Bringing Home the Baby
Addison had slept so well in the hospital, to the extent where we had to wake her after several hours to feed her, and she still fell asleep again during the feeding as well. But once we were home, we had quite the opposite problem over night, she was awake and screaming her head off for hours at a time in the middle of the night. She seemed to want feeding constantly, and I was exhausted. We had already seen the lactation consultant on Tuesday, but her advice just wasnt working anymore.
So we went back Thursday, where they weighed Addison, then I fed her for 15 minutes on one side, then they weighed her again, but she had not gained anything. So I used their double pump for 15 minutes, and discovered that I had basically been starving the poor child for her first few days of life, as I only managed to get literally a few drips of milk out! So they suggested I rent the pump, and use it every 3 hours to get the milk flowing, and in the meantime feed her formula.
We have now had the pump a whole week, and while the supply has increased from that first attempt, I am still only getting just about enough to cover the bottom of the bottle on each side, not even a whole ounce in total, whereas she is taking 3 ounces of formula every 3 hours. I can't see it ever getting to the point where I can actually breast feed her again, but have decided to keep the pump for another week so at least she can get some goodness from me, better than nothing.
Other than that, she is faring well. In fact almost too well. We went to the pediatrician last week, and she weighed 8lb exactly, having lost 7oz off her birth weight, then we went back yesterday, at age 11 days, and she was 9lb 1.5oz! I think we had been over-feeding her though, as she had still been up all night, seemingly demanding food constantly, and still not settling at all, but maybe she was uncomfortable from over eating. We actually had a good night last night, she fed only every 3 hours, and slept inbetween times, but was sleeping in her car seat and we used a dummy for the first time, both on the advice of the doctor, who basically said do whatever works to get her to sleep and keep us sane. Apparently we should expect this crying in the night phase to last for about the next 6 weeks and get worse over that time, but not to worry about her getting into bad habits, as once she is over this, it should be easy to break her of them again.
She has had a couple of sponge baths, and screamed her head off throughout, but her cord fell off at 10 days, so next time she will get a proper bath, which will not be popular either. But she will get to love it in time I am sure. She also hates having her nappy changed, crying until her clothing is all back in place again, then stopping like she has a switch that has just turned to off.
Reggie does not like all the crying, usually moving away, and I am sure she is wondering when this little bundle will be going back again!
After the Main Event
Once the hell of giving birth was over, our friends Amy and Kevin brought us a pizza, and I swear that was the best pizza I have ever eaten! I had not been allowed to eat anything since Friday breakfast time, and it was now Saturday tea-time so I was starving. During the last few hours of delivery I had also been craving a nice big glass of coke with lots of ice, so I made sure that was on hand for straight after. I had at first been allowed to drink water, but then was restricted to only ice chips during the last few hours.
We were then moved to the next room, where we would spend the next 2 nights. Gordon stayed with me the whole time, and Mum went home overnight to be with Reggie. The hospital layed on a special celebratory dinner for two on Sunday night with steak and champagne, brought in on a table complete with white table cloth, it looked just like room service in a hotel. We had several visitors during Sunday, and unfortunately the dinner was brought to our room at the ridiculously early time of 4.30pm, when people were still with us, but we were able to reheat it later, and it still tasted good.
I was breast feeding in the hospital, but it was pretty painful, so I asked several times to see the lactation consultant, but basically it seemed the weekend is not a good time to give birth as she is not on duty then, and she was off sick on Monday. So we came home Monday, then went back Tuesday to see her. Turns out Addison had not got the latch down right, so after some help I went home again with some aids to help encourage her to suck, and feeling more confident.
Welcome to the World
Well, we finally had our baby, 4 days late.
My waters broke on Friday 28th September. It was not like you see on TV, I was not left standing in a puddle. It was actually just a tiny little bit, then about an hour later, a tiny bit more. So I went to see my OB, and they sent me straight up to the maternity ward. Mum had come with me, and we had taken my bag just in case. I was apparently still only 1cm dilated, which I had been for about a week already. So they were planning on inducing me, otherwise I could have been there days before anything else happened.
