thoughts from the hospital

second post of the day

I've noticed that my hair is changing back to the way it was...before getting pregnant. And this reminded me of the first time I brushed my hair after giving birth. It was late at night and I knew my hair looked horrible, I could feel it. It felt horrible. So I attempted to brush it, washing it was out of the question since I couldn't walk yet. I wasn't allowed, but physically....I couldn't walk. Anywho, I was getting ready for bed and I tried running a brush through my hair. Nevermind all the knots and tangles....my hair was falling out!! It was all over the bed and my pillow and my clothes. I was freaking out. One doctor comes in to talk to me and before he says anything, I look at him with this horrified look on my face and ask him with handfuls of hair if this was normal. He gave me a kind of worried look and told me that he is the pediatrician. I felt kind of stupid. I never got my answer by the way. Luckily I didn't go bald or even lose enough hair to notice, but it really scared me.

Back to the no walking deal. They gave me enough drugs that I couldn't feel anything from my belly button down. I couldn't even move my left leg at all. It kept plopping off the bed at times before it was time to push. By the time it was time to push, I couldn't feel either leg and they decided to turn off my epidural. Anyway... pushing didn't work, I was too tired. I'm sure I've mentioned this. As soon as they said I needed a C-section I burst out in tears. I didn't want one. I felt like I had failed. Other than feeling them halfway through, the surgery went ok. So I wasn't allowed to walk, at all, until the following morning. It was even difficult for me to situate myself in bed. I couldn't feel the lower half of my body and I was worried about my cut and staples. By bedtime I could feel my legs like normal, but was still in pain.

In the morning a nurse came in to help me walk to the bathroom. Standing up was the hardest thing. It took me a good 10 minutes just to get steady enough to stand there, with the nurse and hubby holding on to me. Then, another 5 minutes to walk to the bathroom and another 5 to get back to bed. After that first time, it got easier with each try. But wow, I can't believe how difficult it was that first time. I don't remember going through that with Lilly. I don't know if it was due to the C-section or what. Within a few hours I was walking by myself with just a little difficulty. I didn't walk normal until a week later when they took my staples out. I can't believe what a difference that made.

It was super nice to always have someone there with me too. Hubby got to stay with me the entire time, he slept in the other bed in the room cuz no one else was there. When we went home to get a shower and stuff, his sister and mom was there. When I had Lilly, I was mostly there by myself. My mom came and went and visitors came and went....but I was mostly alone. My oldest brother was a security guard at that time at that hospital and he kept bringing me fruit bowls.

Just some more thoughts from the hospital I wanted to share.

Pic of Lilly at 6 weeks

My step brother got married about a week and a half ago. He's 21, she's 16. Neither one of them are ready for marriage...and she's pregnant...yet another thing they aren't ready for. They might surprise me though and they could take this opportunity to grow up and stop acting like they are 5. She's due in July. I'm sure, though, that my step mom is going to be the one taking care of the baby...she is the one taking care of them. I hope she doesn't drop out of school and he gets a good job.

My (full) brother directly below me turned 18 on the 4th. I went and kidnaped him, took him to the mall and then out to eat at iHop. It was the first time he ever ate there and he loved it. I baked him a cake, too.

Did Zach's 6 week old pictures the same day. It was the main reason to go to the mall, but my bubby was excited to go cuz he doesn't get to very often. Zach did ok with his pics, I was trying to get this one pose of him. Its the same pose I got of Lilly when she was 6 weeks old. I went to the same place, they had the same pillow, the same blanket and almost the same background, but they didn't have the same teddy bear. There was a bit of an issue with the stuffed animal. They had a bear, but it was too big and really fuzzy. The only thing the right size was a bright orange Tigger. So this is a picture of Lilly at 6 weeks. Whenever I get Zach's pictures back I will post it on here. I think he looks A LOT like Lilly at that age. So anyway... it was the end of the day, he was grumpy and tired and not very cooperative. He kept making a crying face, but not really crying and he kept crossing his eyes. He also had some strong focus on his hand. He'd hold his hand in front of his face, look at it with big eyes, go cross-eyed and then stuff his fist in his mouth and suck on it for a while. I finally gave up on trying to get the same pose and told the photographer to just start taking pics. I didn't care if his hand was in his mouth...that's just who he is and what he does and I think its cute anyway. We did get some really cute pictures of him, didn't get the right pose, but they are adorable anyway.

 

Zach also did his very first artwork at the Y the other day. I brought him home and noticed some green paint under his nails. I knew they painted with the babies, so I knew they did something with him, but I saw it for the first time today. They made shamrocks out of the kids hand prints. I love it!! I have decided that for Father's Day, since its hubby's first one, I'm gonna have the kids do their hand and feet prints in some plaster or with finger paints on some paper. I can't wait. I know he will love them. Last year, Lilly gave him the cards and crafts she made at the Y that said "Dad" on them and he loved them. He teared up a little. They are still displayed on his night stand.

