Eleanor's Rough Start

Today is Eleanor's due date and yet she is nearly three weeks old. While the delivery was smooth, Eleanor had a rough start. She did not go to the NICU, but into a middle-grade nursery for babies who needed a little extra care. The evening of her birth E got to spend a bit of time in the room with us, but staff wanted to quickly get her into the nursery. I knew she was in the best of care and told nurses to take her away and to give her whatever she needs.  We did get to see E whenever we wanted, but holding time was limited. In short, an infection, low blood sugar, mandatory tanning bed sessions, four IVs, a week of antibiotics, and quick breathing that led to a feeding tube which prevented us from feeding her was all on the list of what E did during her first week of life. Despite all this, E was always breathing on her own and this gave us great comfort.

Friday: E was finally able to visit our room. Only Matt and I were allowed to hold her, no one else. The same went for when Matt and I visited E in the nursery. It felt like we were on vacation. Staff visited us frequently, answered all of our questions, were incredibly accommodating, unbelievably supportive, and polite. Matt and I agreed that it felt like we were on vacation, in a nice hotel.

Saturday: I was released from the hospital. Matt and I soon began a weird week. I was no longer pregnant, but there was no baby at home.

Sunday: Matt was not feeling well and made a decision to return to work and delay his time off.  I spent as much time at the hospital as I could so I could hold and bond with E since our time had been so limited.  My mom joined me so she could see the baby and I appreciated having the company. 

Monday: Matt returned to work.  I returned to the hospital with my mom. E had specific times she needed to eat and only had 30 minutes to eat.  Nursing proved not to be too much of an option since there was such a short and small window.  This left me with the option to pump and bottle feed her.  I felt it was the only thing I could do, so I ran myself ragged running all over the hospital during the day and waking up in the middle of the night so I could give her more milk.Also, Matt and I kept a scheduled meet and greet with a pediatrician. I did what I had to do and pumped in the car, in the waiting room, and in the exam room using a jacket. The doctor was impressed with how positive and calm we were, while we were impressed with her warmth and honesty.  In about a minute we declared her E's doctor.

Tuesday: Another day at the hospital, but this time I was flying solo.  I was delighted that a coworker offered to visit, who I knew was familiar with the situation of not being able to bring your baby home.

Wednesday: Another solo day at the hospital.  This day brought about a visitor from work, who brought E her first summer reading prize.  Yes, I had been reading to her and I was super excited to hear she had been registered for the reading program at work. 

Thursday: Another day at the hospital and another visit from a coworker.  This was the day that threw me into a frenzy.  We were being told each day from the hospital that the earliest E would get to go home was Friday, but no one was giving us additional information or any updates.  This was the day I arrived at the hospital at 11:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m.  I underestimated how taxing it was to spend so much time at the hospital.  When I arrived, the doctor said, "How'd you like to take her home today?"  I immediately burst into tears.  I was prepared to go in that day and be told that E could come home late Friday or that she needed a bit more time and would not be released until the weekend.  I was so incredibly overwhelmed and excited.  My daughter was finally going home and my husband would be seeing her for the first time in five days.

I cannot remember what time I arrived home that afternoon.  I wanted to sit down to dinner with Matt and get ready to bring our girl home, finally.  I asked Matt what we should bring her home in.  With nearly three weeks to go, that was yet another task that we were going to do at a later time.  We decided on a green Hawaiian shirt (Matt loves Hawaiian shirts) that was a size too big, but we didn't care.  Matt put on a shirt that matched E's and I changed into the closest thing I owned to a Hawaiian shirt.

The nurse took pictures for us and we tried hard not to be too happy, knowing that so many other parents and babies would be spending yet another night in the nursery, but we couldn't help ourselves.  I drove our family home and had banished my husband to the back seat of the car for some long overdue bonding time.


We arrived home and my husband parked himself on the floor in the first room he set foot in, the library. 
We arrived home around 9:30 p.m.  In an hour, E would officially be a week old.

