For those of you that like to have all the details, I will indulge you with the story of her birth... For those of you that have already gotten all you came for, thanks for stopping by and we'll see you again soon :) Editor's note: the following entry is very long and spares no detail, no matter how tedious. Proceed at your own risk...
Here we are the day before we went to the hospital, as you can see, still very pregnant and dying for a decent night's sleep (which we have yet to get--maybe in another year or so).
Because of some minor medical complications, our doctor had decided that she wasn't willing to wait for natural labor for any time after my due date. So, an induction was scheduled for Halloween at 8am. Me, Jason and my mom arrived at the hospital and they strapped on a fetal monitor for about 30 minutes, then administered
prostoglandin to get the labor started. Then we were free to roam the grounds, needing only to check back every two hours to have a fetal monitoring for one hour. We went to the bistro, walked around, climbed all 11 flights of stairs in the hospital (this is rumoured to help labor along) and sat around reading. Although I was feeling contractions and they were becoming more regular as the day went on, they weren't increasing in intensity and unfortunately weren't productive contractions (on the plus side, they weren't painful at all, just like a tightening in my abdomen very similar to
Braxton-Hicks contractions). At about 3pm, they administered a second dose of
prostoglandin, and we pretty much repeated our morning. By about 7pm, it became clear that I wasn't going into labor that night. The staff informed us that I was to stay the night, and we would try again the next morning (and this process would be repeated indefinitely until we had a baby...) Jason took my mom home while I dozed (figuring I would need my energy later). [I'll pause here to insert a picture of
me getting strapped into our friendly fetal monitor]. Jason rented a couple of movies for us to watch in the room. At about 9pm they strapped me into the fetal monitor for one last time that night, just for 30 minutes (they said). After the 30 minutes was up, they said they had to leave it on for another 30 minutes because of an
anomoly in the fetal heartbeat reading. After that 30 minutes, they had me lie on my opposite side, saying that this
anomoly would go away if I did that. After another 30 minutes, they told me just 30 more minutes and I could take the monitor off and go to sleep. After that time was up (this was about 11:30pm), the midwife informed us that we would be having a Cesarean section, that our doctor had been called, and the baby would most likely be out within about an hour. Needless to say, we were a bit surprised at this turn of events, and the language barrier prevented us from understanding exactly
why a section was necessary at this point, only that there was something wrong with the fetal heartbeat reading (though they did go to great lengths to assure us that our baby was safe at this point). Our OB arrived about 10 minutes later and explained that, because of the aforementioned medical complication, my placenta was insufficient to safely bring our baby through labor. Basically, what was happening is every time my uterus contracted, the baby's heartbeat was dropping. And although it wasn't dropping enough to endanger her, the contractions I was having were extremely mild, and any increase in intensity would have caused her
heartrate to drop further. She explained that although this was not an emergency situation, it was urgent and the c-section needed to be done right away before it progressed to an emergency situation. After this everything happened pretty quickly: they brought me a surgical gown to put on, inserted a catheter (my favorite part...), had us sign the release waivers and had me hop into a hospital bed before wheeling me to meet the anesthesiologist. He was a very nice man who explained all the risks of having a spinal block (including permanent paralysis, which I didn't realize was possible... I'm still not convinced that it is). Then they took Jason away to put on surgical scrubs while I was instructed to get into another "bed," this one an elevated blue block with brow
n extensions sticking out the end (one for each of my legs to go on), and a u-shaped pink pillow for my head. Then they wheeled me into the operating room and had me sit up in a little ball while the anesthesiologist administered a local anesthetic into my back (to numb the pain of the BIG needle that was to come). Then he asked me to sit
very still, and it felt like he was poking and prodding at my spine with his fingers. I laid back down and in walked our OB. I told her what a relief it was to see half a familiar face (the other half, of course, obscured by her surgical mask). I was able to watch most of the prep for surgery, which was pretty neat. Over the next few minutes, my entire body from the ribs down went kind of warm, and then almost totally numb. I could still feel anything touch them, but it was a deadened kind of feeling, and I couldn't move anything. Then my arms were strapped down in an outstretched position and a blood pressure cuff was put on the arm that didn't have the IV in it. They raised a curtain in front of my head, and just when I began to fear that they were going to start operating without Jason, he walked in the room. What a relief that was! I could feel them rubbing something all over my abdomen, and after that all I could feel were no
ndescript tugging and pulling sensations. I just kept my focus on Jason's face and kept reminding myself that in just a few minutes I would be holding my baby girl, which made the discomfort much easier to bear. I heard our doctor say something about a shoulder, and then she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! She looks just like Jason!" We heard a very short cry a few seconds later, and then they proceeded with the normal procedures that follow a section, and although this part only lasted a few minutes, we were both speechless with anticipation. Then they let Jason go to see her under the warming lamp, and he came back a second later with her all wrapped up in a pink towel and a space blanket. At long last, here was our little girl! We were absolutely overcome. She is absolutely the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen in my life. We were allowed to ooh and
ahh over her while the OB finished stitching me up, and then Jason went back to change into street clothes while they wheeled me out and transferred me back to the hospital room.
Daddy took an opportunity the other night to play a song for Madeleine, who used his guitar case for a bassinet! Quite cute. Daddy loves playing songs for her, and she seems to really like it also.
Here we are getting ready for a quick trip outside. Our neighbor was kind enough to loan us her baby carrier (her 3 kids have just outgrown it), and we used it this morning to take the dogs for a walk. The hat made the trip even more fun!
little addition, Madeleine Macy Trainor. She weighed 7.4 pounds and was almost 21 inches long when she was born at 1:18am on the first day of November. This picture was taken on her second day outside the womb at the hospital.
