Introducing Phoebe Ann Berry

Phoebe Ann Berry

Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 3:38 AM

8 pounds 9 ounces

21.5 inches long

And Phoebe's birth story - she's already a drama queen.

On Wednesday, the doctor called and told me to check in to the hospital around 8:30 that evening to be induced, since she would be there by then and wanted to be the one to deliver Phoebe, if possible.

After checking in and being admitted, I was hooked up to the Pitocin by 10PM.  However, before the Pitocin was administered, I could already see that I was contracting fairly regularly.  A cervical exam confirmed that I was about 4 centimeters dilated and about 50 percent effaced.  They started me on a very low dosage of Pitocin, and it immediately started contractions anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes apart.  Because I was already dilated to 4, I could basically get my epidural anytime I wanted. The contractions weren't very painful, but they were starting to cause some back pain and pressure.  So around 1AM I got the epidural.

Once the epidural was working, the nurse inserted the catheter and decided to check my progress.  She  said that I was 5 centimeters, but that Phoebe's head was not engaged and kind of floating around.  My doctor came back in at that moment and also checked me.  She decided to break my water to get Phoebe's head pushed down.  This is when things first got a little crazy.  There was meconium in the fluids, which meant that Phoebe had had a bowel movement.  And then the rupture of the amniotic fluids combined with an upped dosage of Pitocin caused the contractions to come right on top of each other.  Phoebe was not tolerating these contractions at all and her heart rate was dropping precipitously low with each contraction.  The nurse stopped the Pitocin to get the contractions to calm down, and the doctor ordered fluids to be re-administered to the uterus to kind of flush it out.  The doctor warned me that if the heart rate continued to plummet with each contraction, that I would need to have a c-section.  However, the flush of fluids seemed to work because her heart rate stabilized around 2AM. 

Chris and I both slept until the nurse and doctor came back around 3:15 to check the cervix.  If I had dilated further, they would just let the contractions continue as is; if I hadn't, they would administer a small dosage of Pitocin to get them going again.  The doctor checked me and started frowning.  She said that the baby was not tolerating the check, and some nurses started entering the room.  She said that she thought she could feel some cord, which meant that the umbilical cord had fallen into the vagina. I knew this was serious because I had read that it could pinch off all oxygen to the baby.  More staff entered the room, including another obstetrician.  They made the call to have the c-section and told Chris that someone would be back to get him once I was situated.  (I didn't know until later that Phoebe's heart rate had plummeted down into the 50s - I probably would have been much more panicked had I known).

It was amazing how fast they got everything detached and how soon they were pushing me down the hallway to the surgical suite.  My nurse was steering my bed and lost her shoe. I remember her saying, "I lost my shoe, don't slip on it."  Then we were in the room.  The nurse anesthetist who had administered my epidural was there, along with an anesthesiologist.  They upped the epidural and made sure that I couldn't feel anything.  Phoebe's heart rate had stabilized, so a different obstetrician checked me to see if the cord was still there, and he said that he could feel nothing but cord.  In about a minute, they had sliced me open and Phoebe was born, crying.  Unfortunately, there was not time for Chris to get there, so he missed the birth completely.  I was completely calm until Chris got there at which point I started crying, because I was really sad that he missed it.  He was pretty shaken up as well, but I didn't know how much until later because the poor guy had to be left behind.

Everyone was really great, and the doctors even remarked that the incision was so clean that I could easily attempt a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean) if I have another child.  In about 40 minutes I was stitched back up and sent to the surgical recovery area, where Chris and Phoebe were waiting.  Phoebe was in good shape the entire time, and they had her crying up a storm in order to get any meconium out that she may have breathed in during delivery.

Like I said, I was very calm during the entire emergency, mainly because I knew that I was in good hands and it all happened too fast to really panic. And it took something like 15 minutes from the time they discovered the cord prolapse until she was out and cleaned up.  However, now when I think about it, I can't stop tearing up because so much could have gone wrong. 

