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We are home from the hospital and George is 15 days old!! :) I can't believe how time has just flown past. Have not had time to update the blog (apologies) since we only got back from the hospital last weekend (23rd Feb) and George was born on the 18th. Let me start from the very beginning...
18th Feb 2008
We woke up at about 4.30am and started to get ready to go to the hospital. It's quite surreal to actually know the birthdate of your child before he's even born - and I think we were extremely lucky and blessed not to have had any emergencies before so that we actually made it to the date arranged by the consultant! We got to QEQM hospital (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in Margate - home of Tracey Emin!) at 7am and when we walked in, the midwife said that we were going to be the first c-section of the day! That was shock no. 1! We went in thinking that we were going to be second since apparently there was another woman booked in for a c-section and she was diabetic, and so we assumed (and we were told!) that she'd go first. Plus I had the added 'complications'. Oh well, maybe Mr Belgaumkar wanted to sort the complicated case out first!
So, we went into a room where we sort of got ready - I changed into my hospital gown (started to feel nervous about it) and Dan was given his hospital clothes to change into, including a hair net thing, and special wellie/boots to wear! Then all the people who were going to be in the operating theatre trooped in one by one to introduce themselves and tell me what was going to happen - which was really nice, because it helped me identify with them. Midwife, Aneastetists, Surgeons, their assistants, operating theatre staff...
9am - I walked to the theatre - I started to get really nervous at this stage but they were really nice and very gentle with the spinal. The feeling was really weird - it felt like I was having pins and needles but not really. Felt all warm and fuzzy too. By 0917, they started the first incision and by 0925, George Noah Kai was born. :) and I only knew that because the music we had chosen (Hallelujah - by Rufus Wainwright) was playing at that moment, and the anaestatist started to let the green curtain screen down and said to put on my glasses and lifted my back up so that I could see George emerging from my womb!
His umbilical cord was cut and he immediately let out a huge yowl (something which we are trying to get accustomed to at the moment!)!! He was then taken to the respiratair where he was checked through and given an APGAR score of 9 at 1 min and 10 at 5 min! :) His daddy went straight over to the machine and took photos of him and the midwife then brought George over to be placed on my chest for a little while whilst they sewed me up. I didn't feel a thing (of course, it hurt like mad afterwards!)... it was such an experience.
George weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz (3.650 kg), and 50 cm long. His head circumference was 35cm (which is spot on average) and everything's fine. Within the hour, (by10am) I was wheeled out into recovery where Dan and George were both waiting for me and George was placed on me for his first breastfed moment - he latched on very well and very quickly, and we will be posting pictures up here soon.
We spent the next couple of nights at QEQM and were discharged on Wed evening (we thought he might have jaundice - but the blood tests said he was fine - rather on the high end but still ok) and went on to stay 3 more nights at Kent and Canterbury Birth Centre. This was a preferred option as it meant that Dan could stay with us in the room (it was almost as if we were in a private hospital!) and we could get help with breast feeding - which was invaluable.
As all new mothers are, I was constantly fretting over him. Was he feeding enough, was he feeding too much? Was he sleeping enough, was he sleeping too much? Was he pooing enough, was he pooing too much? What is the perfect poo? Has he wee-ed? How do we know he's wee-ed? and so on...
We survived the few days at hospital and made it home on saturday night. We've now been home for 10 days now and we've had our sleepless days and nights but it's all been worth it. He is the most perfect and cutest baby ever (of course, we are biased!)...
Dan's gone back to work as of yesterday and I had my first day alone with him then. It was scary - not having an extra pair of hands to rely on is incredibly daunting... but we survived it. Today has been extremely good so far (fingers crossed) and hopefully we'll survive again till Dan arrives home at 6pm!
Lots of love
P and G xx
15 days old!
18th Feb 2008
We woke up at about 4.30am and started to get ready to go to the hospital. It's quite surreal to actually know the birthdate of your child before he's even born - and I think we were extremely lucky and blessed not to have had any emergencies before so that we actually made it to the date arranged by the consultant! We got to QEQM hospital (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, in Margate - home of Tracey Emin!) at 7am and when we walked in, the midwife said that we were going to be the first c-section of the day! That was shock no. 1! We went in thinking that we were going to be second since apparently there was another woman booked in for a c-section and she was diabetic, and so we assumed (and we were told!) that she'd go first. Plus I had the added 'complications'. Oh well, maybe Mr Belgaumkar wanted to sort the complicated case out first!
So, we went into a room where we sort of got ready - I changed into my hospital gown (started to feel nervous about it) and Dan was given his hospital clothes to change into, including a hair net thing, and special wellie/boots to wear! Then all the people who were going to be in the operating theatre trooped in one by one to introduce themselves and tell me what was going to happen - which was really nice, because it helped me identify with them. Midwife, Aneastetists, Surgeons, their assistants, operating theatre staff...
9am - I walked to the theatre - I started to get really nervous at this stage but they were really nice and very gentle with the spinal. The feeling was really weird - it felt like I was having pins and needles but not really. Felt all warm and fuzzy too. By 0917, they started the first incision and by 0925, George Noah Kai was born. :) and I only knew that because the music we had chosen (Hallelujah - by Rufus Wainwright) was playing at that moment, and the anaestatist started to let the green curtain screen down and said to put on my glasses and lifted my back up so that I could see George emerging from my womb!
His umbilical cord was cut and he immediately let out a huge yowl (something which we are trying to get accustomed to at the moment!)!! He was then taken to the respiratair where he was checked through and given an APGAR score of 9 at 1 min and 10 at 5 min! :) His daddy went straight over to the machine and took photos of him and the midwife then brought George over to be placed on my chest for a little while whilst they sewed me up. I didn't feel a thing (of course, it hurt like mad afterwards!)... it was such an experience.
George weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz (3.650 kg), and 50 cm long. His head circumference was 35cm (which is spot on average) and everything's fine. Within the hour, (by10am) I was wheeled out into recovery where Dan and George were both waiting for me and George was placed on me for his first breastfed moment - he latched on very well and very quickly, and we will be posting pictures up here soon.
We spent the next couple of nights at QEQM and were discharged on Wed evening (we thought he might have jaundice - but the blood tests said he was fine - rather on the high end but still ok) and went on to stay 3 more nights at Kent and Canterbury Birth Centre. This was a preferred option as it meant that Dan could stay with us in the room (it was almost as if we were in a private hospital!) and we could get help with breast feeding - which was invaluable.
As all new mothers are, I was constantly fretting over him. Was he feeding enough, was he feeding too much? Was he sleeping enough, was he sleeping too much? Was he pooing enough, was he pooing too much? What is the perfect poo? Has he wee-ed? How do we know he's wee-ed? and so on...
We survived the few days at hospital and made it home on saturday night. We've now been home for 10 days now and we've had our sleepless days and nights but it's all been worth it. He is the most perfect and cutest baby ever (of course, we are biased!)...
Dan's gone back to work as of yesterday and I had my first day alone with him then. It was scary - not having an extra pair of hands to rely on is incredibly daunting... but we survived it. Today has been extremely good so far (fingers crossed) and hopefully we'll survive again till Dan arrives home at 6pm!
Lots of love
P and G xx
15 days old!
