The Birth Story

(warning: it's long)

So many people have been wondering about the birth story and now I finally have a few minutes so let's see how much I can type before Levi wakes up.  I never realized just how little time there would be once baby arrived!  Don't they just sleep all the time?  Apparently not...

Let's see.  It all started at my doctors appointment on September 30.  I knew that I was already 3-4cm dilated and 100% effaced but labour just wasn't starting on its own.  The doctor recommended going onto the induction list for the following Monday, October 4th.  I had heard before that labours which begin with induction are much more intense and often more painful than spontaneous labours because the body doesn't produce the pain-killing (pain-lessening, perhaps?) hormone that it normally would when labour starts on its own.  But, when reminded that in only a week's time the baby would be another 1/2 pound bigger (which could be the difference between natural delivery and a c-section) I agreed to be put on the list.  The doctor warned me that occasionally the hospital is too busy and that some people on the list get asked to come the next day instead.  I went home completely not looking forward to the idea of induction.  But then again, my body still had 3/4 days to start things on it's own.

(Levi woke up therefore the rest of this post will have to wait for tomorrow)

Sunday night, the day before induction, I realized that my body was most likely not going to go into labour naturally and it hit me that we would be having a baby the next day.  (Isn't there something far more overwhelming about knowing that something is coming at a certain time as opposed to just knowing that it's coming "sometime"??)  It was a tough night but by the time I went to bed, I was ready to have this baby, induction and all.

Monday morning came and I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise from our bedroom window as I prepared for the day ahead.  I enjoyed my last shower before becoming a mom.  I made sure the house was tidy and the hospital bag was all packed.  And then the hospital called.  Apparently the induction list for that day was too long and we would be put on the list for Tuesday.  I cannot begin to describe the disappointment and overflow of emotions.  All that adrenaline that was carrying me forward crashed me into a brick wall.  Another 24 hours to wait.

I had a pretty lazy day, seeing as I had nothing planned and didn't feel like doing much anyway.  That evening Nathan and I went in to Stoon and enjoyed the last evening we would have before becoming parents.  Then, once we got home, I went through the preparation routine again, getting ready for induction the following morning.  But guess what?  Tuesday morning dawned and we got another phone call from the hospital saying that there still wasn't room and that we were being bumped another day.  Tuesday was much the same as Monday...not doing much and growing more and more bitter toward the Canadian health care system (do they know how cruel it is to call an expectant mother just hours before she thinks she's going to be meeting her baby and tell her to wait another day...twice?!).

Well, Wednesday morning came and, thinking they couldn't possibly bump me another day, we made plans to be spending the day in the hospital.  But yup, you guessed it.  A third call from the hospital saying that we were being put on the list for the next day.  I went in to see my OB/GYN that day and she said that she had maybe seen one other person get bumped three days in a row in the past five years.  I told her that I felt special.  At this point I was already 4-5 cm dilated so she swept my membranes and sent me home.  Nathan and I hung around the city for a few hours, hoping that the membrane sweep would work fast and kick start my labour but eventually we gave up and went home.

Thursday morning.  Phone call from the hospital.  "Please come in today for your induction."  FINALLY the day had come.  We had some breakfast, got ready for the day, and headed for the hospital.  What a strange feeling to be going to the hospital to give birth having never felt a contraction or having your water break.  I imagine it's a much more comfortable drive...

At the hospital we spent close to two hours getting admitted and having doctors and nurses ask questions and fill out paperwork.  Finally, around noon, they started things by breaking my water.  I had been hoping that this would be enough to get contractions going, but apparently it wasn't.  A syntocinon drip was started about 45 minutes later.  The first couple contractions were manageable and decently spaced.  But unfortunately I only had enough time to think, "Ok, I can do this" before the contractions got much stronger and closer together.  Before too long the contractions were 2 minutes apart and lasting almost 2 minutes each.  I'd heard that it could sometimes take a while to get an epidural (if the anesthetist  is delayed) and I knew I could handle another hour, but wasn't sure what I would do if it was going to be longer than that, so I asked for an epidural pretty quick into the contractions starting (maybe 1-2 hours?).

I laboured the rest of the afternoon, feeling the contractions getting stronger and closer together, but also able to nap and relax.  Unfortunately every time they checked me, I had not dilated any more.  How could the first five cm happen at home without me even noticing and the next five not seem to happen, despite what my body was going through??  I guess the next four cm happened quite quickly that evening, though, because by 10pm I felt ready to push.  I was 9cm.  As many women know, though, 9 is not 10 and I ended up breathing through an hour's worth of contractions, trying to just relax and go with the flow. 

At 11pm, it was clear that things were not going to progress any further on their own due to the baby's size, so I was given two options: c-section now or labour a bit longer and have an emergency c-section.  Not being a huge fan of the word "emergency", especially when my baby's life is on the line, I opted for the immediate c-section and they started prepping right away.  They added some different drugs to my epidural so that I would be numbed enough for surgery and *bliss* the contractions "disappeared" again.

There was a bit of delay once I was in the OR because my one side wasn't numb and they were waiting for the doctor to show up.  Poor Nathan was waiting in the waiting room, wondering what was going on and why it was taking so long.  Eventually, though, the drugs were directed to my right side and the doctor showed up, allowing Nathan to join me in surgery.  By this time it was midnight.  They got started right away and Levi was born 13 minutes later.  Then I started reacting a bit to the epidural and things weren't very fun for me for about two hours.  Nathan, knowing that I would be ok, enjoyed being the first one to snuggle with our son.

