Like Duck to Water, thats how I have taken to life :). This blog is the saga of love and adventures of a small duck in a large water body called LIFE....

********************************************************************************************* Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers *********************************************************************************************
Lilypie Third Birthday tickers *********************************************************************************************

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The best laid plans :-p


Two things before I start off on the birth story this time. One, thanks to all those who left their wishes on Sunny's birth. Things have been so hectic around here that its been difficult to even leave a comment and I'm sorry for that. But right now, we are adjusting to a whole new routine and you know that takes time :). Secondly, as I said this is the birth story, so those who don't want to read the "gory" details, please leave now, or you know you'll regret it later ;-) :-p. Also, all of the definitions in Snugli's birth story hold good for this post as well. So please feel free to refer to that anytime :-p.

They say, the second time things will be much faster. They say that the delivery usually happens a lot earlier than the first time. They say the contractions become frequent, regular and painful sooner. They say you won't have time to get to the hospital, so you better leave early and so on and so forth. But well, "they" were all wrong in my case. 39 weeks and I wasn't even having proper contractions - they were still in the Braxton-Hicks mode. They were in no way painful (and believe me, I'm glad about that :-p), but things weren't progressing as I expected them to. I had felt heavy throughout this pregnancy so was expecting the baby to appear sooner and nothing was happening. I was already out of patience..

On May 20th, I had an appointment with my gynec, in which I was told that she was worried about my weight and she was thinking that the baby might be on the heavy side. I was told to get an ultrasound weight measurement and warned of the possibility that the baby may be heavier than 10 pounds. If so, then we'd have to seriously consider a C-section. I wasn't really worried about the so-called surgery (though I did run a scenario in my mind where I'd be wheeled to the operation theatre and holding Sri's hand, would say to him "Agar mujhe kuch hogaya toh khudka aur humaare bachchon ka khayaal rakhna" :-D) but C-section has several consequences - breastfeeding is tougher, recovery takes time and all that, so was a bit worried about that. But obviously we would follow the gynec's advice, 'cause thats what ensured the safety of the little one.

Well, the Ultrasound was scheduled on Wednesday, May 25th and the day came. We couldn't really make out anything in the pics as such as the baby was grown, but at the end of it, we were told that the baby was measuring 9 pounds and 7 ounces. There was a 10% margin of error and we were hoping that it'd be on the lower side ;-). My gynec suggested that since there'd be a weekly growth of half a pound for the baby, there was simply no point in waiting (as the 10 pound threshold would be crossed) and the best thing would be induction. The induction had some risks of suddenly becoming a C-section, but since we were looking at the same thing if we waited, it wasn't really a risk as such :-\. So it was decided that I'd get admitted to the hospital the next night and they'd start the induction process. The initial procedure would take the night and in the morning, the process would speeden up and the baby was expected to be born at around May 27th afternoon.

The next day, May 26th, everything went according to plan, meaning nothing happened for me to rush to the hospital ;-) :-D, so we went and got admitted in the hospital at around 8 PM in the night. I had told Snugli several times about how I had to go to the hospital and stay for a while there, but wasn't sure how she'd take to both me and Sri being missing for hours together. So I asked him to go back home with her and keep her bedtime schedule as normal as possible (meaning wait till she falls asleep) and then come back to the hospital. I had also asked my parents to sleep in our room, so that they can keep an eye on her. So once everyone left, the nurse asked me a 100 questions about medical history (as usual) and placed the baby heartbeat and the contraction monitoring devices on my abdomen. She also set up an IV in my arm. Since my cervix hadn't dilated to even 1 cm, the first process would be cervical ripening.

Cervical ripening refers to the softening of the cervix into a dilated opening. The agent they used in my case is called Cytotec which is inserted vaginally to start the ripening. After 3 hours, I was checked again (this time the cervix was about 1.5 cm) and administered a second dose. I was hardly able to sleep since the baby was moving all the time and the nurses kept coming in to change the position of the baby heartbeat monitor :-p. At about 3:45 AM, the actual contractions started - they were not very painful, but just enough to wake me and keep me awake. At 6 AM in the morning, the next stage of induction started. The nurse added Pitocin to my IV to kick off the contractions in full mode. And mad, did they! In about half an hour, the contractions had speedened up and by 7 AM I was screaming at the top of my lungs for the epidural :-D. I can grin at it now, but the pain was crazy, it felt worse than the time I had Snugli, but seriously I don't even remember enough to compare.

