Post 87: things I don't want to forget about Labor Day

I know I took the time to write about the day Julie was born, but I left out some details that weren't necessarily important, but were special to me. These are for Julie, when she wants to know what happened on the night she was born, and during our hospital stay. These are also reminders for her when she has her first child. Here we go!

1) make sure you eat a good meal on your way to the hospital. We stopped at Burger King for breakfast, and I had my ham, egg, and cheese croissant and some water, and it was my last meal for quite a while. Once we arrived at the hospital, and they decided I had to be induced, I wasn't allowed to eat anything other than clear liquids. When you've been eating every 2-3 hours for months, the thought of not eating using delivery seems pretty long. Once the induction is turned into a c-section, you aren't allowed to eat for 24 hours! I thought I would starve! 

My only food of substance from the time I had breakfast at 6:30AM until the next morning (when I had to beg the nurses for real food) included: yellow jello - I say yellow because I couldn't figure out the flavor, but it definitely wasn't lemon; water and Sprite, and finally, instant chicken broth. After trying their awful chicken broth, and deciding I was better off starving than trying to choke it down, I got approval from the nursing staff to bring in my own food. Around dinner time, Sara was my saving grace! She brought me soup from the Fugiyama Japanese Steak House, and it was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten! 

2) when your water breaks, it will feel like you can pee forever! I literally sat on the toilet with fluids coming out for a good 10 minutes before we left home. I soaked through an overnight pad by the time we made it to the hospital, and left a trail of fluid through the hospital on my way to registration. Once we made it to the triage room, I again peed for a good ten minutes, and continued I do so until they put in my catheter. 

3) with a c-section, you can't leave hospital until you've pooped. Ugh. This is the worst! I'd been taking stool softeners for two weeks before Julie was born, and I wish I'd have been taking a higher dose. 

4) gas pains will make you feel like you're dying. My chest would tighten, making it hard to breathe. At one point during our hospital stay, I was in so much pain I thought I was going to pass out, and I started hyperventilating because of it. I could not catch my breath. My chest was hurting, and they brought Julie in to nurse. She latched on, and I couldn't breathe. Shaun called the nurse twice in a panic because he'd never seen me in so much pain. I was crying, and he had to take Julie so I wouldn't drop her as my body tensed. 

5) listen to your instincts once your baby has arrived. Julie came on her due date, as scheduled, and from the time she was born, she set her own schedule. She came out on a 4 hour schedule. Like clockwork, she would want to eat every 4 hours. One of the night nurses decided I was an inadequate mother because I wouldn't feed juke every two hours, so she brought her to me every two hours to nurse. Julie refused to eat - she wanted to sleep, and do what she pleased. She nursed for a few minutes, and fell right to sleep, and didn't get a full feeding. I told the nurse that she was only eating every four hours, and to bring her back from the nursery when she woke up. Instead, she brought her to me two hours later. After again struggling to nurse because she wasn't hungry, I complained to my nurse about how Julie's nurse was not listening to my wishes. Julie's nurse tried to tell me that she had lost too much weight, that she was jaundiced, that my breasts didn't have enough milk, and that I was an unfit mother. Once I complained to my nurse, Julie got a new nurse. Also, before we were discharged, the head of nursing for the hospital stopped by to see how we were treated during our stay. I explained what had happened, and told her that if I wasn't a parent who was educated and strong headed, that I would have given up on breastfeeding and would have left the hospital thinking I was a terrible mother. Julie's nurse would have caused postpartum depression in many women. So, again, I say - you're the mother, do what you feel is right. 

6) if you have a migraine while in the hospital, tell the nurses, and make a big deal about it. Once Julie was born, I started to hae a mild headache within 24 hours. Two days later, it was a full blown migraine, and I was having problems standing, keeping my eyes open, and functioning. I passed it off as sleep deprivation, and even when I mentioned it to the nurses they didn't make a big deal about it. However, it turned out to be a spinal headache from the anesthesia during my c-section. 

7) kick people out of your room. Everyone will want to see the baby, but you need to rest and recover. Don't feel bad asking people to leave. 

