I cannot believe how quickly time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our first little baby home from the hospital and now, we have this little lady running around. Sydney, you make mommy sooo proud. You are adorable, confident, independent and loving.
Sydney’s Birth Announcement (that was so loving posted by Aunt Sandra):
It is my pleasure and honour to announce that Suzanne and Patrick Quinn are the proud parents of Miss Sydney Jordan Quinn born on Saturday, June 25, 2005 at 2:20pm in Markham-Stouffville Hospital. She weighs 6lbs 9oz and measures 51 cm in length.
With visions of shopping dancing around in Miss Sydney’s head, she had her hand up by her ear contemplating all the shopping she would do. Of course, this didn’t help the natural childbirth plans Suzie had, and so the decision was made that Sydney would have to arrive by c-section.
Sue is doing fine, although she is somewhat sore and groggy from the c-section and the drugs. Pat expects that she will be allowed to come Monday or Tuesday depending on how her recovery is going. Both parents are happy and healthy, although tired, and can I just say that little Miss Sydney has a set of lungs on her? As Pat was relaying the birth story, Miss Sydney was crying and making use of her lungs in the background, and she sounds absolutely adorable!
From what I could make out, she was listing off the things she wants to buy with the $350 she won from Sears for being born today!
So the waiting is over, a happy, healthy little Miss Sydney has joined our world and a tired but happy Patrick and Sue have months of happy but sleepless nights ahead as the love affair with the daughter begins.
Congratulations Pat and Sue from me and Tony and all your family and friends, and welcome Miss Sydney, we’ve been anxiously awaiting your arrival and so glad you’re finally here!
Sydney’s Birth Story:
On June 23rd I had my weekly midwife appointment after having what I thought were irregular contractions for the last 3 days. However, according to an internal exam, I was not in labour and although I was fully effaced (my cervix had thinned completely), I had not dilated at all. The next morning I had my weekly non stress test and biophysical profile ultrasound that my mom drove me to since Pat was working at noon. The test was started shortly after 9AM and after 30 minutes of testing; the nurse could not pass me as although Syd’s heartbeat was steady at around 155, we weren’t seeing it rise significantly (to at least 165) with her movements. So, I was instructed to go for my ultrasound at 10:30 and then take the results over to labour and delivery for further monitoring. The nurse suggested I eat something on my way over as I could very well be induced in the afternoon. There was a HUGE delay in diagnostic imaging and I did not get in for my ultrasound until 11:15 or so. The ultrasound was great but my fluid levels were still low (same level as last week so no decrease). The tech gave me my report and I was OFF to labour and delivery. After my non-stress test, I had called Pat with an update and let him know that although he didn’t have to rush right over, it was possible that they would get the ball rolling that day.
They were expecting me at L & D and once I arrived, they put me in a room and hooked me up to the monitors to see if there had been a change from the morning’s non stress test. They called my midwife at this point so she could make her way in for a consultation. The nurse came back 40 minutes later and advised that my midwife was on her way. They were going to unhook me from the machines for now but that the consensus was that they were going to induce!! I called Pat, who was 45 minutes into starting his class, and gave him the thumbs up to leave work and make his way to the hospital. The instructor that he was teaching with told him to just leave and that he would take care of packing up his stuff and putting it away at the end of the day. So, Pat was able to go to the condo to pick up our bags and make it to the hospital in less than an hour.
Our midwife arrived shortly thereafter and explained our options to us. We agreed that the induction was the way to go and that we wanted to get the show on the road! So, the drugs were ordered and the drip was introduced at approximately 4PM. Unfortunately, because I was being induced, I had to remain on the monitors at all times so my thoughts of walking and showering through labour went out the window as I was stuck in bed. The fetal heart monitor was being a pain because of the baby’s position so my midwife decided to break my water and use an internal fetal monitor, which was basically an electrode that they attached to the top of the babies head and provides a more accurate, and up to the second monitoring. The doctor arrived for a consult and they did their thing. [TMI warning]It is amazing how quickly a women in labour loses all of her modesty but when you have somebody come in and say “Hi, my name is Dr. X, can I get you to pull your ankles up to your bum and spread your legs.” modesty completely goes out the window! [/TMI warning]
The contractions started at about 5PM and I was amazed at how intense they were! Pat’s poor fingers took quite a beating from being SQUEEZED to the extreme. My coach and wonderful husband did a fantastic job in keeping me focused and breathing through the contractions. However, an hour and half into them and not being able to get up and about to get my mind off of it, I asked my midwife to arrange for the epidural. I think if I had been mobile during my labour, it would have been much easier but, being stuck in bed, I had nothing to do but sit and wait for the next contraction.
