This is added Dec. 27, 2012, so as my memory allows I thought I would put in a good labor story (novel) for our blog. Is it weird that I LOVE reading other labor stories? They make me smile, wince, want to cry, feel awe, and excited for the birth of a new baby all at once.
I should start by saying that before I had kids I did not like them and when I got married I did not want any right away. But, I always knew I wanted to be a mom, and I was pretty sure I would like my own kids;). I was right! And I don't just love them, I think they are cute and fun (if not occasionally demanding and draining). I ADORE them.
Pregnancy with Cody was not bad at all. I was incredibly tired and had intense heartburn in the beginning, then I got medication and energy in my second trimester and was good to go. I had a textbook pregnancy with no complications, normal weight gain, and no complaints (except for a numb pulling feeling in my side that 5 different doctors pushed aside as normal. it was not normal but I took care of it myself with elective self-prescribed surgery before my third pregnancy and that problem is gone!). Although no shirt even had a prayer of covering my huge belly by the end. I had been training for a marathon when I found out I was pregnant. I asked my wise doctor if he thought it would be safe to run the race. He said it would probably be just fine, but did I want to blame myself if something did go wrong? I LOVE that advice and have used it for many decisions I have made and will make. I didn't run the race and I'm happy I didn't. (On that note, I don't understand excessive exercise in pregnancy. And really, I have plenty of time to run as many as I want to. Okay, maybe not plenty, but what is life all about anyway.)
Cody came 11 days early. I was working at a law firm in Logan, Utah. I loved that job. One of the attorneys I worked for was in tail end of a huge trial and it had been a lot of long nights and days of preparation. I loved it. Ben and I were also house sitting that week for one of the attorneys who had tons of alpacas. So I wasn't totally ready for little Cody to come when he decided to enter the world!
One of the attorneys was just adamant the whole time that if my water broke I was to announce 'wet and wild'. With it being so rare, what are the odds that my water actually broke, at work? Sure enough, wet and wild! I was the only one in the office at lunch time manning the whole place. Incidentally it was also a brand new office we had just moved into a day or two prior. At first I thought maybe my water broke, then I KNEW my water broke. I called my friend Catlin, the receptionist, to come in right away and borrowed a sweatshirt to sit on for the drive home! Ben came running home from school at USU and met me at our apartment as we grabbed our bags and drove to the hospital. I got situated and in a gown in the hospital before I even felt one contraction. Once they started they were so. intense.
I wanted to maybe do a natural birth but I just thought I would see how it goes. I now realize anyone wishy washy will definitely go with the drugs. Intense doesn't describe contractions. Why would you choose pain and suffering when you can choose fun and relaxing. I just don't understand. I can run a marathon to feel like a strong woman. (Part of me still wants to try it though:)!) We established that I wanted an epidural but there started to be some complications. A nurse who was there for the first hour or two mentioned that she wasn't surprised because things usually happened with my type. I asked her what she meant and she said something to the effect of 'with the rigid types that need things to go their way.' Even if I am that way, and I don't think I am, why would someone say that to a laboring woman? I glanced at Ben like, 'did she just...' Strange nurse. Luckily her shift ended.
The doctor came in and talked to me (I loved my doctor). I had preeclampsia- high blood pressure. It had been really low my whole pregnancy so this was unexpected. My white blood cell count was extremely low as a result. Ben gave me a blessing. The anesthesiologist came in and had a serious chat with me. He said that there were serious complications like paralysis among other things. It's not that I didn't care but I didn't feel like it was that serious for me and I told him just give it to me. Later my nurse even said he was way overboard with the seriousness.
Ben was so nervous but also very supportive. I can't imagine what he was thinking through all of this. After a long time, like not very much before Macey was born, he admitted it completely grossed him out, but it also stressed him out. When I started pushing the baby was stuck and the doctor had to use some sort of extractor deal that suctioned to his head. Ben got to cut the cord. Little Cody arrived! He had a huge hematoma on his little sweet head and was soo tiny. He was about the 15th baby to come that night in our busy Logan hospital.
