September 2nd, 2010
Dear Elias Solomon,
It is just about your birthday. In forty-seven minutes you will turn one year old, and one hour and eight minutes later it will officially be one year since you came into this world!
I don't even know where to begin with all the things I want to say to you on this special day. I guess I will just start at the beginning. Ever since I was a little girl (yes, even your mommy was little onc
e!), I knew a mommy was the one thing I always wanted to be when I grew up. When Daddy and I met, I told him about my dream, and he was excited because he wanted to be a daddy, too! We were so lucky that G-d blessed us with you as our first-born son, just three days after our first wedding anniversary!
Even before you were born, I knew what kind of child you were going to be. You were always opinionated about which side I slept on, or if you didn't like how I was sitting. You spent a lot of time doing somersaults and practicing your kicking while you waited (rather impatiently) to finish growing in my tummy. When you decided to come along two weeks and two days before we expected you, it was a welcome surprise! You're still opinionated now, but about different things – food, toys, when you want to sleep, and when you don't want to do
what we ask. It just means you are growing up and becoming your own person. And while it is very hard for Mommy and Daddy to watch, we are still very proud!
From the moment I laid eyes on you, I recognized you right away. And I know that you knew who I was, too! It was such a special feeling to know that there was this little person that I had known for all those months, and now the rest of the world would finally get to meet hi
m! Your Mema and Opa drove all night to come be with us when you were born, and the rest of your family came soon after! Everyone was in love, but no one more than me!
Over the last twelve months we have watched you grow from a tiny little peanut of 6 pounds and 14.4 ounces to a big boy at a little over 19 pounds! You have learned to hold your head up, roll ove
r both ways, sit on your own, crawl, cruise, and now, you are so close to taking your first steps on your own! I know that you will be running ahead of me any day now! You went from this little newborn who couldn't do anything to a toddler who loves to dance, sing songs, laugh, play, and give kisses and hugs! I especially love when you wave at me or Daddy and say “Hi!” with a big smile on your face!
There is no greater joy in this world than having the privileg
e of watching a child grow and learn. Thank you for choosing us as your parents, and for giving us that privilege. We love you so, so much, and we are so proud of everything you have accomplished this year!
Happy 1st Birthday!
And now, the birth story of Elias Solomon Blaiss....
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
At 37w3d, my day started out like any other. I rolled not-so-gracefully out of bed and waddled to the perinatologist's office for my weekly ultrasound. Everything looked great, but the doctor suspected that I wouldn't be back for another ultrasound the next week because I had started to lose my mucous plug. She was sure that I would go into labor before that - I laughed at her! I left the office and went to work. I worked 8 hours, during which I pushed an empty stretcher for the first time since about 26 weeks.
I got home around 8 PM and we decided to order pizza for dinner. Th e pizza came, and I was able to eat 4 pieces - more than I could hold in a long time. This was probably because the baby had dropped and I had lots more room in my stomach! We finished dinner around 9:15, and we decided to get ready for bed. I took one of my MANY trips to the bathroom, and just as I was about to get off the toilet I felt a pop - my water broke!
By this point it was 9:40. I knew in my mind that my water had broken, but (kinda like finding out I was pregnant) it didn't really seem real until I said it out loud. Joel looked at me like I had just told him his hair was on fire! LOL!
I settled myself on the bathroom floor with every towel we owned, and called our midwives' office. Libbie happened to be on call that night. She checked my record and found that I was GBS -, so she told me to either come to the hospital when it got intense or 7:30 AM, whichever came first. I then called my mom, who thought I was joking, and my BFF, Sarah. I chatted with Sarah for an hour or so while my parents packed their car and headed to Georgia. I took a shower, shaved my legs, and waited for the contractions to start. Nothing happened.
Since nothing was going on, we decided to try to get some sleep. Only one of us slept, guess who it was? Not me.
