"Monday 10am - Meet Dr Caro Nel for checkup"
It was time to decide what to do. Adam and I found out that there were no signs of Bump emerging anytime soon and my cervix had not started dilating yet. My amniotic fluid was getting less and the placenta was starting to age – the options were limited and Caro booked me in for an induction at 10pm. Dad drove me home via the nursery (to buy potting soil for my tomato plants - not the other kind of nursery) and I had a quiet day home, packing bags and wandering through the house. It was quite surreal. Adam finished work early and we packed a flask, tea, lemon meringue and the camera and headed to Llandudno. Our last "couple" sunset...
The rock that we sat on was sheltered, but the wind whipped white horses off the waves that threw themselves towards the beach recklessly. Three boogie boarders braved the icy water and spun off the crests of the breakers. Adam and I enjoyed our tea from a warmer location (!) and the sun sank leaving red bubbles on the sands.
We left the beach when it was dark and the crescent moon had appeared, and drove down through the forests to the Mackies who had invited us for supper. We opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate Bump's coming.
All too soon it was time to head home, pack the final bits and pieces and head for the hospital. All the labour rooms were full and we were ushered to a private room where a midwife applied some gel and we climbed together onto the narrow bed and tried to sleep. At 3am on Tuesday I woke to a sore tummy - for the first time, I found out what a contraction felt like. Ow. By 4am I was pacing the room, and woke Adam up. We migrated to the corridor and tramped up and down, Adam timing the contractions at one every two minutes. At 5am Adam ran me a hot bath so I could soak for a while while he read to me (we're enjoying The Wintersmith). The distraction worked until 6am, then we moved to a labour room and I bounced on a pilates ball for a while before getting hooked onto a monitor (shows baby heartbeat and strength of my contractions) and discovering the joys of entonox/laughing gas. You suck it through a regulator which looks just the same as a diving one, with the exception of a small mask on the front. Adam cued me when to start: it takes about 20 seconds to work so you have to start breathing it before a contraction gets going. Entonox gives you a great "woo" feeling, but the contractions got so sore that I buried my face in the pillow on the bed and bit the linen at each peak. Adam rubbed my back and used the monitor to tell me when the contractions were starting and ending.
Caro arrived at about 7am, checked me out and found that I was 4cm dilated. With 6cm to go at an average of 1cm per hour, I asked for an epidural (begged actually!). Martin put it in between contractions while I tried to finish all the gas supply to the hospital... 10 minutes later I could smile and in 20 minutes, I felt MUCH better and Adam looked very relieved. We read during the morning, listened to music, chatted to Marion the midwife and had a visit from Mum and Dad at 11. My legs and lower tum were totally numb with a "pins and needles" feeling. Adam tried to tickle my feet which are horrendously sensitive: I could only feel a bit of pressure. Very wierd!
Caro was back just before 12 and announced that I was 10cm dilated and that Bump was starting to move down. Quite casually, she said "So, are you ready to have a baby?" With that, the epidural was turned down so I had a little more sensation, I was positioned, Adam grabbed the camera and the pushing started. After several pushes, Bump had not moved and Caro could feel a little wedge on the baby's head which meant that Bump had been squashed on my pelvic girdle. She pulled out a vacuum and we tried another three pulls with me pushing down and Carol pulling Bump. "If this was my baby, I'd be unhappy. Let's do a Caesar." and the op site was shaved, my bed sped down the corridor, Adam thrown some scrubs and I found myself in the operating theatre in the middle of bustling people. A screen was put up so I couldn't see all the action, the epidural turned onto high and Adam sat down at my head. Martin (the anaethetist) grabbed the camera, and by the time I asked Caro when she was going to start cutting, she was already through all the muscle and into my uterus. All I could feel was some bumping. Then Caro frowned, started fishing around and tugged hard at something, pulled some more and out came... Jessica Katherine Feldman!
Her first cry made my heart skip a beat. I found out afterwards that Adam was close to tears as he followed Jessica to the table where Chris the paediatrician checked her out before giving me a thumbs up and a grin while I lay on the table. Jessica was cleaned, weighed, swaddled and put on my chest while Adam held us both. Blue alert eyes, gingerish hair, a cute bottom lip. We marvelled and gave thanks to God. Jessica…
We had a quiet hour together in a recovery room from which we phoned all the parents while Jessica yelled obligingly. Then Adam escorted Jessica to the nursery where she was to stay for observation, and I was wheeled to my room on an exhausted high.
