Welcome to the World

It's been a while since I posted something personal but I have a good reason .... I had a baby!! Allow me to introduce Yoav Rubin Glaser. Our son was born on February 2nd, 2012 via C-Section after 55+ hours in labor. Isn't he cute??

I love Kermit the Frog!

Go Blue!

Yoav is already a half-month old and he doesn't even look like he did when these pictures were taken. It's insane how different he looks every day. So, ready for his birth story?

On January 29th, I went in for a routine weekly OB/GYN check up. After another fetal monitor and blood pressure check, I was sent to my doctor so he could see the results. The verdict: go to the hospital ASAP! Apparently, I was experiencing hypertension and he wanted the hospital to induce labor. So, off we went.

At the hospital's pregnancy ER, I underwent another fetal monitor exam and blood pressure check up. I was asked if I was experiencing any headaches, blurry vision, or tummy pain. The answer: I have a sinus headache from the rain. So, off I went to the regular ER where I waited an hour to see a neurologist. In my opinion, if you make someone wait an hour to see a neurologist, they may as well be dead. If I had any real neurological issues, like a stroke or something, I would have died waiting to see someone. Yet, she gave me a clean bill of health and even wrote out that I know a sinus headache when I feel one. She then sent me to the ophthalmologist to make sure everything was OK before sending me back to the pregnancy ER. The verdict: I was A-OK in the head and eyes.

After realizing that I was OK, the doctor on staff said he'd like to admit me to the high risk ward and he was recommending inducing me. Why the recommendation? Because he doesn't have the authority to decide if I should be induced. Nearly 18 hours later, I was told by a doctor I was being induced. The problem? I was having my own contractions and they wanted to wait and see if something happened naturally. Another 15 hours went by before they gave me my first dose of pge2 (the induction pill). I have never felt pain like this before!! It got really bad and then it stopped. Since my contractions were so bad, the doctors decided not to give me another dose of pge2 eight hours after the first dose. They thought my cervix would dilate on its own. It didn't. My contractions stopped. I was given the second dose over 24 hours after the first one. It did nothing. Eight hours after that, I was given a third dose. That did nothing, too. Then I started contracting on my own, again. And quite badly.

The big problem? I wasn't dilating. After three doses of pge2, nothing was happening!! The next day, a doctor that I refer to as Dr. Nice Guy came by and told me that he wanted to try dilating me using a balloon. At this point I was in tears because I had been examined vaginally so many times that I was in physical pain from my auto immune disease. Plus, as a survivor of sexual assault and rape, I don't exactly want someone I don't know touching me. I clam up. At one point, one examination was so bad and painful that I cried uncontrollably for an hour into Craig's chest and he made it very clear to the nurses that this doctor is NEVER to come near me again. I was then given a sedative and I drifted off to sleep.

Anyway, after two failed balloon attempts, Dr. Nice Guy went to speak to the head physician (the Dean) and I was told they were going to send me to labor and delivery where I'd be given Pitocin and an epidural! Once the epidural kicked in, I don't remember much else about that day. I slept a lot. At some point, another doctor came in with Dr. Nice Guy and I was given two options: give the Pitocin another two hours to see if I dilate or have a C-Section. After about five minutes of discussion, I told them to get the kid out of me. Another two hours of Pitocin wasn't going to do anything since I was no more dilated five days into my hospital stay than I was when I walked into the hospital.

At 8:35pm, on February 2nd, I gave birth to a very loud little boy. The next day, he was taken to the NICU for jaundice. The nightmare continued. He was there for five days and they were the longest five days of my life. The State of Israel takes this stuff VERY seriously- especially since it was my blood that caused the issue. We have an ABO blood incompatibility. By February 7th (the day I was supposed to deliver ... and a day after my parents arrived), we took our gorgeous little boy home. He's been given a clean bill of health by the Dean of the NICU and by his pediatrician!