Monday, January 9, 2012

The 4th Trimester is over!!!


Life after the birth of my son Jose Julian Ramirez Quinn
Sept 23, 2011

So I have been told that the first 3 months, post delivery, is often referred to as the 4th trimester, as the baby really is still like a fetus and not very well adapted to life out of the womb. My friend Sinead also told me that I should be prepared to be exhausted for the first few months and likened them to a war zone. In my naivety I'd said - ak I'm just going to sleep when the baby sleeps, I'll be fine. I was thinking - how hard can it be - the baby will just sleep, eat and poo. Well a few days in and I understood Sinead all too well!!!
I had a c-section which was OK but for the first two weeks I was pretty incapacitated. Julio had to take me to the bathroom and shower me for this period too - poor guy. I also reacted to the vast quantity of antibiotics they pump into to you here in Mexico and spent the best part of the first month vomiting. 3 hospital stays later, when the right mix of medication was discovered (the same stuff as they give to chemo patients to avoid nausea) I managed to get on top of that. Then the baby started to get really bad colic. He'd scream in pain from around 7pm until 2-4am. Julio and I would drive round the Island in the middle of the night as the sound of the car's engine seemed to pacify him. It was a horrible time, I was physically and emotionally wrung out. Doctors and others pointed to my breast milk as the likely cause of the colic which meant I had to give up all dairy (very hard for a veggie). I came under a lot of pressure to switch to formula, which I resisted. I felt like it was all my fault, I felt like a terrible mother because I couldn't do anything to relieve his pain and I felt like an even worse mother because there was a little part of me just thinking PLEASE stop crying so I can get some sleep!!!

Wow it sounds pretty horrible putting it all down there is print.

Anyway things have changed so dramatically now. He's 3 months and 2 weeks and a changed baby. He still has some remnants of colic and I still have a very restricted diet, but he now cries for 10mins tops. Mammy can make him feel better by rubbing his belly, burping him, feeding him or rocking him to sleep. He smiles, laughs, gives me big soppy kisses on the cheek and makes lots of Agoo - ahoo and other noises. He tends to sleep well most nights and gets in a good 2-3 hours sleep most days, with other short snoozes. I'm really falling in love with his little spirit. Looking into his eyes you can see a kind and gentle little boy who wants to learn all he can and please mam and dad.

Julio and I have finally moved into the new house. Just the first floor, but it is slowly coming together and we really hope to get the whole thing finished this year. Julio and his brother are in the final stages of making a crib for the baby.

During the pregnancy I put on a wopping 50lbs in weight. One welcome effect of the nausea and vomiting was a rapid loss of this weight. I'd had to fight the urge to become depressed about my weight during the pregnancy and had prayed hard to god to help me get my body back into shape quickly after the birth. Well he answered my prayer, so next time I need to remember to ask him to help me loose weight in a sensible time frame without the nausea and vomiting!!!

I'm still 10lbs over my ideal weight, but probably about the same weight as I was just before getting pregnant. I've been out running twice and want to continue this 2-3 times a week and also go to a yoga class once or twice a week.

I also managed to do a shore dive on New Years Day while Julio looked after the baby. It felt really amazing. I saw an eagle ray and lots of my old friends from Villa Blanca Reef (squid, shrimp, arrow crabs, puffers to name but a few). Most of all I just felt the most overwhelming feeling of peace - it had been a while since I'd felt that way! I've toyed with the idea of doing some scuba work, but I'm not sure I want to leave my little boy alone just yet. I want him to feel safe and secure with mammy at all times. Lets see how things progress on that front. I also think diving is pretty tiring physically and might be very difficult on top of breast feeding and being a mammy.

Well I tried several times to upload a recent photo of Julian and my computer just doesn't want to do it. Lots will follow, as well as happier tales of motherhood!!!!!