One week later.

My little boy is a week old today. Seems like only yesterday I was in too much pain to get out of my hospital bed. We've been home since Tuesday, he's had his first Dr's appointment, he's breastfeeding like it's nobody's business, gaining weight, and just in general being extremely cute.
Oh yeah, sorry. I had my boy on Sunday the 16th. I went into labor on Saturday morning, totally on my own. My labor progressed normally without any complications or interventions with the exception of an epidural and having my water broken. He was born vaginally with the aid of a vacuum suction at 1:32 am after 2 1/2 hours of pushing. His apgars were excellent, 9/9...he came out of it better than I did! I tore pretty bad and it hurts to sit/get up, and for the first few days home it stung so bad to pee that I was actually afraid to. Vance says that he will be riddled with flashbacks for the rest of his life. Yes, I made him hold my leg and cut the cord. He's been absolutely amazing. I'm extremely lucky to have him here with me.
Tomorrow is my first day of taking care of the baby all by myself. I was really afraid at first. Vance was originally going to go back to work on Thursday, but I made him stay home. The fear was crippling. To help me adjust, I wake up for him by myself every night and let Vance sleep. It helps me get the hang of setting up to feed him without any assistance. I think Im ready now!
Being a mom is amazing. I feel like its coming very natural to me, and I know it's cliche, but I can't really remember what the hell I did before. What was the point? It has meaning now.

Forty freakin weeks!

Happy due date to me, happy due date to me...
Today it feels like the real waiting begins. I knew there wouldn't be a baby here by now, but now it feels like it really could be any day now. What an unpredictable mess. Now we get to find out if he beats me to his eviction late next week.
I swear if I wasn't such a poon I would try a homebirth. It would be so easy to not have to worry about tracking some pattern before going to the hospital, not having to wear a thin, entirely too revealing gown, getting poked for an IV, and having 5 different nurses sticking their hands inside your bajingo. Not to mention the comfort of your own bed, bath tub, couch, what have you. Just call the midwife when you feel things start to move. But seeing as I have no idea if I could handle the pain of going natural and am staring a pitocin-laden birth fate right in the face, there is no way I could do it this time. If I make it through this one without a c-section, then I will likely consider it with the next.
What is on the agenda for my due date? I have some dishes that need doing, some vacuuming, laundry...Vance and I have also decided to add a new less-than-human family member. We're going to drain and clean the 55 gallon tank and probably put a ball python in there. Don't worry, they don't get big enough to eat babies. Or cats. Bummer.
I'm going to try to get some sleep now.

Shana Tovah!

Dear Geddy Lee,
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Love,
Janette

The Zodiac, cervical mucus, etc.

By some sort of miracle I managed to see the doctor today to make up for missing last week's appointment. It felt so strange going in this early in the week and without Vance. Yes, I went to the critical 39 week appointment without my husband! GASP!
Why is it critical? At this point Doctor's like to discuss inductions. I'm 2 centimeters dilated (not 3-- I friggin knew it) and just kind of labor limbo. I could go any day now, but I could not at the same time. She asked me how long I wanted to go past my due date before an induction is considered and I said "no later than a week" which is a pretty typical answer, I think. I want to give my body a chance to go naturally. For a first timer, and even for moms who have done it 3 or 4 times, what going into labor unmedicated feels like is so mysterious and frustrating. You are so sure that these cramps and back aches mean it's time, and then you're sent home after 2 hours at the hospital. I want to experience that, dammit! BUT I know my sanity has it's limits, as does my placenta. So by next Monday, which is my 40 week appointment, I must have a date picked out.
I talked to Vance after the appointment about what dates he would consider, kind of hoping he would have useful insight. He really didn't have much to say other than "why don't we make him a Libra?" I don't generally have any problems with Libras. Taureans get along perfectly well with Libras, it's just that I know so many Libras. My mother was a Libra, my brother, and best girl friend are both Libras. I was sort of looking forward to making a little Virgo. Both signs have their good and bad, as with any sign...
Yes, I may slightly see some truth to Astrology. My cynicism has weird limits, kiss my ass, I don't want to hear your opinions.
So, back to the practical point. I said we could go for Friday the 21st. It's closer to the weekend, so that no one loses too much work time. If Saturday is more convenient, then I can go with that as well. I think everyone has a better chance of making it down here when they know it will be on a weekend.
If there is no baby by this weekend, then Vance and I are going to the movies on Saturday. We need to do something fun alone together one last time before we are spoken for by a baby. He doesn't realize how much we are going to miss these things. He will, he will...
What else was I going to rant about? Oh yes, I lost my mucus plug over the weekend, but the Doctor says that bears no significance to when I would go into labor. I already knew that, but I thought I would mention my friend Perry the jolly glob of cervical mucus and what a good glob he was.
And I went to Target after my appointment. We got another gift card and we needed a few groceries. Vance got himself a "daddy present" with the last gift card, so I felt like this time I deserved a "mommy present". I got an Isaac Mizrahi clutch wallet thing. It's for those days when I don't feel like dragging a purse around. I like it.
I am going to cut this short. I am so exhausted. I must get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight!