I'm recovering well, although it hurts like Hell overtime I stand up. I'm off the catheter, and I've even walked around the wing of the hospital once.  If everything continues to progress, I should be discharged sometime tomorrow.  My mom and Charlotte visited briefly yesterday, and Charlotte was so excited to meet her baby sister.  She really wanted to hold her (Chris helped hold her) and kept wanting to pat her head. Chris took some video of her meeting Phoebe for the first time, which we'll post at some point.

As for Phoebe, she's such a good baby.  She is super alert and easily startles at noises that I'm not sure Charlotte has ever noticed.  She is already breastfeeding like a champ, and when she stops cluster feeding (where she nurses over and over again for about two hours), she sleeps really well.  Thank goodness for my mom and Chris - my mom for staying with Charlotte, so that Chris can be here to do all of the things that I can't yet do (change diapers, swaddle her, help me get out of bed). I can't wait for us all to go home!

38 Week Check-Up

I've been feel pretty lousy this week. I caught Chris' cold, and my energy level has just plummeted.  I can't breathe very well unless I'm standing or sitting propped up, and doing more than one activity leaves me feeling exhausted and light-headed. So I've been taking it easy.  However, last night, I had about an hour of menstrual-type cramping, and I worried, "is this the beginning of labor?"  It subsided, thankfully, because as I've mentioned, I'm not ready quite yet for this baby to get here. The cramps did have the effect of kicking Chris into high gear by getting more things ready - he washed the infant car seat fabric and got the Pack N Play out of the garage (although Charlotte immediately stole the three little plush owls that make up the mobile).  I think it was a wake up call that she could be here any day.

Fast forward to this morning.

I had my 38 week check-up this morning.  Not much to report - blood pressure is great, I gained two more pounds, but that's about it. I saw a new doctor today because mine has been on maternity leave for the past six weeks, so I'm being shuffled around a lot.  This doctor was really nice. She asked about my plans for delivering this baby, as in, do I want to go into labor naturally or be induced.  I told her, I would love to go into labor naturally, but that I was willing to go to 41 weeks again.  This gave her pause, given that Charlotte was 9 lbs 9 oz when she was born.  So the doctor did a cervical check, stated that the baby's head was way down low (which explains the horrible pain I get every time I roll over to the other side in the middle of the night) and asked if she could "stretch" me, in hopes that doing so will put me into labor naturally.  I said yes, and oh my gosh, was that painful! But she did end up stretching me to two centimeters, so we'll see if that does the trick.

The doctor said she'd see me at my next appointment on Monday, March 5, and that if I wanted to be induced at 40 weeks, she'd be totally fine with that, or if I wanted to wait longer, that's okay too.  I also think that this baby isn't as big as Charlotte was, and the doctor agrees. However, she said that I have the body type that could hide large babies really easily (i.e., I have a really long torso).

Anyway, that's about it. I'm worn out from this fifteen minute appointment, so I'm going to go sit down and rest. I really hope that we at least have this weekend to get more things done. Plus, the new closets are being installed on Tuesday. And Wednesday is Leap Day, and I certainly don't want my baby born that day! But after that, bring it on! :)

Birthing Baby Berry

So I thought since today marks a week since we went to the hospital for the induction that I'd take the time to write Charlotte's birth story. (She's great by the way, although Chris and I are pretty exhausted with late-night feedings, getting the hang of breastfeeding, and I'm still recovering -- we'll post pictures soon along with a link to a photo share site I created for pictures of Charlotte). I'm not going to sugar coat this in any way, so if you're squeamish, you might not want to read all of this.

Chris and I arrived at the hospital at 7 AM last Thursday morning. It took us quite awhile to get admitted because the room we were supposed to be in wasn't clean, so they sent us to the "Dump and Drop" room, the room closest to admitting, for those moms who come to the hospital literally ready to push and give birth. There was some confusion about which nurse would be assigned to us, but finally we got Lorna, who was awesome. I changed into the hospital gown and we waited for the midwife, Lynnette, to come in and check me before starting the Pitocin drip. I hadn't made any progress since the Tuesday before, but they decided to start me on the lowest dosage of Pitocin, thinking that maybe if I even just whiffed it, contractions would start.

