Ashton

It's been awhile since I have written.  I gave birth to my son, Ashton on November 19th.  And I was antsy when I blogged twelve days earlier on the 7th.  This is what transpired:

November 15: I was scheduled for a non-stress test at the hospital in the morning.  I had been told by the doctor that if the baby was stressed, I would be induced at this point.  The baby was not stressed and everything was going well.

November 18:

7:45am: Jesse and I arrived at the hospital for our scheduled induction.  We were hooked up to the non-stress test.  The baby was happy, perhaps too happy to emerge on his 

own.  The doctor arrived a little later and placed a strip with something called cervadil up against my cervix.  The nurse reassured me that I would likely go into labour within the next couple days.  I was anxious.  I was told to come in to the hospital at the same time in the morning on the 19th if nothing had happened.  We went back to my parents and slept (since we live an hour away and my parents live right by the hospital, it seemed like the best place to go)

3:30pm: My contractions were killing me.  I couldn't handle the pain anymore after a couple hours so went to the hospital.  They gave me morphine and sent me home.  We arrived at my parents' with me laughing hysterically.

10:30pm: Jesse and I were playing card games.  I started getting contractions again.  I was screaming.  Whoever said contractions felt like menstrual cramps has obviously never been through it.  We went back to the hospital and found out that I was 3cm dialated.  They wanted to give me morphine and send me home.  I told them I couldn't do this again.  They observed that the baby was facing front instead of towards my back and decided to keep me.  I went into labour at 11:30pm, had a shower in the birthing room and had some morphine.  I slept between the contractions and woke up in awful pain every 3-5 minutes.  It was bizarre.

7:30am: This chapter of the birth is hazy.  I had doctors and nurses around me.  I had an IV, was denied more morphine and given laughing ga

s instead.  The gas did not help with the pain but I huffed it because it helped me breathe.  They eventually took it away when the tank was empty but I ended up getting it back at some point.  They got me in all sorts of positions to turn my baby.  They kept telling me that I was only 9.5 cm dialated.  I was in the worst pain of my life.  I came into this wanting to have a natural epidural-free vaginal birth but at that point, I just wanted my baby out.  At one point, they gave me oxygen.  I was huffing laughing gas and then I had an oxygen mask in my face.  I eventually questioned the oxygen and was told that my baby's heart rate was dropping.  Eventually they forced me to have an epidural and they said if things weren't going well, I would have a c-section.  I figured that if I had to have an epidural, they may as well just do the section now.  I was all about the quickest way out.  But they insisted we try more.  So I had the epidural and didn't feel a thing.  The contractions became less painful and more annoying at the same time after the epidural.  I could just feel the pressure and it was harder to push.  Eventually they had an obstetrician come in and examine me.  She found that my baby was positioned in a weird way still and he was gigantic.  I was moved

 to the operating room and was given a spinal.  The spinal was actually pretty neat and my whole body was numb.  It was such a relief!  I was prepped for the surgery and Jesse came in.  I remember talking the whole time. 

November 19, 1:51 pm: I heard a baby crying and the nurse came past with a newborn baby resembling a three month old in size with a full head of hair.  I fell in love as soon as they placed him on me.  His name is Ashton and he weighed 10lbs 7oz at birth.

Now a month later, Jesse and I have the most amazing baby ever.  He's just started smiling already and it's not just gas!  He reacts to us.  He sleeps at night for up to 6 and a half 

hours.  He has always been amazing with nursing.  I could go on and on.  Motherhood is the most amazing thing in the world.

Due date

Today is the day my monster is due. I figure it's less likely that he comes today than any other day because apparently 5% of babies actually come on their due dates. To be honest, I am antsy and any time anyone jokes about how he'll probably be a week late, I almost snap.

Yesterday, I re-learned crochet and am using some of my spare yarn to make the coolest granny afghan ever. This day and age is amazing for learning a new craft. Learning crochet before was a matter of picking up an instructional book or having someone teach you. Something that is passed down through generations and learned from a mother or a grandmother. I learned to knit from my mother, who originally helped a little with crochet when I first bought a crochet book and made half a blanket from it. She told me it would drive me nuts and it did.



