Jamie arrives & life with baby begins

Forgive me for my tardiness, but I've been waylaid by the arrival of our beautiful little girl, Jamie Elizabeth Mitchell. 

Our Birth Story

Well, we were all set to have a nice 'leisurely' arrival of our little one on the morning of August 12th, as our c section was scheduled for 9:30am and I had to be at the hospital for 6am to check into mother-babe and get prepped.

So, following many peoples' advice, B & I planned to spend the 11th together ... our last day as a 'twosome'.  We had a lovely, low key day... walked up to Whitespot for brunch and then to London Drugs and just hung out together.  I was tired and feeling very slow... but who wouldn't when they were HUGE.  ;)  

In the late afternoon we went over to the hospital for our pre-admission appointment.  We filled out all our paperwork, got my blood work done, and put ourselves on the list for a private room.  Then headed home for a nice home cooked meal and curled up on the couch together to watch a movie. 

I was trying my best not to get anxious about the next morning, but my belly was full of butterflies all day long.  After the movie finished I forced myself to go to bed, thinking I'd get a good night's sleep and be ready for our 6am hospital appointment. 

But Jamie had her own timing.  At 2am I rolled over in bed, and something felt wrong.  My water had broken!!!  Eyes flying wide open, I think I freaked out the poor cats, as I raced into the bathroom.  Yes, indeed, it seemed that Jamie couldn't wait.  I calmly (I think) told Brian, that we needed to go to hospital right then.  Poor Brian, sat upright in bed, completely dazed and confused, and then as what I was saying sunk in, went into action.  I called labour & delivery and they said that yes... I should come in right away. 

Our suitcase was grabbed, cats were ushered inside, and off we went.  In the short drive (10 mins) to the hospital my contractions started in full force.  My doctor was waiting at the check in for Labour & Delivery when we arrived and asked why I couldn't wait until my appointment time in the morning.  Ha ha... not my idea, I groaned as another contraction took hold. 

Now, remember, from early on I had known I would be having a c-section.  So, even being the person that I am, I had not bothered to study and read up on the birthing process... and I feel so caught off guard.  When I first arrived and checked in there was no rush and panic.  The doctors felt that I would go slowly and that I would just wait it out until my appointment time in the morning. 

But then the contractions kept getting stronger and closer together.  The nurses started frowning and looking more concerned, I was getting more stressed out, my water kept coming, and then I started being in so much pain that I got sick to my stomach.  At one point I simply told B that "I wanted my mom" so a middle of the night call was made and she arrived shortly thereafter. 

A nurse asked if my family had a history of fast labour.... we do... and frowned at the little machine's printouts again, then informed me that the anesthesiologist was dealing with a trauma and couldn't come see to me yet.  They didn't know how long he'd be, but they were hoping that I could 'last' until the new shift came on at 7:30am.

Time seemed to both drag on, and to blend together.  My anxiety level was at an all time high as all I could think of was "what if I have to push... I didn't prepare to push!".  The OR nurse came in and checked on me, frowned some more and disappeared, then returned shortly thereafter to tell me it was time and to wheel me into the OR.  At that point my contractions were coming one after another and I think I was near the point of pushing. 

They whisked me into the OR, and hallelula gave me a spinal.  Before that I was completely consumed by pain and panic... once the spinal was in I could hold B's hand and really pay attention to the fact that our little one was almost here.  The nurses and doctors were fantastic, and B even got to take a video of them taking Jamie out of me. 

She started crying the moment she sensed air.  A perfect baby girl, weighing in at 8.9 lbs.  What a doll!! 

The c section, on my part, went well, and other than having a wicked backache for days after, really hasn't caused me much trouble.  Jamie's health couldn't be better.  We spent 4 days in the hospital, and have been home for a few weeks learning all about our new little family unit...

....but more on that later......

Count Down Continues...

Well, only a few more days to go until I go in for our c-section.  

Can I tell you a secret? As each day slips by I am getting more and more excited, and more and more terrified.  I can't wait to meet this amazing little person that we've created, see what she looks like, and hold her in my arms!  I mean, for someone who considers themselves to be a creative soul, could there be any greater work of art to create than your own flesh and blood?!?  Then help them learn, discover and develop?  It's truly a gift!!

But, as we get closer to the big day, the notion of the c-section and all the unknowns is getting more and more real, and I'm scared.  It probably doesn't help that on the chat group I'm a part of on babycentre.com there's a thread on how much people are dreading c-sections because of their horrible previous experiences with them.  I was really fine with the fact that we were going this route until a few weeks ago.  Now, though the most logical choice, it seems daunting!  But I'm trying my best to keep the universe (and myself) convinced that it is going to go swimmingly and that I'll not be in the worst case recovery scenario that I keep hearing about.

