Alone At Last

I guess I really shouldn't say "at last" because I really enjoyed having some help here. My mom was here the first week, then Chris' the second. It was nice to have someone here to hold Amelia when I was hurting or just too tired. Its just good to not have to worry about "entertaining" someone when you just really don't feel like doing anything. I wasn't worried about that so much with my mom as I was with Chris'. I could just tell that she was bored out of her mind. We're also able to let Amelia cry a little at night now. I felt bad about her doing it while they were here, and its not like she could do it while Chris' mom was here. Sometimes she was in there with Amelia before I was even out of bed.

Amelia's starting to do a little better at night. We've had a couple of nights where she slept for 4-5 hour stretches. Those nights were so nice. I'd put her down fully expecting to be woken up an hour later, but, to my surprise, I would be woken up hours later. Last night, however, she was back on her 2-2.5 hour sleep stretches. She's not really on any kind of schedule, which probably isn't helping too much. But its hard for her to have feed/wake/sleep time during the day when she falls asleep right after feed time. And believe me, there's nothing that will wake up an infant when they don't want to be awake, short of pouring cold water on them. Everyone says "tickle her feet, rub her face, blow on her." Those worked for a little while, but she has caught onto that game. When she falls asleep now, she's asleep. And I'm kind of to the point where I don't really want to wake her up after she's asleep. And its hard to have feed/sleep time at night when she's still awake when she's done eating and then has gas for 20 minutes. Then after we finally get over the gas, she gets the hiccups for 15. She yawns the whole time with the hiccups, and the second they are over, she's wide awake.

Friday afternoon was our first time really alone. And it was not fun. I think she was going through a growth spurt or something. She was wanting to be fed every hour. Then she would be gassy, and I couldn't walk around with her cause I was sore. So she would be fussy in my lap. Then she'd need to be changed and fed and it all started over again. Finally after 4 hours, I'd had it. I put her down in the pack n' play, and ten minutes later she started crying. I of course was crying as well. I called Chris, and he came home to both of us crying. Hers stopped right when he picked her up. Mine continued for the rest of the night. I was really feeling those "postpartum hormones" that day. I think Amelia realized she had pushed me too far that day cause that was the beginning of her "good" nights.

We had our first full day alone on Monday. And I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Don't hold your child on your lap when they haven't pooped in over 24 hours. The result isn't pretty. I've got pictures cause I had to show Chris when he got home, but I won't post them. It would probably gross too many people out. This isn't the first escapade I've had with her and diapers though, its just the worst, so far. Now anytime we hear her having a dirty diaper, we put a changing pad or burp cloth underneath us and just ride out the storm, hoping that it won't get on us. I'm just glad that I didn't "get dressed" that day cause I would have been pissed if she got that on my jeans instead of my pajamas.

2 Week and 24 Year Birthday

Amelia is 2 weeks old today. She had her 2 week checkup, and the doctor gave her an A plus (but of course). She's got her days and nights mixed up right now. Although I don't really know if I can say that. She sleeps at night, very well. She just prefers to be held to go to sleep at night whereas I can just lay her down during the day. Chris is having to sleep on the sofa with her from about 1 to 4-5 every morning. His mom is staying with us right now, and she is up with Amelia from about 10 to 12-1. I, of course, am up feeding her at those switchover times. But they have been good enough to let me go back to sleep while they get her to sleep. It takes only about 10 minutes to get her to sleep after eating, but right when you go to put her down, she wakes up. We're gonna have to let her cry it out eventually. Its just so hard to do right now since she's so small and cute and the fact that we have company right now.

Amelia Adeline Williams

I had been having contractions off and on last week, building up to my induction date. They increased in intensity and frequency Wednesday morning, but I didn't go to the hospital because I was being admitted that night anyway. And I was perfectly happy to "suffer" through some minor contractions than lay in bed in the hospital on IV fluids and not be able to eat real food.

