Meeting Papaw
Meeting Aunt Becca
Meeting Mamaw
"Say Wha-?!?!"
This is how we usually spend our days...
She got her mommie's feet... poor thing.
A Wildcat born and bred
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Meeting Papaw and Mamaw (and Aunt Becca too!!)
When Remie was 2 weeks old, her Mamaw, Papaw, and Aunt Becca came to visit. Aunt Becca brought her camera and took some amazing pictures. Enjoy!!
How it all started...
Okay, so maybe not how ALL of it started, but I figured I should document how Remie entered the world, if for no other reason than to use it against her some day. (I KID! I KID!)
Remie was due September 7th, a Friday. I really enjoyed the whooshing sound as that day came and went with no baby, not even a stupid contraction. Josh spent most of the day (and the next week) texting me from work asking if I was feeling anything. I died a little every time I sent him back a negative message knowing how much it disappointed him.
Our midwife scheduled our induction for 7:30am on September 14th, a week over the due date. I had wanted to avoid as many interventions as possible, but we had been stalled at 1cm and 70% effaced for a month. My body was not making any move to let go of this baby. So induction it was. We got to the hospital, checked in, they placed my IV line and got me settled into my labor room by 8:30am.
The midwife (who was not my normal midwife since they rotate shifts) came in and asked what kind of induction I wanted. My midwife had told me they would just do the pitocin, so having options was exciting. I opted for the cytotec since it was the least dramatic of the options before me, and I would be able to get up and walk and deal with contraction pain after 30 minutes.
The cytotec did its job wonderfully. Four hours later, I was dilated to 3cm, and was having strong, consistent contractions. We decided to let my body continue to do its thing from here and the midwife came back 4 hours later. No advance, still 3cm. The midwife swept my membranes (without asking. OW.) and said she would be back later to check on me.
Four more hours, no progress. The new midwife suggested we start the pitocin. She suggested I eat before we start, so I did. I had already puked once from the pain, so I was running on empty and food sounded AMAZING. Bad decision. They plugged me into the pit drip at the lowest setting, but still no progress. They upped the drip a bit, and the pain got ridiculous, and I puked again (with some choking this time to top things off) but no progress. They tried backing off the pit, but the pain remained unbearable. The contractions were excruciating and never ending. I threw in the proverbial towel and asked for pain relief 17 hours after we had started this whole process.
Once the drugs were on board, I was finally able to sleep. I had pretty bad tremors from the drugs, but sleep was so good. I could still feel the contractions, but not in a painful way. I was so out of it, I kept asking Josh to get up and push the button for more drugs which was right by my head.
The next midwife stopped by to check me and I had progressed to 9cm! We were moving forward! I vaguely remember my water breaking at some point, but it's fuzzy. They let me go a while longer, then at 11am Saturday morning, the midwife came back to check me. She lifted the blanket and said "I see the head! Want to have a baby?"
I pushed for an hour and a half (my pushing/breathing technique impressed the nurses. Thanks swimmer lungs!), then I produced the most perfect ball of goopy joy I've ever seen. I held her and nursed her while the midwife worked on removing the placenta, which came out without event. Since Remie came out with her hand up by her face (still her favorite position) I had a 2nd degree tear, which the midwife stitched while I watched the nurses and Josh wash and examine our baby girl. She initially had some minor breathing issue, but it is common in babies born at altitude and resolved itself quickly.
They brought her back to me, we tried nursing some more, and I was cleaned up and prepped for my move to the family room upstairs. There was some delay in the room prep, so we weren't in the room until 3:30pm or so. Once we got there, we were given a stack of papers to fill out, and we called friends to bring us food.
The family room at the hospital was a joke. The idea is that it's a calm and relaxing place for you to bond with your child and enjoy your new family. I don't know how they expect you to do that when you're being interrupted every 5 minutes for something. We didn't sleep that night, and neither did Remie. The next morning I was a crying, sobbing mess. The nurse came in to introduce herself after the shift change and she asked how we were doing. Commence uncontrollable sobbing. She was amazing and posted a note on the door that no one was to enter without checking with her first.
Guess how many people listened. None. The vital records lady stopped by. The lactation consultant stopped by (while the baby was out for testing, so that was useful). More nurses stopped in. The pediatrician stopped in. The hearing test had to be redone. It was absolute chaos. Commence MORE crying, both for me and Remie.