Since I was on constant fetal and contraction monitoring, we could see the contractions starting, but they weren't painful and pretty inconsistent. Chris and I passed the time of this "early labor" playing cribbage and watching the first season of "Flight of the Conchords" on DVD, which is really quite hilarious. Every hour or so Lorna would come back and up the Pitocin. At around 2:30, I finally started feeling painful contractions. Chris and I were still playing cards, but I would have to pause and breathe through the contractions. At 3 PM, there was a shift change in nurses and Lorna brought in her replacement, Ivanka, whom we later found out is originally from Macedonia but had lived in the Chicago area for a long time (Orland Park). Lorna also mentioned that if we were still there the next morning, she wanted to be our nurse, which was nice to hear. Ivanka, as we came to learn, was quite the "take charge" nurse. She saw that my contractions were getting a little out of hand, so gave me an injection of fentanyl, pain meds that were supposed to last an hour, but worked so well, I didn't need another dose for 2 and a half hours. She also checked me and said that I was about 2 1/2 centimeters dilated, which I was really disappointed to hear considering how long we'd been there already.

The second dose of fentanyl, around 5:30, definitely did not last as long. By the way, during almost the entire day and night, Chris spent the majority of the time pacing the room. Lorna called him the cliched nervous dad when she introduced us to Ivanka, and that was certainly true. So anyway, by around Jeopardy!, which was about 6:30, I was in all sorts of pain. Chris was trying to get me to relax, but all I could do was shove him off and yell at him to "stop touching me!" Finally, I told him to page Ivanka and tell her I was in horrible pain. She comes in and says in her thick Greek accent: "You vant epidural, I get you epidural. Why you not ask until now?" She gave me another dose of the fentanyl and called the nurse anethestist to administer the epidural.

Ahh, the epidural. We all know that I wanted to try the whole natural childbirth thing, but seeing as how I did not go into labor naturally, I finally succumbed to the epidural. It was easy to administer and didn't take long at all to start working. And seriously, it was a GODSEND. My entire lower half of my body was completely numb, and although the monitor showed me having contractions, I couldn't feel them anymore. It was great. I was able to relax and even fall asleep. This happened between 8 and 9. Around 10, Chris went out to call our parents and give them a status update. I was listening to my iPod and when he came back around 10:30, I was talking to him, when all of a sudden I knew I had to vomit. I had barely enough time to sort of point to Chris, who just in the nick of time grabbed the vomit bag, and I threw up, several times. Now mind you, I never once even came close to throwing up my entire pregnancy. Thank goodness Chris was there because given the fact that I was completely immobile, I would have vomited all over myself and the hospital bed.

After that, we both caught some sleep until about 2:30 AM, when the midwife came in and checked me. I was 5 cm dilated, so she decided to break my water. Apparently, it was quite the flood, but I didn't feel a thing. She also inserted an internal pressure monitor to get a more accurate reading of the contractions, which weren't progressing like she wanted. The nurse in the 11PM to 7AM shift (I can't remember her name because I was sleeping almost the entire time) upped the Pitocin again to 22 micrograms (I started at 2) and I went back to sleep. Around 5:30, I woke up to some backpain and pressure, even though my legs were still completely numb. I paged the nurse, who checked me and I was now 9 cm! I had dilated 3 to 4 cm in only 3 hours! Finally, I thought. At about this time, we heard a lady screaming in the hallway and nurses running toward her. This was one of those "Drop and Dump" ladies who came in ready to push. A nurse even opened our door thinking that the room was available. Given the sounds she was making, Chris remarked about why anyone would want to go through that meds-free.