September 2, 2009 (37w4d)
Somewhere around 2 AM I fell asleep, and I woke up to my phone ringing at 4 AM - it was my mom calling to tell me they had made it into Georgia. That's great, but I could never make it back to sleep. At 5:45 I gave up trying to sleep, took another shower, did my hair, and attempted to eat some breakfast. I was too nervous and excited, so I didn't eat much.
Around 7 AM we headed over to Northside Hospital. Joel wanted to drop me off at the front door and then park. I told him I wanted to walk - and I did. I dragged a suitcase and pillows, and he carried my birth ball and another pillow. We made our way into the hospital, checked in, and got settled into our room (B-6). We taped up copies of our birth plan (half of which was out the window since we were getting an induction) and our baby care plan (plastered on the warmer), and we put out a gallon of candy and a thank you note for the staff. We put it right in front of the monitor. I don't know if this was why we had such awesome nurses that day, or if they were just great, but it didn't hurt!
Of course, the first thing they wanted to do was get some time with baby on the monitor.....
At 8:30 AM the midwife on call for the day (Kelly Starnes) came to see us and get the ball rolling. She checked me and I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced, and Tobe was at -1 or -2.....I can't remember. Probably a -2 since I was still leaking pretty well when I moved around. She confirmed that my water was indeed broken (duh!) and told them to start the pitocin. For the first few hours, I sat in the glider and Joel and I watched Finding Nemo (which we watched on our first date) and played Phase 10. My parents came by to visit, then my dad went back out to the waiting room to do some work (and apparently keep the entire world updated on Fac ebook!).
After Nemo ended (and they had turned up the pitocin a couple times), I was finally in a place where I needed to have my labor music (yoga style music) on, the room quiet, and the lights dim. Joel and my mom took turns rubbing my back through the contractions as I sat on my birth ball.
A lot of people complain that when they have to be monitored (which you do, constantly, during an induction) they are forced to stay in bed. No t me, my nurses were very encouraging and showed me how long the cords were, how to unplug them to take bathroom breaks, and how to move all the furniture (some of which I knew, being a nurse myself). Although I was on the monitor, I never paid any attention to it. I turned the volume all the way down, and labored facing away from the screen. I think I even covered it at one point, but that didn't last long when someone came in to look at it.
I was having a lot of back cramping (we knew that the baby was posterior from our ultrasound the day before) and not much else, so we tried some other positions to try to get him to turn. We weren't successful. I think a lot of it was that I didn't have anyone who knew how long I should stay in those positions, and they weren't really comfortable for me so I didn't keep them more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Around 12:30pm or so (not exactly sure on times) Kelly came back to see how we were doing. She checked me again and I was dilated to 5cm, 90% effaced, and I think I was at 0 station. Progress! She also told me that they didn't think I was contracting hard enough because I wasn't complaining, so they wanted to put a monitor in to measure the contractions. I told her I didn't care what she did as long as I was able to sit on my ball. That was my only concern. So she put the monitor in and, sure enough, I was contracting hard and I just had a high tolerance for it.
I don't remember if this was when she put the first scalp monitor on the baby, or if it was later, but somewhere in the process we had three put on. I moved so much they fell off (except the last one).
Anyway, we were left to labor. I was feeling really excited, I was energized, I felt strong, and I distinctly remember asking Joel when I was going to get to do this again! He (and my mom) looked at me like I was insane - I asked in the middle of a contraction!
I really loved being in labor. Despite that it was not at all the way I hoped it would be, or what we had planned, I felt like I was finally DOING something instead of just sitting around waiting for my baby to grow.
Sometime around 5:30PM Kelly came in to see us again. She checked me and said I was maybe 5-1/2cm, but that nothing else had changed. I was sad, but ok. I knew that it could take a while, and I was relaxed and willing to do whatever it took for my son. I did ask her if this meant that I was going to get a c-section, and she assured me that hadn't even crossed their minds yet. She offered to give m e some IV pain meds (she said it was to relax me), but I completely refused. I WAS relaxed, and I didn't need the help of drugs!
