Welcome to the World, Rhys Derek Slack.
Feb. 6th, 2007 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stresskittenTurns out that losing my mucus plug was the beginning of the end.
Rhys Derek Slack
Born: February 5th, 2007
Time: 4:51am
Weight: 7lbs 15.5oz.
Length: 50cm (approx 20")
Head Circumference: 36 cm (approx 14.5")
Shortly after birth. We didn't have the camera there during the birth itself since it was in the labour bag that we didn't have time to bring in from the car... Frazer ran to get it as soon as he could bear to tear himself away from us. :-D
I think Frazer's expression speaks for itself here.
Our gorgeous little boy... bright eyed and very definately blonde.
The next morning. The stocking cap does a great job of hiding the total alien-head look he has going on. Seriously... paint him grey and add some ridges and the Chest-Burster comments we were making during the pregnancy would have held even more weight.
During the family visiting hours. It was kinda surreal having people there other than us... even family.
Just before coming home today.
Frazer's napping and I've got Rhys sleeping beside me in his car-seat and I'm not sure how long that will last so we'll see how far I get in this.
My water broke at 945pm. My contractions started around 10pm. By 1015, they were one minute apart. (We started timing shortly after 10... bascially, we had one three minute contraction, two two minute contractions, then we were at 1 minute apart... at least, we think so. I was having real trouble telling the end of one from the start of the next. Somewhat overwhelmed, we phoned Nicole who told us to go straight to the hospital. I lay down while Frazer went into controlled panic mode. Damn, was I glad that I'd written out that panic list. While we were getting ready, Nicole called back to tell us that St. Paul's maternity was full, so we were getting re-routed to Women's instead. Getting to the car was not fun... I had to stop twice in the hall for contractions. I don't really remember the drive to Women's at all. Lets just say that contractions 1 minute apart is not fun when you're in a car driving. I do remember telling Frazer that there was no way I was doing this without pain meds.
Got to Women's and was very, very glad that I'd pre-registered there as well. Managed to get inside and to the reception desk. Got myself booked in, then to an observation room where Nicole checked my dialation. I was at 8cm. About 10 minutes later, we were in a delivery room. I was at 9cm. Nitrous Oxide was my friend. My body hadn't had a chance to manufacture the endorphins that come with the gradual ramp-up to labour... so to say it was not fun was most definately an understatement. Even with the Nitrous it was agonizing... I don't even want to think what it would have been like without it. Frazer was wonderful... the nurse and midwife were amazed at him, and our bond... how he looked after me. I didn't know it until afterwards, (I was so focused on the labour contractions and pain and had my eyes closed pretty much the entirety of the time) but he was in tears several times during all this, watching my pain. I do remember a couple of times, when I actually got a break between contractions, looking over at him and commenting about how hard it must be for him to be watching this.
I spent some time on the bed on my side. Nicole suggested moving to the tub, but I wanted to avoid movement at all costs. Eventually, after she suggested it a couple of times along with the reasons she wanted me to move, I agreed to the move. Everyone involved was stunned after I agreed how quickly I made it from the bed to the bath... but I knew that I just couldn't bear to be caught in a contraction mid-move... I had to be at rest during the contractions. This was a pattern in my labour. The tub was wonderful, and I was actually able to have some semi-lucid moments between contractions as I was able to relax a little during the minimal downtime.
Moving to the pushing stage was just as painful, but felt a hell of a lot better than the dilation contractions... kinda like I was making progress... and they spaced out to about 2 minutes apart, so I occasionally got a moment of rest between them. Nicole had expected, given that I went from nothing to full dilation in two hours, that the pushing stage would be as proportionally short. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case and I ended up pushing for more than 2 hours (which is on the long end of average). I pushed lying down in the tub for a while, then Nicole had me move to squatting in the tub, then she had me move to the bed to use the birthing bar. In each of these cases, it was similar to the move into the tub to begin with... I was resistant to any change in position. Nicole would suggest it a couple of times and explain why, then I'd move with a speed that surprised everyone. Heh.
