Easiest Labor Ever ... or so it seemed

Here is the birth story of our new little boy: Seth Tetsuhiro Funai.
Brief details: He was born June 24, 2009 at 6:25 pm (37 weeks, 3 days) and weighed 6 lbs 3.8 oz (2830 grams) and was 19 inches long. He has a lighter complexion than Andrew with lots of brown hair and gray eyes.

Birth details follow below.

Andrew was kind of sick Tuesday evening and he just kept waking up, so at 10:00, all of us went to bed together and we all slept until 8:00 am (actually Katsu woke up a little earlier). I am so glad we all had a good night's sleep. We needed to go to the Farmer's Market so we hurried and got ready. This is probably too much TMI but I was a little leaky and thought "Hmm, maybe my water broke," but I figured probably not since I was only 37 weeks and decided I would wait and see. We got our CSA share, dropped Katsu off at work and came home. After a couple of hours I decided that I must have broken my water since I was still leaking. Katsu came home at like 10:30 and we got stuff ready, took Andrew to a sitter, and left for the hospital.

We got to the hospital around noon. After an exam they determined that yes, indeed, my water had broken. I was relieved that I wasn't just imagining it, but of course, still definitely not in labor. They moved us to a regular room and we told them that we might as well start Pitocin because at this point it had been several hours after my water had broken and nothing was happening. I also said that since I was going on Pitocin, I would want an epidural, but I would wait until contractions were well established and pretty painful. They started Pitocin at 2:30 (it took a while) after taking 4 attempts to get an IV in (I still have a nasty bruise on one hand from that). Nothing happened for awhile (just weak contractions) and so they upped it to a "1" at 4:00 and I walked the halls and started getting feelable contractions. They upped the Pitocin again to a "2" at around 4:30 and to a "3" at about 5:00.

By 5:00, it started to get a bit more painful (to the point I needed to breathe through contractions) and we went back to the room. I spent some time in the rocking chair, and some on the birth ball. I decided to switch positions and by this point the contractions really started to hurt. I kind of felt like a wimp since I had had only contractions for a little while, but when the resident suggested it looked like I might want an epidural, I said yes. Let's do it. So, at this point they gave me my one and only exam and Lo and behold at 5:45 or so I was 6 cm dilated and 90% effaced (no wonder it hurt).

From this point, I was in transition and the contractions REALLY hurt. But since the epidural was on the way (right?), I vocalized my way through them (i.e. moaning) and the pain was bearable. But as the nurse was directing me through the contractions she sent for a delivery team and said I was completely dilated. This was maybe like a little after 6 pm. I was like, "What?" and was still kind of waiting on that epidural because after 4 hours of pushing with Andrew I was kind of scared of pushing.

But the delivery team showed up and after about 10 minutes of pushing (about 4 pushes), little Seth came into the world. So a total of about 1 hour of active labor was all it took!!! I think I spent the next half hour saying "Are you sure it's done" and "That was so easy". It hurt, yes, but it was SO fast. I still couldn't believe I was at the hospital at all, much less already had the baby. I guess the placenta flew out immediately. Everything was little shocked at that - they had never seen that, and unfortunately they couldn't get any cord blood because of that for the study I was in. They weren't sure if Katsu would be able to cut the cord, but he was able to.

The labor started with my water breaking, no labor, and Pitocin and ended with a nasty third degree tear, just like with Andrew. But the whole middle was completely different. I am so much happier. I am hoping that my recovery will be a little easier, too.

Seth has been a very sleepy baby and for the first 24 hours really didn't have much of a rooting reflex and wouldn't open his mouth wide open or latch on or suck. He wouldn't even really suck on a finger. My attempts at breastfeeding were pretty much rebuffed so after a while, we ended up with a routine of trying to feed him, pump, and then spoon feed him colostrum each feeding. I had no idea, but I guess babies born right at term often have a hard time breastfeeding. So, everyone though it was best if we both spent an extra day at the hospital. Thankfully, things went much better last night. Seth is still really sleepy, but he is latching on and feeding. Hopefully things will get better from here on out.

June 24, 2009, 6:25pm

Details to follow but we had our second son this evening! Thanks for all your support!

The next big move and Toddler Stuff

First, we are so glad that Katsu is home. And it looks like we will be going to St. Louis for Katsu to do postdoctoral training (a "post-doc") at Washington University School of Medicine starting in January sometime. For those who don't know about the whole academia thing (probably most of you), after getting a PhD in chemical or biological sciences and other things, you need yet more additional training before you will even be considered for a tenure track faculty position or even some jobs. It's not school, but it's a temporary 2-4 year job (we're shooting for 3 years), though they keep getting longer and some people do more than one (NOT us)! They are kind of academic limbo because at most schools you have a somewhat tenuous connection to the university, may or may not have benefits, and the pay kind of stinks (about 35-40k a year for first year post docs) considering that one has a PhD. I think of it as "indentured servitude", although Katsu thinks I am a bit pessimistic about the whole thing. Anyways, he is very excited and the lab looks good, so we'll see.

