Robby's Birth Story

These past 11 days have been a whirlwind. I am proud to say that I am the mommy of a gorgeous, healthy baby boy!

A few weeks ago my husband and I went to a local Chinese restaurant. While there I had gotten a fortune cookie. The fortune had said "The next full moon will bring an enchanting evening". The next full moon at the time would be January 19th. This was 4 days after my due date. January 15th came and went. I understood that most first time pregnancies take a bit longer, but I was anxious. I met with my OB on January 18 and set a date for January 21 to be induced. I was upset though because I wanted my son to pick his own birthday. On January 19th, the full moon was out and I had gone to bed around 10pm. At 11:22pm I woke up with a sharp cramp. This was unlike any other pregnancy cramp I had. These continued through the next few hours and I could not sleep. I practiced my Lamaze breathing, which was working. By 3:30am the contractions were closer together so we were off to the hospital. Walking while contracting was so painful, the easiest way for me to breath through them was while laying down. When I was checked, I was 4 cm dilated. The contractions continued to shorten in time in-between and grow in pain. My intentions were to go through my entire labor with no medication. By the time I hit 6cm I had already been in labor for 7 hours. At this point I could no longer handle the pain. My legs hurt so much and I couldn't focus on breathing. I then made the decision to get an anesthesiologist in. While prepping for the epidural, my husband stood in front of me with the nurse. He got extremely weak and had to sit down on the floor. Because he nearly fainted, he had to watch everything from behind me. I could not feel the needle but the medicine shot a quick pain down my back. I was then given a catheter. After being given the epidural I was able to relax. I still felt pressure and watched my contractions on the screen, but no pain. It was expected that I would have a morning baby but once I hit 9cm, my contractions slowed down and I was starting to fall asleep. This is when a low dose of pitocin was administered. At 11:45am (just over 12 hours of labor) I was finally at 10cm and began pushing. My OB was in the hospital but had 3 other patients who came after me that he was also checking on. In the delivery room when I first began pushing was my husband, nurse and myself. It was so relaxing and between contractions we were talking and joking. Around 12:15pm my OB came in. My husband had my [lifeless] left leg and my nurse had my right. For some reason I had absolutely NO sensation in my entire left leg but when need I was able to move both legs. I was able to feel my son's head and they said he has my hair. At 12:33 I had my last push and my BIG boy was born. 8lbs, 9ou and 22 inches!! I couldn't believe it and I see now why I had gotten so many stretch marks and I was nothing but belly. About 2 hours postpartum I was asked to get up and try to use the restroom. I felt like a newborn animal learning to walk. My left leg was extremely shaky. By the time I got to the toilet I got very dizzy and fainted against the wall. I was alone. A few moments later my nurse came in to see how I was doing where I had fainted again. I then needed a wheelchair, my husband was worried and I was forced to lay back down in bed. Another hour went by and this time I was capable of getting up and using the bathroom. I was then wheeled off the my birthing suite where I spent the next 48 hours.
Breastfeeding was a challenge in the beginning. My breasts were very sore and getting him latched was very difficult. After coming home, my mother-in-law spent the first few nights with us. She helped me learn some tricks for my sore breasts, such as warm compresses and massages. At 11 days old my son is a master nurser. He latches on by himself and though the initial latch hurts for a moment, the feeding goes very well. If he is asleep and it's nearing a feeding time, my boobs will let me know by becoming Niagara Falls. Robby was able to reach his birth weight within one week. We are still waiting for his umbilical stub to fall out.
Here is my handsome little boy about a week after being born:

Two Days Until Eviction

In a few short days, maybe even hours I will have traded everything for love. Today, I am 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Yesterday I had a doctor appointment and made an appointment to have my son born on Friday, January 21. So far this was never the pregnancy I anticipated. I was told that first time mom's typically deliver up to a week late. In my hopes to have as close to a natural birth as possible I would really like for my son to pick his own birth day today or tomorrow. There is no going back if I enter the hospital Friday morning to be induced. I have tried just about everything [except castor oil] to naturally induce labor. On Friday, if Robby has yet to show, I'm sure I will be given Pitocin. This is a drug that helps get the body in gear and bring on labor. Unfortunately unlike natural births Pitocin will take you from 0-60 in a matter of minutes, making breathing techniques harder to achieve. I am determined to go Epidural free though. After decades of being around the risks and cons continue to outway the pros. However, if I am laboring for hours beyond belief and I have hit a point of unbearable pain then the Epidural remains an option.

