I did want to talk about my fantastic visit with my sister Sarah and her husband Ted, but I have to detour—my baby came two weeks early! :D
Emma Elisabeth
Born March 17, 2012 at 23.41
3130 g (6.9 lbs)
49 cm (19.3 in)
***
And, here’s the story!
My water broke at home around 9:00a. I took my time getting ready to go to the hospital, ate a full breakfast, and piled my things together. Fabian packed everything, then took us to the hospital around 11:00a. At the hospital, the midwife listened to the baby’s heart beat, and checked for contractions, then I checked into the hospital. We had two hours to wait until we went for the next check, and we walked around outside in the hospital garden.
After a while, we went back to the midwife, she took another heart beat/contraction-o-gram, gave me a homeopathic remedy to help induce labor, and showed Fabian how to give me a belly massage, also to help naturally induce labor. After that, I saw a doctor and had an ultrasound. Later, I would have had the doctor do acupuncture, but she was in a C-section all day so that wasn’t an option.
The day was relatively long and boring. I wasn’t having strong contractions, just mild cramps that felt like menstrual cramps once or twice an hour. Since nothing was happening, Fabian went back home to grab a few more things, and to bring me a sandwich, because it was getting close to dinner time and I was huuungry!
The day wasn’t exciting until around 9:00p. I was on the third midwife of the day (ended two shifts!). She came in to do the belly check and I still wasn’t having real contractions. When she came back around 10:00p to give me an antibiotic to protect against infection, I told her I thought I was having contractions about 10-minutes apart. She said we would do another belly check after the IV finished. By the time the IV finished, the contractions were much closer together, and intensely painful. I said I wanted pain medicine, but not an epidural. She started a drip of something that sort of took the edge off the pain. The next time she came back, I said I felt like I needed to push.
Naturally, she was a bit surprised because it was only an hour and a half since I’d started having contractions. She checked, and sure enough, I was ready to go! I had to switch to a different room, but I was sure as hell not walking anywhere. So, they wheeled my bed into the other room, and in between contractions I flopped onto the correct bed, and a few minutes later, started pushing!
Within 20-minutes, I had a daughter! :) The midwife held her up and said, “Can you see?! It’s a girl!” The first thing Fabian said was that she has my nose, and we were both excited she wasn’t a bald baby. She put Emma on my chest, and I got to hold my baby for the first time. Fabian gave a big kiss, and said how proud he was, and that I did an amazing job, and I started crying. The midwife told me it was one of the fastest births she’d seen at the hospital in two years! Whew!
We had a while to wait while the midwife and doctor finished up with everything else, and I got to stare at the back of Emma’s head. I couldn’t even see her face until the midwife took her from me to clean her up and measure her.
Finally, we were ready to go to the family room, where we would spend the next three days. I changed my shirt, and the midwife gave me Emma to start feeding her. I couldn’t sleep until almost 4:00a because I was on such an adrenaline high, and naturally, as soon as I was able to sleep, Emma woke up. It was a rough first night, mostly because we really had absolutely no idea what we were doing, and because the hospital beds were so incredibly uncomfortable.
The next few days were a little bit of a blur. Emma met her new family, we saw more doctors, we learned how to change diapers, Emma pooped (it really was exciting!), we had nights with no sleep, we discovered ways to calm Emma down… It was a busy few days. Emma had her first check-up, and passed with flying colors.
The things that stick out in my mind about the time in the hospital are the feelings. I remember feeling resentful of Fabian because he could sleep easier than I could; overwhelming despair because I thought if I fell asleep I wouldn’t wake up when Emma needed something; and, panic that I was doing something wrong.
Sarah and Ted were in Zürich when I had Emma, and they came to visit us on Monday night. The second Sarah came in the room, we both started bawling, and gave each other huge, huge hugs. It was my first real emotional breakdown after having Emma, and I was just overwhelmed with happiness that Sarah was there—I really can’t say how incredibly important it was for me.
We were supposed to have a midwife come visit us on Thursday, but she cancelled at the last minute because she was sick. We called three other midwives to see if someone could come to us to check on Emma. We ended up with the same midwife who helped Fabian’s mom with his youngest two siblings. She is super nice, and was very critical of the midwife who cancelled on us. I got the impression she has no use for this other woman whatsoever.
We discovered that Emma lost 700g (1.5 lbs.) in the first five days. When you only weigh 7 lbs to begin with, that’s a scary amount of weight! :( The problem was that my milk was blocked, so Emma wasn’t getting any food. The midwife helped break the blockage, and told us I needed to feed Emma every 2 hours.
The day was full of not-so-fun feedings. Emma would push away, cry, and flail her arms half the time, and eat like an angel the other half. I really felt like I couldn’t win, and I was amazed with how much of a battle it was between us. All I wanted was for my baby to eat and get fat, all she wanted was to cry and protest. Fortunately, I must have done something right, because the next day, she’d gained 200g (.5 lb.), and everyone was relieved.
That is all for now, more later!
Emma Elisabeth
Born March 17, 2012 at 23.41
3130 g (6.9 lbs)
49 cm (19.3 in)
***
And, here’s the story!
