Katherine's birth story :)
On Friday I was already 40+ weeks and not looking forward to my 4 nights in a row of work starting the next day. I scheduled myself to work past my due date, because I was a week late with Abigail and this time I wanted to make sure the whole time off I had was going to be with my new, sweet baby girl Katherine. Well I had been having contractions throughout the day as usual (I'd been having frequent Braxton hicks contractions for weeks), but I called Jim around noon time to tell him that I think they were getting more painful, but weren't at regular intervals yet and could just be because I was up and running around with Abigail. So we went about our days and at around 2:30P.M. Abigail and I took a nap. During my nap, in my dream I remember saying "ouch!" because I kept having contractions! By the time we woke up at 4:30P.M. my contractions were definitely more painful and I was hesitant to say it but I think I knew I was in labor. I called Jim to let him know and he was wrapping up at his last client for the day and about to head home. Having already been through labor and working on the postpartum floor, I would've felt silly if I went into OB triage and it ending up being a false alarm, so I wanted to make sure. I started timing my contractions but couldn't keep an accurate record from the time Jim was driving home partly due to the pain and having to take care of Abigail at the same time. By the time he got home, we definitely knew we were in labor and would be heading to the hospital. Jim called his parents to meet them so they could watch Abigail while we were in the hospital and I also called my parents to let them know we were in labor. My mom was working that day, so she said she'd meet us in L&D after her shift. We got to the hospital just before 7:00P.M. I had to stop a few times from the parking lot to where L&D was on the second floor because my contractions were getting more painful and getting so close together! We walked back to the triage area where the triage nurse checked me and I was already at 7cm dilated with a bulging bag of water! She said she didn't know if I'd have time to get an epidural since I'm a multipara and could go fast. She said as long as my water didn't break yet I could still get it if the anesthesiologist got there in time. I was also worried because I knew I had to receive some antibiotics (at least 2 doses) before Katherine was born since I was GBS+ and if not (since I was anticipating a normal vaginal delivery), they most likely would've put Katherine in the nursery/NICU after birth for 48 hours of antibiotics/monitoring for sepsis prophylactically. They wheeled me back to our labor room and Taylor was our labor nurse. She was great but did have to poke me twice to get an IV in (with an 18 gauge no less, ouch!) and I was started on some IV fluids and my 1st dose of penicillin. Around 9pm, I finally got my epidural! I even surprised myself with how well I was handling my contractions this time around up until this point (breathing through the pain and trying to relax instead of tensing up) and was contemplating trying to go 'naturally' since I was so far along already but thought that it wasn't worth it knowing the exhaustion that was just shortly ahead that comes with caring and breastfeeding a newborn. Around 11:45P.M. I was ready for my second dose of PCN, and was happy that I made it that far without having to push yet, just needed to get in that dose and I'd be set! The doctor came in to check me and I was already at 10cm with a +2 station. I told her I couldn't start pushing yet because my medication wasn't done yet lol, but she said that was fine and that she'd like to see my baby drop a little lower anyway and would be back in after my dose was complete. Sure enough, after my second dose was completed, I was ready to push! Perfect timing. Surprisingly, I only pushed for less than 30 minutes! With each contraction I had, I pushed 3 times counting to 10 seconds of pushing each time. The doctor said after my first push, just a few more pushes and the baby would be out. I thought that she was just keeping me positive and encouraging me, but actually that's what happened! The labor and delivery definitely went A LOT faster with Katherine! Early Saturday morning at 1:25A.M. we welcomed our second daughter, Katherine Laurene Podzius to our family. She weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long at birth.
