Sheridan's First Thanksgiving (at 6 weeks old) No turkey for you this year, sweetie!!
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12 years ago
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Happy Turkey Day!
Sheridan's First Thanksgiving (at 6 weeks old) No turkey for you this year, sweetie!!
Monday, October 13, 2008
We're Home!
Our homecoming was a pretty smooth event. AJ and Jeremy installed the carseat Saturday- with plenty of time to spare before we left the hospital on Sunday.
Sheridan and Sasha met for the first time and it went pretty well. Acutally, Sasha didn't notice Sheridan was there until Sheri sarted crying over her diaper being wet (at which point Sasha started barking!) They met each other soon after and they've gotten along famously since then; no jealousy at all. Actually, I think Sasha has more patience with Sheridan than she does with us!
Sheri is here! (Our Birth Story)
Here are the details of our labor and delivery: I woke up Friday morning at 2:11 a.m. with what felt like bad cramping with a side of extra pain. Assuming I was finally experiencing the beginnings of 'false labor', I went to the bathroom and felt a bit better for about three minutes. Then the next wave hit. Trying to be considerate (and still believing that I wasn't in labor and would be going to work and my scheduled OB appointment in a few hours), I decided to try resting in the guest bedroom so I wouldn't wake AJ. That worked for about five minutes so I started walking the hallway trying to deal with the pain. Things started feeling worse and for a split second, I thought maybe I'm going into labor after all. So, I woke him up at a little after 3:00 and told him I thought I was having contractions.
He hopped up and started getting dressed and I was telling him not to rush; they weren't five minutes apart yet so it wasn't time to go to the hospital and you were only supposed to call the doctor if they were ten minutes apart. He reasoned that if I'd been having contractions since 2 and I'd had more than six (I'd had three since waking him up and starting this discussion) that I was gretty close to five minutes apart already. So, we started timing the contractions while he called the OB's after-hours number. Dr. White told us to head over to the hospital. I got dressed, AJ walked Sasha (I insisted she go out in case we weren't coming home in an hour or two- but I'm still not believing I'm in labor.) Then, I threw up and it hit me; they mentioned vomiting as a sign of early labor in class- maybe I'm really in labor after all! So we got in the car and sped to the hospital (he's a very cautious speeder though, so it was still okay) I was trying not to sit flat in the seat because the contractions seemed to hurt more that way. We're practicing breathing exercises in the car and AJ is trying to take my focus off the pain (which was only really bad on the stronger contractions.)
We were already preregistered at the hospital, so it didn't take us long to get signed in and moved into a room. There, I changed into a gown and they checked my cervix, finding me fully effaced and dilated to a 3. I told the nurse I wanted to walk to help my labor progress. We did laps around the floor for 30 minutes and then they cheked me again. I was at a 4. We decided on another round of walking. Checked again and I was dilated to a 4 1/2. So, we got the birth ball out and I sat on it while AJ massaged my back. I was so tired, I lay there snoozing on the ball in between the really bad contractions when the resident on call told me that I could get my epidural whenever I wanted. I told her that we learned in class that getting your epidural before a certain point )I believe 7 was the magic number) slowed down labor. After she assured us this wasn't true so long as your contractions were coming in regular intervals, I told them to send over the anesthesiologist. I got a light epidural (because I wanted my body to be able to still tell that I was in labor.) Soon after this, I flet better but the monitoring process began in full (because they won't let you walk around anymore and they give you a catherter after you get your epidural.)
My OB (Dr. Robert White) came in a later and told me I was dilated to a 5 but my contractions had stopped (I wasn't too happy about that because that's why I was trying to hold off in the first place!) Dr. White told me they were going to give me Pitocin to start my contractions again and he warned that we might have to do a C-section if I continued without progressing. I told him that I wasn't going to think about a C-section until we absolutely had to and I also asked if there was an option oher than Pitocin to get my contractions going again. His answer; 'Wait until tomorrow to have the baby'- not an option I was willing to consider! My nurse Teresa (who rocked) assuredly whispered to me that we were going to have this baby naturally; She became someone I'll love for life when she said that. They then inserted an internal monitor to follow my contractions and gave me the Pitocin followed by epinephrine to raise my blood pressure (which dipped a little because of the Pitocin.) Soon after, my membranes ruptured and Teresa and AJ (who was watching the screen to monitor my progress) told me that my contractions were back on track and we'd be having this baby soon. I was feeling pain again so they sent the anesthesiologist back in. I was still numb from the waist down, but I could feel my contractions so he gave me a different drug for the actual pain instead of upping my epi (which wold have been pointless.)
They checked me again and found I was dilated to a 10 but my station was at a 0 and I needed to be close to a 2. They sent for my OB and began to prep for the actual delivery. Delivery went quickly; I was able to feel a little bit of my contractions by then (because the last drug only lasted about 2 hours as the anesthesiologist told me it would) and I was ready for my little girl to be here. The nurse gave me a quick recap lesson on pushing and we got started.
