Home from the hospital

[Guest guest]

I have a few minutes to say hi because Rowan is sleeping in my friends dd's arms :-) She had to come over right after school to see him!

We got to the hospital at 6:30 am. They monitored me for 1/2 hour or so and I was having really good regular contractions so we dismissed the idea of me being induced ;-) By 7:30 I was telling one of the nurses () that the contractions were feeling like the ones I had just before I started pushing Keely out and I wanted gas! I don't think she quite believed me, the Dr wasn't even there yet, but was at the hospital in a meeting. I had two wonderful nurses assigned to me, and Elaine (her back up), checked me and said, "oh ya, you're fully dilated" and Elaine ran to get the Dr out of the boardroom and I was given the gas mask. That made me feel much better when I was able to take the edge off. The Dr got there at 8 am and was very happy to have been taken away from a boring meeting about getting more OR time. I had started pushing before she got there, remember that my other two I only pushed for 1/2 hour. After I had started pushing examined my stomach and asked Elaine if that was a shoulder and Elaine said "no, it's a knee" I didn't realize at the time what that meant..... After an hour and a half of pushing in three different positions (semi-reclined/squatting then finally laying flat) Rowan arrived sunny side up! He was posterior and they all called him a unicorn because of the bump on his forehead and the fact that they don't see many of them lol took pictures right away so you will see the bump and the bruise across his forehead but the bump was gone by last evening and the bruise is fading already.

All last night and today the nurses kept remarking on what a great job I did pushing because most baby's who present that way (forehead first posterior) have to be taken with forceps, I apparently have been genetically gifted with a nice large pelvis. I am so glad they waited until afterwards to tell me what was going on, I don't think I would have handled myself as well during the birth if I had known what was really going on lol As it is I was really starting to wonder why it was taking SO long to push this baby out lol

I bled a lot and my uterus was boggy for awhile, said that happens sometimes with a fast labor. I was given two shots of pitocin and then put on an IV as well as having my uterus massaged (darn that hurts!) I was given a wonderful dose of morphine in the IV and some Tylenol 3, the nurses were joking that I got all the drugs after the fact. I got to nurse him about 1/2 hour after the birth and he latched on really well right away and nursed for 45 minutes! I had a 2nd degree tear because of the size of his head. The way he presented made is head larger, he was coming out forehead first with his head tilted back instead of the top of his head like my others, so I have some stitches but not as bad as my episiotomy with Arran.

My girlfriend brought Keely over at 11 am, she thought the birth was timed well too, she got to miss 1/2 the time she was supposed to be picketing in front of the hospital (she's a LPN at the same hospital). Keely did really well over at her house, she had a nap and played with the puppy. She was so happy to see the baby. I was concerned that she would be jealous when she saw me nursing Rowan but she gave me a big smile and said "baby get mum mums!" brought Keely to work with him for the afternoon and I got to rest. Rowan had two hour long nursing sessions that afternoon and evening. I had no problems latching him and I couldn't believe how relaxed I was. I knew exactly what I was doing for a change :-)

I'm sure this is a big jumble, I'm typing thoughts as they pop into my head. I am very happy with the way the birth went, my Dr was very relaxed through the whole thing, never giving me any indication that things weren't going the usual way, I'm happy she trusted my body to do things themselves instead of intervening. They must have been concerned because they kept the external monitor on me through the whole birth, they didn't do that with Keely, of course at the time I wasn't putting two and two together lol They did try to get me squatting to make the baby move into a better position but it didn't work. Having me lay flat on my back was what did it, which is funny because that's usually the worst position to push in lol Once I was laying flat he I was able to push him out a lot better. Oh, we did the cord blood donation and the Dr said she got a lot from it and I had her show me the placenta, I've never seen one before, got pictures of that too! brought Arran and Keely back after supper and Arran was very happy to meet Rowan! We got a picture of all three of them together :-) Arran likes Rowan's soft hair the most. I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting... My nurses were great! was my primary nurse the whole time I was there except during the night, I got another nice nurse named then. gave Rowan his first bath yesterday afternoon while I watched. She was non-plussed about Keely still nursing and kept calling us the old pros because we didn't need any help. I was 's only patient this morning until I was discharged so Rowan and I got a lot of attention. She cuddled him while I went to the bathroom etc. I also slept with him the whole time we were there, no one told me not to, they even showed me how to place the pillows and the side rail so he wouldn't roll off the bed :-)

That's probably long enough, Rowan is having a nice long nap in 's lap lol I can't believe I typed this much! We got home at lunch today and I am feeling really good, just sore in all the usual places, all those muscles I was using to push that I don't normally use, like my arms and shoulders lol My iron is low so I'm kind of tired, I have a prescription for that. Rowan has been nursing and pooping and peeing well. Oh, he seems to look like both of the kids! He has light brown hair, will probably turn blond soon, he is SO soft! He has dark blue eyes, a cleft chin and I think he will have 's pointy nose, Arran and Keely have my rounder nose. He has long fingers and toes. I haven't mentioned his stats yet! He was 7 lb 9 oz, 19.5" long and was born at 9:25 am, Dale is his middle name after my late father and maternal grandfather, which made my mom very happy! He will probably be a bit jaundiced because of his bruise so I expect that. Have to go, he's finally waking up. I will be on no mail still for a few more days while I rest, plus it hurts to sit on my hard computer chair!

Michele, mom of Arran 12-27-93, Keely 12-5-97 & Rowan 3-15-00! ICQ# 13092478Our Family Pages ~ http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jcrocker/index.htmlJoin AllAdvantage.com and get paid to surf the Web! Please use my ID (GJX196) when asked if someone referred you. Thanks! http://www.alladvantage.com/go.asp?refid=GJX196

[Guest guest]

Michele,

How wonderful! I am so glad to hear things went so well with a posterior

delivery. I had a 2nd degree tear too with my boys big head and shoulders.

He actually got stuck and they had to help me push him out. The dr. finally

was able to reach inside and slide his shoulder out where it was stuck.

Yikes! Congrats!

[Guest guest]

Well I guess you read the birth story after all! Thanks for the conrats :-) I'm glad Rowan was only 7.9 I can't imagine delivering a larger baby posterior!

Michele

From: mparker90@... Michele,How wonderful! I am so glad to hear things went so well with a posterior delivery. I had a 2nd degree tear too with my boys big head and shoulders. He actually got stuck and they had to help me push him out. The dr. finally was able to reach inside and slide his shoulder out where it was stuck. Yikes! Congrats!