, but I had to wait for the new doctor (shift change) to finish with another delivery before I could get the go ahead. The nurse thought I was completely dilated, but needed the confirmation. She came in and told me that I could go ahead and push. I begged to be allowed to squat but was told that my legs would buckle under me. So I told them that at the very least I was going to go on my side, which I did.

It was apparent that Sam's head was going to be big, and we were told that the only chance of delivering vaginally was to use a vacuum extractor (think plunger - in fact, you can see the bruise left by this process on the picture with Theresa). Sheesh. This meant a trip to the bright lights of the OR delivery room. Surreal. The stretcher ride, seeing my dad walking down the hall as he realized it was his daughter that was being wheeled by, the three big movie camera type lights, the looming face of the anethesialogist, the noise of all the staff in the room, my mom and David having to get into sterile scrubs, my legs being put into wierd furry leg warmer things and then into stirrups, the shouting "push, push" as I couldn't help but to push. And in a matter of minutes, Samantha was born and placed on my belly. Wow.


I really could not process it - here she was, and yet I couldn't get that this was our daughter. David, on the other hand had no problems realizing this, as I looked at him and he was wonderfully happily emotional.

We were wheeled back into our birthing suite and Samantha took to breastfeeding like a fish to water. I am so thankful (though lately, every day has presented it's challenges!).

Anyway. There you have it. The saga of Samantha's odyssey. Chapter One.

Thank you all for you well wishes and congratulations. It is so much fun reading your emails and comments. Please leave comments if you can - we love to see who's been watching.