Big thanks to Sam (Paul's brother) for making this little video of our little baby:
Sweet Baby James from Sam Woodward on Vimeo.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
The birth
I thought I'd post a little (well probably a lot) about the birth of little Jamie. It was an intense couple of days, but I know people are probably wondering what happened and why I had to have a caesarean. This will probably be a lot more detail than some people want to know about, so I thought I'd warn you in advance. My friend Jill did this and which she said she found very therapuetic and I am sure I'll find the same.
I had my sweep Monday morning and as I posted, I had progressed over the weekend, probably thanks in part to that awful Norovirus, which well and truly got my guts moving, just like they say spicy food should do. Nothing much happened during Monday, but Tuesday morning I woke up and I realized that I had started contractions. They started about 10-20 minutes apart and not very painful. Throughout the day they became closer and more painful. Paul had gone to work, and he wasn't sure when he should come home and I said to wait a bit, but after about an hour his boss said "What the f* are you still doing here, go home" and so he did. I mostly hung out with my mom during the day and watched tv when I could to try to distract myself. I was also using a TENS machine throughout the day for pain relief, which basically sends through little electrical pulses through electrode pads on my back between contractions, and when I start having a contraction, I push a little boost button which causes the pulse to become continuous until I depress when the contraction is over. In retrospect, I'm not really sure it did much, other than signal to everyone else when the contraction started and ended. I think it did give me something to focus on, but perhaps it caused me to focus too much on each contraction. I didn't really sleep much during the day as I was afraid I'd slow down the process. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake. I spent a lot of the day pacing the house, trying to get them moving along. Here's a photo of me with my TENS and a gingernut:
Most of the late afternoon and evening my contractions were 6-8 minutes apart, lasting for about 90 seconds. The hospital don't really want you coming onto the ward until your 3-4 minutes apart, lasting 90 seconds and are painful. We called to update them a few times and they encouraged us to stay home as long as possible. Around midnight that night, they were getting closer to 4-5 minutes apart and quite painful, and I was sick once with the pain, so I decided it was time to go in. My mom, Paul and I went in. We had our own room and the midwife asked us a few questions, took my blood pressure and disappeared for a long time. She said she was going to assign me a midwife (she was the head midwife on duty), but we're not really sure what happened with that. She came back a while later and asked me how things were going. Contractions had sped up and were more painful, she did an internal and said I was only at 2 cm. She said I wasn't that far along, so I could either go home or go to the maternity ward (where you're in a room with 3 others) and see if I progressed there. At this point it was 4:30am, and I was so exhausted (as were Paul and mom), that we decided to go home, hoping the contractions would go crazy on the way home and we could turn around and come back. Not the case...
When we got home we all were so wiped that we slept for a bit. My contractions did slow and for the rest of the day they became very erratic. In the afternoon, they were still erratic but more and more painful. I had my induction still scheduled for that night, so I called the hospital and asked if I should still come in and they said yes because they could progress the labor (why not the night before, I don't know!). Anyway, I was asked to come in the hospital at 8pm. When we got to the hospital, I was put in the ward with others being induced. They took my BP and hooked me up to a monitor to see how the baby was doing. Within a couple of minutes, I was surrounded by 3 midwives and a doctor, I assume someone pulled some sort of alarm, but had no idea why. Apparently the baby's heart rate dropped. They started talking to me about having to break my waters to see if the baby recovered or they'd have to an emergency caesarean. They rushed me into a labor room and the doctor broke my waters. Luckily he recovered and I continued with contractions, and I at that point I was at 3cm. I had to stay monitored throughout the night. The contractions became stronger and I used 'gas and air' or nitrous oxygen for pain relief. You bastcally just beathe into this tube when you feel the contraction coming on. It worked pretty well. However, occasionally I took too much on and threw up, but it was worth it. Halfway through the night, I was really getting exhausted (it had and decided to have an epidural. Man, that was worth it! I could still slightly feel them on one side (I found out later the epidural came out on one side). Unfortunately, my contractions slowed a bit, though I still progressed to 6cm.