So here's to hoping a easy natural labor soon or a very smooth induction Friday. Either way I will have a son this weekend. I can't believe it!

{photo credit: Rennie Ellis}

Do what YOU want to do

My Modern Met

My current babies

For the next few days these will be the only "babies" in my and my husband's life. In the top photo is our fat cat "Poutine", a well deserved name. In the bottom photo is our younger, fluffy cat "Panthro". When we first adopted her we swore she was a he, thus getting the Thundercats name. After discovering our mistake, we just kept the name.

Poutine was adopted from a local shelter. Her name was originally Ana and of the four rooms full of cat crates she stood out to me. Even as they were closing down for the night and the other cats were curling up to sleep, she knew she was going home so she stood right at the edge of her cage waiting for me. Panthro came from an old co-worker of my husband's. His female cat mated with a local stray. My husband couldn't pass up a free kitten to befriend our other cat so he brought her home.
I am not too sure how the furbabies will react to a new member in the household. Poutine, I think, will be more curious. Panthro might hide for a few days. I just hope they don't get too jealous!

The nursery, on a budget

One thing about my husband and I is that we aren't very 'modern' people. We're much more simple and vintage I guess. Our wedding was done on a $1000 budget. That included everything and I hope to soon make a post narrowing down how we did it. We managed to have a ceremony with a minister, reception, photographer, catering, gown, tux rental, and all the little details for under $1000!
Our nursery was no exception to the budget rule. I was working as a full-time preschool teacher at a local privately owned school. My husband quit his '9-5' job last Spring, when we found out I was pregnant, to sell items on Amazon and Etsy with his mother, and to finish his associates degree. When you factor in our bills, our nursery had to slowly be put together. It is by no means what I would have dreamt it to be as we live in an apartment (trust me, nothing like a New York apartment). So here is our nursery, and a run-down on the average cost of everything:

1. Our dresser is a hand-me-down from my younger sister. She used it for my nephew's clothes and actually got the dresser for about $20 from a yard sale. The crib is a Graco Lauren convertible crib from Target. They were having a special when we bought it that if you buy the crib, the matching changing table was free! The books all came from my baby shower. I had asked for a signed book instead of a card since you can buy both for about the same price and books last longer!
2. The basket of stuffed toys all came from my childhood or are stuffed animals my husband gave me while we were dating. The vibrating farm seat was a gift at my baby shower. Our nursing chair came from Old Time Pottery. The base was $69.99 and the cushion was $39.99. And my cat in the window, Panthro, was adopted for free :)
3. A close-up of my crib. The gorilla is my husband's childhood stuffed animal. The soothing sounds lamb was a gift and came from Barnes n Noble. The letters on the wall were hand painted by me.
4. Wall decor is from my baby shower, cheap-yes. Unfortunately there aren't many items that match my nursery theme [dinosaurs] in the stores. Both toys on the floor are from my younger sister, they were hers for my nephew.
5. Can't for the life of me rotate the picture! But this is my free changing table as mentioned above. All of the diapers, and wipes shown were gifts. I purchased the diaper pail at Target for 34.99 I believe. And how about the poster on the wall? My husband decided it would match "perfectly" in the nursery. As a good wife I just agreed and let him put up the poster. The poster was free as it was just laying around my mother-in-law's office.
6. My baby's first ultrasound.
7. On my birthday (September 30) I wanted to go painting at a local pottery shop so I could make a dinosaur for little Robby. This was about $15.
8. My diaper bag, which is currently holding all of my items for the hospital, was from my older sister at my baby shower. She was able to get the last one on QVC for $39.99 and it is originally a $70 bag! I love all of the hidden compartments at the bottom. This style bag is about 13in tall and I don't believe it's available anymore. You can find many similar ones though. It is the Jen Groover Butler Bag.

Waiting for baby

This picture is from the day I found out I was having a baby. I was only 5 weeks pregnant.

Today, January 9, I have only 5 days left. Now more than ever I am wondering who I will become this week. My life will go from 0 to 100 in a matter of hours some day this week. I fear so much and anticipate even more. I will bring a new life into this world and so I think about the mother I will be. Will I be like my mother and if so, in what ways? 

I pray for a very easy labor, but don't all women? I plan to have an all-natural birth, even though things usually never go according to planned for me. I know my husband will do everything to keep me strong through labor. But the moment my son enters the world a new euphoria will happen. I will no longer be just a 23 year old wife without a full college education and selling random crafts on Etsy. I will also be a mommy. A word I only know when speaking of my own mother. 

So here's to an interesting, life changing, and mind altering week!