Since Friday, that is.
Gerard Gabriel Gache-Hernandez was welcomed to this world on April 11,
2008 by way of induced labor. Our April 26 due date became irrelevant.
Because of my low fluids that kept getting lower as learned on my
checkup last Thursday (April 10), my doctor called for an induction. I
was sent to the hospital right away ("don't go home. Go straight to
CPMC!") so I had to call papa Egan and asked him to excuse himself from
work because we're having a baby. Doctor Rittenhouse would meet us there
later in the evening.
I picked papa up from work, which was on the way to the hospital. Egan
works for the hospital but at another campus (there are several across
San Francisco). We checked in at the maternity ward where I was quickly
admitted and settled into the labor suite. Got hooked up to monitors and
stuff on me and all that good stuff for the delivery. We called our
parents and informed friends of the situation and there started the
excitement.
The nurses were very friendly and attended to EVERYTHING to make my stay
comfortable. I was given pitocin shortly later to thin my cervix, as I
was only 1 cm dilated upon arrival. It was a long wait that afternoon
for the pitocin to do its job, for Dr. Rittenhouse to come, and for the
actual labor to begin. Papa E went home to get some more of my stuff -
my laptop and my gameboy, to keep me occupied. As the afternoon rolled
into evening, my cervix thinned and my parents came just before Dr. R
arrived. I was given morphine later at night to help me sleep because I
couldn't nap or feel comfortable laying down all day. The morphine was
purdy awesome, it totally knocked me out until the middle of the night
when labor began.
I forget what time it was when I was asked when I wanted the epidural,
but I thought to brave it out for as long as I could without it. But
just a few minutes later, I started tearing my hair out and rubbing my
face like crazy and told papa E to tell the nurse I need the freakin
thing right there and then. I was feeling a lot of pelvic pressure. It
seemed like forever for the nurse to come in and inject my spine
(needles of all sizes hurt me), and it seemed even more forever for the
drug to kick in. I hadn't noticed when it kicked in but the pain just
numbed off. By around 10am, the nurse was asking if I was feeling
pressure but I kept saying "no" -- thinking she meant if I was feeling
any pain. When the fact of the matter was that I was feeling pressure,
it just didn't bother me at all. She checked for my cervix but was
surprised to announce that she could see Gerard's head and she called
Dr. R right away to begin pushing. She waited a while to have me start
pushing but Dr. R came quickly and the delivery began.... Gerard was
pushing his way out on his own.
It was noon when he came in, and by 12:21, baby Gerard was out!!! Dr. R
had me push hard but it didn't take very long because Gerard was helping
me. I was encouraged to scream it out but I couldn't do anything past
making the grunt face, and when I attempted to scream it only made me
laugh. I only saw as much of his neck being stretched out for the rest
of his body to be popped out. There really is no word to describe the
moment -- papa E was amazed the entire short time when he saw Gerard's
head come out more and more.
The nurse then brought Gerard across the room to clean him off, and I
ended up vomiting from the experience I just went through. The rest of
the day had Gerard being checked and vaccinated and bathed before I was
able to start bonding with him. My parents came by, and left, and came
by later that evening with the rest of my family and Bern. By then we
were already transferred to our post-partum room. Egan's mom hadn't
known yet because he wasn't able to get in touch with her early enough.
She was actually picking up his grandmother from the airport that very
evening, and they got home late to hear the good news. They came by much
later that night to visit our latest addition.
The following day was spent checking up on Gerard's progress and trying
to breastfeed. It was a frustrating experience (which, I learned, is
very normal) so I was seen by a lactation consultant to help me. It
wasn't very successful, and I hadn't fed Gerard anything at all since
birth. I was quite uncomfortable the whole day (recovering from the
stitches since I tore a little) and was bed-ridden, and struggled to get
up everytime I had to go to the bathroom.
By Sunday we were discharged from the hospital. We got home, and dropped
all our bags and quickly prepared for Gerard's comfort since we never
really did much of that prior. We were relying on having 2 more weeks!
My family came by to visit, as did Egan's mom later in the evening.
Mayla and Vern also came by.
On Monday, we had to go to Gerard's pediatrician and she had me take him
in for a blood test to check for his bili rubin levels. Unfortunately,
it was higher than she wanted it to be. So she had me take him again on
Tuesday, and even more unfortunately, the level went up. She had me take
him back to the hospital for an overnight stay so that Gerard could go
through photo therapy and get his bili rubin level down to normal. I
felt so bad seeing him in the UV incubator with his eyes covered, and
everything naked except his diaper. He cried and cried, but eventually,
he learned how to cope being by himself. He was at peace under the heat
that helped his bili rubin level go down to normal -- the very good news
we received this morning. I was able to get more breastfeeding help
because they all highly encourage I do this to help with his health and
jaundice problem. By the end of Tuesday night, Gerard was latching on to
my relief. He consistently latched on til Wednesday morning, and the
lactation consultant was very pleased and relieved as well. We got
discharged by noontime, and went home. I haven't had any problems
breastfeeding him so far :)
I now have to put him under sunlight as much as possible as a way to
help keep his bili rubin level normal. This isn't going to be a problem
for us in the afternoons because we have a good amount of sunlight in
our living room where he can nap naked.
And so at this time, my current worries are: finding him permanent
health insurance (adding him to mine costs too much -- but we might just
deal with it because I have a good plan), getting my work stuff taken
care of (since I had to take my leave unexpectedly so early), signing up
for WIC again now that I'll be on disability leave (I don't normally
qualify because I make "too much" from my income -- which is unfair
because I really don't even make that much) and just the usual things a
new mom needs to face. Such as not getting much sleep. But on that note,
I end this entry with a big smile because it has been an amazing
experience, and I do look forward to what's coming. :)
Egan and I personally thank CPMC's nurses and staff for being so
attentive to all our needs and making our stay so very awesome; Dr.
Rittenhouse for being our doctor; Dr. Pepitone for making sure Gerard's
health was game; our families for bringing food and help where it was
needed; our friends for being ever supportive; and most especially
Gerard for changing our lives.
As much as we're glad to be home, we really wish we could take the
nurses too :) PICTURES OF GERARD TO BE UPLOADED SOMETIME THIS WEEK.