He was 6 lbs. 3 oz. born around 11 pm. I completely loved him the second he came out. I tried to see what was going on with him but suddenly I felt weak and like I was going to faint. My blood pressure had plummeted from really high 100s to way under 100. Everything after that was strange. They put me on magnesium sulfate and couldn't take out my epidural needle thing because of my blood count and bleeding complications. So it was taped to my back. I started to have blurry vision because of the medicine. I couldn't get out of bed for a day or two because I didn't feel well. I Gained about 15 pounds during my three day stay in the hospital. For not having swelled much during pregnancy, I was surprised to see that my face, hands and feet were so puffy I didn't recognize them.
Finally after after a day or two my vision had cleared and I was feeling a little better. Ben had taken care of Cody for the first two full days by himself aside from nursing. I looked at him. He had never looked more tired in his entire life and I can't imagine he ever will. Looking at him snapped me back into reality. I told him I could take care of our new baby (ah!) and he should go lay down. I felt selfish for not being alert and helpful for the first two days of our baby's life.
Ben's side seems laced with excitement, stress and relief. After I had Cody instead of sleeping and getting rest he was helping care for a newborn throughout the night. Then he had to get up early and go take care of the alpacas and clean the house we were watching. He was in school. He had an interview at Washington State (where we ended up going to vet school:)!) just three days after Cody was born so he had to make arrangements and fly up there alone. He had a hormonal sick wife. He was juggling a lot.
Cody's temperature was really low so they stuck him next to me to warm him. It seemed to really help so I did it as often as I could. He seemed the most content snuggled right up to one of us.
We had several visitors in the hospital. Brent Hoggan was one of the first ones. He was an attorney at the law firm, with several beautiful horses at his house and is currently in the temple presidency. Amazing man. I actually bawled the whole time he was there from nothing other than new mother hormones and probably embarrassment that I was still in my hospital gown unshowered. Beau and Meredith came while I was covered up pumping. I'm pretty sure that was the most embarrassing thing that Beau has ever sat through. Luckily his wife had a baby three months later and it hopefully at least made a little more sense. My parents came. Tyler and Carly, newly engaged, came and Tyler mentioned years later that he was surprised at how much easier delivery seemed than when he saw me. I was bloated and immobile, so it was a fair observation. Ben's family all came at once with video cameras and cameras, a normal thing for an exciting time but with the lack of shower for a couple days (one of those days including labor) and the extra 15 pounds I was really not excited about pictures. It's kind of funny now that I think of it.
As we got ready to take our new bundle home I was surprised the hospital was going to let us. I had read every pregnancy book faithfully, but I realized I knew nothing about being a mother. Trial by fire? It seemed too risky. I kept waiting for the instructions on how to care for a human being and was disappointed when all they gave us was a dvd on how to properly install a carseat. But they sent us off.
Cody had jaundice pretty bad so a bed was delivered to our house that he was to stay in most of the day. His own personal tanning bed. Every day for a week we had to take him to the hospital to get his foot pricked and tested. My sweet mom stayed the first week with me. It was even her anniversary and my dad's birthday that week. She even made us a sweet valentine dinner on Valentine's Day. She would go with me to the hospital and carry in the carseat. The hardest part for me was walking from the parking lot to the office. I started pregnancy training for a marathon and now I could barely walk across a parking lot. I tried to pretend it was no big deal, but it was equally agonizing as a new hormonal mother watching them stab my baby's cold little foot and try to squeeze blood out while he cried. I was just beginning to understand what motherhood was going to teach me.
My older sister Becky came to our house and gave Cody his first bath and clipped his nails. She seemed so expert having had a baby 9 months prior. Would I get the hang of it I wondered?
Cody was such an animated, happy, fun baby. I am so lucky he is our first child. He was my first experience with parenting and he made every day sleep deprived but fun filled! While this is mostly about my experience, I'll leave it at this because the rest of our blog is about the results, and my take on being a MOM.
"Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be." -Zig Ziglar
No comments:
Post a Comment