At 5:30am on Saturday, March 17th, St. Patrick's day, I awoke to a weird feeling in my stomach, like a whoosh or pop. I thought ok....maybe my water broke. Now just the day before I was reading about reasons to go to the hospital and one was if you were leaking greenish fluid. This likely indicated that you were leaking meconium fluid, meaning the baby had had his/her first bowel movement inside of you.
I go to the washroom and without doing anything I feel liquid flowing out of me like a trickle. I look down and it's green. I wipe and it continues. Confused and scared I go to our living room where my mom and sister are sleeping and am suddenly feeling intense contractions that knock me to the ground. I keel over and breathe through it. My mom was awake so I tell her I was leaking green stuff and I don't know what's happening. I am hit by another contraction. My back had hurt with all my previous contractions so Tom had been rubbing my back hard during them and I would ice in between. I knew I needed him to get trough the contractions so I went into our room to wake him.
He says he knew from the moment he heard my voice that it was the day. Stubborn as I am though, I continue to labour through contractions for 1.5 hours convinced in my head it was still nothing even though I knew I needed to go in. I had read about the meconium fluid and didn't want to endanger our baby.
We went to triage again just after 7am and I told the nurse i wasn't leaving without a baby - whether it was mine r someone else's I was leaving with one. They hooked me up to machines to monitor contractions and heart rate and I was checked out. I think I was at 5cm. While I was sitting in the bed between contractions I felt a warm sensation gush around me and knew I had leaked. My water gushed out f me and I was now sitting in it plus baby's poop! Yummy. With that contractions got crazy and I was hooked up to an iv officially being admitted!
We had the nicest nurse in labour and deliver for the day. She was a sweet lady, Caroline, who was retired but picked up shifts when she could. Through our talking and her assessment she decided I would have the baby before her shift was done at 7pm. Sadly we got our hopes set on that and it wasn't the case.
Because I had been in labour in a sense for 3 days, I opted immediately for the epidural. With little sleep in days, I knew I needed it. I got that fairly soon after being admitted and was comfortable. I spent the day rolling from side to side and getting checked out. I seemed to be progressing well for most of the day and Caroline was hopeful. Around 4 pm I was at 7cm and stayed there for the next check. Caroline wanted them to give me oxytocin to help dilate but the dr said there was no need yet. The dr came back in another hour and I was still at 7cm so she finally ordered the oxytocin. Caroline was leaving and we had no baby but were blessed with another great nurse, Julie.
Throughout the evening I continued to slowly dilate but my contractions also became very irregular. They had been steady all day and suddenly I would go from fast and heavy to 10 minutes part and weaker. This was not letting me progress at all. Julie was on a crazy shift that was done at 3am and there was no way I was going through another change in nurses.
At 9pm I was dilated to 9 and things seemed to have slowed again. I took some time to rest knowing things would start getting good soon! I hce ve no idea how it then took me 4 hours to finally be 10cm and ready to push but it did.
Around midnight I was feeling more pain and my Epi was turned up. I started to feel the need to push but was told I wasn't a full 10 yet. The last I was checked by the dr she said I had a 'lip' left. The need to push came so fast and furious you can't stop it. The nurse checked me and said we were good to go. Just after 1am I started pushing and at 1:55am we welcome our beautiful baby boy into the world! I only pushed for 40 minutes! My goal had been to beat my sister who pushed for 30 minutes but our baby ha a pound on hers so pound for pound I beat her!
My next blog will contain details after the birth of our son. Off to bed for me, so hopefully I remember to post again soon.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Labour and Delivery - Early Labour...the never ending experience!
This past week we had some friends over and I found us telling our birth story. Tom and I put together the details fine but I thought I should write them out so I can remember better in the future. Now as this is a labour and delivery story I will be possibly talking about things that you may consider TMI so consider yourself warned. I have made it my policy during pregnancy, labour and delivery and post-partum to be open and honest with everything because so much isn't talked about.
I was due on the 14th March and at 6:30am that Wednesday morning I woke up to pee. This was no surprise as my nights were mostly sleepless at this point from being uncomfortable and needing to pee. As I went about my business I saw that I was bleeding, similar to the start of my period. It seemed like a lot to me so I called the triage of l&d and the nurse said better safe than sorry and to come in. I had already texted my mom freaking out and her, and my sister decided they would head down despite me having no contractions or anything. My dad also made a last minute decision to skip work and come down with them.