Throughout the night, the baby's heart rate would drop after each contraction for 10s. That can happen as the baby's head descends down the pelvis. However, later in the night, it started dropping for longer, for 60-90s. The doctor said they needed to check the baby's blood oxygen levels, which they do by taking a blood sample for the top of the baby's head with a scope thing (he still has the scratches on his head, poor Jamie). They did this twice in 90 minutes and his stats were dropping, and as I was only at 8cm and progressing about a cm an hour, I wouldn't be ready in enough time and the levels would go too low. They tested one final time, but the machine wasn't working, so they decided they should progress with the c-section anyway. They said it could be the cord around his neck.
They prepped me, and had to give me a spinal since the epidural had come out on one side. Paul scrubbed in and was able to stay by my head. The baby came out pretty quick, they took him and gave him a once over, his Apgar was 9 at delivery and 10 one minute later. They gave him to Paul and put him on my pillow too while they stitched me up. Apparently I lost quite a lot of blood (1.4 liters), not sure why, but we both made it through fine. The cord wasn't wrapped around his neck, so they don't know why his heart rate was dropping, but as rough as I felt after, I don't regret the decision as we don't know what might have happened had we waited. And I have my perfect little Jamie, so everything is good.
They recovery wasn't easy, especially the first day, but I'm getting stronger everyday. Paul and my parents have been an extraordinary help. And we all have Courtney to thank for the hundreds of photos she's taken. They left this morning and we'll miss them a lot. I've had a lot of emotional ups and downs these past few days, but after having Norovirus, 46 hours of labor and a major operation, we're doing pretty well and I'm looking forward to motherhood.
Here's our first ever photo together (not that pretty!):
I had my sweep Monday morning and as I posted, I had progressed over the weekend, probably thanks in part to that awful Norovirus, which well and truly got my guts moving, just like they say spicy food should do. Nothing much happened during Monday, but Tuesday morning I woke up and I realized that I had started contractions. They started about 10-20 minutes apart and not very painful. Throughout the day they became closer and more painful. Paul had gone to work, and he wasn't sure when he should come home and I said to wait a bit, but after about an hour his boss said "What the f* are you still doing here, go home" and so he did. I mostly hung out with my mom during the day and watched tv when I could to try to distract myself. I was also using a TENS machine throughout the day for pain relief, which basically sends through little electrical pulses through electrode pads on my back between contractions, and when I start having a contraction, I push a little boost button which causes the pulse to become continuous until I depress when the contraction is over. In retrospect, I'm not really sure it did much, other than signal to everyone else when the contraction started and ended. I think it did give me something to focus on, but perhaps it caused me to focus too much on each contraction. I didn't really sleep much during the day as I was afraid I'd slow down the process. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake. I spent a lot of the day pacing the house, trying to get them moving along. Here's a photo of me with my TENS and a gingernut:
When we got home we all were so wiped that we slept for a bit. My contractions did slow and for the rest of the day they became very erratic. In the afternoon, they were still erratic but more and more painful. I had my induction still scheduled for that night, so I called the hospital and asked if I should still come in and they said yes because they could progress the labor (why not the night before, I don't know!). Anyway, I was asked to come in the hospital at 8pm. When we got to the hospital, I was put in the ward with others being induced. They took my BP and hooked me up to a monitor to see how the baby was doing. Within a couple of minutes, I was surrounded by 3 midwives and a doctor, I assume someone pulled some sort of alarm, but had no idea why. Apparently the baby's heart rate dropped. They started talking to me about having to break my waters to see if the baby recovered or they'd have to an emergency caesarean. They rushed me into a labor room and the doctor broke my waters. Luckily he recovered and I continued with contractions, and I at that point I was at 3cm. I had to stay monitored throughout the night. The contractions became stronger and I used 'gas and air' or nitrous oxygen for pain relief. You bastcally just beathe into this tube when you feel the contraction coming on. It worked pretty well. However, occasionally I took too much on and threw up, but it was worth it. Halfway through the night, I was really getting exhausted (it had and decided to have an epidural. Man, that was worth it! I could still slightly feel them on one side (I found out later the epidural came out on one side). Unfortunately, my contractions slowed a bit, though I still progressed to 6cm.
