AGWieland

(9 days old today)

In the very early days, Winifred was in the habit of screaming for several hours each night for no apparent reason. But we soon solved that by making a deal. Three nights ago I told her that if she was a good girl we’d buy her a car when she turns sixteen. Strangest thing is it seems to have worked! Freddie now seems to cry more with reason instead of random tantrums. Last night she did fuss for 45 minutes or so…it seemed much longer due to our extreme exhaustion but quieted down half past midnight and slept the night through rather well. I wake her up in the night to feed and change her before she starts to fuss. Guinness and I have actually been getting a reasonable amount of sleep the past few nights. We’re just sleepy because we still haven’t caught up. Guinness says if she’s really good for sixteen years we’ll buy her the nicest car any sixteen year old ever had and she’ll deserve it.

I’m recovering rather well I think. My back still hurts and I can’t wait till I’m recovered enough to see a chiropractor and a masseuse. The stairs are still hard for me so I stay upstairs with Winnie pretty much all day. Guinness is still bringing me almost every meal upstairs. I’m so spoiled. He’s so great with Freddie too! I’m annoyed with myself though because we have no pictures of him holding her yet. He doesn’t like his picture taken so much and every time he’s holding her I’m generally so excited to relax a bit I forget to run for the camera. I’m determined to get at least one today.

Guinness thinks I’m funny because I keep trying out all the possible nicknames to see which one I like best (you might have noticed). I’m not sure whether I’ll call her Winifred, Winnie, Fred, or Freddie. I use them all. Actually Guinness and I tend to call her Baby most of the time. It seemed strange to call her by name when I was still pregnant and we didn’t pick the name until rather late in the pregnancy. After calling her Baby for nine months it’s a hard habit to break. Family and friends tend to pick whichever they like best. My family seems to call her Winnie more than anything else. My sister asked if it was okay to call her Fred….of course it is Heather. She and her husband Joel are still in S. Korea and won’t get to see the baby until they comes home next September. I wonder what Freddie will look like by then?

She’s changing every day. She’s growing quickly, she’s more alert, more wiggly, and even cuter every day. I love her more every minute. People told me it would be that way but it’s even more true than I imagined.

Winifred Jane Wieland

Born: Monday, February 19, 2007 at 8:37 am (President’s Day)

Weight: 8 lb 6.9 ounces

Length: 21.5 inches

Winifred is happy and healthy just as we’d all hoped. She took a very long time in coming but it was definitely worth it. She’s so beautiful I can’t stop looking at her. I haven’t had too much sleep yet because I’m always staring at her. Guinness took care of her for several hours the past few nights so I could get a bit a sleep. We’re both very sleepy but taking care of her in shifts seems to be working rather well at night.

The Gory Details:

I went in to pre-labor or early-labor around 9:00 pm on Friday (2-16). The contractions were mildly painful (when I look back on them now), and were coming sporadically around 20-30 minutes apart. I called the advice nurse at labor and delivery and she suggested I just keep track of them and come in if anything changed or if my water broke.

By Saturday morning (2-17) they were closer to 10 minutes apart but still random. Our friends Josh and Leorah were in town and Guinness and I kept our plans and went out to breakfast with them. We had a nice breakfast at Zocalo though I think the whole thing was making both Josh and Leorah just a bit nervous. The conversation was primarily centered on our plans for a trip to Disney World near the end of the year. I checked the distance between contractions all through the meal and saw relatively no change. Guinness and I weren’t worried having heard from everyone (especially my doctor) that labor would take a great long time and there would be no need for a mad rush to the hospital. We did expect the baby would be born later that night…but no.

Guinness and Josh spent the afternoon playing the Wii while I rested up thinking I might need the energy later. Around 9:00 or so (I’m not really sure exactly when) I called the advice nurse again at labor and delivery to see what they thought I should do. I thought my water might have been leaking (it wasn’t) and the contractions were around 8 minutes apart. I was quite uncomfortable but still able to get through the contractions without too much trouble. I couldn’t however sleep at all. The contractions were waking me up every 8 minutes. They asked me to come in so Guinness and I gathered the bags and set off for the hospital making one short stop on the way for bottled water for me and snacks for Guinness (in case it was a long night). The Doctor checked everything out and I was only at 2 centimeters. He said the contractions were not quite strong enough that the baby would be born soon. He gave me a shot of morphine for the pain and told me there were no side effects. He lied. Guinness thinks it’s strange that I’m so innocent about that sort of thing. I know nothing about drugs and had no clue I’d be so loopy and nauseous. I threw up just after we got back home but was able to sleep through most of the night with less pain.