When we got to the hospital the nurse was great. I was hooked up to monitors and then checked out by a resident dr who said i was about 2-3 cm dilated. The bleeding was likely part of my bloody show - gross! They had me walk the halls to see if I dilated more or if contractions picked up(they were very sporadic at this point). After 4 hours I hasn't progressed anything further but had a regular ob appointment to go to so we left triage for the ob. While waiting 2 hours for the appointment (they were always late) I had contractions continuing and was very uncomfortable. I couldn't sit in the waiting room because of it so I paced. I never wanted to be the one to go to the hospital with false alarms so I was very disappointed even though I knew going in that morning it was not likely to be our day. My dr said I was indeed at 2 and she could stretch me to 3 so she performed a stretch and sweep of my membranes in hopes of getting things moving along.
Contractions continued for that night and throughout the early morning hours. They would become intense and close together and seem to be progressing and then slow down and disappear. On morning of the 15 I had painful contractions 3-4 minutes apart and lasting for a minute for 2 hours. I did not want to go in. I fought Tom and my mom and eventually gave in out of exhaustion and went in. My contractions continued in the van but as soon as we got into a room in triage they seemed to stop. My experience this day was terrible! The nurses were terrible and told me I was too happy to be in labour. I am not one to show I am in pain so that frustrated me. I was checked again and at about 3 cm and was sent to walk with checkins for monitoring the babies heart rate. After walking again for hours (I say 4 Tom says more) my contractions were pretty much done and I was only at 4cm. The jerk dr said that it was busy on the labour and delivery side and if it wasn't they could admit me so back home we went.
Friday was somehow my day of rest. I had moments of intense contractions and moments of nothing. I was so confused and disheartened by everything and thought I was crazy! Friday I also had the brilliant idea that doing summersaults would get the baby out. I was so sick of walking that I was up for it. So I attempted 4-5 summersaults that my sister K was entertained by. I wish we has videotaped it.
As the afternoon wore on my contractions began to intensify and were again 2-4 minutes apart last for about a minute and for about an hour and then they would space out again. This repeated so many times. Tom has downloaded an ap on his phone to time contractions and everyone was watching me for them. For some reason going to the bathroom brought them on and I had to pee a lot! Friday Tom and I went for a walk around the neighborhood in hopes of getting things to move faster. Contractions continued to come hard and heavy and then slow down for a bit and then hard and heavy again. I hadn't slept well in days!
Around midnight we decided to walk in our basement. I was having painful contractions again and just needed to move. We walked figure 8s for almost 2 hours before my contractions slowed enough for me to want to eat and sleep. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter at 1:30am on the 17th not knowing it would be my pre-game meal.
I was due on the 14th March and at 6:30am that Wednesday morning I woke up to pee. This was no surprise as my nights were mostly sleepless at this point from being uncomfortable and needing to pee. As I went about my business I saw that I was bleeding, similar to the start of my period. It seemed like a lot to me so I called the triage of l&d and the nurse said better safe than sorry and to come in. I had already texted my mom freaking out and her, and my sister decided they would head down despite me having no contractions or anything. My dad also made a last minute decision to skip work and come down with them.
When we got to the hospital the nurse was great. I was hooked up to monitors and then checked out by a resident dr who said i was about 2-3 cm dilated. The bleeding was likely part of my bloody show - gross! They had me walk the halls to see if I dilated more or if contractions picked up(they were very sporadic at this point). After 4 hours I hasn't progressed anything further but had a regular ob appointment to go to so we left triage for the ob. While waiting 2 hours for the appointment (they were always late) I had contractions continuing and was very uncomfortable. I couldn't sit in the waiting room because of it so I paced. I never wanted to be the one to go to the hospital with false alarms so I was very disappointed even though I knew going in that morning it was not likely to be our day. My dr said I was indeed at 2 and she could stretch me to 3 so she performed a stretch and sweep of my membranes in hopes of getting things moving along.
