(no subject)
Presenting Benjamin Louis Giersch
Benjamin was born on Tuesday July 12 at 12:49pm. Labor started around 10:30pm or so Monday night. I started having some mild menstrual-like cramps, and then when I went to the bathroom I saw that my underwear was streaked with light pink spotting. Lou was in bed at this point, so I gently woke him up and gave him a heads up about the cramps and spotting. He decided to go back to sleep but wanted me to let him know if there were any changes he should be aware of. I was wide awake at this point, and decided to be up and mess around on the computer. The cramping became more noticeable and would appear in waves. I started timing and realized that I was having contractions every 8-10 minutes or so. Spent some more time going between the computer and pacing around the office. During my timing I then noticed that the contractions were coming between 4-6 minutes. I woke up Lou and gave my OB a call (this was around 1:30 am). We were given the go ahead to head for the hospital. As soon as we got in the car and started driving, things got really intense for me. The contractions started coming every 3 minutes, and I had to really concentrate on breathing through them. Fortunately traffic was non-existent and we made it to the hospital in about 20 minutes.
At the hospital I was whisked right up to L&D. At this point I was absolutely miserable. My contractions were coming on extraordinarily fast and hard, and my blood pressure was sky high. It eventually started to go down, but not back to a normal level. The nurse got me hooked up with an IV (I was GBS positive) and I was able to give a urine sample. At that point I started losing my mucus plug. This was also at the point where I asked for an epidural. The contractions were absolutely horrible. Every time I had one I would break out into a horrible sweat, my body started shaking, and my blood pressure would rise to a high level again. Through the whole thing Ben was also being monitored, and he heat rate was excellent the whole time. I had a cervical check at some point, and was only 3 cm and my water hadn't broke yet.
Around 4 am the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural. It wasn't the most pleasant sensation having the catheter inserted in my back, but the relief it provided was amazing! Once it kicked in I could breath normally and relax. The epidural also slowed my contractions down to a reasonable speed and my blood pressure went back down to a reasonable level. Lou and I took this opportunity to rest and try and get some sleep. I dozed off for a couple of hours, but didn't feel like I got any real sleep. Had another check, and the nurse found that I was at 6 cm and my water had broken on it's own. At 8 am my OB popped in for an update. I was at 8 cm then, and we started discussing how he wanted me to push when the time came.
Around 10 am I hit transition, which became quite obvious to me despite having the epidural. I went from feeling perky to feeling flushed, uncomfortable and overall crappy. I could feel each contraction coming on. I kept asking if my epidural had worn off, because I was feeling actual pain and pressure with each contraction. I was assured that it was still working, and that I was just feeling so much pressure that it was reading as pain. After one more check I was at 10 cm and began the process of pushing. I would have to say that pushing was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I ended up running into some problems here. While pushing Ben would move further down into the birth canal, but as soon as I stopped he would scoot all the way back up with his feet up in my ribcage. Because the epidural didn't touch the upper part of my body, this was incredibly painful. I ended up pushing for over 2 hours before my OB showed up. I was so exhausted at this point that they put me on oxygen. When my OB showed up I was given another half an hour of pushing before it was time for a C-section. So I pushed and pushed, and until I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. As a last ditch effort my OB used the vacuum extraction and FINALLY Ben was pushed out into the world at 12:49 pm. His stats: 8lbs, 21 inches long, 14 1/4 cm head circumference.
During the whole process Lou was absolutely amazing. He held my hand when I wanted it, did a lot of cold compresses on my forehead and neck, and gave me lots of words of encouragement and praise. He gave me exactly what I needed, and I don't think I could have done it without him.
I tore pretty badly, and my OB spent a fair amount of time stitching me up (5 days later and I'm still in quite a bit of pain "down there"). When my OB was all done and got cleaned up he congratulated Lou and then gave me a big hug and said I did a fantastic job. We then stayed in the L&D room for about an hour for bonding time. After that hour I was then wheeled to my room, where I stayed for the next two days. Being there was very rough, but I'm glad I stayed. The nursing staff was absolutely wonderful. The biggest issue I ran into was breastfeeding. Needless to say, it's not working out so well. Ben has pretty much refused to latch since the very beginning, and trying to get him to do so has been very stressful for both of us. While I was there I was only able to get a couple of decent nursing sessions in, and that was only because it ended up taking at least three people to get it started. We've had to supplement with formula at the hospital, and have used it pretty much exclusively since coming home. However, I got a pump yesterday and have been using it around the clock in order to get my supply going. The plan now is to pump as much as I can and give expressed milk to him first, and then follow up with formula. On Thursday I'm going to see a lactation consultant and attend a local breastfeeding meeting at the local hospital to see if we can still get a breastfeeding relationship going. If not, then I'll pump and supplement.
We've been home for a while now, and everyone is doing well. Lou and I are adjusting to our new sleep-deprived schedule, and Ben is just doing his baby thing by sleeping, eating and peeing/pooping (all over me most of the time). I'm dealing with the pain as best as I can, and I've been suffering a bit from the "baby blues". It's all been worth it though. Ben is the best baby ever. He sleeps well, only cries when he's wet himself, and is generally very easy to sooth. Of course, it's only been a few days so that could easily change. However, right now it's been pretty good despite some setbacks with the feeding.
Picture Time!
Gotta love the epidural.
