On Birthing Babies

Lucy has been with us for a whole week. I can't believe it. It seems like she been here forever. I mean that in a good way, just so you know. The transition from one to two has been easier than I expected, due in large part to my speedy recovery, I think. And the glut of help I've had in the form of Allison and my parents.

All throughout my pregnancy I was worried about my delivery. Sam's birth went about as smoothly as any scenario I could have ever imagined, so I was pretty sure this time around was going to be harder. I was wrong.

My induction was scheduled for 7am on Wednesday the 22nd. At 1:15 in the mother fucking morning, my cell phone rang. It was the hospital calling to ask me to come in at 6am instead. While I appreciated being bumped up higher on the list, you would think they might have not called in the middle of the god damned night. Well, it didn't matter much because an hour later I started having contractions. Of the real variety. None of this false-labor-braxton-hicks-bull-shit. These were the kind of contractions that meant business.

In a way, I was so relieved. If I had I just gone to the hospital and gotten hooked up with the drugs, I would have always wondered when things would have gone down if I let them happen naturally. I kind of got the best of both worlds this way. By 3am, I was wide awake and ready to go. Sleep was off the menu at this point, and then my water broke. At least, that's what I thought at the time. Turns out I was wrong. But we didn't know that until I was at the hospital an hour later.

Once we got to the hospital, things moved along very quickly. I got a room and an IV, had some nurses check me out, cervicially speaking, and settled in until my doctor came on for his shift at 7am. I even read for a little while. At 7 my doctor broke my water, at nine I started a pitocin drip and at 9:30 I got my epidural. An hour later my doctor checked my progress and I was dilated to 5 centimeters.

My body responded very quickly to the pitocin during my labor with Sam. Because of this, I should have insisted on another cervical check half an hour later when I started having some serious pressure/pain. Instead, the staff assumed that my epidural needed a boost and they hit me with a big old dose of numb. Unfortunately, that didn't cut it, and when my doctor came back at 11:15 SOB politely informed him that I was more than likely ready to go. And I was. And they were amazed. I had gone from 5cm to complete in about 40 minutes. Nice.

Since they had given me that huge dose of numb 15 minutes earlier, pushing was a little weird. I was apparently doing it quite effectively, but I couldn't feel a thing from armpits to toes, so I couldn't tell how hard I was working. FYI, I was working pretty hard, 'cause she came out in about 5 minutes. Maybe a total of 5 pushing sessions. And the best part? No tears or episiotomy.

At 11:41am, my little Lucille, all 7 pounds 8 ounces of her, came screaming into the universe. Her apgars were 9 and 9. She wasn't even all blue in the hands and feet like Sam was. Right from the start she was alert and she latched on to the boobie like she had been doing it for years. Nursing has been a dream with this one so far. No thrush, therefore no searing, mind-bending pain. My milk has retained its mystical qualities, packing 11 ounces on Lucy over the course of a single weekend. So far, things at home have been fantastic. I've had a lot of help, though, so I can't take all the credit.

Sam is thriving in the care of his grandparents. They keep giving him cookies and cupcakes and ice cream, so he's started associating his little sister with sweets. He loves to look for the baby when he comes into the room. He runs right over to the bassinet, and if she isn't in there he throws up his arms and cries 'Uh-oh!' This morning he tried to give her a cracker, and when my mother told him she didn't have any teeth, he got very upset. Which was really funny.

All in all, things are going well. She's sleeping as well as can be expected for a newborn. She's a vision to behold. Now we just have to start focusing on the move. I can hardly believe that it's all happening in two weeks. Things are about to get a lot more interesting, that's for sure!