Contractions continued for that night and throughout the early morning hours. They would become intense and close together and seem to be progressing and then slow down and disappear. On morning of the 15 I had painful contractions 3-4 minutes apart and lasting for a minute for 2 hours. I did not want to go in. I fought Tom and my mom and eventually gave in out of exhaustion and went in. My contractions continued in the van but as soon as we got into a room in triage they seemed to stop. My experience this day was terrible! The nurses were terrible and told me I was too happy to be in labour. I am not one to show I am in pain so that frustrated me. I was checked again and at about 3 cm and was sent to walk with checkins for monitoring the babies heart rate. After walking again for hours (I say 4 Tom says more) my contractions were pretty much done and I was only at 4cm. The jerk dr said that it was busy on the labour and delivery side and if it wasn't they could admit me so back home we went.
Friday was somehow my day of rest. I had moments of intense contractions and moments of nothing. I was so confused and disheartened by everything and thought I was crazy! Friday I also had the brilliant idea that doing summersaults would get the baby out. I was so sick of walking that I was up for it. So I attempted 4-5 summersaults that my sister K was entertained by. I wish we has videotaped it.
As the afternoon wore on my contractions began to intensify and were again 2-4 minutes apart last for about a minute and for about an hour and then they would space out again. This repeated so many times. Tom has downloaded an ap on his phone to time contractions and everyone was watching me for them. For some reason going to the bathroom brought them on and I had to pee a lot! Friday Tom and I went for a walk around the neighborhood in hopes of getting things to move faster. Contractions continued to come hard and heavy and then slow down for a bit and then hard and heavy again. I hadn't slept well in days!
Around midnight we decided to walk in our basement. I was having painful contractions again and just needed to move. We walked figure 8s for almost 2 hours before my contractions slowed enough for me to want to eat and sleep. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter at 1:30am on the 17th not knowing it would be my pre-game meal.
Monday, May 14, 2012
My Tips for L&D and Newborn loving
Below is an email I sent to a few women I know who are expecting. I didn't edit it much and it was typed late at night.
The following is unsolicited advice you can take or leave but I thought I would share with the pregnant ladies I know. I know that I enjoyed reading tips from people who had just been through labour and delivery since I knew their look was realistic. But I also know as a pregnant lady and then as a mother you receive so much advice/opinions from EVERYONE! So if it helps it does if not I was up feeding Charlie anyways so it was nice to be entertained (typed on my iPhone in the middle of the night so excuse typos).
Katie's Tips for Labour and Delivery and Newborn Loving
Dont forget the following in your hospital hospital bag
-pads - I recommend stay free brand as someone who never wears pads. I also found the hospital ones were too big for the bleeding I had. A regular bad was sufficient but I had overnights as well.
-Extra thick super soft toilet paper - you deserve it after delivery and it's better than hospital 1 ply hard toilet paper!
-bobby pins - I thought I packed some but apparently didn't and had none in my purse. My little front hairs bothered me so much during labour and my headband didn't stay in place.
-iPod - so good during labour - my playlist I listened to was all slower calming music and mostly Christian. It was a good distraction.
-Chapstick - so necessary for some reason.
- Clothes for baby - bring multiple sizes. We brought some newborn and some 0-3 months. Newborn did not fit. Same with hats - we brought all small ones - bring a couple sizes. You never know how big (and long) your baby will be.
-food!! You never know when you'll deliver And having some bars or snack food on hand would be nice - I wish I had some at 3am.
-when you think it's time to head to the hospital eat something if possible (or before it gets too close)!! My last meal was at 2am Saturday morning and was a piece of toast with peanut butter. Then I didn't eat till the yummy hospital breakfast at like 10am Sunday am. Here they offered me popsicles, jello and vegetable broth. The vegetable broth was offered till almost 18 hours in or so, so ask for it if you want it.
-don't be afraid to use the mirror while pushing. I never thought I would but being able to see progress was good and helped me to know i was doing the right thing.
- during delivery once the head was close to being out the nurse said to me "lay back and do what the doctor tells you" as she reclined the bed. This scared me to no end and I thought bad things were happening but really Charlie was just coming out and my pushing was done. So chances are if they say this all is ok.
-ask for help at the hospital - we didn't and should have at least seen the lactation consultant. They won't necessarily offer the help so ask. In many ways your on your own right away.
Newborn Loving
-a swaddle me is an amazing thing. Unless you have amazing swaddle skills like the nurses then you're fine. We have two swaddle me blankets that are amazing! We use them every night and he sleeps better in them then when he's not in one. If I want him to have a long afternoon nap I will also use it then. Does not work for every baby though I'm told.
