Under one roof

My goodness, once again time flies by and it seems to be going at a faster and faster rate. I had good intentions writing this blog shortly after arriving home. But let me tell you life as a family of five keeps one more than busy. Its chaotic and fabulous all in the same breath.

I really couldn't wait to get everyone under the same roof. It was bizarre but I accepted it that Luella's entrance to the world would be a little beyond the norm. Thankfully with it being drastically less complicated then expected it made the whole transition back home very straight forward. Once we got to the airport I was feeling pretty emotional about bringing us all together. I'm sure the postpartum hormones were helpful with that too! But I was able to suck back the tears and hold it together until we were in the air flying home. I started getting teary and Jason was across the aile from Luella and I. He looked over and said "Whats your problem?". I explained they were happy tears just feeling overwhelmed etc.... His response " Its not like we are going to war or anything!" With that a burst out laughing and abruptly stopped crying. He was right! Plus with the Syrian refugee crisis being forefront with all their lives being abruptly changed it didn't take much to change my tune. That was of course until I saw my Francis behind the airport glass beaming from ear to ear, bouncing up and down, mouthing my name "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy" Then the flood gates opened.

Francis was smiling so much you could hardly see her eyeballs! It was adorable. A couple people had mentioned I should bring her a doll when we arrived home so that she has her open baby doll. Well I told her a brought her a baby doll (not the one in the picture) and passed it to her thinking she'd be delighted. Nope! She grabbed it and stuffed it back in the bag. "I don't need a baby doll!" She said. "I have a real baby sister!"

Alistair was definitely into the whole arrival of a new baby sister. He became quiet and then turned towards her to touch her with his hands. Then the true test was that he tried to lay his feet over her as that's what he does when he wants someone's full attention.

I really couldn't say enough about Grandma and Uncle George. We had done so much planning to have Alistair in respite while we were away. It was potentially going to be a full 16 days that Alistair would be cared for in the respite facility. That just pained me. Not because I don't trust the facilty but he is my little boy and I he had only been in Children's Residence for a max of three nights. With that time period he had been thrilled to get home so I couldn't imagine 16 days.

But sometimes one just has to come to terms with the fact you have to do what is best for the whole family. Anyhow, shortly after I came down to Vancouver, George asked me if it was ok if he tried keeping Alistair at Grandmas for an over night stay. I said of course! Well one night turned into two which turned into six and eventually I just called and canceled his whole stay. It really warmed my heart to know that Alistair was with his sister and family. Plus I could get a blow by blow account of his day if I wanted! Gotta love that I have an amazing brother! 

Francis also stayed with Grandma and Uncle George when Jason came south to join me. She was thrilled that she got to have that many sleepovers with Grandma. Apart from Francis being devasted that my "water hose broke" she did really well with my absence. Some clarity to the "waterhose" my brother had yelled to my mom outside that my water had broken for delivery and Francis took it that my "water hose broke" and burst into tears. Later that day she was happy to hear that my water hose wasn't broken anymore!

 

It was lovely to see how much Francis adored her sister. All the hype of her arrival seemed to meet her expectations. She instantly was hands and beamed endlessly from ear to ear.

The first night Francis asked if she could sleep beside her sister on the floor. So we set up her own little bed and Francis kept reassuring Luella that everything was ok such as the shadows and monsters!

It really made for a wonderful end to the first day of getting all of my clan under one roof. Everyone was so content.

Pictures are worth a thousand words so I will just let the visual speak for itself from here on in. Lets just say we are thrilled to be a family of five!

Luella Florence MacMillan - Sept 4th

Tomorrow my littlest lady, Luella Florence MacMillan, will already be 4 weeks old. I'm so happy to be able to say with all the prepping for worst case scenario which included everything from life insurance to a minimum of 6 weeks of assistance post partum to assist with Alistair if I had a c section let alone a complicated one. This included 16 days of respite, in house nursing support, lining friends up to transport and assist, having my brother and mother on standby for additional support, and the list goes on. So it was lovely to come home and be able to make phone calls to cancel everything I prepped.

