Peter's birth story

I woke up around 11:45 Saturday night (September 4th) when my water broke. Being so early and in the middle of house projects--stuff like getting vinyl siding on the house and the nursery painted and carpet laid, I was in denial. I got up and kept trying to convince myself that I had just peed everywhere. Hah. Around 12:30am, I had my first contraction, which wasn't too terrible. It wasn't comfortable, but I could deal. From the beginning, they were 4-5 minutes apart and at least a minute long. After four or five of them, I woke Sean up, then hopped in the shower. After all, I had primer all over my legs from working on the nursery!

Sean went into panic mode and started throwing things into bags, since we didn't have anything packed. He called the OB on call, and then she called me back after I got out of the shower. She told me to go ahead and head on in to get checked out. In the seven miles from our house to the hospital, I had four contractions. They were starting to get way more painful, and way more frequent. We also saw two live possums in the road, which Sean said was a good sign.

Got to the hospital (and left my cell phone in the lobby bathroom!), got checked in, and the baby's heart rate was up a little, and so was my blood pressure. She laid me flat on my back and LEFT ME THERE! I was super ticked by that point. So I hopped up and threw up (because it wouldn't be the end of my pregnancy if I didn't).

She finally got around to checking me at 3am, after we had been there for around 45 minutes. I don't think she was really expecting me to be that far along, since at my appointment on Thursday, I was 1cm and 70% effaced. Well, I surprised her, because I was already 90% effaced and at 5cm. I asked for some IV pain meds, but they wouldn't give me anything until they got fluid in me since I was so dehydrated, and since the baby's heart rate was still a little fast. They did finally move me to a room though.

Once I got into my room, I couldn't move. Even turning my head made me want to throw up. Around 3:30am, I told Sean I couldn't handle it, that I needed the epidural. All I really remember is saying that it hurt and I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I literally had so little fluid in me that I couldn't produce tears. Honestly, I probably could have handled everything with just some pain meds if I hadn't been so dehydrated and could have moved around. The relief was pretty immediate, although it didn't take all the way. I could still feel contractions on my left side, but they weren't as bad. Instead, I just shook uncontrollably through them. At one point, my nurse checked the monitor, and they were lasting for two minutes at a time. Then I threw up again. :)

Around 4:45am, DH asked her when I should be checked again. She told him that I needed to feel some pressure first. I looked at her and said, "Uh, I have been for awhile..." Guess I should have mentioned it earlier. She gloved up, and her eyes got really wide. I was totally ready. She called the OB, and then went to the bathroom and to get a cup of coffee. The OB got there within a few minutes, and informed me that baby had hair, and lots of it. At that point, I was getting a little freaked out. This was supposed to take longer!

I pushed for 1.5 hours. It wasn't anything crazy, except I apparently have a weird inner tissue band that neither the OB or nurse had ever seen before. It held him in place kind of tightly, so I had some trouble getting it stretched out. In the end, I had one small tear on the outside that didn't really need any work, but that inner band tore in three different places.

Anyway, at 6:25am, I asked if they thought I would have a baby by 7am. The OB said she gave me 'til 6:30. The nurse guessed one more push. She was right. He came out waving his big old hands (everyone remarked on them!) and spreading his legs wide! I got to hold him for a minute, then they took him because he was breathing so fast. They finally decided that it was fast, but not dangerous and gave him back. Sean then got to hold him, and decided on his name.

I'm still in awe!

Introducing...

Peter Amias Snyder!

Peter was born September 5 (so I'm a little behind on my posting)! He was 7 pounds 15 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. He looks so much like Sean!! I'll have to post his birth story soon (when I can type with both hands). I also have a couple other posts floating around my head. Until then, here's some pictures from the day he was born!








Peter Amias Snyder!

Peter was born September 5 (so I'm a little behind on my posting)! He was 7 pounds 15 ounces, and 19.5 inches long. He looks so much like Sean!! I'll have to post his birth story soon (when I can type with both hands). I also have a couple other posts floating around my head. Until then, here's some pictures from the day he was born!

Consumerism?

I had a birth class this weekend. I didn't really learn a whole lot of new things, but the relaxation techniques should come in handy. The hospital tour was nice too, just to get a feeling for the lay of the land.

Mission has just been certified "Baby Friendly" by the WHO and UNICEF. It's the only hospital in North Carolina to have this designation so far, and one of 96 in the country. To see a full list and read more about this designation, see: http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/eng/03.html.

"BFHI promotes, protects, and supports breastfeeding through The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals, as outlined by UNICEF/WHO. The steps for the United States are:

1 -	Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2 -	Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3 -	Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4 -	Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
5 -	Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
6 -	Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7 -	Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8 -	Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9 -	Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
10 -	Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic"

As you can see, breastfeeding is the big push here. But where does this leave formula companies? At the class the other day (sponsored by my OB's office), we were given gift bags donated by Enfi.mil. The can of formula in the bag made sense, given the sponsor. But the "surprise" came when I opened the box labeled for breastfeeding mothers. It contained a book about breastfeeding. That was good. It also included two bottles of pre-mixed formula, a bottle nipple, and individual packs of formula. Not good.

At least I don't have to worry about the hospital using formula, or sticking a pacifier in Dot's mouth while he/she is in the nursery. How do I know this? Because Mission doesn't even have a nursery anymore. Dot will be with me. All. The. Time. I'm excited about this.

