Eating my orange popsicle and ice chips
Chubby cheeks
Skin to skin time with mama
With the grandparents
Mimi and Poppy
Family Photo
Grandma Lou
The Larsons
Poppy
Poppy
Uncle Matty and Auntie Lizzy
Mimi and Uncle Biji
Family of three
Mimi and Uncle Biji
First bath
Family of three
My view... Ocean and Harbor
My little monkey
Our sunbather at home
Our beautiful daughter, Natasha Olivia graced us with her presence on Wednesday, March 24th at 4:38 PM. She weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz, measured 19 inches long and has the cutest chubby cheeks I have ever seen. We are so in love with her already and are adjusting to parenthood quite well (with a couple of ups and downs). So here is her birth story... and I apologize for the TMI!
It all started last Tuesday during my prenatal yoga class... and yes I was still going to yoga at 38 weeks. In fact, three other pregnant women in the class told me that I inspired them for still going to yoga. My yoga instructor, Linda said that I looked like I was having a tougher time with some of the poses than usual and that Natasha seemed really low. I made it through the class just fine and went home to rest and I actually got a nap in. I started to feel some menstrual cramp-type contractions, but they were very sporadic and not worth timing. I used my birthing ball (an over sized exercise ball) at my desk while I checked emailed and organized some bills. I went to bed that night and woke up about 4:30 AM to use the bathroom. When I got back into bed, I rolled over and felt a wet sensation in my underwear. My first thought was "Great, I just peed my pants." I got out of bed and as I was walking to the bathroom, I felt a more liquid going down my leg. It was a huge gush, but it continued to leak. I thought "This is it, my water just broke!" I cleaned up the bathroom and went to put new panties on and Zac woke up and asked if everything was okay. I told him that my water just broke. He jumped out of bed and asked me what he should do. I told him to call the doctor's office and tell the on-call doctor what had happened. She told us to come in and she would let the hospital know that we were on our way. Well, I needed to feed Chauncey, pack a few other things, Zac wanted to shower, and so on. Lets just say when we arrived at the hospital the nurses all were wondering when we were coming in... they were waiting! We called at 5:00 AM and got there around 6:30 AM. Whoops. They admitted me and checked me... I was 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They started my IV and the pitocin. I was able to walk around and use the rocking chair. I wanted a birth ball for the contractions, which were getting stronger and more close together. I was told that Hoag has lots, but the nurses couldn't locate one. At about 11:30 AM, I got an epidural and it was great! I was able to take a nap and just let my cervix relax during the contractions. In an hour and a half I went from 5 cm to 9 cm dilated. Zac went downstairs to grab a sandwich and I continued to rest waiting for 1 more cm. The nurse said Natasha would be here between 3 PM and 4 PM. I made it to 10 cm, but Natasha still was not low enough (hard to believe since every time I was checked they could feel her head). I was told to lye on my side for a while and then switch. Amazingly, this helped bring her down. I was ready to push. I started pushing with the nurse to work Natasha down. Easier said than done. This was the hard part for me since I couldn't really feel anything with the epidural. My doctor then came in and guided me through the rest of my pushes. After 20 minutes of pushing, out came Natasha. It truly was a beautiful experience and I got to watch the whole thing with a mirror! They placed her on my chest and Zac got to cut her umbilical cord. We both just admired her while I delivered the placenta (that was the easy part). The nurse then took Natasha to get checked out. Zac was with her the whole time while I was getting stitched up. I tore a bit since my little monkey decided to come out with her hand up next to her shoulder. All the nurses said she looked like a 10 lb. baby with those chubby cheeks, but thank goodness she was only 7 lbs. 8 oz. She had a bit of fluid in her lungs, but they were able to get most of it out and Natasha would have to do the rest herself. Once I was all cleaned up, they brought her over to me so that we could have skin to skin time together and have her start to breastfeed. She did a pretty good job with breastfeeding and she loved getting warm on mommy's chest. I was pretty happy that the whole labor process was less than 12 hours. Hopefully it will be the same with the next one.
