Night Shift Again...

I'm writing this as Jill is feeding Nathan, the last feed of the evening with the two of us. The last few days have been an interesting experience; returning to work was great, but I was instantly hit with a wall of work with a surprise audit that needs to be prepared for by the beginning of next week. I've managed to get out on time every day since we got back, which I think has surprised us both.

Beyond the late nights, the big change to our schedule is an early evening sleep (maybe for as much as two whole hours!) while Nathan snoozes off his meal. Jill's mum and dad are here at the moment, which is absolutely fantastic. I think we both really appreciate the support. Next week, my mum is coming over as well (kind of a shift change)!

The cat remains bemused by the whole situation!

Currently feeling: Tired, as I have an early start in the morning
Currently listening to: Nothing, as we are watching 'The Riddle of the Sands' on DVD.
Currently reading: Pulp Egypt (an RPG book)

Two days into the Sleep Deprivation Programme!

It's been an interesting few days, mainly comprising feed, sleep, nappy change, feed, sleep, nappy change.... Jill is struggling with lack of sleep, and it's not been too much fun from that point of view. Of course, it's everything that people say it is, but when Nathan smiles or chirps, it kind of makes up for it all.

I'm due back at work tomorrow, so Jill's parents have come over to give her some support when I'm not around. She's doing pretty well overall, but the breast feedings is hard work, especially on her left side.

I've uploaded the final few pictures from the hospital to Flickr, as usual. You can get to them via the photo album.

Welcome Home!

Jill and Nathan came home today! Hurrah! Now I can join in the 'no sleep' fun... 

The journey home sent Nathan to sleep quite quickly, once we'd sussed out the car seat. I suspect that he is actually used to the car noise, plus we put on the appropriately named 'To All Arrivals' by Faithless, which used to send him to sleep when he was still in the womb.

It was a very hard night for Jill last night, as Nathan was very hungry, feeding every two hours or so for 30 to 60 minutes. She was absolutely shattered when I got in to see her this morning (early, as she called me in). Hopefully, she can get some sleep now while I sit here with him and finally get the chance to put the Christmas decorations into the boxes.

As an aside, the look on the cat's face was a picture when he started to cry... and I'll upload the picture later on. After a quick look he went and hid upstairs under his duvet-bed!

I've added some photos of Nathan taken yesterday to the usual place.

Nathan discovers his tummy!

Yesterday was good, but it's hard going for Jill. Her wound is hurting, and Nathan has discovered his stomach so is starting to be very demanding on feeding. He's got it all sorted on the right hand side, but is still not quite not sure of the left hand side. He has this cute, but annoying, habit of feeding for a few minutes then nodding off with a happy sigh. Which is frustrating when mummy would really like to sleep.

I finally got some really nice photos of Jill and Nathan doing something other than feeding, which I've added to the photo album to share them.

The big change yesterday was a move from the room that Jill & Nathan have been in since they moved to Pannal Ward out into the ward itself. Apparently, they had a lot of babies born again on Thursday, so the rooms were needed for more C-Section patients. The move itself was simple enough, but I think that they'll need some adjustment to the new area as it's a lot noisier. It was nearly ten o'clock at night by the time that they were settled, and then Nathan decided that daddy hadn't seen a really dirty nappy yet, so did one to give me changing practice before I went home. It was quite an experience, and I now understand the comments some other friends and parents have made about 'how can someone so small make such a big mess?'. Once this was done, the midwife dropped hints so I went home!

Beyond the trip to the hospital, I finally managed to get a haircut, which was great. Funny how the little things make a difference! The Traveller CD ROM also arrived in the post (all the original books and games digitised), which will be useful if I am doing any writing for BITS.

Currently feeling: Ready for another day!
Currently listening to: Nick Clarke's Audio Diary on Radio 4
Currently reading: Pulp Egypt (an RPG book)

Some More Photos...

I added some more photos this morning. They're up on Flickr.

My Mum & Dad (Grandma & Grandpoppy!) visited last night from over in Cheshire. Nathan had been sleeping like a dream for the last two hours following a feed, and then decided to wet his nappy the moment Grandma held him, starting to cry.

He got a bit fractious then, and the midwives think that it is because he's got ahead of Jill with his need for milk – she's still supplying colostrum but should get the milk today (hopefully!). Aside from this, he's feeding well! Jill was looking a lot better too, except when she sneezed which really hurt.

Nathan Vincent arrives...

Nathan Vincent finally arrived today. Both mum and Nathan are doing well.

The vital stats and more pictures can be found on the photo album pages.
I can sleep well tonight...