The pushing was incredibly exhausting. I can't explain how wonderfully supportive having Frazer there was. He was absolutely amazing with helping me move, helping me stay supported physically, encouraging me emotionally. Rhys took a really long time making his way out, especially given how much room my pelvis has, and towards the end, as he was in the process of crowning, Nicole was getting concerned because his heart-rate was way high (though he'd done a great job of dealing with the contractions and pushing right up to the end) and he was "tacky", so she called the obstetrician in. He didn't realize quite how far along I was and asked that the fetal monitor be put on and an iv installed before he got there... the nurse stalled a little with the IV, however, and when he got there and saw Rhys' head half-way out the idea of the IV was shelved.
I ended up with an episiotomy since I was very tight and Nicole was concerned that I was going to tear towards my anus, so they gave me a small episiotomy to the side in the hopes of releasing the pressure away from the anus and letting Rhys get there faster. I was just so exhausted from pushing. After the episiotomy, two more pushes delivered the head. The next push delivered the body. The ob needed to deliver the placenta before stitching up the episiotomy, and when he felt and commented that it was already almost out, I pushed on the next contraction and delivered the placenta... showering the ob in blood. :-D And I mean showering... Frazer said he was covered from neck to ankles.
They put Rhys on my chest and Frazer cut the cord. They stitched me up while Frazer and I rubbed Rhys down and he started crying just a little before settling down on my chest. He was a bit "grunty" in that he was making little noises of complaint at his introduction to the world, which had them a little concerned that he had some fluid still in his lungs, but that turned out to be not a problem... he was just irritable.
After he was checked out and everything, Frazer went down to move the car (which had never managed to make it from the 30-minute parking outside the maternity ward entrance) and to bring in our labour bag... which also never made it in. Heh. He was smitten with Rhys the moment he saw him, but has informed me we are never having another child because he couldn't bear the thought of seeing me go through that again. Currently, even with the amnesia of birth erasing the memory of the pain, I'm in complete agreement. But we have our perfect little boy. His (IMPRESSIVE) cone-head is already fading away, and he is just such a sweet child... so easy to sooth! Hopefully that will continue. He's already Dad's little boy - Frazer picking him up and singing to him stops him crying almost instantly - and we are in the middle of learning his cues. Breast-feeding is a bit of a challenge since he's having issues with opening his mouth wide enough to get a good latch, and keeps getting his hands in the way, but we're working through it and seeing progress. He's a tiny bit jaundiced right now, not surprising given the size of the bruise on his head from birth, but that will disappear quickly once my milk comes in.
I'm incredibly sore... both my lower portion from actually giving birth and the stitching/tearing and also my muscles since I strained every muscle in my body during the pushing. We are home now, though, so I expect to feel better soon. The cats are fascinated and terrified by this new addition. Bandit flees in terror whenever Rhys squawks and Zog has spent the last hour or so sitting beside the carrier watching Rhys as he sleeps.
I'm looking forwards to getting the odd nap now and then... I've had a total of about 6 hours in the last 48 since Rhys making any kind of noise tends to jerk me back into wakefulness. Frazer took Rhys and walked around the ward for 2 hours last night to try and let me get some rest in. Apparently the nurses were amazed at his devotion to the both of us. :-) We've received a lot of compliments on how relaxed we are with Rhys, how calm and prepared we seem, and how well informed. Nicole also told me that mine was one of the hardest labours she's seen in a long time and that my strength was amazing. Gods knows I didn't feel like that at the time, but Frazer says that the nurses were agreeing during my labour of the difficult and unusual circumstances I was facing and my endurance. Nicole said I should feel proud for making it through that... my thought there is kinda "uh... how much choice did I have?" but I'm sure that in the future I'll be able to look at it with pride. I can't even begin to express my emotions right now... except to say that Rhys is adorable, Frazer is truely my perfect man, and that his joy in Rhys is enough to move me to tears.
Rhys Derek Slack
Born: February 5th, 2007
Time: 4:51am
Weight: 7lbs 15.5oz.
Length: 50cm (approx 20")
Head Circumference: 36 cm (approx 14.5")
Shortly after birth. We didn't have the camera there during the birth itself since it was in the labour bag that we didn't have time to bring in from the car... Frazer ran to get it as soon as he could bear to tear himself away from us. :-D
I think Frazer's expression speaks for itself here.
Our gorgeous little boy... bright eyed and very definately blonde.
The next morning. The stocking cap does a great job of hiding the total alien-head look he has going on. Seriously... paint him grey and add some ridges and the Chest-Burster comments we were making during the pregnancy would have held even more weight.
