Research

I have recently had a career change to research. Who knew that I would be doing research one day. I always thought of this career as exciting. To discover new things and be able to apply them and hope that they work was always fascinating to me. However, the one drawback is the social interaction that is minimal during the research I am doing. The research position that I have taken works in mostly a solitary environment. That means, for the most part, that I am alone in my research. The trials and errors only effect me and those in the study. I have some other colleagues in the department, but they come and go. They play a part now and again, but mostly it is just me and the subject of the study. I make the decisions and am the one who collects and analyzes the data. I can take the advice they give me and apply it, but ultimately I decide if it works or doesn't.

Now for those of you who have never worked in research, as I hadn't until now. The work you do often has you up at strange hours. Most of the time you can work during the day, but sometimes you have to be up and going in the middle of the night or early morning hours, often several hours before the sun rises. The research is often a little scary and I get anxious that I will harm the subject, but I keep plugging along and putting in the time and the effort to "get it right". However, "getting it right" is not always in the cards. You think that you have a breakthrough and then you are back to square one and re-configuring. Poor subject.

My research is not top secret, so I will let you know some of the things that I have been researching as of late and tell you of the subject that I am using. The title of my position is Mom. The subject is Beatrix, my daughter. The research I am doing is on spitting up/breastfeeding.

Beatrix has been spitting up since birth. Something all babies do, and at first I was alarmed and it worried me. However, almost everyone has said "It's normal" for babies to spit up. I know that babies spit up and that it is normal, but 4-5 times after and during a feeding seems extreme. This spitting up can occur a couple of hours after she eats. It is traumatic for her and for me. She screams and cries when she spits up and seems downright uncomfortable. I guess I would too, if I was spitting up after I ate each time, my stomach hurt and I was gassy. That being said, I am doing some research. I consulted her pediatrician who said she has all the signs of reflux. Chewing motions after eating or spitting up, choking while eating, arching her back before spitting up, fussy spitting up...not your"happy spitter". She is gassy and has a gurgly stomach. She is constantly hungry and wants to stay latched and sucking even when she is not getting any food. That all being said, we started her on some medication, which seemed to help a little, but she was still spitting up often and still crying during feeding. I recently went back to the pediatrician because she seemed to have a cold. She was congested and had trouble breathing on occasion. The mucus sounded like it was in the back part of her throat or her sinuses. He told me it sounded like it was reflux related. He started her on another medication. Here is to hoping it works! Or back to the drawing board.

Through researching I have also come to the conclusion that I produce a lot of foremilk...let's be honest I produce a lot of milk. I have come to find out that foremilk, unlike the hindmilk is not easily digested because it slips right down to the stomach instead of going through the digestion process like it should...and whoops comes right back up. This is where my experimentation starts. I started pumping to remove some of the foremilk, but recently found out that pumping too much causes more milk. I have waaayy too much milk so why would I want more??? I found out that I need to use the same breast for feeding for a few hours, while letting her nurse whenever she wants to. No scheduled nursing. By nursing off of the same breast I won't get theforemilk or at least not quite as much foremilk, and she will get the hindmilk. Therefore, vomit/spit up less and maybe become a "happy spitter" . I also found out some new breastfeeding positions to help the milk to go down. There are some wonderful websites available and I am going to post the two that I like just in case anyone else has this same or similar situation. Maybe it can help in their research.

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html

http://www.normalfed.com/Continuing/gulping.html

Now, I am off to take care of my subject and to collect a little more data.

