The Drama with the Doctor

I have now survived two pediatric doctor appointments with Nelson, and, quite frankly, I never expected so much drama. Never a dull moment with my son, let me tell you what.

The first doctor appointment was when Nelson was 3 days old. It was just a little check up in which the doctor was going to check Nelson's circumcision--nothing too fancy.

When it started getting close to the appointment time, Andrew asked if we wanted to take Nelson in his stroller. Since the clinic wasn't too far from our apartment, I said I didn't mind. After we got Nelson all packed up in the stroller, Andrew realized the wheels needed a little air. So he ran to find his bike pump. Time was ticking, and I think we were all getting antsy about being late. Then, the right pump nozzle for the stroller tires wouldn't attach properly to the pump. Andrew told my mom and me to start walking, and he would catch up with the stroller (and Nelson, of course) after he got the pump working.

My mom took this epic picture of us trying to get the stroller ready.

When Andrew did catch up with us, I realized I'd left Nelson's diaper bag back in the apartment (oops). Andrew gave the stroller to me, and he literally ran back to the apartment to grab the bag.

My mom and I arrived with Nelson at the clinic only to find out that what we thought was the right building was actually a women's clinic of the same name, and the pediatric clinic was on the other side of town. We were already 5 minutes late as it was, so my mom asked the receptionist to call the pediatric clinic to tell them we were on our way.

All I could think about was the fact that poor Andrew was probably going to run into the clinic any second with diaper bag in tow, and I was going to have to tell him to run back to the apartment again to grab the car. Luckily, Andrew had a sixth sense about the whole situation and drove himself to the clinic.

We all scrambled to get ourselves and the stroller in the car, and we were on our way to the right clinic. The receptionist had told us an approximate location of where the pediatric clinic was, so it took us a little while to find it. I was pretty overwhelmed by this point, so the darned clinic building may as well have been the Labyrinth. Andrew had to practically push me in the right direction because I had gone into a little lost puppy mode.

Us just happy to have found the right office and to be sitting in its lobby.

We FINALLY got to the office, and it did not help my nerves at all to find that it was getting remodeled. There was loud hammering and drilling the whole time we were sitting in the lobby. After waiting for more than a half hour (I guess I really didn't have to worry about being late after all), we got called back to an exam room.

A nice nurse asked me to strip Nelson down to just a diaper so she could get his length and weight. As I started taking off his little outfit, the nurse started asking me all sorts of questions about Nelson's eating habits and bowel movements. I got really mad at myself because I had stalwartly created and filled out a table with all this information, and I had (surprise, surprise) left it in the apartment. With the help of my mom and Andrew, we managed to answer all the nurse's questions to the best of our ability. There was a little discrepancy on what we thought the color of Nelson’s bowel movements had been (who knew the color of poo could be so important?), so I opened Nelson’s diaper because I knew he had pooped in it. The nurse started to say that this particular bowel movement was the perfect color.

And that’s when Nelson decided to pee across the exam room.

I didn’t know a baby could get that much height and distance when peeing. It was actually quite incredible. But at the time it was just plain embarrassing. All I could do was stand frozen and stare at that stream of pee coming from my son. It wasn’t until he was almost done that I realized I could just close the diaper again. This just wasn’t my day. I really tried not to, but I suddenly burst into tears right in the middle of the exam. The poor nurse didn’t exactly know what to say or do, so she sweetly told me I could pick up my baby to take him to get weighed (after he got a nice clean diaper on, of course).

The rest of the exam went just fine. The doctor was really nice once he came in to the exam room. A funny part of the exam was when the doctor was unwrapping the gauze from Nelson’s circumcision. As the doctor unwrapped, he jokingly said, “It’s just like unwrapping a little Christmas present.” He then looked at Andrew and said in mock seriousness, “I mean a BIG Christmas present.” We all got a good laugh out of that one. By the time we got home, I realized the whole experience really had been rather humorous (mostly). Oh, and here are Nelson’s stats from that appointment:

Weight: 7 pounds 7 ounces

Height: 21 inches

The nice doctor examining Nelson. That blurry thing is my arm.

I can't exactly remember what I was doing...

As for the second doctor appointment (Nelson’s two week appointment), we went with Andrew’s mom. We were on time, and I even remembered the diaper bag. The only thing that went wrong was the fact that Nelson decided he was absolutely famished right as we were pulling out of our apartment complex parking lot to go to the appointment. You would think I NEVER feed him EVER. He cried and fussed and cried and fussed and cried and fussed basically the whole time we were in the clinic. We had brought a bottle, but it wasn’t enough. The poor little guy just didn’t understand what was going on!