My water broke at home around 9:00a. I took my time getting ready to go to the hospital, ate a full breakfast, and piled my things together. Fabian packed everything, then took us to the hospital around 11:00a. At the hospital, the midwife listened to the baby’s heart beat, and checked for contractions, then I checked into the hospital. We had two hours to wait until we went for the next check, and we walked around outside in the hospital garden.
Last day of being pregnant! (37 weeks, 5 days)
After a while, we went back to the midwife, she took another heart beat/contraction-o-gram, gave me a homeopathic remedy to help induce labor, and showed Fabian how to give me a belly massage, also to help naturally induce labor. After that, I saw a doctor and had an ultrasound. Later, I would have had the doctor do acupuncture, but she was in a C-section all day so that wasn’t an option.
The day was relatively long and boring. I wasn’t having strong contractions, just mild cramps that felt like menstrual cramps once or twice an hour. Since nothing was happening, Fabian went back home to grab a few more things, and to bring me a sandwich, because it was getting close to dinner time and I was huuungry!
The day wasn’t exciting until around 9:00p. I was on the third midwife of the day (ended two shifts!). She came in to do the belly check and I still wasn’t having real contractions. When she came back around 10:00p to give me an antibiotic to protect against infection, I told her I thought I was having contractions about 10-minutes apart. She said we would do another belly check after the IV finished. By the time the IV finished, the contractions were much closer together, and intensely painful. I said I wanted pain medicine, but not an epidural. She started a drip of something that sort of took the edge off the pain. The next time she came back, I said I felt like I needed to push.
Naturally, she was a bit surprised because it was only an hour and a half since I’d started having contractions. She checked, and sure enough, I was ready to go! I had to switch to a different room, but I was sure as hell not walking anywhere. So, they wheeled my bed into the other room, and in between contractions I flopped onto the correct bed, and a few minutes later, started pushing!
Within 20-minutes, I had a daughter! :) The midwife held her up and said, “Can you see?! It’s a girl!” The first thing Fabian said was that she has my nose, and we were both excited she wasn’t a bald baby. She put Emma on my chest, and I got to hold my baby for the first time. Fabian gave a big kiss, and said how proud he was, and that I did an amazing job, and I started crying. The midwife told me it was one of the fastest births she’d seen at the hospital in two years! Whew!
We had a while to wait while the midwife and doctor finished up with everything else, and I got to stare at the back of Emma’s head. I couldn’t even see her face until the midwife took her from me to clean her up and measure her.
Finally, we were ready to go to the family room, where we would spend the next three days. I changed my shirt, and the midwife gave me Emma to start feeding her. I couldn’t sleep until almost 4:00a because I was on such an adrenaline high, and naturally, as soon as I was able to sleep, Emma woke up. It was a rough first night, mostly because we really had absolutely no idea what we were doing, and because the hospital beds were so incredibly uncomfortable.
New Mama!
The next few days were a little bit of a blur. Emma met her new family, we saw more doctors, we learned how to change diapers, Emma pooped (it really was exciting!), we had nights with no sleep, we discovered ways to calm Emma down… It was a busy few days. Emma had her first check-up, and passed with flying colors.
The things that stick out in my mind about the time in the hospital are the feelings. I remember feeling resentful of Fabian because he could sleep easier than I could; overwhelming despair because I thought if I fell asleep I wouldn’t wake up when Emma needed something; and, panic that I was doing something wrong.
Sarah and Ted were in Zürich when I had Emma, and they came to visit us on Monday night. The second Sarah came in the room, we both started bawling, and gave each other huge, huge hugs. It was my first real emotional breakdown after having Emma, and I was just overwhelmed with happiness that Sarah was there—I really can’t say how incredibly important it was for me.
Sisters
Auntie Sarah & Uncle Ted
The first few days with Emma at home were much more relaxed because we felt like we had a bit more freedom. Yes, we still had to be careful, but it feels different when you’re in the comfort of your own home versus in the hospital. I felt much more comfortable laying Emma on my chest, and snoozing with her on the couch. At the hospital, I felt like I had to put her back in the crib thing even though I would have preferred to have her with us. It also felt easier to bond with her at home.
***
We were supposed to have a midwife come visit us on Thursday, but she cancelled at the last minute because she was sick. We called three other midwives to see if someone could come to us to check on Emma. We ended up with the same midwife who helped Fabian’s mom with his youngest two siblings. She is super nice, and was very critical of the midwife who cancelled on us. I got the impression she has no use for this other woman whatsoever.
We discovered that Emma lost 700g (1.5 lbs.) in the first five days. When you only weigh 7 lbs to begin with, that’s a scary amount of weight! :( The problem was that my milk was blocked, so Emma wasn’t getting any food. The midwife helped break the blockage, and told us I needed to feed Emma every 2 hours.
The day was full of not-so-fun feedings. Emma would push away, cry, and flail her arms half the time, and eat like an angel the other half. I really felt like I couldn’t win, and I was amazed with how much of a battle it was between us. All I wanted was for my baby to eat and get fat, all she wanted was to cry and protest. Fortunately, I must have done something right, because the next day, she’d gained 200g (.5 lb.), and everyone was relieved.
That is all for now, more later!
So many hugs for you!!!
ReplyDeleteNice, amazing and honest story. I loved reading it! Thanks for sharing. I already congratulated (a few times :P), so now I would just say that Emma makes you two even more lovely than you were before (which is unbelievable)!
ReplyDelete