I woke up around 5:30 or so and my contractions were around 6 minutes apart and oh so painful. I tried to keep quiet so Guinness could sleep but only managed to let him sleep another hour or so before the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t help but make some noise. They got worse from there. By 9:00 I was in considerable pain made worse because the contractions caused a full body shiver that tensed my muscles and made breathing through the pain impossible. Before the shivering and teeth chattering I was doing rather well at breathing and relaxing through each one. We called the hospital and they said to come in right away. We did. After a quick examination they told me I was still only 3 centimeters dilated and they didn’t admit until at least 4. (There was a strange little missunderstanding here as my addled brain couldn’t understand why I had to wait till 4 o’clock to be admited…Guinness explained it was 4 centimeters when he noticed my puzzled look). The doctor made a deal with me however and said if I walked around for 2 hours she’d admit me when I came back. But before she left the room I had another 3 contractions and she changed her mind and said to just walk for 1 hour. They took my blood for labs before we left and I requested one of the ABC rooms if any were available. These rooms are bigger and you can labor, deliver and recover all in the same room before moving to a postpartum room.

So Guinness and I walked the hospital for an hour. Guinness was amazing at keeping me going even though all I wanted to do was sit. I didn’t think it was good at the time but it got me dilated another centimeter. When we got back to labor and delivery there was just a small bit of confusion as to where they were going to put me. I found out later it was because I was pre-admitted and the doctor on call wanted to make sure I got the ABC room since I’d requested it. She was great! Her two good deeds made the whole experience remarkably better for me. The blood they took before I left meant I could get the epidural just as soon as they could set it up. It was only about an hour before the epidural was working it’s wonderful magic.

I LOVE EPIDURALS! Within minutes they pain of contractions was easing and my shivering stopped. They gave me tons of heated blankets and I was feeling good. From then on everything was so great! I slept so much. I hadn’t been able to sleep well due to the pain for a very long time. With the epidural I couldn’t feel anything but happy, excited and sleepy. Guinness had an uncomfortable chair that kept adjusting itself oddly but he suffered through. He was in more pain than me I think. I love epidurals! I can’t recommend them more highly. Guinness said if it was him he’d kind of want to know what the pain of childbirth was like just to have had the experience. I was very pleased to only have the early labor pain and no more.

At 8:00 am on Presidents Day (Monday), my nurse, Cathy, told me the pressure I was feeling meant it was time to start pushing. She guessed that I’d push for 2-3 hours…it didn’t take that long at all. 15-20 minutes later she called the doctor in to catch the baby. Because I felt no pain I was able to get 4 pushes in with every contraction. They plan for 3 but I kept asking if there was time to do a fourth. Most of the time there was. I couldn’t see what was going on beneath my belly so I really didn’t realize things were moving along so swiftly. The doctor, technician, and baby doctor joined my nurse for the final pushes. Because things were going so quickly they asked me to sit a few contractions out while they got ready. It didn’t bother me at all…I love epidurals! At one point the doctor even got a rather critical phone call of some kind. She asked me if it would be okay to take it…I said sure. It was a very pleasant experience. We all sat around cracking jokes all through the pushing…well I was on my back. They called Guinness down a few times to view the activity and I did get to feel her head all squished out of shape coming out. They all kept saying things like “my it looks like its going to be a big baby”. Normally that would have scared me a lot but the epidural was working and I was only a little nervous about the possibility of a tear or needing an episiotomy. I told the doctor to avoid an episiotomy if possible. After just 37 minutes of pushing they plopped Winifred on my belly. It really surprised me. I had no idea I was that close. I was expecting far more pressure and at least a hint of pain. Guinness said Winifred shot out like she was on a water slide complete with lots and lots of water.

