Feb

It has been an interesting couple of days, since we have come home from the hospital. Until just a few minutes ago both Leslies mother and grandmother were here. And I know all about the old in-law jokes — but they were truly a Godsend. They were both incredibly helpful as we made the transition from hospital to home.

It was a good thing, too. Since things didn’t go as smoothly at first as I was expecting, based on how soothable Sami was the first night at the Hospital. The second night at the hospital, and the first two nights at home she was incredibly fussy! In part it was because Leslie’s milk hadn’t come in yet, and so she was continually starving (she lost 10 oz between being born and leaving the hospital) — but even worse, once we got home, it seemed like she *hated* her cradle. Every time we put her down, she would be screaming within five minutes, even when she was clearly exhausted. I was starting to get prepared for a *very* rough couple of months!

Fortunately, two things happened yesterday, and now it seems again that we have been blessed with an incredibly easygoing baby. First, yesterday around noon-time Leslie’s milk started to come in, and Sami was able to really eat (drink) until she was satisfied. Since that time she has been taking longer naps — 2 – three hours in a stretch.

Just as importantly, we made an interesting, if slightly bizarre discovery the night before last. For largely random reasons having to do with its orientation in the room, etc., we had been laying Sami down in the cradle on her *left* side. At some point, during early morning hallucinations from sleep-deprivation it occurred to me that in the hospital, right from birth, the Nurses, etc., had been putting Sami down to sleep on her *right* side. So, we made the switch — and “viola!” — all of a sudden we had a different baby. Even before the milk came in she would take real naps in the cradle. And then, last night, it was a miracle! We fed her at midnight before we went to sleep, and then again at 3:30, and then at 7:30! And she slept soundly and contentedly all the rest of the time. It was a parent’s *dream* night. I’m not expecting all nights to go so well, but if the majority can go something along those lines, we will be extremely lucky!

OK, back to my other responsibilities — now that we are back home, I am *slowly* but surely trying to get back into something like a work routine …

  

Feb

Well, the wait is over! If you haven’t already heard, Samara Rachel (pronounced like Raquel, as in”Welch”) Kirith made her entry into the world at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 10, 2001. She weight in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 20.5 inches. 1 and 5 minute APGARs were 8 and 9, respectively.

I guess this means I win the multi-million $$ pool! Now if all the rest of you who took part in the pool would forward my your $100,000, that would be great! (What, we forgot to mention that part of the deal? … %-)

Leslie and I both, of course, are walking on air! Sami, as we will likely call her is a delight. She shows signs both of being willful and strong (on the physical side, she already raises her head quite well), but also is of a very pleasant disposition, and soothes easily. We are thrilled as we enter this process of getting to know her, and starting to watch and help her develop.

I have to say though, I am extremely proud of Leslie and how she is handling things. The birth was not at all according to her “birth plan” — natural birth with minimal pharacological aids, etc. Instead, because Sami was already quite a bit past her due date, we decided to induce. However, Leslie’s body was not ready for labor, and so things never really got off the ground — the attempts to begin labor ended up in an extended series of nearly constant, very painful, but equally nonproductive contractions — this led to Leslie deciding on an epidural afterall (and after watching what it did, my revised attitude is that modern epidurals are *good!*), and then when things still didn’t progress, we needed to opt for a cesarian birth.

This could have resulted in a lot of disappointment for both of us. However, Leslie, although disappointed that things didn’t go our way, is staying very focused on our beautiful new, healthy baby (as am I), and despite the pain, fatigue, etc., of having to recover from essentially unwanted major surgery, she is focussing on how the end result is *exactly* what we want, rather than thinking about all the things that didn’t go as planned along the way. A supremely healthy and positive attitude , I think. Also, although at this moment, Leslie is in much pain and discomfort, she is maintaining an incredibly calm and positive attitude, and is very agressively and actively forcing herself to do the often painful things that will speed up her recovery.

My hat is off to you, Leslie!

Now, instead of babbling here, I should get back to my two women! So, more later …

  

Feb

Well, the waiting continues. I think Leslie is having somewhat more frequent, and slightly more intense contractions, so the pre-labor is in full steam — but no real indication yet that the main event is imminent.

If things hold off until late tomorrow, for a Saturday delivery, then I will win the multi-million $$ pool from our website, so I can hope for that. But Leslie and I both would like to see this young’n emerge before induction-type steps need to be taken!

I have to say, though, that these past few days of intense waiting have been pretty special. Leslie and I have gone on walks together every day, gone out to lunch, and stuff like that — sharing our anticipation, and yes, anxiety. We might both have preferred little _____________ to have arrived by now, but later, I think we will look back at this past week or so as a special period of bonding and such for us!

Well, that’s my 2¢ for now. I will be eager to hear what the Dr. has to say first thing tomorrow morning — but for now it’s the zzzzzzzz’s for me!

