Wednesday, September 30, 2009
10-4
Jake is not quite caught up to 'the curve' of where he should be but he's damn close - and really if we stays at the 80th percentile instead of the 90th where he was born who cares! And he's more awake every day. And I'm more relaxed every day. And my nipple isn't quite healed yet but it's good enough that I'm done with the shield. And we found out today that we don't have to boil water or sterilize all the bottles and pumps which simplifies things immensely. So all in all it is a very good day so far!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A look back at baby Molly
I knew Jake looked like Molly but really, this is too much.
Just to be clear...this is a photo of Molly. Not a photo of Jake. When I posted this even Noel was confused.
Wendy - a midwife trainee's - account of Jake's birth
Jacob’s Birth Story
It was a beautiful summer day when I got the call from my midwife preceptor, Mary. She said she was at Dana’s house and would I like to join them for the birth? I was excited because I had seen Dana in clinic numerous times and I knew she would have an entertaining birth.
When I arrived, I found Mary and Noel in the kitchen with Dana just cresting the stairs from the basement, cursing Mary for making her do them 2 at a time. When she reached the upstairs landing she stopped with a strong contraction. She was certain Mary had put in a “trick stair” because every time she stepped on it she got a wicked contraction – much worse than the rest.
Once climbing the stairs had lost its glamour, Dana moved downstairs where the temperature was cooler. The bed and pool were set up and ready to go. Dana laboured standing with Noel for support. She was very concerned her insides were going to fall right out. We reassured her there was nothing hanging out and all her insides would remain inside. Things seemed like they were progressing well so Noel filled the pool. We had Dana sit on the toilet for a few contractions to help move the baby down and allow her to empty her bladder.
Noel was a great coach. His positive, loving and encouraging words helped Dana through each contraction. He was quick to remove his hands with Dana’s “too hot” and quick to cool Dana with a cloth to her forehead.
Dana moved into the pool which was good and bad. The water felt great for the pain but she was “so fucking hot!!” She laboured on her hands and knees and on her back. I would turn the flashlight on her perineum when she seemed to be pushing to see if any of the baby’s head was showing. Each time I clicked the flashlight off Noel would give me a look like “see anything?” and I would subtly shake my head “not yet”. Luba, the second midwife, arrived during this time because we knew Dana would be having her baby soon.
After having great progress in the pool, we moved Dana to the bed for the final stretch (so to speak). We put Noel behind Dana so she could lean on him and get the leverage needed to push Jacob out. Dana did a great job pushing Jake’s head out slowly. From there it was a little sticky so Mary asked Dana to flip over on all fours. I’m sure Dana was thinking “are you fucking kidding me? There is a head between my legs!” None-the-less she flipped over very quickly and we were able to release Jacob’s shoulder letting the rest of him slide out.
As an aside, Noel had made it very clear prior to the birth that he was a little squeamish. He wanted no part of visualizing the head coming out, cutting the cord, examining the placenta or anything else that may involve “that end” or “goo” or “fluid”. We had deliberately placed Noel behind Dana with this in mind. Even with all our strategic planning, apparently when Dana flipped over there was some “goo” that leaked onto Noel’s bare leg. Noel was a trooper calming himself, quietly thinking “it’s ok, it might just be water, I’m ok, I’m ok”. The goo was overshadowed by Jacob who was now resting on Dana’s chest and saying hello to his mom and dad but as soon as we let Noel out from behind Dana he dashed for the bathroom to remove the offending liquid.
Jacob tested out his new lungs with a few good cries to let us know he was doing well. He was a healthy 9 pound baby boy. Comments were made about his large head and gigantic scrotum. Dana required a few stitches then Jacob was put to the breast where he lazily fed.
Dana and Noel were thrilled with the birth. I believe their exact words were “look …we had a baby and we’re still at home!” Dana was very appreciative us (the midwives) but felt we have a weird occupation. She said, “Don’t get me wrong I’m glad you’re here but you sit around in peoples’ houses and watch their crotch until a baby comes out – that’s messed up!” I guess it is a little messed up when you put it that way but what an amazing experience to have the privilege to been a part of.
Happy Birthday Jacob!
Thanks Dana and Noel for allowing me to be a part of your birth.
Wendy Wood
It was a beautiful summer day when I got the call from my midwife preceptor, Mary. She said she was at Dana’s house and would I like to join them for the birth? I was excited because I had seen Dana in clinic numerous times and I knew she would have an entertaining birth.