So Lynnette came in around 7:30 -- mind you, she was working a 24 hour shift 8 to 8-- and said how disappointed she was that she wouldn't be the one to deliver me. But, the good news was that the midwife coming on board after her was Susan Stone, whom I had seen a few times early in the pregnancy. Susan is wonderful and actually worked at my organization a number of years ago. Lynnette checked me and said that she could feel the baby's head and I was in fact 10 cm dilated. At the same time, Lorna, our nurse from the day before came in. I told Lynnette that I was naming the baby Charlotte Kay because I knew that was also Lynnette's middle name. Turns out it was Lorna's middle name as well (and of course it's my middle name and my mom's, which is why I chose it in the first place)! Lorna said it was meant to be.

Around 8AM, after Lorna and her nursing student Carrie got all the instruments and warming table ready, we decided to do some practice pushes. Chris grabbed one leg, Carrie the other, and away we went. Lorna was satisfied by pushes, so called in Susan. She watched me push for a bit, said it would take at least an hour and that she'd be back. Given that Charlotte wasn't born until 11:22 AM, obviously it took much longer. Why, you ask? Because I got this horrible cramp around my right diaphragm (like when you're running and get a stitch in your side)that made it impossible to breathe through. At one point, I was in so much pain and was yelling so bad that Susan called in the attending OB/GYN, who, ironically enough turned out to be the OB I'd been seeing throughout my pregnancy. What are the odds of having both your midwife and your OB at the hospital at the same time? Pretty low for Kaiser. Susan thought I was exhausted by pushing and asked if Dr. Castillo-Rico could use a vacuum to get her out. This I did not want to hear at all. Instead, I told them that I felt okay on my left side, so we tried that out and it worked out fine.

Chris was still holding my leg during each contraction and could see that I was definitely making progress. He could even see the head poking through! Susan asked if I wanted a mirror, and I said yes because I couldn't feel what I was doing and whether or not I was making any progress. Well, the mirror was an amazing source of motivation for me. I could see the head a little bit and with each contraction, I could see myself making even more progress. This really picked up the pace and pretty soon, out she came and they put her right on me! Chris was crying, I was in shock, and everyone was commenting on how big she was! Of course no one expected her to be 9 and a half pounds!

And, by the way, I barely tore at all. Charlotte's head, which is 14 inches around (above the average of 13), didn't tear me, but her shoulder did. It's internal and superficial, but ouch does it still hurt. It took about an hour for Susan to repair me, meanwhile, I got to hold my baby skin to skin, which felt amazing.

It was an amazing experience. When things were painful or not progressing as fast I thought they'd be, I was really regretting my decision to induce. However, once Charlotte was born and seeing as how big she was, I'm really glad I did. Susan said that if I had waited much longer, it could very well have turned into a c-section, something I desperately didn't want. And seeing as how large Charlotte was, chances are if we have another baby someday (some day, far, far, away! :) ), they won't let me go past my due date.

So all in all, not a bad experience. About 23 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing. Some women who are induced take much longer than that. Charlotte wants to be fed, so I'm signing off for now. More pictures to come soon!

To Induce or Not to Induce...

...that is definitely the question du jour.

We went for my one week follow up appointment today. My OB cancelled at the last minute, so I saw one of the nurse midwives on staff. She asked if my doctor had discussed induction, and I replied that we hadn't even discussed it last week because she was pretty confident that I wouldn't make it to today's appointment (Ha! Charlotte sure showed her!). The nurse midwife, Lynnette, asked me what my birth plan was. I said I pretty much wanted to avoid unnecessary interventions if at all possible, so she said that the next step would be to go in twice next week for a Non-Stress Test (they monitor the baby's heartbeat and movements for 20 minutes as well as the fluid around the baby). When I heard next week, I just about lost it. I immediately started crying because I just couldn't bear the thought of going another week. Although apparently most first time moms deliver 7 to 10 days late, so I'm still well within "normal" range.