Lou just hanging out while I dilate
Hello world
Stats. His APGAR scores were 8 and 9
All cleaned up (at least, one of us is)
Hanging out with Daddy at home
Benjamin was born on Tuesday July 12 at 12:49pm. Labor started around 10:30pm or so Monday night. I started having some mild menstrual-like cramps, and then when I went to the bathroom I saw that my underwear was streaked with light pink spotting. Lou was in bed at this point, so I gently woke him up and gave him a heads up about the cramps and spotting. He decided to go back to sleep but wanted me to let him know if there were any changes he should be aware of. I was wide awake at this point, and decided to be up and mess around on the computer. The cramping became more noticeable and would appear in waves. I started timing and realized that I was having contractions every 8-10 minutes or so. Spent some more time going between the computer and pacing around the office. During my timing I then noticed that the contractions were coming between 4-6 minutes. I woke up Lou and gave my OB a call (this was around 1:30 am). We were given the go ahead to head for the hospital. As soon as we got in the car and started driving, things got really intense for me. The contractions started coming every 3 minutes, and I had to really concentrate on breathing through them. Fortunately traffic was non-existent and we made it to the hospital in about 20 minutes.
At the hospital I was whisked right up to L&D. At this point I was absolutely miserable. My contractions were coming on extraordinarily fast and hard, and my blood pressure was sky high. It eventually started to go down, but not back to a normal level. The nurse got me hooked up with an IV (I was GBS positive) and I was able to give a urine sample. At that point I started losing my mucus plug. This was also at the point where I asked for an epidural. The contractions were absolutely horrible. Every time I had one I would break out into a horrible sweat, my body started shaking, and my blood pressure would rise to a high level again. Through the whole thing Ben was also being monitored, and he heat rate was excellent the whole time. I had a cervical check at some point, and was only 3 cm and my water hadn't broke yet.
Around 4 am the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural. It wasn't the most pleasant sensation having the catheter inserted in my back, but the relief it provided was amazing! Once it kicked in I could breath normally and relax. The epidural also slowed my contractions down to a reasonable speed and my blood pressure went back down to a reasonable level. Lou and I took this opportunity to rest and try and get some sleep. I dozed off for a couple of hours, but didn't feel like I got any real sleep. Had another check, and the nurse found that I was at 6 cm and my water had broken on it's own. At 8 am my OB popped in for an update. I was at 8 cm then, and we started discussing how he wanted me to push when the time came.
Around 10 am I hit transition, which became quite obvious to me despite having the epidural. I went from feeling perky to feeling flushed, uncomfortable and overall crappy. I could feel each contraction coming on. I kept asking if my epidural had worn off, because I was feeling actual pain and pressure with each contraction. I was assured that it was still working, and that I was just feeling so much pressure that it was reading as pain. After one more check I was at 10 cm and began the process of pushing. I would have to say that pushing was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I ended up running into some problems here. While pushing Ben would move further down into the birth canal, but as soon as I stopped he would scoot all the way back up with his feet up in my ribcage. Because the epidural didn't touch the upper part of my body, this was incredibly painful. I ended up pushing for over 2 hours before my OB showed up. I was so exhausted at this point that they put me on oxygen. When my OB showed up I was given another half an hour of pushing before it was time for a C-section. So I pushed and pushed, and until I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. As a last ditch effort my OB used the vacuum extraction and FINALLY Ben was pushed out into the world at 12:49 pm. His stats: 8lbs, 21 inches long, 14 1/4 cm head circumference.
During the whole process Lou was absolutely amazing. He held my hand when I wanted it, did a lot of cold compresses on my forehead and neck, and gave me lots of words of encouragement and praise. He gave me exactly what I needed, and I don't think I could have done it without him.
I tore pretty badly, and my OB spent a fair amount of time stitching me up (5 days later and I'm still in quite a bit of pain "down there"). When my OB was all done and got cleaned up he congratulated Lou and then gave me a big hug and said I did a fantastic job. We then stayed in the L&D room for about an hour for bonding time. After that hour I was then wheeled to my room, where I stayed for the next two days. Being there was very rough, but I'm glad I stayed. The nursing staff was absolutely wonderful. The biggest issue I ran into was breastfeeding. Needless to say, it's not working out so well. Ben has pretty much refused to latch since the very beginning, and trying to get him to do so has been very stressful for both of us. While I was there I was only able to get a couple of decent nursing sessions in, and that was only because it ended up taking at least three people to get it started. We've had to supplement with formula at the hospital, and have used it pretty much exclusively since coming home. However, I got a pump yesterday and have been using it around the clock in order to get my supply going. The plan now is to pump as much as I can and give expressed milk to him first, and then follow up with formula. On Thursday I'm going to see a lactation consultant and attend a local breastfeeding meeting at the local hospital to see if we can still get a breastfeeding relationship going. If not, then I'll pump and supplement.
We've been home for a while now, and everyone is doing well. Lou and I are adjusting to our new sleep-deprived schedule, and Ben is just doing his baby thing by sleeping, eating and peeing/pooping (all over me most of the time). I'm dealing with the pain as best as I can, and I've been suffering a bit from the "baby blues". It's all been worth it though. Ben is the best baby ever. He sleeps well, only cries when he's wet himself, and is generally very easy to sooth. Of course, it's only been a few days so that could easily change. However, right now it's been pretty good despite some setbacks with the feeding.
Picture Time!
Gotta love the epidural.
Lou just hanging out while I dilate
Hello world
Stats. His APGAR scores were 8 and 9
All cleaned up (at least, one of us is)
Hanging out with Daddy at home