Unto Us A Child Is Born

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And thisshall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. -Luke 2:11-14

Unto us a child was born, but not in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, but born in Salt Lake City, UT in a blue Subaru Impreza Sport, on a cold winters morn during morning rush hour traffic at a Maverick gas station on 2700 South and 700 East. Her name is Beatrix Marie Derrick and she was born around 8:15 am on December 15, 2011. Her birth story is amazing:

I had my first contraction on Wednesday Dec 14, 2011 when my doctor was checking me. She told me that I was 1 cm dilated and 30% effaced. The cramping started on Wednesday Dec 14, 2011 after my doctor's appointment. I text my sister, Laina, and asked her if cramping was normal after being checked at an appointment. She replied with "sometimes". Mike and I decided to go to dinner that night. I had text him earlier that day and said "Let's eat spicy food tonight and get this baby to come!" Before we went to dinner that night Mike leaned over my belly and whispered to Baby Bea "Olly Olly Oxen Free". That night we went to the Porcupine Pub and it was packed and I was still cramping. We decided to go somewhere else. We drove byLonestar Tacos and it was packed, so we drove on by and drove to Long Life Veggie House. We were the only two people there and it was good because I had to stand before we ordered because my cramping was uncomfortable and achy. We ordered our food, which was not in the least bit spicy. Lemon chicken and potstickers. We went home by the local Redbox and Mike picked up a movie. When we got home I decided to go to bed since I was really tired and not feeling my best. He stayed up and watched Super 8.

I woke up at 1:45 am with my first set of contractions. I immediately looked at the clock to start timing the contractions. Now, this was really hard to do because I didn't have my glasses on and the numbers appeared like one big blob. I've learned that if I squint I can make out the numbers slightly. The contractions were 10 minutes, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes.... They were definitely not consistent. I woke Mike up and told him "We might be having a baby today." He looked at me and said "I know." I turned to him and asked him how he knew. He did not answer. Sleep talking...classic Mike. I stayed awake and continued to time the contractions. They remained inconsistent. I finally woke Mike up around 2:30am. I asked him to time the contractions and he did, but they continued to be inconsistent. I thought that I might be in false labor, which can last days and even weeks. I decided to get some sleep. My Lamaze class taught me that you need to save your energy for the big moments, so I dozed in and out of slumber.

I don't remember how long I slept, but it must have been for a good hour or so because I remember waking up and feeling more intense contractions, and asking Mike to time them. This time it must have been around 6:30 in the morning. Mike got the lap counter and started timing. The contractions were not consistent at first, but then became more consistent. Five minutes...breathe...30 seconds, five minutes...breathe... 45 seconds. Mike was so great at helping me through each contraction. "You're doing great, only 20 more seconds, 10 more seconds...done. "Great job". "You are doing a wonderful thing". These comments continued through each contraction, while I was lying on my left side and rubbing my hands through my hair. Mike also got the tennis balls and was rubbing my lower back. Was it time to go to the hospital? I asked Mike what he thought and then told him to get the Lamaze book. He got it and looked through it, but didn't find anything, but decided it was time to go. He went to get the diaper bag, hospital bag, Lamaze book, snacks for him and a garbage bag to cover the seat of the car. As he was doing that I needed to use the bathroom. (Apparently that is a clue), I was about to get up and use the bathroom and I had a major contraction. needless to say I didn't have to use the bathroom anymore and our sheets needed to be changed.

I told Mike that we needed to go to the hospital now. I was having a baby! I got up to change my pants and told Mike that I needed a bra. He got in my underwear drawer and was looking for a bra. I told him that I needed a black bra. This was a completely irrational need at the time. Mike looked for the black bra that I was talking about, but picked all my other black bras, the ones the didn't fit. He finally said to me "You don't need a bra". I stood by the edge of the bed and was about to put on some pants and I had another contraction. I held onto the edge of the bed and couldn't move. I cried out and then I felt it...a drop. I felt her drop into place. I told Mike I felt her drop and that we were having a baby. He hurried around to finish gathering everything. I put my pants on and then went to grab my shoes. I could only see my running shoes and I searched around for some slip-ons and found some. I headed out to the car, braless. As soon as I sat down in the car I had another contraction. Again I cried out. Mike had the car running and he jumped in the car and sped out of the driveway.

