After Delivery

Since Adriana was born early in the morning, we had to stay until the following day. Our first visitors were my twin sister and her fiance. They had some running around to do for their upcoming wedding and made it just in time! I was still in the Labour and Delivery room and Patrick was actually nominated to push my wheelchair up the hall to our room. Note: My boyfriend had left to let the dog out and feed him; he’s on a routine and it works! Jill was the first person to hold her after she was born besides the people who were there through it all – my boyfriend and mother.

The next visitors were my boyfriend’s brother, his wife and son. They also brought breakfast! Even though the hospital supplied my meals – I hate hospital food lol A giant berry smoothie sounded better than microwaved eggs and dry toast.

Aiden, my boyfriend’s nephew, is five years old and will be greeting HIS own sister in August this year. I wasn’t sure how he would react but it seemed pretty normal for a kid his age. He literally stood with his nose against the wall…away from the baby! He wouldn’t even look at her, let alone touch or talk to her. I hope he gets used to her soon because he has his own on the way in just a few months. Thank God he came around – very slowly – and at his own pace. He started to at least look at her and then a few weeks later he would acknowledge her in the room. After she was a few months old, he started to touch her hands or feet. A few more weeks after that, he started to be curious while I changed her diaper. She was exactly 4 months old when he finally asked his Dad: “Why doesn’t Adriana have a penis?” Legit question for a five year old! I was surprised it took this long – but glad it was to his parents and not me!

Now, the nurses didn’t tell me much when I got to my room. I refused to wake up Adriana to feed her. I figured she will know when she’s hungry and pass that message to me. Good thing because this awesome baby went 4hrs between feedings right from the start. I had no problems changing diapers or clothing her, the nurses took care of the washing and made sure I had enough formula. Yes, formula. I tried to breastfeed and it wasn’t working. Poor little girl wouldn’t latch on, so I had to supplement until we could figure that out. Never ending up happening – she is a bottle fed baby.

I had prepared myself for the worse. I was expecting a crying, screaming, wailing baby…instead I had this sweet, adorable, q-u-i-e-t baby. I couldn’t believe it!! My whole pregnancy I mentally prepared myself for long nights of no sleep and pacing with a crying baby. In its place, I was blessed with a good baby. A few weeks after being home with her, I would rock her to sleep and CRY because she was SO good! I thanked God for giving me this gift of a child…and a good child. I truly felt blessed.

My first day as a new mom was filled with lots of visitors! After my boyfriend`s brother and gang left, my older sister showed up with her boyfriend. This is the sister who will be leaving for Australia in June for a year! It was very important to me that she came to visit. They got to hold her and take lots of pictures – which will be handy in her photo book when they move. Kim and Tim were very excited to see her finally! My sister would message me almost every day for a month, asking if it was Baby Time yet? Tim was no different. He would talk about how his “new niece will be here soon…”

I was able to get some sleep after the first few visitors. I mean, I was up for over 24hrs and needed to take advantage of it while I could! Unfortunately, the sun was so bright that day I could barely shut my eyes properly. Instead, I rested as much as I could before a new flock of visitors came.

It was later in the afternoon when we saw more people. This time it was Chris’ mom and sister-in-law (again…she was absolutely excited for her first niece!) His mother was at work all day and only heard that I was in labour late the night before. She’s not one for hospitals since her husband passed away several years ago. However, this was for a joyous occasion and I’m glad she made the effort to be there.

While they were still there our friends showed up: Amy, Ashley and Jon. Although no relation to me or Adriana - they were also waiting on her arrival. Ashley works with children all day but never just a day old! Jon is a typical married man with no kids – he thinks babies are boring. Amy was present but has had a hard time watching her friends (and brother) have babies. She had been trying for over 2 years and recently loss her first baby. As devastating as that is, I am proud to announce that shortly after Adriana was born – Amy got pregnant! She’s due October 7^th, 2012…1 week after my birthday!

Just after they left – my mom returned but this time with my dad! He knew I was in labour from talking to my mom a few times but this was his first visit to the hospital and it was to see his first ever granddaughter. He had no problem with holding her – pretty sure he was having flashbacks to when we girls were born. No tears – just smiles! My dad is one of those men with “thinning” hair as he calls it. So the first thing he did was take her little cap off to see how much hair she had; he was already jealous!  Our friend Rob showed up next – with dinner! I wasn’t pregnant but Chicken McNuggets still tasted good. He didn’t want to hold her just yet – too small he said. A few months later, he will have no choice!