So I got onto the maternity ward around 2pm Friday. I had just done the admittance forms and been taken to my room when Gordon arrived from work. Everyone over here gets a private room for delivery, which is pretty big, with a hospital bed, a sofa bed, a couple of other chairs, TV and DVD player, and en-suite bathroom. You stay there til the birth, then get moved to another private room, slightly smaller but also with sofa bed for the Dad, TV and DVD, and en-suite bath. I have since learned that giving birth in an NHS hospital in the UK is a vastly different experience, and I am glad I did not have to go through that. It was horrific but at least it was in relative luxury.
I was put on Pitocin to induce labour, and wired up to fluids as I was not allowed to eat anything. The thing I was most disappointed about was that I was not able to use the birthing tub, which had been the main part of my birth plan, as the waters had broken already. The contractions started fairly quickly after the drugs took effect, and by around 9pm Friday they were every 2-3 minutes apart and really painful. But when the doctor checked and told me I was still only 1cm dilated, I felt like crying! I knew there could possibly be many more hours to go and I couldn't take the pain any more, especially as I was tired as well, so I asked for the epidural, which I had around 10.30pm. But I hated it, it really freaked me out. I stupidly hadn't realised that my legs would be completely numb, and I hated the fact I couldn't feel anything at all. It took me almost 2 hours to calm down enough to fall asleep. Gordon and Mum slept on the sofa bed and gliding chair. We took up offers from various friends to walk and feed Reggie for us while we were there, so she had a parade of people through the house, but seems to have coped very well.
Saturday morning they said I was fully dilated but there was still some cervix over the baby's head, so they would leave me to labour down for a while, meaning allowing the baby to move down without pushing, which sounded fine to me as I was scared of that part! They said we could do that so long as the baby was not under any stress, and until I felt pressure and the need to push. The monitors showed the baby was fine, but several hours later I still could not feel anything, which did not surprise me since I was still on the epidural. So they turned that off for a while, then I started the pushing part around 2pm.
At first I thought it was a lot easier than I had expected, since I didn't feel the pain of contractions as I was concentrating and holding my breath to push. But after 2 hours of that, I was worn out, and telling the nurse to count faster (I had to hold my breath and push for a count of 10, 2 times in each contraction)! Finally I gave birth to a baby girl at 4.19pm Central time Saturday 29th September. She weighed 8lb 7oz, which was a bit of a shock since all predictions from the doctors had put her at between 7 and 8lb. She was 19.5" long.
We have called her Addison Janet, possibly to be known in the future as Addie or AJ, and she is just adorable.
See Gordon's blog for photos:
http://www.chicago-usa.blogspot.com/
Sick Dog
In amongst the final 6 weeks of pregnancy, and trying to get everything ready for the baby, we had a very sick dog to deal with.
I had taken Reggie for a walk in the park and let her off the lead, as usual, and she ran off to chase a rabbit, as usual. I tried to tell her she had lost the rabbit, as I saw him running in the opposite direction, but she was convinced she could still get him, when she suddenly let out a yelp and came hobbling out of the trees. Luckily we were really close to home as she was barely able to walk, and I eventually left her to go and get Gordon, who happened to be home right then. We managed to get her home, and just assumed she had pulled a muscle or something.
The next day we took her to the vet thinking we would be sent home with some anti-inlfammatory pills, but were told she had torn her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in her right knee, and would need surgery. This was now Friday afternoon, so we took her home for the weekend, and went back on the Monday morning. She had to stay overnight, and we got her back Tuesday. She had a shaved leg with about a 6" scar with stitches, and one of those cone collars to stop her pulling the stitches out. She looked pretty sorry for herself.
We had to move all the furniture out of the way, as she kept getting wedged on the corner of the coffee table, or would knock things over. She wasn't allowed to go up or down stairs, so Gordon had to carry her up and down so she could still come up at night to sleep in our room.
But the biggest problem began about 3 days after getting her home, when she started throwing up. As luck would have it, it was Friday night, so we had the whole weekend to get through before we could get to the vet. By the time Monday came around she was being sick about 6 times a day! Because of her leg, she couldn't get herself in and out of the car, and because of my bump, I couldn't help her, so had to wait for Gordon to get home to come with us to the vet. He thought it was an allergic reaction to the pain killers she was on following the operation, so we stopped them, but things did not improve, and over the next 7 days we went to the vet 5 more times. This was not made any easier by the fact that Gordon was then away on business for 4 days, so Hazel helped with getting her there, and then she went away as well, and I literally had to go knocking on neighbours doors to find someone home to help me get her in and out of the car! She was given injections of fluids to prevent dehydration, and we tried various anti-sickness pills and suppositories, but they were only able to lessen the vomitting, not stop it altogether.
