Busy, busy...

It's been over a week since my last update and with good reason -- I'm a mother of two now, so finding time in between feedings, changing diapers and cuddles is a little difficult, but I love it. In fact, I feel like I'm more hands-on with both of my children now than I have ever been before. I really want to achieve "Super Mom" status, if possible, even if at times I feel like I might just lose my mind. :o)

My labor with Christian was mostly uneventful. Mark and I showed up at the Pavilion for Women on time last Tuesday and within the hour Dr. Hulsen had broken my water and my labor had started. I felt like a complete boob because I asked for the epidural around 11am, after 2 and a half hours of labor. I was still sitting at 2cm dilation and in a lot of pain. After speaking with my nurse (who convinced me when she said it could take up to an hour before the anesthesiologist showed up) I got the epidural and the rest of my day was spent laying in bed and alternating between watching TV, checking the internet on my iPhone and sleeping.

Around 3pm, I started to feel nauseous and I got the shakes really bad. The nurse came in and gave me a shot of Zofran, which was like heaven in a syringe. I felt so much better after that.

Dr. Hulsen came in and checked on me a couple of times throughout the day, as I slooowly progressed. By 6pm, I was still only at 6cm and convinced that I was not having the baby on Tuesday. At 6:30pm, Christian went into tachicardia and they had to stop the Pitosin. My contractions were coming too fast and he was basically being squished. It scared the hell out of me. There were three nurses scurrying around my room, one was monitoring the baby, another was putting oxygen on me and the third was having me change positions. Luckily the baby's heartrate sorted itself out.

Around 7-ish, they started the Pitosin back up again and after increasing the doseage once I started to feel something weird down yonder, like something was "oozing" out. I called the nurse in and she did an exam on me and noticed that the baby's head had moved down considerably and all that was in the way was a piece of my cervix. She had me push just a little bit to see what it would do and the baby started coming again. So she had me keep my legs crossed and called Dr. Hulsen because she was afraid if she kept me in the stirrups that the baby would just slide on out. :oP

Dr. Hulsen arrived around 8:30 and the whole feeling in the delivery room was just...well, fun. Seriously. There were three nurses, Dr. Hulsen, myself and Mark and all of us were just making jokes and laughing the entire time. Even when I was pushing, I was cracking up. It was just so laid back and before I knew it, at 8:57pm Christian was here. All 7 pounds, 6 ounces of him. I only pushed for maybe 15 minutes and most of that time was waiting for the contractions to come. The first thing Dr. Hulsen said when he came out was, "He has boy parts!" :o)

The first thing Mark and I noticed was how much Christian resemebled him. He has Mark's lips no doubt about it and his nose, but he also kind of reminds me of Aidan when he was a baby too. And he's so tiny, only 18 inches long.

Mark and I got to hold Christian for an hour and then the nurses scooted him away for his bath. In between phone calls to family and friends, I got to finally eat. I was so hungry! At 11pm, when the feeling had returned to my legs, they took me and Christian up to the second floor where I got to spend another hour with him before they took him to the nursery. The nurses had remarked that he was such a calm baby -- he didn't even cry when they bathed him!

The next day I wasn't allowed to eat because my tubal ligation was scheduled for 2pm. Mark brought his mum and Aidan up to the hospital to see me that morning. My step-sister also stopped by to give Christian a few cuddles before heading off to work. At noon, I said good-bye to my family and they wheeled me to pre-op before my surgery. Those two hours were like the longest of my life, but once the nurse came in (about 30 minutes before the surgery) and gave me a shot of Zofran and Versaid, I was just fine.

After the surgery, I was in A LOT of pain but I suffered through having visits from my Dad and my friend Allison. Once they were gone, though, I laid in bed and cried. The only thing that helped was taking 600mg of Ibuprofen and Vicodin at once. That didn't even really stop the pain but it put me to sleep, which is what I needed.

Much to my suprise, Christian and I were both released from the hospital on the 5th. I thought I would at least be there until the 6th, if not longer because of my surgery but there I was, basically out on the curb by noon on the 5th. I seriously felt like they kicked us out of there. Healthcare just isn't the same, even as it was 4 years ago.

Mark's mum kept Aidan overnight for our first night home. Mark and I took turns with Christian and he is such a good baby. He's just so calm, all the time. Even when he's hungry, he rarely has to screech or anything. He just starts sucking everything in sight. :o) Of course he's not sleeping through the night yet, but getting up every 2 or 3 hours isn't so bad because I just go right back to sleep when he does. I keep telling Mark that's the secret -- sleep when the baby sleeps. He hasn't listened to me yet though.

Saturday was our postpartum check-up at the hospital. My check-up went fine (I was a little swollen but that was it) but Christian had lost a lot of weight (he was discharged at 7 pounds 2 ounces) and was down to 6 pounds 14 ounces and his bilirubin levels had skyrocketed. Our doctor had a home healthcare service bring a phototherapy bed out to our house and my little 4 day old had to lay in the bed 24 hours a day unless we had to feed or change him.

I was devastated. Just seeing him in that bed broke my heart. I just cried and cried, but luckily both of my sisters were here for support and Mark came home from work to be with us too. After 48 hours and two more blood tests, Chrstian's levels were low enough that he didn't have to lay in the bed anymore. I was so relieved.

Yesterday was his 1 week check-up and Christian woke up with a goopy eye. Our doctor believes that his tear duct hasn't opened up yet and that's why it's infected. So we have eye drops we have to give him three times per day. Already there's a noticeable difference. The doctor also told us that she believes his bilirubin was so high because of Christian's rapid weight loss. Since Saturday he's gained back 2 ounces but he still has a long way to go. He's also grown 1 whole inch!

I guess that pretty much brings us up to date. Aidan is doing great with the baby and loves helping us with him. We also make sure to pay as much attention to Aidan as we do to Christian. If one of us is with the baby, the other is playing with Aidan. It seems to be working well although Aidan still throws the occasional toddler fit.

Today is Mark's first full day back at work, which is a relief because he only brought him $100 last week, which made me extremely nervous. It's lonely being at the house by yourself, even with two kids, but I know he has to work. Why can't we all be independantly wealthy?? :o)

Well the baby is starting to fuss so I should probably close for now.