-when your milk comes in it can come fast. Mine came too fast and I got some new stretch marks on my boobs! Ya! It also came faster than Charlie could eat so I ended up with a clogged milk duct that lead to mastitis by day 4. Fever,chills, red spots and hard breast all means mastitis - get checked out immediately!! It's painful. A pump helps to relieve the pressure so havin one on hand is handy!!
-breast feeding hurts! They say it shouldn't if your little one latches properly but think about sticking a vacuum to your nipple and tell me it won't hurt. It will get better. My nipples bled for the first week and a half but healed fine. It gets better! Don't give up. Take Tylenol or ibuprofen, use cabbage leaves, use lanolin cream and relax with it. It will get better and you will have good days followed by bad but it's worth it!
-have a shower and get dressed up and take good pics with your little one the first few days. I have no good pics of us and us as a family from the first few weeks. I lived in pjs and crazy curly hair.
-it's amazing how your life changes once they arrive but it's true you can't imagine life without your new baby.
I wish you all the best in these last days/weeks/months (whatever your case may be) and know of my ongoing prayers for you and your little one. If you ever have questions please ask. I've made it my policy to be an open book since soooo much of pregnancy, and labour and delivery you don't necessarily know about until your in it.
The following is unsolicited advice you can take or leave but I thought I would share with the pregnant ladies I know. I know that I enjoyed reading tips from people who had just been through labour and delivery since I knew their look was realistic. But I also know as a pregnant lady and then as a mother you receive so much advice/opinions from EVERYONE! So if it helps it does if not I was up feeding Charlie anyways so it was nice to be entertained (typed on my iPhone in the middle of the night so excuse typos).
Katie's Tips for Labour and Delivery and Newborn Loving
Dont forget the following in your hospital hospital bag
-pads - I recommend stay free brand as someone who never wears pads. I also found the hospital ones were too big for the bleeding I had. A regular bad was sufficient but I had overnights as well.
-Extra thick super soft toilet paper - you deserve it after delivery and it's better than hospital 1 ply hard toilet paper!
-bobby pins - I thought I packed some but apparently didn't and had none in my purse. My little front hairs bothered me so much during labour and my headband didn't stay in place.
-iPod - so good during labour - my playlist I listened to was all slower calming music and mostly Christian. It was a good distraction.
-Chapstick - so necessary for some reason.
- Clothes for baby - bring multiple sizes. We brought some newborn and some 0-3 months. Newborn did not fit. Same with hats - we brought all small ones - bring a couple sizes. You never know how big (and long) your baby will be.
-food!! You never know when you'll deliver And having some bars or snack food on hand would be nice - I wish I had some at 3am.
-when you think it's time to head to the hospital eat something if possible (or before it gets too close)!! My last meal was at 2am Saturday morning and was a piece of toast with peanut butter. Then I didn't eat till the yummy hospital breakfast at like 10am Sunday am. Here they offered me popsicles, jello and vegetable broth. The vegetable broth was offered till almost 18 hours in or so, so ask for it if you want it.
-don't be afraid to use the mirror while pushing. I never thought I would but being able to see progress was good and helped me to know i was doing the right thing.
- during delivery once the head was close to being out the nurse said to me "lay back and do what the doctor tells you" as she reclined the bed. This scared me to no end and I thought bad things were happening but really Charlie was just coming out and my pushing was done. So chances are if they say this all is ok.
-ask for help at the hospital - we didn't and should have at least seen the lactation consultant. They won't necessarily offer the help so ask. In many ways your on your own right away.
Newborn Loving
-a swaddle me is an amazing thing. Unless you have amazing swaddle skills like the nurses then you're fine. We have two swaddle me blankets that are amazing! We use them every night and he sleeps better in them then when he's not in one. If I want him to have a long afternoon nap I will also use it then. Does not work for every baby though I'm told.
-when your milk comes in it can come fast. Mine came too fast and I got some new stretch marks on my boobs! Ya! It also came faster than Charlie could eat so I ended up with a clogged milk duct that lead to mastitis by day 4. Fever,chills, red spots and hard breast all means mastitis - get checked out immediately!! It's painful. A pump helps to relieve the pressure so havin one on hand is handy!!
