Diary of a Delivery, Day One

I know it has been three weeks since Tallen was born, but I am finally able to put him down for a few minutes and catch up on emails and write about his birth. Below is an excerpt from my journal with give the details of the day he was born... Check back over the next few days to see how we spent the next two days in the hospital.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

5:00 AM – I can’t sleep and I am tired of lying awake in bed so I head downstairs and find something to eat. I turn on the TV but nothing keeps my interest. I am scheduled to be induced in two days, but I am having second thoughts (and some anxiety) about inducing. During this pregnancy, I have felt that it is important to let labor begin naturally. The baby (and my body) will tell me when it is time to go into labor and I still have another week until my due date. My main objection about induction is the medical intervention, so I turn on my laptop and search for information about the side effects and risks of inducing labor with Pitocin. I remember how it made me feel when I had Sophia and I don’t want to feel that way again. Although he will probably be disappointed, I decide to tell Trey that I have changed my mind about my scheduled induction on Tuesday.

4:00 PM – Trey, Sophia and I arrive at Tim and Kara’s house for a Memorial Day cookout. Several friends are there too and Sophia is excited that she gets to play with Court and Jackson. Soon after we arrive, I think I feel a contraction so I glance at the clock - it reads 4:16 PM. (I tell my friends that we almost went to the hospital on Friday night because I was having contractions and they were pretty strong. However they went away after about an hour and I fell asleep). Over the next hour I feel several more contractions – although I am not sure if that is really what they are because I did not have any contractions with Sophia.

5:16 PM – Another strong pain, which I believe is a contraction now. I find a pen and paper and start to keep track of when I feel them. The girls are sitting in the kitchen eating dinner while the guys have been gathered around the grill or in the living room watching TV. Knowing this could be my last chance to eat for awhile; I finish my plate of food and eat Sophia’s leftover dessert. Around 6:00 PM, I tell Trey that I have been having contractions for almost two hours. He is surprised and asks if I am sure (a valid question due to the fact that I still am not sure if this is what if feels like to be in labor). The girls convince me that it is probably time for us to head to the hospital. I want to go home and get my bag and the cameras in case this is the real deal. Kara offers to watch Sophia until Trey’s parents can come pick her up.

7:30 PM – We are officially checked into the hospital. It is a slow night; I am the only patient in labor and delivery. I am dilated to 5 cm and having contractions every 6-8 minutes. The nurse puts in my IV (I have to look away – I really hate needles) and tells me that I can have an epidural whenever I am ready. It is my intention to go as long as possible without IV meds – including Pitocin. My contractions are stronger but I am able to breathe through them. I make several phone calls to my mom, my sister, and my grandmother to let them know the baby is on his way. Trey and I make bets about if the baby whether the baby will be born before midnight (I say yes, he thinks no).

8:30 PM – I have reached the point where my contractions are painful so I call the nurse and ask them to page the anesthesiologist. Trey is having a hard time watching me in pain, but he sits beside me the entire time and talks me through it. By 9:00 PM the epidural is in and the medicine begins to take the edge off the pain. The nurse is shocked when she checks me and I am dilated to 9 cm already. She pages the doctor on call to go ahead and come to the hospital, because it seems like the baby will be here soon. Dr K (who is on call for my regular doctor) visits me around 9:30 PM. Unfortunately she has to deliver some bad news – my high blood pressure has been a concern since we checked into the hospital and my blood work has confirmed that I have pre-eclampsia. There medical risks include seizures which could affect me and the baby, but the good news is that the treatment for this condition is delivery of the baby and that will happen soon. However, the doctor orders IV meds for 24 hours after delivery and warns me that I will feel pretty crappy while I am on the medicine. This shock of this news slows down my contractions for the next hour. The baby’s heart rate is also a concern - it drops several times so the nurses give me oxygen and move me from side to side to find a more comfortable position for the baby.

11:00 PM – Due to my contractions slowing down, the nurse tell me that the doctor has ordered Pitocin. I am upset but know that we need to get the baby out soon. Trey tells his dad that things have slowed down, so he can go home and get some rest. We are not sure how much longer it will take for the contractions to speed up again. About 10 minutes later, my nurse checks me again (gives me the second shocked look of the night) and runs out of the room to get the doctor. Dr. K arrives and it is time to have a baby… I am happy that the epidural has taken away any pain and with just a few pushes our baby boy is here!

