The Compleat And Illustrated Tale of Nicholas Vu
In the grand tradition of Madison's and Zachary's birth stories, I now present Nicholas' story. This is complete with pics and exposition along the way, some of which might have been uploaded already. This time, there's more context! :)
Just as a refresher, here's a pic of me and Maddy at the end of May. I still looked like this on my due date of June 1. I did my usual stuff then, going to church in the morning, trying to clean up and prepare for the kaiju's arrival, that sort of thing. I drew the line at weeding the yard, though. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment!
On June 3 while at work, I had a sharp jab right around my floater ribs that stayed where it was for about ten to fifteen minutes, then eased up. About an hour and a half later, the stabbing pain returned. That made me think perhaps this was a contraction after all; I was already a little paranoid on June 1 when my lower back was aching throughout dinner. We proceeded with our usual routine at home, though I started calling neighbors informing them of the pain. It got worse and moved into my lower back as the evening progressed, so I paced the house after the kids went to bed, and finally close to 10 pm we asked one neighbor to come over and watch over the kids just in case something happened. I was admitted to the hospital, where they determined I was at 2 cm and 70% effaced. After about an hour's pacing the halls, I was the same, so the covering OB sent me home. As much as I was almost tempted to continue pacing, I was tired, it was after midnight at that point, and we all agreed it was better to sleep.
Around 6 or 6:30 I got up; I forget because I blew off the earlier alarms and was feeling groggy. I took a hot shower and proceeded to pace the living room and halls of the house. Maddy went to school because there was a field trip she really wanted to go to, but we kept Zach home from day care to make it easier for child retrieval if contractions suddenly picked up. Other than sitting to eat breakfast, help Zach with the potty or go myself, I was on my feet constantly. I even posted stuff while holding the netbook with one hand. Maddy came home for lunch, and after that the lower back pains were worse. We contacted another neighbor to watch over the kids, which she was happy to do. Our kids play together a lot, and she also offered to keep the kids for dinner or overnight if necessary. We crated Indy with the understanding that depending on how far along I was, Jason would either go back for him or have the doggy day care staff pick him up for overnight care.
Well, this time I was 3 cm and 75% effaced. An hour walking around found me at almost 4 cm and still at 75% effaced. My doctor was on call Wednesday, and we talked about how the progression was going. It was slow, and I could either stay or go home. After a little conversation with Jay (who mostly said "I'll support whatever decision you make" while I wibbled for a few minutes) I opted to speed things up with Pitocin. Because man, I was tired of pacing, trying to use a balance ball, stretching, kneeling and all the stuff that's supposed to ease the body through it. Between that and the pacing the night before, I was tired. So in goes the Pitocin, which is started off slow. After a half hour, there are more frequent contractions but they're not stronger in amplitude. At that point, I wasn't bothered by the contractions as much as the lower back pain and occasional sciatic twinges.
See how much I'm not bothered by it? I'm too busy liveblogging bits and pieces of it from my phone while Jay sat across from me and played Pokemon. The nurses and my doctor thought this was hilarious, btw.
Well, the Pitocin was increased a bit, which then upped the amplitude of the contractions and probably also the frequency. That was about 5 pm or so when that happened. A little before 6 pm my water broke on its own. Something else that went differently! That felt weird. The nurse let my doctor know, and she thought it was a really good sign and wanted to turn off the Pitocin and see how the labor progressed. She also thought I would want the epidural soon, since water breakage is a sign of active labor.
She wasn't kidding! (Yes, Jason snapped some candids while I cried out in pain. And I shared his photo on Facebook. Because why not?)
Once my additional liter of fluids were run through, taking about 45-50 minutes, the anesthesiologist came back in (she was there earlier to run through a description of the procedure and get consent while I wasn't moaning in pain) and put in the epidural. There wasn't any change in my blood pressure, but the kaiju's heart rate dropped to the 80's and 90's from the usual 140's to 150's. I thought I had just dislodged the monitor, but everyone was freaking out, and my doctor hoped me getting on all fours would restore blood flow to the kaiju so she wouldn't have to do a C-section. It did help, and then I could lay back down and enjoy the epidural kicking in.
Huge difference. HUGE.
