Monday, November 26, 2007

The story

Here's the quick and dirty of the labor and delivery story:

Monday afternoon I had parent/teacher conferences. It was the second of three days. As I sat talking to the parents of Matthew, I started feeling some strange aches very low. It almost felt like the Little Man was trying to move his butt from one side to the other. I'd felt that before.

I left school and had to stop a couple of times because something hurt. Again, nothing that hadn't happened before. When I got to Dyanna's house (our nanny), they got a little stronger, but nothing that made me think I was in labor. I should have called the nurse at that point, but stubborn April put Nora in the car seat and started to drive home. After realizing these 'aches' were coming in 7 minute intervals, I decided to call the nurse. The nurse advised me to just drive to the hospital to have them monitor me to see what was going on.

I called Dyanna and told her that I needed her to meet me at the hospital. She let out a scream of excitement and hung up before I could tell her where to go! I dialed Brian's cell phone about 15 times without an answer. I figured out that I could call his work phone and push 0 to get the operator. I frantically told the operator that I was in labor and couldn't find my husband. I stayed on the phone with her for a couple of minutes until Brian got on the phone all out of breath..."HONEY, ARE YOU OK?" I told him to get to the hospital as soon as he could. It was 5:00, not a good time to be driving around here, but he made it in about 30 minutes.

They hooked me up to the baby and contraction monitors and confirmed that I was having contractions about four minutes apart. I was shocked because at this point, they did not feel like contractions that I remember from Nora. They were very low and all across my back.

After Brian arrived, Kellie (Dyanna's mom and a good friend of mine) and Dyanna took Nora home. We weren't sure at that point if I was going to be staying, so we told her that we'd call with any information later. The nurse on-call said I was only 2 cm dilated, so to go home and come back before her shift was over in an hour and a half so she could check me again. We rushed home to get all the other necessities of having a baby: car seat, over night clothes for Brian, pillow, etc. Luckily, when we were home for that 15 minutes, our Thanksgiving groceries were delivered. I had obviously forgotten about them, but we would have been screwed if we weren't there to get them!

6:45 - With the turkey left to thaw in the sink and a PB and J in my hand, we headed back to the hospital. My contractions were getting a little stronger and closer together, but I could still talk through them.

When we got back, the nurse checked me and I was now at 3 cm. They got the doc's orders to admit me. At this point it was about 7:30 and we went to my room. I was not having to stop and breath through contractions on the LONG walk to the room. (I learned later that the walk was actually not that far at all, but it sure felt like it at the time!)

9:00 (I think) - The nurse came back in to check me...4 cm! Epidural time baby! I was pretty uncomfortable at this point. The contractions were all over the lower part of my belly and horrible through my back, but still, nothing like what I remember with Nora. With Nora, I was like a cat trying to find a new position before each contraction came as if that would make them hurt less. The anesthesiologist was called and was in my room within 15 minutes...again TOTALLY different than the hour and a half it took to get the damn guy in my room with Nora.

9:30 - This is where the real pain began. The anesthesiologist started to numb the site where he was going to put in the epidural. This hurt really bad, especially considering the contractions coming every two minutes. I could tell right away that it was too far to the left, but I didn't say anything. Can you believe that? I didn't say anything! He stayed in the room to watch the epidural take effect. He soon realized what I did a while ago, it was only working on the left side and the contractions were just as strong as ever on the right side. Strange feeling to say the least! So we decided to go through the whole process again to get it right. Please refer to the beautiful picture below of the after effects of the many attempts at getting it in the right place. He would put it in and then ask me what side I felt it on. He finally got it right and I knew right away. This process wasn't over until about 11:00!

At this point I was feeling pretty good. I made a few phone calls to let my parents and sister know what was going on and just waited.

The fun started happening about 1:30. The nurse came in to check me and I was at 10 cm and ready to push. The doc came in to confirm and said to call her when things were getting close because she had two other moms that needed c-sections at that very moment. Brian and the nurse held up my legs and I started pushing. I asked for the mirror so I could see what was going on, but the nurse said she couldn't leave because Nicolas was making he way out without any difficulty. The nurse ran out of the room to get the doctor. I took a rest from pushing and watched as the doctor and two nursed frantically came running into the room. I didn't realize it was going so fast. I pushed two more times and the doctor said, here he comes! He was out within 15 minutes of when I started pushing!

So there you go! Eight hours from beginning to end...a far cry from the seventy-three hours it took to get Nora out!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thankgiving at the Remfrey's

 
It is a tradition that Brian and I have started to have people from other countries over for Thanksgiving. This year we were able to enlighten Lyndi and Tim, from Zimbabwe and Australia respectively.
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The many attempts at putting in the epidural

 
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Welcome Nicolas!