Guinness and I didn’t cry too much at the birth. I expected to be completely overwhelmed with emotion but found when the time came I was just so happy and relieved she was ok. The crying came later…happy crying.

Guinness cut the cord and they took Winifred to the corner of the room to check her out and wipe her down a little. Guinness took some pictures of her while the doctor fixed me up. I hadn’t needed an episiotomy and only had the tiniest upper tear. That surprised the doctor quite a bit. Babies of her size generally do more damage.

I got to feed her minutes after she was born. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe something so big had been inside kicking me just minutes before. I suppose she seems small to other people but not to me.

Before they cleaned me up they shut off the drugs so that I would be able to move around with help. About an hour later Winifred and I were ready to go to the room we’d stay the night in. Guinness was exhausted. I’d been able to sleep during the night because of the epidural but he was awake nearly the whole time. He needed sleep and badly…especially since I knew Winifred and I would soon be coming home soon and I was going to need lots of recovery sleep. We said goodbye and he left for a few short hours.

They moved us into postpartum and I tried to rest a little in there. It was strange to suddenly be alone with her…excepting of course my noisy room mate and her 5 thousand visitors. They’d told me they didn’t allow more than 2 in the room at a time but she had far more and I really wish they’d kept them out. It was a very large black family with loud booming voices and a screaming 21 month old to boot. I wanted them out but didn’t dare say anything. The poor woman had a heart problem and had been through a difficult c-section 2 days before. She was miserable and wanted to go home but they wouldn’t let her. I felt bad for her but also for myself since their visiting was quite an annoyance. Because so many were in the room I had a great deal of trouble squeezing past them each time I needed to use the restroom. I also flashed them all quite a few times accidentally. I tried to keep the gown closed the first time I used the bathroom but found I couldn’t stay on my feet well while carrying the necessary items and trying to hold the gown closed.

My Mom and Dad came to visit me early afternoon. Time was so screwed up for me I still thought of it as the night before. They stayed for a long time and had too much fun with their new granddaughter. You can read Dad’s thoughts on his blog at: www.therealestatestory.blogspot.com. He has some pictures there too. Guinness also posted some pictures on our flicker account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allguinness/

Guinness came back early evening with his mother. I was so happy to see Guinness again. It had only been a few hours but I missed him. Sharon held Winifred and also had too much fun with her new granddaughter. Everyone thinks Winifred is just the cutest thing and she doesn’t look like a newborn. Even when she first came out her face was a healthy pink but not really red or wrinkly or anything. All bundled up she looked several days old at least. Her little feet were still that normal purple-ish newborn color. But she really looks quite old. Her full head of hair is so cute. I’ve never seen a newborn with so much hair. And such long eyelashes….so pretty!

Back in bed I couldn’t help but stare at Winifred. I was afraid to go to sleep. I was afraid something would happen to her if I slept. I’m sure new mother paranoia is normal. Winifred gagged a few times and spit up some mucous and amniotic fluid. Apparently it’s quite normal for babies to swallow a bit while being born but it’s usually squeezed out of them on their way out. I was surprised that at her size she wasn’t squeezed enough on her exit. The nurses used the bulb suctiony thingy on her several times and I had to use it several times in postpartum. The doctor checked her out and happened to be there once when she gagged and spit up. He said if it continued for too long they’d put a suction down her throat to her belly to get all the gunk out. He said they generally just spit out, digest or absorb the stuff and they’re fine but sometimes babies need to get it out quicker. Winifred didn’t get suctioned though. All the goo in her stomach made her not want to eat though. I tried to feed her several times but her little tummy wasn’t ready for it. The doctor suggested I let the nurses take her during the night and give her a bottle so it would be a measurable amount of food. I did just that. It was so scary to let them take her away but I knew they’d take care of her and I finally fell asleep.

They brought her back at 6:30 am. I was so happy to get her back. I’d woken up around 6:00 and kept asking the nurses when they were going to bring her back. They put these funny little bracelets on mother and baby so nobody can take a baby or get the wrong one. The bracelets play a happy little tune whenever mother and baby are correctly reunited.

