Introducing Samuel James Hayes

Samuel James was born on October 28th, 2009 at 1:03 pm, Hawaii time. He weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 19 inches long. I was 41 weeks, 5 days pregnant, and just barely avoided having to be induced.

If you've read the previous blog, you know that my hospital bags were stolen from my van on Monday night. So, I left home around 1 pm on Tuesday, after Jocelyn woke up from her nap, so that I could go buy new nursing bras, a camera, magazines, etc. I went to Target, the NEX, Best Buy, the BX, and some other places, getting the things on my list and looking for the camera that I wanted (I ended up having to settle for a different one). All the walking had had me contracting pretty regularly all day, but nothing too strong or too close together. I got home around 7:30 and sat down to check my email/Facebook and didn't get a single contraction for about 30 minutes. I wasn't going to let it end there.

I got up and walked around the block a few times...a few times meaning about 50 times. I walked myself into labor, finally! After about 2 hours of walking, I was having moderately painful contractions about 4-6 minutes apart. I called Melynda, to let her know that we needed her to come spend the night with Jocelyn. I kept walking while she came over from Pearl City. The whole time I was walking, I was texting Cori, a friend back in Salinas who was in the hospital on hour 40 of her induction. We thought it would be funny if we had our sons on the same day (which is what ended up happening), and we were texting each other labor updates throughout. Anyway, by the time Melynda arrived, I was getting contractions about 3-4 minutes apart and was barely able to talk or walk through them. We left for the hospital a little bit after 11 p.m. This was the same time that we left for the hospital with Jocelyn, and Brad was absolutely thrilled about having to do this all night...again.

We got to the hospital to find that I was dilated to 4 or 5 centimeters and contracting every 3 minutes. They set me up in a room and asked if I wanted an epidural. I said that I was fine, that the pain wasn't unbearable yet and that I could wait a little bit longer. MISTAKE! Brad even said, "why don't you get it before the pain gets that Bad?" I should have listened to him. I toughed it out until about 2 am, then I decided I couldn't take it anymore and asked for the anesthesiologist back. They told me I would have to wait because she just went into an emergency C-section. Great! I think I finally got my epidural around 3:15. It felt great at first. About an hour after I got it, my legs started tingling. You know that feeling that you get when your leg falls asleep and it is waking up? Pins and needles, so uncomfortable that it is borderline painful. Well, that is what it felt like....for hours. I kept complaining about it, saying, "my legs feel funny". I tried to deal with it, while Brad slept and I watched a bunch of old episodes of Saved By The Bell and The Fresh Prince Of BelAir. Then I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was going to pull all my hair out and start throwing things. It was so uncomfortable I was really going nuts. The new anesthesiologist finally came back in (there had been a shift change around 7 am) to see what was wrong with me. She took me off of the medicine in the epidural drip, and put a new kind on. That was at about 9 am...after 5 hours of evil leg tingling. A little bit after that, when the first leg tingly drugs were wearing off, and before the new ones kicked in...they decide to check me. I had been hovering at a 5-6 cm for a while so they decide to break my water to get things moving. Good timing. I felt most of that part. I wish they would have waited until the new drugs kicked in!



At 11, they checked me again and I was still at 6 cm. They offered me a dose of Pitocin, and I accepted. The new epidural was feeling good, and I was comfortable, finally! Two hours after the Pitocin, at about 1 o'clock they came back in to check me. I guess the Pitocin worked because, the nurse barely started checking and said, "Whoa, there's a head." I was fully dilated and ready to push. The doctor came in, I pushed 3 times, and Samuel was born at 1:03. Brad actually started videoing me when they told me that I could start to push with my next contraction. The video was only 2 minutes and 13 seconds long, and Samuel was here!
















I couldn't believe that he came out that fast! I was giggling the whole time I was pushing and the doctor said that she had never had anyone laugh while pushing a baby out before. I just couldn't believe that, after 13 hours in that bed, it was over so fast! AND...no tearing! I ripped a bit with Jocelyn, and was so excited that I didn't have to deal with that this time. Woo hoo!

