I love this photo :)

Isn't that amazing? And I love this photo too.....



On a happy note, I can wear my wedding ring again, after 6 months of being too swollen. It feels good but weird at the same time...

Jade at 11 days

My experience has changed from a sense of surreal anticipation to a joyous pride peppered with sleeplessness and isolation from the world outside. Next week I have to return to work, and I have to remember there is a life outside of these walls. I'm fortunate that I am able to leave when necessary, but Jas can't go anywhere by herself just yet. At least not any further than her feet can carry her.





We've also received a very nice present for Jade from a friend. A Kettler tricycle. Course its' going to be a good while before she can use it.

Jade is one week old :)

And for the fun of it... I took a picture of Jade next to Zim :P....

Something Donnie overheard....

So while waiting to be allowed into the OR where I was, Donnie was kept waiting in his scrubs ready to go for about 20 minutes as they prepped and prodded me and poked me.

That's how long it took the anaesthesiologist to get me numbed because he kept setting the needle into my spine a little off...apparently I have a slight curvature. So it took them 4 attempts.... not going to do that any time soon.

In the meantime, Donnie was anxiously waiting outside, and was witness to all the passing nurses and doctors. Eventually the assisting surgeon showed up, and introduced himself. Then he poked his head into the OR and said, "Oh boy, this is going to be a big one."

Mind you, I had my attention diverted but if I had heard that, I would have so shot him an evil evil evil evil look.........

Dirty Diapers....

Oh forgot to mention, Jade hates dirty diapers. The minute she has a dirty diaper, she's yelling to let everyone know about it :P.

Then she yells some more because she doesn't like being messed with when you're trying to change her diaper. The irony of it... :P

A new mother's perspective....

So it's been 4 days since I had Jade and here's my perspective on the situation...

1) It's been a year full of 'firsts' -
* my first pregnancy
* my first experience with swollen feet
* my first experience with pelvic pain (ouch!)
* my first c-section - it wasn't so bad until they started pushing and pulling (you can still feel pressure, just no pain. Howe weird is that?). Then I started feeling oddly nauseated because they were pushing around my lower abdomen so much, not so much because of the medication.
* my first spinal injection (or FOUR. Apparently my back is slightly curved and the anesthesiologist was off a little each time he went in.)
* my first experience with staples

... and the list goes on, but ultimately, my first baby :).

2) Breastfeeding can be a challenge and unfortunately it didn't work out for us. However we were lucky enough to have formula samples (Thank you Similac!) that we could use to feed her when it was very late at night and she was hungry. So far the baby is doing much better and sleeping well. It took a lot for both of us to realize that with my exhausted self trying to recover, and the baby not having eaten anything, it was not necessarily being a very successful endevour.

3)'0-3 months' in baby clothing does not mean newborn clothing. We found that the sleep outfits we bought for Jade were still too big!! So Donnie had to get some new newborn outfits today so that she could have something to sleep in and not be swamped. He got one that says 'I love Mommy.' Awwwwww....

4) Our baby is darn cute :)

She atea bit better tonight. Jas has been trying to get a lactation specialist to come by all day to help her get Jade coached into feeding. One of the nurses here tonight helped get us some marginal success, but probably only about 1/2 of what she needs to be taking in. Still, she's getting something and starting to churn out crappy-nappys.

Is it wierd that I was hoping she'd blow the bottom out while I was here so I could change her? Joy of joys.

Jas says it makes me look more manly doing this stuff. Time for me to head home for the night. hopefuly they will plan on releasing her Thursday afternoon.

Pic of the day

Done and done.
Thanks to the modern technology and free hospital wi-fi, I can take a load off and post some pictures while Jas and Jade sleep.
Jade Irra Mei-Lin Clark. Born 17 December, 2007 at 2:37pm. 7lb 9oz. 18". 10 fingers & 12 toes...7, 8, 9...make that 10 toes. And a load of dark hair on the top of her head.

Fortunatly looks just like her momma ("Oh really? I don't think Jas looks like Winston Churchill."). Regardless of what smart-ass uncles say, she's beautiful.

Everyone is healthy. Had a little trouble feeding on the first go because it was a few hours later before we could give it a try and everyone was pretty tired and cranky, and Jade kept falling alseep at the pump. We'll try again in a few hours after they have both had a nap.

I'm debating if I'm going to stay here tonight or head home to get some proper rest before work tomorrow. Jas has a laptop and a camera handy at the hospital, so--honey, I expect hourly progress reports posted so I can stay on top of just how much more adorable she gets every moment!

t minus 150 minutes

2 1/2 hours until we have to go check in at the hospital. Jas is napping. We were up early so she could eat some solid food before surgery. Car is loaded. Mommy and Daddy are ready to go. One more errand this morning, and soon we'll be posting pics of an awaited baby girl.

Until then.

The countdown continues.....

In 14 hours I should be checking into the hospital and getting ready for my c-section. Hopefully the next blog posting I do will be from my hospital bed (yay free wi-fi!) post-op and I'll have pics!
:)

Wish me luck!