Anyway, the midwife said (after seeing me crying) why don't we check you out and give you all your options today, and you can decide. That calmed me down a bit. She checked me and I'm about 2 cm dilated, still 80% effaced. Baby's heartbeat is great, so she's still happy. She then did a second stripping of the membranes to see if that moved things along (clearly it didn't last week!). Lynnette then said, because I told her I wanted a midwife attending my birth, that she's at the hospital all day Thursday, which is exactly 41 weeks so why don't we have you come in then. In short, we've scheduled an induction at 7AM on Thursday morning. I kind of have mixed feelings about this because I would love to go into labor on my own, but I have no idea how long it's going to take to happen.

The midwife did suggest taking castor oil to get things moving, but I'm not sure I really want to go that route -- it's basically a strong laxative that has been used for years to get labor started. It just doesn't sound all that pleasant.

The midwife assured me that if I change my mind and don't want to induce, I don't have to. I think I'd be more zen about the whole thing if I hadn't heard next week. Plus, it's starting to get hot again and that's making me uncomfortable -- we've had amazing weather all last week and now the mercury is creeping back up. So for now, Thursday morning it is. Or maybe I'll be lucky and go in before then!

Still Waiting...

As you may have guessed, Charlotte has not yet decided to grace us with her presence. The stripping of membranes didn't do a whole lot in terms of jumpstarting labor, but things are happening, which gives me hope that she'll be here within a few days. At the very least, my doctor is encouraging induction by 1 week overdue, although I definitely hope I go into labor on my own.

I'm definitely bummed that she didn't decide to come while my mom was still here. My mom was really hoping to be here for the birth (I was delivered by c-section a week late due to my mom having high blood pressure), but I guess Charlotte has other plans. In any case, it's been nice to have someone around during the days to keep my mind off getting more and more impatient. Yes, I know that I will miss the "quiet," but you circle that date on your calendar and in your head for 9 months, so it's definitely frustrating when it passes you by. In fact, all day yesterday as we were out and about, I would see the date and couldn't believe that the day had finally come.

So my parents and grandparents leave for Vancouver tomorrow to start their Alaskan cruise and Chris' parents are going to be in Las Vegas over the weekend. I'm betting, knowing my luck, that she'll arrive when they're all incommunicado.

Oh well. I'm feeling pretty good (but this is the first time I want to NOT being feeling good!), so I'll just keep plugging along.

Tonight? Who Knows...

My OB pushed my 40 week appointment to today. She said she conservatively believed me to be 1 cm dilated, but 80% effaced. She could feel the baby's head and decided to strip the membranes (google search if you must, it's not that exciting) in an attempt to get labor going. So far, it's been about 4 hours and not feeling anything yet. The doc thought maybe it would get things going, maybe as early as tonight, since I'm already close to 100% effaced. We shall see.

On another note, my mom's in town. She got here yesterday and will be staying here through Friday afternoon. We're hoping that Charlotte has just been waiting for her grandma to get here in order to start the party. I really hope that she arrives before my mom leaves (my parents and my grandparents are going on a cruise to Alaska on Saturday and won't be back until June 27th). Yesterday, we played some tennis, by which I mean that I stood there while she hit balls to me. It really wasn't that bad. I was even able to shuffle a little to get around and hit a few backhands and a few times I even forgot I was pregnant!

In any case, regardless of whether Charlotte comes this week or not, I'm grateful to have my mom here. It's been nice having company during the day, even if she's convinced I'm going to go into labor any second... :)

I'll keep you posted!

38 Weeks

I just got back from my 38 week appointment. More progress has been made toward C-Day! Gina, my nurse practitioner, did a pelvic exam/cervical check and Holy Hell did that hurt! But I guess it hurt because I'm now a full finger dilated and 60% effaced. She was able to figure out where the baby's head was and determined that Charlotte is at -2 station. Basically what this means is that the baby's head is 2 centimeters down into the pelvis. When the baby is at 0 station, she is fully engaged. Gina said that the baby could come at any point, so we'll see! My guess is still sometime the week of June 11th, but you never know. Gina didn't estimate how big the baby is, but she said "wow that belly is all full of baby!" And it's true, I don't know what baby parts are poking out these days, but it feels like she's everywhere!

