My Birth Story...Part 1

Some of you may not want to read this, because I will go into a bit of detail, so you can stop here, and that is fine...tomorrow or on Saturday will be a post about Amelia being 4 weeks old (or I might wait to do that on Sunday when she'll be a whole month old! My how time flies!).

So, here goes...my birth story.

It starts out as any other birth story does, contractions. Mine started at around 6:30 am on September 17. They really weren't bad, and I was able to sleep between them...plus, they were pretty far apart, around 10 minutes or so. The thing that was freaking me out was that Markus was in Frankfurt. He was at the IAA, the largest car show in the world (he was there for work...and well, a bit of pleasure! Think kid in a candy store with all those new cars to look at!). I gave him the green light to go, since I thought I wasn't going to actually go into labor on my actual due date, but I did.

I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30 that morning, so mom and I were tracking the contractions with this nifty web-site called the Contraction Master. Holy crap, they were about 5 minutes apart! That's about when I was getting a bit nervous and sent Markus a text saying, "I am having some weird cramping, so be prepared to hop in the car and come home." I didn't want to make him nervous, so I phrased it in such a way that A) he wouldn't freak out and B) he'd get the picture. Well, he did, and he jumped in the car to come home.

At the doctor's, the contractions were getting steadily worse...there were some women in the waiting room and I felt kind of bad for them...you know, with me breathing deeply and the slight look of pain on my face...plus, there was another pregnant lady there, so she was getting a little look into the future.

At the doctor's...hooked up to the monitor...obviously, between contractions :)

The doctor examined me and told me I was a good 1, maybe 2 cm. dilated. What? Are you kidding me? That's what I was 4 days ago! So, what could mom and I do...nothing but go home. So that is what we did. Mom rocked driving standard...she hasn't driven one of those in many many years...and she didn't stall it until we got home...I was quite impressed.

At home, we continued with the contraction monitor, and attempted to watch some TV to try to distract me from the pain. It worked for a while. I remember it was the Top Chef episode in which the French guy got kicked off...what the actual challenge was, I don't really remember.

Sometime during Top Chef, mom made me some pasta, which I devoured, and Markus came home (phew! sigh of relief!). This was around 12:30. I decided we could wait a bit so that Markus could eat something and plus, I wasn't really ready to go to the hospital quite yet. Then around 1:30, I decided, what the hell. We can go, and the worst thing they can do is say, "Hey, you're not far enough along. Go labor some more at home." Which is basically what they said.

Leaving for the hospital...take 1...
They hooked me up to baby monitors and contraction monitors. After about 45 minutes of that, they gave me a quick exam. I was still only 1-2 cm. dilated. "Shit." I thought, "This is going to take forever." So, with that (and a couple suppositories to help out with the pain), they sent us home. Ok, fine. I kind of expected that...but I had hoped that I was further along.

Hooked up to the monitors at the hospital...
We came home and I decided that I wanted to try to labor it out some in the bath. Which exactly what I did...for 3 hours. I felt kind of bad for the neighbors. They had to hear all my moans and groans. Either they thought Markus and I were having a sex marathon or that I was in labor...I'm hoping that they knew it was the latter!

After my 3 hour bath, and a couple refills of the hot water, I decided I wanted to get out since I was feeling a bit like a prune. Markus had to help me since I was in just a bit of pain...he was truly wonderful throughout this whole thing...I just can't say that enough! So, I moved on to bed and decided that it would be absolutely awesome if Markus were to basically put his entire weight on my lower back (while I was bending over) during the contractions. This helped to an extent...so, then I thought I would try out our exercise ball. Hey, they've got it in the hospital, so why not give it a go! I was only on that thing for about 3 contractions before I decided it was really time to go to the hospital. We waited until another contraction passed, hopped into the car and drove at a decent speed to the hospital. We live only 3 minutes away, so I didn't want to risk getting in a wreck on the way there...getting there 30 seconds earlier or later didn't matter (I say this now, but probably at the time I was wondering why we were driving so slow).

We get to the hospital, just in time for another contraction to kick in...man, these things suck. No seriously, they really suck. We go in after the contraction passed, and get to the elevator (which, by the way, is just about the slowest elevator on the planet) and it is full. Damn, we'll have to wait. Of course, by the time it comes again, another contraction is coming on, so there is no way in hell I'm moving right then. So we wait for the next one, which miraculously was there after the contraction was over.

We get up to the maternity ward and head into the Kreisssaal, literally screaming room, and they hook me up to the monitors again. Yup, still in labor. Baby is doing good. This time, after only 10 minutes or so, they take me in to be examined. Now they tell me that I'm 3 cm, but when a contraction is there, I'm 4. Great. This will never end...

Swaddling

I am now a huge fan of swaddling. I know, I know...I should have kept up with it after we came home from the hospital, and I did for the first week or so, but it was just so hot, that the blankets that I had to swaddle with were just a bit too warm. Well, now it's cold...and I mean cold (5 Degrees Celcius...really cold in F). This is just the high (!) for today. Brrrr...