Weighed, prodded and tagged....

Had my pre-op appointment yesterday - handled paperwork for insurance, consent forms, and bloodwork for Monday's procedure. Now I have this wristband that indicates name, and when they last took blood - should anything happen before Monday, I need to show them this wristband so that the nurses wouldn't have to draw blood again and would know what kind of blood I have... I'm constantly amazed how much work the nurses do before you see an actual doctor in the hospital.

This weekend, I plan on relaxing, getting plenty of rest and finishing up whatever else we need to get ready for the baby, which I don't think is much. The weather is supposed to be crappy anyway so I doubt I'd go out much anyway and plus I'm not so mobile anymore. Ugh...Jade is definitely running out of room because I feel her moving more.

My only fear right now is if my operation gets pushed back by another emergency. We're supposed to call before we go in at 11.30 am Monday, but there's the possibility that it could get pushed back. One of the girls at work lives in my area and went to this hospital 2 years ago for her little girl's birth. Her appointment time was scheduled at 5 am, but when she called, they didn't have a room available. So she kept calling back and finally got in at 7 pm that day. Then they got her ready and broke her water, and apparently there was another scheduled appointment at that time too but she got priority because her water had been broken already. AND they had originally induced her before deciding to do the c-section instead. Er.. No thanks.

And then of course it doesn't help to know that when I talked to my OB's nurse about it, to find out that my OB is going to only be available Mon and Tues, and then is taking the rest of the year off for vacation!

As I told my husband, I keep thinking of worse case scenarios... LOL....and I'm about to have a baby?!

I'll take the red one.

Here we are 4 days off and I'm still trying to relate the coming change to something, ANYTHING, in my experience (Kind of like how all unfamiliar meats taste like chicken, you know?). I can't wrap my head around it and I'm certain now that I have nothing that equates the magnitude of change that is about to happen. The only way I can explain the feeling I have today is the anticipation that accompanies buying a new car, or planning on going to pick up a new piece of furntiture.

Somehow that just doesn't seem to do justice to Jade.

The piglet was very active last night too. Lots of shifting an kicking.

Right now I'm ready for people to quit asking me "so, are you ready?", or "are you nervous?", or "are you excited?", or "is that urine on your pants?"

The Lighter Side

New Dad Thinks Baby Might Be Gay

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-Citing "something vaguely effeminate" about his eight-month-old son Michael, first-time father Joe Oebrick, 32, reported Tuesday that he suspects the infant may be a homosexual.

If I had 14 fingers I could count the days on one hand.

Man, just LOOK at that counter down there! 7 days! Less than 10. Single digits, baby!
Jas asks me from time to time if I'm nervous. Hell no! I'm freakin excited! I can't wait! I'm all kinds of ready to get to this daddy gig!
This is going to be the longest week known to man though. 6 months ago I didn't think we'd EVER see the pregnancy endgame. Just too far away and a whole lot of "OMGZ, I'm not prepared for THAT" in the way. Now we're down to 1 week, assuming the little piglet doesn't decide to get a move on before then.
The nursery is finished. I think we have all the little doodads and furniture we planned on getting. Still need more infant diapers; so far we only have the one pack that someone bought Jas for a baby shower, but that can be fixed pretty quick. Just don't want to overstock those before she moves into the other infant sized stuff.
By the way, Mom? Looks like I"m gonna want that present BEFORE Yule after all.

Torn

Now that the date is settled, and it's pretty close, I have to start looking at setting up my schedule for leave from work, and I'm pretty disturbed by it.

It boils down to Jasmine having to return to work as soon as she's physically able, or by when the general consensus of doctors at large and insurance companies says that she SHOULD be physically able unless her doctor says otherwise. Genrally 6 weeks for traditional delivery, maybe 8-10 for cesarean delivery.

The United States has one of the WORST policies in maternity and family leave which is basically--we don't have one. Maternity leave is not subsidized by the government or employers (both of them concerned with "who's going to pay for it?"), and it's left to insurance companies to offer short term disability benefits. Unless I'm mistaken, the Family Medical Leave Act will protect your job during that time, but does not cover any income benefits. There are absolutely NO benefits for fathers unless your insurance disabilty covers paternity leave as well.

Other countries in the world offer anywhere from 18 months family leave (which can be split between mother and father, but not at the same time) to as much ast 3 years of subsidized leave to take care of your child. But here in the US, it's up to insurance companies to dictate how long they will pay you disability, and of course they want you off thier dollar as soon as you're damn well able. Fortunately Jas has short term disability, but what about folks that don't have insurance? They get screwed twice. Once before the baby comes, and once after.

Just in time for the holidays

Jas just called me from the doctors office. They have opted for a cesearian birth, and she has agreed. Jade has yet to drop in her mammas tummy, and judging by the size (last sonogram put her at about 7-1/2lbs) waiting until the end of December might be pushing the limits of what is generally considered 'safe' for traditional birthing.

So December 17th is the day! (How about that, we get to make an appointment, just like me 'ma!) No more guessing and waiting. 13 days to go! OMG I'm excited.