Baby Janelle is here!!!

Mon. 14:  Well, Janelle is here!  We named her Janelle Marjorie Jensen and she was born on Columbus Day -- October 14th at 11:55 p.m.  Rick was off for UEA and Gerilyn and Madee were here for the weekend and so it was really good timing.  Gerilyn had taken all of the kids out this morning to shop for supplies for their “Scary Dinner” and Halloween Party that they were planning tonight. I worked on grading my class videos and midterms.  Gerilyn and all of the kids went to Chuck-A-Rama for lunch and to the Visitor’s Center.  Rick was busy today draining our pool and working on the steps and the wall.  We had water coming out several pipes and hoses and I didn’t want to waste it and so I decided to wash our very dirty cars with the hose draining the pool water.  The kids all helped, except for Gerilyn and Madee who had gone out shopping at the Dress Barn. 

We washed the white car and were in the middle of washing the van when I felt a little trickle of water.  I told Rick that I thought my water had broken.  I wasn’t positive until I felt a few more little trickles and then I was sure.  The boys had come so fast after my water had broken that Rick and I didn’t want to waste any time and hurried to the hospital.  This is the first time my water broke on it’s own; with the other three, I was already well into labor and the doctor stripped my membranes.  I called Gerilyn on her cell phone and they were at Iceberg and said they would be right over.  We had our neighbor, Chimane, come over until she got there.  We kept thinking hard and fast contractions would start any minute like they did with the boys but not much happened.  We got checked in and admitted and the nurse started an IV.  Rick asked her if he could give me a blessing and that was really nice.

The nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural. After Jared’s quick delivery I hadn’t been planning on one. Rick and I weren’t sure and discussed it for a while.  Not much was happening though and it looked like it might be a long night and so I decided to go ahead and get one. At the same time, I was a little worried about getting one so soon since I wasn’t really even in labor yet and was only dilated to a three. 

Getting the Epidural was really uncomfortable and I was glad when it was over. I had gotten one with Janika and just sat up while they did it.  For this one they wanted me to lay on my side and crouch my knees up (with Rick’s help) to my chin and arch my back out. That position is nearly impossible when your stomach is poking out so far and it was very uncomfortable. Then he said just to hold it and not move at all for half a minute which seemed a lot longer. 

After it kicked in my legs were so numb I couldn’t even feel anything. I didn’t like the feeling of not having control over my body or not being able to tell how things were progressing along – except for the computer screen which didn’t always seem to be accurate. It was around 6:00 and I said that I hoped it wouldn’t take until midnight but it did! I wasn’t surprised when they suggested giving me Pitocin to get the contractions going. I don’t know if I can blame it on the Epidural though – I may have needed it anyway and then it would have probably been hard without the Epidural. It is hard to guess what will happen one way or the other. The doctor who gave me the Epidural said  he still wanted me to be able to move my toes and I told him when it got to the point when I could only on one side. He asked if I wanted it lighter and I said yes. It didn’t seem to get lighter though, if anything it felt heavier. Later I said I wanted it lighter again and he turned it off for about fifteen minutes but I couldn’t tell the difference. Near the end I started feeling a few contractions but they didn’t hurt. I did get some rest here and there which was nice but I had a very hard time changing positions since my legs just felt like noodles. Scott and Amy were here staying at our condo on their way to Disneyland tomorrow. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind bringing Rick some dinner since he was starving and didn’t dare leave. I was hungry too but couldn’t eat. So they came over and brought him a hamburger and fries. Rick did end up leaving about 10:00 though because the doctor said he had plenty of time and he wanted to get a book and his laptop and some other things that I needed. He didn’t miss much.

I have quite a low blood pressure normally and it kept dipping really low and would set off a little bell that would ring forever until someone came and checked it. One time it was like 74/36 or something like that. At around 11:00 p.m. a nurse checked me and I was only dilated to a five or six. Then shortly before midnight a new nurse came in and started to check me. A couple of times throughout the night I couldn’t hear the heartbeat on the computer and that always worried me. When I brought it up to the other nurse she said that it was still there – you could see the numbers on the screen. She said sometimes the noise of the heartbeat was just a nuisance anyway. I didn’t think so, I found it very reassuring and peaceful. 

Anyway, it was like that now. I couldn’t hear the heartbeat anymore and the numbers on the screen seemed to be jumping all over the place. That had happened before when the baby was moving around or something. The nurse tried to pick it up by moving the doppler around on my stomach and I was getting worried that I couldn’t hear it and was silently praying that everything was okay.  My doctor came in from delivering another baby and another nurse came in too.  Then the one who had been attending to me moved the blanket and said surprisingly, “There’s our baby!”  I thought she meant the baby was crowning or something and that it was time to push. Then I moved the blanket and looked down and there was the baby all the way out laying sideways between my legs. I was shocked!  I think the nurses and doctor were too.  My doctor said that this was a definite first for her. Right then the baby started to cry and they cut her cord and started cleaning her up.