We eventually asked to be discharged that day. Remie and I were both given clean bills of health, so we wanted to go home where we weren't going to be pestered every time we were thisclose to falling asleep. So home we went.
So that's about it for now. It's not the happiest of stories, and it certainly isn't what I had planned, but the end result, this perfect, beautiful, fussy, sleep-refusing baby, is what matters. She's here and we're finally a family :)
Remie was due September 7th, a Friday. I really enjoyed the whooshing sound as that day came and went with no baby, not even a stupid contraction. Josh spent most of the day (and the next week) texting me from work asking if I was feeling anything. I died a little every time I sent him back a negative message knowing how much it disappointed him.
Our midwife scheduled our induction for 7:30am on September 14th, a week over the due date. I had wanted to avoid as many interventions as possible, but we had been stalled at 1cm and 70% effaced for a month. My body was not making any move to let go of this baby. So induction it was. We got to the hospital, checked in, they placed my IV line and got me settled into my labor room by 8:30am.
The midwife (who was not my normal midwife since they rotate shifts) came in and asked what kind of induction I wanted. My midwife had told me they would just do the pitocin, so having options was exciting. I opted for the cytotec since it was the least dramatic of the options before me, and I would be able to get up and walk and deal with contraction pain after 30 minutes.
The cytotec did its job wonderfully. Four hours later, I was dilated to 3cm, and was having strong, consistent contractions. We decided to let my body continue to do its thing from here and the midwife came back 4 hours later. No advance, still 3cm. The midwife swept my membranes (without asking. OW.) and said she would be back later to check on me.
Four more hours, no progress. The new midwife suggested we start the pitocin. She suggested I eat before we start, so I did. I had already puked once from the pain, so I was running on empty and food sounded AMAZING. Bad decision. They plugged me into the pit drip at the lowest setting, but still no progress. They upped the drip a bit, and the pain got ridiculous, and I puked again (with some choking this time to top things off) but no progress. They tried backing off the pit, but the pain remained unbearable. The contractions were excruciating and never ending. I threw in the proverbial towel and asked for pain relief 17 hours after we had started this whole process.
Once the drugs were on board, I was finally able to sleep. I had pretty bad tremors from the drugs, but sleep was so good. I could still feel the contractions, but not in a painful way. I was so out of it, I kept asking Josh to get up and push the button for more drugs which was right by my head.
The next midwife stopped by to check me and I had progressed to 9cm! We were moving forward! I vaguely remember my water breaking at some point, but it's fuzzy. They let me go a while longer, then at 11am Saturday morning, the midwife came back to check me. She lifted the blanket and said "I see the head! Want to have a baby?"
I pushed for an hour and a half (my pushing/breathing technique impressed the nurses. Thanks swimmer lungs!), then I produced the most perfect ball of goopy joy I've ever seen. I held her and nursed her while the midwife worked on removing the placenta, which came out without event. Since Remie came out with her hand up by her face (still her favorite position) I had a 2nd degree tear, which the midwife stitched while I watched the nurses and Josh wash and examine our baby girl. She initially had some minor breathing issue, but it is common in babies born at altitude and resolved itself quickly.
They brought her back to me, we tried nursing some more, and I was cleaned up and prepped for my move to the family room upstairs. There was some delay in the room prep, so we weren't in the room until 3:30pm or so. Once we got there, we were given a stack of papers to fill out, and we called friends to bring us food.
The family room at the hospital was a joke. The idea is that it's a calm and relaxing place for you to bond with your child and enjoy your new family. I don't know how they expect you to do that when you're being interrupted every 5 minutes for something. We didn't sleep that night, and neither did Remie. The next morning I was a crying, sobbing mess. The nurse came in to introduce herself after the shift change and she asked how we were doing. Commence uncontrollable sobbing. She was amazing and posted a note on the door that no one was to enter without checking with her first.
Guess how many people listened. None. The vital records lady stopped by. The lactation consultant stopped by (while the baby was out for testing, so that was useful). More nurses stopped in. The pediatrician stopped in. The hearing test had to be redone. It was absolute chaos. Commence MORE crying, both for me and Remie.
We eventually asked to be discharged that day. Remie and I were both given clean bills of health, so we wanted to go home where we weren't going to be pestered every time we were thisclose to falling asleep. So home we went.
So that's about it for now. It's not the happiest of stories, and it certainly isn't what I had planned, but the end result, this perfect, beautiful, fussy, sleep-refusing baby, is what matters. She's here and we're finally a family :)
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