Lisa and Darren were at the hospital about 15 minutes after us. I fought through my contractions until around 2:30am and that was long enough! The first person that tried my epidural was a student, and she didn't get it right, so her supervisor took over and attempted to fix it and it worked...for a while. :/ Steven came, our "pizza guy" and snuck into the room with us. We ended up in the VIP room by default which was awesome, very spacious and room for our "party"! We sat up, joked, and watched some TV all night long and by 5-6 a few members dozed on and off but we were pretty much all up for the long haul and I was very attentive all night anxious and scared of what was to come. By about
8-9 am my epidural stopped working on the left side of my body and I was fighting through each contraction again, no fun. My doctor said no to fixing it as she wanted me to feel enough to push, thankfully Dr. Mortar the experienced anesthesiologist came to my rescue and against doctors orders numbed me up. The nurse was missing so he had Andre help this time. Last epidural took 45 minutes with the nurse and this one took ten with Andre's help. I would do almost anything for that man, my labor would have been very miserable without the epidural working. Darren & Steven stayed until a bit after Corrie came around 7am and then they left and waited in the waiting area while Corrie, Tiffany, Lisa, and Andre stayed with me. Unfortunately the morning nurse made us stick to the three in the room rule so Corrie stepped out. :(
At around 10:30 my doctor came in and said I could start pushing and see if we make progress or wait until 11. The nurse had told me earlier the less pushing the better it would be for me so I gave Clara another 30 minutes to progress on her own. I started to push at 11:20am with the nurse Angela for thirty minutes. My contractions were five minutes apart so after a bit of pushing she decided to move me along with pitocin about 20 minutes later. I breathed through the contractions and pushed slightly but not full force. I had a hard time pushing correctly at first, I was pushing through my face and shoulders and when I laid my head down I was better at it. Tiffany took notes (thanks Tiffy, I wouldn't have remembered all these details), she applied chap stick, fed me ice chips and reminded me I was strong the entire time. Lisa and Andre held my legs and coached me through each contraction reminding me how to push the right way motivating me non-stop. Tiffany took many pictures I'll eventually add here. She made a video of many of them that I'll watch and cherish forever.
I'm having a hard time uploading the video so for now follow these steps:
1. www.youtube.com
2. Search: Clara's Birth
3. Right now it's the 5th one down in black and white posted by Tiffany Feger
After 12 hours of labor and 1 hour and 40 minutes of pushing Clara Maria joined us. We instantly knew her daddy's Colombian genes beat out my blond hair and blue eyes. She may have my cheeks and eye lashes, but I think it will be a while until we notice any of mommy's physical traits as she's a daddy's girl already.
Steven, Darren, and Lisa were there the entire time. Steven and Darren let Corrie and Tiffany come in to replace them in the morning. They were in the waiting room until Clara came. Corrie left when we got in trouble for having too many people in the room and was on her way out of the hospital on her way to work when Andre sent the text Clara was here. She was sad to have missed out on seeing her but she came back that night to see her. Darren and Steven came in the room to peek at her and then left to get some much needed sleep I hope. Tiffany and Lisa left a little while after she was born and Dad and Alice came up to say hi for a few hours. They saw me at my worst that's for sure. Andre finally held her and then Grandpa Tiger. They didn't stay long as there was so much going on in recovery. Clara was very happy to have all these wonderful guests as were Andre and I. Thank you all for your support!
