This past Monday morning, I decided that it was time that the girls and I got back on track around the house. Not that we were ever on track.
I made a schedule. A daily schedule. And guess what? Haven't stuck to it once since writing it out. Tuesday morning, when I didn't actually make it out of bed until around 11 am, and probably didn't wash my face, and I know for sure I didn't brush my teeth til I went to bed, I kinda felt bad. But by the time Wednesday morning rolled around and I slept as late as the girls would let me, I didn't care anymore.
I still need to get things done. My carpets are disgusting. There's dust on everything (I never really liked to dust anyway). I've stayed on top of laundry & dishes, but I never let those chores go- if I do, they 'go' really quickly. But babies are only babies one time. I want to watch as much of that as I can, even if it means letting my house go, and eating breakfast after noon and then lunch is a half eaten, discarded granola bar off of the couch or from under the coffee table. Or stale raisins from the diaper bag while you're driving down the road.
So how is it that I'm able to blog this AM? I was up at 6:48 to change a never-ending poopy diaper. As soon as I laid back down, the hubby's alarm went off. He hit the snooze button, but it went off again, and then Kaylor's wind-up alarm went off and it was impossible to go back to sleep then.
Plus I had to get Kaylor up and ready for our homeschool co-op today. My friend picked her up last time, and is picking her up again today for me, but I'm going to go and be there when they get out and run my errands in town today from there.
Considering it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to get myself and the girls out of the house just to go see my grandparents yesterday, I need to start getting ready now.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Mercedes Birth by Rachel
Another 'guest' post, by my friend Rachel, on her second baby's birth.
With my second baby, I woke up at 12:15am on Monday with a crampy feeling and a desperate need to pee. A trip to the bathroom ended both, so I went back to sleep. Woke up at 12:45 with another cramp and suspected it might be a contraction, but waited for a third and fourth one to come within the next 20 minutes before waking my husband. We both got up, and I called the midwives to let them know I might be coming in. They were about 5-10 min apart, only 30-40 seconds long, from then until about 3am. We finished packing our bags, packed food to take to the birth center, and I painted the Big Brother t-shirt for our son. At 3, my husband gave me a backrub and the contractions eased off, so we went back to bed. I woke up with a contraction every half hour or so for the rest of the night.
At 7am the contractions were back to what they'd been earlier, so we went to the midwives' at 11 to get checked out. They did a non-stress test on the baby and checked my cervix -- at first she said I was still at 2, then she paused and said, "No, I can stretch you -- your cervix is so stretchy and pliable!" Turned out I was at 5, but the head was only at -1. Since I wasn't having strong or long contractions yet, we went home and had lunch while they got a birthing room ready for me.
Things picked up after that, and at 1 we called a friend from church who was standing by and told her it looked like the day had arrived. We went to the birth center at 3, where I walked around out by my husband, our son, and our friend for about 45 minutes, having increasing contractions. Got in the birthing tub for half an hour, where my husband helped get rid of charley horses in my feet. But the tub started to feel too soothing and counter-productive, so I got out. I was between 6 and 7 then, and having some pretty intense back pressure, so my husband gave me counter pressure on my hips with each contraction. I stood up leaning on the bed for a few, then got on a birthing ball where I did my transition.
They got me up on the bed on my back to check me again, and I was at 9+. I had 4 or 5 contractions there before I could manage to turn over and get on my hands & knees -- I hated being on my back and was kinda mad at the time that I had to do it that way. Once I was on all fours on the bed, I got the urge to push, and they said it was okay. The baby crowned soon after. They made me stop pushing for a bit so I could stretch. I had to do some half-pushing, and my water broke. Then with a couple long pushes, she was out -- pushing this time took 11 minutes instead of the hour I did with my first baby.
They passed her between my legs so I could turn over and lie down with her while my husband cut the cord and they cleaned us up -- she pooped all over me while she was lying on my tummy, such a polite girl ;-) I only needed one stitch for a superficial tear -- they said if I didn't have our son to run around after at home they wouldn't have given me even that one, but they wanted to be safe.
We went home at 11 that same night. I don't know her APGARs, just that they were "good," but she was 8 lb 10 oz and 20" -- the same length as her big brother, but 13 oz heavier!
With my second baby, I woke up at 12:15am on Monday with a crampy feeling and a desperate need to pee. A trip to the bathroom ended both, so I went back to sleep. Woke up at 12:45 with another cramp and suspected it might be a contraction, but waited for a third and fourth one to come within the next 20 minutes before waking my husband. We both got up, and I called the midwives to let them know I might be coming in. They were about 5-10 min apart, only 30-40 seconds long, from then until about 3am. We finished packing our bags, packed food to take to the birth center, and I painted the Big Brother t-shirt for our son. At 3, my husband gave me a backrub and the contractions eased off, so we went back to bed. I woke up with a contraction every half hour or so for the rest of the night.