  

Feb

Ah, another day…another day on which my stubborn daughter-to-be will no doubt refuse to be born! Sigh… Clearly, the child has inherited both Craig’s *and* my slightly strong-willed inclinations. We are going to have our hands full! Presuming, of course, that she ever decides to be born…

I have now tried EVERYTHING that people have suggested to me as ways to induce labor, all to no avail. Naturally, Craig likes some of the induction-attempts better than others – he says it’s like we’re newleyweds again! Yesterday we even broke down and went to the drugstore in search of castor oil. Interesting product – it really is oil! I hadn’t even heard of it prior to this, but my grandmother and others recommended drinking it to try to get contractions started. I confirmed with a nurse aquantaince of ours that it wouldn’t kill me (though she maintained that Craig’s favorite induction attempt is much more likely to work . So, last night I poured a tablespoon of it into a half glass of cranberry juice, and then stared at it for a *really* long time. You know how you learn in chemistry that oil and water don’t mix? Well, oil and cranberry juice don’t either – the oil just kind of sat on top of the juice, no matter how much I stirred. It almost made me sick just *looking* at it. Finally, I got up the nerve to drink it, then went to bed happily assuming I would be having contractions within a few hours. And…nothing happened. NOTHING!!!

In terms of more concrete medical news – at the doc’s on Monday, I was maybe a nanometer more dilated than last time, but still not quite to 2 cm. (Last time I was barely 1 – Craig spins this as progress! %-). I was depressed after that, but the fact is, she is still only two days late – I can’t legitimately complain too much. The doctor won’t be inducing me this week, which is good because (though it would’ve gotten it over with) that would’ve made me nervous. If the induction doesn’t work, you have to have a c-section; and, while that is certainly not a tragedy, it is something we want to avoid if we can. Anyway, you are supposed to be dilated to at least 2 cm on your own before they induce. I go back on Friday to get checked again, and so they can do a non-stress test on the baby (they give me candy and juice and then see how much she moves in half an hour – they do this to make sure she is still okay in there, since once you go past your due date there can be problems with the placenta, etc.). The current plan is that next Monday night I will go into the hospital and they will give me some gel to soften my cervix, then on Tuesday morning they will give me an injection to induce contractions. So, everyone send contracting vibes my way, and hope the brat (oh, I mean baby! decides to come on her own before then!

Not much else to report – Craig has been very supportive of my mood swings the last few days, and very patient with my sucking up all the badnwidth from our cable modem to download songs from the internet. We’ve been going for walks every day, at a little trail near our house – interesting, because it’s been 55-60 degrees here the last few days, and today and tomorrow it might get up to 70! How bizarre would it be if my baby was born on a 70 degree day in *February*?!!

By the way, I want to say a BIG thank you to all the people who have been emailing me and calling me to check in – outside social contact helps *a lot*, and I really appreciate the distraction!

  

Feb

And now it is a waiting game. Leslie’s body is giving off all sorts of signs that the baby will be coming soon. More and harder contractions, and a bunch of other clinical details, of which we can probably spare you. However, after a couple of “false alarms” — on which a series of promising contractions fizzled out — Leslie is becoming a bit discouraged, and convinced that the baby is “never going to come.” Of course she will, and first babies are often late — but it a little tough for Leslie to maintain a positive outlook — especially since those “clinical details” I referred to above, like very sore hips, are quite uncomfortable. I think she is doing a wonderful job, though!

In any event, we are about to visit the Dr. for a checkup to see how things are progressing, and I’m sure that one of us will check in with the news from that in a bit …

  

Feb

Today is Craig’s first day of “paternity leave” – he doesn’t have to teach again until after Vanderbilt’s Spring Break. We are both glad that he is going to be able to stay home with the baby for a while, too. We are also both wondering how long it will take us to start wearing on each other’s nerves, being home all the time…;-)

Of course, this presumes that there even *is* going to be a baby, which I am starting to doubt – I really think I might just stay pregnant forever! I’ve been employing as many of the old wives’ tales about how to induce labor as I can, though I haven’t quite been able to bring myself to track down something named castor oil and try to drink it – somehow, that just doesn’t sound appealing. But I have tried just about everything else, and so far – nada.

Now the doc is talking about inducing me one day next week. In some ways, this is appealing – I really am kind of sick of being pregnant, in case you haven’t gotten that from reading these little notes! Still, it makes me uneasy – my gut tells me the baby will come when she’s ready, and I shouldn’t rush her. Anyone have any personal experiences with labor induction? I’d be interested in hearing about it.

Today I’ve been experimenting with mp3 files. I got the idea to make a CD of the songs that people have been recommending for me to listen to during labor; but some of them are kind of random, things that might be fun for this purpose, but I probably don’t need a whole CD of, etc. So, I thought I would try to find them as mp3 files, to see if I like them, etc. I was just using the browser to search, which ended up being a real pain. I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about. But then I downloaded a special program that searches for the files via napster and gnutella servers, and it was much easier after that.

Well, that’s pretty much my news of the day. Still no contractions to speak of – just small ones every now and again. The doctor is going out of town this weekend, so the baby will probably decide to come then! Otherwise, we got back to the doc on Monday and talk about this whole induction thing. Everyone please send contraction-vibes my way!

We’re off to try to track down some Girl Scouts now – rumor has it they are selling cookies at Kroger this week, and suddenly I am really craving those ones with the coconut and caramel…