Charles Graeme Adair
October 21, 2011
3:15pm
7lbs 8oz
20 inches
my water and gave me my epidural. The next hour was a bit tense, though, because Charlie's heart rate started
October 21, 2011
3:15pm
7lbs 8oz
20 inches
Part I: Epidurals are man's greatest invention
When Will was born everything went very quickly so I wasn't able to get an epidural. The combination of those two things led to some complications on my end that were difficult to heal from. So this time, in order to control things better, they induced me about a week early. What a completely different birth experience! I do have to say, though, that I think there's a reason that the natural order of things does not include you knowing exactly when your baby is coming: it creates a lot of anxiety. The whole day before I was running around like a crazy person trying to prepare and do as much last-minute stuff as I could. I tried to spend as much time with Will as I could. I was kind of a wreck, in general. Then I woke up to pee at 3am and never got back to sleep because I was worrying, etc. I think being taken by surprise was much better. Planning ahead did enable everything hospital and labor wise to be much more relaxed, though.
We had to be there at 6:30 am. They started the pitocin at 7:30. We had the same nurse we did with Will, a girl I went to high school with, and she was AWESOME. By lunchtime I was dilated 4cm. They broke
my water and gave me my epidural. The next hour was a bit tense, though, because Charlie's heart rate started dropping with the contractions and not coming back up like it should have. They tried changing my positions, giving me oxygen, and lowering the pitocin, but it wasn't really helping. I was starting to worry that it was going to drag on forever with no pitocin. All of the sudden, though, I went from about 5cm to fully dilated in less than an hour and it was time to push. I only pushed for maybe 20 minutes and he was here. No pain. It was great! And I was up and walking around within an hour of him being born. It was seriously magical. And I actually got to enjoy and take in the whole experience
He's precious, of course, and Will is great with him. He wants
to hold him and kiss him. When he says his name it sounds less like Charlie and more like Choagie (like hoagie with a CH). It's pretty funny.Charlie's 5 days old already, and I feel like I'm just now coming up for air. He was born on Friday and we came home on Sunday. My parents have been a huge help. They kept Will while we were in the hospital, my mom brought dinner last night, and tonight they took Will out to Bob Evans for dinner.
Part II: Sleep deprivation + crazy hormones + mommy guilt = temporary insanity
This first few days home have been ROUGH. Charlie wants to nurse constantly, and when he falls asleep he wakes right back up if I put him down. So I've been having to hold him all of the time. Even going to the bathroom to pee is a mad dash accompanied by him screaming. I can't really hold Will or do anything with him. I feel horrible that he's not getting the attention he needs. I'm not getting any time for myself (including being able to actually sleep horizontally). I'm kind of a mess. He won't sleep if I put him down unless he's laying right next to me. I'm scared to sleep in bed with him so I spent several nights sleeping on the floor with him. (Even a hard floor is better than trying to sleep sitting up, though.)
Tim took off work this whole week, but there's only so much he can do with the baby and, let's face it, he's not the best at getting stuff done around the house. He's trying, but I'm just frustrated that I can't do it myself and that it's not getting done to my standards. He's trying to occupy Will, but he's still craving some time with Mommy sometimes that he can't have and it makes me feel horrible. I know from previous experience that this will pass, but it's still hard when you're in the midst of it.