 

Some more fun memories from labor~

 

After they had moved me into the delivery room and gave me the great pain meds, one nurse thought that the baby was turned the wrong way.... breech. She went and got another nurse and she told her to do an ultrasound to be sure. He wasn't. He was the right way. What do they know? Another nurse thought his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck or something cuz every time I had a contraction his heartbeat would go down. This coming hours after they broke my water, so they pumped me full of fluid to allow him to float around a bit to loosen the cord. I don't know if that did anything or not. I can't remember right now. Not like it mattered much since they had me go in for a C-section after an hour of pushing.

 

We didn't come up with the name until after I was given the epidural and was laying there waiting for the doc to tell me it was time. Me and hubby threw out the last minute names while I was still in Triage. They were Zachary Alexander, Zachary David, Alexander David, David Alexander, and Michael Alexander. So after a few hours, right before they moved me to my delivery room, we decided as far as Zachary. Then while I was laying there half drugged up I was listening to hubby's sister tell him that she wished she knew what his name was going to be. I opened my eyes and said, "Dear.......I have decided the name." You should have seen his face. He wasn't very happy. I said, "I'm willing to give up my middle name." and with that he knew that he had won and that Zach's middle name was going to be David. No one knew we had agreed on any part of the name yet, but here was Lilly out in the waiting room telling everyone that we were naming the baby Zachary. How did she know when we only just knew about it? She is the one that picked out his first name. It went on the list as soon as she said it. Proud sister named her little brother.

I'm back!

Ok so I'm back! I will post pictures of the baby tomorrow. This post will just be me rambling on and on and on.
Zachary David was born January 21 at 4:15 weighing 7.8 pounds and was 21.25 inches long. He has a full head of black hair and is cute as can be. Lilly has been a great help with him and hubby is still adjusting.

On Thursday January 20 at about 11:30 pm, we headed to the hospital in horrible weather. We were slipping and sliding all over the road. I sent a text to my family not to come that night due to the weather, that they could come the next day or the day after that-hubby's mom and dad came though. I got to the ER, they sent me to triage. At 2:30 am they had me walking the halls cuz I was only 3 cm dilated. They told me that if the weather wasn't so bad, they would send me home. At about 5:00 am I finally went into the delivery room, but was only 4 cm dilated. At around 8:00 am hubby's sister showed up and I was trying to get Lilly there (she was at her father's grandma's house cuz school was closed that day and it was his weekend to have her). About 9:00 am they gave me the epidural. I still haven't gotten any sleep. I've been up since 5:00 am on the previous day.... over 24 hours. At 10:00 I was fighting with Lilly's father's mom to get Lilly to the hospital. At noon, after they broke my water, Lilly was finally on her way. My mom was snowed in, I had no family there except hubby. 2:00 pm my second ex-step dad (who has been more of a father to me than my own) showed up. At 3:00 it was time to start pushing and they turned off my epidural. Why? I have no idea why they turned it off. It was just me and hubby. For the first half an hour, hubby had his head between his knees. Then he finally stood up and was holding my head... yes...head...not hand. I pushed for an hour and the baby went nowhere. They said I was just too tired and I was. I was doing this without any sleep for 36 hours. At 4:00 pm they threw me in to get a C-section. Halfway through I started to feel them and it hurt soooooooooooo bad. I started screaming and they shot me up with more pain meds. I got a nice bruise where I felt them. At 4:15 Zach came out and hubby was trying to show me where he was, but I fell asleep. I didn't get to hold him cuz they had to close me up, so I just went to sleep.
I went to the recovery room and hubby brought Lilly in there and a nurse brought Zach. Lilly got to hold him before I did. (back up just a bit.... Everytime they would check to see how far I was dilated, I would shiver for a few minutes after they was done. Don't know why. I just did) I was laying in the bed shivering uncontrollably. I tried to stop cuz I didn't want to scare Lilly, but I couldn't. She held Zach, I got a pic, then Zach had to go get his tests done and Lilly's father was there to pick her up. She cried. She didn't want to leave. They moved me into the next room where I would be for the rest of my stay and the visitors poured in. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I didn't. We scheduled his pictures and his circumcision. Finally at 11:00 pm, I went to sleep with hubby in the next bed.
The rest of the hospital stay went smoothly.
My maternity leave was spent visiting, making doctor appointments, cleaning, exercising, and sleeping. At first Zach had his days and nights mixed up, but we got that all straightened out now. Hubby's been a great help and so has Lilly. Hubby just can't handle it late at night when its our bedtime and all the baby wants to do is cry. There for a while we thought he had cholic, but he's just fighting sleep. Hubby can do it for about 5 minutes, but then I have to take over.
Zach's sleeping habits have improved a bit, but they still aren't great.
He's a very happy and healthy baby who is loved very much.