Grossman family west

Many thanks to everyone for their support, comments, and well wishes! A special thanks to Debbie, who was here for nearly the entire labor, our doula, Lindsey, whose unwavering support and encouragement kept Holly going and provided relief for Joel (time to update the blog!), and the wonderful staff at UCSF.

And of course, Holly–I don’t quite have the words to describe how proud I am of the incredible love you showed our family through this entire experience. I’m truly lucky to have you.

Avi’s stats are on the front page and pictures will be coming soon to the photo gallery!

Woah.

After about 12 hours of labor, Holly decided it was time to get an epidural. Ever the staunch supporters, Joel, Debbie, and Lindsey lined up in front of Holly to (literally) support her while the anesthesiologist began the 10 minute process to set up the epidural. The Dr. pulled out the largest needle I had ever seen. After numbing the area, the Dr. started in with a giant needle. Apparently she rubbed up against a nerve or something, because Holly jumped a bit. Right about that time, I started seeing spots and getting lightheaded–while I was standing in front of Holly and supporting her to keep her still while the Dr. was sticking the largest needle I had ever seen into my wife’s back. It kinda felt like a dangerous circumstance, to say the least. In an effort to maintain my composure, I turned my head to the side… and saw Debbie kneeling down on the ground with her head bowed down! It was about that time that I remember Lindsey and the nurse suggest that I have a seat (and not a moment too soon).

Some help we are! 2 Grossmans down, Holly and Lindsey still standing.

The Fainting Duo, sitting down per Dr

for those keeping score at home…

Check out the bottom readings in the picture: those are contractions. See those plateau mountains? That’s because they’re SO HUGE that the max out the reading! They’re reading over 100! My wife is off the chart on the contract-o-meter!

DISCLAIMER: i have no idea what this actually means. My invented “off the charts” explanation sounded plausable to me and it reinforces my opinion that MY WIFE IS SUPER-HUMAN(!) and so I’m sticking with it.

Maxing out the Contract-o-meter

Debbie and Ellie

Debbie just arrived, complete with a new blue stuffed animal…

The bumps in the bottom line are contractions

It looks like the Pitocin is doing what the Pitocin does: contractions have started and Holly is working though the surges like a champ! This means that I’ll be posting less and probably won’t be answering the phone much anymore, though we likely still have many hours ahead of us… We’ll do our best to check in when we can–thanks for all the encouragement!

Holly, between contractions...

Lindsey supporting Holly through a contraction

In case I forget later (because I probably will), I wanted to give a quick shout-out to our fantastic doula, Lindsey, pictured here rubbing Holly’s feet and encouraging her through her surges… Thanks, Lindsey!

It’s a hair past 7:30 AM in the morning here. The doctors have been steadily increasing her pitocin dosage, but without much apparent impact. That’s OK–we’re not in any hurry and just assume take it slow! (Joel’s not very patient, but this isn’t really about him, is it?)

San Francisco sunrise, from the birthing suite

View from our room, Friday morning

It’s now 4 AM and the Foley Bulb as come out, meaning that we’re at about 4-5 cm dilation. That said, we’re not really in labor yet and Holly having minimal sensations. Incidentally, we agreed to participate in a clinical study–they’re apparently experimenting to understand the differences between inflating the Foley Bulb with 30 ml of fluid vs 60 ml of fluid.

Holly was just connected to an IV (she postponed it when we first got here as unnecessary) and we’ve called Lindsey, our doula, to ask her to start heading over in anticipation. The pitocin has been hooked up to the IV and we’ll be slowly increasing the dosage as required.

We both managed to get 4 or so hours of sleep last night… Good prep for the months to come!