This is also my first week of maternity leave. It's been going well so far. I have a list of things to do to keep me occupied, but it's also horribly hot outside, so I've been limiting my errands to a couple things a day.

For your amusement, here's the list and what has been crossed off so far:
1) Find childcare for Charlotte
2) Deposit checks and rolled coins
3) Donate books to library
4) Buy breast pump
5) Clean out closet
6) Clean out cupboards in bathroom
7) Install carseat
8) Buy storage container for outgrown maternity clothes
9) Organize computer room
10) Get oil changed in car
11) Buy lamp shade for nursery
12) Buy Father's Day Cards
13) Make Labor Playlist for iPod (suggestions welcome!)
14) Buy/plant flowers for backyard
15) Buy baby swing
16) Photograph the nursery

I'm sure there are plenty of others to get through, and obviously all the absolutely necessary things (like installing the carseat) have been taken care of. It would be great if I could get the childcare question taken care of, but since I won't need it until October, I'll still have time once Charlotte arrives.

In any event, we'll certainly keep everyone posted!

4 Month Weekend

Well, not much to report other than today was my last day of work for 4 months! I decided I was just way too tired and mentally checked out to last another week. I know it will be hard to let go of work, especially not being in the loop with all the crazy things happening at the state and federal level, but I'm sure I'll find a way to get over it (particularly when Charlotte arrives).

The other piece of news is that as of yesterday I am now officially considered full term. This means that I can basically deliver anytime between today and 5 weeks from now (oh please don't let me go until 42 weeks!).

Now I just need to make my list of things to do and try and cross them off before Charlotte makes her grand appearance.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

By the way, I'm fully aware that my time off won't be a vacation. But it sort of feels like that today.

28 Day Countdown!

Hello Friends,

Yesterday marked 36 weeks or 4 weeks to go! I went to my 36 week appointment, and everything seems to be moving toward D-Day (or C-Day, that is).

The weight gain has finally slowed down. In fact, I think I was up yesterday because of the fabulous berry streusel muffins I made on Wednesday -- they were so good that I ate 5 of them throughout the course of the day. Think coffeecake in delectable muffin-sized portions.

Blood pressure is great. Charlotte is head down, but her head has not yet engaged into the pelvis, so there is always some concern that she'll move around. I'm not too concerned considering her legs have been poking out my right side for weeks now and any time she has hiccups I feel it way down low on the left side. That to me means she's pretty happy where she is. I'm measuring perfectly at 36 cm and the doctor estimated that if Charlotte were born today, she'd be about 6 1/2 pounds! Our little girl is going to be a big baby!

And because I've been having more and more Braxton Hicks contractions (none are particularly painful, but sometimes it feels like the wind has been knocked out of me and I have to breathe really slowly through them), the doctor decided to do a cervical check to see if any progress has been made. Turns out, I'm a fingertip dilated and things are starting to thin out. The doctor was pleased with this because she says that some women at 36 weeks are completely hard and closed, meaning that they're more likely to go past 40 weeks. So all in all, good news! I'm trying not to get my hopes up that I'll be early, but if things continue to progress, who knows?

The next appointment isn't until 38 weeks. A lot of people are astounded to hear that I'm only being seen every other week, but I'm not too worried. We wonder about why health care costs go through the roof and maybe part of it is too much continual monitoring of otherwise healthy pregnant women. I completely understand the women who have issues arise like gestational diabetes or high blood pressure -- those women should be seen more often. And I've been assured that should I feel the need to come in, I'll be seen.

Now the big question left to figure out is when to officially stop working. I can start getting paid disability leave at 36 weeks for a normal pregnancy, but I was going to wait until the last Friday in May (two weeks from today) . However, being at work is really taking its toll on me. I'm tired, my feet swell up a whole lot more, and I just feel a lot better overall when I'm at home and can lie down. My boss has been very understanding and I've been trying to work two days from home a week, but considering the baby might come early, I'd like as much time to get things in order as possible. Anyway, I have to make a decision so that my doctor can fill out the paperwork. I guess I'll think about it more over the weekend.