The nurse checked my cervix and it had dilated to about 5 cm by then. Epidural, as I have said in the earlier birth story, takes its own sweet time :-p. Since epidural lowers the blood pressure of the mom, the mom is first given fluids through the IV and only then the epidural is administered. So yeah, I was screaming for another hour before I was given the damn thing. The good part is that my water broke somewhere within that hour, so that water-breaking part was avoided. All this time, Sri was holding my hand and trying to encourage me to breathe. Half the time, I was crying because of the pain and he'd ask me to stop crying since it'd make me lose my breathing pattern. I think, at one point I literally shouted at him that I couldn't help but cry and that he could shut it :-D. At the end of the hour, I called the nurseline and shouted for the anesthesiologist. Thankfully he was on his way and what seemed like many contractions later, I was sitting up and the epidural needle was finally piercing my back into my spinal chord. Man, I can still taste that relief. Later I told my mom that she was great for going through 2 deliveries without epidural and "nanna doDDa namaskaara" to all such women ("my big salutation" :-D). I have to marvel at the pain-suffering capability of women and am glad to have born in this world which has epidural :-p.

Anyways, after epidural, it was bliss for 2 hours in which time my parents, Darsh and Snugli came to the hospital to see how I was. Dad, Snugli and Darsh soon left to wait at the waiting area which even had a play area for Snugli. Then the nurse came in, checked me and declared that I had dilated to 10 cm. She called my gynec for the labour and got everything else ready. Soon, my gynec was there and I was pushing with all my strength (which I had to gather again and again). After several of these pushes, nothing happened :-\. The baby's heartbeat was falling and I was given an oxygen mask to breathe through and ease that. 2 more pushes later, still the baby wasn't making an appearance, so the doc decided to perform an episiotomy and pull the baby out with the help of a vacuum. And so, Sunny came into this world on May 27th 2011 at 11:22 AM EST.

I was crying again, mainly because of relief and the baby was again placed on my belly and Sri was asked to cut the umbilical cord. Sunny was taken to the warmer and checked for the apgar. The baby weighed 10 pounds and 7 ounces! Baap re! I don't even know how they got her out! I was told that they would be checking her sugar levels since bigger babies usually have lower sugar levels. But she was fine :). Her pediatrician later said that she was surprised to have been brought into this world suddenly so there were some problems with her breathing patterns but everything else was fine. She even has a small bump on her head thanks to the vacuum, but the doc says that'll soon be alright.

This time, we had the camera with us, so were able to take photos once my family joined us :).




Here's Sri with the newborn..




Me with my 2 darlings :).




Here's Snugli with Sunny :).







And here are my parents:




And there's Darsh who was really afraid to hold the minutes-old baby, but soon was behaving like a pro :-D.




And here's the 3-day old Sunny :).




So what else has happened in the past 2 weeks?

1) I have realized that a few more things you never forget once you learn how to do them (other than swimming) are swaddling and diaper changing :-p. Or Maybe you should ask me when I am a grandmom :-D.

2) Unlike Snugli, Sunny didn't have a jaundice problem. She did have high bilirubin levels in the hospital and we were asked to go to the pediatrician for a follow-up, but the levels, thankfully, remained low. But I do have a major rant. Usually babies lose weight for a while after they are born until the mom's milk starts. And the particular pediatrician we saw raised concern about it and insisted that either I have to pump and supplement her or feed her extra formula. I remember the same guy doing the same thing for Snugli too (he must be the organization's formula marketing fellow :-p). Sometimes even though you know its not necessary, you have to follow what the doctor says. So I pumped, 2 times, when I faced the engorgement monster. Man, I was so mad at that stupid doctor. I must have cursed that man a 100 times :-D >:-). I stopped pumping after that and never gave Sunny any formula. Next day when we went for the follow-up checkup, she had actually gained weight (we saw another doc, had we seen the same doc, I'd have given him a piece of my mind grrrrrr).

3) Snugli absolutely loves little Sunny. She wants to hold her and carry her and what not. Sadly, during the first week, Snugli had a bout of cough and cold and we had to keep her away. But now that she's alright, whenever she sees Sunny, she shouts "Saani" and cleans her hands with a sanitizer (her dad's insistent rule :-D), then runs to her side to hug and kiss her :). She is curious about everything - the diaper changing where she insists on helping (God save us :-D), the swaddling and even the feeding (much to my discomfort :-D). On the flip side, her behaviour with us has turned to a worse phase. She doesn't listen to anything we say, doesn't obey a bit and usually listens only when we threaten her with spankings. She was pretty okay during the 2 days we were away at the hospital, though she asked for me whenever she got up at nights. But after that, she has been quite unbearable. Some of it might be due to her grandparents' pampering ;-) :-D, and some might be because she didn't go to school for the first week, but the rest of it, the pediatrician says, might be just to get attention (he says "if not good attention, then bad attention" :-D). Hopefully things should be back on track soon.

Thats about it for now, I still have loads to write - want to write about Sunny's thottilushaastra, and about the baaNanthana thats going on (have been wanting to write about that since Snugli was born, better late than never :-p) and many more things. But don't really know when I'll get the time to post, sigh :-\.

12 Comments:


SK retorted...

Sunny is such a cutie!! Hope you are recovering well!! :--)) Any tips for a first time mom like me? :--)


Deeps retorted...