Sick, yuck

I had a bad night. I don't feel like totally explaining it again, so I have decided to copy the story from my Sept. expecting club all about my first L&d experience. Here goes:

I took my first trip to Labor and Delivery today! Too bad it was for all the wrong reasons!
At about noon today, after a horrible restless night of no sleep, I got sick. I was feeling anxious for no reason, queasy, and I couldn't eat. I had diarrhea and then about a half an hour later I puked. (TMI) When I vomited I felt a significant trickle of fluid and when I checked my underpants there was a clear puddle with a giant glob of discharge in the middle of it. I thought, "Oh boy! My water broke and I lost my mucus plug!" So we decided to finish packing and head off. The hospital was an hour away, and so this was the longest car ride of my life. I hadn't eaten in nearly 12 hours, so when we pulled over so I could puke again, all that came up was stomach acid. It hurt so much.
We got to the hospital, I was wheeled to L&D triage where it was determined that I did not leak fluid, but that I possibly peed myself or just had runny discharge. Bummer. I was apparently 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced, but that was based on the opinion of an inexperienced nurse. They checked my urine and discovered that I was severely dehydrated and had ketones and protein in my urine. After about 7 hours and 4 bags of fluid, I decided to go home. They said it was totally fine if I wanted to stay overnight. They were so nice, but I wanted to be sick at home where I could cuddle with my own toilet.
I have no earthly clue who or where I could have caught this nasty stomach bug from. I'm kind of disappointed this wasn't my day to give birth, but at the same time I'm relieved. I thought I was going to be one of those unlucky women who puked throughout their entire labor and I don't think I would be able to handle that. Now I don't want him here for at least another week so I can get rid of this virus and give my husband the chance to get sick too.
Anyway, thats my story. Thanks for reading!

I still feel awful. They sent me home with Phenergen for the nausea. All I have been doing is sleeping and I can't eat much more than a little soup or broth and gatorade. It totally came out of nowhere. Anyway, now I am going to go pass out. Again.

Chunky chicken noodle stew for the impatient soul

You know, I could be using this valuable time I have now without a baby to be, you know, productive. Everything for the baby is ready, but that doesn't mean the house is clean. There is a mile-high pile of laundry in the bathroom. The dishes are dirty. The kitchen table is covered in crap that doesn't belong there. And What am I doing? I'm sitting here reading blogs.
I suppose if I wanted to be functional but not necessarily productive, I could stew up that big pot of black eyed peas. I could bake cookies. I could...knit...something.
I'm just not feeling the nesting right now. Vance's mom took care of most of it this last weekend when she organized the nursery and steam-cleaned the carpet.
So yesterday I had an annoying, painful, all day headache. At about the 11th hour of pain I decided to finally call my Dr. They had me check my blood pressure, which was normal, and then they prescribed a migraine medicine for me to relieve the pain. It has a barbiturate in it. How that could possibly be safe, I don't know. Vance checked his blood pressure and it was 148/93. I am KILLING my husband, slowly but surely. He was thoroughly freaked out by this discovery, and I was completely not surprised by it. We decided the best course of action would be for him to get to a Dr ASAP, so that they may lecture him on the importance of quitting smoking, losing weight, and stress management.
I am just basically killing time before it is finally time to pop.

Oooohhh I got you!

That is what my unborn son is saying between shit-eating chuckles.
Last night I had the false labor from hell. It all started on the couch in the living room. Sporadic, painful, very close together contractions that began to space out and regulate to about every 20 minutes. Nauseas and shakiness followed, and then I begin to shed (TMI WARNING) my plug. I was -so sure- it was going to happen that night and it just never did.
The only good thing about it was that it tired me out so much that I was able to fall asleep and get a decent night for a change. Normally for me I fall asleep around 11, wake up 2 hours later and end up watching tv until about 5 am.
Of course I feel fine today. The weather is shitty so it destroyed our plans to go clean my car out. We ended up eating a late breakfast and then I took a nap and Vance has been playing video games. So we have basically been doing...nothing.
My accomplishment for today: mastering crepes on the FIRST TRY. Amazingly, they're more like tortillas than pancakes, but still damn good.
So, a labor day for the most part wasted. And crepes are delicious.