Oh, Baby! (Part 4)

I know, there are a lot of parts to this story, but the goal was to not overwhelm anyone with a single massive post. 

My husband entered the room and I told him I was going to start pushing soon.  We were on the verge of becoming parents, weeks earlier than what we expected or were prepared for.  Nurses and staff were walking around the room, they brought in equipment, altered the bed, and at 9:00 p.m. they told me the doctor was on her way and I would be pushing around 10:00 p.m. 

10:00 p.m. My doctor arrives.  I remember some things, but not too many details, which I am okay with. 

"Dad, do you want to watch?"
"No," Matt said with a big grin on his face.
"Mom, do you want a mirror?"
"No," I said with a smile.
"Dad, do you want to cut the cord?"
"No," he said with another smile on his face.

With this taken care of, it was time to begin pushing.  Thanks to my new best friend, the epidural, I could not feel contractions.  Doctors explained they would watch the monitor and wait for me to have a contraction.  I would take a breath and push for ten seconds, take a breath and push for ten second, and one last breath and ten second push.  In four or five sets of pushes, Eleanor was here.  It was 10:24 p.m. and Matt's phone had just died.  Luckily, he had his iPad which allowed him to take pictures.  Matt was suddenly a busy man.  He was all over the hospital room taking pictures, asking questions, and soaking everything in.

Matt later told me that Eleanor and I had surprised the doctor and the staff.  Apparently I could birth babies for a living according to the folks in the room.  From water break to baby in under 12 hours.  What is your hurry, kiddo?  Eleanor came so quickly that the doctor was not quite ready and had to juggle her a bit.  Good thing he had not told me that until recently.

There you go, that is the story of how 6 pound, 3 ounce; 19.25 inch Eleanor Grace entered the world.

Oh, Baby! (Part 3)

Sadly this is the second time I am typing this part.  Last time I did it with an iPad in my lap while typing with one hand and holding a baby with the other.  Even more sad, the blog did not save.

I failed to mention earlier that when I was admitted to the delivery room, I was given pitocin to speed up the labor process.  With contractions registering off the charts, my husband saw me start to cry.  "It's time for an epidural, isn't it?"  I nodded and he took charge to see that I got something to ease the pain, or in this case, completely erase it.

I feared the birthing process and getting an epidural.  After a doctor's visit in June wherein I was told in lamaze class to read an excerpt of a booklet and talk to my doctor about my birth plan.  Birth plan?  Ummm... the plan is to get the kid out of me.  I tried talking to my doctor about the class and I broke out in tears.  I told the doctor I wasn't too bad until I was reading the booklet.  She reached for it, looked inside and told me not to read it and not to do any research.  By the time the appointment was over, I decided not to go to work that day, except I was crying so hard that I found it difficult to call in.  My husband was not answering his cell phone, so I gave the staff his office phone number and they called Matt to come and get me since I did not feel as though I could drive.  Yup, I was a mess.  I told a parent about this and she was kind enough to share her birthing stories with me when I was ready.  You know what?  I was going to call her on Thursday, the day my water broke, to see if she was available on Friday for a chat.  I had finally felt as though I had calmed down enough to talk about the process without causing myself or the baby any extra stress.  Had I previously mentioned that I was not ready for Eleanor?

7:00 p.m.: Matt was finally hungry and ventured down to the cafeteria, except it was closed.  I once again urged him to go out and get something to eat so he would have his energy and strength for when I needed him.  I believe we even discussed that first babies take a long time and he was not going to miss anything.