This went on for 19 days in total, 19 days where we were counting the hours inbetween sickness, wondering if she would ever make it more than 48 hours. 19 days of carpet cleaning, of rushing her out into the back garden if there was time, and of being woken in the middle of the night to tend to her, as after the first week she was mostly OK during the day, but couldn't make it through the night. 19 days of cooking for her, as the vet suggested a bland diet of scrambled eggs, chicken and rice.
We then took her to a different vet and had x-rays to eliminate the possibility of something being in her stomach, but they were all clear. There was another injection of meds, and more pills to bring home. By now, however, I think Reggie was so fed up with the pills. Up til then she had eaten them either in with her regular meal, or in a piece of cheese, but now she was spitting them out at every turn. We even tried dropping it in her mouth and holding her mouth closed til she swallowed, only to find that she had faked it and spat it out afterwards anyway! She was getting very clever, but needless to say we were getting rather annoyed as we were so desperate for the sickness to stop. However, after 3 days of being unsuccesful in medicating her, it seemed not to matter as she had stopped being sick anyway. Finally! The only problem we had now was she was basically on a hunger strike as she seemed to be paranoid that every bit of food might be hiding another pill! The only way we could get her to eat was to give her something she had not had so far, so we bought a load of tinned food. After about a week of eating just that, we gradually started re-introducing her regular dry food, and she is now finally, seemingly, back to normal.
Everyone said she was preparing us for having the baby, but I think a better preparation would have been to let me get plenty of sleep now so that I would be well rested when the baby arrives!
To see photos of her looking pathetic in her collar, go to Gordon's blog
http://chicago-usa.blogspot.com/2007/08/poorly-sickly-dog.html
Baby Showers
Although baby showers are not something that are done in the UK, they seem to be expected here. It involves setting up a baby gift registry, very much like a wedding registry, which I suppose makes sense as that way people will know what you want and need, rather than just guessing and buying something that you may then have to return. It was harder to do the baby registry than the wedding one though, since there is basically so much crap out there, targetted to first-time parents who don't have a clue what is really needed, and you have to filter through it all to find the stuff that is really necessary. We finally managed it, after several hours of wandering around Babues R Us in a daze! Then a friend or relative throws the shower for you, as it is not the done thing to throw your own shower.
A traditional baby shower means just the female friends of the mother-to-be getting together for a little party one afternoon, usually with some games, such as guessing the jarred baby foods by doing a blind taste test, and opening the mountain of presents while everyone looks on. I have been to a few now as a guest, and have to say that they are not always the most fun, depending on how it is done. So I wanted to have something a bit different, involving Gordon and male friends as well, making it a bar-be-que and just a typical get-together. Also, if it was just girls, there wouldn't have been many people at all, as I really don't know all that many girls here yet. I also definitely wanted alcohol to be served, as that has not always been the case with others I have been to, even though I could not drink it myself, I felt it is not a proper party without alcohol!
Hazel offered to host, so we had a lovely afternoon at her place with a b-b-q and played bean-bag toss game, or whatever it is called. There is basically a board with a hole in, and you play in two teams, throwing small bean-bags to try to get them into the hole. We also played guess the sex of the baby, since we honestly do not know it, although some people seem to think we do, but are just not telling! Hazel downloaded some old-wives tale ways of predicting the sex, such as by the way I am carrying, what foods I am craving, etc. It was fairly even, but finally came out with slightly more girl indicators than boy. Only time will tell.
We then had a second baby shower, which was held in Gordon's office. They did an amazing job of decorating the conference room and ordered a lovely cake. There is a guy working there who does a sideline business of videoing weddings, etc, and over the previous weeks he had video'd messages from various colleagues of Gordon's. There were some very funny moments, and he did a great job of presenting it. We have a copy, which I am sure we will watch often over the coming years, as there was a message for the baby as well. I expect Gordon will put it on his blog, so you can see it there, since I have no idea how to do that!
For anyone who wants to, the registries can be found at
www.babiesrus.com and
http://galttoysgaltbaby.com/constructor/cart/registry.jsp but please do not feel obliged to.
Barefoot and Pregnant
Yes, it is true, the summer heat is well and truly here and barefoot is the only way to go!
