My Baby is Here!

I wanted to record my birth story while I was thinking about it. Last Wednesday at my 39 week appointment, I was dilated almost 5cm and was 90% effaced. My doctor said I probably wouldn't make it to my next appointment and that she would love it if I could deliver the baby on 10/10/10. Not only did she think it would be a great birthday, Sunday is a slow day at the hospital because they don't schedule C-sections or inductions that day. I couldn't have cared less about the birthdate so I was just like ok, sure, I'll see what I can do to accommodate that.

Thursday went by: uneventful.

Friday morning I woke up at 6:30am with a dull back ache, just like I had every day for the past week. I hadn't had any noticeable contractions at all but I couldn't go back to sleep so I just sat up in bed and listened to my Hypnobirthing audio on my iPod.

At 7:15, I went to the bathroom and saw a tiny bit of blood [I recorded everything pregnancy-related in a memo on my iPod and this was the last entry]. I told S and he got in the shower. A few minutes later, I started having ridiculous contractions. I had downloaded an iPod application to time contractions a month or so ago and that came in very handy. It said the contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds each. Surely I did it wrong because that's so close so soon and typically only happens at the end of labor, right? I started getting really difficult at that point, telling S he was annoying, to shut up, and that he was making things worse.

He called our doula who said to time some more to make sure they were that close and she'd call back in 20 minutes. Longest 20 minutes ever! Well, maybe the longest up until that point. Right before she called, I had a contraction standing up against the bed and my water broke on the floor. S answered the phone and the doula said to go to the hospital and she'd meet us there. I rinsed off quickly in the shower, put on a tube dress, stuffed a towel between my legs, and got in the car. I also screamed my way [with the car door open because I felt hot] through a couple of contractions while waiting for S to grab my hospital bag and guess what? Not one of our neighbors even looked outside to check on the person being fatally stabbed to death in the street [or at least that's what I would have assumed from the horrible noise I was making].

We drove the 5 minutes to the hospital. The car ride was by far the worst part because I had nothing to distract myself. FYI, I literally felt like I was going to crap out a bowling ball and -at certain points- thought I might just die. It was all very dramatic and laced with 4-letter words. I rolled my window all the way down, stuck my head out like a dog, and screamed/ slammed my fist on the car door through each contraction. Good thing we weren't in my car! After being behind the slowest truck ever all the way up the parking garage to the 6th floor, we pulled into a spot at 8:55am. S went to get a wheelchair and I jumped out with no shoes on, restuffed the towel, and waddled into the hospital myself.

After a contraction, I sat in the wheelchair and was rushed directly to labor and delivery. I literally traumatized the entire waiting room with my ridiculous screaming and probably flashed them all my blue underwear. I definitely should have practiced Hypnobirthing more! In the delivery room I was fully dilated and went up on the bed on all fours to scream the loudest I ever have and use the F word more than the Sopranos. Here's what a contraction was like:

1. Ow.

2. Oh no!

3. F*CKKKKKKKKK!

Number 3 would be as loud as possible and last at least 30 seconds. Then during the last one where the nurses were telling me to push, I said I can't do this anymore. What I didn't realize was that her head was already out so I didn't have a choice. Thank God for my doula [who got there just in time] because she was the only person I would listen to and she was very helpful in getting me to push and do what the doctor was telling me to do.

I had my daughter [a great surprise to everyone since we didn't know the sex] 34 minutes after we pulled into the parking garage. Luckily, I probably wouldn't have had time for drugs if I'd wanted them. When I think back, I still can't believe I made it through that. It was just the most intense experience I've ever had.

She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. We had planned all along to allow the umbilical cord stop pulsing before cutting it [not that we had time to even take the copies of my birth plan out of my bag]. My doctor did wait a bit but the cord was so short that she had to cut it before I could hold the baby and put her on my chest. She nursed an hour or so later and seemed to know just what to do. I'm very lucky and even though I thought I wanted to die for a little while, she is so worth it!

I know that short of a labor is very uncommon -especially for a first birth- and while I was so happy after it ended, I think I would have been much better [less profane/ terrifying] if I'd had time and some lighter contractions to lead up to it. To anyone planning a natural birth: If I can do it you definitely can, just be as mentally prepared as possible.

By the way, her name is Bayard McConnell, nickname Bay. We love her!

One of Those Surveys

I figured this can serve as an intro post, since I would never get around to doing one otherwise and it would be really boring because I wouldn't know what to say. The reason the blog is called XIXMMX is because I'm the worst at coming up with titles for things. Because I knew I couldn't think of a non-embarrassing title of my own, I chose my due date [11 October 2010].

Anyway, I saw one of these surveys on another blog and decided that since I won't be knocked up much longer, I might as well be cheesy and fill it out.

How far along? I'll be 37 weeks on Monday.

How big is baby? At my ultrasound this week, they estimated 18+ inches long and 5 pounds, 11 ounces.

Maternity clothes? No, I think I lucked out big time with that. I didn't want to waste money on clothes I'd never wear again unless I had to, so I have a Bella Band and that's it. Luckily, I don't normally wear supertight stripper clothes, so everything still fits [with the exception of a few shorts that won't button]. I could even button and zip up my JBrand legging jeans on Monday!