8:00 p.m.: Staff informed me I was dilated 10 centimeters (or close to it) and that they would be calling my doctor and I would be pushing soon.  I was in shock.  What happened to babies taking a long time to come out?  What is this kid's hurry?  I thought about texting Matt that he needed to come back, but I learned in a previous job that panic breeds panic and Matt hurrying back could cause an accident.  Matt would be back soon.  I busied myself with my phone and found out that Matt had checked in at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was within walking distance from the hospital.  I tried to remain calm and convinced myself that he would not be sitting down and ordering a meal.  What I did not know is that he tried the grocery store down the street and then ventured to one of his favorite wing places.  I also did not know that he was in the hospital waiting area eating.  Why?  He knew I was hungry and could not eat and did not want me to have to smell food.  He is a wonderful man, even if he did scare the crap out of me.

Oh, Baby! (Part 2)

Thank you all for your patience. I cannot believe that part of my priority list the day after having a baby was to update my blog. I wanted to be able to share my story with all of the many, many wonderful people in my life.

1:15 p.m. (Maybe): This is where I begin losing track of time. The hospital was waiting for us and I was sent to triage, where staff confirmed that my water did in fact break. "What else could it be?" I asked the hospital staff. "Sometimes people pee themselves and think it is their water breaking."  I suppose, but knowing now that amniotic fluid leaks and rejuvenates, I don't know how anyone could mistake it. Staff confirmed I was going to stay and they got me a bracelet and began to make my husband and I as comfortable as they could in a delivery room. Staff informed me I was dilated to 2 centimeters and administered pitocin. Matt told me he forgot to bring his camera. I reminded him that first babies take a while and if he left right at that moment, he would have enough time to go home, grab the camera, and return to the hospital before rush hour traffic started to build.  He had his phone and his iPad and assured me he was okay.

We watched a movie (Grown Ups 2) and Matt began the all important job of fetching me ice chips. It was quite some time before I experienced contractions.  I had been keeping an eye on the monitors and was finally starting to feel something that I guessed was a contraction.  This is when the birthing process got a bit scary.  Everything was going so fast, too fast. The hospital monitors measured contractions on a scale of 0-12. I hardly felt anything when the monitor moved up to 2, but definitely felt contractions when they registered at a 4. Eleanor just couldn't wait to enter the world. Contractions began registering at a 12 and flat-lined. I had no time to adjust or prepare.

Oh, Baby! (Part 1)

Baby Eleanor is here!  With 20 days until her due date she was quite the surprise.  So this entry is not too long, I will be brief.

11:15 a.m.: Working in my office for just over two hours and not having even stood up once, I felt as though I wet myself.  I got up to go to the bathroom only to realize another coworker had just stepped in.  I had a light breakfast (I ran out of cereal) so I decided to heat up my lunch, a menial four pierogies since my acid reflux had been kicking in and bland had been sounding pretty good for the past few days.  While thankfully standing on the tile floor, I discovered my water broke.  I immediately called my husband and then called my supervisor.  This tidbit is worth mentioning because the last teen librarian's water broke and she immediately called the same person.  I tried to quickly get my supervisor up to date on what was going on since I really wasn't where I wanted to be yet, because let's face it, I was pretty sure I had at least another week to get some things together.  I felt like it took an hour to get her up to speed, but it was probably closer to 30 or 45 minutes.  Then I drove myself home (about a 20-25 minute drive).  I was not experiencing contractions, so I felt comfortable doing so.

12:15 p.m. (or somewhere around there): I get home to discover Matt had stopped by the store to pick up some baby detergent and tossed in a few baby items.  Again, we were certain we still had at least a week before Eleanor arrived.  I never did eat those pierogies and I knew I wasn't going to eat at the hospital, so I went to the kitchen and microwaved my lunch.  The nurse or receptionist at the doctor talked to me and told me to grab my bag and go to the hospital.  Still, I was not experiencing any contractions.  "Do I have time to pack a bag?"  "You don't have a bag packed?" she said with some alarm or concern in her voice.  "What do I really need besides my toothbrush and toothpaste?" As a side note, what nurse or someone at the OB would alarmingly or surprisingly ask a pregnant lady that question.  Way to stress someone out who is perfectly calm.  Also, still no contractions.