Guinness came back just as early as they’d let him in. Visiting hours are 9 to 9 though my noisy room mate somehow avoided that too. Her husband stayed with her till after 10 the night before. No nurses came in to check if all visitors had left. I thought about buzzing a nurse but decided against it. They weren’t bothering me too much at that point and I realized I was really just jealous. After they’d told me so many times before coming that guests would be limited and visiting hours were strict I’d just come to accept it as firm hospital policy. To get in the room and find it packed like sardines and then hours not observed either I was a little bit annoyed. Still I suppose I didn’t really want an endless stream of visitors. It would have been nice to have my husband a little longer though. Anyway, Guinness arrived the morning after, on the 20^th, almost exactly at 9:00 am. Guinness always observes hospital policy and rightly so. We found out quickly that I would be able to leave just as soon as all the discharge stuff had been taken care of and Winifred had all her final checkups completed. They expected it would be around noon and it was. Just before we left they realized Winifred hadn’t yet had her hearing checked. They pulled her out for 20 minutes or so and brought her back with a clean bill of health. Perfect baby! They told me her scores on the tests but I don’t remember them. I’m sure they gave me something with it written down. They did say she was perfect though.

Guinness and I came home and were oh so happy to do so.

The nights have been long but we’re working out some systems so Guinness and I both get some sleep. Winifred had her first checkup on the 22^nd. She did loose just a little weight (surprising to us since she eats and poops constantly). Her weight was 7 lb 13 oz at the appointment. The doctor said that’s well within a normal amount of weight loss for a newborn.

Winifred is a pretty good baby. She does occasionally have a massive crying fit that makes Guinness and I want to pull our hair out but she’s generally good. We try all the normal things to help her stop crying…check the diaper, see if she’s hungry, burp her…we’ve found that if all of these fail she probably has a poop coming or a really big fart. She often cries, poops big time, and then abruptly falls asleep. It’s the times when she’s fussy for 2 hours on end for no apparent reason that tire us out. She is sleeping pretty good though with lots of awake time she’s not crying too.

I love her so much! She’s so beautiful! She looks like Guinness. She has his head (as I’d feared but luckily squeezed out without too much difficulty), his eye shape and his nose. She has my hair, my mouth, and my hiccups. Her hiccups echo through the room like an alarm clock. So cute!

Okay…I’ve said too much. Future posts will be on the shorter side I’m sure. Sorry it took me so long to post but I’ve been working on this mammoth sized one for several days…stealing a few minutes of Winifred’s sleepy time whenever I could.

Remember to check out the pictures:

Our Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allguinness/

My Dad’s Blog: www.therealestatestory.blogspot.com

Contractions and such since midnight. Doc says not to come in yet. They’re still 10 min apart and not regular at all. Quite painful however.

Baby is still moving like mad.

I expect I still won’t be going to the hospital for several hours at least.

Please don’t call me or come to the hospital.  I’m not up to answering the phone all day and  the hospital doesn’t allow more than a couple of visitors and even then none in the room (just Guinness as coach)…the rooms are super tiny.

Someone will post something here when there is more news. 

Happy birthday Aunt Lynnie! I’m hoping to go into labor today if you don’t mind sharing a birthday. No signs to indicate the child is like-minded.

She’s going to be stubborn I think…and quite active I’m sure.

I’m still here and huge. Baby loves to punch my innards but doesn’t want to move out yet. She loves to dance. Hours on end every evening she wiggles, stretches and twists proving she’s quite healthy but causing lots of pain for her mum.

Guinness and I walked to breakfast the other day. About ten blocks total to Pancake Circus and back. Guinness practically had to carry me up the front stairs when we got back. I also rode with him on a trip to Roseville and later we spent a few hours at my in-laws house. If was quite a fun day for me. I don’t generally get out of the house at all and the distractions were awfully nice.

But still no labor. All that walking didn’t do much. I am having quite a bit more pain but it’s steady and constant and likely just due to being more pregnant every day. I woke up several times last night with crazy hip pain. Normal I know but oh so painful.

I know she’s coming soon but it still doesn’t seem soon enough. I thought she’d be here weeks ago.