She was named after my Aunt Catherine, who just had her birthday last week and the day Katherine was born was also the 6 month death anniversary of Grams (Jim's grandmother Laurene, which is Katherine's middle name). We were in the hospital a total of 45 hours. Katherine literally fed every hour! As a postpartum nurse, I have to keep track of baby feedings and I've never seen a baby feed so much! She was constantly at the breast, which is good just tiring and painful. It was exhausting. Later in the morning on the day I delivered (Saturday) I was transferred to a postpartum room. It was kinda weird being on the other side of patient care and having my co-workers take care of me, but also kinda nice that I knew everybody too. Elizabeth was my nurse on Saturday. She was also the nurse that precepted me when I was new to the postpartum unit. Connie was our night nurse and Ann was our nurse the day we got discharged. We received great care from everybody during our hospital stay and I'm proud to work with such caring ladies! After we left the hospital, we went to pick up Abigail from Berda and Papa's house (Jim's parents) and Abigail and Katherine met for the first time. It was also the first time for Papa, Pat and cousins Colton and Kenzie to meet Katherine. (Roberta and Laura met her in the hospital and so did my parents.) Abigail wasn't sure of what to think at first. She had a concerned look on her face, but then quickly warmed up to Katherine stroking her head, hugging and kissing her baby sister. So sweet. :) I am most looking forward to watching them grow up together and become best friends (well that's the hope anyway hehe).
Monday was our first full day at home and it was exhausting. Katherine was feeding every hour and was very fussy and not sleeping well. She would only want to sleep on me and would cry when I'd try to put her down. When my patients would say that their babies were still hungry and that they didn't have enough milk (and would request formula) I would secretly scoff because I've always learned that mothers (for the most part) do produce enough for baby's demands and the first few days the milk is called colostrum, not a huge quantity of it, but very concentrated and good for baby. Well after the day/night I had with Katherine, I totally sympathize for these mothers now and can understand what they are feeling. It was such a horrible feeling knowing your baby was still hungry but felt that I didn't have enough milk. I was hoping my milk would come in the next day and thankfully it did, phew! Katherine was a totally different baby today. But back to our Monday. Jim's mom came over in the afternoon with some groceries from Trader Joe's and made us a yummy dinner of roasted chicken and red potatoes. During the couple hours she was here was ironically the only time Katherine slept (best sleep I had since delivering her), so I definitely took advantage and took a nap as well.
Tuesday Katherine slept A LOT and seems content after each feeding. Such a difference my milk 'coming in' and a day makes! My parents came over today to bring us some home cooked meals and groceries and boy are we grateful for the wonderful parents we have!!!
Abigail and Katherine this morning. :)
I have been stressed with Katherine's health the past couple days. She is healthy, but her bilirubin level could be a concern. The hospital pediatrician wanted us to follow up in the bilirubin clinic the next day if I couldn't get an appointment with our pediatrician. We were able to get a last minute appointment with a different provider (bad idea). We think she was a new PA, very young and unprofessional. I would ask her a question and when she wouldn't know the answer she literally would just trail off into a mumble then change the subject. Happened twice. I didn't know they didn't do blood tests there and they didn't have a bilirubinometer there, so she wrote an order for the lab but it was closed yesterday due to the holiday. Needless to say, we will not be going back to her if our regular pediatrician at that clinic is unavailable. I could only schedule a lab appointment online, so I did that early this morning hoping they would have an opening today, but they don't do same day appointments. :( So we are going tomorrow to get a bilirubin blood draw. We won't get the results for at least a day, which is a concern to me if it is high, so hoping everything is okay. I am thinking about scheduling another newborn check up with a different provider (ours is out of town) just to have a second opinion to make sure everything is going okay. Katherine is not voiding and stooling as much as the charts say she should, and since her bilirubin level may be a concern, I just want a second opinion. It would definitely ease my anxiety. I will be calling first thing in the morning, hoping there is an appointment available.
So that is what life has been like for us the past several days! Mostly I have been caring for Katherine while Jim is hanging out and caring for Abby. It is so nice to have him home the next 2 weeks, but boy am I nervous for when he goes back to work! We are enjoying our time together and adjusting as a family of 4! We are feeling very, very blessed by the addition of Katherine to our family and all the love we've received from our family and friends. I'm hoping I will do a better job of updating my blog to keep up with Abigail and Katherine's milestones, but seeing that I will have even less time now, we shall see about that. ;)