I could text my neighbors about the kids, try to check FB, and chat with Jason without panting or moaning. Jason ducked out to get dinner and drop off Indy at doggy day care, but unfortunately I was stuck with clears. (Dude owes me a chocolate milkshake! lol) He had come over to sit near me or hold my hand, so it wasn't just him sitting there playing Pokemon or snapping photos, btw. I was getting sleepy, and dozed off for a few minutes here and there. And of course, just when I text my neighbor that I'm going to have a nap, around 10 pm or so, I feel pain and pressure again. I remembered this from birthing Maddy, so I called for the nurse right away. Turns out my doctor was about to check on me anyway, so they got all their stuff, checked me out and I was 10 cm and 100% effaced.
Once I got the go ahead, it took three pushes and Nicholas Vu was born at 10:18 pm. It didn't even feel like much work at that point. I got two stitches and it took a little more effort to deliver the placenta, as it turned out there were a few clots hanging around.
He was 21 inches long, 8 lbs 12 oz (not over 9 lbs after all!) and had been slightly blue just after birth so he lost some points on his initial Apgar score. I overheard the peds nurse say that while I was talking with my OB and nurse trying to deliver the afterbirth. Jason also ducked out to call his parents (to also avoid watching the placenta and uber bloody bits), and came back for a bit. I put Nicholas to breast and he latched on really well. I immediately informed Jason that we had another barracuda baby on our hands.
The three of us together.
Jason headed home to sleep, and I got moved to a recovery room. Because pediatrics needed to do their thing and I was nodding off, Nicholas stayed in the nursery while I slept for a few hours. Then he was brought in around 4 am to try to eat a little, but he wasn't terribly interested and kept nodding off after a few sucks.
Look at his smooshy face!
I asked the nurses to watch over him when I nodded off again, and I slept for two more hours.
He was such a sleepy baby, though when he woke up enough to try to eat, he definitely had a good latch. Good enough that over time, I started feeling more and more pain with it. :(
Look at sleepy Nicholas:
Jason had stopped by after dropping off the kids at day care, held and kissed Nicholas and hung out with me for a bit. Then he left to get Maddy after lunch. We decided to let Zach stay in day care, because a two year old in the middle of a new environment and whose favorite words are "No!" and "No way!" would be a bit much to wrangle. Jason and Maddy arrived with some presents that Maddy picked for Nicholas.
I also got a visit from the parish nurse from our church, and the evening was pretty much me and Nicholas hanging out and bonding. I occasionally called my mother and texted some people, but mostly Nicholas was lying on me sleeping or attempting to eat.
Friday we were declared all set to go home. Nick got his circumcision in the late morning, which he did well with. I finally put on some of the clothes that I had packed instead of hanging out in a gown and robe. I hadn't needed too much Motrin or Tylenol, and only occasional cooling packs. I did feel stretching and weakness in the pelvis, lower back and sciatic areas. Gee, I wonder why. lol.
So between 2 and 3 pm, we left the hospital and went home to settle in. Indy sniffed and gave Nicholas a few experimental licks, but overall didn't seem overly concerned with the baby. He was happy to see me back. His tail wagged so hard and he got so many scritches. :) Zachary, once he got home from day care, was curious about the baby but overall was unconcerned. Maddy wanted to help out or hold him occasionally.
It's a transition that's rough in spots so far, possibly because I'm stuck trying to feed and change and care for Nicholas every two hours. I cried out every time I started putting Nicholas to breast, and yesterday everyone ran in to see what the matter was. ::facepalm:: I apologized to Maddy for scaring her and tried to explain that it doesn't hurt everyone, I'm just sensitive that way. She accepted that and ran off to play, the same way she accepted that the hospital will help Nicholas out of my belly. I'm not quite ready for details yet. lol. Nicholas was essentially his discharge weight during the weight check at the hospital yesterday, and I did get a few pointers from the nurse about correcting my hold to try to lessen strain in the latch, though it didn't lessen the pain. Because my yelling distressed everyone so much, though, and it does feel like he's trying to bite through me, I'll be transitioning to the pump and bottle feeding again. It still hurts to pump, but that's a pinch rather than a bite.
