One Week Old -- Time Flies!

This last week since Livvie was born could go down in history as the fastest week on record. I feel like we just brought her home yesterday, when in fact it was a week ago today. This week has not been without its bumps in the road.

Olivia HATES nursing. I bring her to my breast and it doesn't matter if she's slightly hungry or starving, she will scream bloody murder, arch her back and push herself away from me. She will not even try to latch on. So I pumped every 3 hours while David fed the expressed breast milk to her at the same time so we could be on the same schedule in the event that we worked out the latching thing. We also supplemented with formula.

I went to visit with a Lactation Consultant on Tuesday and she was wonderful. She got Livvie to latch on with the help of a nipple shield and she actually nursed for 20 minutes. She gave us a bunch of "homework" to do and made a follow up visit for Friday. Yesterday we worked on our homework. She latched on and nursed for 25 minutes or so in the morning. Yesterday afternoon we tried again, but it started to feel like she was biting. I noticed that the shield wasn't drawing enough of the nipple forward so she was getting a bad latch. We tried several more times, but each time it felt like a bunch of tiny knives stabbing me. I continued pumping until last night when I noticed a few little drops of blood on the flange of the breast pump. Then I was done. My mom had called as I was cleaning up, and I talked to her about it. As it turns out, she quit breastfeeding me early for the same reasons: poor latching, pain, bleeding. I felt much better finally making the decision that David and I had been discussing for the past couple of days: I'm no longer going to nurse. Olivia does just fine on formula and it makes all three of us happy. Finding out that I was formula-fed made me feel much better. I never had any major health problems to speak of in childhood, and I was in the top of my class all through school, so I know that formula vs. breast milk doesn't have any major effects on brain development (at least in my case).

Since making this decision last night, we have all been able to sleep better. I enjoy feeding my daughter now; I had gotten to the point that I absolutely dreaded feeding time. I think Livvie can sense my new found sense of calm because she's much calmer at feeding time too. It is the best decision for both of us. Who knows, I may try nursing again with a future baby; or maybe not. Only time will tell.

She's Here!!

Olivia Hope Spaulding was born 9/21/10 at 10:41 am. She was 8 pounds, 4.6 ounces and 21 inches long.

David and I went to bed Monday night after we finished watching House. It was pointless for me because all I did was toss and turn until 1:45 am when I finally gave up and got up to go to the hospital. I slept for maybe 30 minutes. We left for the hospital around 2:10 am and got there at 2:40. We parked in the lot and were getting bags and pillows out of the car when I had a contraction. I didn't think anything of it; I had been having contractions for the last two weeks or better (all Braxton Hicks).

We went up to the LDR floor to check in for the induction. There was another woman there who was being registered, so the nurses at the desk asked us to have a seat in the waiting room and they would call us when they were ready. At 2:50, I got up to use the restroom. I went into the bathroom and felt another contraction. It felt like the first one, and a little different from the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been having up until then. These two were lower and started in the back, radiating around to the front and down my legs. I thought, "these are the real deal". I came back out into the waiting room and sat down next to David and said, "I think I'm having real contractions." Sure enough, I had another one while I was signing the paperwork for the induction. That one actually made me stop writing for a split second. I had another contraction while walking down the hall to the LDR unit.

The nurse brought us in and got me set up with a hospital gown, had me go to the bathroom (I wish I had known, I would've waited!!), and started my IV. I let her know I had had a couple of contractions that started just a few minutes ago, and they were about 8-10 minutes apart. She said okay, and then proceeded to explain the chain of events. I had to be on the fetal heart monitor for 30 minutes before they could start the Pitocin. During that time, my contractions started coming with increasing regularity and strength every 5 to 6 minutes. The nurse came back in at one point and told me that they weren't super excited about the baby's heart rate on the monitor (it was holding in the 120s to 140s, but not staying up in the 140s to 150s long enough for their liking), so they called the doctor who said to hold the Pitocin for 2 more hours. I remember looking at David after the nurse walked out and saying, "You watch, I won't even end up needing that Pitocin." I was right.

The contractions were steadily coming every five minutes; then they started coming faster. After one particularly strong one (whereupon I wound up banging my fist against the side rail of the bed), I called the nurse and asked if I could have something to take the edge off the pain. She left the room and called the doctor, and then came back and asked if I wanted my epidural -- I wanted to weep with relief. The anesthesiologist was in the room in a matter of minutes, and I didn't feel anything after the first pinch when he injected the numbing medication. I felt a small pop when he entered the epidural space in my back, but that was it. In no time, I felt a warming sensation spread down my legs, and the pain of the contractions subsided. My anesthesiologist was great; I felt no pain, but I still was aware that I was having contractions. After the epidural took effect, the nurse checked my progress: I went from 3cm at admission to 6-7 cm 3 hours later. Not bad for a first-time labor.

I drifted in and out of sleep for the next 2 hours or so, and then I started to feel some pressure. The next time the nurse came in to check on me, I mentioned the pressure to her, so she checked again. At this point she looks at me and says, "Are you sure this is your first baby?" What? Yeah -- I'm sure. I think I would've remembered if I had another kid or two at home. She tells me that I'm fully dilated at 10 cm, and she can feel the baby's head right against the cervix -- time to start pushing. One drawback though: my doctor was in the OR at the moment with another patient doing a C-section. I had to wait to start pushing until she was finished. An hour and a half later, she was still in the OR with this patient, so they called another one of the doctors in the practice who came in to deliver me.

I pushed for about an hour before Livvie was born. Once her head was out, it took just one more push for the rest of her to come out. When she was born, they put her up on my chest and the first thing I said was, "Oh my God she looks exactly like me!" And she does; she's my "Mini Me". The nurses took her over and weighed and cleaned her up, and David took pictures. I had to have an episiotomy, so the doctor had to make that repair. All in all, I was very pleased with the relative ease and quickness of this labor and delivery. I made the joke to David that for the next baby, we're going to have to camp out at the hospital starting at week 38. It occurred to me that if this labor had started at home and we waited for the contractions to come every 5 minutes for one hour before calling the doctor and going to the hospital like they want you to, we may not have made it.

T minus 12 hours until the show

I can't believe this is it -- my last post before our baby girl makes her debut! David and I are both anxious, nervous, excited, pretty much anything you can name. We have waited so long for her and it's finally time for her birth day. We will be going in to the hospital tonight at 3 a.m. for an induction, and with any luck, she'll be here about this time tomorrow (as predicted by the doctor). At my last prenatal visit on Friday, I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced, which the doc was very pleased with. She also predicted that Olivia would be about 7 lb 8 oz. We'll see if all of the doctor's predictions hold true!

Getting Antsy

We've decided to schedule an induction for September 21st, but honestly I hope Olivia decides to come on her own before that. It's only two weeks away on the calendar, but it's a million years away in my brain. Don't get me wrong: I loved being pregnant. I feel so blessed to have been able to go on this ride considering the medical professionals were telling us that it was highly unlikely that we could, especially without any intervention. However, I am uncomfortable, irritable, and really just anxious to meet our miracle baby. I know that when I look back, I will realize how quickly this has all gone by, but right now I'm just too ready to be done with the pregnancy thing and move on to the Mom thing to really care.

Saturday is the Buddy Walk to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. Olivia and I are going to walk with her buddy Gabe, and maybe, just maybe, that will get this party started :)