Now we are three...
Dec. 5th, 2010 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aribTo follow up on my brief phone post, here's a slightly longer version of events.
Aliza's water broke at home on Wednesday night at around ten. Contrary to what you see in movies and TV, it's actually pretty rare for the water to break at the beginning of labor, and adds a small amount of risk and can speed up the timetable a bit.
We called the OB's office and the hospital, and stayed at home for a little bit. I made sure that the hospital bags were packed, and Aliza had something to eat and wrote some last-minute work e-mails.
We headed to the hospital at around 1AM, since Aliza needed IV antibiotics. She wasn't really having any contractions, so the doctor started pitocin at 5AM. Aliza's actual OB came on-shift at around 8, and we were really glad of it. Aliza really likes her, and her being there really helped the rest of the day's events go well. Aliza's contractions came on slowly during the day, and she was very slow to dilate. As the day progressed, and the dilation didn't, various and sundry gizmos were added to Aliza. (three or four IVs, a pulse-ox, fetal heart monitor, an external contraction monitor that was eventually swapped out for an internal monitor, and an epidural, along with occasional oxygen when baby was distressed)
(Since Thursday night was the second night of Hanukkah, and candles are a huge no-no in hospitals, we had the oddest menorah lighting ever. I'd spoken with my rabbi the week before, and followed his advice of using an incandescent-bulb flashlight. We also used that in lieu of Sabbath candles on Friday night, and I borrowed my parents electric menorah for Hanukkah candles.)
Finally, at around 10PM Thursday, after hours of contractions, Aliza started to dilate effectively. At around midnight Thursday night, when we expected Aliza to start pushing, the OB did one more pelvic exam, and said something that nobody likes hearing in a medical context:
"Well, that's weird."
Cue more gadgetry (an ultrasound to rule out a shift to a breach position), consultation with other OBs on the floor, and lots of back and forth, we learned that the baby was presenting brow first. Brow presentation means that she was forehead first as opposed to crown of the head first. This is generally considered a bad presentation, especially for a first pregnancy. This meant a c-section.
The c-section process went really quickly. The epidural was switched over to a stronger anesthetic, Aliza was prepped for surgery and I changed into some scrubs. The OB (who also was Aliza's surgeon), told us both what to expect, and warned me that I'd have to sit in a waiting area while they prepped Aliza for surgery, and before they'd let me in to be with her. She warned me that I'd have to sit in "the loneliest chair in the world" for about 20-30 minutes while they prepped her. She wasn't kidding.
I was able to enter the OR and sit on the side of the drapes where Aliza's head was located. The side of the drapes where Aliza's inside bits were now sitting on the outside was strictly out-of-bounds. I sat, held Aliza's hand while she shivered, and tried really hard not to cry (totally failed, by the way). The surgery went really well, and I had a brief glimpse of a little blue thing get handed to the pediatricians, who went to work. It took a few minutes before she started crying. They were probably the most terrifying moments of my life. I heard a lot of suctioning, and oxygen being pumped, while several people called out facts and figures. (Her first APGAR score was a 5, her second was an 8. As a teacher, Aliza totally understands the need for the occasional retest.)
tl:dr version: 27.5 hours of labor, followed by a c-section, and a little blue baby who took a little bit to get going.
After she was delivered and the doctors had gotten her breathing and somewhat stabilized, they handed her to me for a few minutes while the surgeon closed Aliza up. The baby looked like she lost a barfight in utero. Because of the way she presented in the birth canal, her forehead was very black and blue, and her eyes were swollen almost completely shut. Her face was bruised, and she had a scratch under her nose. They then took her to the NICU to monitor her breathing, and I stayed while the surgeon put Aliza's inside bits back in, and closed her up.
Conversation you never thought you'd hear #1:
Aliza: I feel nauseous
Anesthesiologist: That's probably because they're putting your uterus back in. It's normal.
Aliza was wheeled back to the labor/delivery room to recover, and I stayed with her for an hour or so until we knew she was stable. After that I went to the NICU and sat with the baby for half an hour, and called my parents.
Conversation you never thought you'd here #2:
Dad: So, who does she look like?