At 7am the contractions were back to what they'd been earlier, so we went to the midwives' at 11 to get checked out. They did a non-stress test on the baby and checked my cervix -- at first she said I was still at 2, then she paused and said, "No, I can stretch you -- your cervix is so stretchy and pliable!" Turned out I was at 5, but the head was only at -1. Since I wasn't having strong or long contractions yet, we went home and had lunch while they got a birthing room ready for me.
Things picked up after that, and at 1 we called a friend from church who was standing by and told her it looked like the day had arrived. We went to the birth center at 3, where I walked around out by my husband, our son, and our friend for about 45 minutes, having increasing contractions. Got in the birthing tub for half an hour, where my husband helped get rid of charley horses in my feet. But the tub started to feel too soothing and counter-productive, so I got out. I was between 6 and 7 then, and having some pretty intense back pressure, so my husband gave me counter pressure on my hips with each contraction. I stood up leaning on the bed for a few, then got on a birthing ball where I did my transition.
They got me up on the bed on my back to check me again, and I was at 9+. I had 4 or 5 contractions there before I could manage to turn over and get on my hands & knees -- I hated being on my back and was kinda mad at the time that I had to do it that way. Once I was on all fours on the bed, I got the urge to push, and they said it was okay. The baby crowned soon after. They made me stop pushing for a bit so I could stretch. I had to do some half-pushing, and my water broke. Then with a couple long pushes, she was out -- pushing this time took 11 minutes instead of the hour I did with my first baby.
They passed her between my legs so I could turn over and lie down with her while my husband cut the cord and they cleaned us up -- she pooped all over me while she was lying on my tummy, such a polite girl ;-) I only needed one stitch for a superficial tear -- they said if I didn't have our son to run around after at home they wouldn't have given me even that one, but they wanted to be safe.
We went home at 11 that same night. I don't know her APGARs, just that they were "good," but she was 8 lb 10 oz and 20" -- the same length as her big brother, but 13 oz heavier!
By Rachel- Daniel's Birth
This is from one of my best friends, Rachel. You can check out her blog, here.
I started drinking raspberry leaf tea to ripen my cervix a couple weeks before I was due. Seems to work, because at my midwife appointment the week before I was due, I was dilated a centimeter and starting to efface. So waited around a week, and nothing. Went in for another checkup, I was 3 cm dilated and like 50% effaced. My midwife stripped my membranes and sent me home. Waited around until my next appointment a week later, when I was between 3-4cm dilated and 90% effaced, and the baby was at stage 1. My midwife stripped my membranes again and said that since I was almost a week overdue, I might want to consider trying something like castor oil to get things going, because if I went 2 weeks overdue they would induce me with something like Pitocin. I bought some castor oil on my way home, but waited a couple days before taking any.
My husband and I had been working 3rd shift for four years at the time. I'd quit my job 2 weeks before my due date to have time to just be myself a little bit before the baby arrived, and to take care of some cleaning-out-the-piles-of-junk projects I hadn't finished yet. But I was still living the 3rd-shift lifestyle with my husband, which means we woke up around 5pm and ate breakfast, then had lunch around midnight, supper around 7am, and we went to bed around 9am. Just wanted to explain all that so you'd understand why the times might seem a bit wonky in the next part.
After my husband went to work one evening, I finally took the castor oil mixed with a chocolate malt. I didn't spend nearly as much time in the bathroom as I'd expected, and I started to get Braxton-Hicks contractions sometime after lunch at midnight. They weren't very strong, but I called the hospital anyway, and they said to wait until they were strong and had been 5 mins apart for an hour, yadda yadda yadda. I went ahead and called my husband at work, and walked out to meet him on his way home. We had supper, the contractions subsided, and we decided just to go to bed like usual and see what happened.
By the time we woke up that evening, the contractions were gone, which frustrated me a lot. So I did another chocolate-and-castor-oil malt, and spent very little time at all in the bathroom as I seemed to have cleaned myself out the night before. My husband stayed home from work anyway, just in case. Around 4am, we decided we might as well put our time to the best possible use, and when we were done I got what I thought was a really strong cramp in my lower abdomen. It didn't really hurt, just felt kinda odd. It passed, I got up and took a shower, and had another cramp in the shower. And then another when I was getting dressed. I realized that this was probably Real Labor, so we called the hospital, got the same answer as before, and started timing the contractions. After about an hour, they started to get stronger and pretty regular, about 5-6 minutes apart. I was doing some hand sewing, working on a spare sheet for this little baby travel bed we got,
and for that first hour I'd been able to just keep sewing through the contractions. But they got to where I couldn't, I'd just stop sewing and breathe deeply until they passed. I was very calm, in this zone I get into during any kind of crisis or emergency, where everything is very clear and I get very focused and sensible.
At 6:30am, after an hour of regular, strong, 5-minutes-apart contractions, we called the birth center at the hospital again, and they said, "Oh, you can come in and get checked if you want to, but this is your first baby, so we're probably going to send you home again for a few hours." Got there about 10 minutes later, checked in, and they took me not to a birthing room, but to a regular OB room so they could do the initial fetal monitoring, see how dilated I was, and then send me home without having to get a whole room ready for me. The nurse was pretty nonchalant, and I had I think two contractions there while waiting for my midwife to come in and check me -- I think she had just arrived on duty herself or something. Anyway, the nurses kept reassuring me that I'd be going home again for a few hours.