And speaking of which... I'm almost surprised Nick slept this long so I could type this up, but hey. Time for me to get back to the pump.
Just as a refresher, here's a pic of me and Maddy at the end of May. I still looked like this on my due date of June 1. I did my usual stuff then, going to church in the morning, trying to clean up and prepare for the kaiju's arrival, that sort of thing. I drew the line at weeding the yard, though. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment!
On June 3 while at work, I had a sharp jab right around my floater ribs that stayed where it was for about ten to fifteen minutes, then eased up. About an hour and a half later, the stabbing pain returned. That made me think perhaps this was a contraction after all; I was already a little paranoid on June 1 when my lower back was aching throughout dinner. We proceeded with our usual routine at home, though I started calling neighbors informing them of the pain. It got worse and moved into my lower back as the evening progressed, so I paced the house after the kids went to bed, and finally close to 10 pm we asked one neighbor to come over and watch over the kids just in case something happened. I was admitted to the hospital, where they determined I was at 2 cm and 70% effaced. After about an hour's pacing the halls, I was the same, so the covering OB sent me home. As much as I was almost tempted to continue pacing, I was tired, it was after midnight at that point, and we all agreed it was better to sleep.
Around 6 or 6:30 I got up; I forget because I blew off the earlier alarms and was feeling groggy. I took a hot shower and proceeded to pace the living room and halls of the house. Maddy went to school because there was a field trip she really wanted to go to, but we kept Zach home from day care to make it easier for child retrieval if contractions suddenly picked up. Other than sitting to eat breakfast, help Zach with the potty or go myself, I was on my feet constantly. I even posted stuff while holding the netbook with one hand. Maddy came home for lunch, and after that the lower back pains were worse. We contacted another neighbor to watch over the kids, which she was happy to do. Our kids play together a lot, and she also offered to keep the kids for dinner or overnight if necessary. We crated Indy with the understanding that depending on how far along I was, Jason would either go back for him or have the doggy day care staff pick him up for overnight care.
Well, this time I was 3 cm and 75% effaced. An hour walking around found me at almost 4 cm and still at 75% effaced. My doctor was on call Wednesday, and we talked about how the progression was going. It was slow, and I could either stay or go home. After a little conversation with Jay (who mostly said "I'll support whatever decision you make" while I wibbled for a few minutes) I opted to speed things up with Pitocin. Because man, I was tired of pacing, trying to use a balance ball, stretching, kneeling and all the stuff that's supposed to ease the body through it. Between that and the pacing the night before, I was tired. So in goes the Pitocin, which is started off slow. After a half hour, there are more frequent contractions but they're not stronger in amplitude. At that point, I wasn't bothered by the contractions as much as the lower back pain and occasional sciatic twinges.
See how much I'm not bothered by it? I'm too busy liveblogging bits and pieces of it from my phone while Jay sat across from me and played Pokemon. The nurses and my doctor thought this was hilarious, btw.
Well, the Pitocin was increased a bit, which then upped the amplitude of the contractions and probably also the frequency. That was about 5 pm or so when that happened. A little before 6 pm my water broke on its own. Something else that went differently! That felt weird. The nurse let my doctor know, and she thought it was a really good sign and wanted to turn off the Pitocin and see how the labor progressed. She also thought I would want the epidural soon, since water breakage is a sign of active labor.
She wasn't kidding! (Yes, Jason snapped some candids while I cried out in pain. And I shared his photo on Facebook. Because why not?)
Once my additional liter of fluids were run through, taking about 45-50 minutes, the anesthesiologist came back in (she was there earlier to run through a description of the procedure and get consent while I wasn't moaning in pain) and put in the epidural. There wasn't any change in my blood pressure, but the kaiju's heart rate dropped to the 80's and 90's from the usual 140's to 150's. I thought I had just dislodged the monitor, but everyone was freaking out, and my doctor hoped me getting on all fours would restore blood flow to the kaiju so she wouldn't have to do a C-section. It did help, and then I could lay back down and enjoy the epidural kicking in.
Huge difference. HUGE.