Enter, yarn:

I like to buy yarn by the boatload and about a year ago, knitted an entrelac ear warmer headband called Quant (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter07/PATTquant.htmlUEwinter07/PATTquant.html) with a yarn called Twilley's of Stamford Freedom Spirit. I liked the feel of the wool and the colours of it. I loved Quant and how every square was basically a different colour without me even having anything to do with it. So I bought 2 balls of a different colour for a scarf and it didn't work with the scarf pattern. Mom bought a ball and made her own Quant and donated me her leftovers. Every time I went to the yarn store, I came home with a ball of a different colour. I ended up with six different colours and decided I didn't want to make six different Quants after all. The yarn was purchased around the time I became pregnant and I thought it would be perfect for my cold-weather baby as a blanket. I started knitting log-cabin squares and finished a square and a half before putting it aside and doing something else. And now is where the yarn comes in. I figured that doing something new could take my mind off the fact that I am waiting for my babe, impatiently and rather painfully. I remembered the granny squares from years ago and thought about my beloved 6 different colours of wool. I couldn't find the crochet book and didn't have mother handy so I learned to crochet on youtube and instructional websites. It just amazes me that picking up something new can be this easy and I wonder why more people don't just pick stuff up like that (or maybe they do). So I tore apart my half-done log cabin square (I can't bear to tear apart the fully done one because I am emotionally attached to it and it's pretty) and dug out the wool. It took a couple tries before it looked normal but I have a good 10 inches on it now after very little time spent. I am so pleased. Rather than making several squares, I'm just going around and around and making one big granny square until I run out of wool. Jesse asks me, "How big is this blanket going to be?" and I say "It could be a baby blanket, or it could be bigger. We'll see when I run out of wool".
(On a side note, I haven't forgotten my reusable cup since the last post. But I have forgotten the shopping bags)

Halloween and reusable coffee cups

I always hate reading the news the day after Halloween. Like this: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/11/01/halloween-shooting.html
Although the frequency of Halloween related violence is certainly not new and crime in this country has been declining for decades, it is still concerning. This particular incident was in the States but it still freaks the hell out of me, especially now that I am a mother. I like the idea of community bonfires that are held as family events and I definitely look forward to having good times on Halloween with my family. Trick-or-treating is a tradition that I adore though. It was nice when I was little to go around the neighbourhood. It was familiar and I knew everyone. Every year, this little old man who lived a few houses down would scare us when we came knocking. He was so much fun and I always looked forward to going there. I think that trick-or-treating is still a tradition that can be carried out with the same kinds of precautions that one would exercise with their children normally. Adequate supervision, familiar neighbourhoods, going to houses you know, etc.
Today I was also thinking a lot about the environment. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my Timmy's coffee. I have always thought about disposible cups when I just get mine and realize that I didn't bring my reusable favourite Starbucks pumpkin and candy adorned Halloween themed coffee cup. I reuse sleeves but I know I should be remembering the cup. Today I remembered the cup and was pleased with myself. It's just a matter of remembering it. Even if I'm remembering the cup every second cup of coffee, I'm still reducing my personal consumption of disposable cups by 50%. As I was slowly sipping my coffee today, I realized how toasty the coffee stays in the reusable cup. I am a slow sipper and usually by the time the coffee is halfway finished, I'm drinking lukewarm coffee and occasionally having to microwave it. Today, I had hot coffee right down to the last drop. Saving the environment and having the benefit of fresh, hot coffee. Now, like the reusable shopping bags, I must actually remember to put the cup in the car before I leave the house. Hopefully my brain function returns after I have this baby and I can remember the bags and the cup at least most of the time. Actually after the baby, I plan to make more coffee at home which is ultimately the best thing. I have had such little coffee lately that creamer will go bad as I will not make enough to use the cream by the best before date as I have seriously cut back on coffee since I got pregnant. In fact, I didn't drink it most of my pregnancy because the smell made me feel all yucky until around month 7. I drank weakly-caffeinated coffee-ish beverages, which were flavoured to satisfy the caffeine withdrawl headaches.

The monster mash

The monster mash; that's what I say the little guy is doing inside me and has been for months now. He's been a very active little monster. Tomorrow is Halloween, which is my favourite holiday of the year. I love to dress up, watch scary movies, consume candy, give out candy and generally do Halloweeny stuff (though we all know my obsession is not limited to one day only). I haven't organized a costume for this year. With a baby due a week after Halloween, I figured if I put any effort at all into making a costume then he would just arrive early. But if I didn't, then he would be late. So the monster isn't here yet and I have no costume. However, I'm not sure where I would wear this costume anyway. Nobody trick-or-treats at my house as I live on a busy road with no sidewalk in front of the house. Anyway, I had thought of being a pregnant nun, deviating from my traditional witch or demon ensemble. The trade off of minimizing Halloween is that I will be able to celebrate Halloween bigger and better with my son in the coming years!