Because of some minor medical complications, our doctor had decided that she wasn't willing to wait for natural labor for any time after my due date. So, an induction was scheduled for Halloween at 8am. Me, Jason and my mom arrived at the hospital and they strapped on a fetal monitor for about 30 minutes, then administered prostoglandin to get the labor started. Then we were free to roam the grounds, needing only to check back every two hours to have a fetal monitoring for one hour. We went to the bistro, walked around, climbed all 11 flights of stairs in the hospital (this is rumoured to help labor along) and sat around reading. Although I was feeling contractions and they were becoming more regular as the day went on, they weren't increasing in intensity and unfortunately weren't productive contractions (on the plus side, they weren't painful at all, just like a tightening in my abdomen very similar to Braxton-Hicks contractions). At about 3pm, they administered a second dose of prostoglandin, and we pretty much repeated our morning. By about 7pm, it became clear that I wasn't going into labor that night. The staff informed us that I was to stay the night, and we would try again the next morning (and this process would be repeated indefinitely until we had a baby...) Jason took my mom home while I dozed (figuring I would need my energy later). [I'll pause here to insert a picture of 
me getting strapped into our friendly fetal monitor]. Jason rented a couple of movies for us to watch in the room. At about 9pm they strapped me into the fetal monitor for one last time that night, just for 30 minutes (they said). After the 30 minutes was up, they said they had to leave it on for another 30 minutes because of an anomoly in the fetal heartbeat reading. After that 30 minutes, they had me lie on my opposite side, saying that this anomoly would go away if I did that. After another 30 minutes, they told me just 30 more minutes and I could take the monitor off and go to sleep. After that time was up (this was about 11:30pm), the midwife informed us that we would be having a Cesarean section, that our doctor had been called, and the baby would most likely be out within about an hour. Needless to say, we were a bit surprised at this turn of events, and the language barrier prevented us from understanding exactly why a section was necessary at this point, only that there was something wrong with the fetal heartbeat reading (though they did go to great lengths to assure us that our baby was safe at this point). Our OB arrived about 10 minutes later and explained that, because of the aforementioned medical complication, my placenta was insufficient to safely bring our baby through labor. Basically, what was happening is every time my uterus contracted, the baby's heartbeat was dropping. And although it wasn't dropping enough to endanger her, the contractions I was having were extremely mild, and any increase in intensity would have caused her heartrate to drop further. She explained that although this was not an emergency situation, it was urgent and the c-section needed to be done right away before it progressed to an emergency situation. After this everything happened pretty quickly: they brought me a surgical gown to put on, inserted a catheter (my favorite part...), had us sign the release waivers and had me hop into a hospital bed before wheeling me to meet the anesthesiologist. He was a very nice man who explained all the risks of having a spinal block (including permanent paralysis, which I didn't realize was possible... I'm still not convinced that it is). Then they took Jason away to put on surgical scrubs while I was instructed to get into another "bed," this one an elevated blue block with brow
n extensions sticking out the end (one for each of my legs to go on), and a u-shaped pink pillow for my head. Then they wheeled me into the operating room and had me sit up in a little ball while the anesthesiologist administered a local anesthetic into my back (to numb the pain of the BIG needle that was to come). Then he asked me to sit very still, and it felt like he was poking and prodding at my spine with his fingers. I laid back down and in walked our OB. I told her what a relief it was to see half a familiar face (the other half, of course, obscured by her surgical mask). I was able to watch most of the prep for surgery, which was pretty neat. Over the next few minutes, my entire body from the ribs down went kind of warm, and then almost totally numb. I could still feel anything touch them, but it was a deadened kind of feeling, and I couldn't move anything. Then my arms were strapped down in an outstretched position and a blood pressure cuff was put on the arm that didn't have the IV in it. They raised a curtain in front of my head, and just when I began to fear that they were going to start operating without Jason, he walked in the room. What a relief that was! I could feel them rubbing something all over my abdomen, and after that all I could feel were no
ndescript tugging and pulling sensations. I just kept my focus on Jason's face and kept reminding myself that in just a few minutes I would be holding my baby girl, which made the discomfort much easier to bear. I heard our doctor say something about a shoulder, and then she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! She looks just like Jason!" We heard a very short cry a few seconds later, and then they proceeded with the normal procedures that follow a section, and although this part only lasted a few minutes, we were both speechless with anticipation. Then they let Jason go to see her under the warming lamp, and he came back a second later with her all wrapped up in a pink towel and a space blanket. At long last, here was our little girl! We were absolutely overcome. She is absolutely the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen in my life. We were allowed to ooh and ahh over her while the OB finished stitching me up, and then Jason went back to change into street clothes while they wheeled me out and transferred me back to the hospital room.
This may sound like a large meal but when you consider the fact that making a baby expends over 200 calories an hour a meal like this is merely a snack. Mom, Buzz and 
Rebecca will be here next month and we are getting excited for that! Paris/Rome/Barcelona should be a great time. I am excited to go back to Paris and equally excited to discover Rome and Barcelona. We will be sure to get some good pictures! Love to all of you and take care. Enjoy the latest set of photos : Sadie looking gorgeous (as usual), Jersey sleeping (as usual) and Ziggy looking rather regal (as usual)
nd (most notably) their new little tyke Enzo! He turned two months old while I was visiting and is possibly the cuuuuutest baby I have ever seen! Here's a picture so you don't have to take my word for it:
on thing, they are much more punctual about updating their blog than yours truly. Here's the three of them on a little walk around the neighborhood:
As you can see, I am starting to get a little bulge that looks more like a burgeoning baby than that I just ate too much ice cream. I still just feel more chubby than anything, though.
Don't get excited, this one isn't ours... We still have about 6 more months to go (six looooong months without caffeine, I might add :)
