Well, we've reached the end of PK's journey from the womb to the real world. It has been an incredible journey, and I am a little sad to be leaving this blog. It has been a blast sharing my pregnancy experiences online, and I am grateful to have had some regular readers.
Even though PK is now out in this crazy world of ours, there's no reason to stop blogging, which is why I've started a new blog called PK Land. Please feel free to drop in and read about PK's adventures out in the real world!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
PK is Born!
As I mentioned in my last post, we went to the hospital early on Wednesday morning because I was getting some regular contractions.
After I posted that last entry, my contracions suddenly got stronger and more frequent and I badly needed to sit on a toilet to feel better. After I got out of the washroom, I sat for a bit before having an uncontrollable urge to use the loo.
The pain was completely unbearable and I was re-considering the epidural. I hated myself for even thinking that because I was so passionate about having a drug-free birth.
That thought didn't last too long, because I was suddenly overcome my the urge to push! Small detail: I was still sitting on the toilet!
Out of desperation I called for help. The nurse burst into the bathroom and whisked me from the toilet to a bed so she could check how dilated I was. Turns out I was 7cm dilated from 2.5cm just one hour earlier!
I was quickly taken from triage to the labor room. By the time I got there, I was 8cm dilated, and was full-on screaming and swearing. It hurt THAT much! I was told not to push yet because I wasn't fully-dilated. I told them I needed to push ASAP, so they checked me again and this time I was fully-dilated. It was showtime.
My doctor arrived just in time for the pushing phase. I tried to do the J-breathing that we were taught in HypnoBirthing but my doctor insisted on my pushing by taking a deep breath and pushing like I was crapping. I was so afraid that by doing this, I'd wind up with burst blood vessels, but that didn't end up happening. Needless to say, it took a while for her to come out because of our slight clash. By the end of it, however, I just wanted her out and was ready to try just about anything. At one point, when PK's head wasn't fully out, I asked if they couldn't just yank her out. The doctor responded by saying that that's not how things worked. Phooey.
Unfortunately, I wound up needing an episiotomy because she wasn't coming out fast enough and her heart rate was slowing down. Needless to say, I wound up with a few stiches. So much for those perineal massages! I feel okay right now and can pee on my own with minor pain. The only thing is that I feel like someone tore me a new butt hole. Yes, very pleasant imagery, isn't it? I just hope that the recovery period is kind to me.
In the end, PK made it out. It was the most curious sensation. It was like passing a giant stool after months of serious constipation. All of a sudden my belly went from super-inflated to just flattening all of a sudden. I still have a bit of a pooch in front, but I'm told that my uterus is contracting nicely.
PK, by the way, was born at 6:43am and weighed in at 7lb 4oz. She is 52cm in length and is breat-feeding very well. She is an absolute angel who seldom ever cries and loves to be swaddled.
Since she was born so fast, the GBS antibiotic treatment was never properly administered. This means that hospital staff needed to run some tests to make sure that she is okay. So far the first test went fine. We will get the results of the second test sometime tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, I'd better get some rest. PK is sleeping so that's my cue too! I'll post a photo of her once I get home.
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In Labor!!!
Well, I'm at the hospital waiting out my contractions. Although I was 2.5 cm dilated when they checked me, my contractions have been very frequent and very painful. On top of that, my water broke about 10 minutes after I got here. Since I'm GBS-positive, that's reason enough for them to keep me here.
My water breaking was a curious sensation. I felt a "pop", followed by an annoying trickle. I thought that I'd peed myself, until I realized what was actually going on.
My contractions right now are downright unbearable, but I'm hanging on, doing the slow breathing that I learned in HypnoBirthing. Easier said than done! One thing that helps is sitting up during contractions while breathing and rubbing my lower abdomen. Another was sitting on the toilet, since my bowels are being pressured like mad! Strange, a little gross, but effective!
Right now I'm freaking exhausted and could really use a nap. If only my contractions weren't so close together...
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My water breaking was a curious sensation. I felt a "pop", followed by an annoying trickle. I thought that I'd peed myself, until I realized what was actually going on.
My contractions right now are downright unbearable, but I'm hanging on, doing the slow breathing that I learned in HypnoBirthing. Easier said than done! One thing that helps is sitting up during contractions while breathing and rubbing my lower abdomen. Another was sitting on the toilet, since my bowels are being pressured like mad! Strange, a little gross, but effective!
Right now I'm freaking exhausted and could really use a nap. If only my contractions weren't so close together...