My midwife came in, checked me, and said, "You're dilated to 9 -- you are having this baby right now -- we need to get you in a room." I was like, "Yeah, I know, I kept trying to tell people that." They took us to a private birthing room, and I kept having contractions while they got the bed made, etc. I tried laboring on a birthing ball, and I did some labor with my arms around either my midwife's or my husband's neck. My husband says I "nearly popped his head off." That wasn't very comfy either. Tried squatting, but didn't like that.
Then about the time I started feeling like I wanted to push, about 8am, my midwife suggested I go on all fours on the bed. Perfect! I started pushing, and I loved that between contractions I could lie on the bed to rest, then rise back onto my hands and knees to push again. My water broke at that point, but my son's head was wedged in like a cork and just a little trickle came out. I pushed for about an hour, with my husband behind me applying blessed counter-pressure on my hips and my midwife encouraging me. I had brought along some CDs I'd burned, and we'd put on one that was just the soundtrack to my favorite movie ("The Man from Snowy River") looped twice. They put it on repeat and it played the whole time. I remember at one point, my midwife told me the head was visible and I could touch it, and she guided my hand down to feel the hair, but I was like, "That's nice, whatever, let's get this done with." Very all-business. I also remember my other
midwife (it was a team) came in shortly before I was done to say good morning and tell me I was doing well, and I managed to smile politely at her.
And then, the head crowned, came out with I think two pushes, all the amniotic fluid he'd been holding back with his cork-head whooshed out, and the nurses told me to stop. One of them had a little consultation with the midwife, saying, "If the head's that big, how wide are the shoulders going to be? Are we going to be able to get them out?" I wanted to tell them that my husband's family members have huge heads and the shoulders would not be a problem, but I was too tired and ready to just get that baby out. Then, suddenly, at 9:11am, there he was, and I could finally lie down and hold my baby. I do believe the first thing I said to him, when they put him up on my tummy, was "Hello, Baby." Very original. He cried. And cried. And cried... for 24 minutes while I delivered the placenta and they cut the cord and gave me 2 or 3 stitches.
Then they cleaned up the room and told me one of them would be back in a minute to help me start nursing him. But my son has ever been a hungry little fellow, and he knew exactly what to do with that nipple, no questions asked. By the time the nurse came back, he was latched on perfectly and was a happy little red baby with a fair amount of hair on top and no eyelashes or eyebrows.
And that's pretty much my birth story for my first baby. Four-and-a-half hours of labor, total. Several of the nurses thanked me later for bringing in my own music, because they were really tired of hearing the new-age stuff the birth center has. I'd actually brought 3 CDs, but only used the one. Bring your own music -- your nurses will thank you! :-D
I started drinking raspberry leaf tea to ripen my cervix a couple weeks before I was due. Seems to work, because at my midwife appointment the week before I was due, I was dilated a centimeter and starting to efface. So waited around a week, and nothing. Went in for another checkup, I was 3 cm dilated and like 50% effaced. My midwife stripped my membranes and sent me home. Waited around until my next appointment a week later, when I was between 3-4cm dilated and 90% effaced, and the baby was at stage 1. My midwife stripped my membranes again and said that since I was almost a week overdue, I might want to consider trying something like castor oil to get things going, because if I went 2 weeks overdue they would induce me with something like Pitocin. I bought some castor oil on my way home, but waited a couple days before taking any.
My husband and I had been working 3rd shift for four years at the time. I'd quit my job 2 weeks before my due date to have time to just be myself a little bit before the baby arrived, and to take care of some cleaning-out-the-piles-of-junk projects I hadn't finished yet. But I was still living the 3rd-shift lifestyle with my husband, which means we woke up around 5pm and ate breakfast, then had lunch around midnight, supper around 7am, and we went to bed around 9am. Just wanted to explain all that so you'd understand why the times might seem a bit wonky in the next part.
After my husband went to work one evening, I finally took the castor oil mixed with a chocolate malt. I didn't spend nearly as much time in the bathroom as I'd expected, and I started to get Braxton-Hicks contractions sometime after lunch at midnight. They weren't very strong, but I called the hospital anyway, and they said to wait until they were strong and had been 5 mins apart for an hour, yadda yadda yadda. I went ahead and called my husband at work, and walked out to meet him on his way home. We had supper, the contractions subsided, and we decided just to go to bed like usual and see what happened.