During the family visiting hours. It was kinda surreal having people there other than us... even family.
Just before coming home today.
Frazer's napping and I've got Rhys sleeping beside me in his car-seat and I'm not sure how long that will last so we'll see how far I get in this.
My water broke at 945pm. My contractions started around 10pm. By 1015, they were one minute apart. (We started timing shortly after 10... bascially, we had one three minute contraction, two two minute contractions, then we were at 1 minute apart... at least, we think so. I was having real trouble telling the end of one from the start of the next. Somewhat overwhelmed, we phoned Nicole who told us to go straight to the hospital. I lay down while Frazer went into controlled panic mode. Damn, was I glad that I'd written out that panic list. While we were getting ready, Nicole called back to tell us that St. Paul's maternity was full, so we were getting re-routed to Women's instead. Getting to the car was not fun... I had to stop twice in the hall for contractions. I don't really remember the drive to Women's at all. Lets just say that contractions 1 minute apart is not fun when you're in a car driving. I do remember telling Frazer that there was no way I was doing this without pain meds.
Got to Women's and was very, very glad that I'd pre-registered there as well. Managed to get inside and to the reception desk. Got myself booked in, then to an observation room where Nicole checked my dialation. I was at 8cm. About 10 minutes later, we were in a delivery room. I was at 9cm. Nitrous Oxide was my friend. My body hadn't had a chance to manufacture the endorphins that come with the gradual ramp-up to labour... so to say it was not fun was most definately an understatement. Even with the Nitrous it was agonizing... I don't even want to think what it would have been like without it. Frazer was wonderful... the nurse and midwife were amazed at him, and our bond... how he looked after me. I didn't know it until afterwards, (I was so focused on the labour contractions and pain and had my eyes closed pretty much the entirety of the time) but he was in tears several times during all this, watching my pain. I do remember a couple of times, when I actually got a break between contractions, looking over at him and commenting about how hard it must be for him to be watching this.
I spent some time on the bed on my side. Nicole suggested moving to the tub, but I wanted to avoid movement at all costs. Eventually, after she suggested it a couple of times along with the reasons she wanted me to move, I agreed to the move. Everyone involved was stunned after I agreed how quickly I made it from the bed to the bath... but I knew that I just couldn't bear to be caught in a contraction mid-move... I had to be at rest during the contractions. This was a pattern in my labour. The tub was wonderful, and I was actually able to have some semi-lucid moments between contractions as I was able to relax a little during the minimal downtime.
Moving to the pushing stage was just as painful, but felt a hell of a lot better than the dilation contractions... kinda like I was making progress... and they spaced out to about 2 minutes apart, so I occasionally got a moment of rest between them. Nicole had expected, given that I went from nothing to full dilation in two hours, that the pushing stage would be as proportionally short. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be the case and I ended up pushing for more than 2 hours (which is on the long end of average). I pushed lying down in the tub for a while, then Nicole had me move to squatting in the tub, then she had me move to the bed to use the birthing bar. In each of these cases, it was similar to the move into the tub to begin with... I was resistant to any change in position. Nicole would suggest it a couple of times and explain why, then I'd move with a speed that surprised everyone. Heh.
The pushing was incredibly exhausting. I can't explain how wonderfully supportive having Frazer there was. He was absolutely amazing with helping me move, helping me stay supported physically, encouraging me emotionally. Rhys took a really long time making his way out, especially given how much room my pelvis has, and towards the end, as he was in the process of crowning, Nicole was getting concerned because his heart-rate was way high (though he'd done a great job of dealing with the contractions and pushing right up to the end) and he was "tacky", so she called the obstetrician in. He didn't realize quite how far along I was and asked that the fetal monitor be put on and an iv installed before he got there... the nurse stalled a little with the IV, however, and when he got there and saw Rhys' head half-way out the idea of the IV was shelved.
I ended up with an episiotomy since I was very tight and Nicole was concerned that I was going to tear towards my anus, so they gave me a small episiotomy to the side in the hopes of releasing the pressure away from the anus and letting Rhys get there faster. I was just so exhausted from pushing. After the episiotomy, two more pushes delivered the head. The next push delivered the body. The ob needed to deliver the placenta before stitching up the episiotomy, and when he felt and commented that it was already almost out, I pushed on the next contraction and delivered the placenta... showering the ob in blood. :-D And I mean showering... Frazer said he was covered from neck to ankles.
