I’m back…
Well it’s been a little over a month...where has the time gone?! I guess that’s something I need to get used to now that I have a baby. Before I know it, he’ll be grown and leaving the nest. So where do I start to catch y’all up?
The Birth
It all began on a cold winter morning, Dec 13th at 4am to be exact, when I went downstairs to let the dog out. As I was standing there, I felt an odd trickle sensation – just the tiniest bit. Now being enormously pregnant at the time, I brushed it off as any number of un-pleasantries that befall a women in my state and went back to bed. About an hour later, I felt more of the same but in greater quantity and finally realized that it was probably amniotic fluid. Duh…not too smart for a Paramedic. I guess I just assumed it would happen with a little more DRAMA! I decided to wake “Daddy” but told him not to panic. I wasn’t having contractions and knew that I had up to 24hrs before there was risk of infection etc. I even told “Daddy” to go on about his day as normal and I would call him if anything changed. Around 8am, I called the hospital for some advice and they suggested I come in at 10am for an assessment. I was put in a room and was asked many standard questions about the pregnancy and the events leading up to my arrival at the hospital. Without any kind of exam, she stated that they would probably just discharge me home to await contractions. However the doctor who took my case, decided that since Bryce was expected to be a big boy, he recommended staying to be monitored. It was then that the Nurse did an exam and discovered I was already 4cm - which required that I be admitted anyways. I thought great…I’m already at 4cm and had no pain. This is going to be a piece of cake. What’s all this labour fuss about? Well I was about to find out! The nurse decided to get the ball rolling and started a Pitocin drip at 1pm. For some time, they kept asking me if I felt any pain/contractions, and I cheerily said no. So they dialed me up again and again to maximum dose.
It was then that they figured something must be impeding my contractions and sure enough, my partially broken “amniotic sac” was providing too much cushion to progress. They manually ruptured the membrane and that’s when the fun began. And by fun, I mean the complete opposite of fun. It’s strange though because in hindsight, it’s hard to actually remember or describe the pain. When I was pregnant, I would always ask friends or search online for a description of what it felt like and could never get a satisfying answer. And that’s because you really do forget the pain! I remember (especially during the final transition phase) that it was an intense, all encompassing, make you leave your body kinda pain…but I can’t really describe it exactly. And yes, as with my Mother and Sister, I turned down the epidural. (Which I think I would have traded all my vital organs for at the time!) And don’t believe them when they say a warm bath will help with the pain! All it did was make you cold, wet, and then have the indignity to streak naked from the bathroom back to the hospital bed! Here’s an interesting fact - at the Queensway Carelton Hospital, 80% of patients opt for an epidural! We should get a plaque...posted on the wall of pain! :) Anyways after about 4 hours of labour, I was ready to push. Unfortunately for me..and Bryce, he was sunny side up which made for a difficult delivery. After some very uncomfortable manual manipulation, he was turned lateral (sideways) which was a better but not ideal position. 2 long hours later at 18:59, he was born weighing an impressive 8lbs 14oz
Now what makes the day of his birth even extra special is that he arrived on his great Grandma's 98th birthday! Throughout the pregnancy, there was discussion about how neat it would be to have him on that day and as chance would have it, Bryce decided to make his grand appearance!! Unfortunately the birth was a little stressful on Bryce and he was immediately whisked away to the attentive care of the delivery team. His initial APGAR was only 6/10 and he required some aggressive suctioning and positive pressure ventilation. After some time, he came back to me for some skin to skin contact and bonding…although they were on the fence whether he should go to the nursery for further medical attention. His second APGAR improved to 8 and although he still had some minor breathing difficulties, they allowed him to remain with me for the duration of my stay.
Going Home
After 2 agonizingly long nights at the hospital, I was discharged home with this new little bundle. No instruction manual...which I assumed would be delivered along with the placenta. I couldn’t believe that they just let people take home other new little people without any formal instruction. I mean they should have a required college course or something. Exams and scenarios should be mandatory!! But no, they said we were good to go and we would just have to figure things out like all the other parents before us. First lesson was learned by Daddy who went out to retrieve the car seat. With all the commotion , he had forgotten how to unlatch the car seat from the base and ended up having to remove the whole contraption and lug it into the hospital. ..big old base and all! I’m sure that clearly indicated to all who saw, that we were definitely first time parents. :)
Once home…it was like O.K, now what? There was no structure, no routine, and definitely no sleep. I can say with absolute certainty that this is the hardest (but most rewarding) thing I have ever done. And Bryce is an amazing baby! I can't imagine how I would have coped with a colicky version! He's so good. Rarely fusses except in 3 instances. 1)Hungry-which is ALL the time 2) Bubbles in his tummy 3) Wet diaper. I am truly blessed to have such a happy, easy going little boy! We did however run into difficulty breastfeeding. He was a great "latcher" from the beginning but come his first doctor’s appointment, I was informed that he had barely gained back any of his birth weight. In fact he had only gained 1 ounce in 5 days of exclusive breast feeding. Poor little hungry boy. She recommended supplementing with formula until my milk “came in”. Well, I don’t think it ever really came in. Not in quantities that would ever satisfy this constant hungry baby bird. So I pumped and fed home bottles for the next 3 days until a follow Doctor's appointment. He steadily gained weight, 8lbs 5oz, 8lbs 10oz, 9lbs 2oz, until his one month appointment where he weighed a whopping 11lbs 8oz! While I feel disappointed that I haven’t been able to exclusively breastfeed, he seems to be thriving on formula. Sometimes you just gotta cut your losses and move on to the next challenge. Otherwise, things have been going really well. It has been a very steep learning curve, and there have been many tears shed…especially at the beginning. But when I look at him now and he gives me a little smile, all the worry and sleepless nights have been worth it. At times, I still find myself in shock that I have a baby. I guess because I spent so many years without one! Sometimes I’ll be pushing the grocery cart through a store, look down to see the car seat, and say to myself “who put this baby in my cart?!” Ha-Ha You’d think after giving birth to him, his presence in my life would be very believable and hard to forget!!! lol
I’ve been taking pictures of him every week and documenting his days in a baby book. It’s incredible to see how he changes from week to week, not only in appearance but also in development. One day he goes from smiling randomly (gas) to smiling when he see's our face. And now he focuses on his crib mobile and has little discussions with the dangling objects, kicking his feet and cooing with delight. So I think as with the pregnancy, I'd like to continue adding to this baby blog on a monthly basis. It’s a neat way to document his milestones with stories and photos…and will be a great memento for Bryce to read in the future!