11:19 PM – Tallen is here! The doctor has called in a PICU nurse as a precaution during delivery but Tallen looks great when he is delivered and the doctor lets me hold him right away. She places him on my chest and tears start to stream down my face.

I am laughing, crying and overjoyed to finally hold my baby boy. I am surprised at how clean and pink he looks compared to Sophia. I check to see if he is indeed a boy (I never trust those sonograms). He also has some healthy lungs because he is Screaming!

I am relieved that he is ok and the delivery went so quick. He is tiny – 6 lbs and 4 oz (we would not find out his length until after he went to the nursery).
I am able to nurse him and hold him close that first hour before he goes to the nursery for more tests. His only problem is low blood sugar, so the nurses ask if they can supplement with some formula. I have no choice but to say yes.

Trey texts me from the nursery to tell me that Tallen is 21 inches long! I am tired and the nurse has started the IV meds so I try to get some sleep.

Family Pictures at the Arboretum

Bathroom renovation pictures...

A few months ago I wrote about the water leak in our Master bathroom that led to a total renovation. It took awhile (about 4 weeks?) to complete, but I am so happy with the results. Here are a few "After" pictures...


We removed the old white marble that surrounded the jacuzzi tub and replaced it with new tile to match the existing tile floor. The mirrored sliding doors to the closet (framed in brass) were also removed and replaced with the white french doors (to the right of the tub in the picture).


We also changed out the brass faucet and replaced it with one that has a brushed silver finish. The result is a new clean look (when it is not covered in Barbies, baby dolls and bath toys).

The shower also got a face lift by removing the old white tile, brass enclosure and brass fixtures. We also enlarged the shower and got a new glass enclosure.

Finally, we updated the brass light fixtures (that looked like bare bulbs on a brass strip), removed the wallpaper and painted the walls a light green. The granite countertops were added over a year ago and now the rest of the room has been updated to match.

Both of the vanities and all the trim also got a fresh coat of paint to finish off the room. I am so happy it is finished and I love the results! By the way, it took me so long to post these pictures because my bathroom never stays this clean.

Monday Motherhood Musings...

Friday night, Trey, Sophia and I were invited to dinner at a neighbor’s house down the street. The couple moved into our neighborhood about a year ago and the husband is a lawyer. We had consulted with him about establishing our wills (fun topic, I know) and he thought it would be more enjoyable to socialize while we talked business. Their children are grown, but they have met Sophia and invited her to come along for dinner too. I was a little worried about how she would behave in a house that does not normally see small children, but I packed up some toys, movies, and her tea party set to keep her entertained.

After getting over her initial fear of their very large but very old (and gentle) dog, she settled in to watch Surf’s Up and play Candyland. Just as we sat down to dinner in the dining room, Sophia immediately decided she needed to go to the potty. I excused us both and quickly took her to potty, wash hands, and return to the dinner table. No problem… until this happened again THREE MORE TIMES during dinner. After the first two or three times, I delegated potty duty to Trey so that I could at least try to eat some of my food. I still don’t know if Sophia was just having trouble going potty or if she just liked their bathroom (she told me it was “beautiful” when we walked in the first time).

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Sunday morning, Sophia and I were making pancakes for breakfast. She stood on her stool next to the counter while I let her help me mix the batter, and then I asked her to play with her coloring and sticker books while I poured perfect circles on the griddle (uh, yeah right). My pancakes are far from perfect – I tried to make a Mickey Mouse pancake for Sophia and passed it off as a kitty-cat after it ended up with pointy ears.

While I was flipping the pancakes, Sophia walked over and gave me a sticker to wear.

“Here, Mommy. Here is a cocodrilo for you.”

Admittedly, I was impressed with her dual language skills, but I realized that if my daughter can give me a crocodile sticker in Spanish then MAYBE she is spending a little too much time watching Dora the Explorer.