Throughout the night, the baby's heart rate would drop after each contraction for 10s. That can happen as the baby's head descends down the pelvis. However, later in the night, it started dropping for longer, for 60-90s. The doctor said they needed to check the baby's blood oxygen levels, which they do by taking a blood sample for the top of the baby's head with a scope thing (he still has the scratches on his head, poor Jamie). They did this twice in 90 minutes and his stats were dropping, and as I was only at 8cm and progressing about a cm an hour, I wouldn't be ready in enough time and the levels would go too low. They tested one final time, but the machine wasn't working, so they decided they should progress with the c-section anyway. They said it could be the cord around his neck.
They prepped me, and had to give me a spinal since the epidural had come out on one side. Paul scrubbed in and was able to stay by my head. The baby came out pretty quick, they took him and gave him a once over, his Apgar was 9 at delivery and 10 one minute later. They gave him to Paul and put him on my pillow too while they stitched me up. Apparently I lost quite a lot of blood (1.4 liters), not sure why, but we both made it through fine. The cord wasn't wrapped around his neck, so they don't know why his heart rate was dropping, but as rough as I felt after, I don't regret the decision as we don't know what might have happened had we waited. And I have my perfect little Jamie, so everything is good.
They recovery wasn't easy, especially the first day, but I'm getting stronger everyday. Paul and my parents have been an extraordinary help. And we all have Courtney to thank for the hundreds of photos she's taken. They left this morning and we'll miss them a lot. I've had a lot of emotional ups and downs these past few days, but after having Norovirus, 46 hours of labor and a major operation, we're doing pretty well and I'm looking forward to motherhood.
Here's our first ever photo together (not that pretty!):
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Introducing...James Samuel Woodward
Here he is James Samuel Woodward, born March 25th at 6:32 am, 6lb 11 oz, 20 inches, and gorgeous:
We are calling him Jamie, and his name comes from family. James is Paul's dad's middle name and Samuel is my dad's name and also Paul's brother.
He has been a lovely baby. He's feeding very well and letting mom and dad have some sleep. Each night has gotten better actually with a little more sleep each night and definitely better feeds. I doubt this pattern will continue but it is reassuring to know we can cope. My parents and sister (aka the paparazzi) have been a massive help and their loving their little grandson/nephew. We will be uploading our photos to a Flickr site and I will share the address when they are up. Here are a few from the last few days:
Proud parents:
Big Daddy:
Nana (H):
Auntie Courtney:
Nana (W):
Grandad:
Uncle Sam:
Aunt Sian:
Monday 22 March 2010
second sweep
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and notes of concern. I'm much improved today. I had my second sweep this morning and...hooray...there's been some progression. I'm still not very dialated, but the midwife said the cervix was soft and she was able to get a finger through and touch the baby's head. Now that I'm feeling better, I'm going to try to be a bit more active and spur him on a little more. Otherwise, I'll go in Wednesday night to be induced on Thursday.
Sunday 21 March 2010
worst night of my life...
Friday night was probaby the worst night in my life (at least in any recent memory). I apologize in advance that this post is not for the squeamish. You have been warned...
Before going to bed on Friday I felt a little funny but with impending labor, nothing is really that out of the ordinary. Flu like symptons are common in pre-labor. At about 12:40 I woke up and made a dash for toilet and started throwing up and until there was nothing left to throw up. We had chinese take-away for dinner, so I thought it might be related to that. I went back to bed, only to wake up 20 minutes later and repeat the pattern. This continued every 20 minutes almost on the dot until 6:00am. After the first few times, there was pretty much nothing left, so resorted to throwing up in a bucket the rest of the night (Paul, bless him, cleaning it out after each time). Even though there was nothing left in my tummy, the violent throwing up continued all night. It was also paired with diorrhea (lovely, eh?!). We rang the hospital a couple times in the night and they said to monitor baby's movement and try to keep hydrated (yeah, right!). The second time we called (about 5am), they said to ring back at 6:30 or 7:00 if it was still happening. We were one session away from going to the hospital. After 6am, I slept through until 9:30. As it was occuring every 20 minutes, I had begun to wonder if they were connected to contractions. My abdomen was going rigid, but it wasn't painful, so if anything, it might have been Braxton Hicks.