Uggh. The weekend. Sacramento is having its first triple digit heat spell of the year starting this weekend. A high of 101 on Sunday and high 90s tomorrow! It's going to be awful considering the last time it even got close to 90 degrees I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily a friend is throwing a party Saturday night and she has a pool, so that's where I'll be hanging out (let's not think about the fact that I don't currently own a maternity bathing suit). Sunday, I may just pour a bunch of ice cubes in the bathtub and sit there. :) I hope everyone else has a fabulous weekend, though!

Don't Shake Your Baby!

I'm not sure when the Public Service Announcements started around town about not shaking your baby, but they're on billboards everywhere! I mean, doesn't this seem like a pretty obvious thing not to do? I thought so, until I was talking to a certain dear guy friend of mine. He's turning 35 this year (it should be pretty obvious to figure out who he is based on this, but I don't want to out him on the Internet), has never been married but has been dating a lovely girl for the past three years (she currently lives in the Big Apple).


Anywho, last weekend after a few of us went out to dinner, we went back to F.'s place to drink some wine (well, except for me). I'm not sure how the conversation started, maybe I mentioned that I missed running or something like that, but F said, "Don't worry, you'll be running with your baby soon, right?" We all stopped what we were talking about to hear more. I said, "Well, yeah, I guess so, eventually." F replied, "What I mean is, you can get one of those baby carriers that you strap to your chest and go running." At this point, everyone started laughing: "F! You can't run with a baby in a baby carrier! Haven't you seen those billboards that tell you not to shake your baby?" F. paused for a second and retorted, "Well, can't you just strap the baby's head in place?" One of the other guys shouted back, "With what? Duct tape?!" He just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. I've been laughing about this for days every time I think about it!

Of course as funny as this was, it did illustrate the fact that for the most part, we're all pretty clueless when it comes to caring for a newborn. Which brings me to our Newborn Care Class that we took on Wednesday.

We were each given a newborn "baby" to practice diapering, swaddling, and breastfeeding. It was a bit strange to hold a plastic baby up to my chest, and I don't know if it was my belly in the way or the fact that the baby had very hard rubbery legs, but it was not comfortable at all! Particularly the so-called football hold, where the baby is cradled on one side with your arm. Our little test baby just jabbed his hard, little feet in my ribcage - ouch! Now, we do have a whole class (our last one!) devoted to the subject of breastfeeding, so maybe they'll give us something softer to use? A girl can dream, right? Oh, and I actually had an "F" moment myself when it came to the breastfeeding. The instructor asked us why we had to insert a finger in the baby's mouth in order to get her to unlatch. My response: because the milk will just spray everywhere like a broken faucet? WRONG! Everyone laughed, including myself because really, the image of me spraying everything in sight like a sprinkler is hilarious. No, I was assured, very few women make milk of the Ol' Faithful quantity. Instead, you have to unlatch the baby to stop the feeding because oftentimes they literally will just hang on forever, milk or not. And you know, at some point, you'll probably need to use the bathroom or eat or do something other than being a milk machine.

Other than my totally clueless statement about breastfeeding, most of the newborn care was fairly straightforward. Learning how to make baby into a little burrito (aka swaddling) was very helpful! Chris was a champ at pretty much everything, even the breastfeeding demonstration. I'm of course kidding about the last part, although the instructor did say that newborns will pretty much try to latch on to any nipple in sight, regardless of his milk-making ability.

It was a pretty fun night, even though I came home completely exhausted. And even more exhausted at the thought that a newborn should be fed 8-12 times a day at the beginning, or every 1 to 3 hours. Wow. I guess I really will just be a milk machine for quite some time.

Puuushh, Puuussh! (AKA, Pain with a Purpose)

So Chris and I attended our all day childbirth preparation class on Saturday. Surprisingly, the day went by pretty fast, mostly thanks to a great instructor who kept things interesting. Yes, we saw a few videos of labor, including the more gristly details no one ever tells you about, like the delivery of the placenta. Apparently, delivering the baby is just step two of the labor process.