Because he came out so fast, his face got a little bruised and he still had a fair amount of amniotic fluid in his lungs (being in the birth canal while mom is pushing usually squeezes all the fluid out).

Recovery went just fine. Sam started nursing right away and my epidural wore off pretty quickly with no lasting side effects. I was walking around in no time. We were released from the hospital the next afternoon, right after Sam had his circumcision and his 24 hour check up.
















The first two nights have gone just great! Sam sleeps for 3 hours, wakes up to eat, then goes back down for 3 more hours. Brad woke up with Jocelyn today, and Sam and I slept in until passed 9!!!!




It's so much fun having two kids. It is also SO great having Brad at home...and knowing that he won't be leaving for 8 months next week like last time.










Team Hayes is excited to keep expanding, but will enjoy being a family of four for the time being!

Now, I start planning my journey to the Hibiscus Half Marathon on June 13, 2010.

ROBBED!!!!

So, I'm very, very pissed/sad/frustrated/stressed etc. Brad and I went to dinner at a Chinese food restaurant tonight. We parked the van RIGHT OUT FRONT of the glass windows of this place. I swear I locked the doors to the van and Jocelyn must have hit the unlock button on the keys when I let her play with them to shut her up while we were waiting for our food. Anyway, My hospital bags were in the back of the van. I KNOW THIS for a fact because Jocelyn took her shoes off on the way to the restaurant and I had to fish one of them out of the bag when we got there. Seriously, even after filing a police report for theft...I wish I would just find them in the house and feel really stupid about all of this.

After we got home, I cut up pieces of the ice cream cake that Brad brought home for me today. I wanted to take a picture of it and post it on Facebook to show off how great my husband is. I went out to the van to get the camera out of my hospital bag. Hmm. Not there. Gone. Gone. Gone. Let's try to recall all that was in that bag...

- $400 camera with a $50 8GB memory card in it
- 4 of the only kind of nursing bras that I like, that Motherhood no longer manufactures...Plus the brand new one that I bought just the other day (don't ask why I thought I need 5 nursing bras for the hospital...I've never been known to pack light, okay!)
- 'What to Expect When You're Expecting', 'The Girlfriend's guide to Pregnancy', the new Cosmo, the new People, a brand new crossword puzzle book, and a mensa logic problems book that I JUST bought 2 days ago to keep my mind working while in the hospital
- The adorable fuzzy Halloween sock/slippers that Melynda got me for a push present
- The super great Pink Polka dotted nursing night gown that Kharisa sent me (I was so excited about that thing)
- The best robe ever!
- a bunch of sports bras, chonies, and socks
- a hair brush, shampoo, conditioner, face wash, a brand new Estee Lauder Day Wear Plus, a brand new Clinique eyebrow pencil (grr - I never pay $13 for those things, but I ran out of Avon ones and needed one right away), lots of other toiletries and makeup
- my birth plan, which I deleted off of the computer after printing and putting it in the bag (why did I do that?)
- The night gown that I planned to wear, and bought specifically for, the delivery of Samuel
- The two Brand new $50 Pea in the Pod nursing tops that I made Brad buy for push presents, that I have been dying to wear since July.
- my cell phone charger
- Ugh, and other things that I cannot remember right now


I'm sure that I will continue to remember things that were in that bag, and continue to become more and more irritated with the fact that some punk kids probably tossed it in the trash when they discovered that the contents were useless to them. The stuff in that bag was worth over $1000 to me...and NOTHING to the idiots who grabbed it out of the car.

Positive side: They didn't take the $500 Phil and Teds stroller (that I did not pay $500 for) out of the back of the van. They didn't take the brand new $175-never used Britax car seat (that I got for $35). They didn't take the bag that I had packed for Samuel (with fancy cloth diapers and the outfit I've been planning to bring him home in, blankets, pacifiers, etc). Nothing in that bag was irreplaceable except for the photos that were on the camera.