Later that morning, I rang the hospital again because I was concerned about the baby and potential dehydration. I talked to a very nice midwife who said it sounded like I had likely Norovirus (which the hospital recently had a breakout earlier in the month). She said their first priority is the baby, but because of the contaigousness of the virus, they'd prefer I'd stay at home. She said to drink something cold and eat something sugary and monitor the baby's movement. If he didn't become active, then I should ring back in an hour. Luckily, it seemed to work-I did feel him shift around. Though the toast and jam did make me ill again and I ended up going back to sleep. That was the last time though. I slept on and off all day and by the evening was feeling much better and managed to drink more easily and eat some crackers and a half of a banana. My energy also began to return. I had a full night's sleep last night and today I've been much better. I'm definitely on the mend and able to eat more normally today, though I'm of course taking it easy. I'm even beginning to hope labor starts again, as I had to put my wishes for that on hold on Saturday as I probably wouldn't have had the energy for it.
Thankfully, no one else in our house has shown signs of the Norovirus, so prayers that it doesn't spread would be greatly appreciated. We can also give thanks that this didn't occur after the baby came, so I've found a reason to be grateful for being 9 days overdue.
Tomorrow I'm back at the hospital for my second sweep and I got a call on Friday to say my induction has been booked for Thursday (check in will be Wednesday night). Of course I want to avoid induction, but it's nice to know I'll be meeting my little man by the end of the week. Hopefully,if nothing else, all this intestinal upset will have moved me further along.
Before going to bed on Friday I felt a little funny but with impending labor, nothing is really that out of the ordinary. Flu like symptons are common in pre-labor. At about 12:40 I woke up and made a dash for toilet and started throwing up and until there was nothing left to throw up. We had chinese take-away for dinner, so I thought it might be related to that. I went back to bed, only to wake up 20 minutes later and repeat the pattern. This continued every 20 minutes almost on the dot until 6:00am. After the first few times, there was pretty much nothing left, so resorted to throwing up in a bucket the rest of the night (Paul, bless him, cleaning it out after each time). Even though there was nothing left in my tummy, the violent throwing up continued all night. It was also paired with diorrhea (lovely, eh?!). We rang the hospital a couple times in the night and they said to monitor baby's movement and try to keep hydrated (yeah, right!). The second time we called (about 5am), they said to ring back at 6:30 or 7:00 if it was still happening. We were one session away from going to the hospital. After 6am, I slept through until 9:30. As it was occuring every 20 minutes, I had begun to wonder if they were connected to contractions. My abdomen was going rigid, but it wasn't painful, so if anything, it might have been Braxton Hicks.
Later that morning, I rang the hospital again because I was concerned about the baby and potential dehydration. I talked to a very nice midwife who said it sounded like I had likely Norovirus (which the hospital recently had a breakout earlier in the month). She said their first priority is the baby, but because of the contaigousness of the virus, they'd prefer I'd stay at home. She said to drink something cold and eat something sugary and monitor the baby's movement. If he didn't become active, then I should ring back in an hour. Luckily, it seemed to work-I did feel him shift around. Though the toast and jam did make me ill again and I ended up going back to sleep. That was the last time though. I slept on and off all day and by the evening was feeling much better and managed to drink more easily and eat some crackers and a half of a banana. My energy also began to return. I had a full night's sleep last night and today I've been much better. I'm definitely on the mend and able to eat more normally today, though I'm of course taking it easy. I'm even beginning to hope labor starts again, as I had to put my wishes for that on hold on Saturday as I probably wouldn't have had the energy for it.