The afternoon whirled past in a happy haze of sms's, phone calls and pain meds. Adam ate my lunch and dinner while I sucked ice cubes and Energade (all I was allowed). We both took turns dozing in between visits from the florist… Lovely flowers everywhere! Jessica came for a visit and a feed, then was taken back to the nursery before visiting hours started at 7pm. Our first visitor was Cherelle, followed by a beaming Dad and Mum. Jessica waved at them all from the nursery, held by a very proud Adam. After a late feed, Adam headed home and I slid into sleep with the help of some morphine for the cut. Jessica stayed in the nursery till about 2am, and I hung onto my morphine line as the op site throbbed. Hooray for drugs! It was still a very long night…
Wednesday: Morning brought a breastfeeding expert who showed me how to feed Jessica, and breakfast which I shared with Adam. Feeling terrible and all doped up, the doctors told me to pass Jessica to the staff and sleep. Luckily Adam arrived, so he took Jessica and I passed out for an hour. I woke to two very happy grandparents – Mum holding Jessica carefully – and a much brighter world. The drips were taken out before lunch and I graduated to oral pain killers. Jessica suddenly caught onto the breastfeeding idea at the 2pm feed (little piranha) and we changed our first disgusting nappy using lots of team work and wet wipes. Eugh!
Els sneaked in during the afternoon, Claire and Karen came at 3pm, Jessica was inoculated at about 4.30, supper arrived at 5 and that was our first day over. Lots of visitors at 7pm which was lovely. I handed Jessica to the nurses around 11pm, popped in some ear plugs and slept like a dream till 4am when Jessica came back for a feed and a cuddle.
Thursday morning: Jessica's now learnt to use her dummy (courtesy of the sisters who watched her last night), docs have just been round, and Jessica is being tested for slight jaundice. I have some ultra-violet therapy scheduled for lunch time to help with the feeding, and breakfast was great. I still can't quite believe that she's here, or that we are parents. Wow!
Adam keeps wandering over to Jessica and murmuring "too cute". I have to agree unreservedly! This is a great adventure…
It was time to decide what to do. Adam and I found out that there were no signs of Bump emerging anytime soon and my cervix had not started dilating yet. My amniotic fluid was getting less and the placenta was starting to age – the options were limited and Caro booked me in for an induction at 10pm. Dad drove me home via the nursery (to buy potting soil for my tomato plants - not the other kind of nursery) and I had a quiet day home, packing bags and wandering through the house. It was quite surreal. Adam finished work early and we packed a flask, tea, lemon meringue and the camera and headed to Llandudno. Our last "couple" sunset...
The rock that we sat on was sheltered, but the wind whipped white horses off the waves that threw themselves towards the beach recklessly. Three boogie boarders braved the icy water and spun off the crests of the breakers. Adam and I enjoyed our tea from a warmer location (!) and the sun sank leaving red bubbles on the sands.
We left the beach when it was dark and the crescent moon had appeared, and drove down through the forests to the Mackies who had invited us for supper. We opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate Bump's coming.
All too soon it was time to head home, pack the final bits and pieces and head for the hospital. All the labour rooms were full and we were ushered to a private room where a midwife applied some gel and we climbed together onto the narrow bed and tried to sleep. At 3am on Tuesday I woke to a sore tummy - for the first time, I found out what a contraction felt like. Ow. By 4am I was pacing the room, and woke Adam up. We migrated to the corridor and tramped up and down, Adam timing the contractions at one every two minutes. At 5am Adam ran me a hot bath so I could soak for a while while he read to me (we're enjoying The Wintersmith). The distraction worked until 6am, then we moved to a labour room and I bounced on a pilates ball for a while before getting hooked onto a monitor (shows baby heartbeat and strength of my contractions) and discovering the joys of entonox/laughing gas. You suck it through a regulator which looks just the same as a diving one, with the exception of a small mask on the front. Adam cued me when to start: it takes about 20 seconds to work so you have to start breathing it before a contraction gets going. Entonox gives you a great "woo" feeling, but the contractions got so sore that I buried my face in the pillow on the bed and bit the linen at each peak. Adam rubbed my back and used the monitor to tell me when the contractions were starting and ending.
Caro arrived at about 7am, checked me out and found that I was 4cm dilated. With 6cm to go at an average of 1cm per hour, I asked for an epidural (begged actually!). Martin put it in between contractions while I tried to finish all the gas supply to the hospital... 10 minutes later I could smile and in 20 minutes, I felt MUCH better and Adam looked very relieved. We read during the morning, listened to music, chatted to Marion the midwife and had a visit from Mum and Dad at 11. My legs and lower tum were totally numb with a "pins and needles" feeling. Adam tried to tickle my feet which are horrendously sensitive: I could only feel a bit of pressure. Very wierd!
