We brought Jocelyn home, it was a cold Super Bowl Sunday snow flurries and gray clouds. Running on adrenaline it didn't matter if we got any sleep. We tried but every time there was a little squeak from Jocelyn we were sprinting out of bed to her room. Well when I say "we" I mean Austin, I still love my sleep.
Her first wellness visit was 2 days after we brought her home. Dr. Watson gave us a clean bill of health, but she did lose 10% of her body weight in 4 days after birth. So she weighs 6 lbs. 2oz. at this point. He did sound concerned and wanted us to come back in 2 more days for a weight check. Finally my milk had come in and Jocelyn and I figured out this whole breast feeding thing. When we had gone into the doctors office 2 days later she had gained 8 oz. in 2 days! What a little piggy!
Austin stayed home with me for a week, using up his vacation. I am using FMLA which is 12 weeks off of work, but with no pay. They just have to guarantee a position with equal pay when I return to work. What is wrong with this country? We should move to Sweden! Why can't I get paid time off? I used up my 2 weeks of vacation and 3 paid sick days, but to start a family should you really have to?! When Austin went back to work, my mom stayed with us for 5 days. It was really great to have her here. I hadn't discovered "pumping" yet, so to have her help with cooking, laundry and cleaning was awesome. I can't thank her enough! Plus she got quality bonding time with her first grandchild!
Breastfeeding is hard. There is nothing in my opinion that comes "naturally". Jocelyn likes to eat her hands, she is so strong that I have to pry her little fists away from her mouth. Luckily there is pumping and other people, like Austin, can feed her. This means I can sleep and escape the house!
Leon, our dog, is adjusting well. He vies for our attention especially from Austin who is his play buddy. Otherwise he is very good with Jocelyn. Her crying doesn't even phase him and when I get up all hours of the night he usually doesn't move, or if he does he sleeps in her room in front of the heat vent!
We have had quite the parade of visitors! And Jocelyn has received so many wonderful gifts, her closet is now filled with so many cute girly clothes!
Jocelyn is so expressive! She smiles a lot and makes this great wrinkled brow serious face! When she is asleep she laughs, I mean a crack-up laugh. I wonder what she thinks is so funny?! What could an infant be dreaming about?
I never knew that an infant could be so strong, Jocelyn can move her head around easily and her grip is like a little vise. She also squeaks quite a bit, which makes me smile. We gave Jocelyn her first bath when she was 20 days old. She loves taking a bath and doesn't cry at all! A true little Aquarius!
Thursday February 4th, 7:30pm. My contractions had started at home. Austin began timing them on his Ironman watch that he has had since 6th grade. They were consistently 11 minutes apart, then 7 minutes, then 5 minutes. It was 10:30 pm and I called the hospital, we were going in. The contractions were not so painful but they did stop my breathe. After dropping off the dog at Robb's and getting to the hospital, and into my lovely hospital gown I was checked by the nurse and hooked up to the contraction and baby heart monitor.The nurse told me I wasn't any more then 1 centimeter dilated, which was disappointing because I was at the doctor Tuesday and was 1 cm then. She suggested walking the halls of the hospital to help me dilate. So, we did. I didn't like other people/nurses seeing me in pain with every contraction so that was short lived. And besides we were both tired. Getting back to the room I tried to sit on a birthing ball, which is just a large exercise ball. Leaning forward with my head and arms on the bed was just making the contractions more painful. The nurse was checking me every hour and my contractions were still 5 minutes apart. I told Austin to get some sleep. The most comfortable position for me was slightly reclined and sitting indian-style in bed. I tried to snooze, but with pain coming every five minutes it was nearly impossible.
Throughout the morning hours I had dilated a couple more cm, so now I was at 2-3 cm. I was starving and could only eat jello or popicles. I was tired and couldn't sleep. I kept thinking that this was really happening and a new life was about to be born. My doctor came in around 7:30 am on February 5th and checked me, she told me we would break my water. She was hoping that things would progress more quickly. Contractions were still painful and five minutes apart. I would breathe a heavy in and out with every contraction and with every exhale pictured the pain as dust I was blowing off of a shiny metallic object. We had picked out two names one for a boy and one for a girl. But the gender was still unknown.
I don't remember when but at one point the contractions and lack of sleep was wearing me down. I asked for a narcotic, to as they say "take the edge off". I was able to sleep a very small amount then. At 2:00 pm my doctor checked me again. At 4 cm, and she ordered pitocin to speed things along. I knew that this was used to induce labor and could make things very intense. Wanted to go as long as I could without one, but it was now I told the nurse that I wanted an epidural. I knew it was going to be intense but I had no idea! The half hour, 2:30-3:00, when the pitocin kicked in and before the epidural was the most pain I have every been in. I was screaming with every contraction, I couldn't "blow" away the dusty pain. And every minute long contraction was coming quicker then 5 minutes.
After the epidural was administered, 3:00 pm, I was numb from under the breasts to my feet. I had no control of my lower half. You know how your arm feels strange and foreign to you when you sleep on it funny? That's how my whole body felt and its a scary feeling. But I could finally get some good sleep. Or could I? The nurse, Rachelle, who was monitoring me saw something with the baby. Every contraction that I was having, the baby's heart rate was going down. So she had me rollover to one side and then the next side every ten minutes or so to try to make the baby's heart rate stabilize. Moving when you are this numb is not an easy task. Especially when you have many things attached to various body parts. I had the epidural catheter in my back, an oxygen mask on for the baby, baby heart rate monitor around my belly, blood pressure cuff on my left arm, IV in my right hand, an internal contraction monitor, and a catheter. Good times.At 6:00 pm the Dr. Olson checked me again, I was 10 cm and ready to start pushing! The room was quickly transformed, the lower half of my bed detached, the lights on the ceiling turned on, and various "carts" were wheeled in. Austin had my left leg, nurse Rachelle the right, and Dr. Olson had the helm. I could feel the contractions at this point but they were not painful, they felt like a lot of pressure. Three pushes per contraction, heavy duty breath holding pushes. At one point I turned to the nurse and asked how long this usually takes. Because I am a first time mom and I am extremely numb, 2-3 hours! Dr. Olson asked Rachelle how numb I was and her answer was an 8, my doctors eyes went wide. I am not waiting that long I declared!
Once the baby was crowning there was some discussion over what color hair the baby had, the baby has hair! I was so excited. Dr. Olson said, "I am getting boy vibes. What about you?" Rachelle said, "I have been calling the baby a boy because I have a son at home, so I'll go with boy." Austin said, "I am still going with boy." When they asked me what I thought I said boy, because I did think it was going to be a boy. However, since we got to the hospital there was a song that was stuck in my head. A song by the Grateful Dead, "Did you say her name was rambling Rose? Ramble on baby, settle down easy. Ramble on Rose."It happened so fast, 48 minutes into pushing our baby was born! I will never forget Dr. Olson's face she looked down and stuttered a "Its, its a girl!" Austin cut the cord, they quickly wiped down our baby girl and put her up on my chest. Austin and I were both amazed and I cried a little. As the nurses weighed and measured her, Austin was so in awe they had to remind him to get his camera. Little Jocelyn Rose Morem, 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 19.75 inches long.
We had lots of visitors those 2 days in the hospital. Both grandmas were happy to buy pink clothes!
