40 weeks

 

Well, my 40th week was an eventful one.  Before the end came, I'd delivered a baby!

Here he is: my 9lb, 9oz, 20inch long Chunky Monkey 

But let me start at the beginning. 

My 40th week began and ended with a visit with my midwife.  At my first visit I weighed 205lbs and by my second I was up to 206.  That brought my entire pregnancy weight gain up to 29lbs which is 21 less than what I gained with Bunny.  

My uterus measured 39cm both visits and I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced for both visits.  For my Thursday visit, it was the first time and left me very hopeful.  On my Monday visit, it meant no change, which was discouraging.  

For my first visit, my midwife said that Monkey was 7lbs, maybe close to 8lbs.  For my second visit she said he was definitely at least 8lbs.  I was hopeful that he was going to be smaller than Bunny.  In fact, most of the pregnancy I was really excited because I was sure that would be the case based on my weight gain and the predictions of my midwife.  

I had a lot of low pressure in my butt and tailbone, and sometimes in the front.  

I had more painful and frequent contractions most of the time--except over the weekend when I was stressing about the possibility of having to check my sugars again and get a weight check ultrasound.   The doctors called Rosie to pressure her about that on Friday before I delivered and I stressed about it to the point of depression until my visit with her on Monday.  I'll get into that more when I post my birth story, though. 

That was as far as my pregnancy progressed.  

On Monday evening, after I gave my worry to the Lord, I started--almost immediately--experiencing contractions 10 min apart.  They were slightly painful at first, and lasted throughout the night, increasing in pain level but not really in frequency or duration.  The frequency didn't increase until maybe 6 or 7am.  Maybe not until 8am because Rosie told us to come in around 9am on Tuesday morning and we left at 9:30. 

I lost my mucus plug throughout the night from Monday into Tuesday.  It started at 9:30pm and I was hopeful but realistic.  

By 9:30 when we left the house, my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, coming fast but still not lasting long.  They were painful enough that I had to breathe through them.  

We dropped Bunny off at a friend's house at 9:45am and were in the hospital room by 10am.  From about 10-11:30 or 12 I progressed 2-3cm to 4cm.  The time frame is lost on me after this point because all I remember is pain and ridiculously strong contractions that eventually gave me no break.  I started acting like I was going into transition a lot earlier than I thought I could be and at some point here my water broke as I was being monitored and as the contractions were bringing me to a point of delirium.  I was checked maybe 10 or 15 minutes after being found at 7cm and it was time to push.  I pushed through 4-6 contractions (8 minutes) and Monkey was out with a slippery slide.  

His cord was cut after a minute of letting it finish pulsating and then he was put on my chest skin to skin and a blanket was put over him.  As soon as I got my bearings I immediately tried to nurse him but he just wasn't interested for at least a half hour.  I'd try and he'd just flop around my nipple so I'd let it go and just talk to him and look at him.  All the while, I was getting stitched up and my belly was being pressed hard to tighten my uterus and push out any blood clots.  Then, he nursed--actually he was nursing when they pushed out the blood clots--and Rosie said she wanted a good 10 minutes of nursing from him or she'd have to put me on Pitocin to make my uterus contract.  She never did have to do that.  Once he caught on, we were good. 

The second time he nursed I did have to sort of teach him again and Rosie came over and helped me as well.  Then, it was smooth sailing as all he wanted to do from that point on was nurse and nurse and nurse.  Almost immediately, sucking was his favorite way to self soothe.  

Monkey barely opened his eyes while in the hospital.  He opened one eye when he was born and then once or twice when he was nursing just for a moment.  There was just so much fat and skin around his eyes that it must have taken deep effort. 

He also liked to be nursed so much that I couldn't get him to go to sleep while we were in the hospital so I sent him to the nursery so the nurses could take care of him and I could sleep.  I didn't sleep well anyway, thinking of a new baby in the other room, but I needed a half decent shot at sleep since we were going to be on our own the second night of his life. 

As mentioned before, he's a really good nurser, though he has what Rosie calls a "lazy latch."  Bunny latched the same way, which explains why my nipples hurt like crazy for the first two months of her life.  

He pooped a couple of times and peed for the nurses in the morning.  

Apparently he fussed and wiggled most of the night for the nurses.  They brought him in to be fed around midnight and then he slept for them the rest of the night.  I wish I would have known because I would have kept him with me in that case.  

He's a calm baby--calmer and quieter than Bunny. 

His cry is squeaky and very high, but we didn't hear it often.  

He weighed 9lb 5.6 oz when the pediatrician checked on him before we were all discharged. 

His sugars stayed at a good level the whole time he was there.  They were on the low end of good, but he didn't need any special care. 

We didn't circumcise him in the hospital.  We're going to wait to do that in the OB/GYN office.  He has an appointment for the 16th of this month.  

His sister absolutely adores him and we're looking forward to starting our lives as a family of four.  

Welcome, little man! You are so, very loved!!!