She stayed on my chest for about two hours after delivery which was amazing. I don't think I knew how to react at first, it didn't seem real that this beautiful, innocent, perfect baby was mine. It's a feeling I can never describe, a rush of emotion, an instant connection I'd never imagine. I just wanted her to be healthy and safe, I hated and still hate every moment she's out of my arms. I worry each time she is out of site, even if it's for moments. The hospital calls the skin to skin contact kangaroo care and say it helps regulate her body temperature as well as many other good aspects to being on my chest for such a long period of time after delivery. I had some complications and was hemorrhaging, my uterous wasn't contracting, my doctor couldn't find where the bleeding was coming from so things got scary for a while. Having little (yet big) precious Clara on my chest was a great distraction. My medication was no longer effective so I could feel a tad more than I would have liked. I don't recall how long it took for things to get under control but eventually between the doctor massaging my uterous and some medication to stop the bleeding things were under control. I must say I got quite nervous and was for a few days to follow, hoping that my body would take the steps needed to get back into good condition. Nurses checked my belly close for a while and everything seemed to work out just fine. However, my left leg stayed numb from the epidural and still is. I almost fell a few times in the hospital trying to walk to and from the bathroom. I had to lock my knee and drag my leg and I didn't trust picking up Clara on my own or moving about with her so Andre had to help me get her out to feed and cuddle, among get me 1,001 other things I could get up or reach.
Andre took such great care of me in the hospital. Helping me in ways I'm sure he never imagined he'd have to. He was by my side the entire time making sure I was okay. We both gazed at our new bundle of joy wondering how it was all possible. She is so precious, we were and are in awe. I loved having the clear bassinette in the hospital so I could lay on my side and stare at her all day and night. I didn't sleep a wink in the hospital, maybe a total of 4 hours from Thursday to Monday so you'll be able to tell in the pictures why my eyes are so puffy. Between the nurses coming in every 5 minutes to prick and prod at my baby girl to those pressing on my tummy to be sure I was recovering correctly there wasn't much time in between. Our room was by the reception desk too and I'm a very light sleeper so all the phone calls and conversations outside our door kept me up too. I heard every little breath Clara took and wanted to. She struggled with mucus in her lungs while we were in the hospital and would start to choke, I would panic and Andre stayed calm. He helped her and calmed me down. They had to prick her poor baby feet every hour then every three hours for the first 24 hours because she was a big baby they were checking her blood sugar to make sure it wasn't too low. I hated this!!!!! Her poor heals had holes already. She didn't like to be touched by anyone other than mommy and daddy. She would scream bloody murder when others would change her or check her and she was a very good girl for mommy and daddy. Everyone would comment on her temper, Grandpa Tiger finally agreed with the name Clara when he realized she could be fussy and stubborn. Now they leave the babies in the room with you the entire time which I loved except I couldn't sleep a wink. One very nice nurse was going to give her a bath in our room, Corrie warned me I didn't want to see that anyway because they can be rough with them. I teared up and let her know I just needed an hour of sleep and she took her and even kept her longer so I could get some sleep. That was the bulk of my rest at the hospital, a full two hours, but boy did I miss her while she was gone. I woke every 20 minutes or so thinking about who was holding her and if she was being taken care of. Never did I realize what true worrying feels like. Sunday night, our amazing night nurse could tell how sleepy I was and took her to show her off so we could rest a little more. She said she walked her around the hospital showing her to everyone because she was so beautiful. Daddy and I agreed. Monday morning came and we were both ready to get home. It took hours of course to get discharged. Both my doctor and her doctor came early in the morning to check us out and all was well but we had to wait for the paperwork which took until about 1pm. We couldn't wait to get home with her, the ride in the car was crazy, I sat in the back with her as I will for a while now when Andre is driving, even just to stare. I'd been talking to her in my belly for 10 months about being in the car seat in the back and now she was, it was hard to believe. We were thrilled to be home sweet home.
Here are some pictures from her first day in our world.
Our precious Clara
A picture of a picture on Tiffy's camera.
Your patient daddy finally gets to hold you!!!
Aunt Corrie came that night to bring mommy some ear plugs to try and sleep through the chatter in the hall while you were being given a bath.
Before...(a few days)
After:
Baby Clara being measured and weighed, 8lb 13 oz 21 inches - can't believe she was in my belly!
Your first meal, you made it so easy for a first time mommy, you latched right on.
Your proud daddy holding you!
Grandpa Tiger was the third person to get his hands on you.
This was the best day of our lives Clara Maria Feger, we are so happy to have you here with us finally. We will love you with all we have forever!!!!
Video of Clara's first cry
No comments:
Post a Comment