More things to remember

Henry's birth day was crazy just because, as Paul put it, we managed to experience three types of birth processes (natural labor, epidural, c-section) to get the boy. In the whole of the day, I think we managed to keep our wits and our humor about us.

One of the oddest things that happened was as they were counting the equipment/medical stuff that had been used during the c-section. Paul had already gone to the recovery room with Henry and I was in the OR with the doula, Lucy, when we heard the doctor say, "Was it two or three?" Seems there was a miscommunication about how many of one type of equipment had been used during the procedure. There was a call for X-ray to come and while the anesthesiologist was reassuring me that the chances of anything being left was pretty much nil, it's a little disconcerting to hear the doctor say she's not going to close me up until there is a definite count. Thankfully, nothing was left on the inside that wasn't supposed to be there.

I was wheeled back to the OR just as the big UNM/BYU basketball game was tipping off. The entire time we were in the room, the anesthesiologist was giving score updates. Paul was getting updates via his iPhone and visits with the family while we were in the recovery room. We kept Saturday's newspaper and that game is the front story.

After it was determined that Henry was going to the NICU for a bit because of the difficulty he was having breathing, Paul was taken to the maternity ward

The Best Laid Plans

So, Paul and I had planned to spend the last weekend of February as our last one of just the two of us. I'd called my mom to see if she'd come on Monday to give us that time (no problem there), my maternity leave was officially starting at 2:30 on Friday, we'd made some simple plans for the weekend (dinner, last minute cleaning/organizing the house), and I'd planned to come over to this little place and catch the world up on our doings for the past 2 1/2 months.

And then this happened:
This picture was taken probably around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday 2/27. We'd gotten to the hospital about an hour earlier after I'd labored at home for about three hours. Paul thought I was going to tell him to come to bed when I walked into his nook at 1:00 a.m. He definitely wasn't expecting me to tell him that I was most definitely having contractions.

Oh, one of the plans for the weekend? Pack the bag for the hospital. So, there I am trying to breathe through contractions and tell Paul when they start and stop all the while trying to throw things into the suitcase. Because we were newbies to all of this, Paul and I decided to call the doula as well as the OB on call just to get their opinions on when we should come in. They didn't really have any although I'm sure they got a kick out of Paul explaining that I was lying over the suitcase, trying to breathe through a contraction. I also managed to run a bath because laboring in a warm tub sounded like a great idea. We managed to fill the tub and I got my clothes off but couldn't physically make myself get into the water. I did, however, manage to call my mom to let her know that she might want to start heading this way from Amarillo since apparently, I was having a baby. Paul then had the extra task of convincing me to get dressed again and walk down the stairs all the while I'm additionally trying to straighten up the bathroom because, oh yeah, Merry Maids is coming on Monday and if this kid is really coming today, I'm not going to be able to finish straightening up the house.

He eventually talked me downstairs (it's about 3:00 at this point) and I needed to get some items out of the dryer for the hospital. I'd bought a new robe to take with me as well as another outfit for the baby to possibly wear home. There I am, sitting in the floor of the living room, shaking uncontrollably (now realize that it was probably a transition point in labor), when Paul says that was it, we're heading to the hospital.

We manage to make it to the hospital with little ado, arriving around 4:00 to the maternity triage where we find out that, yep, I'm definitely in labor. In fact, I'm 6 centimeters dilated at this point. Woohoo! Our doula arrives, we head to the L&D room, and things are going great. Paul was a rockstar when it came to talking me through contractions and even in between, we were able to joke and talk. Paul and I were relaxed as we could be and really taking things in stride. Everyone kept commenting on how great we were doing, they couldn't believe we were so focused yet relaxed, etc., etc. At one point, I asked Paul for a piece of gum because my mouth was dry and he got a piece for himself as well. He managed to bite his cheek and commented that it really hurt. You know, not like what I was going through but it really hurt. After that, the nurse would ask him how his cheek was periodically as well. They also loved that he had our birthing prep book and was reading about what to expect during each phase of labor.

