Skip to main content

2017, August: Oh Ophelia

Ophelia Rose arrived at 1.43pm on August 23 weighing 7lb 2oz! Her birth story could not be more different than Declan's. At exactly 39 weeks, my alarm woke me for work at 6.15am. I hit the snooze. When it went again at 6.24am, I hit the snooze, rolled over, and felt my water break. I hadn't felt a single contraction, so it was completely surreal to be telling Christian that I was in labor. I popped downstairs to tell my visiting parents that we were off to the hospital so they could get Declan up and get him to school, and we headed out. At the hospital, they confirmed I had indeed "grossly ruptured" and put me on a pitocin drip since I hadn't yet felt a contraction. I was undecided about an epidural this time, since part of me feared that the epidural was to blame for Declan's long delivery and the fluid in his lungs that sent him to the NICU. By 5cm, however, I was at an 8 on the pain scale and all doubts went out the window - the epidural man was called. After that took effect, we waited for me to start "feeling pressure" which didn't take long. The delivery cart arrived, the doctor was called, and I started getting extremely nervous. I started pushing and ... seven minutes and three contractions later ... she popped out! It was ridiculous! What was even more ridiculous is that they placed her on my chest and within minutes, I had her latched and breastfeeding! After the trauma (there really isn't any better word for it) of Declan's arrival and our major struggles with breastfeeding, it was a miracle.
Two days later I'm sat in the hospital room, eating a brownie while Ophelia sleeps, and waiting for Christian to arrive so we can be discharged. The first night was simply awful. She fed and cried nonstop from 10.45pm until 4.30am. I finally called a nurse in tears after the bazillionth feeding to have them take her to the nursery so I could pass out for a couple of hours. The next day and night were much better. Nurses gave me tips to help make sure she has enough at each feed so that she shouldn't want another one immediately. The lactation lady helped make sure we were getting the right latch. I took full advantage of the nursery overnight and got quite a bit of sleep. I know damn well there are many sleepless nights, zombie days, and emotional breakdowns to come in the weeks (months, years!) ahead of me, but goodness. I could not be more thankful for a quick delivery, NO NICU (yayyyyyy!), and the ability to breastfeed. Here's to home, Netflix, and a proper cup of tea. Welcome to our crazy family, Ophelia!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2016, September: 100 Words

Declan reached 100 words today. (Realistically, he probably reached this number much sooner, since there are undoubtedly words that he uses at daycare that I haven't heard yet.) It's been a fascinating journey to experience. At his 15-month doctor appointment he had maybe five words. Now, at 19 months, he has at least 100. His speech has exploded with new words arriving almost every day. He knows colors, shapes, animals, vehicles... and SpongeBob, embarrassingly. (The full list of his first 100 words is below.) 100 words is a lot, but a long way from being enough for effective communication. This progression, and Declan's frustration when he cannot make us understand what he wants, has me thinking a lot about language development and about how many words would be enough? I've followed the Nieder family blog / Facebook page for many years now. I discovered them long before I had a kid, long before we even thought that children might be in our future. I don't re...

Bye Bye, Baby

We said goodbye to the bottle tonight. Which means no more baby bottles in this house ever again! We’ve been getting rid of baby stuff for a while now. In March we donated/sold the stroller, baby car seat, high chair, and play pen, and I’ve been happily ditching a bag or two of baby clothes every few weeks. I haven’t felt sad or sentimental about any of it. I love getting rid of stuff (I am married to a hoarder , after all), and I do not miss the baby stage since I found it so damn hard. But something about the end of the bottle gave me pause. I had such trouble feeding both of them, from my breastfeeding woes with Declan to Ophelia’s failure to gain weight , that the bottle has been a huge focus in our lives for over four years. When Declan was our only child, I never understood all of the parents bemoaning how quickly time was passing. I just didn't feel it. Once Ophelia arrived, however, all of that changed. Time now flits away without a care and I feel like I'm missing...

A Successful Trip!

I turn 40 this week. Yellowstone National Park is one of my favorite places in the world, so I decided we should go spend the weekend in the park for my birthday. As we got closer, I discovered I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Both kids are exhausting at the moment, and Ophelia especially does not do well in the car. Or in the cold. Or in any situation where her indecipherable needs are not being met. When I saw that thunderstorms were forecast all weekend, I almost canceled. But we’d paid a deposit on the cabin so we decided to take a chance and see what happened.  Well. The weather worked out almost perfectly and the kids were amazing! They handled all the time in the car, they hiked, they even (mostly) behaved themselves in a fancy restaurant. Ah. Maze. Zing.  On day one, we headed up to West Yellowstone and had our usual giant pancake lunch before venturing into the park. Then we drove down to West Thumb geyser basin, where both children managed to a) n...