Aftermath
Aftermath: Hence; that which happens after, that which follows. Has a strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.
Labor and Delivery
Count Your Blessings
Ju young
5 November 2009
Today was my 2 week checkup with my OB. As I've mentioned before, I LOVE our OB. She's really great. She said she thought I was doing pretty good considering what happened, which was good. Anyway. While we were there, she told Kris and me a story she heard at the hospital. 5 days after we had our baby and my surgery, a lady gave birth to her 5th child, and had the same post partum hemorrhaging as me. She ended up going into get a hysterectomy, but she kept on losing tons of blood, and as if her body was giving up, nothing was clotting. They ended up bringing in trauma surgeon and a vascular surgeon to patch her up, but after 4 hours of surgery, no luck. So they couldn't even close her up - they packed her with stuff layer by layer, and ended up giving her 20 units of blood. (Which we found out that average blood volume is about 11 units of blood.)
Day My Heart Doubled
Thursday October 22, 2009, Kris, my parents and I all woke up bright and early at 4:30am. Holy Crap, we're having a baby today!! The hospital bags were packed, but I hadn't gotten much sleep due to my cough that I have had for a week and a half. But I didn't really have a choice - I got out of bed, doubled checked the hospital bag yet again, ate two bowls of cereal - Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats. Got dressed in the only pants that fit me - my yoga pants, and a long sleeved t-shirt that could barely contain my belly any more. But I figured I just had to make it to the hosp
The Hardest Night of my Life
October 22, 2009 my first born, a daughter, entered this world. Alaise Noelle Vanderwater was greeted by her parents and grand parents (on both sides). She's a big baby, 20 inches, with a 14+ inch head, 8 lbs 13 ounces. Ju's labor went pretty well. The epidural did wonders for her. The delivery, on the other hand, was quite difficult, and the size of the baby required the doctor to make a bit of room for her to come down the canal via an episiotomy.
Trip to Labor and Delivery, Part I.
So, I hope Labor and Delivery Part II will only come once we have this babe. But we did have Part I today. I've been having bad Braxton Hicks at least since yesterday morning... Some hours, I'd have them every 6-7 minutes for hours straight. The doctor wanted me to go the hospital if I had 4-5 previously... But the stubborn (and maybe stupid) person I am, I would wait it out, take a warm shower, eat something, and lay down. That usually slowed it down, and Braxton Hicks wouldn't last more than a day on and off. This time, I took a bath, and did everything I was supposed to, but it just wouldn't go away. I was up at 4:30am because it bothered me. Not to mention I was absolutely ravenous. (nothing Korean ramen and rice couldn't fix!)