Sorry that I have not kept up my blog. I have found that the choice between writing and a nap isn’t very hard to make.

So, the Bean decided to arrive eight days early. She did so by breaking her water early when I wasn’t having contractions. This meant I had to be induced. Without going into all the details, pitocin sucks. My labor was 20 hours (no exaggeration) and eight of those took place without drugs. I must say, the epidural was much needed relief and made me feel much better about giving birth. Pitocin contractions are wicked.

The two hours of pushing as the drugs wore off is a totally different story. When asked if I wanted to feel her head as she was crowning, my response was ”No, I just want her out!” A fire alarm later, the Bean finally arrived. The entire process – pregnancy and birth – was/are surreal. It is hard to fathom that I actually experienced them and lived to tell the tale. Same goes for parenting – I look at the Bean (who is adorable, by the way) and can’t believe she came out of my body or that she is my daughter.

We had a few bumps in the beginning- Jaundice- which included the bilirubin bed at home for her first few days. Thanks to the medical profession for not mentioning that induced babies have a higher rate of jaundice. Something I read that a few days after her jaundice cleared up. Instead my first few days of motherhood were plagued with thoughts that I somehow did something to cause it. The other fun challenge was her weight loss. She lost lots of weight and at our two day check had lost the dreaded 10% of her birth weight. So, the pediatrician told us to supplement formula after breastfeeding for ten minutes on each side. We are idiots and could only get it together enough to make one bottle which she absolutely refused. Good news is less than 24 hours later she had gained 1.5 ounces and they told us to stop the bottle. Good thing as we never really started it. Another thanks to not one person mentioning that induced babies with long labors tend to beef up a bit in utero due to the fluids the mom receives. So, her birth weight may have been slightly inflated due to water retention. I can’t even explain what a failure I felt like until that second weigh in. Now she is gaining weight like a champ. She actually gained a pound and a half in 13 days.

I may get around to posting my entire birth story. There were actually some humorous things that happened. I will at least post a few times a week for those of you wonderful people who still check in now and again.

Now I am off to sneak a picture of Wonderful Husband and the Bean sleeping soundly on the couch. Happy New Year.