Also, Andrew has gotten an attitude! His favorite phrases are "Go away" and "Stop It". He was mad at me the other day and shut the door in my face and said, "Fine, Mom". He also has starting calling Katsu "Katsu" instead of Daddy sometimes. Seriously, he just turned two! Where does this come from? It's pretty cute, though.

Andrew Update - 2 years 1 month

Well, in all the craziness of the trips and feeling all of my 8 months of pregnancy, I forgot to update on Andrew. So, while Andrew and Katsu are away and I get a little peace and quiet, here we go.

Andrew's language has exploded again. In the last month, he has started speaking in complete sentences. He is using different verb tenses (transitive, present, past) and is really exploring the use of prepositions (though he still gets them confused a lot). His vocab also seems like it has doubled in the past month - he just knows so many words! He is even slowly learning to say "I" and "me" instead of just referring to himself as "you". In other languages, he seems to completely understand Bulgarian when he is at his babysitters. As for Japanese, I am not as sure, but I still try to read to him to Japanese often.

Andrew has had a really hard time with the idea of sharing lately. He emphatically declares that he will not share or that may not play with his cars. His best friend, me, his Dad, or the new baby are definitely not allowed. Sometimes, he will even talk about it in his sleep. He definitely is getting very possessive and practically hysterical about "his" toys. Of course, "his" being very subjective - all cars that he seems are his and he has also claimed all the puzzles at the library. Even a kid sitting at the other end of the library is not allowed to use a different puzzle. Sigh ... I know it is still not really developmentally appropriate for him to share, but it does get a little tiring.

Andrew is taking slightly more interest in coloring (there might be two scribbles on his picture from nursery). I got some books this month about different activities to do with 2-6 year old kids - one science book, one nature book, and one shapes and sizes book. Andrew is obsessed with the science book and wants to look at it and do the activities from it all the time. It's pretty cute.

Andrew is very glad Katsu is back (Katsu has one more trip this weekend for another post-doc interview, but it's just a little over a day long). He really missed Katsu. Otherwise, another good month with Andrew.

We've Survived ... (maybe)

Well, this has been a pretty hard month plus a bit. But today Katsu comes home from trip #5. Trip #1 was to Dallas for a post-doc interview for 2 days. Then, he was home for a bit before Trip #2 to Japan to see his ailing mother (9 days, though 2 days were just flying of course). Although there were a few tense moments and I had my dissertation proposal which I was deathly afraid of (but passed), we did pretty well. Having my defense done made me a lot more relaxed ... Katsu was home for a whole 6 jet-lagged filled days (though at work during the day for most of them) just in time to go on Trip #3 to Orlando for two days for another post-doc interview. He was home for a whole day with just enough time to do laundry and pack for Trip #4 to Sweden for 10 days days. My sister Sarah was there, but both Andrew and me were starting to miss Katsu a lot about half way through that trip. I also started to get really worn out and feel like I was going to faint at least every day. Katsu was home for another 3 jet-lag filled days (at work half the time again) before Trip #5 to New Orleans for 4 very long days (he left for the airport at 3:45 AM on the first day and isn't getting home till at least midnight tonight). There is still supposed to be a Trip #6 to St Louis for another post doc interview, but the timing is still somewhat up in the air.

So, I've been really exhausted and then having some contractions (maybe Braxton-Hicks contractions??) pretty regularly, which was odd because I have never had them before - not last pregnancy until I was induced or this pregnancy. I called the office since I'm only 35 weeks pregnant, but since my doctor was out of town, they told me they wanted me to go to Triage at the hospital. I was kind of annoyed because I was like 95% sure I was not in labor - I just wanted to make sure all was okay. So, this afternoon I was at Triage. So fun ... NOT. The funny thing is I am already 3-4 cm dilated. But I wasn't progressing, so I should be just fine. Which is good - I am NOT ready to have this baby yet even though this pregnancy has not been fun at all. But the dilation sure explains why I am feeling so much pelvic pain / pressure. Knowing me, I will probably still go to 42 weeks and then have an incredibly long labor. We'll see. Oh, and my doctor says I have a "special cervix". At first, she said, "I can't tell ... " something in regards to my cervix. It's that special. To go along with my abnormally shaped pelvic bones by doctor "diagnosed" last pregnancy. Maybe my body is just not built for babies?

So, I guess we've survived ... but I think too many trips like this plus me being pregnant is just a recipe for labor brought on by exhaustion. I am ready to rest!