Jaundice, Second Trip to Hospital

At our very first check up at the pediatrition, the doctor immediately commented on her color. She resembled a "mango" in her words. Noa was too jaundice, so we had to check her bili rubin count, which requires a blood sample. I cried when they pricked her little foot. When the doctor called to give us the results, she said Noa needed to be hospitalized. I was quite scary, but the hospital staff was very accomodating and Elad and I were able to stay over night with her. They put her under the blue lights to reduce her bili rubin count. Every time Noa had a bowel movement, her bili rubin count would go down, so we cheered every time she pooped. She struggled to latch, so her breast feeding sessions were pretty long, so they had a special blanket with blue light to drape over her while she ate. When the doctor explained the danger of jaundice, she went into great detail but Elad and I only heard blah blah blah mental retardation. It was an emotional beginning, but she was sent home with a clean bill of health.

Noa's Arrival

2/06/08

Eleven days prior to Noa's due date, I woke up at about 3 am to use the restroom. I stood up and realized I leaked a little. My first thought was "wow" I havn't done this since I was a little girl too busy to go the bathroom. Then it just came gushing out, so I looked over at Elad to say I didn't make it the restroom. And then I shouted, my water broke call the hospital. We called and they said we should come in the morning unless the pain is unbearable. So, I jumped in the shower to shave my legs and Elad was instructed to start cleaning the house because guests would now be arriving earlier than expected. Towards the end of my shower, I felt a little pain, and I told Elad it must have been a contraction. It didn't hurt very bad at all, so I thought labor wouldn't be so bad after all. Elad then rushes in with a paper and pen, "how far apart are they?" They seemed to be close together already but that didn't make sense, and then suddenly the pain was "unbearable." I told Elad we must head to the hospital immediately. He tried to persuade me to stay longer, but I was not interested. We arrived to the hospital a few minutes later. We live 1.5 miles from the hospital on the same road. When we arrived, I ran in telling everyone I was pregnant and they instisted on a wheel chair and remained calm (which i couldnt understand). We finally arrived to the labor and delivery floor and they directed me to a room. I couldn't understand, however, why everyones faces greeted me so nonchalantly. I don't know if I wanted them to seem more excited because I was in pain or because I simply expected a different response. On tv, at least, they always jump up and rush you into a room. I arrived to the room, stripped of my clothes, threw my feet in the air, and started pushing until a nurse with a very raspy voice reprimanded me. She asked me what i was doing and told me to stop pushing. She and her voice confused me. After what seemed to be ages, a doctor (finally a doctor) came in and said I was 9 cm dialated and I was ready to start pushing. Oh ,and I left out a small part. When I entered the room, I immediately and decisively communicated how much I wanted medicine (not an epidural but"medicine). The doctor said I was very close and asked if I wanted to try without it. I agreed because I wanted a natural birth from the beginning. I wasnt doing so well, though. It was uncomfortable and I kept turning to the side. Dr. Barry then suggested I take a spinal tap in order to relax and push more efficiently. That sounded good to me. I didnt need much persuading. The anasthesiologiest, however, seemed to take forever. He finally arrived, and I will always love that man. I then pushed for maybe 20 minutes and little Noa arrived. Elad was beside me the entire time. He did think, however, he would have been a better pusher. He kept explaining how I need to push from the bottom and not my face. And in the end the smell caused him to feel a bit faintish, so he took a breather for about 15 seconds. As he leaned back to sit down, out came our perfect little Noa Ella Shmulevich. She weighed 6 Ib and measured in a 19 inches.