A Whirl-wind Week

Today my baby is a week old. That's right, she was born last Wednesday 14/10/09 at 3:01am. We've called her Wren and are still thinking about that middle name.
She was a few days late, but managed to arrive before her scheduled induction of 8am 14/10/09. Why was I scheduled for an induction just 4 days after my due date? Good question...they usually will let you go longer if everything is well. Unfortunately for me, I had hypertension and low platelets when I visited the midwife on the 8th which spurred worries of pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. I went into hospital for observations and home twice before (3rd time's a charm) actually leaving with a baby.
My waters broke on Monday morning around 10am while coincidentally my midwife was here checking my blood pressure. This was all very well and good and exciting, but I wasn't in labour yet. I was told if things didn't get going - ie. if I didn't start contracting - I would have to go into hospital for antibiotics due to the risk of infection with ruptured membranes over 18 hours.
Well, I didn't manage to have any contractions all day Monday, just continued fluid leakage, so my husband drove me to hospital to stay the night and came home for his last good, long sleep in a while.
Tuesday morning, still no contractons so I had to have some prostoglandin gel to try and get things going. Still nothing. Artificial rupture of the fore-waters seemed to get things going a little better but still not true labour. As the day wore on, the contractions increased and I was coping rather well with the company of my husband and a TENS machine. My mother in law came a bit later in the day to support me as well. We went waking and did loads of stairs
An exam revealed I had dilated about 4-5cm in the early evening. The obsterician was consulted and ordered an oxytocin drip. This really got the contractions going and distraction wasn't cutting it. After this point I feel I decompensated rather quickly...used the gas, momentarily went in the water and then called for an epidural.
The epidural made all the difference in the world. I was calm, comfortable and coping. And able to get a much needed nap in. The fact was, during the 2 hours between starting the oxytocin and me calling for the epidural, I had not dilated any further despite the intense contractions. Four hours later, after a couple top-ups on the epidural, it was time to recheck progress and possibly schedule me for a ceaser if I'd not progressed to at least 8cm.
At 2am, I was fully dilated and effaced and it was time to start pushing. One hour, and a lot of pain later, we got our baby girl.
Wren is an absolute pro at being a baby. She eats well, she sleeps a lot, she makes funny faces, and she dirties a lot of nappies.
We didn't stay long at the hospital, opting instead to come out to the Helensville Birthing Center for a couple of nights support before venturing home on Friday afternoon. Since being home, we've had a few visitors but made no outings ourselves. Big sister came out for her usual weekend visit and began her journey of getting used to a new baby. Otherwise, we've been content getting to know each other and whiling awat the hours snuggling and knowing we are well from the check ups performed by the midwife which have proven how well our baby bird is getting along.

Personal Space? What's That?

So, yesterday I made a foray to the mall to collect party goodies for the upcoming 3 year old madness that will be happening this Sunday and to shop for the perfect present for said 3 year old. All was good, the shopping was fruitful and hubs agrees that I've chosen a suitably brightly coloured and exciting present befitting a 3 year old.
While my focus was on a 3 year old, everyone else's focus was on someone who has still about 30 days before making her debut.
The first shop I went into, an elderly lady said hello and began asking me questions such as "how much longer have you got to go?" and "do you know what you're having?" I just thought she was a lonely elderly lady. I was wrong. In each shop I visited, someone managed to comment on my belly. "When are you due?" or "How much longer?" were the most common questions and I think my answer of 4+ weeks to go surprised many. The other comments tended to be "Wow, you're big!" or "I bet you'll be happy when it's over." One lady shared with me how a week ago she'd delivered a little boy 7 weeks early and was just out doing some shopping to finish the nursery before they let him out of the hospital.
People have also begun to imagine it's appropriate to rub my stomach. I am not a Buddha and I will not bring you good luck. Up until very recently, the only people who had been brave enough to touch or rub my stomach are my husband, my husband's daughter, my MIL (although hers have been quite tentative little touches) and one of my friends before she went back to Canada and the belly was barely a bump. One of the ladies who questioned my due date yesterday, reached out and gave my stomach a bit of a stroke which shocked me - she was a complete stranger. And I was left feeling somewhat akward when a very nice lady who runs one of the venues where I teach first aid classes put one hand on either side of my bump and rubbed up and down while cooing something to the baby (at least she was not a stranger). I'm not quite sure of how to respond to these things...if I wasn't pregnant, there's no way you'd be so familiar and rub my stomach, so what's changed? Do pregnant women, once they reach a certain stage, lose their right to privacy and personal space?

Happy Birthday

Wishing a very happy birthday to my baby-daddy, husband, and best friend today.

Our baby's birthday is expected to be 10 Oct, 2009.

Want to find out what your due date is? Use this simple due date calculator.