Simply Living: November 2013

Heeelllooo World! Meet the newest member back in the NOT prego club!! Woohooo!!! It's about 2am & everyone else in the world is probably standing in a line/store shopping it up this Black Friday morning. I just fed the little butterball & I get to stay up feeling the wonderful sensations of cramps/contractions til the Tylenol kicks in. No one said it'd be easy, oh, but it's soooo worth it.

I've been waiting for this day since I found out I was pregnant this yr. I am so grateful that I am able to have kids (some times a little too easily) , but after having 4 so quickly & close together, Im happy that its over.

Our day started out with me going to bed thinking, Im never going to have this baby. Up to this point I had been having dreams of Drs telling me I was ready & needed to get to the hospital right away & dreams of my water breaking, only to wake up disappointed and frustrated. If my life were a movie for the past 9 months, the title would probably be "The Diary of a Mad Pregnant Tongan Woman". Happy to have a baby, mad at not being able to "own" my body. A little past midnight on Thanksgiving morning, I had a bloody show. Light contractions started shortly after that so I woke up Jesse & the kids, called up my brother Sale & made our way over to his house to drop off the children. Thank goodness he answered & took them! Not something you'd expect at 1am Thanksgiving morning. Love my brother.

We made our way over to Waimea, which is about an hrs drive from where we live & reached the hospital round 2:30 in the morning and I was dilated 3 cm. Nothing much happened between the time we checked in until around 7 am besides the occasional contraction every 10 min. The nurse released me & told me I was welcome to stay but because I wasn't bleeding heavily & contractions weren't strong, it could take any where from the next several hrs to the whole day or even the next before I actually went into heavy labor. This is one of the few times I was really mad at natural birth. INDUCE! INDUCE!! My brain was screaming. I could barely stand it. Reluctantly, we drove home with the same light contractions that would continue to irk me for the next several hrs, had breakfast and Jesse and I both fell fast asleep by 9 am. It was a long night & we both needed rest. I'm glad we made the drive home cause there's no way He or I would've slept that well in the hospital room. My stomach woke me up around 12:30 pm so I got up & made us lunch, did the dishes and by 1:30 the contractions started feeling a lot stronger...as in it was getting harder to breathe thru or function. I told Jesse we should probably head back to Waimea, and of course he asked me if I wanted to watch a movie instead.. Get a couple red boxes, veg out. I was slightly annoyed. Don't worry, he says. Nothing will happen, he says. By 2:30 I was done, we WERE going back, I tell him. I almost doubted myself cause the contractions this time around weren't as bad/hard as I remember feeling them last yr with Salesi. I'd rather be on the safe side so we made the hrs drive again, got to the hospital at 4:30 with only one thing in mind. EPIDURAL. The magical treat. Yes, all would be fine. Just one shot and I'd be home free. Relaxing, breathing, pain free. Jesse checked me in while they took me straight to the room. At this point I could still breathe thru my contractions (barely) but I couldn't move when they came. The first thing I told the nurse when we got in the room was, "Epidural, I will definitely have the epidural." I wasn't messing around. The hr drive to and from the hospital twice that day sitting thru contractions in the car was SO not the business. Done, I'm done! Nurse laughs and says, sure lets get you on the bed and check your cervix, see how far you are then we'll get started; were you here this morning? "Yes, that was me and I'm back, EPIDURAL!" She checks me and her words made me almost want to end my life.. "Oh there's your water bag, uh-huh.. Your cervix is so thin I can barely tell .. But I need to be sure.. Yes, ok ya mom, your going to have this baby now. Your dilated 8-9 cm!" By 4:45 pm Jesse got to the room, I was in a hospital robe on the bed and the staff were taking my vitals, blood wrk, asking questions in between contractions, while I, on the other hand couldn't stop whispering.."epidural.. Is there no way?..I can't believe it.." I was so pathetic. Around 5pm, midwife Pat (who was amazing) broke it down.
1.we break your water. 2. Baby comes 3. It's over with 4. The sooner we break your water, the sooner it'll be over with.
Great. I took a few minutes to get my head together & got back in the game. It all happened like Pat said, within a matter of minutes.. The fastest/easiest labor I've had by far. No tearing, yes! i felt every part of that slow and painful process and at one point i just wanted to shoot that sucker outa there, but i was determined not to tear this time. Jesse said he's never seen me sweat so much, i had huge bullets of sweat all over my nose and face. Pat talked me thru it & at 5:25 pm little Jeremy was with us and all was well. 8lbs 12.1 oz, 21.5 inches of happiness. Who knew so much joy could come in a tiny bundle? And bonus, no more pregnant belly!!! YES!! I will take the bubble gut over not being able to bend down or pick things up & having back pain. Glory glory hALLELUYER! It feels good, oh it feels so good.
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Hey, remember me? I'm back. And look, so is Mom. Texas has been good to her. This Veteran's Day Jesse took the day off & we went to Mahaiula's. El, Mar & Mom came with and we're so glad they did. The little one's swam and played in the tree's.

(sharing a cheeto with Aunty Ela)
The smallest one was a bit of trouble. He kept trying to go in the water after he all but froze after swimming for a few minutes. It was a windy day. Warm, but too windy for littlest one to stay in the water comfortably. After many attempts at going back in, mom tied a lavalava to his waist. Puppy actually liked his leash! So did I.