Winston the Impatient

Week 39

 

I worked almost a full week.  On Thursday, I worked until 3:00 and then left for my appt with my OB.  I had been having contractions all day but nothing consistent or serious.  My doc said maybe I was in labor, maybe not.  She was on call that day and said maybe she'd see me later.  I went home and took a nap.

 

At 7, John and I tried timing contractions but still nothing consistent.  I called my doula just to give her a heads up and a little before 8 I decided to take a shower and then go to bed since I thought it might be a long night.

 

Once I got in the shower, WHAM!  It was like a switch flipped.  I was most certainly in labor.  I called Catherine at 8:08 and told her I was definitely in labor and we were ready for her to come down.  She lives north of KC, so it would take her at least 30 min to get to the house. 

 

In all the classes, books, online, etc, they tell you not to go to the hospital until you've had contractions that are 1 min long, 5 min apart, for at least an hour.  My contractions were 2 min apart, but only 30-45 seconds and that didn't start until 8, so we weren't close to the 1 hour mark.

 

Catherine got to the house about 8:45, heard me caterwauling on the floor and decide we needed to leave for the hospital, NOW.  John and I were relieved to have someone else to direct us.  John called the after-hours number for my OB, loaded up the car and we left about 8:50pm.

 

At 9pm, my OB called back and we were still in the car.  She heard me in the background and said she was getting her clothes on and would meet us there.

 

At 9:10pm, we arrived at the hospital with Catherine.  They brought out a wheelchair and took me straight back to a delivery room.  It was chaos - clearly things were moving much faster than what they're used to.  My OB wasn't there yet, so the hospital OB was paged and he was standing in the hall outside of my room just waiting.

 

At 9:20pm, my OB showed up.  I was pretty oblivious the whole time.  I had my eyes glued shut and was just surviving each contraction.  No pain meds.  Just ice chips.

 

At 9:45pm, Winston was born.  35 min at the hospital.  After he was born, I signed the "Consent to Treat" form.  There was no time at our arrival.  Thankfully, everything worked out.  I had a torn blood vessel, which would have been scary if we hadn't made it to the hospital in time.  Thank god for Catherine.  I can't tell you how much John and I both appreciated her there.  I would recommend to all expecting parents to hire a doula they like.

 





Baby Boy Kevern's first sponge bath.  We didn't have a name picked out yet.

Remember that I had been measuring small for several months?  Well, that was all baloney.  He was 7lb, 15.4 ounces at birth.  I prefer to round up and call him an even 8lb.  I think that's the least I deserve.

Getting weighed.

After all that, it was nothing but magic mommy sparkles.

About 10 hours old

So stinking cute

Heading home from the hospital

We're back at home and getting used to life.  He's going 3-4 hours between feedings, which is pretty good.  I am adjusting to my post-baby body.  I feel good, all things considered, but I think I have highly underestimated how long the recovery time will be.  But that's OK.  I'm enjoying all of the mommy-Winston cuddle time on the couch.

I would like to introduce...

Winston Thomas Kevern

Born 11/8/12 at 9:45pm

7 lb 15.5 oz, 20 in long

 

Mama and baby are doing just fine, more pics and details to follow.

Kid Toys = Cat Toys

Week 39

 

Still no baby.  But hopefully soon.  Mama's tired of carrying around a bowling ball.  Other than being tired, sore, and crabby, there's not a whole lot going on.  So here's some random pictures.

 

A few weeks ago, my friends threw me a surprise baby shower, which was completely unnecessary.  But awesome.  I don't have any pictures from the party but here's a picture of a monkey riding a diaper motorbike.  The monkey has been a big hit with the cats.

 

We finally got the crib set up and the baby's room situated.  So far, all of the kid furniture have been a bighit with the cats.  Portland has climbed in the bouncy chair multiple times and even plays with the dangly toys.  Both cats have been playing in the crib.  It's like an oversized laundry basket to play in.  Recognize the monkey?  Nera was dragging it around by a leg.

If it's new, it must be a cat toy.

Here's a picture of the new rocker.  It fits well with the baby room.  I really like hanging out in the munchkin's room.

And last, Portland even had to try out the changing table.  I was at work when this picture was taken, but I was told that he climbed up and under the strap himself. 

I dare you to try to diaper this one.

So we're still playing the waiting game.  Hopefully the next time I post, I have pictures of the newest member of the K family!

Oversharing

Week 38

Oh man oh man, are we getting close now!  OP is still as active as ever.  We've started calling him Lumpy.  He has lots of names - OP, Lumpy, Offspring, the Spawn, everything except a real name.

One thing John and I have noticed is the tendency of men to over share private information related to their wives giving birth.  One former professor shared in intimate detail of how far dilated and effaced his wife was.  He even charted it and had a trendline showing her labor progression.  The poor woman didn't even know he was sharing this information with grad students.

Then there was John's former classmate and his wife who recently had their third child.  He had no problem sharing with John how far dilated and effaced his wife was in the weeks leading up to delivery.

Just last week, one of John's co-workers was recounting when his wife gave birth (some 20+ years ago) and how "... it always took her forever to get to 3 cm, but once we got to 3 cm, it was whoosh!"  And the whoosh was accompanied by hand motions.

I forbade, FORBADE John from sharing with anyone any information regarding my cervix.  I don't think this is unreasonable.  I'd prefer if everyone thought a stork dropped the little guy off and we just had to go to the hospital to pick him up.  There is no privacy or dignity in giving birth but I'd prefer to keep the public display of body parts, functions, etc, to the medical professionals who are actually helping deliver my son.

The only excuse I can think of, is that all of these men are engineers and engineers typically digest numerical information better than other types of information.  Maybe charting labor progression and talking about dilation is the only way they can cope with the strange (and gross) miracle of birth.  Either way guys, seriously, STOP OVERSHARING.  Your wives would no be happy to know you are talking about their cervix with co-workers, friends, and acquaintances.

In other Babyland news, my friend J & B, who were due on Nov 14, had their daughter this last weekend!  It was good motivation for John to finally break down the spare bed and get the crib set up in the baby's room.  We're ready, or at least as ready as we can be!