And that is the story of Levi joining our family.  He was a little pokey, but in the end we didn't mind.  October 8 is a special day for us.  Not only did Nathan propose to me on October 8 six years ago, but now it is our son's birth day.  Two very special events for thanksgiving weekend.

Mmm...

One of the best things about Thanksgiving? A couple days later when I have tons of leftover chicken to make Chicken Pot Pie. Seriously, one of my favorite comfort foods. All loaded with chicken and veggies and pie crust and creamy goodness. Wow. AMAZING!!!

Picture Update!

I have accomplished alot of things in the past month/month and a half. These pictures are in no particular order, because that just takes too much time on blogger, but at least I got them up and know how to upload pictures to blogger from a mac! Apparently the larger the picture file, the more trouble it is up upload. Logical, right? Totally didn't think of that before. So that's why some people have no problem uploading from a mac to blogger and others (like me) have so much trouble! So anyway, here are some pictures for everyone's enjoyment...

______________________________

I decided I needed a change as far as my hair goes. I decided this at 11pm on night. I thought bangs would be the way to go. I decided I would get out the scissors first thing in the morning. So I got out the scissors first thing in the morning and started cutting. It only took about 5 minutes. That is not enough time to thoroughly think through what you are about to do. I believe my first word when I looked in the mirror was either "Oops" or "Shoot". It's grown on me though (no pun intended) and now I'm kinda enjoying the new look. And don't worry, it's been trimmed up a bit since that picture was taken, and it is much straighter now. : )

______________________________

I finished sewing my quilt together shortly into my internet fast. It was so much fun that I wanted the project to last and yet I couldn't get myself to leave it alone. Once I finished cutting all the squares (hundreds), I figured out a pattern on graph paper for how I wanted the quilt to look. Then, I had to put all the squares together into "sandwiches" and then lay them in rows in the pattern I wanted. I sewed the squares into rows. Then I lay the rows together and started sewing rows together. I had almost finished sewing all the rows together when my sewing machine needle broke. I had to run out and buy more needles and not even three stitches into a new needle and it broke too. Luckily sewing machine needles come in packs of 5, so I could go right on sewing.

I am using my mom's old sewing machine, the machine I learned to sew on when I was about 14 or so.

Sidenote from the quilt project. At the beginning of the year I found an old journal in a pile of books that were being given away here at the school. It was terribly ugly, covered with floral fabric. I grabbed it though because I love to journal and figured it wouldn't be hard to recover. I ended up sewing together strips of ribbon to make a cover and then slipped the cover over the old fabric. Voila! New journal for 2010!

Back to quilting...this (above) is a picture of my rows of squares sewn together and waiting to be attached to each other.

I was most worried about my corners lining up when I started to sew the rows of squares together, but I'd say I did a pretty good job. There are a few places where they don't line up exactly, but when you look at the quilt as a whole, you can't even tell! Whoo-hoo! Point for Niki.

This is the finished quilt...you can kinda see what the other side of the quilt looks like. Eventually it will all look beautifully and cozily frayed, instead of just like open seams.

And this is the step I am stuck on. If you look closely at the seam, you can see that there are small cuts made into the fabric. This is to help the seams fray well when I wash the quilt. What I'm working on now is cutting little notches into each of the seams...talk about time consuming. At this point I just want the quilt to be done!

______________________________

On Thursday was Thanksgiving for the American population of the world. And this year that included us. We had a wonderful potluck, turkey dinner style. I got the job of cooking the turkey (which was actually two smaller chickens). I was the only one who had ever cooked that before, so, unbeknown to my fellow court-dwellers, I actually got the easiest job of them all. Buy bird. Take bird out of bag. Put bird into roaster. Pour lots of yummy butter over bird. Put bird in pre-heated oven. Take out in a few hours. Done.

But anyway, what does that have to do with a picture of my husband on a motorbike? Well, this was his highlight of Thanksgiving day. He got to learn to ride motorbike. Our friend, M, was gracious enough to lend "Charis" to Nathan so that he could learn to ride. He also gave him some instruction, which was probably more for the safety of his brand new bike, than for Nathan. hehe. Nah, M is quite willing to teach Nathan to ride.

______________________________

For anyone who knows American traditions, Black Friday is a big one. It is America's biggest shopping day. You know how Canadians go out on Boxing Day because all the stores have huge sales? Well, there is no Boxing Day down here. Instead they have Black Friday. It is the day, legend has it, when all the stores, after being financially in the "red" all year, finally get back into the "black" or positive again. This is a picture of the 6 of us who partook in the Black Friday tradition. And yes, we are all Canadian. The American's were smart enough not to join us.

Here we are all smiling and happy at midnight shortly after arriving in line outside Target (above).

Nathan looks quite thrilled to be waiting in line. Heidi on the other hand is reveling in the experience. This is at about 4:30am, half an hour before the doors opened.

Our "I'm-so-excited-to-have-pulled-an-all-nighter-so-that-we-can-be-standing-outside-in-the-cold-at-4:30am-for-a-chance-at-a-tv" faces. And yes, it was cold. California does get down to 3 degrees at night.

Our Target line was much more relaxed than the Best Buy line just down the parking lot. We sat and played cards and talked for 4 hours before the line started compressing. The Best Buy line was pushing and shoving and standing the entire night. Our line was actually pretty fun. And I didn't get tired at all. Must have been all the nice, fresh, cool air. Well, maybe not "fresh"...the central valley has ALOT of smog. It's pretty disgusting, actually.

In the end, we did get our tv, as I mentioned in yesterday's post. It was a fun experience...one that I don't feel the need to ever repeat though...