Sarah Leya (named after my grandmother who passed away in January — with nods to Brian’s grandmother and my great grandmother as well) was born on Friday night, May 11, 2012, at 11:44pm. She was 6 lb 10 oz and is a beauty.
The difference between the labors:
David’s Labor: started at 33 weeks and 6 days
Sarah’s Labor: unofficially started at 39 weeks 1 hour (?) for a total of 47 hours; active labor (after the doctor told me I should get admitted) was only 8 hours long
David’s labor: felt no contractions
Sarah’s labor: felt contractions starting at 1am on Thursday morning but they were spaced too far apart (10-30 minutes, usually the latter, and sometimes not at all)
David’s labor: needed an epidural only when I was 8cm dilated and started feeling contractions and pain
Sarah’s labor: needed an epidural around 6cm – the contractions started getting worse earlier!
David’s labor: got PUPPP, was itchy as all heck after the birth
Sarah’s labor: the epidural made me itchy as heck all over during the birth
David’s labor: I didn’t need penicillin to treat Strep B
Sarah’s labor: I needed penicillin to treat Strep B which was injected via IV and it was brutal and painful as all heck as the medicine went through the IV in my arm
David’s labor: determined when I was 3cm dilated; they said I was having contractions (I was just lucky to be in the hospital; read this)
Sarah’s labor: determined when I was 4-5 cm dilated and I was feeling contractions
David’s labor: just happened to be in the right place at the right time
Sarah’s labor: found out via a standard doctor’s appointment (but for what it’s worth, I probably would’ve gone into the hospital if I wasn’t planning on meeting the doctor that day)
David’s labor: they induced me at 12:30pm; he arrived at 9:18pm
Sarah’s labor: they didn’t exactly have to induce me but they did administer oxytocin to, as nurse Alexis called it, “augment” the labor/contractions
David’s labor: I pushed a lot and thought my head was going to burst
Sarah’s labor: I had to push through maybe 6-8 contractions before she came out
David’s labor: they did an episiotomy and it took some time; I must’ve gotten a few stitches
Sarah’s labor: I only got one stitch! And she was bigger! (5 lb 14 oz vs 6 lb 10 oz)
David’s labor: I tweeted less than an hour after his birth to tell the world
Sarah’s labor: it was Shabbos, so I couldn’t tell ANYONE until Saturday night 🙂
I’m still at the hospital and trying to recover. We got to the room at 3am on Saturday morning which didn’t give me much time to sleep since they do vitals and the like starting around 5:30-6. I didn’t get a private room (despite requesting one!) and ended up enduring my “roommate” leaving, the clean up crew making a tremendous amount of noise when turning over her side of the room for a new patient, a new “roommate” coming in, and the worst possible night in the hospital as this new mom, clearly a first timer, had difficulty breastfeeding her son. He screamed all night, she turned on the light every 45 minutes, her phone kept ringing, and when she eventually did fall asleep, she snored (with the light on), so I was miserable. Just like now.
She meant well, but I know how it goes. By morning, she decided to get rid of the little baby to get a few hours of sleep … exactly why I decided to leave Sarah in the nursery. But that didn’t benefit me after all, despite taking Percocet which should’ve been able to knock me out. (The lights in the hospital are bright! They really need a lower light setting so it doesn’t disturb anyone else.)
I figure if all goes well and I get discharged tonight, she’ll elect to leave the baby in the nursery so she can catch up on sleep. Meanwhile, it will be too late for me.
Oh, and Sarah? Currently at the nursery with the doctor. No, I didn’t forget about her. 🙂
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