Saturday, November 20, 2010

Belated Birth Announcement & Coming out of the blurr

Many, many thanks for your loving comments and prayers in my last post.  Quite literally, I felt as if my hospital room and operating room were bathed in prayer.  From the beginning of my birth experience, starting with the midwife telling me to go to the hospital instead of my house to the C-Section, to having to give up nursing (hence, the blurr of this week), it's been clear that things have been outside of my control.  Infertility definitely taught me that concept. 

I felt very priveledged to pray for you and your intentions.  There were plenty of opportunities beyond the IV.  Even the epidural caused its share of pain and I wasn't even in labor to appreciate its benefits. :P  After the picture below, I'll share some of the brief highlights and lowlights of the birth and subsequent week.  So if this is not a good day to read about such details, now is a good place to stop.  Thanks for your prayers!

Kath.erine Eliza.beth, aka K.atie Be.th, was born safely via C-Section on 11/11/10 at 5:25pm.  6lbs, 10 oz.  Here's one of the pics from the hospital.


Most surprising moment: "You're going to have a baby in the next couple days." -the midwife.  Second most surprising moment: the hospital had incredible food.  Really!

Most uncomfortable chairs on the planet:  The recliner my husband slept in next to my bed.

Most ironic decision: the C-Section:  After spotting very, very dangerously low amniotic fluid in my ultrasound (indicated that the placenta had shut down), the midwife gave me two choices: C-Section or endure a full day of induction, followed by another day of labor, which could still end up in a C-Section.  I knew that my baby wasn't ready to come out yet; that day the midwife found out I had dilated to 1 cm.  No contractions.  My husband and I were afraid of the stress labor would cause to the baby. 

Most confirmation that it was the right decision: During the C-Section the doctor discovered that the baby had the cord wrapped around her neck 2 times.

Most random comment during surgery: (as I lay on the table, somehow coherent) "I've heard some animals eat their placenta."  The doctor answered, "I hear there's a recipe book for making food items out of placenta, including a recipe for placenta pizza."  A collective "GROSS!" rose up from the room of doctors and nursers.

Most motivation during painful moments: thinking about all of my IF friends and getting the baby out.

Most touching moment: hearing the baby's first cry.  Also, the hospital photographer took some cute photos of the baby and put them in a power point slide show along with background music.  The pictures caused me to start crying, because they made me realize fully the extent of this little miracle.  My husband started to cry too.  In disbelief, the photographer asked, "Oh no, is it because you don't like the photos?"  We assured her that we did and that our tears were happy ones, due to our long wait for a baby.  If that didn't convince her, the fact that we bought a photo package did. :)

Most numbing drugs: OK, this is really hilarious, but the anesthesiologist at this particular hospital is known for his VERY numbing epidurals.  He even gave me some medicine to relax after the baby was born, so much so that I slept through the last 45 minutes of surgery (probably a good thing).  The nurses call his epidurals by his last name.

Most awesome support: All the labor/delivery nurses and mother-baby nurses were incredible.  They enjoyed the candy that I brought for them. Also, my midwife who has been working with me the past 9 months participated in the surgery.  She even held my shoulders and hands while the doctor did the epidural.

Most missed people: my parents in California.  We sky.ped with them after the birth/recovery, but they were missed. 

Biggest surprise:  Recovering from the C-Section went very well.  I was able to walk around 2 days after the surgery.  By the time we went home I felt strong enough to walk around.  The pain pills helped tremendously.

Biggest letdown: I had hoped to nurse from the get-go.  But our baby did not gain enough weight and my milk came in slowly.  We had to supplement briefly with formula.  But even before that, she began to have issues with nursing.  I've had the lactation consultant at my house two days in a row! From what we can gather, my positioning etc. is fine but the baby just doesn't want to nurse.  She screams and fights me every single time.  This had been a long-time wish of mine to do and it was CRUSHINGLY painful to have to give it up after a week.  I'm still pumping but we have to supplement.  I'm not going to get into the arguments of formula vs. nursing (both are worthy options and a personal decision); once again, it's hard to have a deep plan or desire and have to give it up.  Do we see a trend here?

This past week has been very difficult, full of adjustments and loss of sleep.  Despite all of that, we are in awe of our precious little miracle.  The fact that we had to wait so long makes her arrival that much sweeter.  I hope and pray for this moment to come soon for all of you.

Here's me on the front porch sporting the hospital bed hair look.  Yes, that is a St.arbucks cup in my hands; can I help it that my pain pills prescription was filled at a drugstore near my favorite coffee joint?  Don't worry, it's a carmel apple cider.


And finally, this was my favorite picture from the hospital.  If you've made it this far without suffering eye strain from my copious text, kudos to you!! :)

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement!!  What an awesome community this blogosphere is!


32 comments:

Sew said...

Omgosh! All I had to hear was cord wrapped around neck and I was calling for my husband and telling him the story!

This makes me ever more excited!

She is absolutely beautiful!

I have very low expectations too, formula, breastfed, section, vaginal, episiotomy etc...etc...I don't care just give me a healthy baby.... ;) And you got it girl!

