I'm an AUNTIE!w00t!

[TheOtherVillainess]

Yesterday, because of some bad construction, Brandon drove me to work and picked me up when I called and told him I was off. He showed up to pick me up with a shirt and a pair of my jeans and told me I had to change and make it quick. Which I did...having been in theatre productions in both HS and college tends to turn one into a very quick-change artist.^_^ We got some food from work and head out to the car. I ask him where we are going and he doesn't tell me, although I can tell from the directions he's written down on a scrap piece of paper, we're headed to Ft.Worth. I think we're headed to the annual Stock Show and Rodeo, which is in downtown. Turns out we are headed to the hospital where my sister has been admitted.

Earlier that morning,around 10:30 or so while she was in the dr's office for a checkup, her water breaks. Luckily, the dr's office is quite literally across the street from the hospital, so they wheel her over. She starts active labor around 11ish but it kinda slows down and then stops a couple hours later, so they dose her up with Pitocin to get it going again. After a couple of hours, the pain is SO bad the dr makes her get an epidural, so she'll at least be comfortable for the remainder of the labor. I KNEW she wouldn't be able to do it naturally.

Anyway...Brandon and I get there around 5:30ish to find we are the only ones there at the moment. A few minutes later, Keith (that's my sister's BF)'s mom Betty shows up with her daughter Tina, as well as Kevin (Keith's sister)and his very preggos GF Karin.We all troop in, visit with my sister for a little while and then they come back to re-dose her with epidural medicine and she falls asleep. So we troop back out to the waiting room and sit...and sit..and sit. Eventually, I get hungry again after about 3 hrs of waiting and we go downstairs to the Subway that's in the next building for food.

By the time we get back, she's dialated enough to start pushing and so they tell her to push. The dr's kick my mom (who'd shown up by that time along with my brother and his GF)and Betty out of the room because they are making general pests of themselves.After 45 min, Caitlynn arrives screaming her bloody head off and Gary (Keith's dad, who showed up sometime between when we left to get Subway and when we got back)runs in there with the video camera. Apparently Betty was ticked off that Keith didn't come out right away to tell everybody the baby was already here and she made Gary go in with the camera to make sure. He was allowed to film for about 5-10 min before he too was kicked out. During the next hour and a half, when they were cleaning the baby up and trying to get her to breastfeed, my mom and Betty kept running back there like nervous hamsters to check on my sister and Caitlynn, only to be booted out by a dr or a nurse.

Finally, around 10 pm, we were allowed in for a few moments to see Liz and Caitlynn, who was sweet as could be all wrapped up in her little blankee with a blue and pink stocking cap on her head.Liz handed her to mom, who held her for a few minutes and then handed her to me, at which point she started crying. I sang the chorus to "Don't You Cry Tonight" by Guns-n_Roses and she suddenly quieted down.^_^ I handed her off to Brandon, who looked EXTREMELY nervous a bout holding her. He barely held her for a minute before handing her off to Betty, who was complaining about not getting to hold her yet. After a few more minutes of talking to my sister and cuddling the baby, we all left,grinning like idiots.

1/20/04--Caitlynn Middle Name to Be Determined--6.8 lbs, 18.5 inchs long..dark hair, dark eyes. Cuter than Orlando Bloom in a pirate's outfit.^_^



TOV

 

[Stimpy]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

 

[scrappinMickey]

Congratulations on the new little angel addition to your family!!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Thanks. Caitlynn is a little I loved getting to hold her and smell that 'new baby' smell.

Keith's dad took some piccies with the digital camera, which he is supposed to email me either today or tomorrow. I can't wait. Yaaay!

Makes me wish mine was already here.



TOV

 

[robinb]

First of all, congratulations! At least you'll have your neice to practice on for a while .

You have a family of nervous hampters?!?! Girl, I would keep your labor secret!

I KNEW she wouldn't be able to do it naturally.

You should try not to be petty about other people's labor choices. I am a certified pain wuss and had a natural labor. Every birth is different! I personally don't understand people who plan on geting an epidural with a first pregnancy. However, these kind of choices are so personal that even when someone makes a choice I don't "get", I can still accept it as their choice.

Good luck with your labor and keep those hampsters caged!

 

[jel0511]

She starts active labor around 11ish but it kinda slows down and then stops a couple hours later, so they dose her up with Pitocin to get it going again. After a couple of hours, the pain is SO bad the dr makes her get an epidural, so she'll at least be comfortable for the remainder of the labor. I KNEW she wouldn't be able to do it naturally.

It seems to me that you've also never had a baby, so you've also never experienced Pitocin. It is absolutely horrible, as it makes your contractions come HARD and FAST very quickly. There isn't enough time to adjust to the new intensity of them, which makes MANY women extremely uncomfortable. A lot of women who meed Pitocin to get their deliveries either started or progressing nicely need the epidural since the contractions are harder and faster than non-drug induced contractions. If you think getting an epidural makes you a wimp, then you've got a lot of growing up to do. All that is important in having a child is having a healthy child, and if the mother is too tired or too much in pain to push, that's going to make it very difficult. Getting an epidural isn't a bad thing, it's sometimes needed. If you need a pitocin during your delivery, I'd love to see how long you'd last without some kind of pain relief. Oh sorry, I forgot to add, Congrats!!

 

[Talking Hands]

Congrats to the new Mom and to you as a new aunt. How wonderful.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Well, my sister wasn't PLANNING on having Pitocin. However, once the doctor realized that this kiddo might be upwards of 9 lbs before the due date, she convinced Liz to have an inducement.
Caitlynn is her first child and so I'm sure that although she was warned about how bad the pain would be and took Lamaze or whatever, Lizzie was NOT prepared for what the Pitocin would do to her.

As soon as I'd heard she'd planned to do it naturally, I thought she was a bit nuts but stayed out of it, as it was her decision. After all, it's her body not mine and though I know she's not big on pain, I figured she could handle it. However, after the Pitocin was administered to keep her contractions going, the doctor gave her the epidural anyway because Liz couldn't handle the pain by herself and was getting really, really tired.

I felt so sorry for her, laying there in that big old bed, exhaustion etched in every line of her young face. You could tell she was so worn out she could barely keep her eyes open by the time we got there at around 5:30 or so. SHe slept for a little while before they woke her up to start pushing and thankfully, she only had to push for about 45 min before Caitlynn arrived.

Called Mom today and checked on Liz and Caitlynn and both are doing fine, from what I've been told.


TOV