Around 7:30, Paul's parents and my mom arrived at the hospital, just as my water was breaking and I was entering the transition stage (Paul informed everyone that I might get irritable at this point). They set up the birthing equipment, the doctor came by to check on things, still doing great, I'm telling everyone that I'm really doing this just because I really want that #1 burrito from Golden Pride, we're taking bets on what time the baby would be born. And then at 8:30, I'm 9 cm dilated and labor stalls. We try different positions--standing, moving, sitting on the toilet, nipple stimulation--and nothing happens to make it progress. Around 11, the L&D nurse mentions Pitocin which nearly makes me cry. At 11:30, the doctor does an ultrasound and determines that the baby is OP--his body is in position but he has his head turned and won't/can't engage into the birth canal. She tries to move him and I stopped that quickly. We discuss options and agree that an epidural and trying to turn him is the way to go at this point.

After the epidural kicks in (and might I add, it wasn't just taking the edge off her trying to turn the baby), the doctor gets to business. Except that this little guy is as stubborn as both his parents. The OB could turn his head and he would turn it back. After several failed attempts, we again discuss options. Start Pitocin hoping that will move labor along so I can at least push. If I start pushing, it could take 4-5 hours and might still result in a c-section. Or go to a C-section. Crazy but the ONLY L&D dream I had was that my labor stalled and I had to get a c-section (oh, and that Paul and I politely declined the baby they tried to hand us because he had brown hair and brown eyes).

It wasn't much of a discussion but with our moms and the doula's input, Paul and I agreed that skipping to the c-section was the way to go. Not really what we'd planned or hoped for when things started that morning but I'd said all along that I really just wanted healthy baby and healthy mama as the end result. Because of another c-section that was being performed right then, we had about 1 1/2 hours to wait and keep trying to get the baby to move. He didn't and when the time came, I was whisked off and everything started happening very quickly.

I was glad we'd gotten the doula through the hospital at this point because she was able to come back with Paul and me into the delivery room. She also explained some of the procedures--that I would be alone during all the prep stuff and they would be able to enter once I was draped. I would have been really freaked out if I hadn't known that beforehand (as it was, I was only moderately freaked out).

And at 2:22 on February 27, we got this:
His name is Henry Mac and he has neither brown hair nor brown eyes. And we probably would have kept him even if he had.

The little bun had some problems with phlegm in his lungs and trouble breathing as a result so in the recovery room, he was kept under oxygen for a while. I finally got to meet him after an hour or so. That is one very happy mama there.
Paul in the recovery room with his "bunny suit" on. While he was in the operating room, he commented that he looked like a painter since he was wearing that and everyone else was in scrubs. The L&D nurse really didn't want us to leave since she was having such a good time with us. We're just happy when we've found an appreciative audience for our bad jokes.
Henry, who was still unnamed at this point and would remain so until Monday morning, with the oxygen. Everyone was commenting that they don't get many blonde babies through the ward. He is definitely a tow-head.
I keep telling everyone that I should get credit for more than that (the 7 lb. 15 oz from my first pregnancy dream, perhaps) since he pooped twice before they weighed him. Still a good-sized boy at 20 inches long.
With Daddy on Sunday morning. The first time Paul ever held an infant was when the nurse handed Henry to him to walk to the recovery room. Perhaps we should have practiced that beforehand.
And I finally got that #1 burrito, only 24 hours later. :)

Lots more to tell about this fun day but right now, I need to spend some more time staring at my son.

Remodel #3 Day 2: Fine Layer of Dust

Another day and quite a bit of progress has been made. I'd forgotten how dirty things can get with drywall. There is a fine layer of dust on everything, including inside our kitchen cabinets. I guess I have another chore for Saturday. The electrician was here and was able to put the light switch where I thought it should go upon thinking about it rather than where we'd planned for it to go when we made the initial drawings. No word, yet, on the tile but I'm guessing that won't be an issue either.

Today's pictures are probably the last of the interesting ones since the rest of the work is paint, trim, and finish work. Exciting things like that. Paul apparently thought we needed a picture of the electrical wire so there you go:
Looking from the living room, the new door into the guest room/den and Jub coming down the hall. I guess we'll need to figure out what that room will be called now. Of course, we still refer to the second bedroom upstairs as "the new room" even though it will be Baby's bedroom. Maybe when Baby is about 16, we'll stop calling it the new room. About the same time we stop calling him Baby.
And with both doors shut to keep the cat out. The doors will be painted to match the rest of the trim in the house.