He hurried down the street and when we got to the light on 4500 south Mike reached back and started fiddling with something in the back. I looked back and he was attempting to pull up the back seats so that I could lie back. He got them up and I pulled the lever to put my seat back. It felt so good to lie back. We had to go down 4500 South since there was construction at Highland Drive and 3900 South. As we were driving down 4500 South I told Mike to go to St. Marks Hospital because we were not going to make it to Salt Lake Regional. He said we could make it and continued on to Salt Lake Regional. We were weaving in and out of traffic and I remember thinking to myself, "we are not going to make it." We hit 700 east and I had another contraction. I cried out again and held onto the handles in the car. He continued to speed as much as he could since it was in the middle of morning rush hour traffic. It was probably about 7:50 when we left the house. He sped down to 3900 south and he continued weaving in and out of traffic. I remember thinking I was in an action movie during a high speed chase. The cars were a blur as we were passing them. He reached the light at 3900 south and got into the front of the lane as the light turned red. I had another contraction and was crying out again. All of the sudden I knew what Mike was doing as his head turned from side to side. He was going to run the red light! I remember looking, but not able to say anything. He waited...two cars and then, none. He sped on through the light. I gripped tightly to the handles in the car. We hit more traffic and he continued weaving. I told Mike to go to St. Marks because we were not going to make it to the hospital. This baby was coming! We hit 3300 south, I had one more contraction and I told Mike that I felt her head coming out. Her head dropped more and I could feel it crowning. I was sitting on her head! We needed to pull over! I put my feet on the dash and scooted up onto the back of the seat, so I wasn't sitting on our baby. Mike pulled up onto a sidewalk/driveway, hesitated and then sped off the curb and continued on. I kept reminding him that I could feel her and that we needed to pull over because this baby was coming! He finally reached Maverick gas station and pulled into it. He pulled straight forward and the only thing I could see was the tank in front of us that said "Air".

I told Mike he needed to check to see if he could see her head. He got out of the car and the next thing I knew was 911 was on speaker phone. He set the phone down. Pulled my pants down and told the operator that he could see the head. She was crowning! The operator told Mike to put his hand on the head and apply a little pressure. I couldn't speak and I thought "Ya right, that is not going to stop this baby from entering this world. Mike put his hand there and as he did I had another contraction and I would feel everything! I felt her head pushing down, and I would feel downward movement inside of me. Head. Then what felt like the second part of the contraction. Shoulders, hips, legs and feet! Cry! She was out! This bluish beautiful baby girl! She cried! Mike's face was shocked as he held her in his hands and then slight tears in his eyes. Beautiful! He turned right back to the phone and got directions for the next step.

The operator said put her on the mothers skin. I was holding this beautiful girl! She was goopyand beautiful. Then they told us to find something to wrap her in. Mike went to look for something. The police officer cleaned her mouth off and then went and grabbed a towel out of his car and we wrapped her as best we could since the umbilical cord was still connected. They then told Mike to tie off the umbilical cord with a shoelace. We both looked at our shoes and realized we had slip-ons on. The police officer went back to his car and got a zip-tie and zip-tied off the umbilical cord. The paramedics had arrived and they were talking to Mike, the police officer and me. This time frame is a blur, since I had my baby. They transferred me out of the car on a sheet and onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

They took me to St. Marks hospital stating they had to take me to the nearest hospital. They put oxygen on baby and then on me. They asked me what time she was born stating it was 8:30am. I told them probably around 8:15 am. They took me into the Labor and Delivery room and took the baby from me . They asked what happened and were shocked at the delivery being in a car. It was the talk of the room. They gave me a shot of potocin in my leg and then numbed me up, delivered the placenta and stitched me up. The doctor told me i had second degree tears. I now know that means muscle and tissue. They had to warm little Bea up under a heat lamp since her core temperature was low. After her temperature got up to 98 degrees I got her back and was supposed to feed her. I attempted and she latched on like a champion. She was a ferocious eater...she was obviously hungry. Then I got to just stare at my baby girl. She is beautiful. I stare at her everyday and remember who is going to be in charge from now on. Everyone always said you never know how much you can love someone/something until you have a child. I now know that feeling. There are so many people to thank, the police officer, paramedics, hospital staff, family and friends, Mike and of course the ever present hand of my Father in Heaven.What a miracle!