Sweet Sweet Smile

1 Month Old Picture


5 Week Old Picture

Jackson had another appointment with the Child Health and Nursing Services this morning. He is all healthy and looks great! He has grown in length and is now 56 cm (22 in). And his weight is 3960 grams (8lb 11 oz). He is in the 50th percentile for his height, but only the 10th percentile for his weight. We are going to have one tall and lean boy on our hands, I think!

Lots of exciting things have happened this week: Jackson had his first babysitter. Her name is Mel and she is sitting with him on Thursday nights while I teach. It is good for me because I am still in the house... guess who has separation anxiety and it isn't Jackson! He did so well.... took a bottle and didn't fuss at all! He LOVES Mel.
Next, I got my first smile! It was gorgeous. I woke him up on Monday and he was fussy, but then opened his eyes and just did the biggest smile! They still remain elusive enough where I can't get a picture, but they melt my heart!
He finally had a 6 hour stretch at night. Unfortunately, it was only after I was too tired to keep getting up to cuddle him that I brought him to bed with me. He slept... I didn't. Hrumpf!
I have started driving again. Jackson and I have gone out for the past three days. It is hard running errands with a baby. Those errands where I used to be able to just run in aren't so quick anymore. Planning is essential.
And Nana, Aunt Holly and Aunt Mio come on Saturday!!! I am so excited! Not long now...just tonight of teaching and tomorrow of making sure everything is clean and setup. Then we leave about 3am to pick them up! And then in 3 weeks, Grandpa (we call him Bapa) comes as well! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

So back to recounting...the day after we came home from hospital, we had invited our friends Bianca and Jon over for dinner. Bianca is expecting a little one at the end of June. However, mid-afternoon, David started to feel ill and it wasn't long before he was sick. Pukey sick. And he is a horrible puker - it sounds worse than it is. I was IN TEARS! I felt so bad for him and at the same time couldn't help him because Jackson was demanding to be fed. I was also nervous it was a stomach bug and that if I got it so would Jackson and being a newborn blah blah blah... so I called Bianca to cancel dinner but asked if she could come over to reassure me. She is a paramedic and ended up bringing some stuff to make David feel better though by the time she got here he was on top of his game. Must have just been something he ate. But I was still in tears... worried about the color of Jackson's poop which was mustard yellow and liquidy (which, by the way, is exactly the color you want it to be in breastfed babies... my milk had just come in though and I had never seen it that color). I ended up calling the hospital and the midwife there reassured me that everything was okay and Jackson probably wouldn't pick up the stomach bug if there was one because a) newborns are resilient and b) breastmilk helps fight off those bugs. This was the start of a little period in new motherhood called the baby blues. I cried for the same time every night for about a week. Sometimes I was worried about something, other times I just had to cry. I felt great during the day, but once it started to get dark, I started to get depressed. Weird. I was exhausted and tried sleeping when Jackson slept, but also wanted to get things done around the house and the little man only seemed to want to sleep during the day! He got that sorted out in about a week. I guess it takes some time getting used to the outside!
I am really lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive husband. For a month, David did the shopping and cooking plus kept up his job.
My parents called every day at the same time to check in with me and Jackson.

Next blog hopefully will be the last in the catching up on the past month ones. Then hopefully I'll be able to just update. But for now, ta-ta as I have to go feed the little'un before an evening of teaching.

You're Gonna Be (Always Loved By Me)

First of all, I want to share my excitement in Jackson taking his first bottle! I was having trouble with my new electric pump so I resorted to the manual and only had the attention span to get 50 ml (2 oz). But I start back teaching tomorrow and wanted to make sure David would be able to feed Jackson if he got hungry. Of course, being the worry wart I am, I carefully selected two different brands of nipples (most like my own) and read all the books for advise. I left the room while David settled down with him and he took the bottle immediately! I was so proud of both of them! This means that my boy won't have to go hungry while I teach and I can still teach without having to worry about if my boy is hungry! After Jackson took the bottle he was still hungry (50 ml is not enough) so I nursed him and he took right away to me, too! No nipple confusion! WOOHOO! Go son! But he overindulged and ended up spitting up. He'll learn...eventually. But he is a voracious eater. Sounds like a donkey every time he eats. He is growing and fitting into more of his clothes (finally) much to the dismay of his Nana who asks that he hold out on the growing thing for another 12 days until she can get here. Tomorrow is his first doctor's appointment and I am keen to see how much he has grown.
David fixed my electric pumped last night and this morning I pumped 110 ml! Go mommy!!