-breast feeding hurts! They say it shouldn't if your little one latches properly but think about sticking a vacuum to your nipple and tell me it won't hurt. It will get better. My nipples bled for the first week and a half but healed fine. It gets better! Don't give up. Take Tylenol or ibuprofen, use cabbage leaves, use lanolin cream and relax with it. It will get better and you will have good days followed by bad but it's worth it!
-have a shower and get dressed up and take good pics with your little one the first few days. I have no good pics of us and us as a family from the first few weeks. I lived in pjs and crazy curly hair.
-it's amazing how your life changes once they arrive but it's true you can't imagine life without your new baby.
I wish you all the best in these last days/weeks/months (whatever your case may be) and know of my ongoing prayers for you and your little one. If you ever have questions please ask. I've made it my policy to be an open book since soooo much of pregnancy, and labour and delivery you don't necessarily know about until your in it.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Mother's Day
Today is my first Mother's Day. It wasn't a typical Mother's Day but it will do. Last night we had a Jack and Jill for my sister A back home. So Tom and I drove down with the little man to be there. We didn't get home and to sleep until 2:30. Thankfully little man slept from 8-12:30 at the hall woke up to eat and feel asleep. I nursed him when we got home and he was out again till 7. He likely would have slept longer but I needed him to feed.
Motherhood has been a great and fun adventure so far. Today C is 8 weeks old. We've got most things figured out I think. He's sleeping for an average of 6 hours straight when he first goes down then will eat for 15 minutes and be asleep again for another 2-3 hours. We have had a 7 hour sleep once LO! We've developed a bit of a routine but it's evolving.
It will likely evolve more starting tomorrow because Tom starts his parental leave then. He was off for two weeks when C was first born and then went back. I am very excited for him to be off for the summer so we can spend time as a family learning more about one another. There is a lot we want to do and accomplish but we're going to take it one day at a time. I know I'll need to remind myself to enjoy the days as we experience them and to take time to thank God for all that we have been given.
I remember in high school writing a letter to my mom thanking her for being a great mom and telling her that I pray that Mary always guides her in continuing to be a great mom. Since becoming a mom I pray that I continue to strive to be a mom like our mother Mary by following the example of my mom. She is everything I want to be in a mom.
God bless all moms, grandmas, aunts, Godmothers and mother figures in our lives. May they be blessed by God and renewed by His Spirit as they care for God's children.
Motherhood has been a great and fun adventure so far. Today C is 8 weeks old. We've got most things figured out I think. He's sleeping for an average of 6 hours straight when he first goes down then will eat for 15 minutes and be asleep again for another 2-3 hours. We have had a 7 hour sleep once LO! We've developed a bit of a routine but it's evolving.
It will likely evolve more starting tomorrow because Tom starts his parental leave then. He was off for two weeks when C was first born and then went back. I am very excited for him to be off for the summer so we can spend time as a family learning more about one another. There is a lot we want to do and accomplish but we're going to take it one day at a time. I know I'll need to remind myself to enjoy the days as we experience them and to take time to thank God for all that we have been given.
I remember in high school writing a letter to my mom thanking her for being a great mom and telling her that I pray that Mary always guides her in continuing to be a great mom. Since becoming a mom I pray that I continue to strive to be a mom like our mother Mary by following the example of my mom. She is everything I want to be in a mom.
God bless all moms, grandmas, aunts, Godmothers and mother figures in our lives. May they be blessed by God and renewed by His Spirit as they care for God's children.
Monday, April 2, 2012
I'm a Mom!!
So it's been awhile since my last post but I'm back! In the time I've been gone I finished working, nested around the house, we finished the basement and I became a mom to the most handsome little boy ever! Our boy was born on March 18 at 1:55am. He shares a birthday with his grandpa and future uncle. He took awhile to get here keeping mommy and daddy waiting when labour began to start 4 days before he was finally born.
He has been great! He sleeps usually between 4-5 hours at night which is a blessing. He's had a few moments but we've gotten through them. My mom was down for the first two weeks he was with us which was a blessing. Now Tom and I are on our own but surviving!!
Life is good and God has truly blessed us in the first year of our marriage. It hasn't all been easy but we're growing and learning as time goes on!