Thankfully, no one else in our house has shown signs of the Norovirus, so prayers that it doesn't spread would be greatly appreciated. We can also give thanks that this didn't occur after the baby came, so I've found a reason to be grateful for being 9 days overdue.
Tomorrow I'm back at the hospital for my second sweep and I got a call on Friday to say my induction has been booked for Thursday (check in will be Wednesday night). Of course I want to avoid induction, but it's nice to know I'll be meeting my little man by the end of the week. Hopefully,if nothing else, all this intestinal upset will have moved me further along.
Friday 19 March 2010
the sweep
I had my sweep this morning. The process itself was slightly uncomfortable but not too bad. What was unfortunate was hearing that I'm only 1cm dialated and my cervix was still pretty hard, which means Baby W is still pretty comfy in there. I've got a second sweep booked for Monday morning, and they are going to phone me with an appointment for an induction which will either be Thursday or Friday. It was pretty disheartening hearing I'm not that far along, but hopefully he'll surprise us all and speed things up for us!
Meanwhile it's back to pineapple, raspberry tea, spicy foods, walks, 'other activities' and I might look into acupuncture, but have to give that some more thought/looking into before I run out and get a bunch of needles put in me!!
Meanwhile it's back to pineapple, raspberry tea, spicy foods, walks, 'other activities' and I might look into acupuncture, but have to give that some more thought/looking into before I run out and get a bunch of needles put in me!!
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Any news?!
Everyone is dying to know if there is any news. My parents are getting countless emails. I'm getting emails and texts and phone calls. If there were any news, we wouldn't be hiding it...we promise!
Sadly, nothing has changed. I went to the midwife yesterday and the baby is still in the same position as two weeks ago (engaged slightly and his back is more to my back). I've had no signs of labor or even false labor. He's just too comfy in there I suppose.
My midwife has made an appointment for me to have a membrane sweep at the hospital on Friday morning. A sweep is basically what it sounds like--they will sweep around the cervix opening to try to separate the cervix from the membranes around the baby. This will also trigger the release of hormones which can help kickstart labor. The midwife said I'll have a 40% chance of going into labor within 48 hours. If it doesn't work then I'll be offered a second sweep early next week and if that doesn't work then I will be induced. Even though I'd really like this baby to come as soon as possible, I do want to try to avoid being induced as there can higher chance for complications. I'm starting to have those fears that I'll never go into labor naturally though...
Meanwhile, my dad arrived over the weekend, and we've been busy getting the house in order. My mom and I are making drapes for the living room and my dad is painting the living room and hallways. We'll take some photos of the finished products (should we not get interrupted beforehand!)
Sorry I haven't posted pictures of the sock monkeys in their final resting place yet. We've got this really cool light fixture for the room, but need to have it fitted properly by our electrician friend as the wiring was more complicated than Paul could handle. But, since I can't give you any baby news, I'll give you some sock monkeys:
Sadly, nothing has changed. I went to the midwife yesterday and the baby is still in the same position as two weeks ago (engaged slightly and his back is more to my back). I've had no signs of labor or even false labor. He's just too comfy in there I suppose.
My midwife has made an appointment for me to have a membrane sweep at the hospital on Friday morning. A sweep is basically what it sounds like--they will sweep around the cervix opening to try to separate the cervix from the membranes around the baby. This will also trigger the release of hormones which can help kickstart labor. The midwife said I'll have a 40% chance of going into labor within 48 hours. If it doesn't work then I'll be offered a second sweep early next week and if that doesn't work then I will be induced. Even though I'd really like this baby to come as soon as possible, I do want to try to avoid being induced as there can higher chance for complications. I'm starting to have those fears that I'll never go into labor naturally though...
Meanwhile, my dad arrived over the weekend, and we've been busy getting the house in order. My mom and I are making drapes for the living room and my dad is painting the living room and hallways. We'll take some photos of the finished products (should we not get interrupted beforehand!)
