My how time flies and lives change forever! SC and I just shared a laugh realizing that I blogged at 6:54 on Sunday night. Well here is the rest of the story. The contractions began to increase in frequency so much so, that we called the doctor and she said to come on in, something was happening. We arrived at the hospital around 9ish and got checked in, SC was still only dilated 3cm, the same amount from the doctors visit on Friday. The nurse said she could tell clearly something was happening but we need to be a little further along to know that labor was occurring…
They wanted us to walk around to see what would happen. And by walk around, take laps around hospital. I felt like I was in a bad Nascar race, we did about 80 laps around Labor and Delivery wing at Rex, I know what nurses have birthdays in March, some new leadership programs that you can ask Eillene about, and some dinner on pre mature births that costs $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. After two hours and 80 laps things were still where they were when we arrived, 3cms, the good news was that the baby was doing great. Something was happening but we could wait for it to happen at home, so they kicked us out.
As any of you can imagine, a certain someone was not pleased with this, and at this point contractions were starting to increase in pain. Back at home, they were kind enough to giver her an Ambien to help her rest so she was sleeping between contractions, I was not. Around 3 she woke up and thought that getting into the shower may help comfort her a little. Not more than 3 minutes into the warm soothing shower, the bag of waters broke, hot damn, this is happening. A quick call to the doctor told us what we had been waiting to hear, the process was beginning and get back to the hospital.
The contractions were intensifying in pain while the time between was diminishing. The short walk from the car to the entrance doors allowed 4 contractions to occur and SC was in a lot of discomfort. At about 4:00am we checked back into the same room as before and had the same nurse, Ashley was incredible, I am not sure who enjoyed who the most us or her. You may recall that SC was going to try and do this au natural without the aid of epidural. As Ashley confirmed this was still our decision SC said she wanted the juice. I simply asked her if she wanted to get through a few more contractions before she decided, with the same conviction of Linda Blairs head spinning around and green vomit projecting out her mouth, she assured me that it was time for the juice.
Around 5ish, and please note that all times are estimates and may not be to scale since there was a lot of stuff happening, the epi was in and SC was happy. At our first visit to the hospital, we were like Abbott and Costello, SC was the straight guy and I was the funny one. After the epi, our roles seemed to shift, SC became the funny man, and I was the straight guy. The epi clearly achieved its goal of totally relaxing her. Around 6, we finally got the word that the pushing could commence and so it was. Ashley asked if I wanted to see the baby. I was positioned on SC’s left side at her waist with her legs in the proverbial stir-ups, I thought I was more than close enough to the action and politely declined a front row seat to the origins of the world. Ashley, said that she had a head full of hair and that was all I needed to hear, I quickly assumed my front row seat and could see the babies head, had a good ways to come yet, but I could clearly see that she had a lot of hair. I manned the left leg during the pushing process and helped Ashley with encouragement of the pushing.
The doctor came in around 7:15 we were getting closer. If you recall, at the OB/GYN they make you see all the doctors because your regular doctor is never on call when you deliver… Our doctor was on call. Dr. Fisher was amazing, I had gotten to know her throughout the process, but in the Birthing Room, she was no nonsense and I think SC was glad it was her. SC inquired as to when the vacuum would come out, after all she had been pushing for over an hour. Doc said that first timers get to push for 2 hours before other measures were employed so keep doing what you are doing. Watching the baby girl proceed down and out was an incredible experience one that I will never forget.
At 7:40a.m. March 23, 2009 Emily Grace Crawford entered the world at 8lbs 1oz 21 ½ inches long and a head full of black hair. She came into the world with her eyes wide open. I thought she would be smaller and more blue. Her first APGAR score was a 7, 5 is normal; her next one was a 9, she still had some blueness in her hands and feet. I had seen a miracle. Mom and baby did great.
The first night in the hospital was unique and offered up its on set of challenges and opportunities. Our baby girl got her lungs around 2:30am I would guess. Before that her lungs still had plenty of amniotic fluid in them so her cries were short and sweet. That was no longer the case. Folks had said that we should not let her spend the night in the nursery while at the hospital because it would give us an opportunity to learn her habits early. The nurse quickly relinquished us of that absurd idea. She said that the kids first 36 hours or so are the most challenging because of the many changes the baby is going through, allowing her to go to nursery would allow us to catch our breath and get a little rest. Needless to say we did not get much sleep that night, combined with the no sleep the night before, I was pooped. The second night was somewhat better, we kept her in the room and she did a lot better than the previous night. SC was and is doing an amazing job, I love to watch her and the baby.
My first dirty diaper was an experience that Emily would probably like to forget. It was about 20 minutes that seemed like a lifetime. She had a massive bowel movement, there was the poop everywhere, even in places it did not belong. On top of that, my first time out of the gate, I was offered a massive spit-up at the same time, I pleaded with her that she should wait a little while before having the both end blues and this is not a nice way to thank me for the next 18 years that I am legally bound for her care.
I don’t think we both can say enough about the nurses and other staff at the hospital. They were great, very knowledgeable and ready to answer any questions. I am sure SC will have some more to add about the process and all. We are now at home and trying to rest comfortably. At about 11pm last night I hit the proverbial wall and had to crash. The new one did awesome last night, she ate at 12:30am, 3:30am, and 6:30am and that was it, not a peep otherwise. SC took care of the feedings obviously since I got nothing to offer there at this juncture. I assume that at some point we will pump some milk once we get a little more experience then I will be able to help out.
I cant tell you how grateful we are to all our friends and family. My mom has offered to stay for a week or so to help SC out around the house so she is not alone at first, and then I think SC’s mom will do the same. Emily is plain awesome, we laid in the bed this morning and just hung out. There is no doubt this will be one of the hardest things we ever do in our lives, but the reward will be unmatched. I assume that one day I will stop having the desire to just hold her and look at her and give her little kisses, though who knows, I may not.