She is so beautiful! Job well done!!!

Sew said...

I'm so stalking the photos! I love them!!

Percolating Petals said...

Aww, thanks Sew!! I will post more pics on Fac.ebk. And you are right: in the end, it's all about the baby.

Kathryn said...

Yea!! So happy for you!!

I am sorry about nursing not working out, but I agree with Sew, you have a healthy baby, so Praise God!!! :)

Brit said...

Congratulations on your healthy and GORGEOUS girl! Enjoy this precious miracle :)

Leila@LittleCatholicBubble said...

Beautiful girl!! Congratulations!!!

... said...

Congratulations!!

Cathy said...

I could have written about 95% of that entire post.
Right down to the awesome food in the hospital.

;)

Congrats, she's gorgeous!!!

Olya said...

She is beautiful! What a blessing! COngratulations!

Karey said...

Oh my goodness! I've been wondering about you! She is breathtakingly gorgeous. I loved reading everything!

I'm so sorry about the breastfeeding. My sister just went through a similar situation and I know it can be difficult. Formula did right by us with C though :)

What a little miracle. I know you're so busy right now but I can't wait to see more pictures and read more about her!

mrsblondies said...

Congratulations! I'm glad she's doing well.

Chasing said...

She's gorgeous! Good for you for pumping!

E said...

God is good!! You are one strong mama! Please email me if need to chat about the breastfeeding issues. I, too, had to learn the hard way to give it up to God. You baby is beautiful, you should enter her in a contest!

WheelbarrowRider said...

Welcome to the world, sweet Kati.e Be.th! You are so gorgeous! What a great day to be born! I am so happy for you because you were born to awesome parents who love and appreciate you beyond words! I can already tell they have been showered in peace and grace! Congratulations!

Hebrews 11:1 said...

She is just gorgeous!! Congratulations.

Amazing Life said...

I bet this post was such a joy to write! Katie Beth is such a sweet and precious baby girl!

I agree with the others, she is gorgeous and I love seeing the picture with her adoring parents ;)

Hope you are having a good day and know that you and your husband had the holy spirit guiding you in all the decisions related to her birth, praise GOD!

prayerfuljourney said...

Congrats! Praise God mom and baby are healthy!

Grace in my Heart said...

Awh! She is adorable and I just LOVE her name! So glad you are doing well! Enjoy every second!

Kaitlin @ More Like Mary said...

She is beautiful!!! So pretty for being just a few days old!

Sorry that nursing didn't go as you'd hoped. I'm sure that was/is hard.

Christina @ Faith for Fertility said...

She is GORGEOUS!!! I want a little girl! :)

You are right...in the end it is all about a healthy baby. Well done!

Joy said...

My daughter never regained her latch after being in the NICU, so I pumped for 7 months~ breastmilk is just as valuable through a bottle!!

Hugs!!

Unknown said...

Beautiful baby girl!

Amy @ This Cross I Embrace said...

Oh, Kristy, what a beautiful post - one I've been waiting for for you for OH so long!! I am just tickled PINK to see it here, along with pictures of your beautiful baby daughter :)

Thanks for sharing all of this!! And congratulations!

Thankful said...

So beautiful!!!! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, she is gorgeous!

Joy Complete said...

Congratulations - what a beautiful baby girl! I love the photos - definitely worth buying the package! So glad that everything went well and that you have been recovering well and I'm sorry to hear that nursing is not working out. Praying for you in your sleepless nights. Don't blink, because before you know it, she will be big enough to sleep through!

Kerri said...

Congrats, again!! So glad to see this post, I was wondering how things were going!! Can't wait to see you again sometime, hopefully before Christmas!! Take care! ~K

Lauren @ Magnify the Lord with Me said...

BEAUTIFUL STORY!!!! Love the categories and little snapshots!!! PRECIOUS picture from the hospital!!!!! Congratulations!! She's GORGEOUS!!!

Maureen said...

What a wonderful account of your journey! Thank you for sharing. My little girl has a little girl!!! I can hardly wait until Dec 17!

Beth said...

How beautiful!! Awesome post and congratulations!!

Percolating Petals said...

Thank you so much, everyone!! I appreciate the prayers and congrats. Yep, the whole nursing thing is still difficult to accept, but as our pediatrician said, babies need nutrition and love.

ourbakersdozen said...

Your daughter is incredibly beautiful! I don't want to start a debate of nursing VIA bottle. But I have had 13 children #12 was a c-section and she had so much trouble nursing. Thankfully I had so much experience that it carried me through and my body was already in the habit of producing milk. Just a suggestion here - keep pumping and see if there is anyway you can have someone show you how to pump in a close imitation of how a baby sucks - it can help stimulate the milk. Then I would still offer her the nipple once or twice a day and see if she surprises you by latching on. She might not... and hey - if you are really ready to make the complete switch just know that only YOU can know what is the best thing you can do for you and baby. I just thought I would like to share a little of my experience since you seemed to have your heart so set on nursing and I SO understand that!!! :-) Blessings to you and your beautiful beautiful baby!!!