Nicolas Scott Remfrey
Born Tuesday, November 20th at 1:44 AM
6 lbs 12 oz
19" long

Friday, November 16, 2007

Last Day

Today is my last day teaching until I come back from maternity leave. I never actually thought I'd make it this far! It has been good closure for the students and for me. It was nice to not have gone into labor randomly and had stop teaching abruptly. The Little Man is already much more considerate of my schedule than Nora :-)

I still have conferences on Monday and Tuesday afternoon, but that is just sitting at a table from noon to 4:00, so that won't be bad...if I make it that far.

Does anyone know how long it can take until I go into labor after the baby has dropped? I can't find anything that says one way or the other.

He's Dropped

 
He dropped last night around 7:30. His butt and feet are few inches lower which is allowing more breathing room for me.

We'll keep you updated, but I'm hopeful we'll get to meet our Little Man sometime this weekend!
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Monday, November 12, 2007

It was just beautiful on the coast

 
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Haystack Rock

 
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Our first stop on the Coast of Oregon

 
Can you believe I can still walk upright without falling forward?
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Heartburn

Oh the horror! I think I've eaten 8 Gaviscons today. The Little Man is all up in my grill.

Portland

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1189

This is where we are staying in Portland. We got the room for almost half the price listed on their website by using Priceline.com. It was awesome!

We are going to visit the street that is filled with local breweries to fulfill Brian's deep seeded need to seek out the best beer around and then try to replicate it at home. On Saturday morning, we are going to find a lovely greasy spoon and then head out to the Oregon coast. It is supposed to be some of the the most beautiful coastline in the country.

Folding sheets

Every time I fold a fitted sheet I think about an episode of Oprah I saw once. Martha Stewart was on and was showing Oprah all these neat little tricks to keep your house tidy. The only one I remember was how to fold a fitted sheet into a perfect square/rectangle, just like a flat sheet. First of all, neither one of these ladies fold their own damn sheets anyway. Second of all, who the hell cares if the fitted sheet is folded perfectly! I remember something about turning the corners inside out, matching them together, and flipping them inside or right side out again.

Honestly, why do I think of this episode EVERY time I ball up a fitted sheet?

Will it Be a Trend?

Brian and I have planned a night in Portland on Friday! Our good friends have insisted on taking Nora overnight. How can we resist that?

We had a trip planned to Minneapolis the weekend I went into labor with Nora. Will it happen again?

Monday, November 05, 2007

Doctor Appointment

The doc told me this morning that I am 2 cm dialated and 75% effaced. Then followed that statement up with, "That means you could go into labor tomorrow or walk around like that for a few more weeks." WHAT? REALLY?

The moral of the story is this: I still, the control freak that I am, cannot predict when the Little Man will make his grand entrance. Why, oh why, can't I control everything? It would make me feel so much better!

On the up side, I'm about to lay down for a nap and it is 2:00 in the afternoon!

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Update

Tomorrow is officially 36 weeks of pregnancy. I've never made it this far before! The doctor excitedly told me last Tuesday morning that I've broken the 200 pounds mark, the Little Man probably weighs over 6 pounds, I don't have the yucky strep thing that requires penicillin, and there is no way that I will have to endure another 73 hour labor! Overall, it was a good report, minus the 200 pounds thing. She told me that I could go into labor at any time and it would be perfectly fine and healthy for the baby.

Yes, I'm awake at 2:25 AM (OK, it's really 1:25 because of Daylight Savings Time). Nothing new around here. The good thing is that I actually feeling a million times better than I did a month ago. Thanks to the belly bra, I no longer experience the semi-truck-in-the-crotch-syndrome and I'm feeling less tired during the day despite getting less sleep at night.

The other big landmark that I've made it to is my last day of full-time work was on Friday. I am officially working half-time, with my long-term sub (who I think I'm going to love) working the other half of the day. We are going to start out with me teaching in the mornings for the first week and then switch so she can have the morning experience while I'm still around. I would prefer to just teach in the afternoon as the morning is jam packed with reading, writing, and math. The afternoon is simply science, lunch, and two recesses!

Finally, Brian and I have come to an agreement, for the most part, on a name for the Little Man. I'm not going to share yet, because I think that would be strange to call him by name well before he has entered the world, but you'll be the first to know! We have decided on both of the names, we're just not positive on their order. This has been a real struggle for us. Boy names have been much harder. There seems to be only a few good boy names and a million girl names to choose from. The other problem is that now the name has to go well with Nora. Something like Nora and Boris just wouldn't work, you know?