Here's a brief recap on the past 2 months in the life of Leigh-Anne O'Brien:
Labor and the Birth:
Hellacious. I don't usually swear, however, to be fair, my experience merits a lot stronger phrase than that.
Contractions started on Tuesday night, May 17th. Went into the hospital, they sent me home because I was only 2 cm dilated (the goal is to get to 10cm). The contractions continued throughout Wednesday, coming about every 10 mins, but they were bearable. It wasn't until Wednesday night, around 1 am, that I thought, these are getting ridiculously painful, coming every 5-7 mins, it's time. We head to the hospital, I am examined, and the nurse says I'm 8cm!!! "WOW"... I am thinking at this stage! I hadn't had any pain relief at this point, and I was thinking, 'I can do this, Baby is on it's way'. Continued to labor for about 4-5 hours, the midwife told me to start pushing... I'm pushing, nothing is happening.. So the midwife decides to examine me again to see what's up... "Um... I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you're only 2 cm".... WHAT?!?!?! The nurse I saw when we first arrived misdiagnosed me. Awesome. So, as you can imagine, this COMPLETELY shattered my 'zen'...... and that's the point when I said, bring on the meds! I wanted to try gas and air (kinda like laughing gas) before I tried the 'hard' stuff :) I continued to labor (contractions every 5 mins, and extremely painful) until Friday morning around 4 am.... I had reached my wits end at this point... BEGGING them to give me an epidural and the induce me (I was still only at 2 cm after 3 days!!!!!) Finally, they agreed to induce and start me on a drip to speed up my labor. Epidural in, and working like a charm for a couple hours, then I started to feel the pain again... oh, that's right, epidural fell out. Fantastic. The Dr. put another one in (where was Dr. LeFevre when I needed her???). The Dr. came to assess me, because at this point I was considered 'high risk'..you think??? And the Doc asked who last changed my catheter... oh, that's right, it hadn't been changed in a day, meaning I hadn't peed in almost 2 days.... sweet. Cameron's head was blocking my bladder, in turn, causing my kidneys to back up. Seriously. So, at this point, 4 DAYS after contractions/labor started, they decide to give me a C-sect... about bloody time. C-sect goes okay, Cameron is born Saturday, May 21st at 2:34am! 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long! He wasn't phased at all by the surgery, however my body wasn't as resilient. My body temp dropped down to about 92 F.... so they had to put me under an inflatable heat blanket....
whew,.... it has taken me quite awhile to come to terms with all that occurred. But, the most important thing, the end result, Cameron is with us now, happy and healthy :)
Week 1: Complete mayhem. No one can prepare you for the chaos. Our world was upside down, and there was a little person in our house, staring at us, staring back at him. HA!
Week 2-5: Rough... there is no way to prepare for the sleep deprivation. I am nursing, and Cameron was feeding anywhere between every 30mins to 2 hours being the longest spell between feeds. Whew... I was a zombie.
We took Cameron to the American embassy and he is officially a British and American citizen! Lucky dude.
Week 6: Starting to feel a bit of relief. As Cameron grows, so does his stomach :) He is now going about 3-4 hours between feeds at night... sometimes still every 1-2 hours during the day.
Week 7: We are holding our breath... there is a glimpse of a routine. Cameron is now taking regular naps during the day, allowing me to have a cup of tea :) (I know, so British) AND he sleeps from about 7:30pm-7:00am, only waking about twice in between!!!! Don't get me wrong, 2 months ago, I wouldn't consider 4-5 hours a good night sleep, but at the moment, I feel like a new woman! HA!
Neil and I are having the best time with Cam. He is starting to develop a personality. He smiles and he has laughed a couple times. Morning time is his favorite, and mine, because he is in the best mood!
I can't wait for everyone back home to meet our little fella. We are planning a trip home at the end of September, and plan to stay a couple of weeks! WAHOOO!!!
Lots of love to y'all
ooxx LA