Even with all the drama, it was fun to get Nelson’s updated stats:

Weight: 8 pounds 8 ounces

Height: 21.5 inches

The doctor told us Nelson is doing just fine considering he had already gained a whole pound. He also said Nelson’s skin coloring looked great, and Nelson has good muscle tone. All good things for a nervous new mommy to hear. :)

So all is well with little Nelson. And all is well with the nervous new mommy… even if I did gain a few gray hairs from these doctor’s visits. The next appointment is his two month appointment. I think I should start preparing mentally now… and make sure Nelson gets a good and proper feeding before we even think of leaving the apartment. :)

And Then There Were Three: the Epic Labor Story

Nelson Andrew Washburn was born on July 26 at 7:26 a.m. We think it rather show-offish of him to be born at 7:26 on 7/26, but now we’ll never forget when he was born (so no complaints here).

Labor started quite unexpectedly on Monday, July 25. Andrew and I were on our way to Wendy’s because I was having yet another craving for a hamburger and French fries. We were discussing how I was probably going to have to be induced because I hadn’t had one contraction, and there were no signs of progress at my last doctor appointment (my due date was July 27). Andrew mentioned he was getting pretty nervous thinking about the labor and what it was going to be like to be a dad. We parked and got out of the car.

That’s when my water broke right in the middle of the Wendy’s parking lot.

It was all quite sudden (and rather uncomfortable). Andrew and I got back in the car, and Andrew called our doctor. He got put through to our doctor’s call service, and he hurriedly told the guy on the other line that, “My water’s wife broke!” I busted up laughing, and I knew the guy on the phone was laughing too. Andrew looked rather confused and somewhat offended until he realized what he’d said. Oh man, it was funny! He was told to take me up to the hospital.

We got ourselves to the labor and delivery wing of the hospital, and, long story short, it was determined that my water had in fact broken. I was officially admitted around 7 p.m. with the promise that I would probably be there all night. The labor and delivery wing was hopping. The nurse told me I was one of 5 women who had come to be admitted in the last 10 minutes!

Once I was all settled in, Andrew ran back to our apartment to grab our hospital bag we had so painstakingly packed a couple weeks in advance (we thought it was ironic that we didn’t even have it with us when I got admitted). When he got back, we killed time by watching TV and playing some card games with our good friends the Barneys. Meanwhile, I was started on a small dose of Pitocin.

Me before I really started feeling any contractions. :)

My parents and sister arrived from Utah around 11 pm. We talked for a while, and then the nurse came in to up my Pitocin drip. My family left to stay in our apartment, and the nurse told Andrew and me to get some sleep (easy for her to say). As the minutes ticked by while I lay there in the dark, I could feel my contractions getting harder and harder. It wasn’t too bad at first, but around 2:30 it started to get pretty awful. Andrew woke up, held my hand, and reminded me to breath. He was so wonderful. I couldn’t have done it without him.

Around 4:30, I was pretty miserable. I called for the nurse, and she asked me if I wanted some painkiller or an epidural. I opted for the latter. She called for the anesthesiologist, and I began to panic. Did I really want this huge needle pushed into my spine? Fortunately, the anesthesiologist was really nice and unbelievingly good at his job. I didn’t even feel the epidural go in. At first, I only felt relief on my right side. The anesthesiologist fixed that in a matter of seconds, and then I was in epidural heaven.

Me after getting my epidural. Oh, how I LOVED my epidural.

Want to know how much my body likes epidurals?

I progressed from 2.5 centimeters to a full 10 centimeters in a mere 45 minutes.

It was almost surreal. Suddenly, the nurse was telling me I’d be pushing really soon, and Andrew was calling my family to tell them to come quick. I pushed for an hour and five minutes (the quickest yet longest hour and five minutes of my life), and then my son was in my arms.

Me and my little man getting acquainted after the nurses washed him.

The first little feature I got a good look at was one of his ears. I couldn't stop talking about that perfect little ear! The nurses took him to give him a little oxygen and wash him. He was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 19 and a half inches long. He has a TON of dark hair and the cutest little face.

First family photo!

Nelson all bundled up with Aunt Sydnee and Grandma Glade.

Nelson with Grandpa Glade. We think Nelson is my dad's mini-me. :)

Um, did I mention his cute little face?

We spent the night at the hospital. The nurses were wonderful and watched Nelson that night so Andrew and I could get a full night's sleep. Nelson was so perfect and mellow during our hospital stay. The only time he got mad was when the nurses brought him back from getting circumcised. But can you blame the kid? It's been so fun having him home in our apartment. Stay tuned for more adventures with our little guy.

Nelson getting dressed by his dad to go home from the hospital.