So amongst all these pictures I'm going to give you the "birth story" as it is titled these days........ As planned I flew down to Vancouver and left the family at home in PG to be closer to Royal Columbian due to my hemorrhage risk. Which of course stemmed from my history of placenta accreta, which is considered a serious pregnancy condition that occurs when blood vessels and other parts of the placenta grow too deeply into the uterine wall and stay firmly attached following the delivery of a newborn which can result in hemorrhage. The condition can get worse where the placenta grows right through the uterus and into the intestine and/or bladder.

With both kidlets I had to head to the OR to have my placenta surgically removed and I incurred significant blood loss which resulted in getting a blood transfusion with Francis. So although I could have choosen to deliver in Prince George it just didn't make sense with all my risk factors.  So needless to say I was strongly encouraged to head south to Royal Columbian Hospital where they specialize in such cases and have all the bells and whistles if need be.

So on August 24th I made a teary departure south leaving my family behind. Fortunately for us my cousin Joanne and her husband Fred live only two train stops away from Royal Columbian and generously offered us a place to stay as long as we needed it. After the first couple of days of specialist appointments and an ultrasound I just had to hang out and wait to go into labor or wait to be induced on September 3rd.

I have to admit it would've been nice in some regards to finally NOT be induced for a pregnancy yet I do appreciate that I didn't as it was nice going into a controlled environment with so much to consider! In addition, I think I may start up a new business promoting "babymoons" (similar to honeymoons). I say this as at 38 weeks I moved away from the family and although it was hard being away from everyone it was quite delightful to not have to cook a meal, clean any bums, lift and transport Alistair from A to B, cook everyone meals, clean house, pay bills, do book keeping, write business Emails, and so on and so forth! I just got to hang out and take care of me and nightly solve all the worlds problems over tea with my cousin Joanne.

So on September 2nd Jason flew down to join me in our next step towards a family of five. It definitely felt odd for both of us to be away from Alistair and Francis with this pending little being ready to enter the MacMillan family. But as usual we don't do anything of the usual.

So the morning of September 3rd Jason and I jumped on the skytrain and headed to Royal Columbian Hospital to get settled and call it home until we would get the formal discharge. Once they started the induction process I wasn't going to far a field. Due to the fact I was induced in the early morning with Francis and had her close to midnight the same day I anticipated, and so did everyone else, that things would be a tad speeder as my "body would know what to do" by now. But of course this wasn't the case.

I got my first prostaglandin gel at 10am and I was completely close shut at this point and the cervix was long for you health professionals out there. Then at 6pm they gave me another gel as I was still only 1 cm with a bit of length. This was after walking up and down the residential roads all day with Jason trying to encourage things to progress. But all day until 10pm that night I just had some really annoying cramps but that was it. Then they stopped and they decided to let me snooze the night as they didn't really want me delivery in the middle of the night if things were going to go down the complicated route.

The next morning at 9am they gave me another gel as I was only 2cm dilated. This time nothing really felt like things were going to happen. Again just some annoying cramps. Luckily for me though some massage therapy students were going around looking for volunteer prego moms. So I got a full one hour body massage focusing on where ever I wanted them too. Its funny actually as every pregnancy I have thought it sure would be nice to treat oneself to a prego massage but of course I never did. Never thought it was worth dishing out the dollars for. But I'll tell you what it was AWESOME. Likely all the more so due to how long I'd been hanging out in induced mode.

 At 4pm they got me to head back to the labour and delivery unit to find out the next step. I had told myself things were going to be even more drawn out. So it was definitely a nice surprise when the OB, Dr Natsuko, came in and requested to break my water at 530pm. Again the OB really didn't want me delivery after midnight just due to the logistics of getting people to come at a drop of the hat if need be so she asked to start an Oxytocin drip which is basically IV induction which is a lot more aggressive then the gel. I agreed to it as long as I could get an epidural too.

With the way my kidlets have been I decided long ago I didn't need to be no hero and endure pain. Plus being in a large hospital like Royal Columbian I new the doc doing the epidural would be well seasoned with the process so I didn't have the concern of it having bad side effects or nerve damage etc... So at 630 I had the drip started and by 8pm I got my epidural when I was about 5cm dilated and not exactly enjoying the contractions although they were tolerable.

The epidural was instant, just like the one I got with Alistair. Love it! I could've kissed that doc. There is nothing like being in pain to the point you have to do mind over matter stuff and then have someone instantly take it away like it never existed. I could still feel all the pressure just no pain.