When I arrived, I found Mary and Noel in the kitchen with Dana just cresting the stairs from the basement, cursing Mary for making her do them 2 at a time. When she reached the upstairs landing she stopped with a strong contraction. She was certain Mary had put in a “trick stair” because every time she stepped on it she got a wicked contraction – much worse than the rest.
Once climbing the stairs had lost its glamour, Dana moved downstairs where the temperature was cooler. The bed and pool were set up and ready to go. Dana laboured standing with Noel for support. She was very concerned her insides were going to fall right out. We reassured her there was nothing hanging out and all her insides would remain inside. Things seemed like they were progressing well so Noel filled the pool. We had Dana sit on the toilet for a few contractions to help move the baby down and allow her to empty her bladder.
Noel was a great coach. His positive, loving and encouraging words helped Dana through each contraction. He was quick to remove his hands with Dana’s “too hot” and quick to cool Dana with a cloth to her forehead.
Dana moved into the pool which was good and bad. The water felt great for the pain but she was “so fucking hot!!” She laboured on her hands and knees and on her back. I would turn the flashlight on her perineum when she seemed to be pushing to see if any of the baby’s head was showing. Each time I clicked the flashlight off Noel would give me a look like “see anything?” and I would subtly shake my head “not yet”. Luba, the second midwife, arrived during this time because we knew Dana would be having her baby soon.
After having great progress in the pool, we moved Dana to the bed for the final stretch (so to speak). We put Noel behind Dana so she could lean on him and get the leverage needed to push Jacob out. Dana did a great job pushing Jake’s head out slowly. From there it was a little sticky so Mary asked Dana to flip over on all fours. I’m sure Dana was thinking “are you fucking kidding me? There is a head between my legs!” None-the-less she flipped over very quickly and we were able to release Jacob’s shoulder letting the rest of him slide out.
As an aside, Noel had made it very clear prior to the birth that he was a little squeamish. He wanted no part of visualizing the head coming out, cutting the cord, examining the placenta or anything else that may involve “that end” or “goo” or “fluid”. We had deliberately placed Noel behind Dana with this in mind. Even with all our strategic planning, apparently when Dana flipped over there was some “goo” that leaked onto Noel’s bare leg. Noel was a trooper calming himself, quietly thinking “it’s ok, it might just be water, I’m ok, I’m ok”. The goo was overshadowed by Jacob who was now resting on Dana’s chest and saying hello to his mom and dad but as soon as we let Noel out from behind Dana he dashed for the bathroom to remove the offending liquid.
Jacob tested out his new lungs with a few good cries to let us know he was doing well. He was a healthy 9 pound baby boy. Comments were made about his large head and gigantic scrotum. Dana required a few stitches then Jacob was put to the breast where he lazily fed.
Dana and Noel were thrilled with the birth. I believe their exact words were “look …we had a baby and we’re still at home!” Dana was very appreciative us (the midwives) but felt we have a weird occupation. She said, “Don’t get me wrong I’m glad you’re here but you sit around in peoples’ houses and watch their crotch until a baby comes out – that’s messed up!” I guess it is a little messed up when you put it that way but what an amazing experience to have the privilege to been a part of.
Happy Birthday Jacob!
Thanks Dana and Noel for allowing me to be a part of your birth.
Wendy Wood
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Failure to thrive aka the lazy bug bit my baby
These last few weeks have been quite a roller coaster. Thankfully I've had lots of help from Noel, my mom, Noel's family, neighbours, midwives, and breastfeeding clinics.
The first week after Jake was born I was primarily concerned with my physical recovery. Who knew pushing out a 9 lb baby could be such hard work. Every part of me hurt. And I developed a bit of infection which complicated things.
Then mastitis hit - twice in the same boob in the same week. Full on fever, sick, pain, yuck. Luckily I knew what was going on so I was able to catch it early both times but it nearly put me over the edge. I don't think I've ever cried so uncontrollably as when I realized it had come back. That's when we called in my mom. Thankfully she was able to come out early to help us manage, and cook, and generally just help me get better.
This is around when we found out that Jake was down 13 oz from his birth weight. We had no idea that this was a big deal at all. The midwives told us we needed to start supplementing with formula via bottle and pumping and I was really confused. Jake was sleeping all the time - even for long 6 to 8 hour stretches at night - and I thought we'd hit the jackpot when it comes to babies. He never cried. He just ate and slept all the time. It was great.