By the time we woke up that evening, the contractions were gone, which frustrated me a lot. So I did another chocolate-and-castor-oil malt, and spent very little time at all in the bathroom as I seemed to have cleaned myself out the night before. My husband stayed home from work anyway, just in case. Around 4am, we decided we might as well put our time to the best possible use, and when we were done I got what I thought was a really strong cramp in my lower abdomen. It didn't really hurt, just felt kinda odd. It passed, I got up and took a shower, and had another cramp in the shower. And then another when I was getting dressed. I realized that this was probably Real Labor, so we called the hospital, got the same answer as before, and started timing the contractions. After about an hour, they started to get stronger and pretty regular, about 5-6 minutes apart. I was doing some hand sewing, working on a spare sheet for this little baby travel bed we got,
and for that first hour I'd been able to just keep sewing through the contractions. But they got to where I couldn't, I'd just stop sewing and breathe deeply until they passed. I was very calm, in this zone I get into during any kind of crisis or emergency, where everything is very clear and I get very focused and sensible.
At 6:30am, after an hour of regular, strong, 5-minutes-apart contractions, we called the birth center at the hospital again, and they said, "Oh, you can come in and get checked if you want to, but this is your first baby, so we're probably going to send you home again for a few hours." Got there about 10 minutes later, checked in, and they took me not to a birthing room, but to a regular OB room so they could do the initial fetal monitoring, see how dilated I was, and then send me home without having to get a whole room ready for me. The nurse was pretty nonchalant, and I had I think two contractions there while waiting for my midwife to come in and check me -- I think she had just arrived on duty herself or something. Anyway, the nurses kept reassuring me that I'd be going home again for a few hours.
My midwife came in, checked me, and said, "You're dilated to 9 -- you are having this baby right now -- we need to get you in a room." I was like, "Yeah, I know, I kept trying to tell people that." They took us to a private birthing room, and I kept having contractions while they got the bed made, etc. I tried laboring on a birthing ball, and I did some labor with my arms around either my midwife's or my husband's neck. My husband says I "nearly popped his head off." That wasn't very comfy either. Tried squatting, but didn't like that.
Then about the time I started feeling like I wanted to push, about 8am, my midwife suggested I go on all fours on the bed. Perfect! I started pushing, and I loved that between contractions I could lie on the bed to rest, then rise back onto my hands and knees to push again. My water broke at that point, but my son's head was wedged in like a cork and just a little trickle came out. I pushed for about an hour, with my husband behind me applying blessed counter-pressure on my hips and my midwife encouraging me. I had brought along some CDs I'd burned, and we'd put on one that was just the soundtrack to my favorite movie ("The Man from Snowy River") looped twice. They put it on repeat and it played the whole time. I remember at one point, my midwife told me the head was visible and I could touch it, and she guided my hand down to feel the hair, but I was like, "That's nice, whatever, let's get this done with." Very all-business. I also remember my other
midwife (it was a team) came in shortly before I was done to say good morning and tell me I was doing well, and I managed to smile politely at her.
And then, the head crowned, came out with I think two pushes, all the amniotic fluid he'd been holding back with his cork-head whooshed out, and the nurses told me to stop. One of them had a little consultation with the midwife, saying, "If the head's that big, how wide are the shoulders going to be? Are we going to be able to get them out?" I wanted to tell them that my husband's family members have huge heads and the shoulders would not be a problem, but I was too tired and ready to just get that baby out. Then, suddenly, at 9:11am, there he was, and I could finally lie down and hold my baby. I do believe the first thing I said to him, when they put him up on my tummy, was "Hello, Baby." Very original. He cried. And cried. And cried... for 24 minutes while I delivered the placenta and they cut the cord and gave me 2 or 3 stitches.
Then they cleaned up the room and told me one of them would be back in a minute to help me start nursing him. But my son has ever been a hungry little fellow, and he knew exactly what to do with that nipple, no questions asked. By the time the nurse came back, he was latched on perfectly and was a happy little red baby with a fair amount of hair on top and no eyelashes or eyebrows.
And that's pretty much my birth story for my first baby. Four-and-a-half hours of labor, total. Several of the nurses thanked me later for bringing in my own music, because they were really tired of hearing the new-age stuff the birth center has. I'd actually brought 3 CDs, but only used the one. Bring your own music -- your nurses will thank you! :-D
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Finn's Birth
So my 1st and 2nd daughters were very similar. K was born at 38 wks, on a Tuesday the 14th at 9 am, and weighed 6 lbs, 14 oz. E was born at 38 wks, on a Tuesday the 16th at 8:30 and weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz. Finn's due date was March 1st. 38 wks was a Tuesday. It was also the 15th. I knew for sure I would have a baby that day.
At my midwife appointment at 36 wks, I told my favorite midwife all about this. She was quite intrigued with all the similarities. Then she remembered she was going to be out of town. Not only out of town, but out of the country that week.
So now my question was, do I try to wait til she gets back (I really wanted her to have delivered both of my babies, plus she is so entertaining, I couldn't imagine having either of the other midwives there...) or do I try to have a baby on the 15th?
The 15th, came and went, with no baby. We started Friday night prior trying to induce, naturally ofcourse. I ate a whole pineapple. I squatted. At my 38 week appointment, on the 16th, the other midwife told me to have 'good husband and wife relations'. I walked. I walked really fast on a treadmill at the YMCA where I work.