8) on the night you were born, we watched Sister Act and Despicable Me. We sang the Sleepy Song, and talked about how long we waited for you, prayed for you, and how much you were loved. I prayed for you, and thanked God for giving us such a wonderful, beautiful, perfect gift. 

9) everyone made it to the hospital in time for your arrival. When I was taken to the OR to prep for the c-section, I left Shaun in scrubs the triage room, and the only other people at the hospital were Shaun's parents. My parents were on their way, and Sara was coming to visit after Lilly's Thanksgiving performance at preschool. The decision to have a c-section was so quick, that I was afraid everyone would miss your arrival. However, once you were here, and Shaun got to push you down the hallway while I was being stitched up, everyone was in the hallway waiting for you! You had a crowd of loved ones that made it just in time to meet you! You are so loved, and God has perfect timing! 

10) you got to come home on Thanksgiving Day! That morning, we watched the Today Show, and the Macy's Day Parade. I still had a migraine, and was having a hard time keeping food down. 

11) don't make decisions while taking pain medication. The drugs I was taking after delivery put me to sleep, so at some point Shaun had left the room, and the pediatrician stopped by to check on you. I remember her being there, but I have no idea what she said. A few minutes later, the newborn photographer came in to schedule an appointment for photos. Apparently, I set up the appointment, because when Shaun arrived back to the room, the photographer said she'd see us the next day. Shaun tried to ask me who she was, and what I'd scheduled, and I had no idea! All I remember is trying to focus on each person that came in the room, and my eyes just kept rolling back in my head. 

12) don't let people scare you about breastfeeding. I was so afraid it was going to hurt to nurse you, but I had no pain at all. A month later, I still had very little pain. The only pain I had with breastfeeding was when you'd first latch on, and it was over as soon as it started.

13) you have an amazing latch. This is a blessing and a curse! You're an expert breastfeeder, but you also suck the crap out of my nipples, and cover me in baby hickeys when you miss. 

14) you passed your hearing test, but it took a few tries. You do not have hearing problems, but you did have such a strong latch that they couldn't get accurate results. They test hearing by having babies suck on a paci. Your suckle was so strong that they had to perform the test without a paci to get results. 

15) you snore. It's adorable, and you've snored since the day you were born. This is how I know you're really asleep. Little baby snores. Aww!

16) your dad and I both cried the first time we saw you. You were perfect - our beautiful baby girl! I have never felt such emotion, so seen so much love in one place. The nurses had you on the warming table, doing your APGAR test, and your dad just couldn't hide his excitement. He got to cut your umbilical cord, and then the nurses put you in his arms. I was still being operated on, and I watched in slow motion, thanking God for a healthy baby, and asking to keep me safe during the rest of the c-section and recovery. Once you were in your daddy's arms, he brought you over so I could see you up close for the first time. It's a moment I'll never forget. I'd never been so happy! 

Post 86: D-Day!

As expected, at 40 weeks, Julia Rose decided to make her grande appearance! After a whirlwind day, our baby girl arrived. Here's a recap!

I was bound and determined that Julie was going to be born on her due date, as scheduled, since she had a deadline, and Hudsons do not miss deadlines. So, after our 39 week, 2 day appointment, when I was told I was not dilated at all, and my cervix was high and closed, I decided to do whatever I could to help the process along. I went grocery shopping, cleaned the house, scrubbed floors, ate spicy foods, and bought a bouncy ball to sit on. By Sunday evening, I'd given up hope that we were going to have a baby on Monday, our due date. I wasn't having any contractions, didn't feel any different, and had no signs of labor. Little did I know, Julie had plans of her own.

I went to sleep Sunday night on the couch since it was more comfortable than our bed, and was easier to get up from to go to the bathroom. I'd been wearing panty liners for a few weeks from all the extra mucous and fluid that comes out in the weeks leading up to delivery. I'd noticed each time I got up to pee during the night that I was changing my panty liner, which was abnormal, but I didn't think anything of it. When I woke up at 5:00AM, I didn't really have to pee yet, so I laid on the couch with Ani by my side, and wondered what the day had in store. My in-laws were expected to arrive for Thanksgivings, I had dance class on regular schedule, and I was trying not to think about it being my due date. 