Sorry I haven't posted pictures of the sock monkeys in their final resting place yet. We've got this really cool light fixture for the room, but need to have it fitted properly by our electrician friend as the wiring was more complicated than Paul could handle. But, since I can't give you any baby news, I'll give you some sock monkeys:
Thursday 11 March 2010
the nursery!!
I've kept our nursery plans under tight wraps until they were finished. And we still have some final touches to do tomorrow, but the painting is all finished and it looks amazing!! I can't take credit for any of it, my mom did it all and she's amazing. See for yourself:
The inspiration for it all started with the bedding:
This is the crib wall without the furtniture blocking the view:
This is how it will look normally:
This is above the changing table:
This is the dresser wall, minus the dresser:
This is how it will look normally:
And there is more fun to come with these monkeys tomorrow, so stay posted for more photos!
Tuesday 9 March 2010
t- 4 days
...until the due date anyway. We'll see when he actually makes his appearance...
It's been a busy week off work. Busier for my mom than me I think, but I'm feeling more ready. She's been working hard on the nursery and it's really coming together. I'm not going to post any photos until it's finished, which should be in the next couple of days. It's super cute though!! We've also been cleaning and shopping, trying to get all the last minute things sorted. It's so nice having her around! Now that my hospital bag is finally packed and my own bedroom has had a thorough clean, I feel better about him making an early arrival. He's going to be in our bedroom for a few months, so it's not vital that the nursery is finished on time.
Personally I'm getting more tired during the day. I have the energy to do about one project a day and then am taking it easy the rest of the time. I even took a nap yesterday. We haven't really seen any signs that he's coming yet. He was 2/5ths engaged at my midwife appointment last Wednesday (they measure in 1/5ths for some reason), so he's moving down. I'm also starting to swell more in my hands. My ankles started a few weeks ago and my hands started over the weekend. Dad arrives Saturday, and I'd like them to have as much time together as possible, so it would be nice if he came soon, but it's not really up to me. The midwife suggested drinking raspberry tea, eating spicy food and fresh pineapple(!), as well as some 'other' activities;). And now we'll be doing all we can to get this little guy out so he can hang with grandparents for as long as possible.
And last night we took a photo of the bump at 39 weeks. Sorry for the poor lighting and the white on white background. I'll try to take a better one later this week:
It's been a busy week off work. Busier for my mom than me I think, but I'm feeling more ready. She's been working hard on the nursery and it's really coming together. I'm not going to post any photos until it's finished, which should be in the next couple of days. It's super cute though!! We've also been cleaning and shopping, trying to get all the last minute things sorted. It's so nice having her around! Now that my hospital bag is finally packed and my own bedroom has had a thorough clean, I feel better about him making an early arrival. He's going to be in our bedroom for a few months, so it's not vital that the nursery is finished on time.
Personally I'm getting more tired during the day. I have the energy to do about one project a day and then am taking it easy the rest of the time. I even took a nap yesterday. We haven't really seen any signs that he's coming yet. He was 2/5ths engaged at my midwife appointment last Wednesday (they measure in 1/5ths for some reason), so he's moving down. I'm also starting to swell more in my hands. My ankles started a few weeks ago and my hands started over the weekend. Dad arrives Saturday, and I'd like them to have as much time together as possible, so it would be nice if he came soon, but it's not really up to me. The midwife suggested drinking raspberry tea, eating spicy food and fresh pineapple(!), as well as some 'other' activities;). And now we'll be doing all we can to get this little guy out so he can hang with grandparents for as long as possible.
And last night we took a photo of the bump at 39 weeks. Sorry for the poor lighting and the white on white background. I'll try to take a better one later this week:
Monday 1 March 2010
Baby pool
I've started a little baby pool online so you can place your guesses on due date, weight, length etc. Sorry no prizes for this, just a little fun. All you have to do is go to this link: http://www.expectnet.com/games/babywoodward
Good luck!!
Good luck!!
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