There were 8 couples at the class (well, technically 7 couples and one girl and her female cousin who was there to help), one couple due exactly one day before we are. We had to draw things like what we expect early labor to be like/feel like (smiley face for the "we're almost done/baby's almost here!" and the squiggly mouth drawn to show the trepidation that sets in as you realize that labor won't go fast enough).

We learned a bunch of relaxation and breathing techniques (including the notorious hee hee hee hoo breathing exercise), and we took this seriously enough, although Chris kept quoting lines from the classic Bill Cosby sketch when he talks about the labor of his wife. It really is hilarious, although we'll see how much I'm laughing when the time actually comes.

We left armed with a very detailed book called something like childbirth the family way, and Chris is all ready to start timing those contractions! All in all, I'm pretty confident to at least try to go natural and without meds as long as I can handle it. Kaiser has certified midwives at the hospital 'round the clock, and they will certainly work with whatever birth plan you have. I know I'm not the best when it comes to tolerating pain, but then again, women have been giving birth for thousands of years. It's only been for the past 30 years or so that epidurals have been a mainstay of the modern birthing process. So I figure if all those women could do it, I should be willing to give it a shot!

On another note, this weekend was the first hot weekend we've had in Sacramento this year (okay, 90 degrees in April is unusual) and just being outside yesterday about gave me heat stroke. Sorry Planet Earth, I'll be sitting inside under the A/C from now until June 11th, thank you very much.

Getting Ready

Last night, Chris and I attended our "Late Pregnancy Class" at the new Women's and Children's Center that opened in January. This also included a tour of Labor & Delivery, which is what we had been waiting to see since we learned we'd be delivering there.

I think there were about 10 couples at the class, all at various stages in their third trimester. I think only 3 were second-time parents, and almost all of the first-time ones were having girls! We learned all about the pregnancy discomforts during the third trimester (um, hello, I'm experiencing almost all of them!). What we learned that we didn't know before is that by 32 weeks you should have your hospital bag packed and have a birth plan. Well, we have neither of those packed. In fact, I didn't even get a copy of my birth plan checklist until my 32 week appointment today.

After about an hour of learning when to come to the hospital and when to continue laboring at home, we finally got the tour! This new facility is truly beautiful. Every single room is private -- from the laboring rooms to the postpartum rooms. And the laboring rooms are HUGE. They feature a minifridge for the dad to store snacks and drinks (we moms don't get to eat or drink anything but ice chips once we get to the hospital), a flat screen TV with DVD player, a full-sized bathroom with shower for laboring, natural light, and a pull-out bed for dad to sleep in. And the great news is that visitors are allowed 24/7, with the mom's permission, of course.

After the baby is delivered, you spend about an hour or two recovering before you're sent up to the postpartum rooms on the third floor. These rooms are also private, but not quite as big as the L&D rooms.

Kai.ser also really places a strong emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding and immediate skin-to-skin contact, so no nurse will give my baby formula without my say-so. There's no nursery, so the baby gets to sleep with you in the postpartum room (in a bassinet, of course).

It seemed to be a very slow night at L&D --- out of 26 laboring rooms, I think only a handful were occupied. So we didn't hear any yelling by frazzled moms, nor did we hear the cries of any newborns. It was, well, peaceful.

I think both Chris and I came away feeling really excited and good about the experience. Chris knows where to drop me off and where the vending machine is. It certainly doesn't feel like your average sterile hospital, particularly given my one experience with the Kai.ser in San Diego last month. That was your average blah, gray-walled hospital. The Women & Children's Center was anything but. Plus, it's nice to know that it's actually a separate building from the regular hospital. Makes you feel special and not just another patient.

This Saturday we have a full day of childbirth preparation (those fun breathing and relaxing exercises) and then it's on to Newborn Care next Wednesday night, where we can learn a little bit about how to take care of those wee ones once we get home from the hospital! I have to admit, I'm totally clueless.