Me: Whichever family member got beaten up a lot.
To be fair, she had actually really improved over the hour and change that had elapsed since she was born. Her color was more normal, and the swelling had already started to go down.
After I spent some time with the baby, I went back to Aliza and filled her in. A few hours later (around 6AM, after Aliza was deemed recovered enough to move to the post-partum floor, she was wheeled to the NICU so that she could hold the baby for the first time as well.
We tried to rest, but Aliza wasn't tired, and I was only able to doze for about an hour. We started making the rounds of family and friend "It's a girl!" calls at that point.
The baby was released from the NICU to the nursery around 9AM, and was brought to us shortly afterwards.
I went out with my dad to run some errands, and we returned to the hospital at around 1, met my mom, and they came up with me to meet their new granddaughter.
Shabbat started shortly after my folks left. Friday night was quiet. We spent some time with our daughter, then sent her to the nursery for the night, so that we could get some rest. (I'd been advised by friends to take advantage of this, at least for one night. We sent her over for a smaller part of last night, too.)
In the morning, I went to synagogue so that I could name the baby. In Jewish tradition, a boy gets his name when he's circumcised; usually at eight days old, but exceptions are made for medical reasons if the baby is unhealthy. The ceremony for naming a girl can be done during any morning prayer service that has a Torah reading. This gives you more flexibility. You can name her right away, or wait a little while for family to show up from out of town. We decided that there was no time like the present.
I got an aliyah, and at the end of the reading, which usually contains the blessings that are said for the person who received the aliyah (me), they added two additional prayers- One for Aliza's quick recovery, and one for the baby, to give her her name.
Aliza and I decided to name her Rena Avigayil. We wanted biblical names that were:
-Easy to pronounce and spell in English
-Reflected values that we want her to have. Rena is one of the Hebrew words for "joy." Avigayil was King David's wife, she exhibited moral rectitude, and incredible courage. (She told her husband off several times, and made it stick.)
The fact that her initials are RAB was a complete coincidence that we only recently noticed. As Harry Potter fans, we're unduly pleased.
We'll be in the hospital until Tuesday, when we discharge home. Feel free to call.
Aliza's water broke at home on Wednesday night at around ten. Contrary to what you see in movies and TV, it's actually pretty rare for the water to break at the beginning of labor, and adds a small amount of risk and can speed up the timetable a bit.
We called the OB's office and the hospital, and stayed at home for a little bit. I made sure that the hospital bags were packed, and Aliza had something to eat and wrote some last-minute work e-mails.
We headed to the hospital at around 1AM, since Aliza needed IV antibiotics. She wasn't really having any contractions, so the doctor started pitocin at 5AM. Aliza's actual OB came on-shift at around 8, and we were really glad of it. Aliza really likes her, and her being there really helped the rest of the day's events go well. Aliza's contractions came on slowly during the day, and she was very slow to dilate. As the day progressed, and the dilation didn't, various and sundry gizmos were added to Aliza. (three or four IVs, a pulse-ox, fetal heart monitor, an external contraction monitor that was eventually swapped out for an internal monitor, and an epidural, along with occasional oxygen when baby was distressed)
(Since Thursday night was the second night of Hanukkah, and candles are a huge no-no in hospitals, we had the oddest menorah lighting ever. I'd spoken with my rabbi the week before, and followed his advice of using an incandescent-bulb flashlight. We also used that in lieu of Sabbath candles on Friday night, and I borrowed my parents electric menorah for Hanukkah candles.)
Finally, at around 10PM Thursday, after hours of contractions, Aliza started to dilate effectively. At around midnight Thursday night, when we expected Aliza to start pushing, the OB did one more pelvic exam, and said something that nobody likes hearing in a medical context:
"Well, that's weird."
Cue more gadgetry (an ultrasound to rule out a shift to a breach position), consultation with other OBs on the floor, and lots of back and forth, we learned that the baby was presenting brow first. Brow presentation means that she was forehead first as opposed to crown of the head first. This is generally considered a bad presentation, especially for a first pregnancy. This meant a c-section.