Finally on Friday, the 18th of Feb. I was at our homeschool co-op, and my replacement yoga teacher, who was also covering for me at the YMCA was there, and I sat in on her class. I decided during final relaxation that I was just going to let it all go. I wasn't going to obsess about it. At this point, I was freaking out over the possibility of having to have a c-section, since an induction wouldn't be done on me, since I was a VBAC. (I didn't want an induction anyway, but if push came to shove, I would have had an induction over another c-section).
But I decided to let it all go. Although I was crammed in the corner, sitting against a door with the hinges digging into my back, and I was perched precariously on one butt cheek to stay out of the 'space' for the 2 kids that were next to me, one who was just there b/c his teacher hadn't shown up, it was the best final relaxation I've ever had.
During the next 'class period' I texted my good friend Shakira, who's also a Reiki Master. She's Reikied me a few times during this pregnancy. She could get me in the afternoon. So I got home from the co-op, took a warm bath, listened to some yoga music, and then went to Reiki and relaxed some more.
The next day, I had sporadic contractions like I'd been having for the past 3 months. Sunday morning, I woke up at 6 am. Uncomfortable as all get out. Tossed and turned. Got up to use the potty, laid back down, tried to go back to sleep. I might have snoozed some. At 7 am, I'm laying there trying to go back to sleep and I feel this hard pop.
I thought, 'Surely this isn't her head engaging.' (Her head wasn't engaged the last time I checked.) So I got up, and went back to the bathroom, where I was leaking fluid. It was the 20th. The day my midwife actually came home from out of the country. Tomorrow she'd be back at work. So I called the midwife on call, and I knew it was going to be my 2nd favorite one, b/c my least favorite was on vacation starting that Friday 2 days before. She asked how far apart my contractions were, and I said I wasn't having any. She told me not to wait more than 4-6 hours before coming to the hospital. I thought, 'Great... no contractions, I'm gonna go to the hospital too early in labor, and be confined to that stupid fetal monitor and....."
Aaron woke up when I told him my water broke. He wanted to go back to sleep and I told him to since I wasn't having any contractions, but he was too excited to sleep and went to McDonalds.
Some 30 minutes later, my contractions started. At 3 min. apart. But they weren't very intense. So I called my mom, asked if it was normal and she said it was for me, and she'd start getting ready. So I woke Kaylor up. I called Aaron. By the time everyone got here, and got ready, we set off to the hospital.
I'm still convinced at this point, that it's super early for me to be going to the hospital. Convinced so much of this, I tell my husband that I'm getting an epidural b/c the hospital is going to make me crazy and I'm fine now, but it's going to get worse and I'm going to be stuck there on the fetal monitor, and besides, I've had a c-section, I've done it all natural, why not since this is the last one?
I also tell my husband not to drive with flashers on. Not too drive like maniac and too keep his thoughts about the other drivers to himself. The ride to the hospital wasn't bad. My contractions stayed regular, and I busied myself calling and texting people. Curves & turning were kinda bad if it was at during a contraction.
My mom caught up with us on a 4 lane road, and I thought that my contractions had slowed down. We got to the hospital, and I waited thru a contraction to get out of the car. We started in, and as soon as I got under the cover at the front door, I had another, this time in my low back. I leaned against a pillar. She was faced the wrong way. Is her head engaged yet? I just kept thinking, she's facing the wrong way, my labor is going to be longer. In the meantime, my mom tells me to keep walking. WHAT?
So we get in, I'm still calm. I have a few more contractions. I get into my room, and sit on the toilet, as I was doing that at home too before we left, and thought in that respect, I'd never make it to the hospital.
Contractions picked up, and the back labor intensified. The nurse finally convinces me that if I get on my hands and knees, it'll help my back. So I get on the bed, on my hands and knees. I'm suddenly exhausted. We put the head of the bed up, and I lean against it. I think this made it worse, so the nurse told me to rock side to side. That helped.
Finally the midwife shows up. With her hair down. And a white sweater. She's also chewing gum, which was amusing to me.
She checks me, and says something like 'we're gonna have a baby'. But she continues to sit and chew her gum. I was so exhausted, that I wasn't moving, and my contractions were practically nothing. I was sitting up at this point and they'd already dropped the end of the bed. But the head of the bed wasn't giving me any low back support so I had to move to get more comfy, and as soon as I did, a hard contraction would hit me.
The back labor was like I was being stabbed on both sides of my lower back, and I had sharp shooting pains down the outside of my thighs and it stopped at my knees. I told them this, and they said she's just on a nerve. But it was horrible. And I just wanted to sleep.
I pushed a few times, I was feeling the urge, but again, she's still sitting there chewing her gum. Now I did have in my birth plan that I wanted people to be quiet and let me do my own thing, but it was the same birth plan from the last time and nobody was quiet then! They brought me a bar to lean on, but I hardly had the energy to lean forward on it, and I knew that I would have a contraction as soon as I did. I begged them for an epidural so I could sleep.