They wanted us to walk around to see what would happen. And by walk around, take laps around hospital. I felt like I was in a bad Nascar race, we did about 80 laps around Labor and Delivery wing at Rex, I know what nurses have birthdays in March, some new leadership programs that you can ask Eillene about, and some dinner on pre mature births that costs $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers. After two hours and 80 laps things were still where they were when we arrived, 3cms, the good news was that the baby was doing great. Something was happening but we could wait for it to happen at home, so they kicked us out.
As any of you can imagine, a certain someone was not pleased with this, and at this point contractions were starting to increase in pain. Back at home, they were kind enough to giver her an Ambien to help her rest so she was sleeping between contractions, I was not. Around 3 she woke up and thought that getting into the shower may help comfort her a little. Not more than 3 minutes into the warm soothing shower, the bag of waters broke, hot damn, this is happening. A quick call to the doctor told us what we had been waiting to hear, the process was beginning and get back to the hospital.
The contractions were intensifying in pain while the time between was diminishing. The short walk from the car to the entrance doors allowed 4 contractions to occur and SC was in a lot of discomfort. At about 4:00am we checked back into the same room as before and had the same nurse, Ashley was incredible, I am not sure who enjoyed who the most us or her. You may recall that SC was going to try and do this au natural without the aid of epidural. As Ashley confirmed this was still our decision SC said she wanted the juice. I simply asked her if she wanted to get through a few more contractions before she decided, with the same conviction of Linda Blairs head spinning around and green vomit projecting out her mouth, she assured me that it was time for the juice.
Around 5ish, and please note that all times are estimates and may not be to scale since there was a lot of stuff happening, the epi was in and SC was happy. At our first visit to the hospital, we were like Abbott and Costello, SC was the straight guy and I was the funny one. After the epi, our roles seemed to shift, SC became the funny man, and I was the straight guy. The epi clearly achieved its goal of totally relaxing her. Around 6, we finally got the word that the pushing could commence and so it was. Ashley asked if I wanted to see the baby. I was positioned on SC’s left side at her waist with her legs in the proverbial stir-ups, I thought I was more than close enough to the action and politely declined a front row seat to the origins of the world. Ashley, said that she had a head full of hair and that was all I needed to hear, I quickly assumed my front row seat and could see the babies head, had a good ways to come yet, but I could clearly see that she had a lot of hair. I manned the left leg during the pushing process and helped Ashley with encouragement of the pushing.
The doctor came in around 7:15 we were getting closer. If you recall, at the OB/GYN they make you see all the doctors because your regular doctor is never on call when you deliver… Our doctor was on call. Dr. Fisher was amazing, I had gotten to know her throughout the process, but in the Birthing Room, she was no nonsense and I think SC was glad it was her. SC inquired as to when the vacuum would come out, after all she had been pushing for over an hour. Doc said that first timers get to push for 2 hours before other measures were employed so keep doing what you are doing. Watching the baby girl proceed down and out was an incredible experience one that I will never forget.
At 7:40a.m. March 23, 2009 Emily Grace Crawford entered the world at 8lbs 1oz 21 ½ inches long and a head full of black hair. She came into the world with her eyes wide open. I thought she would be smaller and more blue. Her first APGAR score was a 7, 5 is normal; her next one was a 9, she still had some blueness in her hands and feet. I had seen a miracle. Mom and baby did great.
The first night in the hospital was unique and offered up its on set of challenges and opportunities. Our baby girl got her lungs around 2:30am I would guess. Before that her lungs still had plenty of amniotic fluid in them so her cries were short and sweet. That was no longer the case. Folks had said that we should not let her spend the night in the nursery while at the hospital because it would give us an opportunity to learn her habits early. The nurse quickly relinquished us of that absurd idea. She said that the kids first 36 hours or so are the most challenging because of the many changes the baby is going through, allowing her to go to nursery would allow us to catch our breath and get a little rest. Needless to say we did not get much sleep that night, combined with the no sleep the night before, I was pooped. The second night was somewhat better, we kept her in the room and she did a lot better than the previous night. SC was and is doing an amazing job, I love to watch her and the baby.
My first dirty diaper was an experience that Emily would probably like to forget. It was about 20 minutes that seemed like a lifetime. She had a massive bowel movement, there was the poop everywhere, even in places it did not belong. On top of that, my first time out of the gate, I was offered a massive spit-up at the same time, I pleaded with her that she should wait a little while before having the both end blues and this is not a nice way to thank me for the next 18 years that I am legally bound for her care.
I don’t think we both can say enough about the nurses and other staff at the hospital. They were great, very knowledgeable and ready to answer any questions. I am sure SC will have some more to add about the process and all. We are now at home and trying to rest comfortably. At about 11pm last night I hit the proverbial wall and had to crash. The new one did awesome last night, she ate at 12:30am, 3:30am, and 6:30am and that was it, not a peep otherwise. SC took care of the feedings obviously since I got nothing to offer there at this juncture. I assume that at some point we will pump some milk once we get a little more experience then I will be able to help out.
I cant tell you how grateful we are to all our friends and family. My mom has offered to stay for a week or so to help SC out around the house so she is not alone at first, and then I think SC’s mom will do the same. Emily is plain awesome, we laid in the bed this morning and just hung out. There is no doubt this will be one of the hardest things we ever do in our lives, but the reward will be unmatched. I assume that one day I will stop having the desire to just hold her and look at her and give her little kisses, though who knows, I may not.
1 comment:
what a beautiful post! I loved reading it and I'm sure Emily will enjoy reading it when she gets older. Congratulations again and please let us know if you need anything. Much love, Natalia & Co.
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