**Picture of Sophia finger-painting on Saturday (and proof that I do more than just let my daughter watch TV).

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The “S” word is banned; from now on we are supposed to refer to the new influenza virus as “Influenza A (H1N1)”. Regardless of the name, it is hitting a little too close to home here in Texas. On Friday, local school officials made the decision to close our entire school district due to up to 11 suspected cases of the virus. Since Sophia attends an in-home daycare, which has decided to stay open this week, she is not directly affected. However our daycare provider has two children who attend elementary school in the district and they will be staying home this week. I was assured that neither of their schools reported any suspected cases, but I still took the weekend to decide if I should send her to daycare this week.

Trey and I both work full time so staying home with her all week is not really an option (although my mother-in-law would more than likely offer to keep her if it was necessary). We are just trying to take precautions without panicking. Our decision was to skip swim lessons at the community pool on Saturday, but we still attended our friend’s First birthday party. We also stayed home from church and did not go to the playground on Sunday, Sophia played in the backyard instead. After checking to see if any of the kids were sick at daycare (they were not), we decided to let her go today. I am finding it difficult to make decisions about what is safe and what to safeguard her from…

Flashback Friday!

Can you remember what was going on in the world exactly one year ago? Well on April 30, 2008…

• The remaining finalists on the 7th season of American Idol were: David Cook, David Archuleta, Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro and Brooke White


• The US was in the middle of the Democratic presidential primary election with a close race between Senator Barak Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. John McCain had already clinched the Republican nomination


• The top songs on the Billboard Hot 100 was “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne and “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis


• The price of oil was around $120/bbl and gasoline was averaging $3.24/gallon at the pump


• Trey and I had just returned from our trip to Las Vegas

More importantly, on April 30, 2008, I officially launched my personal blog, The SUIRESPHERE. It is hard to believe that I have been a “blogger” for 12 whole months! Before that I was just an annoying person who sent really long, opinionated, impassioned emails to all my friends and asked them to send me comments back. If you have not been following me from the beginning, it might be fun to go back and read some of the archives.

When I first started blogging, I was very motivated about pursuing my dream of becoming a writer. Last summer, I even took an online beginner’s creative writing course at UNT (University of North Texas). Out of fear of sharing my thoughts with people in person, (and facing the horror of rejection) I enrolled in the online course where I could remain faceless and even post my writing under a fake name. When I started the class, I was intimidated but arrogant, highly self-critical but hoping I could impress the other students, eager to learn but secretly hoping the instructor would say that I was a fabulous writer - without putting in alot of hard work or effort. I'm sure this is how all the other students felt.

The best lesson I learned from the course was giving myself permission to say, “I am a writer.” I can call myself a writer simply because I choose to write every day. I enjoy it. It is part of my personality. I express myself best when my pen hits the paper; my thoughts become clearer and my emotions pour out. By blogging and sharing my thoughts with friends and family, I feel like I have found my voice.

Initially, I had imagined a future that could include writing a novel, freelancing for magazines, or publishing a collection of short stories. However, throughout the last year I have learned that my validation as a writer does not need to come in the form of a book or a byline. I am simply enjoying the process, the idea that I will have all of these memories saved to share with Sophia (and eventually Baby T). I still think of a future where I can spend more time writing, but at this point in my life it is not a priority or a goal. For now I have my career, my family, children to raise, and memories to put on paper…

You can probably tell that my motivation to write began to fade as the number of posts on my blog dropped off towards the end of the year (Seriously, I only posted 1 or 2 times a month in November, December, and January). This was mainly due to lack of free time and work issues. I was fighting the side effects of my pregnancy (mainly nausea and fatigue) while keeping up with the “busy time of year” at work and still being a good mom and wife at home. I am sure the same thing will happen towards the end of 2009 – with my free time being spent taking care of our new baby boy and working overtime at the office.

But I will still continue to write. In my personal journal, in my journal to Sophia, in letters to Trey, and when I find the time… on my blog. I am also thinking about taking another creative writing class this summer. I will still probably take an online course because I will be at home with Baby T on maternity leave. But this time, I just might get brave enough to use my own name in the class.

So what were you doing one year ago? Have you tackled any big fears in the past year? I would love to hear how the last year has changed you…

*A picture of Sophia one year ago. Maybe we have another aspiring writer in the family.