But the ride wasn't over. Next up...cracked, infected nipple on the boob that didn't have mastitis. Yay! At this point we were approaching Jake's 3rd week and possible growth spurt (more feeding on broken nipple?!?!?) so I went to my doctor to get a referral to the Lakeview Breastfeeding clinic. This is the first time I realized the severity of Jake's weight loss. All of a sudden the Dr. was talking about Jake having "failure to thrive" or insufficient calories to produce enough energy to eat or cry or anything - hence all the sleeping. Talk about alarming. She got us to continue to supplement with formula and pump (same plan as midwives) but also got us to start beefing up the calories of the formula and all my pumped breastmilk by adding additional formula powder.
So for the last week we've been breastfeeding, then bottle feeding Jake, then I pump for the next feed. We're beefing up anything he does get in a bottle. And he seems to be coming around. He has a bit more awake time everyday. And he's starting to be able to stay awake through his feedings. And his weight is going up, up, up. So he was born at 9lbs. Then went down to 8.3 lbs at his 14 day appointment (which was really around day 17). And then back up to 8.13 at our first visit to the breastfeeding clinic. Mary (the midwife) came over on Sunday and he was 9.5. And today - 5 days later - he's 9.11!
Today we also got Jake's tongue band cut. The Dr. did the procedure at the clinic in about two seconds. It should help him get milk more efficiently from the breast. Already his latch feels different so time will tell.
Sadly the crack and infection on my other nipple were quite deep/bad so it still isn't healed...which means more days or weeks of using the annoying nipple shield/syringe combo for that side but who cares...we're getting there!!!
The first week after Jake was born I was primarily concerned with my physical recovery. Who knew pushing out a 9 lb baby could be such hard work. Every part of me hurt. And I developed a bit of infection which complicated things.
Then mastitis hit - twice in the same boob in the same week. Full on fever, sick, pain, yuck. Luckily I knew what was going on so I was able to catch it early both times but it nearly put me over the edge. I don't think I've ever cried so uncontrollably as when I realized it had come back. That's when we called in my mom. Thankfully she was able to come out early to help us manage, and cook, and generally just help me get better.
This is around when we found out that Jake was down 13 oz from his birth weight. We had no idea that this was a big deal at all. The midwives told us we needed to start supplementing with formula via bottle and pumping and I was really confused. Jake was sleeping all the time - even for long 6 to 8 hour stretches at night - and I thought we'd hit the jackpot when it comes to babies. He never cried. He just ate and slept all the time. It was great.
But the ride wasn't over. Next up...cracked, infected nipple on the boob that didn't have mastitis. Yay! At this point we were approaching Jake's 3rd week and possible growth spurt (more feeding on broken nipple?!?!?) so I went to my doctor to get a referral to the Lakeview Breastfeeding clinic. This is the first time I realized the severity of Jake's weight loss. All of a sudden the Dr. was talking about Jake having "failure to thrive" or insufficient calories to produce enough energy to eat or cry or anything - hence all the sleeping. Talk about alarming. She got us to continue to supplement with formula and pump (same plan as midwives) but also got us to start beefing up the calories of the formula and all my pumped breastmilk by adding additional formula powder.
So for the last week we've been breastfeeding, then bottle feeding Jake, then I pump for the next feed. We're beefing up anything he does get in a bottle. And he seems to be coming around. He has a bit more awake time everyday. And he's starting to be able to stay awake through his feedings. And his weight is going up, up, up. So he was born at 9lbs. Then went down to 8.3 lbs at his 14 day appointment (which was really around day 17). And then back up to 8.13 at our first visit to the breastfeeding clinic. Mary (the midwife) came over on Sunday and he was 9.5. And today - 5 days later - he's 9.11!
Today we also got Jake's tongue band cut. The Dr. did the procedure at the clinic in about two seconds. It should help him get milk more efficiently from the breast. Already his latch feels different so time will tell.
Sadly the crack and infection on my other nipple were quite deep/bad so it still isn't healed...which means more days or weeks of using the annoying nipple shield/syringe combo for that side but who cares...we're getting there!!!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Jake comes to town
Jake will be three weeks old tomorrow. I haven't had many moments to spare in that time. And it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon. So these photos will have to do for a little while anyway.