And in other news, I'm making progress. The nursery will be painted this weekend, and I'll be washing clothes too. And celebrating my birthday! It should be a pretty good one. :)

"I've got some good news, and some bad news..."

Good news: New windows are installed.
Bad news: Vinyl siding tore. Must.Replace.All.(Excuse the blurriness of the cell phone pic.)

And the nursery still has exposed new drywall and drywall mud. Also no carpet.

I'm due in 5 weeks.

Commence panic now.

A few things that are currently driving me crazy

1. Getting home and hearing--"Watch out for the wet spot in the floor."
Apparently the bag of trash that should have been taken outside when it was removed from the can (not by me) fell over and leaked in the floor. Bleach was sprayed on it (not by me). Said bleach and trash juice was NOT cleaned up (I guess that's my job). Said trash bag was propped back up and NOT taken out (guess that's my job too).
It should be noted that we've discussed in the past the fact that I shouldn't have to take out the trash.

2. "If I get the wood frame built for the rock wall, the carpet ripped up, and the walls ready for painting in the nursery, then I think I'll have earned my TV."
Said TV is valued at 50% more than the original plan. When I asked what I get for getting the walls painted, keeping the house clean, cooking, etc., I was told "a dishwasher." Because that's obviously the same thing as a TV. Keep in mind my laptop died six months ago, but that's not really even been considered.

3. The litter box.
I've given up and been cleaning it some myself (don't worry, I wear gloves). It's starting to smell. I went to clean it yesterday and was told that it could wait several days, that it would be taken care of. Ummm...still stinks.

So now I'm going to go carry the trash out, load my half-functioning dishwasher, and clean the living room. Lovely. Oh, and let's not forget cleaning up the bleach puddle that's RIGHT IN THE WALKWAY TO THE KITCHEN!

Randomness

Since I'm so terrible at updates, this is just going to be a random thoughts post. Easy peasy, right?

1. It's so fun to watch the cats swat at bugs outside the glass door. Of course, if the bugs were inside, they wouldn't care at all.

2. I got to leave work early, due to a situation with the power that required shutting down all electricity to the building...immediately. Fine with me.

3. My house really needs cleaning. I'm doing a little bit each night. Tonight was vacuuming the cats' room and working on cleaning out the nursery (everything I can left).

4. I found 58 halogen bulbs in the closet. Lifespan per bulb = 10,000 hours. We may never buy lightbulbs again.

5. Jeff Carson's song "The Car" makes me cry every time I hear it.

6. What do you do when your world is flipped upside down and nothing is as you expected it always would be?

7. I'm SO glad I'm finally over the stomach bug I got last week. It just about kicked my butt.

8. There's a little part of me that still wants a tattoo. Obviously not right now, but sometime. I wonder if John would go with me to get it?

9. Whoever invented powdered chocolate milk mix is a genius. For real. I drink several glasses a day. I only use about half the recommended amount of mix, though.

10. Still wondering how I broke off half of one of my toenails this weekend. So much for my cute pedicure.

11. Sean's birthday presents have been sitting in the dining room for a week, and he's got another week and a half to stare at the boxes. He told me today that it was really his birthday already.

12. A cat just jumped over my head.

13. I'm trying to plan a surprise cookout for this weekend, but no one has told me if they're coming or not. Hmmm...I hate when people don't plan in advance.

14. I'll be glad when the wood framing for the rock wall in our front room is done so the table saw can be moved out. I'm tired of tracking sawdust everywhere.

15. A new dishwasher. That's all I want. Not a super expensive one, just one that will actually wash my dishes in one cycle. Please?

Planning

Now that I've hit the third trimester, it's time to start planning for Dot's arrival. And by planning, I mean that all I have so far is a crib and lots of cloth diapers. I've got to pick out a car seat (Graco Snugride 35--but what pattern?), get the other nursery furniture picked out, decide on new carpet and paint colors, and get things set up.

But I've also got to plan for the literal arrival of this baby. I know that the important thing is healthy baby and healthy mommy, but I still think it's important to know what I would like to get out of the birth experience. For instance, I would prefer to not have drugs (pitocin, epidural) constantly brought up. If I need the epi, I'll ask for it. If there's a GOOD reason for pitocin, that's fine. But I don't want it if the only reason is because labor is going slowly. This baby will come in his/her own time.

I don't want to lay flat on my back the whole time. For that matter, I would prefer to only be on my back if I choose to be. Gravity can't do it's job if I'm laying down, which just makes everything that much harder.

I want my baby handed to me immediately. Sure, I want to know how much he/she weighs and how long he/she is, but that can wait a few minutes. I want Sean and me to be able to enjoy those first few precious alert moments. As much as our families may not like it (sorry, Mom!), that information is not life or death and doesn't have to be determined and reported immediately.

I want to be able to breastfeed and ask for help, and to not have the "help" be the offer of formula supplementation, or to be told that I must use it or sugar water. God made me perfectly able to provide all the nourishment that my baby needs to survive.

Does all this mean that I'm going to be super demanding? NO! It just means that I would like as few interventions as possible. Women have given birth for thousands of years, and many still give birth with no medical help. While I'll be in a hospital setting, I want to have as normal a birth as possible!