I checked into the hospital around 10:15, and what an experience that was. I've always been a pretty private person, but that all goes out the window when you are about to have a baby. People you have never met before and who you had no say in choosing for your care are now telling you to get completely undressed and poking and prodding you in places that, in some cases, no one was ever meant to touch. Any kind of modesty you might have had has no place in the labor and delivery wing.

Amelia must have known that she was about to be rudely thrust into this world cause she kicked up her contractions a lot more once we were in the hospital. At midnight, a prostaglandin tablet was inserted into me, down there. They told me it was just supposed to "prime" me for labor, but it did more than that. I was having contractions that lasted for what seemed like a minute every 3-4 minutes. I wsa able to tolerate the contractions, but they were just coming so close together. If I had had a little more time between contractions, it wouldn't have been so bad, but I wasn't really given a chance to rest between them which was really painful.

My nurses were trying to check my dilation, but they were unable to get it because I was "really high," whatever that means. Probably the most painful experience I had through the whole thing was when they tried to check me. I would go from laying in the middle of the bed to having my head pushed against the top of the bed because I was trying to get away from the pain. They were finally able to determine my dilation which was great news because I couldn't receive my epidural until I was dilated a certain amount. Well lucky for me, my nurses seemed to take pity on me and the fact that it was hard to check me, so my doctor told them that it was close enough and to go ahead and give me the epidural. It was hard to get it at first because I kept having contractions. The anesthetist was finally able to get it started between contractions, and I immediately felt better. They gave me the epidural at 2:45, and I was asleep by 3:15. It was so nice.

They moved me into the delivery room at 7 Thursday morning, and my doctor came in to check me around 7:30 or 8. I was at 6 cm, completely thinned, and at station 0. About 20 minutes later my nurse checked me, and I was at 8 cm. At 9 they started preparing the room for Amelia's arrival. My doctor had to go into an emergency c-section, so I was put on the back burner for the moment. But I was told that I would be next to deliver and that Amelia would be here before 10. At 10:15 she still hadn't made her arrival and another woman was put before me again. After pushing for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, my nurse left to tell my doctor that I would probably have to have a c-section because I just wasn't making any progress. When she came back, Amelia decided that she could come out, finally. She was born at 12:56 pm on Thursday, August 6. She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long. She scored a 9.9 on her Apgar, but I've heard that doesn't really mean anything because some babies can score a 10 and then end up having mental problems. But I'm still gonna brag about it because she is perfect.

She did a lot of damage on the way out, and my doctor had to work on me for 45 minutes repairing her damage. I went into shock and had to receive 3 units of blood. I finally saw my daughter 5 hours after she was born, and she couldn't have been more beautiful.

I saw pictures of her when she was fresh, and she had really chubby cheeks. But when I saw her, her swelling had gone down and she didn't have as chubby cheeks as when she was fresh. I wish I had some pictures to post, but I haven't been moving around very well, obviously. I kind of limp around the house. I'm not allowed to do anything except hold the baby and go to the bathroom. I can't stand up while holding her. I can't go up or down the stairs while holding her. But everyone, including my doctor, is very surprised by how well I am doing. I've never been in this condition before so I don't know how I'm supposed to be doing. But the people who are telling me this would know, so I trust their judgment. I'm still trying to not do a lot though because I want the small amount of pain I'm in to go away very fast so I can start doing more with Amelia. Hopefully I'll get a little better soon and will be able to take some pictures of her so everyone can see.

It's Almost Over

First off, yes this is being posted at 5:45. And secondly, I have been awake since 2:45. People who tell you to get as much rest as you can the last few weeks are full of crap. They've been through it before, so they know exactly how hard it is to get any sleep when you are getting up to pee 6 times a night and trying to get comfortable with a basketball for a stomach.

I have gone past my due date (as you can tell by my baby clock) after 9 months of hopeful anticipation that she would come early. But, according to my doctor, I have just made her way too comfortable in there. But I had a checkup yesterday and have finally started to show some signs of labor (but we won't go into details). The best news I guess is that I will be induced Wednesday night, if I haven't gone into REAL labor before then.

And as you can probably tell, I have gotten really cranky as this pregnancy drags on and on. Lack of sleep can work wonders on a person.