Stretch marks? Nope. Since everything I read said it's totally genetic, I decided not to even use lotions or anything. Nobody in my mom's family back to my great-grandmother had stretch marks, so I figured I'd just hope for the best.

Sleep? I'm still sleeping really soundly like I always have. The only thing is I have to deal with about 15 minutes of kicks and shifts from the baby when I lie down and then I can go to sleep. I'm hoping my deep sleeping will miraculously continue with a baby, but I'm not betting on it.

Best moment this week? My mom and husband, S, both admitted that my vegan chocolate chip cookies are better than non-vegan ones. S hates the idea of egg substitutes [I use corn starch and water for cookies] so I know he probably didn't like having to say that.

Food cravings? I have eaten the same things I ate pre-pregnancy this whole time. I was actually hoping for some weird cravings but I have always had a few strange food habits so maybe I was already ahead of myself.

Gender? We will find out when the baby gets here. I'm not sure why not knowing elicits such strong opinions from people, but it's driving almost everyone else crazy. Oddly, I generally hate surprises but I never even considered finding out the sex of the baby.

Also, strangers keep coming up to me out of nowhere and telling me what the baby will be. All of them have guessed girl so far but my mom is really hoping for a boy. There are only girls between her and my uncle and on my dad's side there are 8 girls and only 2 boys. Nearly everyone I know who has had or is having a baby this year is having a boy so I don't know what that means for my odds either way.

Belly button in or out? It's flat but starting to stick out a tiny bit. I'm wondering if it will ever stick out all the way [and kind of hoping it doesn't].

Movement: Yes. While it's stronger now that the kicks are in my ribs and the punches feel like they're going through my abdomen, it isn't as frequent as it was the past several months.

What I miss: Being skinny and having the ability to bend over. Oh and it was really cool back when I could sit at a table and not bump into it with my huge body.

What I'm looking forward to: Having the baby. It's so weird knowing it could happen at any time but not having any idea when it actually will. I also can't wait to find out how it all goes for me, especially doing it in the hospital and all.

I also can't wait to see how our 3 dogs are with the baby. Two of them [Great Pyrenees and German Shepherd] absolutely love babies and kids and the other [a Lab] keeps his distance, I think he's confused by them.

Weekly wisdom: When people are annoying you, tell them they are and hopefully they'll stop. If not, at least they'll know why you started ignoring them. This worked well for me when my mom kept referring to the baby as 'he' and then when she was harassing me about letting her find out the sex, even though we both know she couldn't keep it a secret.

Milestones: Monday will be full term, in theory. Due to my heart-shaped uterus [my mom had the same thing and had issues with me and my sister], I was worried I wouldn't make it past viability. Then, I just wanted to make it to 28 weeks. Now, it looks like everything is going to be fine so I keep telling myself that even if I go past 42 weeks, I won't complain about it.

Have a great weekend!

Nursing Pillow and Covers

This is inspired by another adorable Etsy find. I have heard for years that a nursing pillow is a must-have, even for those who don't plan to breastfeed because you can use it when the baby's older to prop him up [before he can sit on his own]. For my baby shower, I was very happy to receive a nursing pillow from one of my parents' friends. It's cute but the pattern and colors were kind of loud and I almost always keep everything plain so I started looking for some covers for it. Oh and also, I imagine they get all kinds of gross things all over them so it can't be a bad idea to have a couple of covers on hand.

My nursing pillow is not made by Boppy so I was unsure if the Boppy covers would fit. The pillow manufacturer never answered my email regarding the size -rude!- so when I was at Target one day and they had the cream organic Boppy cover [very soft, I recommend it],I figured I'd try it. It fit! I guess there is some sort of standard size for nursing pillows, which is very convenient because I came across Lauren Grace's Etsy store where she sells custom nursing pillow covers.

The owner, Karen, makes them to fit a Boppy so once I knew that would fit, I contacted her to see if she still had the alphabet flannel I had seen in one of her listings. She did, but just enough for one side. I already knew I had to have it, so I asked her to set up a custom listing for one cover with pale blue on the back. She doesn't have the original listing up at this time [just convo her for a custom listing] and obviously she could change her prices at any point, but when I ordered she told me it would cost $5 for one cover or $8 for two plus $6 priority shipping.

I just wanted one for now [to alternate with the Boppy cover] so my total was only $11. I could hardly wait to get my cover and see how cute the fabric was in person, so her fast shipping was helpful. I don't know how she even sewed it that quickly! Here's the finished product:

I'm already contemplating ordering another one but making myself wait until the baby is here [I think]. Karen has an assortment of cute printed and solid fabrics [I'm sure she will send you photos of them if you ask] from which to choose, so if you're in need of a cute shower gift or an additional cover for yourself, check out her store! You can't beat her prices. Thanks to this cover, I am now even more excited to use my pillow once my baby gets here!

Note: I just wanted to add that these covers are zippered, unlike many other slip-on styles I found when browsing Etsy. That definitely makes a difference for me!