April 15, 2013- When Bean became Rylen

I realize it's been forever and a day since Rylen was born and I'm a little behind on the updates. But let me tell you, this whole motherhood thing is a bit time consuming.

So let's step back a bit and I will give a quick run down of  labor...

So I was induced 12 days after her due date.  They don't do it any sooner over here but also don't want you going past 12 days. So we went into the hospital at 9 am Sunday April 14th where I was scheduled to have a pessary.  The pessary is a non invasive form of inducing labor, so once that was inserted it was just a waiting game.  I was only 1 cm dilated when the pessary was inserted and it took 12 hours for me to dilate to 5 cm which they consider labor.  So technically those 12 hours weren't labor but let me tell you the first 12 hours of this whole process were a hell of a lot harder than the last 14 hours of labor. I won't go into detail but during those 12 hours I cried, I puked, I bathed, I moaned  but one thing I didn't do was sleep. Bless Giles because I literally don't know what I would have done without him being there.  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be and I was a lot weaker than I thought I would be.

And then the heavens opened up and angels sang AKA  I hit 5 cm and was moved to the labor ward and was offered the epidural....HOLLA!.. Before the whole labor process I thought I was going to give it a try to be all el-natural and not have the epidural but NEGATIVE!- The minute it was available for me I said tell me when and where and I will be there. Once I had that bad boy I thought I was on top of the world and was already planning our second baby (probably epidural talking).  I was able to start and finish conversations without moaning and groaning in between.  I talked the ears off of my midwife and anesthesiologist whereas before I wasn't even able to look them in the face because concentrating on anything hurt everything. 

So then 14 hours after having the epidural I got to 10 cm dilated where I was then able to push.  After 2 hours of pushing, Doc came in and said they were going to have to take some other measures to get Bean out.  The plan was they were going to use forceps and if that didn't work they would have to result in a C-section.  I said hey ho what the heck, here we go.  Beforehand I had despised the idea of using forceps but when in the moment of everything I just wanted to get Bean out safe and sound and realized that the doctors knew a hell of a lot more than me and they too only wanted to get Beaners out as safe as possible.  So Giles scrubed up and I epidural topped up and we were off to the "theater" as they call it over here.

During surgery, with my legs up in the stirrups and all my dignity gone, Giles counted 13 other people in the room. It seemed like there was every specialist doctor and junior doctor known to man in there.  Again beforehand I had wanted as few people looking at my va jay-jay as possible but when on the table I didn't give a rats ass who was looking and where they were looking.  Apparently the doctors were saying I was one of the most relaxed and chilled patients they had ever had.  Again I think the epidural had a little something to do here.

So when it came time to for the second round of pushing I had Giles to my right holding my hand and 3 or 4 doctors behind me helping me push.  Apparently I was pushing though I couldn't feel it due to my eppi top up.  With the help of the forceps, a little snipping, 2 big pushes, and her giving me third degree tears Beaner was out safe and sound.   Daddy held her for her first 30-40 minutes of life wile the doc's did their sewing up of the first mess (and def not last) that Ry would put her momma through.









 Rylen Erin Malia Wood. Born on April 15th, 2013 at 11:42 am weighing  8lb.1oz. and 21 inches long. 

Due date + 9 Days aka 41 Weeks + 2 Days

According to the bump.com they say the baby is the size of a jackfruit at 41 weeks- I don't know how big Beaners is but he/she DEFINITELY feels bigger than a jackfruit.

Due Date + 9 Days... Everyone keeps asking, ''Where's Bean''- I keep replying, ''I aint got no clues.'' 
Trying to keep Moody Malia under control, for Giles' sake.
 
Had stretch and sweep on Monday and again yesterday. After the stretch and sweep on Monday I started getting contractions Monday night.  They were few and far between but at about 5 am they were coming about every 5 minutes lasting about 1 minute long.  They were quite painful, I thought, ''THIS IS IT!!!'' After calling the labor ward they suggested taking paracetomol (tylenol) and having a bath.  I took some medicine and Giles headed off to the hotel.  We figured he would do breakfast at the hotel and head back to the apartment where we would then head to the hospital.  I was able to fall asleep between 7-9:30.  When I woke up the contractions had lessoned tremendously.  And since then (it now being Thursday) they have pretty much fizzled off. Like I said before, I had another stretch and sweep yesterday, was kind of expecting to get contractions again but negative...nadda...nothing.  

We have arranged for another stretch tomorrow and then again on Saturday.  

If no boo bang by Sunday I will be induced.  

xxx

April 2, 2013- Due Date- 40 Weeks

Lovely sunny day today, but no Bean. 

xxx

Beaners

Beaners 34-39 weeks from Malia Wood on Vimeo.

Bean is a night mover so we found this song fitting.... 

Jack and Jill went up the hill...

Meet Jill.
Jill?
Jill who?

We had a visit from our health visitor the other day and her name is Jill Jones. And she was sweet as a button.  Apparently she had come to our house once before but we were off in 'Merica so this was our first time meeting her.  She wanted to meet us before bean is due.  Now if you are British, and have had a child or familiar with the system, I'm sure you know exactly what a health visitor is.  If you are American you might be a little in the dark about who I am referring to. Do not feel ashamed, I too was once in that same boat.   American friends, be prepared to be blown away....

Jill, or health visitors, are certfied midwives who come to your house after the baby is born to help where is needed.  Jill will come as much as I want or as little as I want until Bean is 6 weeks old.  So if I am having problems with breast feeding, bathing, sleeping, changing, or baby being colicky it's JILL TO THE RESCUE!!! She even comes and brings scales to weigh the baby so I don't have to go to the pediatricians to get that done.  And at about 2 or 3 weeks or so she does a hearing test so in case bean has a hearing problem they can detect it early.  I'm sure there are other things that Jill will be responsible for doing but to be honest I just can't remember.  It was just very refreshing to meet her and hear that she will be there if I need her. 

And it didn't hurt that she reminded me of a helpful grandma. No Tu Tu, Jill is not replacing you. Those are some pretty big sparkly shoes to fill.

The more and more I have been in the health system over here the more and more I think how the Brits just might be doing it right.  The most expensive part of my whole pregnancy will be when I go into labor and Giles has to pay the parking meter.  We are looking at a bill of about £20 pounds or so ($30). And guess what... I'm not complaining.

37 Weeks

We had an appointment with our midwife today (37 weeks and 4 days) and she said that since I am full term bean could come any day now and be fine (I still want to keep him/her in there as long as I can though).  She also said that accorrding to growth scan and the growth charts it looks like bean could weigh up in the high 8 pounds.  She said this very nonchalantly. 

Happy 1 Year Anniversary- 35 Weeks

Technically on our 1 Year Anniversary I was 34 weeks and 6 days but who's counting?

The next day I was 35 weeks preggers leaving me with 35 days till due date- April 2nd.
(AHHHH!! It's getting close!)

xxx