I'm confident that I will not be going into labor tonight...so I will get to go on a $500+ shopping trip in the morning (definitely not going to the hospital without a new camera). But, having to buy things to replace things that were stolen just doesn't seem like it will give me the normal high that I usually achieve from shopping.

I am so bummed right now. But, I know it could be SO much worse, so I'm going to try my best to count my blessings and head to bed...after I retype my birth plan.

If I would have just let them induce me today, this wouldn't have happened...not that I think Cori is having any better of a night than I am. Or, if Samuel would have just been born on his due date, or any of the 8 days following his due date, this wouldn't have happened. That kid doesn't know how much trouble he is in when he finally shows up!


*GIGANTIC SIGH*

For my brother, who doesn't believe in Facebook....

Burt,

This is what what modern day cloth diapers look like. No safety pins involved! The last one is one that I made for Sam for Halloween!
























Also, here are my most recent pregnant pictures. This is in response to Burt saying, "You're due in 10 days. You must be HUGE." See for yourself, little brother.

Getting Excited (in more ways than one)

Today I am about 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I'm not anywhere close to giving birth, which is fine with me because I really want to go to the Navy Ball on Saturday night. I bought a dress at Ross in Salinas back in February, right after I found out that I was pregnant. It still fits! Now, I just have to decide on which shoes to wear (which is hard when there are 50+ pair of 3-4 inch heels in my closet). Yesterday, my doctor told me to consider wearing flat shoes. Oh, he doesn't even know.

Since we are on the subject of my doctor...I'm so glad that I'm almost done having to see him on a regular basis! This is going to sound totally wrong, but he is a good looking guy, and he is really friendly and nice. I hate that! I wish he was ugly. It just makes me feel uncomfortable to have him check me for dilation. The military assigns you a PCM (primary Care Manager) who becomes the default every time you make an appointment. The last few times I've made appointments, the person asks me, "with Dr. Smith?" and I want to say, "no". But, I would have no clue what to say if they asked me why. "Uh, can I see another doctor please, because I think Dr. Smith is cute and I don't want him touching me, especially in the pink parts. Please assign me to a lady doctor, or at least an ugly doctor. Thanks." I figured that I was going to have to get checked at my appointment yesterday, even though I knew I wasn't even close to dilated. Brad worked from midnight to noon, so he was home. I really wanted him to come with me, but he wanted to sleep (understandably). He's probably going to want to come to the next one after reading this!!!

Anyway, the reason for the title of this blog is not because of my doctor. It's because I'm excited to get dressed up for the Navy Ball and go out and enjoy myself with my Husband before Samuel arrives. And, of course, I'm excited about the impending arrival of Sam!!!! This might be TMI, but I haven't let Brad touch me over the past couple weeks for fear that any hanky panky might bring Samuel into the world early, messing up our Navy Ball plans. So, of course, Saturday night all the Hanky Panky that we can handle will be allowed. Perhaps Sam will even be born on Stacey's birthday (13OCT), though I think Joseph's birthday (21OCT) is much more likely.

You might be thinking that I should not be so obsessed with going to the Navy ball, but you must understand that I love getting dressed up, I love wearing tall shoes, I love making my hair look fancy, I cannot wait to see Brad in his NEW fancy Chief dress whites (you should be excited about this, too), we already paid $120 for the tickets and have FREE childcare for Jocelyn. Plus, we've decided that we are going to win the grand prize that evening -- a 52" HD LCD Flat Screen TV. I'm tired of arranging our living room around having to put our current TV in a corner because if we put up against a wall it sticks out 4 1/2 feet! It's a monster. I think it weighs about 900 pounds. The movers packed it on top of our dresser on the way here from Japan, and then had to buy us a new dresser.

This blog is a bunch of randomness about being excited, but the next one will most likely be super duper excited due to Sam being here. So, come back and check it out if you are interested in all the gory details of him coming into the world!