After awhile I suddenly thought I had to go have a bowel movement but wasn't sure how that would happen with numb legs. Actually I totally know how that would take place being a nurse and all. But suddenly it dawned on me I wasn't needing a bowel movement this was the first sign that my kidlet was starting to want to get out of there. My nurse Suzanne checked me and sure enough I was 10cm dilated. YAY

The OB was informed and came in the room for a quick check. She was obviously slammed with work. Her pager went off as she was beckoned by Emerge while she was talking to me. She told me she just had delivered a baby with forceps and needed to go back and finish giving the mom stitches. So "please don't push and just let the baby progress".

I had never heard of passive progression but basically they let me hang out at 10cm dilated with the epidural and let my bambino slowly progress down the birth canal. The whole time they monitored the babes heart beat in regards to the contractions and I was constantly told I had a "very happy baby" which was a great relief to me as I was definitely concerned about the baby hanging out like that. So for 1.5 hrs I hung out at 10cm dilated wondering when this baby would actually enter this world.

 Finally around 2215 Dr Natsuko runs in saying sorry for making you wait "lets do this". She looked exhausted and I thought if shit hits the fan in this delivery you are going to be drawing on all your reserves to get me through this. As potentially we could head down a nasty complicated road. So I said if you think babes ok why do you go and get a quick something to eat and drink and then come back. At first she said no but when I painted the possible pending picture she took me up on it. She wasn't gone long but was appreciative of the small break.

 When the OB checked me she said "the babies right there. So the next time you feel pressure you push" So literally I had a contraction. I pushed. Then she said this next contraction your having a baby! It was all very controlled and voila out came Lovely Luella all healthy and totally covered in vernix with a massive umbilical cord. Everyone seemed quite taken with the size of it.

 I loved how calm it all was. I got to hold Luella right away without her being whisked away. Jason cut the cord and said it was much tougher then the other two he cut. The next step now was the placenta. This was what we had all prepped to come to Vancouver for. After some mild encouragement from Dr Natsuko the placenta slid out into her hands.

I literally laughed out loud as Dr Natsuko was extremely happy that this potentially complicated placenta just slid out in her hands. "Its intact! Its intact! Its intact!" I'm not sure where she was at on her 24 hour shift but she was definitely delighted that she wasn't in for some long haul complicated hysterectomy as of course was I!

As soon as Luella was on the table getting measured etc. she had a good pee. Then she was back to me for a breast feed. I felt awesome. My first thought was this is how it feels to have a somewhat normal delivery! With the other two I was mentally and physically exhausted. Of course I had a good adrenalin rush after Luella but I was feeling fabulous and I continued from there on in. I literally could've gone home within 24 hrs if they had let me.

However, due to my risk factors and the oxytocin and ergot they gave me I had to hang out for 48 hours to be monitored. This of course was a nice treat too as we were able to just be with Luella. Again I had no major responsibilities except to eat and drink well and of course breast feed regularly.

Jason popped back to Joanne and Freds a couple of times to have a shower and get some clean clothes. But in usual Jason fashion he slept right there in the room with us ready to support me whenever needed.

It definitely was a huge relief for all of us that it all went so well. I really do think that my body benefited greatly from the passive decent of Luella thanks to the epidural. There was nothing rushed or drastic with this delivery which is when things can really run into problems.

It was also wonderful that we had such a beautiful view of the mountains and river during our stay and not closed in some windowless room.

But even though we were very happy with our stay at Royal Columbian we were thrilled to get out of there and start our journey home so that we could normalize as a family.

So Sunday the 6th we were discharged home in the evening on a beautiful sunny day. Luella right from the get go was mellow and easy going as we waited outside for Fred Ikeda to pick us up and take us back to their place. Joanne had made the lovely crochet car seat blanket which she snuggled into as we waited for our ride away from the hospital and one step closer to the whole family being under one roof.

As Jason threw the stuff in the trunk he noticed this little dangling pull tab. He got a kick out of the fact there was directions on how to get out of the trunk if someone locked you in it.

Can't say I've ever seen this on a vehicle before!

Before we headed home we made sure we had a good feast of Steak & King Crab to celebrate our newest addition and thank Joanne and Fred for providing an environment that made our lives uncomplicated in a time that could have been so much more!

Sometimes the smallest things take

up the most room in your heart

- Winnie the Pooh