SK, thanks :). Just be patient, thats the most important thing for a mom. And don't try to do everything (we moms think we are superwomen :-D), take help, thats what the people around are for :).


Lavs retorted...

First, congrats.Long time lurker.The entire family looks so lovely in the snaps.

One question, why didn't up opt for C-sec first itself considering big baby? "C-section has several consequences - breastfeeding is tougher, recovery takes time". This is all false and I wish to state it here. I underwent C-sec, recovery was one day! Breastfeeding issues came up but not due to C-sec but due to baby's illness.

I know its your life and your decision but just wanted to correct the incorrect information regarding C-secs.

Good luck for everything.


Phalguni A.V retorted...

Congratulations Deepthi! Your daughters are lovely!!Take good care of yourself.

-Cheers
Phalguni.


Deeps retorted...

Lavs, thanks. After reading your comment, I realized that I wasn't being very clear about what I wanted to convey about C-section in my post. First of all, want to make it clear that I was never offered the option of a C-section. Unlike India where I'm told that C-section becomes mandatory if the baby crosses 4 Kg, here in US, its never an option unless absolutely necessary. We were asked to go for the ultrasound to determine whether a c-section was necessary. The gynec determined it wasn't and induction would be the first step. I could have waited a week and gone for the c-section directly, but I was already tired of waiting and so decided to go in for the induction.

And as for recovery, a normal delivery means 2 days in hospital here in US, whereas a C-section means 4 days in hospital (since we have Snugli, the extra 2 days was a worry). Also for a normal delivery, I wasn't prescribed any antibiotics (again something thats not the case in India I'm told), but usually for a C-section anitibiotics/painkillers are necessary (most of the time they affect the baby through breast-milk). So the "recovery" was a worry factor.

As for breastfeeding, I have heard that milk comes in late when its a C-section. 2 of my friends (these are people I personally know) who had C-sections had lots of problems breastfeeding and they had to resort to formula. The problem, its usually said maybe the drowsiness of the mom/baby due to antibiotics in the initial few days. Plus it is said that its difficult for the mom to sit and breastfeed after a c-section due to the surgery, which is the position I'm used to with my first baby.

I had read about these and it was natural for me to worry. You were lucky that you didn't have any issues, but I knew people who had. I knew ultimately whatever is good for the baby is what I'd have gone with and I'd have tried my best to get everything going and would have kept at it even if breastfeeding would have been hard (believe me, this is coming from a person who has a flat nipple and suffered extensive sore nipples the entire one year I breastfed my first baby). I hope you can understand my apprehension, thats all.

Phalguni, thank you so much :).


Lavs retorted...

"I knew ultimately whatever is good for the baby is what I'd have gone with and I'd have tried my best to get everything going and would have kept at it even if breastfeeding would have been hard"----- I never doubted this, u know. But reading about C-sec stories in USA is worrying. Isn't USA supposed to be developed nation?

In India, antibiotics are not prescribed unless scar area develops some infection. I was given painkillers on operation day and i refused it from next day. did not feel any pain. after 24hrs, i asked catheter to be removed and walked a few steps. Hence I could sit and breastfeed. But milk coming in late due to surgery-hearing it for the first time.

I only attempted to clear any doubts about C-sec. Its not my intention to hurt your feelings or doubt your decision.


ಅಶ್ವಿನಿ/ Ashwini retorted...

Sunny is so cute... Loved the pics and the post about how she was brouhgt to this world. Welcome Sunny with warm hugs.


Deeps retorted...

Lavs, C-section is still a major abdominal surgery, though the death rates have gone down (there are still complications and infections associated). In India, sadly, it has become more of a fashion to schedule one - I've even seen women schedule so that the babies are born in a good star and stuff :-p. In the US, women are more into natural birth. Many women are so crazy about it that they even refuse medication of any sort - no induction, no painkillers, some even have babies at home with the help of midwives. So gynecs here, I believe are rated on how many c-sections per deliveries they have in their history (its called c-section rate) and many try to keep the rate down to encourage more women patients to come to them. Moreover c-sections are more expensive compared to normal deliveries (the medical bills are usually very high compared to India because of the bad health insurance rules here). So many many women don't prefer going in for a c-section here.

Ashwini, thanks :).


Archana retorted...

Sunny is sooooooooooooooo cute! And Snugli looks soooooooooooooo happy - Sunny is a lucky girl :-).


Sri retorted...

Congratulations Deepthi...The girls look very cute..God Bless!!! Best Wishes, Valli.


Chickoo retorted...

Deepthi,
Both your daughters are very beautiful!! Feel like gobbling up Sunny! She is soo cute!


Andy retorted...

they even refuse medicine of any sort - no induction
When you have nothing to do or unhappy? What should you do to spend the free time? How about the game? like to get WOW Gold in WOW, and how to have theCheap Gold for WOWwith less money, is there anyway to get the for us? We need to think about this.