Aaron wanted to catch her, and the midwife said let her get the shoulders out and he could. He'd worn a long sleeve shirt, and though he washed his hands, he hadn't rolled his sleeves up, so my mom did that. Kaylor was there and fed me ice chips. My mouth was so dry.
My mom told me I wasn't pushing hard enough. So I pushed and there was a head. I had to wait for the next contraction to push again for the rest of her to come out.
So at 11:16 Finn was born. I had to work to get the placenta out, and had to have 4 stitches. She was 7 lbs and 22" long. The longest baby in either of our families. I had said all along she was going to be a big baby.
After the birth, and everyone left, I got up and took a shower and felt almost..normal.
We went home the next day, but call had switched so my favorite midwife came in. I told her about how she really was a bigger baby, and she still laughed and told me that 7 lbs was not big. She sat and talked to us a while, told us about her trip. It was a good hospital experience. We ended up not really getting out any quicker than we did with E. It was 26 hrs before E had a name, and we couldn't leave til we did the birth certificate. That was done this time. We were just waiting on a chatty midwife to show up and let us go.
Shaunda's Story- Brennan's Birth
I'm posting this, from my friend Shaunda's Blog.
After going to the doc's on Monday, Feb. 7th, Bobby and I decided we would choose to be induced. At the appt, I was 4-5 centimeters dilated and the doc said I may not make it to the induction date (set for Wed. Feb. 9th at 6:30 am). We called the grandparents and got prepared for our big day!! My mom was coming on Tues night to stay the night and get Tanner up and to school the next day. Bobby's parents were coming down on Wed morning. BUT........Mr. Brennan had a mind of his own! On Tues night around 5 ish I felt a really strong contraction (while I was on FB-go figure). Then another one came about 20 mins later. I was like, OK, this could really be it!!! Then another 8 mins later. I kept having random ones here and there until 5:45 when they started coming 6 mins. apart! I was caught by surprise, I thought they would come at 10 mins apart for a while, then slowly get closer together, but nope, 4-6 mins apart for an hour! So I called the midwife and she asked if I was wanting an epidural. I was like "Oh yeah!!!" She said to come up to the hospital and she would meet us there. Luckily, my mom got to our house at the same time as I was on the phone with the midwife and Bobby and I hauled off to the hospital. Even though he was driving super fast, I was so scared I would not get there in time for the epidural. (The hospital is about 25 mins away). Luckily, I made it in enough time for them to give me the epidural-YAY!!!!! It only took on one side the first time, but they took it out and fixed it. The nurse checked me after I had the epidural (around 9 at night) and said I was 9 centimeters, but that he was still sitting really high. So we decided to just have me chill out, try to take a nap, and let them know when I feel the urge to push. Well, my mom and Bobby both fell asleep, but I just couldn't nap. So at 1 am on Feb. 9th, the nurse said, I guess, I'll just check you. So she did and she said, "I see hair, get ready to push!" Boy, was I surprised. I woke up Bobby and my mom, started pushing at 1:05 and had him at 1:10!! It all happened so fast we didn't even have the cameras ready to take a pic of Bobby cutting the cord! :) There were extra nurses on hand in case I hemorrhaged again, but I did not (thank God) and they layed Brennan on me and I was smitten! He had dark curly hair and was just so cute! He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces, and was 21.5 inches long. That night I held him all night as he slept on my chest. I couldn't really sleep, I was just so happy that he and I were both healthy! I breastfed him immediately and many times throughout the night! He even pooped 3 times the next day-Whoa!!! Kas, Bobby's parents, my mom, Tanner, and the Montini's came to visit us on Wed. We requested to go home on Thurs. and were released around noon! Then we began our life as a family of four! The next blog will be about our first few weeks as a family, but for now, this is all I have time for!! :)
Brennan's Birthday!!!
E's Birth
After we found out we were pregnant, I decided I was going to VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and the hospital where Kaylor had been born, had a strict no VBAC policy unless your Dr. was in the hospital the whole time you were laboring. So on my first Dr.'s appointment, I told my Dr. that I wanted to VBAC, and he said 'That's certainly something we can talk about as your pregnancy progresses." Again, that smile. But that wasn't good enough for me.
So on the way home, I called my mom, who no longer worked for that hospital, and she made a couple of calls and that's how we found out about the VBAC policy. So I got an appointment at a large practice, in a different (closer city) to talk with one of their midwives. My mom went with me, and for my mom, it was love at first site with this midwife, who went on to be the midwife in attendance at E's birth. She was just too chatty for me, but as my pregnancy progressed, and I got to know her more, she really grew on me.
This time I was determined to VBAC, determined to do it naturally. I didn't take any *childbirth* classes this time. I read. I read "Gentle Birth Choices" by Barbara Harper. I read "Ina May's Guide to Giving Birth" by Ina May Gaskin. I talked to Lisa Goldstein. I talked to Pamela Hunt at the Farm.
This time my labor started while I was cleaning. I recognized it, and it was like labor should be, a progression. Progressed all day and into the night. I finally went to bed about 2 am. About 3:30 I woke up and couldn't lay there any more.
