Lauren's birth story and other tidbits (basically a lot of writing if you care to read it)

Well, we just started week three of parenthood, and so far things are going very well. That's largely thanks to all the great help we've had. Thanks to Annie for tending to us during delivery week, and thanks to MommaLesa for taking care of us postpartum. They've both bent over backwards making meals, doing laundry, washing dishes and holding Baby L. As if pregnancy and childbirth alone didn't drive home how indebted we are to our mothers, then they come and do all of this! I just wish we knew how to sufficiently thank them.

So far, I'm loving being a mom. I fully expected a difficult transition emotionally and otherwise, but I guess when you go in with such low expectations, you're bound to be surprised. I feel lucky to be so.

Speaking of surprises, I'm surprised how well I've taken to this newborn phase too. Being the selfish person I am, I hadn't really been a huge fan of newborns before because they didn't fulfill my need for interaction. But with Lauren it's different. She's so freakin small and adorable--I past few days, and I'm not really sure I want that trend to continue. My dad's always joked acould hold her and stare at her and talk to her all day. In fact, I've noticed her getting bigger the bout pituitary gland removal for his grandchildren...but now I'm not sure he's entirely kidding. It really would be nice to be able to keep them small. But then again, it's not like they get any less adorable as they get bigger. I hope.

Of course, with a newborn who can only cry to communicate, I've had a few questions. As I've perused various sources for answers, this is how I've felt:

I'm not going to say any more about that.

Some of you may be wondering about my birth experience, and I haven't decided which version of the story to tell here on the blog: the long or the short. I should probably stick to the short since that will turn out to be long anyway.

I had my first real contraction the morning of Monday, February 9. Contractions continued to come intermittently throughout the day, but became more regular long about 4 pm. By 9:30 pm they had been regular enough for long enough that the doctor told me to get to the hospital by 11 pm. Of course, I was running late and didn't get there until about 11:30. Typical Lindy. I was dilated to a 3, so the hospital kept me. Contractions kept coming regularly, 2-5 minutes apart and 1.5-2.5 minutes long each for the rest of the night. I was having back labor, but was able to manage the pain without medication for the whole night.

Long about 5 am, the contractions kicked it up a notch in intensity and I was between 4 and 5 cm dilated. It was demoralizing to realize that six hours of long and painful, regular contractions only yielded a centimeter and a half of progress, especially since I had been up all night and was exhausted. I asked the nurse how long a typical labor might last, and she estimated 5 more hours. Well, I may have had that much more in me, but I knew if I kept going like I was, I would likely have been too thrashed to enjoy Baby L when she arrived. I decided instead of proving my strength to myself, I wanted this delivery to be as happy an experience as possible for all of us, and I requested an epidural. What a relief! Now I know why my friend Rachel calls it the Holy Epidural.

My labor kept progressing to not quite 7 cm dilated until 8:30 am, and then completely stalled out. We waited to see if things would progress before my doctor broke my water. She did that. Then we waited to see if things would progress before throwing petocin into the mix. Finally, long about 5:30 or 6 pm, I got a "whiff" of petocin and that got the labor up and running again. I was pushing at about 7 pm and Lauren emerged an hour and 45 minutes later. She was placed immediately on my chest and I got to just hold her for a while before she had to get cleaned up and weighted, etc. I was suprised that the new baby slime didn't gross me out and that she didn't look like a lizard to me.

Please don't hate me for saying this, but I loved my labor. It wasn't a tiptoe through the tulips, of course, but it was overall very focused, peaceful and happy. Kelly and my mom were the perfect support team, and I also received fantastic care from the hospital personnel. I went through four shifts of nurses, but each one who was assigned to me was the perfect personality to have around for that particular phase of my labor. My doctor checked on me a couple of times during labor, and arrived before I started pushing. She stayed with me the whole time and really made sure things went as smoothly as possible. I feel very blessed.

See? I told you the short version would turn out long. But there you have it. Thanks MommaLesa for holding Whoosh while she sleeps so I could have some time to type this up. Yes, we still call Lauren "Whoosh." Probably more often than we call her Lauren. Somehow the name's just stuck.