I think I was still sort of in shock. Rick and I were both asking how long she had been there.  They said she had just barely come out but all I could think of was that maybe she could have suffocated under the blankets or something. Luckily I wasn’t in one of those short beds where she could have fallen off!  We asked what would have happened if no one had checked and my doctor reassuringly said that she would have started crying but still we are not so sure. The whole thing freaked us out. The baby and sheets were a mess but she seemed really calm through the whole ordeal. 

They finally got the baby and I cleaned up and I was able to hold her and nurse her and she latched right on and nursed like a pro!  She didn’t seem to want to let go and nursed for a good long time. She is a beautiful baby and has a little round face like Janika did. Not near so much hair though and several nurses kept referring to her as a boy and so we put the little pink bow in her hair.  She weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces – so almost 7 pounds – and 19 inches long. I thought she would be bigger judging by the size of my stomach but I guess my girls are just more petite than my boys and that’s how it should be!

I was just grateful that she was okay. This whole birth experience was so different from the last two. I didn’t have any pain at all with this one because I was so numb – not even one painful contraction. It was a little uncomfortable sitting in the same spot for six hours though and then several hours after that since it took quite awhile for the Epidural to wear off.  Rick had stayed to take a bunch of pictures and finally left around 1:00 a.m.  After I was done feeding and holding her, I had her taken to the nursery so I could try and get some sleep. She was only there two hours though and all the rest of the time she has been here with me.  It seems like with my other baby I made sure that they went to the nursery so I could rest and wasn’t kept up by their cries or noises. Janelle is sooo good though and has been so quiet. She had been quietly sleeping almost the whole entire time. It is a bit strange because she seemed to be by far the most active one while she was in my tummy – it seemed she was constantly moving.  Now she is so quiet and sleepy. She hasn’t cried at all except for a little bit when I was changing her diaper.

 At 3:30 a.m. I woke up and my legs were feeling back but were still really tingly.  I had just managed to turn on my side when they brought the baby in for me to feed.  She nursed and nursed for a long time and then the nurses wanted me to change rooms and so we gathered everything up and went to another room. I didn’t really sleep  well tonight.

Tues. 15:  Rick and the kids were off today for UEA too and Rick will take tomorrow off.  Janelle must have gotten her fill last night because I couldn’t get her to nurse until after lunch time.  She just wanted to sleep.  Some of the time she was really alert and happy just to be held.  Gerilyn and Madee stopped by to see the baby and take some pictures before they headed back to Ogden.  Rick and the kids came around 11:00.  They brought balloons and four dozen roses. They had also stopped to buy a couple of vases. Each of the kids carried in a dozen roses with a little card that they had written or drew.  It was really cute!  They each had their own balloon to give me too.  It was fun to see them and see how cute they were with the baby.  Jared and Jase weren’t sure which was more exciting though – the baby, or Scooby Doo that was on TV.  We took a lot of cute pictures and videos.  I ate my lunch while they were there and then the nurse brought in lunch for Rick and all of the kids too so that was nice of her.  They stayed for a couple of hours.

 I have been having awful cramps and contractions when I nurse and sometimes when I am not nursing.  I had them with Jared too.  I finally asked for some Ibuprofin this afternoon.  I hope it helps.  Tonight Rick is subbing for my ASL class.  He will end it a little early so that he can go straight to Hands in Harmony practice.  I’m glad we had the baby last night and not tonight!   I called mom and dad and they are coming tonight and can take over for the baby-sitter when they arrive.  That will be nice to have them for a few days.  Tomorrow morning I plan to go home.  It had been really quiet here and at least I have been able to get some much needed rest!

I decided to go to bed early but then Janelle started to fuss.  I kept trying to feed her for about an hour but whenever I put her back in her crib she would start to fuss again.  So when the nurse came in at 10:30 I asked if she would take her to the nursery and then I was able to go to sleep until 2:00 a.m. when she brought her back to me saying she was very hungry.   I kept her with me the rest of the night but she slept pretty well.

 

Wed. 16:  I felt ready to go home today.  I was getting a little restless from staying in my room the whole time.  It seemed like yesterday morning everyone kept coming in my room bright and early saying, “Are you going home today?”  After I had been up most of the night giving birth and changing rooms and nursing…no thank you!  But today I was ready to go home and the room was quiet – no one was asking if I wanted to go home or anything. I finally had to go ask the nurse what needed to be done so that I could check out. She gave me a little training and my doctor had come in for a quick peek but we had to wait forever for a pediatrician (ours was out of town) to come and give her the check up before we could leave.  The “check-up” was about fifteen seconds long.  Rick had come to pick me up and we gathered up the things and left.  It is always so weird to walk into a hospital and then walk out a couple of days later with a new member of your family.  It seems to take awhile before reality kicks in! My parents were at our home with the boys and my mom had made home-made bread.  My mom and I went on a walk tonight.