My god arrived about 15 minutes later and I call him a god because all I felt was a small prick like a bee sting and then a cold sensation. I got back into bed and 5 minutes later, I felt NO pain! I could still feel the contractions in terms of tightening but they had no bite! Life was gooooood! At this point, I got some much-needed sleep and woke just in time for the changing of the guards. My midwife who was with me from the start was calling in a back-up as she had been up the prior night for a birth and needed a few hours sleep as she had a family wedding the following day. The midwife that arrived was not my primary or secondary midwife so I had yet to meet her. She was taking the shift through the night, as my secondary midwife was unable to arrive until morning. At this point, I started being able to feel the contractions again but only on the left hand side. Not wanting to ask for a top up, I suffered through the rest of the night feeling each one and having to breath through it. By morning, I was exhausted and this is when I started to fall apart a bit. I remember crying to my husband that I just could not go on any longer and that I was exhausted and didn’t understand why I wasn’t progressing faster (at this point I think I was about 7cm dilated which had not changed since I was checked the last time. I begged my midwife to find out about getting the anesthesiologist in to give me a top up and some relief from the pain. Thankfully, he was only minutes away and the good man arrived and took away all of the pain! LOL My secondary midwife arrived and was able to deal with a much happier and rational lady since I was again no longer feeling the pain of the contractions. I slept again and hoped to wake up to some good news at my next check and was happy to find out that I was 9-10 cm dilated.
After another few hours, I was starting to feel the pain of contractions again but this time, it was only that of minor cramping and nothing as severe as what I had dealt with the night before. My midwife checked me again and we were disappointed to find that although I was 10cm dilated, I had a small lip on one side that would not dilate further. My midwife called for an OB consult and at this point, it was decided that the best course of action would be a c-section as Syd was in a bad position and it was unlikely that she would move further into the birth canal.
Things moved quickly at this point and I was taken into the ER within 5 minutes from when the decision was made. Basically, they would take me in, prepare me, start the incision and then once they were down to the uterus, Pat would be brought in so he would be present for the birth. However, things do not always go as planned. They brought me into the ER and started the prep. My epidural was almost worn off so the anesthesiologist started the spinal. After about 5 minutes, I could still feel pain and not just pressure. Now, as I found out later, the doctor had already started and had made the incision through the skin. We think that the tube for the epi had come out slightly so, the spinal froze the outer layers but did not freeze the inside. So, at one point, I started actually feeling the doctor cutting me and freaked out a bit. The pain made me jump a few times on the table and I just kept telling them that I felt everything! At this point, the anesthesiologist bent over and said to me “You will feel some pressure and that is normal. You just need to think of something else and get through this!” If I could have moved at this point, I probably would have punched him out! LMAO I finally had to speak up and begged the doctor to stop because it was not pressure but actual pain that I was feeling and I could not take it anymore.
I was then given the mask for the general anesthesia and I took deep breaths as at that point as all I wanted to do was drift off and be blissfully pain free. It felt like FOREVER before I went under and the next thing I remember is waking up to Patrick being brought into the room with our daughter. I was still groggy and could not really keep my eyes open for very long but I remember that she was crying when he brought her in and then he put her on my chest and the minute I said “Hello baby!” she stopped crying. I don’t remember seeing her at this point but I knew she was ok and that was the important thing.
Sydney was born at 2:16PM on June 25th weighing in at 6lbs, 9oz and I still feel sad that I missed the first 2 hours of her life. Her apgars were 8 and 9 and she had no complications or problems. Once I was settled into my room and more “aware” of my surroundings, I got to hold my daughter for the first time and fell in love instantly. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on and I am still in awe that Patrick and I were able to create something so perfect. It certainly tops the list of our achievements in life.
He is almost walking. He talks 4 or 5 steps now before dropping on his bum. So, I anticipate he will be full on running in NO TIME. He also FINALLY popped some more teeth. He got his two bottom ones about six months I think and, just last week, he got TWO more. Yes, the two top teeth (which are like saucers) both came in at the same time. We have his one year apointment on Thursday so, I will be sure to update again with his stats.