After 38 minutes of pushing, Sheridan Elizabeth made her debut 10 days early on 10/10 at 3:58 p.m. weighing 5 lbs. 13 oz. She had a little meconium in her lungs when she was born so they immediately took her to the warmer to suction her instead of handing her to me like they typically do. AJ followed them over to watch the process and make sure everythng was okay; he didn't get to cut the cord (which he decided he wanted to do while we were going through delivery- that came as a shock) because they had to get her suctioned. She's got a headful of curly black hair and she's adorable; I'm in love!! AJ has handled the bodily fluids of the baby so well (which is shocking for him to be okay with); he told me he's okay with her spitting up on him, pooping and everything else. She peed on him during a diaper change yesterday and he was still fine. We're all doing well.
He hopped up and started getting dressed and I was telling him not to rush; they weren't five minutes apart yet so it wasn't time to go to the hospital and you were only supposed to call the doctor if they were ten minutes apart. He reasoned that if I'd been having contractions since 2 and I'd had more than six (I'd had three since waking him up and starting this discussion) that I was gretty close to five minutes apart already. So, we started timing the contractions while he called the OB's after-hours number. Dr. White told us to head over to the hospital. I got dressed, AJ walked Sasha (I insisted she go out in case we weren't coming home in an hour or two- but I'm still not believing I'm in labor.) Then, I threw up and it hit me; they mentioned vomiting as a sign of early labor in class- maybe I'm really in labor after all! So we got in the car and sped to the hospital (he's a very cautious speeder though, so it was still okay) I was trying not to sit flat in the seat because the contractions seemed to hurt more that way. We're practicing breathing exercises in the car and AJ is trying to take my focus off the pain (which was only really bad on the stronger contractions.)
We were already preregistered at the hospital, so it didn't take us long to get signed in and moved into a room. There, I changed into a gown and they checked my cervix, finding me fully effaced and dilated to a 3. I told the nurse I wanted to walk to help my labor progress. We did laps around the floor for 30 minutes and then they cheked me again. I was at a 4. We decided on another round of walking. Checked again and I was dilated to a 4 1/2. So, we got the birth ball out and I sat on it while AJ massaged my back. I was so tired, I lay there snoozing on the ball in between the really bad contractions when the resident on call told me that I could get my epidural whenever I wanted. I told her that we learned in class that getting your epidural before a certain point )I believe 7 was the magic number) slowed down labor. After she assured us this wasn't true so long as your contractions were coming in regular intervals, I told them to send over the anesthesiologist. I got a light epidural (because I wanted my body to be able to still tell that I was in labor.) Soon after this, I flet better but the monitoring process began in full (because they won't let you walk around anymore and they give you a catherter after you get your epidural.)
My OB (Dr. Robert White) came in a later and told me I was dilated to a 5 but my contractions had stopped (I wasn't too happy about that because that's why I was trying to hold off in the first place!) Dr. White told me they were going to give me Pitocin to start my contractions again and he warned that we might have to do a C-section if I continued without progressing. I told him that I wasn't going to think about a C-section until we absolutely had to and I also asked if there was an option oher than Pitocin to get my contractions going again. His answer; 'Wait until tomorrow to have the baby'- not an option I was willing to consider! My nurse Teresa (who rocked) assuredly whispered to me that we were going to have this baby naturally; She became someone I'll love for life when she said that. They then inserted an internal monitor to follow my contractions and gave me the Pitocin followed by epinephrine to raise my blood pressure (which dipped a little because of the Pitocin.) Soon after, my membranes ruptured and Teresa and AJ (who was watching the screen to monitor my progress) told me that my contractions were back on track and we'd be having this baby soon. I was feeling pain again so they sent the anesthesiologist back in. I was still numb from the waist down, but I could feel my contractions so he gave me a different drug for the actual pain instead of upping my epi (which wold have been pointless.)
They checked me again and found I was dilated to a 10 but my station was at a 0 and I needed to be close to a 2. They sent for my OB and began to prep for the actual delivery. Delivery went quickly; I was able to feel a little bit of my contractions by then (because the last drug only lasted about 2 hours as the anesthesiologist told me it would) and I was ready for my little girl to be here. The nurse gave me a quick recap lesson on pushing and we got started.
After 38 minutes of pushing, Sheridan Elizabeth made her debut 10 days early on 10/10 at 3:58 p.m. weighing 5 lbs. 13 oz. She had a little meconium in her lungs when she was born so they immediately took her to the warmer to suction her instead of handing her to me like they typically do. AJ followed them over to watch the process and make sure everythng was okay; he didn't get to cut the cord (which he decided he wanted to do while we were going through delivery- that came as a shock) because they had to get her suctioned. She's got a headful of curly black hair and she's adorable; I'm in love!! AJ has handled the bodily fluids of the baby so well (which is shocking for him to be okay with); he told me he's okay with her spitting up on him, pooping and everything else. She peed on him during a diaper change yesterday and he was still fine. We're all doing well.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
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