So we kept on laboring....Joel took a break to go get dinner with my dad, and my mom stayed with me. The nurse came in at one point and was talking to my mom when I went to the bathroom. I heard them talking about what my mom thought we were going to name the baby, and my mom said she thought it would be after her maiden name - I was sitting in the bathroom laughing because that is EXACTLY what happened!
At 10PM the nurse came into start my IV antibiotics since it has been 24 hours since my water broke. I didn't have a fever, but they were treating me just in case. Something happened when she was messing with the pump and the pitocin sent me into a REALLY long contraction. This is the one contraction that I remember from my whole labor. I remember it coming on (as all the others had), peaking, and then staying peaked. after about 10 seconds of peak I looked at my mom (who was facing the monitor) and her eyes were getting really big. The contraction was 3 minutes of peak. This was the only contraction through my entire labor that I couldn't handle. I lost it - I cried, I screamed "why isn't it going away?", I just completely lost it. My wonderful husband ran over and got in my face with a flip book of ultrasound pictures of my baby. He calmed me down and reminded me that I was doing a great job and that my baby was coming. I'll never forget that.
At 11:30PM Kelly came back to see us. She checked me again and nothing had changed. This was when she gave me the ultimatum. She told me that I was exhausted, and that I should get an epidural and try to take a na p. She had a c-section to go to, but she would be back in an hour and if nothing had changed they would recommend I get a c-section. I cried. I was devastated. I knew that getting an epidural wouldn't help me. I knew that my chances for a vaginal birth were over, so I said OK.
They gave me my fluid bolus and the anesthesiologist was there soon after. They let Joel stay with me while he placed the epidural. I cried so hard I think I scared Joel. The epidural was the worst part of my entire birth experience (including the c-section). He kept stabbing around to try to place it correctly. He finally got it in and it worked immediately. All my feeling went away (and I HATE being numb, so this wasn't a good thing to me). I think I was asleep before my h ead even hit the pillow.
September 3, 2009 (37w5d)
At 12:30 AM Kelly came back and declared me unchanged. So, off to the OR we went.
I don't remember much about being in the OR. I kept my eyes closed because it was so bright, and I was so tired. I remember asking for something for nausea, Joel coming in and telling me he was there, and him telling me that our son was here!
At 1:08 AM, on September 3, 2009, Elias Solomon was welcomed into the world!
I didn't see him until we were in recovery, but everyone assured me he was fine even though he didn't cry very much. I still had my eyes closed.
Getting Weighed
Our first family photo!
(We were in recovery. This was the first time I saw my son, and hadn't held him yet.)
(We were in recovery. This was the first time I saw my son, and hadn't held him yet.)
Shortly after Eli was born he had to go to the transitional nursery for some blood work because of how long my water was broken (27-1/2 hours). While he was there they discovered that his blood sugar was low. The nurse asked Joel if she should give him a bottle since I was exhausted, but Joel knew that wasn't what I wanted and told the nurse. Eli was brought back to me and we had our first breastfeeding session right there in recovery. The nurse had to hold him because my arms were still partially numb, but we did it and his blood sugar returned to normal!
Once we got to our room in postpartum, they discovered Eli was cold. Instead of whisking him away and sticking him under a warmer, the nurse brought him to me and had me hold him skin-to-skin to help him get his temperature back up.
Mommy and Eli having some skin-to-skin time! (3 hours old)
When I started getting tired, I had Joel take his shirt off and do skin-to-skin, too!
The nurse had never seen a dad do this before!
The nurse had never seen a dad do this before!
So, that's the story of Eli's birth. At least from what I remember. It was a long process from which I have learned so many lessons. I am so thankful that my son was born strong and healthy (aside from his jaundice and reflux) and that I escaped with only a single scar. My recovery was very easy and complication-free.