It doesn’t end there – next was my aunt, uncle and cousin who live not far from the hospital. I wasn’t even expecting them but it was very nice they came. Out of their 4 children, none have decided to have babies yet – so Adriana was the closest thing to a grandchild they would have for a few more years anyways. My uncle jumped right in to hold her first – not surprising since he loves babies. My cousin Julia was terrified to hold her – too small she said!

After a long day of visitors, I was pretty tired. In order to prepare for a smooth transition to home with Tyson (or dog), Chris spent the night back at our apartment. He stayed as late as he could to keep me company and hold his new baby girl. I popped in a movie on the laptop and cuddle in with her close by. It wasn’t long before I was completely alone. I cherished the moment – baby was sleeping and no visitors. It was probably the first time I could let everything really sink in. I was a mommy now. I have a baby girl. She’s beautiful, healthy…she’s perfect

This was a good way to end the night. I snuggled into my cheap hospital blankets as best I could and fell asleep.

Labour and Delivery

Originally my boyfriend and I had decided that we didn’t want anyone at the hospital until after the baby was born. This meant not messaging anyone or calling anyone until it was all done with. Clearly, this did not happen! At the last minute, I messaged my mom tell her that my water had broken – the doctor confirmed – and I was to stay at the hospital. She left work, drove across the city and spent the next SEVERAL hours with my boyfriend and I at the hospital. At the time I didn’t think of it but it was good to have someone else there to keep him company during this long process.

At 3:30pm, all three of us went back up to the triage nurse to see if there was a bed ready for me. They checked me again and I was still at 1cm! They advised to go walk some more and come back in another 2hrs. You got it boss. So as bored of being in the hospital as I was, we reluctantly went back downstairs and walked around a little more.

We have a 7 year old Rottweiler that had been at home by himself since we first left for the hospital. I knew eventually my boyfriend would have to go check on him, feed him, and let him outside. This was that time. While I walked around with my mom, waiting, playing with our Blackberrys , etc. All the normal things people do while in labour, right? I still didn’t feel any contractions. Were they sure I was in labour? The only thing that I did feel was back pain; a lot of back pain. Probably due to the emotions of the big day but I only realized much later that I was having back labour and that’s why my belly wasn’t doing anything!

I only had a light lunch because I figured I would be having the baby already! Several hours of being in the hospital made me glad we took the time to make breakfast before leaving home. I had granola bars and juice in my bag but wasn’t feeling up to eating any of it.

Finally the time came! We were escorted to a room where everything will happen. Lovely open concept with a couch in the corner – my poor boyfriend attempted to sleep on it that night, horrible. I was glad to at least have a TV in the room! Although not much is on after 10pm on a Wednesday night…in January. I ended up watching CP24 news all night – right until after the baby was born. This paid off really well later on but that’s for another post.

As soon as I got in the room, I was to change and be hooked up to an IV. They started me on the Pitocin at a low level and set up monitors for the baby. I still wasn’t feeling anything at this point – just the back pain still. The nurse was telling me when I was having contractions but I felt nothing. Sounds great, right? Wrong! All the pain was going through my back and eventually it was numb from the constant pain. To answer your question – Yes I did have an epidural!

The whole process was being dragged on because there were FOUR other babies being born at the same time. I had to wait for a bed, a room, my epidural, even when she was ready to come – I was told to wait! About three and a half hours after they gave me the epidural, I started to feel E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I tried to push the button before 10mins was up, just to see if it would give me more pain medication. I was disappointed. I barely had an hour sleep since the night before and now it was time for the hardest part.

My nurse was fantastic! She was in every 10-15mins to check on me and it was always perfect timing. I told her that it was time, she said to wait it out and the doctor would be in shortly. There was no waiting this time. By 2am, the nurse had paged for the doctor and this time I was at 5cm. Twenty minutes later the doctor arrived and I was at 9cm! Then ten minutes later I was fully dilated. It was time.