It all started last Tuesday during my prenatal yoga class... and yes I was still going to yoga at 38 weeks. In fact, three other pregnant women in the class told me that I inspired them for still going to yoga. My yoga instructor, Linda said that I looked like I was having a tougher time with some of the poses than usual and that Natasha seemed really low. I made it through the class just fine and went home to rest and I actually got a nap in. I started to feel some menstrual cramp-type contractions, but they were very sporadic and not worth timing. I used my birthing ball (an over sized exercise ball) at my desk while I checked emailed and organized some bills. I went to bed that night and woke up about 4:30 AM to use the bathroom. When I got back into bed, I rolled over and felt a wet sensation in my underwear. My first thought was "Great, I just peed my pants." I got out of bed and as I was walking to the bathroom, I felt a more liquid going down my leg. It was a huge gush, but it continued to leak. I thought "This is it, my water just broke!" I cleaned up the bathroom and went to put new panties on and Zac woke up and asked if everything was okay. I told him that my water just broke. He jumped out of bed and asked me what he should do. I told him to call the doctor's office and tell the on-call doctor what had happened. She told us to come in and she would let the hospital know that we were on our way. Well, I needed to feed Chauncey, pack a few other things, Zac wanted to shower, and so on. Lets just say when we arrived at the hospital the nurses all were wondering when we were coming in... they were waiting! We called at 5:00 AM and got there around 6:30 AM. Whoops. They admitted me and checked me... I was 3 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They started my IV and the pitocin. I was able to walk around and use the rocking chair. I wanted a birth ball for the contractions, which were getting stronger and more close together. I was told that Hoag has lots, but the nurses couldn't locate one. At about 11:30 AM, I got an epidural and it was great! I was able to take a nap and just let my cervix relax during the contractions. In an hour and a half I went from 5 cm to 9 cm dilated. Zac went downstairs to grab a sandwich and I continued to rest waiting for 1 more cm. The nurse said Natasha would be here between 3 PM and 4 PM. I made it to 10 cm, but Natasha still was not low enough (hard to believe since every time I was checked they could feel her head). I was told to lye on my side for a while and then switch. Amazingly, this helped bring her down. I was ready to push. I started pushing with the nurse to work Natasha down. Easier said than done. This was the hard part for me since I couldn't really feel anything with the epidural. My doctor then came in and guided me through the rest of my pushes. After 20 minutes of pushing, out came Natasha. It truly was a beautiful experience and I got to watch the whole thing with a mirror! They placed her on my chest and Zac got to cut her umbilical cord. We both just admired her while I delivered the placenta (that was the easy part). The nurse then took Natasha to get checked out. Zac was with her the whole time while I was getting stitched up. I tore a bit since my little monkey decided to come out with her hand up next to her shoulder. All the nurses said she looked like a 10 lb. baby with those chubby cheeks, but thank goodness she was only 7 lbs. 8 oz. She had a bit of fluid in her lungs, but they were able to get most of it out and Natasha would have to do the rest herself. Once I was all cleaned up, they brought her over to me so that we could have skin to skin time together and have her start to breastfeed. She did a pretty good job with breastfeeding and she loved getting warm on mommy's chest. I was pretty happy that the whole labor process was less than 12 hours. Hopefully it will be the same with the next one.
An hour later we were headed upstairs to the postpartum floor where we would be spending the next 2 nights. Our family was anxiously waiting for us and couldn't keep their hands off of Natasha. She got to meet her Mimi and Poppy (my parents), Grandma Lou (Zac's mom), Uncle Matty and Auntie Lizzy and Uncle Biji. After our family left, Zac and I were ready to get some much needed sleep. Natasha did okay the first night. Woke up a few times for feedings and just to be held. I think she was all pumped up from all the excitement we experienced that day.
The next day, Natasha was checked by the pediatrician and we found out she had a bit of jaundice. It's fairly common especially when mom and baby have different blood types, which was the case for us. Since she didn't sleep that much during the night, she sure was sleepy the next day, which made feeding her nearly impossible. She ended up losing quite a bit of weight in the hospital, so when we were discharged on Friday we needed to see the pediatrician the next day for a weight check. Friday at home was also difficult since she just wanted to sleep all day and play all night. At our Saturday appointment the doctor said that she definitely had jaundice and she lost 12% of her weight. Doctor's don't want to see more than 10% loss. So we had to supplement with formula and have her sunbathe in the indirect sunlight. With my hormones, my milk finally coming in and being worried about our daughter, Saturday was a very tough day for me. Thank goodness Grandma Lou came over and helped out with Natasha, so that I could get a nap in. And thank goodness, my cousin Nicole came over and gave me her breast pump, because I thought my boobs were going to explode! Grandma Lou stayed the night to help out with the nighttime feedings, so that Zac and I could get a good night's sleep. We both felt refreshed in the morning and confident that Natasha put on some weight.
At our Sunday appointment with the pediatrician she said that Natasha's color was improving and that she was starting to gain back the weight... both good news. Also we won't have to bring her back until her 2 week wellness check. What a relief! Since then I have been trying to get her to breastfeed again. She did a pretty good job yesterday, but I still have to pump to supplement her. At least it is breast milk and we are not needing as much formula. My yoga instructor gave me the number for a lactation consultant, so I will give her a call this week to see if she has any tips for helping me breastfeed. Other than that we are adjusting to our new life as parents and we love it!