Caro was back just before 12 and announced that I was 10cm dilated and that Bump was starting to move down. Quite casually, she said "So, are you ready to have a baby?" With that, the epidural was turned down so I had a little more sensation, I was positioned, Adam grabbed the camera and the pushing started. After several pushes, Bump had not moved and Caro could feel a little wedge on the baby's head which meant that Bump had been squashed on my pelvic girdle. She pulled out a vacuum and we tried another three pulls with me pushing down and Carol pulling Bump. "If this was my baby, I'd be unhappy. Let's do a Caesar." and the op site was shaved, my bed sped down the corridor, Adam thrown some scrubs and I found myself in the operating theatre in the middle of bustling people. A screen was put up so I couldn't see all the action, the epidural turned onto high and Adam sat down at my head. Martin (the anaethetist) grabbed the camera, and by the time I asked Caro when she was going to start cutting, she was already through all the muscle and into my uterus. All I could feel was some bumping. Then Caro frowned, started fishing around and tugged hard at something, pulled some more and out came... Jessica Katherine Feldman!
Her first cry made my heart skip a beat. I found out afterwards that Adam was close to tears as he followed Jessica to the table where Chris the paediatrician checked her out before giving me a thumbs up and a grin while I lay on the table. Jessica was cleaned, weighed, swaddled and put on my chest while Adam held us both. Blue alert eyes, gingerish hair, a cute bottom lip. We marvelled and gave thanks to God. Jessica…
We had a quiet hour together in a recovery room from which we phoned all the parents while Jessica yelled obligingly. Then Adam escorted Jessica to the nursery where she was to stay for observation, and I was wheeled to my room on an exhausted high.
The afternoon whirled past in a happy haze of sms's, phone calls and pain meds. Adam ate my lunch and dinner while I sucked ice cubes and Energade (all I was allowed). We both took turns dozing in between visits from the florist… Lovely flowers everywhere! Jessica came for a visit and a feed, then was taken back to the nursery before visiting hours started at 7pm. Our first visitor was Cherelle, followed by a beaming Dad and Mum. Jessica waved at them all from the nursery, held by a very proud Adam. After a late feed, Adam headed home and I slid into sleep with the help of some morphine for the cut. Jessica stayed in the nursery till about 2am, and I hung onto my morphine line as the op site throbbed. Hooray for drugs! It was still a very long night…
Wednesday: Morning brought a breastfeeding expert who showed me how to feed Jessica, and breakfast which I shared with Adam. Feeling terrible and all doped up, the doctors told me to pass Jessica to the staff and sleep. Luckily Adam arrived, so he took Jessica and I passed out for an hour. I woke to two very happy grandparents – Mum holding Jessica carefully – and a much brighter world. The drips were taken out before lunch and I graduated to oral pain killers. Jessica suddenly caught onto the breastfeeding idea at the 2pm feed (little piranha) and we changed our first disgusting nappy using lots of team work and wet wipes. Eugh!
Els sneaked in during the afternoon, Claire and Karen came at 3pm, Jessica was inoculated at about 4.30, supper arrived at 5 and that was our first day over. Lots of visitors at 7pm which was lovely. I handed Jessica to the nurses around 11pm, popped in some ear plugs and slept like a dream till 4am when Jessica came back for a feed and a cuddle.
Thursday morning: Jessica's now learnt to use her dummy (courtesy of the sisters who watched her last night), docs have just been round, and Jessica is being tested for slight jaundice. I have some ultra-violet therapy scheduled for lunch time to help with the feeding, and breakfast was great. I still can't quite believe that she's here, or that we are parents. Wow!
Adam keeps wandering over to Jessica and murmuring "too cute". I have to agree unreservedly! This is a great adventure…
2 comments:
Kerry, only you could write something like this after a week like that!!!! She is SO beautiful!!! I cried as soon as I saw the photo. I feel the distance. Congratulations to you and Adam!.........praise the Lord for this mighty life. I can't wait to see His plans unfolding for your family. Hope to talk to you soon.
Love
Carol
Hi feldman fam, enjoyed reading the story! Thanks for sharing the great adventure! So excited to meet jessica. Well done! Today we told the friends first family about the arrival of your little one...everyone stoked for you guys!
Take care. Lots of love, Steve, sarah and our bump!
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