I walked. I leaned on the counter in the kitchen. I tried my exercise ball, but that didn't do much for me. I sat on the toilet. I used the toilet (which alleviated some of the fear that I would you know what during the actual birth). For the last few hours I went back and forth between the toilet and the tub.
I paged the midwife on call. It wasn't my favorite. But it was my 2nd favorite. So Aaron slept. And I was just chillin' in the bathtub. When he finally got up, he called my mom. He called his parents, who were going to watch Kaylor for the big event. My mom eventually showed up, (after being up ALL NIGHT and just having gone to bed, as it turned out, is what she did the night before Kaylor was born too) to drop Kaylor off at the in-laws. I remember them standing in the bathroom doorway, talking about getting me to get out of the bathtub. I was fine in the bathtub. I didn't want to move.
But eventually I moved, and got ready and got in the car. Once in the car, I lost my focus. Aaron was driving like a maniac (like normal...) and had the flashers on, and was yelling at the other cars (like normal) and it wasn't helping me regain any focus.
We went in thru the ER sometime after 7 am, and I'd lost it at that point and told the ER desk lady to go ahead and have the anesthesiologist meet us up there. They offered me a wheelchair, but I knew I had to keep moving to keep things going. So I walked. I wanted to take the stairs, but Aaron wouldn't let me. We got in our room, and I was begging for an epidural, waiting on.. guess who, my fave midwife to show up, as the other's call was up and it was her turn. So they start doing bloodwork and IVS and all, and it was a good distraction for me, b/c I wouldn't have been able to concentrate and mellow out like I had been able to do in my own bathtub.
So the midwife shows up, with huge dangley earrings, and pink streak thru her hair, and this bright sweater. I keep looking at her earrings thinking, 'How can she deliver babies with those things smacking her in the face?'
She tells me, 'You really don't want an epidural. It'll take them 20 minutes just to get it placed. You can have this baby in 2 minutes.' I was coherent, but she did say 2 minutes, so 2 minutes meant 2 minutes.
So then we discover that the video camera are dead. And the batteries in my camera are almost dead. Great. So my mom sits over in the corner manning the dying camera. I pushed. After 2 minutes, and no baby, I pushed harder. In total it was thru about 4 contractions maybe. But out came a head, and then the rest of Eowyn at 8:30 in the morning.
I don't know if I did you know what, but I didn't care. I did tear, which was another although not quite as big of a fear. She stitched me up and when I asked how many stitches, she said 'Oh it's just a number..'
I was sore, and I didn't want to move, but I looked good in the pictures, (or so I think) and I was proud of myself. E latched on and nursed until she was 22 months old, and would have nursed longer, but I was pregnant with Finn...
So on the way home, I called my mom, who no longer worked for that hospital, and she made a couple of calls and that's how we found out about the VBAC policy. So I got an appointment at a large practice, in a different (closer city) to talk with one of their midwives. My mom went with me, and for my mom, it was love at first site with this midwife, who went on to be the midwife in attendance at E's birth. She was just too chatty for me, but as my pregnancy progressed, and I got to know her more, she really grew on me.
This time I was determined to VBAC, determined to do it naturally. I didn't take any *childbirth* classes this time. I read. I read "Gentle Birth Choices" by Barbara Harper. I read "Ina May's Guide to Giving Birth" by Ina May Gaskin. I talked to Lisa Goldstein. I talked to Pamela Hunt at the Farm.
This time my labor started while I was cleaning. I recognized it, and it was like labor should be, a progression. Progressed all day and into the night. I finally went to bed about 2 am. About 3:30 I woke up and couldn't lay there any more.
I walked. I leaned on the counter in the kitchen. I tried my exercise ball, but that didn't do much for me. I sat on the toilet. I used the toilet (which alleviated some of the fear that I would you know what during the actual birth). For the last few hours I went back and forth between the toilet and the tub.
I paged the midwife on call. It wasn't my favorite. But it was my 2nd favorite. So Aaron slept. And I was just chillin' in the bathtub. When he finally got up, he called my mom. He called his parents, who were going to watch Kaylor for the big event. My mom eventually showed up, (after being up ALL NIGHT and just having gone to bed, as it turned out, is what she did the night before Kaylor was born too) to drop Kaylor off at the in-laws. I remember them standing in the bathroom doorway, talking about getting me to get out of the bathtub. I was fine in the bathtub. I didn't want to move.
But eventually I moved, and got ready and got in the car. Once in the car, I lost my focus. Aaron was driving like a maniac (like normal...) and had the flashers on, and was yelling at the other cars (like normal) and it wasn't helping me regain any focus.
We went in thru the ER sometime after 7 am, and I'd lost it at that point and told the ER desk lady to go ahead and have the anesthesiologist meet us up there. They offered me a wheelchair, but I knew I had to keep moving to keep things going. So I walked. I wanted to take the stairs, but Aaron wouldn't let me. We got in our room, and I was begging for an epidural, waiting on.. guess who, my fave midwife to show up, as the other's call was up and it was her turn. So they start doing bloodwork and IVS and all, and it was a good distraction for me, b/c I wouldn't have been able to concentrate and mellow out like I had been able to do in my own bathtub.