The c-section process went really quickly. The epidural was switched over to a stronger anesthetic, Aliza was prepped for surgery and I changed into some scrubs. The OB (who also was Aliza's surgeon), told us both what to expect, and warned me that I'd have to sit in a waiting area while they prepped Aliza for surgery, and before they'd let me in to be with her. She warned me that I'd have to sit in "the loneliest chair in the world" for about 20-30 minutes while they prepped her. She wasn't kidding.
I was able to enter the OR and sit on the side of the drapes where Aliza's head was located. The side of the drapes where Aliza's inside bits were now sitting on the outside was strictly out-of-bounds. I sat, held Aliza's hand while she shivered, and tried really hard not to cry (totally failed, by the way). The surgery went really well, and I had a brief glimpse of a little blue thing get handed to the pediatricians, who went to work. It took a few minutes before she started crying. They were probably the most terrifying moments of my life. I heard a lot of suctioning, and oxygen being pumped, while several people called out facts and figures. (Her first APGAR score was a 5, her second was an 8. As a teacher, Aliza totally understands the need for the occasional retest.)
tl:dr version: 27.5 hours of labor, followed by a c-section, and a little blue baby who took a little bit to get going.
After she was delivered and the doctors had gotten her breathing and somewhat stabilized, they handed her to me for a few minutes while the surgeon closed Aliza up. The baby looked like she lost a barfight in utero. Because of the way she presented in the birth canal, her forehead was very black and blue, and her eyes were swollen almost completely shut. Her face was bruised, and she had a scratch under her nose. They then took her to the NICU to monitor her breathing, and I stayed while the surgeon put Aliza's inside bits back in, and closed her up.
Conversation you never thought you'd hear #1:
Aliza: I feel nauseous
Anesthesiologist: That's probably because they're putting your uterus back in. It's normal.
Aliza was wheeled back to the labor/delivery room to recover, and I stayed with her for an hour or so until we knew she was stable. After that I went to the NICU and sat with the baby for half an hour, and called my parents.
Conversation you never thought you'd here #2:
Dad: So, who does she look like?
Me: Whichever family member got beaten up a lot.
To be fair, she had actually really improved over the hour and change that had elapsed since she was born. Her color was more normal, and the swelling had already started to go down.
After I spent some time with the baby, I went back to Aliza and filled her in. A few hours later (around 6AM, after Aliza was deemed recovered enough to move to the post-partum floor, she was wheeled to the NICU so that she could hold the baby for the first time as well.
We tried to rest, but Aliza wasn't tired, and I was only able to doze for about an hour. We started making the rounds of family and friend "It's a girl!" calls at that point.
The baby was released from the NICU to the nursery around 9AM, and was brought to us shortly afterwards.
I went out with my dad to run some errands, and we returned to the hospital at around 1, met my mom, and they came up with me to meet their new granddaughter.
Shabbat started shortly after my folks left. Friday night was quiet. We spent some time with our daughter, then sent her to the nursery for the night, so that we could get some rest. (I'd been advised by friends to take advantage of this, at least for one night. We sent her over for a smaller part of last night, too.)
In the morning, I went to synagogue so that I could name the baby. In Jewish tradition, a boy gets his name when he's circumcised; usually at eight days old, but exceptions are made for medical reasons if the baby is unhealthy. The ceremony for naming a girl can be done during any morning prayer service that has a Torah reading. This gives you more flexibility. You can name her right away, or wait a little while for family to show up from out of town. We decided that there was no time like the present.
I got an aliyah, and at the end of the reading, which usually contains the blessings that are said for the person who received the aliyah (me), they added two additional prayers- One for Aliza's quick recovery, and one for the baby, to give her her name.
Aliza and I decided to name her Rena Avigayil. We wanted biblical names that were:
-Easy to pronounce and spell in English
-Reflected values that we want her to have. Rena is one of the Hebrew words for "joy." Avigayil was King David's wife, she exhibited moral rectitude, and incredible courage. (She told her husband off several times, and made it stick.)
The fact that her initials are RAB was a complete coincidence that we only recently noticed. As Harry Potter fans, we're unduly pleased.
We'll be in the hospital until Tuesday, when we discharge home. Feel free to call.
