BIG mama!
Before picture :)
Saturday, February 12th 2011
6:45 pm
Dawn Lark Saurman
has entered this world!
...only 10 days late...
I think she was putting
off her arrival as long
as she could, in fear
of having to come to our
family. In the end,
she couldn't put it off any longer.
We finally got to meet her!
Run of events of the day:
4:30 am water breaks.
Phone hospital,
they tell us to come in, after
a couple of hours.
Settle our kids with a friend to
watch them,
and head to the hospital.
Outside the hospital, just
hanging around.
We went walking to
try and
get some contractions
started.
The first thing we
noticed on the wall
after entering
into the hospital
wing:
(take time to read
the WHOLE page
under the fellow's
picture)
Upon arrival and checking
in, we were issued the
first very important
resource for the day:
We arrived to our first
destination of the day
around 7:45 am.
A room,
which consisted of
4 beds, seperated
by curtains.
We had 3 neighbors
to start the day off :)
After we settled in
the midwife
told me I was a
rare American
and must not like
McDonalds
as much as the
other American's.
I told the midwife
I was planning
to receive an
epidural as
part of my birthplan.
The midwife
then tried to persuade me
to use the birthing pool
instead.
I wasn't too keen
on that and had
it no where in my
plans, so I
kindly replied,
that I definitely wanted
to do the epidural.
To this the midwife
replied
I may not be
able to get it
because if I have one
that means one midwife
has to stay with me
and there are not enough
midwives on shift
to handle that.
I was crushed
when I realized I
may not be able to have
the epidural as I had
hoped for.
I had felt enough
pain from my other
deliveries to know
I was perfectly happy
not to feel it again :)
Next, checking
the heartbeat of the
baby with this:
(the purple instrument)
The midwife put her
ear on one end,
and my large belly on the
other end.
After listening
to the heart beat on
an actual monitor
for 30 minutes.
They unhooked me
and carried on
taking care of
other patients.
We were sitting
there, still waiting
for contractions to start.
We decided to go
walking outside, around
the hospital and hoped
for something to start.
Came back from our walk,
went back to our partitioned
room. Eventually
contractions did start.
They became
more intense
and regular.
I started
timing contractions with
my watch for a while.
We hadn't seen the midwife
for a while.
Things were moving
along.
I was doing quite
well with my breathing,
feeling pretty
confident in that.
Though feeling more
pain.
After a while, we
met the new midwife,
as they changed
for the new shift.
She was very kind
and began working on
getting my blood work
done in order to
make sure it was okay for
me to receive an epidural.
I asked how long it would take
the blood work results
and she said it would be
one hour. I slightly
or largely panicked
and thought I
definitel wouldn't have
the epidural in time.
In taking my blood
there was the biggest
needle I'd ever seen
inserted into a vein
I never knew
existed.
One try on one arm, OUCH!!
Didn't work.
Tried the other arm.
OUCH!
Didn't work.
One more try in that same
spot,
OUCH!!!!!!!!!
Still no luck.
They had the anesthetist
come over and she ended up getting
it in on her first try...
my 4th time to be tested on.
I've never actually
hurt badly from
having my blood taken
before. There's
a first for everything.
Good news, the midwife
gave me some antibiotics
that I didn't think they were going
to give me. Definitely
made Luke and I both
happy!
The midwife offered
me gas and air.
I said no thanks, I don't
think I want to
try that.
Then she said,
you'll never know
unless you try if
you like it.
I said, well,
okay, I guess it's
worth a try.
They moved us to our
own room for this.
On the way to
moving Luke noticed
a strange scene.
(I was too focused on
contractions to pay
attention to my
surroundings).
Apparantely there was
a schizophrenic
Polish
man who
snuck into
the labor and delivery
ward. He
walked in right
behind a worker.
He said there were
people after him.
I guess they were able
to take care of that situation.
We made it safely to our
next room.
I tried the gas and air
and I must say,
it was NOT for me!
I only inhaled once
and had more
then enough of it.
I could still feel
all the pain,
but felt like I had no
control.
I had been doing
really well with
my breathing until
that point and
felt too out of
it to even breathe
calmly to help
get through the contractions.
Thank heavens the
gas finally wore off.
Finally after what felt
like FOREVER
my blood results returned
and we were okayed for
the epidural.
I was 7 cm
when they gave it to
me.
What wonderful
relief!
Only 20 minutes
later I started asking,
hey what happened to the
epidural?!
I need more!
It's gone!!
We were back to square
one with the pain!
Fortunately Dawn was
born VERY quickly after the
What a beautiful little baby she is!
8 lbs 15.5 oz.
We are so happy to have
her into our family.
After having the baby
the hospital usually
releases you 6 hours
after.
Since she was born
in the evening, myself
and the baby just ended up staying
the night.
So, the baby
and I were taken to
another
4 bedded
room. We had our
partitioned area
with the curtain.
This is where myself
and 3 other new mums
and their babies stayed up
all night listening to the lovely
Luke was sent home,
as they do not
have the dads
stay the night here.
We were under
the impression we would be
leaving that morning,
but ended up
waiting 12 hours
for the pediatrician to
come to allow
us to be discharged.
We literally sat for hours,
thinking we were leaving
at any minute.
No one checked on us
during the whole day
except later that
All that matters, is we
made it home,
BIG sigh of relief
to be in your own home
again!!
The children adore
their new little sister!
Brooke adores
her almost too much :)
We have to keep a close
eye on her mothering
intuition to this new real
life baby toy she's discovered.
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