I could text my neighbors about the kids, try to check FB, and chat with Jason without panting or moaning. Jason ducked out to get dinner and drop off Indy at doggy day care, but unfortunately I was stuck with clears. (Dude owes me a chocolate milkshake! lol) He had come over to sit near me or hold my hand, so it wasn't just him sitting there playing Pokemon or snapping photos, btw. I was getting sleepy, and dozed off for a few minutes here and there. And of course, just when I text my neighbor that I'm going to have a nap, around 10 pm or so, I feel pain and pressure again. I remembered this from birthing Maddy, so I called for the nurse right away. Turns out my doctor was about to check on me anyway, so they got all their stuff, checked me out and I was 10 cm and 100% effaced.
Once I got the go ahead, it took three pushes and Nicholas Vu was born at 10:18 pm. It didn't even feel like much work at that point. I got two stitches and it took a little more effort to deliver the placenta, as it turned out there were a few clots hanging around.
He was 21 inches long, 8 lbs 12 oz (not over 9 lbs after all!) and had been slightly blue just after birth so he lost some points on his initial Apgar score. I overheard the peds nurse say that while I was talking with my OB and nurse trying to deliver the afterbirth. Jason also ducked out to call his parents (to also avoid watching the placenta and uber bloody bits), and came back for a bit. I put Nicholas to breast and he latched on really well. I immediately informed Jason that we had another barracuda baby on our hands.
The three of us together.
Jason headed home to sleep, and I got moved to a recovery room. Because pediatrics needed to do their thing and I was nodding off, Nicholas stayed in the nursery while I slept for a few hours. Then he was brought in around 4 am to try to eat a little, but he wasn't terribly interested and kept nodding off after a few sucks.
Look at his smooshy face!
I asked the nurses to watch over him when I nodded off again, and I slept for two more hours.
He was such a sleepy baby, though when he woke up enough to try to eat, he definitely had a good latch. Good enough that over time, I started feeling more and more pain with it. :(
Look at sleepy Nicholas:
Jason had stopped by after dropping off the kids at day care, held and kissed Nicholas and hung out with me for a bit. Then he left to get Maddy after lunch. We decided to let Zach stay in day care, because a two year old in the middle of a new environment and whose favorite words are "No!" and "No way!" would be a bit much to wrangle. Jason and Maddy arrived with some presents that Maddy picked for Nicholas.
I also got a visit from the parish nurse from our church, and the evening was pretty much me and Nicholas hanging out and bonding. I occasionally called my mother and texted some people, but mostly Nicholas was lying on me sleeping or attempting to eat.
Friday we were declared all set to go home. Nick got his circumcision in the late morning, which he did well with. I finally put on some of the clothes that I had packed instead of hanging out in a gown and robe. I hadn't needed too much Motrin or Tylenol, and only occasional cooling packs. I did feel stretching and weakness in the pelvis, lower back and sciatic areas. Gee, I wonder why. lol.
So between 2 and 3 pm, we left the hospital and went home to settle in. Indy sniffed and gave Nicholas a few experimental licks, but overall didn't seem overly concerned with the baby. He was happy to see me back. His tail wagged so hard and he got so many scritches. :) Zachary, once he got home from day care, was curious about the baby but overall was unconcerned. Maddy wanted to help out or hold him occasionally.
It's a transition that's rough in spots so far, possibly because I'm stuck trying to feed and change and care for Nicholas every two hours. I cried out every time I started putting Nicholas to breast, and yesterday everyone ran in to see what the matter was. ::facepalm:: I apologized to Maddy for scaring her and tried to explain that it doesn't hurt everyone, I'm just sensitive that way. She accepted that and ran off to play, the same way she accepted that the hospital will help Nicholas out of my belly. I'm not quite ready for details yet. lol. Nicholas was essentially his discharge weight during the weight check at the hospital yesterday, and I did get a few pointers from the nurse about correcting my hold to try to lessen strain in the latch, though it didn't lessen the pain. Because my yelling distressed everyone so much, though, and it does feel like he's trying to bite through me, I'll be transitioning to the pump and bottle feeding again. It still hurts to pump, but that's a pinch rather than a bite.
And speaking of which... I'm almost surprised Nick slept this long so I could type this up, but hey. Time for me to get back to the pump.