Back to the hospital in the post-natal ward...
Visiting hours were from 10 - 1 and 3 - 8. None of the husbands or partners were allowed to stay overnight so David was able to sleep soundly at home. He usually came to see us around 8am (they aren't too strict with visiting hours except at night) and stayed until they kicked him out. He was such a good husband - bringing me a spicy fruit loaf, sprite and bananas (which I still crave every time I nurse), and other essentials that I needed from home.
My friend Bianca (who is 6 weeks off of giving birth) came to visit Tuesday morning. And Tuesday afternoon my catheter and IV came out and I was able to walk around and take a shower. It was a tad painful, but not too bad. I was really glad to take a shower! I got to know the midwives on shift and there were three who were particularly wonderful and helpful: Cathy during the day, Jenny during the evening, and Bev during the night shift. Bianca came back to visit again Tuesday night and then she and her mother Emma came to see us on Wednesday. Jackson spent a lot of time catching up on sleep and I spent time watching him catch up on sleep.

One memorable moment of the first night was his first poop. I was sitting there with him in the bed with me gazing at how lovely he was when all of a sudden I heard this massive explosive sound... I knew right away what he had done, but since I still couldn't get out of bed I paged Jenny and said "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but I think he just pooped". Jenny changed his diaper and I am happy to say that was the only time I had to ask someone else to change him for me. You should also know that I am horribly obsessed with his poop. Must be a mom thing.

On Wednesday I noticed he was a bit jaundiced (not too bad). He was a bit of a lazy eater in the early days - I guess it was too much work to get the colostrum out before my milk came in and he was tired from the whole birth ordeal. That night, Jenny helped me express colostrum into a medical syringe and we fed him with that. His jaundice went away as soon as my milk came in on Thursday. Ever since he has been an eager eater.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning I asked to be discharged. I had originally planned to stay till Friday, but I couldn't handle my neighbor anymore. While Jackson and all the other moms and babies slept (or tried to sleep) soundly in the same room, the girl next to me REFUSED to feed her baby. She let the poor thing cry and cry and cry... wouldn't even pick him up. At one point she just left him in his cot screaming and went to take a shower. The poor baby cried ALL night. Her problem was that breastfeeding hurt and she wanted to express milk to feed to him. But it was too late to do that and she was forbidding formula so the nurses were powerless. By the next morning, the baby had cried himself hoarse. I have never heard such a heartbreaking sound in all my life. I couldn't put up with it anymore, and luckily I was cleared to go home so we started the discharge process. By the way, they ended up calling Social Services on the girl who told the worker that "they wouldn't let me feed him". She was just plain crazy. This is the same girl who peed her bed because it was too painful to get up and use the toilet. And who screamed bloody murder when her catheter came out (it tickled at most). And who pounded on the side of the cot to calm her hungry baby down because it resembled a heart beat. Crazy.

So that pretty much brings us up to discharge day... they checked me out, checked Jackson over and around 5:00pm that night we were allowed to leave. I dressed Jackson in his going home clothes courtesy of Aunt Holly and Nana, and David proudly carried Jackson out in his new capsule and escorted me to the car. It was a bit surreal when we got home. David cooked me a dinner and dessert, and fed it to me while I nursed Jackson. I was up that night every two hours (I pretty much still am give or take), but didn't really sleep as like all new parents was paranoid about if he was still breathing in his room. All went well. He is a good boy.

More later... must feed baby. Like my friend has recently said "I am living the extraordinary life of a dairy cow".

The First Day Of My Life

Jackson Wayne Bennett
20 April 2009
8:57am
6lbs 10oz (3 kg)
20in (51 cm)

It's been a while...who knew having a newborn around would make it difficult to do everyday activities! Luckily, Jill gave us her Baby Bjorn and it has become invaluable to use around the house to have hands free. Jackson is now 3.5 weeks old. Lots has happened and I have lots of pictures and I will try to catch this blog up with both stories and pictures in due course. For now, I would like to post his birth story in as much detail as I can remember before the event slowly slips from my mind (and you thought only pregnancy had a memory lapse!)...

For medical reasons that I shall not publicly disclose, David and I along with our doctor scheduled a cesarean to take place on the 21 April (a Tuesday). We used the weekend to finish up last minute things around the house (mow the lawn and cut David's hair...apparently all men due this before impending births...at least my Dad did before I was born. Is it a man thing?) and to do some stuff together that we thought me mightn't be able to do once the baby came along. We also had a pretty lengthy list ready for Monday. Our little boy, on the other hand, had other plans.

Early Monday morning around 4:30am I woke up to horrible pain in my bladder. I thought I was coming down with a Urinary Tract Infection (damn things) and laid in bed to wait it out. For half an hour I contended with waves of pain and finally woke David up by my tossing and turning. He rubbed my back and I tried every position to get comfortable, but it just wouldn't go away. When I sat up I noticed a trickle (and remember the popping sound that happened in the wee hours of the night). Being a fastidious nerd, I ran to get the pH paper that we had bought to check for leaking amniotic fluid. Upon testing my "trickle" we discovered that it was blue instead of the typical pink associated with urine and acidic fluids. My waters had broke! David started running around getting the car ready and things together, and I called the Delivery Suite at the hospital. They told me to come in, and at 5:30am we got in the car to make the trip to the hospital. My waters were a little more than leaking at this stage and every time I had a contraction it leaked a little worse. Being it was so hard to contain I resigned myself to the fact that I would just have to look like I peed myself. Not my most glamorous moment! Luckily when we arrived at the John Hunter hospital, being as early as it was, we got a park up front. We went straight to the Delivery Suite and the late shift midwife (Anita) took me to a room. I changed into a hospital gown and went to do the whole pee in a cup thing. Destiny chose this moment for my waters to come gushing out. I got into the bed and they hooked me up to monitor my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. I also got my IV. Anita was kind enough to give me a local anesthetic before she inserted the cannula.

My contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds. They were very painful and every time I had one I'd leak more amniotic fluid. I wasn't aware that contractions started so low...not what I was expecting at all! In fact, I wasn't expecting to have to go through labour period! I couldn't imagine going through this for a lengthy labour! The midwives were trying to contact the doctor to see if and when the operating theatre would be available for a cesarean. Luckily, once again, because of the early hour, it was available and once the new shift came on I would be their first surgery. At 6:30am I was told that they would come get me around 8:00. They gave David his scrubs and left me to my contractions encouraging me to breathe (which I wasn't doing), be "floppy" and "climb the hill". I recommend the floppy thing to all my prego friends who are about to do this thing! In between contractions I talked to my mom who was sure I was in the transition phase (by the way, I blame the whole early labour thing on her - who insisted over the weekend that I could...and would...go early. She later claimed that something in my voice told her I was in labour...hmmm...perhaps it's a mom thing that I'll never understand unless I have a daughter myself).

Finally they came to get me. I was rolled to the preparation room outside the operating theatre. David was with me the whole time doing his supportive role very well. My new midwife (remember, there was a shift change) Rebecca, gave me a warm blanket which I greatly appreciated and we waited for the anesthesiologist. I was still having painful contractions every 2 minutes or so, but was instructed to sit on the edge of the bed bent over REALLY STILL. He gave me a local anesthetic in my back which felt like I had been stung by a wasp. Then he put the spinal block in. I couldn't feel pain per se, but I could feel the most uncomfortable tingling on the nerve. About 30 seconds later my legs started going warm and numb. It was a welcome sensation. It was then I was able to relax a little with no more contractions and no feeling from my rib cage down. They wheeled me into operating theatre and moved me onto the table while David waited outside. It was then I started to feel really nauseous. I dry heaved twice, but the anesthesiologist was on the ball and made that feeling go away quickly. They put in a catheter (which I couldn't feel) and started putting up the curtains. David came in and held my hand and talked to me. I can't remember what he said, but was glad to hear the sound of his voice. They didn't tell me they had started, but I could feel a heap of pressure. No pain at all. About 10 minutes later, I could feel they were about to pull out my baby. They pushed at the top of my belly and told David to look over the curtain. Then the glorious baby cry! It was the most beautiful cry I had ever heard. They held him up to show me before taking him to the cot to clean him and check him over. I couldn't believe how much hair he had! He was so beautiful! I was crying and telling David to go be with the baby (we still hadn't decided on a name at this point). The doctor's started stitching me up (it took about 30 minutes), but I was just focused on seeing my beautiful boy. Finally they bundled him up and brought him to me. They laid him on my chest and he looked so peaceful. I just kept stroking his cheek, looking at this beautiful boy, and crying. I felt like I knew him. His face was so human and tiny. He is an old soul.

David and I then decided his name would be Jackson Wayne. The nurses were talking to us about vaccinations and other things, but I couldn't focus on them. I was totally into my baby. Eventually they took Jackson to be weighed and measured. About this time they had finished stitching me up and were ready to wheel me to recovery. David wheeled Jackson in his cot and we went as a family to the recovery ward.

Once in the recovery room they sat me up and I had my first true cuddle with my baby boy. I immediately attempted to breastfeed and he latched on like a pro. I was able to have a glass of water (so so thirsty) and David went to get himself a latte and a sandwich. Once I was able to move my legs a bit, they wheeled me into the postnatal ward - K2. I had a share room with 4 other women, and my little curtained off area was about 4 metres x 4 metres. It was perfect and daddy, Jackson, and I spent the rest of the day getting to know each other.

So there is our birth story. I feel so grateful that Jackson decided to come early and I was able to experience the excitement of spontaneous labour as well as contractions, my water breaking and being able to safely deliver my son via cesarean. I couldn't have been more pleased with the doctors, midwives, nurses and staff at the hospital. There were no hiccups, no glitches and everyone was incredibly patient, informative and caring. I am also extremely grateful for my husband. He was (and is) a constant source of support and encouragement.

In total, I was in hospital for 4 days. I look forward to sharing more of my experiences these past 3.5 weeks. But I have a hungry baby and a hungry husband to look after.