Baby makes three...

I can't believe that it has been almost one week since Peter was born! Lots has happened so far. I had a lot of energy for the first two or three days, but after that the dropping hormone levels have meant I am a bit more tired.

Feeding is going very well. He is a hearty eater and is already just 3 ounces away from his birth weight (Babies lose weight after birth and are expected to regain it by 2 weeks of age.) His cord fell off today, which was rather momentous.

In his first week he also developed a bit of jaundice and a blocked tear duct, both rather worrisome to new parents, but the midwives were able to give us advice, help us monitor things and both are clearing up quickly. We were so grateful to be able to call the midwife at 11 at night when his eye got all goopy and to be told what to do.

Mostly he is a very easy little fellow, and just fusses when he is hungry or needs something. It usually does not take us too long to figure it out and then he relaxes again. However, he does NOT like having his diaper changed. You would think he would want to be changed out of a soaking wet diaper, but he would much rather keep it on!

Posted by hilary at 06:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Peter Alan has arrived! He was born at home after an eight-hour labour. I went into labour at 12:30 on Friday morning. I woke Julian at 2:30 to let him know things were happening. We went for a nice long walk around the neighbourhood. By the time we got back, I was very focussed on the contractions. I lay on the floor clutching the exercise ball. Julian called our doula and midwife. They arrived about an hour later and watched my contractions. I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was a big relief to me, as I just wanted to know s/he was doing okay during that time.

After a while, the midwife offered an exam, which I accepted. I was hoping to be at least 5 centimetres as I didn't want to get in the bath before then, but I knew some hot water would offer a lot of pain relief. Much to my amazement, she said I was just shy of 10 centimetres dilated! None of us could believe it. I got in the bathtub and kept labouring.

I was still relatively coherent between contractions, though I was nauseous. The doula and Julian were extraordinary at that point. I even threw up on our doula! After a while I got out to sit for a while and labour some more. My water finally broke, as it had remained intact the entire time. At that point I really felt the urge to push, so I did. I could feel the baby's head, so I got back in the bath. One great push later and the head was fully out. His cord was wrapped loosely around his neck (I didn't see this, but Julian told me). The student midwife quickly unlooped him. I pushed again he was born!

He was passed through the water to me and I held him up to my chest. We did not know the gender, so I looked and saw that we'd had a little boy! I had to check again a few minutes later as I had been so sure it would be a girl. Nope, still there! After a little bonding, he was passed to Julian to hold him and get his cord taken care of.

I was helped to bed, and they brought the beautiful little baby to me. It took me a few moments, maybe even hours, to realise he was really ours but we both feel like the luckiest people in the world. He really is the sweetest baby, and every finger twitch or grimace inspires a fresh and overwhelming surge of love.

Peter Alan is named after his two grandpas. He was 7lb 7oz and almost 21 inches long.

Posted by hilary at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Hmmm... my ticker seems to be counting backwards now! At least the one that say "x days" to go. (It changes when you click on it). But I'm still hanging in here!

Posted by hilary at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Sorry to report that I am still pregnant! Hopefully things will get moving, but right now there is nothing going on. I am afraid I am following in my family's tradition of late babies. I am quite impatient now, and when I see women walking with small babies all I can think is "That should be me!"

So in the meantime, I am just waiting around.

Posted by hilary at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay, I am now ready to have a baby. I still have a week, or possibly even more, but am hoping that this baby doesn't go too much past its due date. I was warned in my last appointment that most first time mothers don't go until their 41st week, but I am running low on energy and on things to do, so I am hoping that the baby decides to cut me a little slack and pop out by Monday. However, I know that the whole due date thing is a bit of a myth - in fact the average pregnancy for a first-time Caucasian mother is 288 days, not the 280 represented by the due date. Still, it's very boring to be on maternity leave when you don't yet have a baby!

I have started telling him or her every day that we are ready for him or her. The "nursery" is finally complete and we have all the gear that we need - at least everything we think we need. I'm sure we'll think of a few more things once the baby is born. So right now I am just sipping my raspberry leaf tea and trying to encourage this baby to be part of the world. I am also rolling around on my exercise ball in an effort to make sure she or he keeps moving down. Still, if it needs to bake a little longer I guess that's a good thing. At my last appointment I was measuring a little behind, so maybe s/he needs to get a little more meat on her or his bones before leaving the womb.

I have had some pretty intense Braxton-Hicks contractions that made me think that perhaps things were starting, but they all tapered off after only a couple of them. I also had some pretty intense back pains, so I am really hoping this baby is not in a back labour position. I will be asking that at my appointment tomorrow.

Posted by hilary at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow - the numbers on that ticker get lower every day - funny how that works. I am now on maternity leave. The first few days were spent doing a lot of nesting. I cleaned out our kitchen cupboards and threw away cosmetics dating back to the year 2000. We have a very small bathroom and kitchen and have moved more than five times (well, Julian has moved five and I've moved seven times!) so I am amazed at how much we had been able to hoard! It's gone now and that feels good.

I also applied for EI, which was extraordinarily difficult. Because I've worked so many casual jobs, it was extremely onerous to fill out all the details. They wanted to know how much I had made in individual weeks, Sunday to Sunday, but no one pays in Sunday to Sunday increments, so it required me combing over my timetables for the past year to try and recall what days I worked and for how long. Extremely frustrating. I think it's problematic how difficult they make it for workers who have been doing casual employment - I detect an adverse effects section 15 Charter challenge in there somewhere!

We had our last prenatal class this week, which was very sad! We have both enjoyed those classes so much. Last week we covered lots of post-birth topics, like breastfeeding, bathing, playtime, when to call the doctor and so on. The breastfeeding stuff was particularly useful and it was great to have Julian there to hear everything, as I think it helps to have two people there to absorb all the information. This week we got to hear the birth story of a couple who had their baby 10 weeks ago. I was amazed at how big their 10-week old was - he looked like a real little person, and not just a tiny newborn. It was great to hear their story, and also really reinforced to us that hiring a doula was the right choice, because it definitely sounded like there were times when it would have been great to have some help.

Other than that, not much new on the pregnancy front. I have started to have bad insomnia, waking at four and lying awake for an hour or two or longer. The other night I couldn't fall asleep until 3, which was terrible. Apparently it's quite common in these later weeks, and people keep telling me that I'm just getting used to what's ahead. But I think it would be better to prepare for what's ahead by being well-rested!

Statistically speaking, most first time mothers have their baby in the 41st week, so I am guessing I have some waiting to do. The baby is still in the head down position and apparently its hands are up near its face. The heart rate was 130, which was great. I am trying to keep myself busy with various activities, so tomorrow I am having a pedicure. Fun.

Posted by hilary at 09:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)