Oh, and yes, I am also pregnant! Actually quite far along now, have been meaning to write this for ages and not got round to it.
I am around 28 weeks pregnant, with the due date being 25th September. We did not want to find out the sex, since we felt there are not many other surprises in life these days. I have finished with the morning sickness phase, which was actually an all day nausea for about 7 weeks, and am now just getting into the third trimester and am getting really big. And I have the hottest part of the year to get through still.
We have gone the American route and made a registry with Babies R Us and my friend Hazel is planning my baby shower for next month. Someone else has to throw the shower for you, it is not the done thing to throw your own shower. I have been to a few baby showers over the past year and they seem to involve food and drink, a few games and watching the mum-to-be opening all her presents. We will definitely be having alcohol at mine, as that is not always included, and I am trying to think of a way around making everyone watch me open the presents, as I have found that to be quite dull from a guest’s point of view. But it seems that some people might be offended if I don’t open them that day, and some others will want to see the gifts, so we are trying to think of things that everyone else can be doing at the same time so they don’t just have to sit and watch.
My Mum is planning to come over for the birth and stay for around 6 weeks, which will be great. She wants to get here about a week before, just in case I am early. I am really hoping I am not late, as I don’t want the baby to have a chance to grow too big! So far I think my weight gain has been about the amount they recommend, but I feel like I am getting bigger every day now, so don’t know what I am going to end up like.
As far as other things go, I joined the ladies golf league that plays on the 9 hole course across the street from us every week. And I have signed up to do an aqua aerobics class at the outdoor pool at the end of our street 2 days a week for the next 3 weeks.
I will try to keep this blog updated a bit more often in future!
I'm Back
Well, here I am again, after taking a bit of a break. No particular reason for it, I just couldn’t be bothered to write for a while. So I don’t know how long I will keep it going now, but we will see.
So…. the news so far:
I am not going to bore everyone with details of everything that has happened since my last entry. We had a hot summer, a visit from my Mum and Aunt, went to see a few outdoor concerts, a great trip back to England, among other things that I can’t think of right now.
Today we have the first major snow of the season. We did have a small sprinkling of it in mid October, but it was gone again by the end of the day. Today, we have at least 10 inches, that has fallen between midnight last night and now. And it was still falling last time I looked out the window. I shovelled a path from the back door to the driveway this morning, and it was a much better work-out than you get at the gym! It is supposed to stop snowing soon, and then we will not get any more for at least a few days, but it will be cold enough that all that we have will hang around for a while. So I foresee a lot of wet feet from dog walking in my near future! I wore my ski trousers earlier to go out, but my boots leak, so my socks were so wet when I got back that I could wring hem out!
We are going away this weekend, but the roads should be cleared by tomorrow morning, so shouldn’t be a problem. Will write more on that next week.
And Then We Were One
Well, it all went smoothly. The only thing that went wrong was the weather – no snow! But at least it was very sunny and dry.
Billy arrived safely on the Sunday beforehand, and spent a couple of days running errands with me – walking the dog, picking up the rings, etc.
On the Wednesday I went to Chicago to meet my Mum, sister and brother-in-law. We were booked into a hotel there for 2 nights, leaving Gordon and Billy at home to dog-sit. Ian had never been to Chicago, so wanted to see the sights. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible on Thursday, pouring with rain, and visibility was so poor for a while you could hardly see the end of the street. We went on a guided trolley bus tour, then did some shopping, anything to keep under cover. For that evening, they had brought over some hen night supplies, which was a complete surprise to me. So we all had sashes, tiaras, wands, and I had a badge. And everything flashed. Ian even joined in by wearing a pink shirt and a sash, but drew the line at the tiara and wand! We went to a couple of bars then to Hard Rock Café for a meal and some cocktails. Friday dawned very bright and sunny, so we went to the bar at the top of the Hancock Tower so Ian could at least get one view of how the city should look. Mum and Madeleine had been here last summer so had seen it before. Then we got the train home as there were a few last minute things to do before the big Day!
