Welcome!

This is my first ever blog post. I thought about starting this up a while ago, but just never got around to it. Then I went and had a baby, and I got to reading other people's blogs as they followed the growth of their little ones. I thought, what a good way to keep a journal that I can look back on, years from now, and remember the things I had forgotten? Those little things... when Else started cooing, when she pulled the cat's tail and got a good scratch, maybe her first playdate? So, seeing as she is now 2 months old and has started doing stuff, what better time??

So, as you may or may not remember, I had ICP, or Obstetric Cholestasis, while I was pregnant. I started itching when I was 33 weeks. I got some good drugs that took the itch away after a week, however I had to get induced at 38 weeks. I was VERY UPSET at the prospect of loosing the natural childbirth I had envisioned. People kept saying, "but you'll have a healthy baby and that's what matters". People who are actually faced with this quandary will agree, that that statement is of little consolation. It's like, "it's going to rain on your wedding day, and the food is going to suck, but you'll be married and that's the important thing!". See... no consolation.

I was terribly lucky to be supported by my midwife Stephanie Arsenault, and the entire staff of the Ottawa Midwifery Collective. I cannot say enough good things about them. Sometimes there were frustrations, as other ladies had to give birth (geeze.. the nerve) so I'd end up seeing someone else, but that is how I met Denise who is great! Now, I had to go on the induction list at the Monfort Hospital here in Ottawa. It took 4 days of horrible waiting for them to call me. Greg and I had our things packed so we were able to scoot out of the house, leaving the poor cats behind to wonder when we'd be home this time.

At 7:30, they put Cervadil up my ying yang, and let me go to bed. They said they would leave it in for 12 hours and then see how I was doing. They cautioned that it usually took 2 or three goes before the cervix was ready to get going. So I thought, great. Another couple days of waiting. Well, I woke up at 5:30 the next morning and thought I was having little contractions. Turns out, I was!! So, at 9:30, when the contractions were still small and irregular, the OB on call came in, Dr Aubin, and checked me out. 3cm! So she broke my water. That is when all hell broke loose as well!

My blood pressure went waaaay down, and the baby's heart rate did too. I had to get an oxygen mask, and IV, and they put the heart rate monitor right on the baby's head while she was still in the womb. THAT FELT REALLY NICE. The OB told me that if that happened again I would be getting an emergency C Section. RED FLAG!! ALARM ALARM!!! Those are bad words to use around me. I was lucky though, and I went back to normal. That is what happens any time I get a needle. I should have warned them. Oops.

4 hours later, little Else was born. I was able to do it without pain meds, and in the position that felt good to me. I am so thankful that I was able to do it that way, because I was able to move and get Else to where she needed to be so I could get her out. That was some crazy assed shit, though, let me tell you. the contractions hurt but not in a way you can imagine unless you've felt it... kind of like hot molten lead being poured on your abdomen. But that part is the shortest part of labour, so thank god it was over soon. I got to show the OB and the resident what an on-the-knees birth was like, as none of them had seen that before. She definitely didn't want me in that position, why? I do not know. It makes sense to me. But I guess they can't see that well when the mom is up like that. Whatever. She came right when the head was coming out anyways..... an earthquake couldn't have moved me. My midwife Jackie Whitehead, who I didn't meet until that day, was AWESOME. She totally helped me feel comfortable during contractions and helped me get up off my back to where I felt good. What a way to meet someone, eh?

Now little Else is growing like a weed and I can't really remember how much the contraction actually hurt, and I can envision doing it again without shaking my head and telling myself I am crazy.

The first few months have been great. Else is a very good baby, and totally complacent. I can take her out anywhere, and she is happy. We have gone to lunch lots of times, yard saled, grocery shopped, clothes shopped, even a 9 hour train trip to Aylmer and back. People said I was brave to do that, but I knew she would be OK. I am SO GLAD that she was... otherwise I would have made a train full of enemies!!!

This week Else is 8 weeks old. Someone has turned on the lights in her little head. In the last week she has started smiling, started "talking", rolled over a few times, and has gotten even better at holding up her head! She can hold it up really well when I am holding her in my arms, but when she is on her tummy she is still practicing. She is getting stronger every day. I feel sad that she is getting so big so fast, but we are only in month 2 so I guess I should get used to that!! It used to make me cry when I thought about how she was going to grow up and start going to school, or when she would be 12 and hateful, or when she would be going off to university... I think my hormones were still out of whack cause it doesn't make me cry so much anymore :)

Stay tuned for more Else updates and my thoughts on life. I am thinking of introducing you all to my hopeful radio station segment entitled, Traffic Tips with Sara Dee... or maybe it should be called Road Rage with Sara Dee. Heh.