Around 5:30AM, I decided it was time to pee. I stood up from the couch, and the flood gates opened! If you've never had your water break at home, be glad! I will forever be scarred by this experience!i left a trail of fluid from the couch, down the hallway, into the bathroom. I originally thought I'd peed on myself, until I sat on the toilet and realized my bladder was still full. I yelled for Shaun, but he didn't hear me. 

When the fluid stopped flowing freely, I decided to maneuver to the bedroom to wake Shaun up. As a word of advice, if your water breaks at home, and you're walking barefoot on laminate flooring, be careful! I slipped in the hallway, and almost busted my butt. I caught myself, and headed to get Shaun. I shook his arm and said, "Either I just peed all over the house, or my water just broke!" He jumped out of bed, like a kid on Christmas morning! I went back to the toilet since I had fluid dripping down my legs, and he was helping me determine if the fluid was pee or not. As we'd learned in our prenatal classes, he collected some fluid on a piece of toilet paper and decided it was definitely not pee since it didn't have a smell or color, and it was slick to touch, similar to oil. 

By this point, it was 5:45AM. I sent David a message letting him know my water broke, and decided to take a shower while I waited for his response with further instruftions. When I got out of the shower, he responded, "Get here, now!" We were out of the house by 6:15AM, and were on our way to have a baby! 

We called our parents on the way to let them know we were headed to the hospital. We stopped in Bluefield at Burger King for breakfast, and made it to Beckley by 7:30AM. I was having contractions about every 6-8 minutes by this point. They checked me into OB triage to make sure my water broke. I leaked brought an overnight pad in 90 minutes, and when I sat on the toilet in triage, I peed for a good 5 minutes. When they got me into a gown and laying in bed, they hooked up two monitors - once for Julie's heartbeat, and the other to monitor contractions. The nurse didn't believe that my water had broken, and decided to do a paper test. They stick a piece of paper up your vagina to collect fluid, and if it turns the right color, your water has broken. She couldn't decide if my paper was the right color or not, so she called a midwife to check for dilation, which would also show if my water had broken. We watched the Today Show while we waited for the midwife, and learned how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey in a pillow case!

Around 9:00AM, when the midwife arrived, she looked at the contraction strip, and I wasn't contracting at all. However, when she checked me, she told the nurse that my water had definitely broken! I was 3cm dilated, and 80% effaced, so I got to stay at the hospital! Since I wasn't having contractions, and my water had broken, already, they decided I would need an induction. Once your water breaks, you only have 24 hours to deliver the baby due to the risk of infection. They started pitocin around 9:30AM. 

About the same time, Shaun's parents arrived. Once the pitocin was started, I began having contractions. Pitocin stimulates labor, and the dosage would automatically increase every 30 minutes until Julie was born. My nurse monitored me regularly, and though I was having contractions, they weren't consistent. Around 1:00PM, the nurse and midwife came into my room, and I knew something was wrong. I'd been watching the monitor and noticed that Julie's heartbeat had started in the 160s and had started to drop, and was now in the 130s. The nurse said, "We're going to unhook the pitocin for a little while. Your baby didn't seem to like it, so we're going to give her a little break a while." About 5 minutes later, David came to see us. He explained that as the dosage of pitocin got higher, Julie's heart rate got lower. This, combined with inconsistent labor, was not a great combination. He recommended that we do a non-emergent c-section later in the afternoon. He said we could continue the pitocin for a few more hours, but that if her heart rate continued to drop, I could end up with an emergency c-section. We decided that a c-section was the best decision, and signed all the consent papers for the operation. 

David had said the c-section would be later on the afternoon, so I was expecting to have some time to process what was going on. However, by 1:20PM, I was calling my parents to let them know what was happening, Shaun was suiting up in scrubs, and I was on my way to the OR for a spinal tap. Once I was medicated and draped, around 1:30PM, David started the surgery. They brought Shaun into the room by 1:35PM, and Julia Rose Noonan was born at 1:42PM!