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The Real Deal?
As I write this, the hubby is driving us to the hospital and I am currently getting over a nasty-ass contraction. It's 2:44am, and the roads are eerily quiet. At least it means that the drive to the hospital will be quick!
I hope that this is the real deal because I'm in a whole lot of pain and my bowels feel like they're going to explode. Pleasant thoughts, eh?
I feel another one coming one, so this is my cue for exit. Maybe the next update you get will be to say that PK has arrived! Either that or there will be an angry post from me saying that we were sent home. :P
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Counting Contractions
Ever since I got back from the doctor today, it seems that my contractions have gotten stronger and a little more regular. At this point, however, I can't say with confidence that this warrants a trip to the hospital.
Being the geek that I am, I started noting the contractions on my BlackBerry. The hubby, being an even bigger geek has decided to post the numbers on MS Excel and has even gone as far as plotting a graph of my contractions! I'll have to post the Excel worksheet later because it's too friggin' hillarious!
As my contractions get stronger, I'm finding it harder to do anything else other than just try to breathe through them. A friend of mine who had recently had a baby said that one of the most beneficial things she did while in labor was uttering a low grunt while breathing out.
I've gotten pretty creative in dealing with my contractions by uttering "mooooo" as I breathe out. I figure that I might as well have fun with it.
Well, gotta run. I'm in the middle of managing a contraction. We'll see what comes of this...
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Being the geek that I am, I started noting the contractions on my BlackBerry. The hubby, being an even bigger geek has decided to post the numbers on MS Excel and has even gone as far as plotting a graph of my contractions! I'll have to post the Excel worksheet later because it's too friggin' hillarious!
As my contractions get stronger, I'm finding it harder to do anything else other than just try to breathe through them. A friend of mine who had recently had a baby said that one of the most beneficial things she did while in labor was uttering a low grunt while breathing out.
I've gotten pretty creative in dealing with my contractions by uttering "mooooo" as I breathe out. I figure that I might as well have fun with it.
Well, gotta run. I'm in the middle of managing a contraction. We'll see what comes of this...
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Dilation Update
I got back from the doctor's office a couple of hours ago, and in spite of my more frequent and painful Braxton-Hicks contractions, my bowels feeling like they're turning inside-out, my mucus plug passing and having the bloody show yesterday, it turns out that I'm only 1 cm dilated. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!! I really need to learn to relax, don't I? ;-)
False Alarm
Last night I almost ended up in labor and delivery triage. I was up late, messing around on the computer, when I started noticing some contractions. What caught my attention was that they seemed to be pretty frequent. So I started keeping time of when each contraction started. This was just after 1am. By 2am, it looked like the contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart, but I still went to bed. By 3am I started worrying that I might be going into labor, since the contractions seemed be 2 minutes apart, and they seemed to be stronger.
I called labor and delivery triage at my hospital, to ask if I should come in. They said that I probably should, so I woke up the hubby and I started getting ready. That's when I noticed that the contractions had suddenly become less intense and less frequent. It was starting to look like a false alarm. The hubby and I stayed up a bit longer to time some of the contractions and consulted our pregnancy books for some words of wisdom. After about 30 minutes, we realized that the contractions were lasting anywhere between 30 and 60 seconds, and that the time between contractions wasn't regular enough - anywhere between 2 and 7 minutes. Needless to say, we aborted our trip to the hospital.
I have a doctor's appointment a little later today, so I'll probably have him check under the hood to see how things are progressing. Maybe he'll even monitor my contractions to see if it warrants going to the hospital. Even if my doctor determines that PK is not ready to come out just yet, I don't think it will be much longer than one week until PK pops out.
I called labor and delivery triage at my hospital, to ask if I should come in. They said that I probably should, so I woke up the hubby and I started getting ready. That's when I noticed that the contractions had suddenly become less intense and less frequent. It was starting to look like a false alarm. The hubby and I stayed up a bit longer to time some of the contractions and consulted our pregnancy books for some words of wisdom. After about 30 minutes, we realized that the contractions were lasting anywhere between 30 and 60 seconds, and that the time between contractions wasn't regular enough - anywhere between 2 and 7 minutes. Needless to say, we aborted our trip to the hospital.
I have a doctor's appointment a little later today, so I'll probably have him check under the hood to see how things are progressing. Maybe he'll even monitor my contractions to see if it warrants going to the hospital. Even if my doctor determines that PK is not ready to come out just yet, I don't think it will be much longer than one week until PK pops out.
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