DRAFT

Actually, I had a pretty horrible back labour, which with my back pain was pretty bad...for 36 hours!! I lasted 15 hours without an epidural and by then it was so bad that I couldn't think straight...things were progressing really well until the epidural, then the last centimeter took hours and hours to get to - but I was relatively 'comfortable'. After 3.5 hours of pushing, I was rushed into the OR for a forcep birth, which if it failed would have turned into an immediate C-section. Things got very scary as I was 'prepped' just as for a C-section - oxygen, monitors, the whole thing. Luckily. Zofia was born via forceps relatively quickly - but this kind of birth causes a lot of damage so they were sewing me up for vaginal tears for a good 45 minutes and I had one perineal tear. Don't mean to scare you with all this, but rather let you know what could happen - for me, I had somehow not heard much about back labour and didn't know what that would feel like. I even called the hospital to ask if what I was feeling was back pain or labour [as back pain doesn't come in waves] and they didn't really know, or rather wouldn't tell me over the phone - I'm sure it's CYA mode for legal issues. So we left for the hospital, when what I now know to be contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasted for 3 minutes. My water broke as I sat on the exam table - good timing, eh?


Because my water broke for 22 hours prior to delivery, I had a fever and so did Zofia - so as a precaution they took her to the NICU for 48 hours of antibiotics, which then turned into a spinal tap [still think it was unnecessary] and 7 days of antibiotics, despite all her tests coming back normal and clear. It was very disheartening as the communication with the physicians was horrible - they didn't include us, but rather informed us once they had made a decision and acted on ot. We wanted to be part of her care, not just bystanders - I mean we ARE the parents. I was discharged on Saturday after delivering on Thursday - I could barely walk but they had a bed shortage as they schedule most C-sections for the weekend. Luckily, the NICU coordinator had a cot moved into Zofia's room, so I lived in the NICU all week, and Dave was there with us round the clock except for night time - he'd go home around midnight, do laundry, feed the cats and complete the list of things I needed for the next day [including clothes and toiletries as I thought we'd be there 2 days, not a week], then he'd be back by 8am the next day. It was a week of hell. Not the way we expected it to go, but it wasn't a 'typical' delivery.


Make sure you bring a package of nighttime pads - they only give you a limited supply, and you need the largest ones! Also, bring panties for the pads - I didn't think of that, I just had my maternity underwear which ended up being too loose as they don't have elastics. They only give you one pair of those disposable panties, so the nurses really had to scrounge to get me a second pair. Diapers - you only get 6, so bring more in case you need more...in the NICU we had an unlimited supply and even took some home. Bring a change of clothes for hubby - we brought all my stuff, and I didn't think to bring Dave's toiletries or a change of clothes for him, and he was there for 2 days before he had a chance to go home for a shower and break.

On the 4th floor, there is a Ronald McDonald room for families of patients - this was a Godsend for us during our weeklong stay. It opened up 2 weeks before we were there, so not everyone knew about it. It's totally free and so helpful. THey have 3 'hotel rooms' with beds, linens and full bathrooms with showers, so I was there each day to grab a shower. THey also have laundry facilities, so we could clean our clothes - they even have 'loaner' clothes you can wear while yours are washing. They have a fully stocked fridge, so we would go there for breakfast and lunch as it not only saved us $$, but we were sick of eating unhealthy hospital cafeteria food - yuck! They have internet and phones, which made it easier to stay in touch with everyone while we were stuck at the hospital. So if you guys end up staying longer [hope not!], you can take advantage of this.

I don't know what else to tell you Claudia. We are thrilled to have our angel home - there are some trying times, but for the most part, she eats like a champ, sleeps between 3-5 hours at a stretch, which is great...but my milk supply isn't where it needs to be so we're supplementing with formula, so I get up to pump during the night and Dave does the night time feeding with bottled breastmilk or formula, as it would just take me too long to breastfeed, then pump and express...by the time you finish it's almost time to do it all over again. BTW...if you do choose or need to supplement, the hospital uses Similac Advance formula - so if you don't want that, you might want to bring your own.

I hope I haven't painted a gory picture - we just had a difficult delivery, but they are not all like that. If you want to chat about how things went or have questions, I'd be happy to answer them - you're more than welcome to come over or to call

Yeah, it was a rough delivery - I forgot to mention that she was also turned the wrong way and that made it all the more painful too...but go in positive, hopefully all will go well and you will have a more 'standard' delivery. The nurses in L&D were awesome though, so you will be well taken care of. THe med students coming in constantly and introducing themselves are a bit annoying...one guy asked if I remembered him and I thought 'Should I??' I mean I won't ever see him again!

Don't worry about the epidural - it WILL work. It won't work if you have it administered too late, but you can always ask them to tell you before you reach the 'point of no return' and you'll be fine. I just kept telling myself that women have done this for a very long time, and that I'm not the first woman to give birth...but those women didn't have modern drugs or epidurals. I kept thinking of 'cave women' giving birth alone in the wild and worrying about wild animals finding her or the baby - compared to that, we've got a breeze  [I know...it's the power of suggestion]. Wow, that is a big baby - if you opt for a c-section, you can tell them once you get there that that is your preference...but you'll still be in labour for a while until they get you in. Just make sure that Marcus will be a good advocate for you - he should know your birth plan and should know what you would want, as you can imagine we are a little vulnerable during labour and can't think straight - so it's important that he can stand up for you. Even after delivery, my head felt like I was swimming a little bit and it helped to have Dave be the 'voice of reason'.

You only gained 20lbs? Good for you! I gained over 60, but I lost 40 by the time we left the hospital - thanks to not eating, not sleeping and stressing through the roof!! I swelled up like a balloon a few days after the delivery to the point I couldn't put my flip flops on and I couldn't even crouch down becuase my entire body was so swollen!! I still have 20-25lbs to go, but I'm obviously not even trying as I need to eat well for my milk supply and we don't always get out for a short walk as besides my back issues, 'things' are still tender...oh, the joys of childbirth!




-Sammy's flowers and butterflies
-feeling Sammy's hands on my face