Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Welcome to the World, Baby Mango


Baby Mango was born at 3:47 pm Israel time on Tuesday, August 29, 2006. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 4.7 ounces. They don't measure length here but Mommy brought a measuring tape and a nurse helped Daddy measure the baby. She was 19 inches long.





Irregular contractions started on Monday - sometimes every 15-30 minutes, sometimes every few hours. We went to Nadav and Rivky's wedding in Tel Aviv on Monday night and joked that we might have to go to the hospital in Tel Aviv in the middle of the wedding! (Mommy had 5 or 6 contractions in the car on the 1.5 hour drive.) Mommy tried to dance a lot at the wedding to dance the baby out. :) But when she would sit down again and rest the contractions would slow down.Overnight Mommy woke up with a contraction every 1-2 hours. Around 9:30 am, after having 3 contractions 15 minutes apart, she decided to get up and call Miriam Maslin, the doula. Miriam said she had an appt from 11 to 1 and should she cancel it? Mommy said no, it won't be that fast. Daddy asked if he could go to minyan and his morning shiur, and Mommy said yes. She spent the morning finishing packing up her hospital bag, but the contractions got closer together and harder to deal with. Daddy had a lunch meeting and as soon as it was over (around 2:00) Mommy called him and Miriam and told them both to come right away. The contractions were 3 minutes apart but sitll rather short, but Mommy was crying through each one. Miriam had told Mommy to have something sweet and pay attention to the baby's movements, but she wasn't feeling anything, so Miriam decided we should go to the hospital to get checked out, even though she didn't think we really needed to leave yet in terms of the labor progressing. This was a few minutes before 3:00. In the cab the contractions got worse and Mommy started to feel the urge to push. By the time we got to the hospital Mommy was screaming like a banshee through every contraction. She felt bad for the other women in the maternity ward, and for the little girl in the elevator with her!! When we got to the ward Miriam went to find a midwife, who hooked Mommy up to the monitor and saw that the heartbeat was good. Then they took her into a room to check her. As soon as she took her underwear off, her water broke all over her shoes and the shoes of the midwife! It was full of meconium so they told the pediatrician to be ready to be there when the baby was born. They checked her and she was 10 cm dilated so they rushed her into the nearest room to deliver. Less than 10 minutes later, I was born!

When I came out, Mommy was so relieved that the pushing was over. They took me to clean me up, and only after a few minutes did she think to ask whether I was a boy or a girl! When they told her she had a baby girl, she asked, "Really?!" She cried because she was so happy that her wish came true.


The first thing I did when I got into Mommy's arms was pee and poop on her. I guess I felt comfortable with her right away. Then I slept quietly in her arms. (they didn't even take me to weigh me or anything for a couple of hours). When Mommy was being stitched I stayed with my Daddy, who sang to me. I seemed to wimper every time Mommy cired from the stitches, even though she was all the way across the room behind a curtain! I nursed nicely before going to be checked by the doctors. Daddy stayed with mein the nursery and then brought me back to Mommy.

When I was born, Mommy and Daddy called Grandma and Zayde, Saba and Yaya, and Bubbie and Saba Raba. Then Mommy sent text messages to Steff and Ariella. Later they called or texted everyone else they knew! Mommy was on the internet soon after she gave birth, sending out the birth story and pictures of me.

My blood sugar was monitored after every feeding because Mommy had gestational diabetes. Because myblood sugar was a little bit low, the nurses gave her a bottle (boy was Daddy mad when he came into the nursery and caught them giving me a bottle). After that Mommy woke up a few times during the night to try to feed me, but I was too sleepy to eat. Mommy gave me a bottle around 5 am and then I finally nursed around 10:30.

After sleeping (or trying to sleep) in the hall for 18 hours, Mommy finally got a room.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Baby Mango remains small for his/her age. Mommy is over 38 weeks pregnant, but Mango is measuring 36 weeks old - except for his/her long, 37-week legs!

Mango now weighs an estimated 6.556 pounds.

Mommy had what looked like 3 contractions during her 20 minutes on the monitor (nonstress test) today. She didn't feel anything, though. The nurse-midwife said it indicated "strong uterine activity," which could be contractions or could be a result of dehydration or the heat wave.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Today Mommy and Daddy had their last childbirth class with Shoshana.

Daddy FINALLY felt Mango hiccupping today! It doesn't happen that often, but last time Mommy told Daddy to feel it, Daddy didn't sit still long enough to notice.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

What's in a name?

Last night Mommy dreamed that she and Daddy were late for Mango's bris, so Grandma Helene and Saba Stuart named him for them! They named him Benjamin.

When Mommy woke up and told Daddy the dream, he said he had dreamed that Coby had a human baby and Mommy had a puppy. He has had similar dreams before.
Daddy said that he has also dreamed that Mango was named by someone other than Mommy and Daddy. He said that once he dreamed that a rabbi named the baby Dudu - because Mango is due in Elul (Ani L'Dudu v'Dudu Li)!

Tonight Mommy and Daddy walked Coby together and talked about boy names (they have already decided on a girl name).

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Last night Mommy dreamed that she had the baby and then went home for Shabbat - but they kept the baby in the hospital! And before she left, she forgot to ask if the baby was a boy or a girl! So the whole Shabbat she didn't know and couldn't wait for Shabbat to be over so she could go back to the hospital and see her baby and find out!

Silly Mommy.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

At Mommy's ultrasound today the tech was so surprised with the results that she made Mommy get back on the table and measure again! Mango is very little for his/her age and has only gained about 3 ounces in the last 10 days. S/he is measuring between 35 and 36 weeks, even though Mommy will be 37 weeks on Wednesday. Mango weighs about 5.9136 lbs (+/- 10%). The level of amniotic fluid has gone down too (from 180 ml to 165), which is good and indicates no problem from the diabetes, B"H.
Mommy is supposed to drink more water so Baby will move more.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Mango is now measuring on schedule - 35 weeks. Mango weighs app 5.687 pounds and the fluid level is 173. S/he remains head-down and is still not showing her/his face.