Wow! What a wonderful week. Hard to believe that as I type this post, Gavin is already a week old. And I've already seen so many changes in him over the week. I thought I'd take some time to summarize our week together as a family. It's going to be a long post, so I understand if you don't want to read it in it's entirety. I type it as much for myself as I do for our blog followers...
So, starting with his birth. It was just an incredible experience. For anyone out there debating having children because you are worried about pregnancy or labor and delivery, I'm here to say it is a GREAT experience...nothing bad to say about it.
For me, pregnancy was a breeze--I think I could always be pregnant. And labor was not that bad. My labor was about 15 hours. The pain started off tolerable. I used the breathing techniques we learned in our birthing class. Then there was a period of about 2 hours where it was very intense...enter epidural. I kept an open mind during my pregnancy with regard to an epidural/pain relief. My thought on this was that I really wouldn't know what the pain would be like until I experienced it. While it would be nice to do labor drug-free, I didn't want to be disappointed if I needed an epidural. Well, I hit the point of needing it at about 3:00pm, after about 12 hours of labor. I hit the wall--but it's funny how looking back on it, I don't even remember the pain. I do remember, during the pain, not really comprehending what was going on around me. My doctor came in to check me at some point during this painful time. He's never seen me like this before--I'm usually the cheerful, healthy patient he sees who doesn't have any concerns. I don't know what I looked like to him at this point. The epidural was a life saver for me--I attribute my positive labor and delivery experience with it. It's not for everyone, and I certainly give those women out there who labored without it super kuddos. Don't know how you do it. For me, it was the right decision. After the epidural, I dilated from 4cm to 10cm in just 3 hours.
Then came pushing. After all the horror stories you here of women pushing for hours on end, I'm here to say, it doesn't happen to everyone. I pushed for 13 minutes before Gavin was born. And for those who say if you have an epidural, you won't know when or how to push, I'm here to say you do. Maybe my epidural was better then others, but I certainly didn't have negative outcomes on my delivery. So, pushing was interesting. They have to do three 10 second rounds of pushing per contraction. By the third round, I was feeling a little light-headed, dizzy, kind of like I could pass out. So, I pushed for a handful of contractions, then Gavin's heart rate dropped. They didn't tell me it was dropping, but I knew once the oxygen mask came out and the nurse was pulling me in different directions. I stayed calm, knowing that my job was to push like I'd never pushed before and get our little one out. Brad, meanwhile, was turning white and looked very nervous. My doctor called in an OB/GYN resident to help with the vaccum and in just seconds, the resident appeared along with about three other nurses. So, the delivery room became quickly crowded. Everyone remained calm and just seconds later, Gavin made his glorious entry into the world.
After he was born, he was wisked away to the warming bed. I watched him turn from blue to pink and was over-joyed to hear him scream. Meanwhile, Brad remained white and looked on with concern. I had to remind him to take pictures. The nurses continued to work with him for what seemed like an eternity. About 50 minutes later, I was able to hold him for the first time. As it turns out, Gavin had two loose knots in his umblical cord, which caused the low heart rate and all the fuss when he was born. He weighed in at a petite 5 pounds 12 ounces...but he's 20 inches long. He's just long and lean--like all of the world's best runners. Who knows, maybe he'll be setting some records in the years to come?
So, that's the labor and delivery.
Our first night with Gavin was probably typical of most first time parents. We spent most of the night waking up to check that he was still breathing. The next morning, Gavin was circumcized. And that set him into about 8 hours of sleep, sleep, sleep. He had almost no desire to eat. We tried every 2-3 hours with little success. The nurses assured me this was normal. Then, night two, a night I'll never forget. We spent the entire night awake with a screaming baby who was madly hungry and very uncooperative. This night left me wondering if God knew anything about supply and demand. The demand was there, but the supply (breast milk) was not. On top of it, I had nurses telling me they may need to give little Gavin a supplement of formula--I felt like the worst mom in the world. We opted not to give formula, as I was determined to breastfeed. It was a very emotional night and it makes me get tears in my eyes just typing about it. But then, my gaurdian angel came to me Friday morning--in the form of a lactation consultant. We were all exhausted at this point. But in just one hour, Gavin was feeding like a champ. We had three great feedings before leaving the hospital Friday afternoon. And I left with all of the confidence in the world. Such a GREAT feeling. And we've been successfully breastfeeding since.
Gavin slept quietly for our ride home on Friday. We had a difficult first night at home. Feeding was fine, but the little guy just didn't want to be put down. He only wanted to sleep in someone's arms. Brad and I spent the night taking turns holding him. Even though we were exhausted, it was such precious time. Luckily, by Saturday night, my full milk supply had come in and he was sleeping like a champ, awaking about every three hours to feed. Grandma Shirley also bought us a sleep positioner, which helped, I think, to make him feel more snuggled in at night.
We've spent so much time this past week just soaking in the perfection of our little Gavin. He is so sweet. He loves to cuddle, usually sitting with his legs in a pretzel shape. Now I know exactly how he must have been positioned when I was pregnant--hands in front of his face and legs crossed and scrunched up. He is just a bundle of love...I love being his mom! And I can't even put into words what it is like to see my husband as a dad. For someone who had never changed a diaper in his life, he has, in this short week, become the best dad any child could hope to have. He is so incredibly patient with Gavin and is already teaching him so much...and he's learned to change diapers. He's going to post soon about his experiences with diaper changes--he's had a few really good ones! Brad is back to work tomorrow and I am SO going to miss having him around. Gavin will, too. Brad is the best cuddler with Gavin.
That pretty much sums up the week. I'm off to feed our little miracle...here are a few more pics...
My first car ride.
Relaxing in my swing.
My first bath at home.
Sunbathing with Dad. And catching flies.
Our little pretzel.
Gavin couldn't go to Ash Wednesday mass (too many germs). I went at noon and Brad went at 6:30 tonight. So, we both shared our ashes with Gavin.
Visiting Grandpa and waving to the camera.
We introduced a bottle this week (and started pumping) to get Gavin ready for my return to work in May. He did really well with it...and Dad enjoyed getting to feed him.
Relaxing in my "short, bald, and toothless" outfit from Aunt Nancy.
Playing in the Boppy gym. Those bugs are so silly!
Big blue eyes--time will tell if they stay blue.
My first walk...which I slept through. And mom fits into her favorite running jacket again! Yay!