Mud and tape on the inside of the room (also on the old door frame in the hallway) as well as trim. I'm happy he reused the some of the trim and drywall. Makes me feel all ecological and green (and like I probably could have paid less for this project since they're reusing all my stuff). I'm happy with how the electrician re-ran the wiring. We were told to be prepared for him to cut the ceiling to move it. This makes much more sense to me.
Looking out the new door into the living room (notice the cat in the picture?). The light switch was supposed to go to the right of the door or on the long wall, two feet over from the corner. MUCH happier with this solution.
There won't be an update tomorrow as the carpenter isn't going to be coming in--he's got a few loose ends on another project that he's going to finish up tomorrow and then will be back on Thursday to finish the trim and probably get started painting. This project is going quickly from the time Paul and I had the first conversation about it (late October) until it will be finished (late December). Considering I didn't call the contractor until the middle of November, this is a really fast turn-around.

Remodel #3 Day 1

This morning started the remodel to change the door from the hallway to a French door off the living room. I ran home during the morning to be with Paul when the lead carpenter came--he was scheduled for 9:00 but called to let us know that it would be closer to 10:00 because of the Monday morning meeting. Paul didn't want to be the one in charge of meeting him and going over plans but it's not as if he could really mess things up. Paul and I talked over where the new door would be placed as well as the option of having a border tile laid in the doorway from the living room into the new guest room/den. I showed Paul the house key as well as an index card with our cell phone numbers to give the carpenter. That's all I would have done had I been the one meeting the carpenter this morning. When I got home this afternoon and met him, all was well. The door was in the correct place and he didn't think there would be a problem with the tile. We chatted briefly about where the light switch would be located next to the new door as the electrician comes in the morning and I leave for work before the workmen arrive.

Today's progress--The new door way from the living room into the guest room.
No more door into the hallway.
The doorway from the guest room into the hallway. It took me a second to realize that the carpenter had reused the drywall which is why the hallway door and the bedroom door were the correct colors. I'm going to repaint the guest room--not 100% on the color but I've found a couple I like. I'm debating using the color that was in the guest room in Baby's room. I like it.
Looking into the living room from the guest room.

The cat is utterly confused by the changes that are currently taking place. Yesterday when Paul and I were finishing cleaning out the guest room and moving furniture, we left the door open and didn't scold the cat for going in the room. Up until then, that was always the "cat-free room" as a nicety to our guests and he was never allowed in the room. Yesterday and today both, he was standing in the middle of the room, meowing as if to get our attention to the fact that he was misbehaving. We just let him have his moment.

And because I love playing with things like this, even though we don't actually own the sleeper & ottoman, this is the plan for the room layout when all is said and done.

27 weeks and the cat

I was woken up at 5:00 this morning when the storm hit--lots of wind, lightning, thunder and rain. Because the weather was so late in getting to the area, the delay wasn't called until almost 6:00. I waited until 5:45 to get ready for work so I'm ready to go a good 2.5 hours before I need to leave for work today. Oh well. I just hope it doesn't become a snow day since the make-up days for those are added at the end of the school year, when I'll be on maternity leave.

And since I'm up and around, I thought I'd take advantage of the time to do a little blog updating, both here and at my (little known) book blog that has been commandeered for a school assignment this semester. The semester ends on Dec. 10 and my plan is to take the posts from there and move them to a blog for my school library. I've got a couple of book reviews and a journal entry that I need to catch up on by Thursday. I'm not taking a class next semester so after I'm finished with this, I'll be done with classwork until next June.

This is 27-almost-28 weeks. Last week, I had a coworker tell me that I was "huge" and a woman at church tell me that I was the cutest pregnant woman. I like the lady at church better for obvious reasons.
Not huge although I could definitely tell that I've grown this week. According to an email update I get, Baby is probably about 2.5 lbs. and 16 inches long, on his way to what we're expecting/hoping to be about 8 lbs. and 22 inches. So from here on out, we're both just getting fatter. :) I am curious as to see how big my belly button can actually get. I have a fairly deep "innie" and it's getting flatter and flatter every week. I think it looks rather alien-esque now.

I liked this next series of pictures because it is such a common, and amusing, battle of the wills occurrence at our house. Anytime Paul sits down, the cat feels the immediate need to sit in Paul's lap. Typically Paul will acquiesce but occasionally, he just wants to be left alone. And poor Jub will put on his most pathetic look and sit right beside Paul, hoping that eventually Paul will give in. It was a new thing for Jub to sit on the footrest portion of the recliner.
Jub's pleading his case with me--he'd probably like me to tell Paul to let the cat sit in his lap. Instead, I continued to take pictures.
That man has no heart. It's just a little lump of coal. Sad, I tell you. Sad.