The Cliffnotes... Elsa's birth and vitals
Mar. 13th, 2012 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenmillionWith the few free moments Elsa leaves me, I find that I have the choice of blogging or sleeping (sleeping wins), blogging or showering (showering wins) and blogging or eating (eating wins), so not a lot of blogging happens.
But I do want to get more details down, before they leave my sleep-deprived brain with the rest of my memory.
The cliffnotes version of Elsa's birth is that it was a very fast, very hard labor, followed by a very long and extremely hard delivery, with a surprise twist ending as her heartrate started to plummet and mine started to skyrocket, and they decided that she needed to come out immediately. Her birth was vacuum-assisted, and hurried rather than gentle, so my own recovery has been a tad slower than I might like. A stage 2+ episiotomy was involved and something like an hour of stitching. After a very scary quiet period, they got her crying, and it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard.
She bounced back from her rocky entrance immediately. She had a bit of a bruise from the vacuum, putting her at higher risk for jaundice, but dodged that (in part by being a champion eater). She weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz at birth, and has gained all of that back plus, at this point. She was 22 inches the way that the hospital measures, and 20 inches the way the clinic measures (they assured me she hadn't shrunk 2 inches. :P) At her 2 week checkup today, she is up to 20.75 inches already. She could lift her head the first day, and nurses comment on how alert and strong she is. They also mention that she's absolutely gorgeous, which they probably say about all the babies they see. She was born with a good head of blonde hair that looks slightly reddish in some lights, with the typical dark blue infant eyes. I'm curious to see what color they settle on.
She is, in general, a good baby. She fusses when something's wrong, but it's usually pretty easy to figure out the problem (hungry, soiled, or seriously digesting... often followed by copious farts), and she's otherwise quite content to cuddle, observe things and make faces. She eats a great deal (my poor nipples!) and deserves the Nibbler award for Celebrated Pooper. She has begun to expand her vocabulary from just a few cries into some coos, squeaks, near-giggles, squawks and sighs. She wiggles a lot. She does not sleep much, which means I do not sleep much.
Jake's help with this whole mad affair has been invaluable... he cooks and cleans and does laundry and makes sure I eat and drink - to the point of sitting beside me with a plate so I can spoon food into my mouth one-handed while I nurse Elsa. I am not sure what I would have done without him there through the labor and right afterwards. He is easily as smitten with Elsa as I am - I made the mistake of giving him Elsa to cuddle with the day we came home. When I went to collect her back, I was told: "No. Get your own baby."
Have a silly photo. I'm going to go take a shower now.
But I do want to get more details down, before they leave my sleep-deprived brain with the rest of my memory.
The cliffnotes version of Elsa's birth is that it was a very fast, very hard labor, followed by a very long and extremely hard delivery, with a surprise twist ending as her heartrate started to plummet and mine started to skyrocket, and they decided that she needed to come out immediately. Her birth was vacuum-assisted, and hurried rather than gentle, so my own recovery has been a tad slower than I might like. A stage 2+ episiotomy was involved and something like an hour of stitching. After a very scary quiet period, they got her crying, and it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard.
She bounced back from her rocky entrance immediately. She had a bit of a bruise from the vacuum, putting her at higher risk for jaundice, but dodged that (in part by being a champion eater). She weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz at birth, and has gained all of that back plus, at this point. She was 22 inches the way that the hospital measures, and 20 inches the way the clinic measures (they assured me she hadn't shrunk 2 inches. :P) At her 2 week checkup today, she is up to 20.75 inches already. She could lift her head the first day, and nurses comment on how alert and strong she is. They also mention that she's absolutely gorgeous, which they probably say about all the babies they see. She was born with a good head of blonde hair that looks slightly reddish in some lights, with the typical dark blue infant eyes. I'm curious to see what color they settle on.
She is, in general, a good baby. She fusses when something's wrong, but it's usually pretty easy to figure out the problem (hungry, soiled, or seriously digesting... often followed by copious farts), and she's otherwise quite content to cuddle, observe things and make faces. She eats a great deal (my poor nipples!) and deserves the Nibbler award for Celebrated Pooper. She has begun to expand her vocabulary from just a few cries into some coos, squeaks, near-giggles, squawks and sighs. She wiggles a lot. She does not sleep much, which means I do not sleep much.
Jake's help with this whole mad affair has been invaluable... he cooks and cleans and does laundry and makes sure I eat and drink - to the point of sitting beside me with a plate so I can spoon food into my mouth one-handed while I nurse Elsa. I am not sure what I would have done without him there through the labor and right afterwards. He is easily as smitten with Elsa as I am - I made the mistake of giving him Elsa to cuddle with the day we came home. When I went to collect her back, I was told: "No. Get your own baby."
Have a silly photo. I'm going to go take a shower now.
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no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 07:14 am (UTC)Thanks so much for sharing, Ellen! Birth can be traumatic and scary; I'm so glad yours had a happy outcome! ♥
Jake sounds WONDERFUL! ♥
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Date: 2012-03-14 08:02 am (UTC)YAY!
Date: 2012-03-14 08:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 09:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 10:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 10:53 am (UTC)Ouch, scary birth story! :( I'm glad you both came out of it ok, the wonders of modern medicine! It is good to hear that she is doing so well, she'll be crawling around in no time probably!
*haha* "Get your own baby"...<:)
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Date: 2012-03-14 12:40 pm (UTC)Thanks for the update. I hope it didn't cut into your sleeping/showering/eating schedule too much!
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Date: 2012-03-14 02:13 pm (UTC)I am thrilled that things are going generally well and that Jake is a great dad. *hugs* Yay!
She is completely adorable!
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Date: 2012-03-14 02:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 03:01 pm (UTC)Rest when you can, eat lots (nursing actually requires more calories than MAKING the baby!), DRINK more!, and enjoy!!!!
Thanks for the update! :)
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Date: 2012-03-14 03:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 04:42 pm (UTC)Keep this picture somewhere and trot it out for her 21st birhtday. :)
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Date: 2012-03-14 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 06:57 pm (UTC)I see you are getting a good start on a collection of pictures she will be horrified by as a teenager when you offer to show them to potential dates. :)
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Date: 2012-03-14 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-15 12:05 am (UTC)I hope you are healing well, and that you got some follow up checkups too, I read that a donut shaped cushion would help.
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Date: 2012-03-15 02:29 am (UTC)Sounds like she's enjoying life so far.
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Date: 2012-03-15 03:47 am (UTC)Looking forward to seeing more photos when you have the chance!
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Date: 2012-03-15 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-15 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-15 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 03:36 pm (UTC)Hee!
I LOVE it.
Blessings and here's me wishing for you the gift of being able to do without sleep. Happily. (It may come at the price of little memory for 2 years or so though.)
love it!
no subject
Date: 2012-03-16 07:00 pm (UTC)"NO, get your own baby!" hehehe, that's a great quote. :) I'm very happy for you, Ellen! That's a
Date: 2012-04-09 12:25 pm (UTC)hehehe, that's a great quote. :)
I'm very happy for you, Ellen! That's a cute kid you've got there!