Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Welcome baby!


Hooray, our new baby finally arrived!  HH got an extra-special Father's Day this year and became a father of four.  She is sweet and tiny, eats and sleeps like a champ, and goes through a lot of diapers, the perfect little baby.

While the guess date was Wednesday the 12th, of course this baby wasn't going to come that day or any sooner.  My trend is late when it comes to having babies.  Saturday night I suspected I might go into labor soon and let my doula and babysitter know, with the disclaimer that it all might come to nothing.  I slept maybe four hours that night because the little contractions kept waking me up.  Sunday morning dawned (literally and for me) at 5 am, and I knew this was the day!  I didn't anticipate how long it would take.

We called the poor babysitter at 5 am and left for the hospital at 6:30.  I wasn't very far along, and labor was taking it's sweet time to kick in.  I was very anxious about getting to the hospital quickly this time around because my last labor took a whooping three hours start to finish, and I needed to get antibiotics for GBS, something I've never had to do before.  So we got to the hospital too early, really, but they thankfully didn't send us home.  My nurse said she thinks my labor really started at 10 am.

This was by far my most enjoyable birthing experience.  The contractions came far enough apart that I was able to relax through them.  My husband is the most amazing birthing partner a woman could ask for.  He comforts me in all the right ways, says the right things, is there for me in the perfect way.  We also had a woman who is working on her doula certification accompany us and I enjoyed her presence and help immensely.  The real labor pain didn't hit until 20 or 30 minutes before the baby was out, but man!!!  I don't think it will ever cease to amaze me how painfully intense it is to birth a baby.

Throughout the labor I avoided being checked because my mental game was going well and I didn't want to hear that I hadn't progressed far.  Finally I had my midwife check me.  I was at a 9.  She said, "Run around the room once and you'll be at a 10."  I went to the bathroom instead (for the 27th time; I don't think that's much of an exaggeration), where my water broke over the toilet (so convenient!), and I was ready to get the baby out.  Ugh.  I truly dislike that part.  Apparently I was pushing too hard or fast because the midwife said, "Honey, you've got to slow down," to which I replied, "I don't think I know how to do that."  I stopped though, and then I remember people telling me to push.  Talk about mixed signals! :)  Out she came, and my midwife complimented me on the umbilical cord my body grew for my baby.  It was no big deal, really.

Eleanor Deehr was born at 3:43 pm weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and measuring 19 3/4 inches.  Her head and chest were 13 inches circumference, I believe.  Newborns are just the most precious things.  I can't believe how tiny she is and yet that she was in my body only three days ago.

My original plan was to stay in the hospital only 24 hours, but I decided to stay another night to get more rest.  I am finally wising up.  This decision to stay has rocked our little newborn world, though.  That evening, a nurse discovered a heart murmur.  Now, this will probably come to nothing.  The doctor that saw her that evening said that 75% of children have a murmur between the ages of 0 and 10.  That's a big majority!  Sometime they are never heard because the child doesn't go to the doctor when the murmur is present.  But the doctor ordered an EKG and an echocardiogram (I think I have the name wrong, but it's an ultrasound of the heart).  Tuesday morning came and they said we might have to wait until early afternoon to get it done, but luckily they were able to do it at 11:30.  And then we waited for a pediatric cardiologist at a different hospital to read the results, thinking this would take a couple of hours. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited and finally around 5:30 that evening the pediatrician said he would discharge us because the murmur probably isn't something to be too concerned about.  He gave me some signs to look for if Eleanor's health is declining and said that he would call me the next morning if the results looked more negative than positive.  No call yet, so I'm crossing my fingers that he 1) got the results and 2) doesn't feel a need to call me.  Eleanor's pediatrician will discuss the results with us at her appointment tomorrow.  I'm of course a little worried, but with my extremely practical nature, it's hard for me to worry about a hypothetical.  I can worry about realities, but not possibilities.

Nora during her echo. She was a very well-behaved baby.

So while I was getting pretty bored at the hospital there the last four or five hours, I will say that it was lovely to get lots of good rest, snuggle up with my baby, and have a milkshake for every lunch and dinner.  And because I am now withdrawing from my milkshake splurge, I finished off the last of the three ice cream sandwiches. Sorry HH and kids.  But I figured after having the first one that I couldn't leave just two.  We have three kids; they would only fight over the last two.  So my beneficent self consumed the last three in order to avoid kerfuffles.  A job well done, I think. 

P.S. I am so bummed because there is a great picture of Jonas, baby and myself that I can't get to upload, but I will keep trying!
 

Look at these toes!!!  They are so long. 

HH is the BEST daddy and gave her her first bath.

Moo loving on baby.  The older siblings adore our little one.

I tried to learn to swaddle Nora as well as the nurses, but I don't think I'm quite up to par.





This is our doula.  She was great!



4 comments:

Michael Family said...

Congratulations! We need more pictures, she is so cute! I'm glad the murmur is not that big of a deal (hopefully). And I agree, staying an extra night in the hospital is awesome!

Amy said...

Ooooh such a sweet little girl! Glad your birthing experience was so great. I have and never will understand moms who are anxious to get out of the hospital, so I'm glad you took the extra day! But that is probably because I get an automatic 3 days :) Enjoy those newborn snuggles!

Trina said...

Congratulations on your cute new baby!!! I am glad everything went well! And awesome blog! I love it!

Tawny Crane said...

Umm I wonder how you got your birthing story posted so quickly. I am still working on mine 3 months later :)
She looks perfect. I hope things keep going smoothly for you. Take care.