It took me a while to get back on the computer after leaving the hospital. Cece's almost 2 weeks old now. But here's the birth story!
Introducing:
Cecilia Ivy
Born April 6, 2010 at 3:18 pm.
6lbs, 3oz and 18.25" long.
On Monday night April 5, around 7 pm, I began having contractions. I didn't know what they were at first, though, and honestly thought that I just had pretty bad gas. When Chris got home from work shortly thereafter, we went for a walk. I had sporadic contractions throughout the walk, but because they weren't becoming more regular, I didn't really think anything of it.
Around 9 pm I began to pay closer attention to the contractions, and found that they were coming a little more regularly, but still more than 6 or 7 minutes apart. By 11pm, I was waking Chris up to start timing them with me, as they were getting even more regular. We timed the contractions until 1 am on Tuesday, when we decided it was time to go ahead and go to the hospital. By this point they were regularly 3-5 minutes apart and lasting around a minute each.
Once at the hospital, I was checked. I'd been 2-3 cm dilated for a few weeks already, so when I was checked during admission and was at 5-6, I took it as a good sign that I really was going to have my baby soon. But, it became apparent very quickly that there was a problem-- my blood pressure, which had been quite low throughout pregnancy, was really high, like mid 190s over mid 110s. And there was protein in my urine. So, the fear of preeclampsia became very real very quickly. I was admitted and we were brought to a labor and delivery room, where we'd remain for the next 12 hours or so. Unfortunately, my own OB was out of town, so we were dealing with the on-call OB from the practice.
Our birth plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, without medication, intervention, or unnecessary procedures. However, the possibility of preeclampsia made us stray from that plan almost from the get go. With the fear of preeclampsia fresh in our minds, we had our first big decision - The doctor recommended that I get an epidural, because it would help to bring my pressure down (through pain management). After Chris and I deliberated for a bit, we decided that it was probably a good idea. By this point, all we could think of was what would keep our baby safe and keep me safe and it was a compromise that we were willing to make (particularly with the looming possibility of the C-section cure to the BP too). Once I had the epidural and a dose of blood pressure medication, the pressure started to come down. The treatment for BP as high as mine was typically includes a hefty dose of Magnesium Sulfate, followed by a slow drip over the next 24 hours, but our nurses were great and knew that we wanted to balance intervention and medication with the natural progression. They suggested that we only do the drip, and to couple it with about twice the volume of IV fluids, so that more of it passes straight through, and there's less groggy baby syndrome afterward. And happily, it worked exactly like it was supposed to.
So, with my pressure down and the pain block in place, I labored for a couple of hours and got to 7 cm dilated and completely effaced by 10 am. Cecilia was still at a -2 station, and my bag of waters was bulging out of my cervix. At that time, the doctor suggested breaking my water to get things moving along. Again, her biggest concern was getting Cecilia moving so that I could avoid preeclampsia and having an emergency C-section. We agreed and my water was broken a little after 10.
By 12:45 I was fully dilated and ready to push. We got going right then and I got her down to near crowning. We could see and feel the (large amount of) hair on her head poking out. But my contractions were starting to lessen at this point; they were about half the strength they had been and continued to peter out (I think it was from so much medication in my system). Our options were also starting to get slimmer, as I had been pushing for 2 hours and her head had been in the canal for pretty much that entire time. The options quickly became a C-section or an episiotomy and a little bit of help from the vacuum pump to get her head out. We opted for door number two, and the rest is history. With a snip and a very judicious application of the vacuum, Cecilia Ivy was born at 3:18 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz at birth (she's at 5 lbs 12 oz now), and measures 18.25" in length. She was amazingly alert from the moment she came out, tracking everyone and everything with her eyes. She snuggled skin-to-skin on me for an hour or so, and even latched on to my breast for a good 20 minutes of that time.
I'm still a little bit sad that our natural birth went out the window, and that we had to have the interventions. But the bottom line is that Cecilia needed to come out healthily, and needed a healthy mama who wasn't having seizures or stroking out during birth. And, all along, Chris and I agreed that we were more concerned with what happened postpartum over the actual labor and delivery, since we knew we had to be realistic with my chronic illnesses. Happily, we got everything we were looking for postpartum. We were able to transition into recovery with Cecilia and avoid her spending lots of time in the nursery. Our pediatrician signed off on the injection of vitamin K, the erithromycin ointment, and the rest of the routine procedures we did not want to do. The nursing staff was absolutely great, and has respected our wishes completely.
And Cecilia couldn't possibly be more perfect! She is so amazingly beautiful, and amazingly sweet and laid back. Our gorgeous little girl loves to snuggle and follows both Chris' and my voice around when she hears us. She spends most of her time snuggled in one of our arms, and I absolutely can't sleep without her.
She eats pretty well, though nursing is still an uphill battle (I had a breast reduction 10 years ago). We're still learning how much to supplement with our donated breast milk; currently she takes around 4 oz of supplemental milk a day, on top of what she gets from my breasts. There was apparently more tissue damage to my right breast than my left; that nipple is very hard to get her latched onto, so most of the time I nurse her on the left and pump and feed her what comes from the right. Yesterday at the doctors she had gained 3 ounces from when we were in on Monday, and the doctor was happy with that gain. I will still give her more supplement if she seems to want more food, the 4 oz a day is a minimum at this point.
Sleep deprivation is...wow, really hard. I guess I underestimated how tired and worn out I would be! But last night wasn't quite as hard as the previous, so maybe I'm getting used to it?
Anyway, enough talk from me. Here are a couple of pictures!
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...3/cecebath.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...eceswaddle.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...uce-noname.jpg
(it looks weird at the bottom cause I blurred out our last name
)
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nai13/cece.jpg
She gets more and more beautiful with every passing day. God, I am so in love!
