More about Claire: The Hospital

Well, in an effort to document my whole life (for all y'all to see) I need to talk about every experience with our darling new addition :)


Waiting... and from my expression, you can tell that I TOTALLY wanted Jordan to take LOTS of pictures of ME in the hospital...

But then I cooperated...

Induction:
Wednesday morning, I was scheduled for an induction at the hospital, but actually went into labor myself at about midnight, the morning of...which was good for them, painful for me! I'm a wimp! It was so painful--I had these really bad lower back pains (which I found out meant she was turned the wrong way...but we got that fixed later) and was just waiting to go to the hospital and get the drugs :) They called me at 5:30 in the morning and we went in at about 6:45am.

First they put me on antibiotics since I have that annoying Strep B thing, and then they gave me the oxytocin to start me--smaller doses at first, working up. That helped me be in a lot more pain. :)

And, as usual in hospitals, they starve you that day, so my lunch was ice chips with grape flavoring, and dinner was ice chips with cherry flavoring! It was great :)

Epidural:
Finally at 10:15 am, they gave me the drugs. Can I say, "hallelujah??" I am SO GLAD I live in these modern times...seriously. The doctor who gave me the epidural was AWESOME, and I could still feel the right amount of pressure to keep the labor progressing and push. He said I also have a "great back" for epidurals. Thought that was funny. Jordan especially thought it was funny when the anesthesiologist warned there would be a "slight jolt" I would feel. Slight wasn't exactly the correct term for me. With the "slight jolt," my whole body practically jumped out of bed and kicked Jordan in the head in the process!! It was like I was struck by lightning! So funny...

Then Jordan had so much fun laughing at my "loopy" attitude after receiving the epidural. It was all uphill from there!

Delivery: (reader discretion: not for the faint of heart)
And finally the time had come! It did not come soon enough--I have to say, having a baby...the day at the hospital, at least...can kinda DRAG. The anticipation is just too great!

So, Jordan and I weren't sure WHO would be present at the delivery. We went between just us, my mom & his mom, whoever wanted to... well, the third option wasn't really an option :) But in the end, it kinda WAS what happened! After flashing them so many times being adjusted and everything during the day, I figured, "what the heck." So, in the delivery room, Jordan's mom, my mom, my three sisters-in-law, a medical student (who helped with the birth), my nurse, Wendy, and handful of other hospital staff that was getting the "cleaning station" ready for when she came out.

I only pushed for like 20 minutes and then my doctor, Doctor Natalie Loewen (that's for posterity...) gave me an episiotomy because what happened was, Claire was under a lot of stress. Her heart rate was dropping from the pressure. It was interesting, Dr. Loewen was tickling her head as she came out, and Jordan noticed this was raising her heart rate each time she did it. Later, he talked to the doctor and she said that the reason she gave me the episiotomy (since I would have torn 10 minutes later) is because of the heart rate. But, it was cool because during the delivery, the doctor would just say "I'm just tickling her head..." so she wouldn't freak us out over the heart rate. Anyway, that was good. Once the episiotomy was "perfomed" she was out in like 3 pushes.

Unfortunately, since she was a week late, she had already had a bowel movement. So, it was pretty sad that right when she came out, they whisked her away to get cleaned quickly so that she wouldn't breathe in any of the maconium. So there I was, on the bed, getting stitched up, while everyone ELSE got to see the baby! But I was patient. And they finally brought her to me...

Meeting Claire for the first time

About 5 min. old

Getting weighed

Post-Delivery:
Man, they check your vitals a lot, and the baby's! I think my blood pressure was tested like 65 times a day. Glad they care though :) The hospital stay was nice--the nurses were great, and the whole reclining bed thing...I need that at MY house!

However, the FOOD was awful!!! It's sad because the food in the cafeteria is amazing, AND cheap, but then they feed the patients this $1.25 TV dinner crap. I'm not joking. I mean, I'm not that picky and I couldn't eat it! (I like AIRPLANE food--well, the stuff on International flights is pretty darn good!) So, if anyone delivers at this hospital, be prepared to have family and friends bring cafeteria food to you--it's SO much better...

First bath and "hair brushing" experience

Jordan had the WORST experience at the nursery though! They stuck poor little Claire like 5 times with needles because they had these unexperienced-with-babies flabotomists on duty. Finally the right guy came along, but that was after they left Claire under a heating lamp, undressed, with the lamp turned OFF, and she was SO hungry and sad and Jordan was getting really fed up--especially since there were nurses there just sitting around talking and not even caring!! Anyway, it was bad. Jordan gets in a bad mood just thinking about it...his paternal feelings have definitely kicked in!

Jordan and Claire in the hospital room

I have to say also, that in the hospital, Jordan was AWESOME. He stayed with me both nights (they have a couch to sleep on in the room--for that purpose) and changed ALL of her diapers!! He is a natural!

Claire and "Mommy" in the hospital room

Going home!