So the midwife shows up, with huge dangley earrings, and pink streak thru her hair, and this bright sweater. I keep looking at her earrings thinking, 'How can she deliver babies with those things smacking her in the face?'
She tells me, 'You really don't want an epidural. It'll take them 20 minutes just to get it placed. You can have this baby in 2 minutes.' I was coherent, but she did say 2 minutes, so 2 minutes meant 2 minutes.
So then we discover that the video camera are dead. And the batteries in my camera are almost dead. Great. So my mom sits over in the corner manning the dying camera. I pushed. After 2 minutes, and no baby, I pushed harder. In total it was thru about 4 contractions maybe. But out came a head, and then the rest of Eowyn at 8:30 in the morning.
I don't know if I did you know what, but I didn't care. I did tear, which was another although not quite as big of a fear. She stitched me up and when I asked how many stitches, she said 'Oh it's just a number..'
I was sore, and I didn't want to move, but I looked good in the pictures, (or so I think) and I was proud of myself. E latched on and nursed until she was 22 months old, and would have nursed longer, but I was pregnant with Finn...
Kaylor's Birth
I started having regular contractions on Monday Jan. 13. I had a check-up scheduled already, so I went and the Dr. confirmed, 'Yeah, you're in early labor. It might be tonight. Tomorrow, it might be next week." One thing I liked about the Dr. was he always smiled.
So Aaron & I went off about our day. I walked up & down our driveway. We went to Target and walked around. My contractions dwindled. So I went to bed.
I woke up about 5ish, and couldn't get comfortable. I was more uncomfortable than ever, but it didn't dawn on me that I was in real labor. I tossed & turned for awhile trying to go back to sleep. I finally decided to get up to use the bathroom, and when my feet hit the floor, my water broke.
When it did, it was like someone had poked a water balloon with a needle. I felt it break, then I felt warmth oozing around, like I was having a nice warm bath in my uterus. Though brief it was a relaxing, calming feeling. Then it gushed out. I was in the bathroom at that point, and called to Aaron that my water had just broke. He was up and out of bed and on the phone with my mom, who lives next door, and was also a labor & delivery nurse at the hospital we were going to since I was 5.
I did *childbirth* classes at the hospital. It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know from all the books & magazines & videos I'd read & watched with my mom growing up. But I was young, and naive and though I didn't think I knew everything, my older sister had had 2 kids at this point, completely natural, so I thought, 'If she can do it, I know I can do it."
I got in the shower, where my contractions came on full force out of nowhere. I don't know if had to do with how Kaylor was positioned, or fear of the unknown of childbirth (even though women have been doing it for thousands of years...) but that was my worst labor. It was also the worst drive to the hospital.
Once I got to an L&D room, I was begging for pain meds. The Dr. hadn't arrived yet, (luckily my Dr. was on call, but my mom had already said that if I asked him, he'd probably come in even if he wasn't on call.) I had a dose of Stadol. I honestly don't remember it doing much for the pain, or anything at all, but my mom & Aaron say that I slept. I knew I was supposed to move around, but I didn't want to get out of the bed.
At some point, my nurse checked me and said something didn't feel right. So the charge nurse came in and checked me. Then my mom checked me. The charge nurse and my mom said she was breech, but they had to wait on the Dr. who was there pretty quick when they called him and said as much. He confirmed, and within 15 min. I was getting wheeled to the OR. On the way past the nurses station, I felt the urge to push, and my mom told me to.
So around 9 am, Kaylor was born via c-section. Kaylor's heartrate had been fine up until they took me off the fetal monitor to do my epidural. When she came out, she was blue and not breathing. She let out one little cry and then they started working on her. She 'pinked up' really fast and was fine, Aaron went off with her to the nursery, while I got stitched up and stapled back together.
It was about an hour til I finally got to hold her, but when I did, she latched right on. We stayed in the hospital 2 nights. The first night, she slept in the bed with me, and the 2nd, she slept on the couch with Aaron.
My mom says that I had did really well after having my c-section, as far as doing stuff, but every morning, I would get up and go to my moms house and sleep on her couch til Aaron came home, for at least 2 weeks. Maybe that's just the norm for a first baby...
Welcome (Back?)
This will be... my 4th attempt at blogging? If you're a previous reader, welcome back, and if you're new, then just welcome. If you were a reader of my old blog, you'll notice that I didn't change the name. I'll be blogging over my breakfast, whether it's at 7 am, or noon or beyond, but it's about the only time I get to myself.
I don't know yet what *kind* of blog this will be. It'll I'm sure be a mish-mash of all kinds of stuff. Happy reading!!
I don't know yet what *kind* of blog this will be. It'll I'm sure be a mish-mash of all kinds of stuff. Happy reading!!
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