Plus, the past couple of days, Amelia has been super fussy (possibly because of a growing spurt) and so she's been crying more than normal and has basically been an unhappy baby. Today though, being as scatterbrained as new mothers are, I finally remembered that my mother had given me a Kiddopotamus swaddling blanket made of fleece. Woohoo, two birds with one stone! It is super warm AND it is a swaddling blanket! So, I tried it out on fussy Amelia today, and lo and behold, 5 seconds later she is much calmer. Hallelujah! Wait, what is this I hear? Could it be? Quiet? Yes, I believe that is the sound that I am hearing. Sweet!

I also have the Miracle Blanket given to me by a good friend Janda and it is great as well. I believe I will try it out tonight again and have her in her sleeping sack...the miracle blanket is just a bit too light of a fabric to not have something else on it. Oh, and the other thing is, it is a bit complicated at night to undo it all (especially when your sleep deprived). However, we are getting more and more used to the whole sleep deprivation thing, so the unswaddling and swaddling at 3am may be a bit easier.

Now, I know that you can swaddle with any blanket, but my swaddling skillz aren't that good...yet. Plus, Amelia needs a tight swaddle, something that I need to practice a bit more. However, now that I know that this is a pretty sure fire way to calm her down when she seems unable to be calmed, I'm pretty sure my skillz with swaddling with anything on hand will become better, if not masterful.

And just to show you how much she likes the Kiddopotamus, I have proof. :)

My little worm :)


Sweet, sleepy baby...

Wee Little Fingers

This picture was just too cute not to post :)

Randomness

Here we are, 3 and a half weeks after Amelia was born and all of my posts have just been about her...and for good reason...she's just so freaking cute! She gaining weight like a rock star (well, more like a wrestler, but you get the point). She has gained about 820 grams in the past 3 weeks...that's 1.8 pounds! She's a good eater :). Another thing she is good at is sleeping (knock on wood!). She usually goes to bed around 11pm or midnight and then will sleep until about 3:30 or 4...one time she slept until 5:30!!! (I won't even go into the state that my boobs were in after that wonderful 6 hours of sleep...think rocks...that leak...)

She is also starting to become more aware of her surroundings, which is pretty cool. She'll stare at things other than the red wall or at shadows now. She has noticed the dinos that Markus got for her room (they're wall stickers and super cute...which reminds me I need to take a picture of them).

Life around here is slowly getting back to "normal". I cook lunch on those days when Markus can make it home for lunch...I'm loving having the grocery store less than 100 yards/meters from my front door! If I need heavy stuff, then Markus goes to the big store to get it :). We (Amelia and I) haven't been so adventurous as to go to the "big" grocery store yet, but I'm pretty sure it will come. However, Markus and I did take her out to a restaurant on Saturday, and she was absolutely perfect...for 2.5 hours! I pumped before we left so that she could have something to eat at the restaurant (and I could have a little glass of wine...which was awesome!). She was so good right up until the end when we were getting ready to leave and I had to put her little hat on...she hates the hat, and so she started screaming once it was on...but it was ok, since we were on our way out the door!

Oh, and we had Charlie for a bit this past weekend (we were going to have him all weekend, but Markus threw out his back and Amelia's eye was a bit infected, hence I was freaking out, so we only had him Friday and Saturday). Charlie is really good with her! I was just a tad nervous when they first met, but he is so cute with her! When she's on the couch sleeping and then all of a sudden makes a noise, Charlie goes over to be sure that everything is ok. He likes to give her kisses on her head and lick her hands (especially after she's nursed because there is more likely than not a bit of breast milk on her hands).

So, to end this post, here's the cute picture(s) of the day...my two kids, playing nicely :)

A: "Woah...that's a big black thing!"
C: "Mom...really...we have to keep her? Ok...I guess I'll manage..."

C: "Is that some yummy milk on your hands??? Ok, we can keep her..."

C: "I like it when we all play on the ground...especially since I'll get a chewy bone..."
A: "I've got my pucky...nom nom nom"

Pictures of Amelia...take 3

Yet another post with just pics of Amelia. These were all taken today...her 3 week birthday :)

Pictures of Amelia...take 2

Some more pictures of my little mouse :)

Amelia in her pink bear outfit...

2 weeks old :)

My little girl and I
Markus and Amelia...They look so much alike :)

Pictures of Amelia

I have realized that there are almost no pictures of Amelia up, save for those from the hospital, so the next few posts are going to be some pics of the most precious little girl on the planet...

Amelia, Nadine (my midwife) and I...Here she is 5 days old...

Grandma and Amelia
Here, I believe she is 1 week old...so little...

Amelia's first car ride...the ride home doesn't count since it only took 2 minutes...This was all the way to Hirschau, so it was about half an hour...

Amelia is 13 days old in this photo...so cute :)