They put Rhys on my chest and Frazer cut the cord. They stitched me up while Frazer and I rubbed Rhys down and he started crying just a little before settling down on my chest. He was a bit "grunty" in that he was making little noises of complaint at his introduction to the world, which had them a little concerned that he had some fluid still in his lungs, but that turned out to be not a problem... he was just irritable.
After he was checked out and everything, Frazer went down to move the car (which had never managed to make it from the 30-minute parking outside the maternity ward entrance) and to bring in our labour bag... which also never made it in. Heh. He was smitten with Rhys the moment he saw him, but has informed me we are never having another child because he couldn't bear the thought of seeing me go through that again. Currently, even with the amnesia of birth erasing the memory of the pain, I'm in complete agreement. But we have our perfect little boy. His (IMPRESSIVE) cone-head is already fading away, and he is just such a sweet child... so easy to sooth! Hopefully that will continue. He's already Dad's little boy - Frazer picking him up and singing to him stops him crying almost instantly - and we are in the middle of learning his cues. Breast-feeding is a bit of a challenge since he's having issues with opening his mouth wide enough to get a good latch, and keeps getting his hands in the way, but we're working through it and seeing progress. He's a tiny bit jaundiced right now, not surprising given the size of the bruise on his head from birth, but that will disappear quickly once my milk comes in.
I'm incredibly sore... both my lower portion from actually giving birth and the stitching/tearing and also my muscles since I strained every muscle in my body during the pushing. We are home now, though, so I expect to feel better soon. The cats are fascinated and terrified by this new addition. Bandit flees in terror whenever Rhys squawks and Zog has spent the last hour or so sitting beside the carrier watching Rhys as he sleeps.
I'm looking forwards to getting the odd nap now and then... I've had a total of about 6 hours in the last 48 since Rhys making any kind of noise tends to jerk me back into wakefulness. Frazer took Rhys and walked around the ward for 2 hours last night to try and let me get some rest in. Apparently the nurses were amazed at his devotion to the both of us. :-) We've received a lot of compliments on how relaxed we are with Rhys, how calm and prepared we seem, and how well informed. Nicole also told me that mine was one of the hardest labours she's seen in a long time and that my strength was amazing. Gods knows I didn't feel like that at the time, but Frazer says that the nurses were agreeing during my labour of the difficult and unusual circumstances I was facing and my endurance. Nicole said I should feel proud for making it through that... my thought there is kinda "uh... how much choice did I have?" but I'm sure that in the future I'll be able to look at it with pride. I can't even begin to express my emotions right now... except to say that Rhys is adorable, Frazer is truely my perfect man, and that his joy in Rhys is enough to move me to tears.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 04:33 am (UTC)Welcome to the world, kid.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 04:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 05:04 am (UTC)He is so beautiful. Or should I say handsome?
You two are so lucky.
Congratulations!
Date: 2007-02-07 05:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 05:42 am (UTC)Hi Rhys!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 05:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 05:50 am (UTC)WaHOOTS!
Date: 2007-02-07 05:51 am (UTC)Congrats and health to all! Cheers!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 06:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 06:57 am (UTC)I was looking at the pictures and my girls came in and asked, 'who's sproglet?' and I said my friend from LJ and they both said 'Stress Kitten', it was cute. I'm sorry labor was so rough, but glad you guys are thru it and that you get some rest soon.
Kiss him on the head for us,
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 07:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 08:39 am (UTC)Congrats!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 10:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 12:27 pm (UTC)A hard labour, but at least a fairly short one. Congratulations on your little boy! He's adorable. I'm looking forward to seeing lots and lots more pictures.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 01:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 03:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 03:43 pm (UTC)And, yay, another Rhys! They're great! We've got one too -- his LJ is
Dych chi'n siarad Cymraeg?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 04:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 04:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 05:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 06:03 pm (UTC)He's adorable! Looking forward to more pictures!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 06:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 07:54 pm (UTC)What a beautiful boy.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-07 08:02 pm (UTC)Rhys is totally adorable *melts*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-09 04:12 pm (UTC)WELCOME to the word, Rhys! He's absolutely gorgeous, and you guys look so radiantly HAPPY! :D Thank you for posting these!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-09 04:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-12 07:38 am (UTC)I'm very sorry for the delay of the well wishes.