On the BIG PLUS side of things, it's been a tremendously productive week.  In my last post I was stressing about the loss of our tenants and my mom having shingles.  Well, a week works wonders as both are no longer concerns.  We've found a great tenant, and the doctors have given mom an all-clear for visiting the hospital and being around baby.... WHEW!!!!!

Other than that it's been a pretty low key week.  I'm now bigger than a watermelon (as my friend Sandra's daughter put it) and am totally zapped of energy.  One small outing a day seems to be my limit, though another side of me is absolutely craving a higher level of activity.  I've even been having dreams about being back in the gym again! (yikes)  

Attempt at Origami

One of the last things on my 'to do' list has been to figure out a mobile for Jamie's crib.  My original inspiration was to create one made from origami animals, but frustration has over taken that objective, as I can't seem to get 'cool enough' animals created and it just doesn't feel right. So now my desk is littered with paper butterflies, frogs and cranes... which will most likely turn into cat toys (on a related note, I discovered a great and easy cat toy to make is an origami water bomb filled with capnip!)

So now I'm onto other ideas for the mobile.  I'm going to head to the craft store today and pick up some wooden shapes, some dowels and other items of interest and make one out of those, painting them in bright and entertaining colors.  At least that will tide us over until a better inspiration hits me, or a cave and go buy one. 

This time off seems to be reigniting my creative and crafty side, which I'm loving but finding frustrating as its so rusty that I get a spark but struggle to bring it to fruition.  I figure by the end of my year long mat leave I'll be a regular Martha Stewart... hmmm... or is there another trendy crafty celeb I should be trying to emulate? 

Fantastic Visits and Added Stresses

This week has definitely been one of highs and lows.

I'm now 11 days away from our scheduled c-section, but at my last doctor's visit we had to have the "in-case you go into labour" talk because I'm over 1 cm dilated. That was certainly a bit of a reality check for me.  There's no denying this is really happening and soon our little bundle of joy will be joining us... ready or not, here she comes!  

Mentally I've reached a bit of a more relaxed space of no longer needing everything on my to-do list completed before bambino arrives.  Perhaps its the lower energy because I'm not sleeping well anymore, or maybe I've come to my senses a little, but we've got the basics covered, so if she decided to join us today, we'd be fine.  

Though I must admit to the random panicked thoughts of "what if we aren't ready?" and "what if I'm not a natural mother?" ... but that's just the hormones talking, right? 

Alexa was out to visit for a night, which was FANTASTIC!  I really enjoyed just hanging out, and we even managed a short adventure to East Sooke Park.  Without realizing it, she paid me a compliment that's helped to ease some of the fears that were brewing... she said I was going to be a natural mom just by proof of how intuitive I am to the needs of our cats.  God, I hope she's right.  

Having Alexa out also made me realize how much I miss my girlfriends and girl time.  B and I have a great time together, and he's absolutely my best friend, but there's something different (and special) with spending time with long standing girlfriends that know you inside out from another woman's perspective.  

Daddy B (hee hee) celebrated his birthday on saturday, which was a wonderful day.  Laid back and just about enjoying time as a family.  In the back of my mind I thought that bambino might make an appearance for his special day, but she's decided to hang tight for a little longer.  And this is something that we're encouraging because....

Also on saturday our tenants decided to give us their 1 month notice.  Totally bad timing.  Right now we count on that rent, so we HAVE to rent it out asap for September 1st, however potential tenants will be seeing me with big belly (B suggested that he show the suite, so it's not right in their face that there will be a new baby in the house). We also have our suite priced fairly high, which right now with a glut of places for rent, may hurt us.  But we know the place is worth it.  AND we were planning on fixing the bathtub and surround in the fall (it's got a leak that's we've patched) but now we'll be doing that in August before new tenants move in... which means construction happening right when Jamie has joined us.  Not ideal. 

But.. shit happens and you just deal with it.  So, I've put aside the freakout and just got on with listing the suite and taking care of things... THEN...

Mom shows up after a quick trip to the walk-in clinic to announce she is having a shingles flareup and she's contagious!!!  Not a big deal for B & I because we've both had chickenpox, BUT it means that of my only two support people, my mom will no longer be able to visit the hospital or help with baby in the first few weeks until her flareup subsides. Not to mention just the fact that she's not feeling well and is having to deal with yet another medical thing.  

I mean, WTF world?!?!?  Could you not just leave us alone for a while and let us enjoy the good stuff?

So, while I've been recently having conversations with my bump at night to tell her that she can come whenever she's ready, last night I asked her to hold on a bit.  That mommy needs some time to get her ducks back in a row, deal with a few things, and let grandma get better so she can be there too.  Hopefully our little one heard my plea.