Dom (still smiling!)

(Edit: relinked directly to Flickr)

Day 4 - No News.

Quick update this time, as there is no real news. Jill had the last gel shot of the hormone to try and start her off, but she didn't get to a point as good as the night before. I can't but think if she should have stayed up later last night rather than us both taking the 10 o'clock early night as a big opportunity. When she went to bed the contractions were still increasing in intensity and frequency. We noticed two things over the last few weeks – the baby is more active on alternative days, and that the moment Jill lies down she starts to loose the contractions.

Generally, the staff at Harrogate have been fantastic – I guess the only grumble we have is about the doctor we saw today as his bedside manner needs some work. He certainly doesn't know how to put a worried mum at her ease. It wasn't just Jill that this applied to either – one of her friends had him for her C-Section earlier in the week and he didn't say a thing to her during it, not even 'good morning'.

So where do we go from here? It is looking very likely that Jill will have a C-Section tomorrow if she doesn't go into labour naturally before then. This will probably be mid/late morning, unless the Delivery Suite is busy, in which case it'll be in the afternoon. It'll be interesting if it is delayed, as tomorrow should be Jill's more active day, and it tends to start early afternoon. I hope we do go naturally, but if it doesn't, so-be-it.

Day 3 - Out of the Holding Pattern?

On reflection, today has been pretty good. The extra sleep did me some good, and I went into the hospital (via Starbucks just down the road to pick Jill and I decent teas and coffees) more refreshed than I had for a number of days. Nothing much happened until lunchtime when the specialist checked Jill out. At that point, they decided to give Jill another gel hormone dose. After this, we spent some time having a good natter, playing cards and talking to people on the phone!

About two hours after the dose, Jill started to get contractions, initially around 5 mins apart, but gradually getting stronger until they were around 3 minutes apart by the time that I was sent home. A check up some six hours later indicated that the hormone has been doing what it should, so there would be no intervention (except perhaps to encourage Jill's waters to break) today. Jill started to use the TENS machine, which is a wonderful thing (and can be seen in the the photo above on the wristband) for pain relief late afternoon.

We had one final surprise at six, when Jill's sister Paula and her fiance Mark arrived from on the Wirral to see her. They spent two hours with us, and I think that it really helped Jill take her mind off things, certainly in a much better way than games or the TV do. Around ten o'clock, Jill was told to get some sleep, and I was sent home to bed. I'm not sure if I should expect a call tonight or not! We certainly seem to be out of the holding pattern of the last few days.

I guess I've some other things on my mind - my mum is in for an operation tomorrow with a light general anesthetic to allow an injection to be carried out to try and sort out some of her joints. I hope that it will work well and that she recovers soon to see her grandchild! My internet rpg and IT geek chum Tom Zunder (aka The Guv'nor on The Tavern) is also in for an operation with keyhole surgery tomorrow, so I wish him well too!

Currently feeling: Ready for bed
Currently listening to: Faithless "To all new arrivals".
Currently reading: Nothing properly today

FRUSTRATION!

I've just had an email from one of my relatives (Hi Dawn!) which likened these posts to a soap opera, so I'm going to do my best at keeping to that standard!

Today was very, very frustrating. At one point, I was even contemplating getting agitated and raising my voice and demanding to know what was going on. But it passed... I guess it was the tiredness and the mixed messages. I went home last night in the knowledge that today was likely to be it - either Jill would have another shot of the hormone gel, or it'd be the drip, or she'd start herself. Unfortunately, they had a rush last night and the delivery suite was nearly full, so the last thing that they wanted to do was to add another lady in labour to the mix.

We didn't find out about this until lunchtime. I'd struggled out of bed after a bad night – Jill not being there and the cat deciding to kamikaze me at 4 in the morning – and got back to the hospital for 8.30am. Jill had a check on the monitor – aka machine that goes ping – when it was quieter at 11am, and the midwife mentioned that they had been busy that night, and they wouldn't have anyone to look further at us until the afternoon. At 1.00pm we had another check, and again it looked like we'd be going somewhere in an hour or two. However, I guess it ended up too late, and they finally confirmed at 10.45pm that nothing would be happening until tomorrow... so I headed home to see the cat and get some sleep.

We agreed I'll go in later tomorrow, and get some of the stuff around the house done that needs doing. I'm glad of this because I'm shattered! I know, all you sage hands who've had kids before will be thinking that "you ain't seen nothing yet if you think that is sleep-loss from kids". I know, but permit this moan for a bit!

Anyway, that's enough for now. Hopefully, tomorrow will show some progress.