Claire and Simon arrived Friday afternoon with their daughter Scarlet. We were only able to see them briefly on Friday as by the time they arrived at their hotel nearby, it was already evening. But we made arrangements for Saturday as Claire was the official photographer. We had to decorate the venue Friday night. We were using candles only for light in the ceremony room, no electric lighting, so had around a hundred candles to lay out. We placed them on mirrors on tables around the room. We were not able to decorate the reception room as it was being used Saturday morning by someone else, so left instructions for the staff of what to put where. Then we all went for a meal and tried to get an early night.
We had an early start Saturday, with my hairdresser’s appointment at 9am, followed by make-up at 10.30. Since all that was being done in the local shopping mall, everyone decided they wanted to come with me so they could shop. So I took Mum, Madeleine, Ian and Billy with me. Gordon stayed home waiting for his clothes from Scotland, which still hadn’t arrived. And they actually didn’t turn up until about 3 days after the wedding. Luckily Billy had brought 2 shirts with him, and they are around the same size, so he was able to borrow one of those. But of course he didn’t have the waistcoat and tartan sash that was also on order.
After lunch, we packed Gordon and Billy off to Billy’s hotel round the corner, so I could get into my dress without being seen. Claire came over and took a few photos of us getting ready, then we went to meet the guys at Independence Grove Forest Preserve for some outdoor photos. We had considered having the ceremony at this place, as it is beautiful, and the only reason we decided against it was that we had no idea what to expect from the weather seeing as this was our first winter here. An outdoor wedding in snow sounds magical, but it could have been a disaster. And as it happened, the 18th February turned out to be the coldest day here for years, at a high of 5f, which is -15c, and that is without the wind chill factor! Needless to say we were not very popular for making people go outside for photos.
We just had the family in the ones at Independence Grove, and then we went on to the Country Squire, where the wedding was to take place. We were early so could oversee the setting up of the reception room, and had time for more photos outside, and this time we made all the other guests take part as well. The ones with the gazebo were taken there. We had intended to get everyone outside after the ceremony as well for some pictures in the dark, but changed our minds as we didn’t want everyone to leave! As it was, Gordon took a glass of Southern Comfort on the rocks outside with him and 20 minutes later it was literally frozen solid!
The ceremony was recorded, so you can watch that by clicking here. There are three versions of the video, two different sizes depending on your internet connection, and a bit of a funny one too. Lastly a friend of ours put together a compilation of some pictures and songs from the wedding, which you can also watch on that site. Gordon has a lot more pictures on his site, including some of the rings.
We then had mulled wine in the bar before the meal. Mulled wine is not known here, so luckily Mum had managed to get some sachets from Waitrose to bring over, and we just supplied the red wine and instructions to the bar staff. They did a good job and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The meal was great, although I did not eat much, there was too much going on. Gordon made a lovely speech. I was thinking about doing one as well, but decided I was not drunk enough or brave enough in the end!
We had a quiet lazy day on Sunday, with the family and Billy here for much eating, drinking and playing games. Claire and Simon were already on their way home by then. Madeleine and Ian flew on to Miami for the second part of their holiday Monday morning, and Mum flew home Monday evening. Billy was not leaving til Tuesday evening, so we took him into Chicago for the day Tuesday as it was the only chance we had to show him the city. And it was a beautiful sunny day so he did get to see it properly.
And then it was all over. It does not feel any different really. Once all the guests had left and Gordon was back to work, it felt like nothing had changed. Except we still had our honeymoon to come –more of that later.
Wedding Countdown
Only 9 days to go!
We are nearly there. We should be able to pick up the rings next Monday, my dress should be finished by the wonderful Hazel any day now, and Gordon’s new shirt and tartan plaid should be arriving from Scotland over the next few days. Talk about leaving it all to the last minute!
Our first UK visitor arrives this Sunday. Billy is an old school friend of Gordon's, so he has instructions to bring his kilt to wear on the day! In fact, he said he will wear it on the flight over as well, so we will wait to see. I must remember to take my camera to the airport to meet him!
My family arrive next Wednesday, and I am joining them in Chicago for 2 nights in a hotel before we all come back here on the Friday.
Our friends Claire and Simon fly in on that Friday, and Claire is our official photographer. They are staying at a local hotel, so we will meet up with them sometime on the Friday when I get back from the city.
So it is pretty much all planned out down to the last detail. The major thing that is not going our way so far is the weather. The whole point of having it at this time of year was for snowy photos, but we have been let down on that front. I know there is still time, but the forecast does not promise much over the next few days at least. I think we need to pray for a miracle.
