The girl who is looking at the stars

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Posted by wendy | Posted in expat life | Posted on 31-03-2015

It turned out the anthologist had a faster way to numb me up. But it seem like it took forever to get it in. My new nurse name was Wendy. Which was very confusing in my state. 

Finally the numbness kicked in. I was not able to feel my legs which was so nice that I fell asleep. Dr S worked his magic and the baby was finally born.  She was whisked away to be cleaned. I saw her briefly and she look so big! She turned out to be 7 lbs 11 oz! Everyone was like whoa that’s a big baby! 

Then after an eternity the nurse wheeled me to the recovery room. I over heard a conversation about how the baby was looking at the stars. Turned out that even though the baby was head down she was in brow position. Her head was down but she’s looking up. If I didn’t have the c section I would be pushing forever. It happens to 20 Percent of heads down births.

And most of these cases end up in emergency c sections. 

Anyway it’s all good now. And she looks awesome!

  

She’s Here! part 1

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Posted by wendy | Posted in expat life | Posted on 31-03-2015

 

What an eventful night we had. 

She decided to come not on schedule. Around about 12:30am Monday I bent down to pick up a glass of water and heard a pop. I was nervous because I think deep down inside I know the process was about to start.  At first I was in total denial.  I was like I just need to pee but after about 5 minutes I know she is getting ready for her grand entrance to the world! I got Peter and got my bag (good thing I have been prepping!)

On the way to the hospital, I was kind of mad at myself for bending down to pick up the glass of water. But Peter was the voice of reason. At almost 40 weeks anything can happen! At least she has the good sense to make her debute when everyone was around.

We went to the emergency as instructed many times by the ob office. The nurse got me a wheel chair and whoosh me into a room.  The room was loud. She asked me bazillion questions. I can see why the ask you to come 2 hours before scheduled time.  

As she was asking questions my contractions was about 5 min apart and getting more and more intense. The nurse (Kimber) said Dr Silverman and Dr Robertson was on their way.  I was comforted by the thought that Dr S was coming. I was worried that I would have some random doctor poking me!

Then the contraction became unbareable. I had Peter called the nurse and she rushed in with the team. She checked my cervix and said you are ok. But I know I was not ok. Next thing I know the on call dr came in and said you don’t have time for Epidural and the room won’t be ready.  Let’s try the natural birth! I was like ok let’s try. 

It gradually got worse and worse. Finally Dr S arrives and the process got started. This is the worst pain I have ever felt.  Ladies who go natural, you guys are awesome.  I keep screaming make it stop I need meds! 

The staff just keep saying you can do it. I pushed like for eternity (it was about 30min). The nurse keep saying this is the fastest labor from beginning she’s ever seen.  And  keep pushing and they can see her head. At some point the brought a mirror so I can see. Not much comfort for me.

After a while the nurse said do you want a c section and I said yes! I can’t take it anymore.  She said she just didn’t want me to regret not having vbac. I said just get her out! 

As they were wheeling me to the theater I was screaming. So much pain.  I was trying to figure out if they can’t get me epidural what am I going to do? Turned out the had something that you can use through your back that works faster. I was like I don’t care just get pain to go away! 

Where did the time go?

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Posted by wendy | Posted in expat life | Posted on 26-03-2015

 

Holy moly! Where did the last 9 month go?  We are down to single digit days.

I am so glad the baby is staying put and we almost at the scheduled date. Not because of planning reasons but for when I can stop procrastinating and get things done.  

The nursery is complete, bottles are sterilized, laundry done, and knitting are sort of done. Last thing to do is pack my bags. And eat as many burritos as I can before baby’s born!  

Nitrazine paper test

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Posted by wendy | Posted in expat life | Posted on 17-03-2015

So to determine if your membrane has raptured the nurses ran a Nitrazine paper test. 

With the twins I didn’t get this test done because it was obvious the membrane has raptured.  I remember asking a nurse when I was in Ireland how would I know if it happened. She just said you would know. It will trickle. But it’s hard to tell sometimes because one of the unpleasant side effect of pregnancy is Incontinence. 

Anyway! I asked my Ob is it common to have false positive and he said it does occurr sometimes but not often. So he was surprised another of his colleague’s patient also had a false positive.

He was surprised two people had false results so close together. 

I said I kind of knew my water didn’t break. He said his colleague asked him how I took the hospital stay. He told her I was relaxed and got lots of knitting done. (I did! Got two test knitting done!)  He complimented on my upbeat and happy attitude to the hospital stay.

All joking aside. I can understand why someone would freak out. Hospitals are a lonely place and you literally cannot do anything with iv attached to you. And the uncertainty and angst if the baby would be ok can be overwhelming.

I think if I didn’t go through the same thing with the  boys I would be a bit nervous.  But you have to listen to your doctor. 

I wish I didn’t have to stay in the hospital but it was a good wake up call for all of us to take it easy and not to be so careless about this. And good practice for d day! I also did have a relaxing time and loved the extra knitting time! I did miss the boys a lot but I face time with them every day. They are awesome kids!