I’m skipping through all the stuff that is just TMI…it isn’t that kind of blog people! After 24.5hrs of labour, lots of back pain, some drugs and 3hrs of pushing….we welcomed our baby girl to the world!

On January 5, 2012 (one day after my due date!) at 6:28am – Adriana Margaret Ellis was born. It’s just an unbelievable feeling when it happens. All you Mom’s out there know exactly what I’m talking about. Its indescribable, overwhelming, relieving….everything you could image! She was 7lbs 12oz when she was born. 

She was perfect in every way.

Baby Time!

I remember the week leading up to my due date very clearly! I made it through Christmas without going into labour – You’re Welcome Dad! - Then through Boxing Day. It was the first year my sisters and I didn’t hit the malls to get some good deals on clothes or a new purse! At almost 9months pregnant, I could barely walk to the bathroom let alone walk the mall on Boxing Day. I love them….but not happening.

That week I could breathe finally – Christmas was over and no baby! My mother had a dinner party with some friends of hers so my boyfriend and I took my dad out for some beers and apps (I drank water!). Afterwards, I went back to my mom’s house and thought I would help clean up while she chit chatted with the ladies. At the time I didn’t realize it but I was nesting. Nesting: refers to an instinct or urge in pregnant animals to prepare a home for the upcoming newborn(s). It is found in a variety of animals (both mammals and birds) including humans. I thought I was just doing a favour by tidying up so she didn’t have to do it all when they left. I’m so thoughtful.

The next night we had some old friends come for dinner at my parents house. I used to babysit these 3 kids and now they’re 22, 13, and 12 years old! It’s just crazy how much they’ve grown up over the years since I was babysitting them. It was a nice night and they wish me well whenever the baby came. They had guessed I would be late – they were proven wrong.

That weekend was New Years! This was the weekend we were waiting for because my due date was January 4^th but we were determined to have the first baby of New Years! Silly us. On New Years Eve, we walked around Walmart I don’t know how many times, drove over all the speed bumps as fast as we could, I ate spicy pizza and walked around doing lunges in our apartment. All the things said to induce labour – all except eating pineapple! By 1am we came to the realization that the baby wasn’t coming. Off we went to bed to try again the following day.

Tuesdays was my yoga night but I wasn’t doing great. I had the worse back pain and it was a late class so I decided to just go on Thursday. I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for that day and if all was good, I was going to yoga! That night I went to bed early.

Wednesday, January 4^th, 2012 at 6am I woke up and thought I had peed my pants. Okay, I sort of knew what was happening but I needed to be sure. I ended up changing twice and then jumping in the shower to relieve some of the back pain I had. After about an hour, I went back to the bed and tried to go to sleep again. Even though my water broke, I knew I had plenty of time until it was baby time! I remember the exact conversation my boyfriend and I had that morning:

“What time is it?”

“7 o’clock”

“What are you doing up so early?”

“Oh nothing…my water broke but I’m still tired”

“WHAT?! Are you sure you didn’t just pee your pants?”

LOL oh he’s soooo funny isn’t he? He couldn’t believe how calm I was. Needless to say, I did not go back to sleep after that. My boyfriend got up and made me breakfast – we knew once I went to the hospital I wouldn’t be able to eat much. I called my doctor’s office and asked if my doctor was on call today – he was *phew*. I was advised to go to the hospital if I thought my water had broken. I didn’t think it did, I KNEW it did! I called the hospital and talked to a triage nurse for a little bit. She asked if I had done the smell test, colour test, etc to be sure that it was in fact my water breaking. The conversation ended with me saying “I will see you in about an hour I guess!”

We packed a few last things – granola bars, juice, music, toothbrush, etc. – and off to the hospital we went. I was put in a temporary bed so they could check some things. Monitors for the baby were attached and they took some blood. My boyfriend doesn’t do well with hospitals so I sent him back home to wait and if they were to make me stay, he would come back with everything. At 11:30am, it was confirmed by the doctor that my waters had broken and I was to stay at the hospital until a delivery/labour room was ready. I was told to go walk around the hospital, maybe have a light snack, and they would call me back up in a few hours.

By this time, I had already been messaging my mom and sisters that its BABY TIME!!!