He has been great! He sleeps usually between 4-5 hours at night which is a blessing. He's had a few moments but we've gotten through them. My mom was down for the first two weeks he was with us which was a blessing. Now Tom and I are on our own but surviving!!
Life is good and God has truly blessed us in the first year of our marriage. It hasn't all been easy but we're growing and learning as time goes on!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Basement Update #2
Things are moving along in our basement. As I said before our goal was February 1st....which we changed to February 18th when my family comes down. Well now we are changing it again to hopefully being ready to paint by the time my family comes down. With Tom's work schedule it is hard for him to get the work done and to get people to help out so it's been a bit of a challenge but a good one. I know that this work makes him feel like he is doing something for our family. I think he misses out on parts of the pregnancy because he obviously can't experience everything I get to.
We have bought paint for the basement after sadly finding that there was none of the old colour left anywhere. It's nice in some ways because we will get to pick our own colour and can continue to slowly get rid of the colour they painted the WHOLE house. It's also stressful because we really have no idea what furniture will eventually end up down there. For now it will be a desk, bookcase and an old futon but eventually it will become the tv room so it will house more furniture. We don't want to go too boring but don't want to corner ourselves in with a CRAZY colour. So for now our paint is untinted waiting for us to decide...by next weekend. We've managed to hit a good number of sales with these renovations. Last weekend Rona had a promotion where you got 15% back in gift cards if you spent over 35$. I bought our underpadding (with our Rona gift cards we got with our Air Miles) and got 37$ back which then helped us to buy our paint and drywall mud and supplies. The paint was buy 2 get one free and we will for sure need 2 maybe 3 for our basement so it was perfect!
Here are some updated pictures from this past week. The drywall is all up on the ceiling and the first round of mudding is complete. The pillars still need to be drywalled and then mudded.
And for those who want a bump picture here she be at 35 weeks and 3 days.
We have bought paint for the basement after sadly finding that there was none of the old colour left anywhere. It's nice in some ways because we will get to pick our own colour and can continue to slowly get rid of the colour they painted the WHOLE house. It's also stressful because we really have no idea what furniture will eventually end up down there. For now it will be a desk, bookcase and an old futon but eventually it will become the tv room so it will house more furniture. We don't want to go too boring but don't want to corner ourselves in with a CRAZY colour. So for now our paint is untinted waiting for us to decide...by next weekend. We've managed to hit a good number of sales with these renovations. Last weekend Rona had a promotion where you got 15% back in gift cards if you spent over 35$. I bought our underpadding (with our Rona gift cards we got with our Air Miles) and got 37$ back which then helped us to buy our paint and drywall mud and supplies. The paint was buy 2 get one free and we will for sure need 2 maybe 3 for our basement so it was perfect!
Here are some updated pictures from this past week. The drywall is all up on the ceiling and the first round of mudding is complete. The pillars still need to be drywalled and then mudded.
 |
| Tom screwing some screws in tighter as he muds. |
 |
| View from the office part of the basement. Don't worry we have new lights. |
Monday, February 6, 2012
2012 is a busy year!
So I can't entirely remember if I've posted about how great 2012 is going to be for my family.
First is our little one that we are expecting in March! Only 5 weeks away! We still have a lot to do to prepare for the arrival of our baby but I know we will get it done (stay tuned for a renovations update).
Second is the arrival of not one but TWO nieces/nephews this August. Tom's brother P and his wife J are due August 1st with their first and my sister N and her husband P are due August 8th with their third!
Third, my oldest sister A got engaged this past weekend to her now fiancé P. At first they were thinking November for the wedding but now it's looking more like June! Holy mackerel! I love it!
So it's going to be a busy half a year coming up for our family! We are all so blessed!
First is our little one that we are expecting in March! Only 5 weeks away! We still have a lot to do to prepare for the arrival of our baby but I know we will get it done (stay tuned for a renovations update).
Second is the arrival of not one but TWO nieces/nephews this August. Tom's brother P and his wife J are due August 1st with their first and my sister N and her husband P are due August 8th with their third!
Third, my oldest sister A got engaged this past weekend to her now fiancé P. At first they were thinking November for the wedding but now it's looking more like June! Holy mackerel! I love it!
So it's going to be a busy half a year coming up for our family! We are all so blessed!
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