Eluned G. Sharron Bethea » January 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Sat, Jan 26, 2008 12:00 PM
Will's Dad and stepmom Gloria got us a subscription to Smithsonian magazine a few years ago, and we love it. The magazine comes just about the way you might imagine: insightful, well-written articles on a range of topics including science, art, history, sociology/cultures, etc.

And long. Boy, these articles are long. And not casual reading, either. By now, I have a pretty major backlog of unread and partially read Smithsonians.

Until I brought Els home. Breastfeeding entails a great deal of sitting around. So I've started occupying this time by reading through my Smithsonians. By now, I've finished 10 magazines (although I'd read parts of many of those already).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I finally clear through all of my back issues -- go to the library, I guess.

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Mon, Jan 21, 2008 11:00 AM
Thus far her nicknames include: Elu, Els, Ellie, LG (El G? "little girl"), Sugarplum, Houdini, Squawkbox, Kicky Sue, Baby Burrito, Squiggle Squirm/Wriggle Worm, Rootster, Anger Muffin, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Betsy Wetsy and Sleepy Pete. We're big nicknamers in my family.

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Fri, Jan 18, 2008 8:00 PM
We met with a lactation consultant today.

It's normal for babies to lose up to 10% of their birth weight after they're born, but generally they should gain it back within two weeks. At her two week appointment on Tuesday, Eluned only weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz., still 7 ounces down. She is gaining weight, so her pediatrician, Dr. Zimble, isn't too concerned.

The lactation consultant, Binky (no, really, her name is Binky), said this would probably all resolve itself if we just kept doing what we're doing. But as we're willing, she devised a more aggressive plan for us, to both increase my milk supply and to bulk up Elu a little more. The plan depends a lot on Will, and I think he likes the idea of having a more active role in feeding her.

The central issue (according to both Binky and the lactation consultant at the hospital) seems to be that Eluned has a high palate. This makes it harder for her to latch on, and may interfere with suckling. However, both also told us that people with high palates are often great singers.

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Tue, Jan 8, 2008 8:00 PM
The evening of New Year's Day I decided to work on our household budget for 2008. At around 9 p.m., something hit me. I frantically started clearing computers and notes off me, with Will's help, and ran for the bathroom. When I got out, I told Will to get rid of everything I had been working on (which he did), and I asked him to keep me company for a while.

I lay down, and Will joined me. I'd been having contractions off and on for a couple of weeks -- "false labor" -- but these were much stronger. Around 9:15, I suggested to Will that he start throwing a few things in the car, just in case. At about 9:30, I told him we were going to the hospital.

We didn't actually leave until 10:30. What I was experiencing was so intense it took me an hour to make it downstairs and out the door into the car. But we made it to the hospital in record time. I headed for the entrance to the maternity ward, which of course was locked at that time of night. By the time I turned around, Will had a nurse with a wheelchair coming toward me, and she wheeled us straight to maternity. On the way there, I made them stop during a contraction, turned around and kneeled on the wheelchair footrests until it was over. Luckily, Will was holding on tight.

The nurse had called ahead, so they took me straight to a labor and delivery room. The first labor and delivery nurse on the scene checked me, and I was between 3 and 4 centimeters.

It turns out that my water had broken at home, which is why I seemed to go from 0 to 60 in about a half-hour. My nurse, Heide, arrived, and I asked for an epidural.

I said all along I was going to see how far I could get on my own, but I'd ask for an epidural if I needed one. Turns out, I could get to 6 centimeters.

While we waited for the anesthesiologist, Heide and Will coached me on breathing, and I focused on a single point in the blanket in front of me. (If I do this again, I'll take a Lamaze class and bring a focal object.) I had settled in to the position that was comfortable to me, on all fours -- but that position is associated with back labor (which I didn't have). One nurse even started massaging my back, until I, ah, asked her to stop.

For the epidural, I had to move, which was hard. By this point I was shaking uncontrollably. Will sat in front of me. The anesthesiologist was fast and gentle, and the epidural started to take effect quickly.

Once I started to settle down, Heide turned her attention to the monitors. She realized that my contractions were coming so fast that the baby didn't have time to recover between them, and it was affecting her heart rate. The epidural slowed me down a tad, but not enough. So they gave me a shot of something to slow down my contractions, and had me lie down.

And we settled down to wait. Will actually got some sleep. I couldn't sleep, so I watched the clock and the monitors for hours.

At about 5:30 a.m., my Mom and one of my best friends Nico arrived; they started driving down from Northern California when we left for the hospital. We chatted for a while, and then they got in naps, too.

Around 6:30 Heide came in before the shift change. I was at 9 centimeters, so I asked her to turn the epidural down a little. An hour later, I asked to have it turned down again. When the day nurse, Amy, checked me again, I was still at 9 centimeters. But when Dr Sikking arrived at about 8:15, I had reached 10.

They changed the room around fast. Nico had gone out for some coffee, and we called her back. Dr. Sikking said anyone who stayed got a job, so Nico held one leg, my Mom held the other, and Will stood next to me and counted. I couldn't feel as much as I wanted to -- I never did feel an urge to push -- but I felt enough to know when I had a contraction coming and push with it.

Dr. Sikking and Amy told me how to push. It took a few tries before I got the hang of it, but once I did things progressed quickly; I pushed for just over a half hour. Toward the end, the baby's heart rate started yo-yo-ing up and down, but by then we were so close, her head was out in just a few more pushes. Once her head was out, Dr. Sikking told me to stop pushing while she delivered the rest of the baby.

Amy helped me bring the baby up to my chest, where we rested.

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Nicky: I'm so glad you recounted the experience for all to read! Wish I had been there!

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