Introduction - How the journey began

So I have decided to enter the blogging world!! I have wanted to share my story as a 20-something new mother of one (so far!) because I have had quite the journey and can’t wait to include you in all the adventures.

When my boyfriend (yes boyfriend!) and I decided we wanted to start a family, we thought it would take some time. We were a bit naive I guess! It was May 19, 2011 at 11pm when I found out that I was pregnant. I remember very clearly because I had to be back at work for 2:30am for inventory! We both sort of knew it was going to be a positive test, but didn’t realize the overwhelming amount of joy we would feel to see it right in front of us. It was surreal almost.

We held off on telling anyone at first – I broke and told my friend Manuella, whom I knew would never tell a soul! I felt a bit more relieved that I at least told one person. Secrets kill me….I am the worst for keeping them from everyone when I know they’re going to eventually find out! I knew it was only a few weeks until Father’s day, which is when we decided to tell our families; first his, then mine. Surprisingly, his mother took things quite well. Better than I thought! Mine, however, were a bit iffy.

My mother didn’t believe me, my dad didn’t get it, and my sister sat silent! We gave my father a “Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa” card in hope it would set off some thoughts in his head – nope. His response was “Grandpa! I’m not that old!” Oh Dad….

Once it sank in that we were going to have a baby, there wasn’t much to say. I knew all the thoughts running through my mother’s head, without her saying a word: “Baby! You’re too young”, “why!?”, “what about finishing school?”, “how are you going to afford this?”, etc. In my own head, I answered all those questions for her and later would tell her face to face. We did not stay long after telling them…we wanted the news to sink in.

Although, they didn’t show their THRILLED emotions at the time, a few weeks later I started to see them. I think it became more real to them (and me) once they saw my little belly starting to grow. It was like one day I just popped out a belly! I am a petite woman to begin with so eventually I knew this would be happening; I just didn’t think within a few short weeks! I loved having my belly too. I never ever hid it behind big shirts or covered it up with sweaters. I would wear the same things I wore before I was pregnant. Actually, I ended up only buying 2 maternity pants and 1 sweater! I worked with “normal” clothes, trying to find things with stretch or an empire waist to sit above my belly. This also allowed me to shop at all my regular stores! Shopping while pregnant is a whole different day and a whole different post!

On August 18, 2011, I found out that we were having a girl! Now, as much as I was excited to be having a daughter, my boyfriend was not as excited. He really had his hopes set on a boy – even going as far to say he does not “make” girls. Silly man. His view changed quickly and I know he would never ever change his little girl for anything in this whole world! By the time I was 6 months pregnant – he was asking for her to come now. That was just around the time we did a 3D ultrasound! Best money we ever spent before she came. It was about $155 for 2 printed pictures, 20-30 pictures on a CD and a DVD of it all. She wasn’t much of a mover through the whole thing but it was definitely an experience we both enjoyed! Just after we left there, my mom was calling saying to come over and watch the video. Told ya she would come around!

For the last few months of my pregnancy I decided to start doing Prenatal Yoga. Best thing ever! I found a place not far from our apartment so I could walk there and back easily. I had never done yoga before so I was a bit hesitant to go but heard such wonderful things for pregnant woman! It was a small class of about 8-10 woman, ranging from 20weeks to the full 37 weeks! We started every class with how we were doing – aches and pains, thoughts and feelings, gains and losses. It was a good 15mins introduction for those who just joined the class. You’d be surprised at how much this helped me through my pregnancy. I like to think that I had a very easy pregnancy and with the minor stress factors, yoga really helped me deal with those at the time as well as the labour when it came! Go to Prenatal Yoga

I ended up working until about a month before my due date. With Christmas coming up, I had no shopping done, no decorations put up, nothing done! I needed that month to prepare for the holidays as well as the baby. Plus my boyfriend was done for the season and would be there to keep me company and help when I needed him to.

The holidays came and all my Dad kept telling me was “not to ruin Christmas” lol Funny guy didn’t want me to interrupt his dinner! All joking aside, I knew it was coming soon and a bit nervous for the labour. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I really couldn’t know since everyone and every pregnancy is different. Sometimes fears would set in and I would pace around the apartment to keep myself busy. I noticed I was having a hard time sleeping at night too. The end was near and I could feel it. Literally.