Doc says I’m completely effaced but only slightly dilated…less than one centimeter. Apparently that doesn’t mean too much. I could still have her anytime. I’m less and less optimistic about the date. Doc keeps saying anytime and it’s just not happening. I really didn’t think I’d make it this far. They’ve scheduled another appointment for me next Wednesday. We’ll talk about induction at that appointment if she’s not here by then.

I want her out! I look like a watermelon and I feel like a water buffalo. It’s hard now to even roll over in bed.

Doc said not to try the home remedies for bringing on labor. She says walking and drinking lots of water are the best things to do. So I’ve decided to skip the castor oil method completely. I don’t really want to experience the laxative effects right now anyway. She did say I could try acupuncture if I wanted to but that she knew of no studies that proved it did anything one way or the other. All Chinese herbs are out too according to her. Better not to in her opinion. I’m not a big fan of driving on bumpy roads right now so I think I’ll skip that as well. I can feel the baby sloshing about whenever we have to drive anywhere. Not that I get out of the house much.

The doctor did say she wasn’t worried about the size of the baby. I think she made a note on my chart that I was nervous at the last appointment when she said she was around 7.5. It’s hard for me to believe she hasn’t grown since then and the doctor’s not worried…especially since my belly has grown and my weight has gone up since the last appointment. Of course she didn’t really give me a size guess today. She just said “I don’t think she’ll be a 9 lb baby”. Not quite sure what I should make of that really.

I want her to be born soon. I’d really rather not have a c-section and the longer she stays in the more likely it will be necessary. Especially if her head keeps growing.

I know first babies generally come around a week after the due date but I really really thought she was coming earlier. She’s just so big! But then again maybe she’s not. The doctor said she uses the size of the baby’s tush to help make the prediction. Maybe the little one takes after me in that department. I certainly have always had more than my fair share in that area even as an infant myself. Maybe baby’s got back?

Oh dear…if she has my bum and Guinness’ head…

…I better stop. I’m seriously going to give myself nightmares. I’m sure labor will go fine and she’ll be beautiful.

Is the crazy showing much? It’s getting worse.

Poor Guinness.

but she doesn’t want to come.  I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.  Hopefully I’ll know more then.

I’m going to lie down again now.

She’s getting bigger by the moment and I’m getting huge. I sure hope she comes soon.

Yesterday it got even harder to move around. I’m getting a big pain on my right side quite often. I think it’s just those round ligaments the doctors talk about so much. They must be stretched near their limits right about now.

The baby is still moving constantly. She’s very active. I’m going to try to stay on my feet longer today to try to convince her to come out. I just don’t want to tire myself out too much before labor.

Guinness guessed she’d be here on the 3rd and my brother Tom (T-Bone) guessed the 5th with the 7th as a back-up. I’m hoping Tom’s last guess is right. No one else has guessed a day. Guinness isn’t generally wrong…I’m surprised I’ve gone this far past his guess.  T-Bone’s guesses are generally pretty good too.  Maybe it will be the 7th.

I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and was pleased to learn the baby should be coming sooner rather than later. The baby had definitely dropped and I’m 50% effaced. According to the doctor, these things usually happen 7-10 days before the baby is born. I’m not sure how long ago she actually dropped but I’d guess it was about a week ago since that’s when it became easier to eat and harder to walk.

I feel so big and it’s really hard to move around now. The doctor measured my belly at 55 cm. She tried to reassure me regarding the baby’s size. I’ve been freaked out about how big she is. The doctor guessed she’s around 7.5 lbs right now. I sure hope I have her soon. The longer she stays in the bigger she’s going to be when she comes out. My doctor’s kids were all well into the 8.5-9 lb range. 7.5 is apparently a good number but I’m getting scared. 7.5 sounds huge for 2 weeks before the due date. Doc says she’s probably quite tall since Guinness and I are on the taller side. I’m 5′9” and he’s 6′4”.

My hips hurt like mad but I suppose that’s a good thing. It means they’re really spreading to let our giant headed baby out. I can’t wait to see her! I seem to be more paranoid about the birth than I realized. I haven’t really thought too much about it until recently. We took all the classes and I know what to do but now that it’s getting close it’s wonderfully exciting and terrifying at the same time. I just hope she and I both come through the whole thing okay. I’m sure we will.

I’ll try to keep you posted.