Introducing:
Cecilia Ivy
Born April 6, 2010 at 3:18 pm.
6lbs, 3oz and 18.25" long.
On Monday night April 5, around 7 pm, I began having contractions. I didn't know what they were at first, though, and honestly thought that I just had pretty bad gas. When Chris got home from work shortly thereafter, we went for a walk. I had sporadic contractions throughout the walk, but because they weren't becoming more regular, I didn't really think anything of it.
Around 9 pm I began to pay closer attention to the contractions, and found that they were coming a little more regularly, but still more than 6 or 7 minutes apart. By 11pm, I was waking Chris up to start timing them with me, as they were getting even more regular. We timed the contractions until 1 am on Tuesday, when we decided it was time to go ahead and go to the hospital. By this point they were regularly 3-5 minutes apart and lasting around a minute each.
Once at the hospital, I was checked. I'd been 2-3 cm dilated for a few weeks already, so when I was checked during admission and was at 5-6, I took it as a good sign that I really was going to have my baby soon. But, it became apparent very quickly that there was a problem-- my blood pressure, which had been quite low throughout pregnancy, was really high, like mid 190s over mid 110s. And there was protein in my urine. So, the fear of preeclampsia became very real very quickly. I was admitted and we were brought to a labor and delivery room, where we'd remain for the next 12 hours or so. Unfortunately, my own OB was out of town, so we were dealing with the on-call OB from the practice.
Our birth plan was to have as natural a birth as possible, without medication, intervention, or unnecessary procedures. However, the possibility of preeclampsia made us stray from that plan almost from the get go. With the fear of preeclampsia fresh in our minds, we had our first big decision - The doctor recommended that I get an epidural, because it would help to bring my pressure down (through pain management). After Chris and I deliberated for a bit, we decided that it was probably a good idea. By this point, all we could think of was what would keep our baby safe and keep me safe and it was a compromise that we were willing to make (particularly with the looming possibility of the C-section cure to the BP too). Once I had the epidural and a dose of blood pressure medication, the pressure started to come down. The treatment for BP as high as mine was typically includes a hefty dose of Magnesium Sulfate, followed by a slow drip over the next 24 hours, but our nurses were great and knew that we wanted to balance intervention and medication with the natural progression. They suggested that we only do the drip, and to couple it with about twice the volume of IV fluids, so that more of it passes straight through, and there's less groggy baby syndrome afterward. And happily, it worked exactly like it was supposed to.
So, with my pressure down and the pain block in place, I labored for a couple of hours and got to 7 cm dilated and completely effaced by 10 am. Cecilia was still at a -2 station, and my bag of waters was bulging out of my cervix. At that time, the doctor suggested breaking my water to get things moving along. Again, her biggest concern was getting Cecilia moving so that I could avoid preeclampsia and having an emergency C-section. We agreed and my water was broken a little after 10.
By 12:45 I was fully dilated and ready to push. We got going right then and I got her down to near crowning. We could see and feel the (large amount of) hair on her head poking out. But my contractions were starting to lessen at this point; they were about half the strength they had been and continued to peter out (I think it was from so much medication in my system). Our options were also starting to get slimmer, as I had been pushing for 2 hours and her head had been in the canal for pretty much that entire time. The options quickly became a C-section or an episiotomy and a little bit of help from the vacuum pump to get her head out. We opted for door number two, and the rest is history. With a snip and a very judicious application of the vacuum, Cecilia Ivy was born at 3:18 pm. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz at birth (she's at 5 lbs 12 oz now), and measures 18.25" in length. She was amazingly alert from the moment she came out, tracking everyone and everything with her eyes. She snuggled skin-to-skin on me for an hour or so, and even latched on to my breast for a good 20 minutes of that time.
I'm still a little bit sad that our natural birth went out the window, and that we had to have the interventions. But the bottom line is that Cecilia needed to come out healthily, and needed a healthy mama who wasn't having seizures or stroking out during birth. And, all along, Chris and I agreed that we were more concerned with what happened postpartum over the actual labor and delivery, since we knew we had to be realistic with my chronic illnesses. Happily, we got everything we were looking for postpartum. We were able to transition into recovery with Cecilia and avoid her spending lots of time in the nursery. Our pediatrician signed off on the injection of vitamin K, the erithromycin ointment, and the rest of the routine procedures we did not want to do. The nursing staff was absolutely great, and has respected our wishes completely.
And Cecilia couldn't possibly be more perfect! She is so amazingly beautiful, and amazingly sweet and laid back. Our gorgeous little girl loves to snuggle and follows both Chris' and my voice around when she hears us. She spends most of her time snuggled in one of our arms, and I absolutely can't sleep without her.
She eats pretty well, though nursing is still an uphill battle (I had a breast reduction 10 years ago). We're still learning how much to supplement with our donated breast milk; currently she takes around 4 oz of supplemental milk a day, on top of what she gets from my breasts. There was apparently more tissue damage to my right breast than my left; that nipple is very hard to get her latched onto, so most of the time I nurse her on the left and pump and feed her what comes from the right. Yesterday at the doctors she had gained 3 ounces from when we were in on Monday, and the doctor was happy with that gain. I will still give her more supplement if she seems to want more food, the 4 oz a day is a minimum at this point.
Sleep deprivation is...wow, really hard. I guess I underestimated how tired and worn out I would be! But last night wasn't quite as hard as the previous, so maybe I'm getting used to it?
Anyway, enough talk from me. Here are a couple of pictures!
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...3/cecebath.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...eceswaddle.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...uce-noname.jpg
(it looks weird at the bottom cause I blurred out our last name
)http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nai13/cece.jpg
She gets more and more beautiful with every passing day. God, I am so in love!
