The Many Adventures of Monkey Doo and Bunny Boo Boo: Evangeline

Saturday, 03 May 2008

The Birth Story

For those of you who would like to be spared the details, here is a brief run-down. I woke up at 1:00 am on Tuesday morning because I had to pee. I stood up and my water broke. Fifteen minutes later contractions started at five minutes apart. After one hour they were two to three minutes apart and stayed that way through the rest of the labor. No drugs or interventions again with this birth, Praise God, but it was hard. Evie was a posterior presentation (sunny side up) and had a nuchal cord (cord around her neck), but was just fine all the same. After this labor and birth, I understand why women want an epidural. It was intense. Without Jamie as my coach and the warm bathtub to labor in, I don't know that I could have done it.

And now, for those of you who like all the details, the long version...

I should have known something was up on Monday. I always joked with my midwife that when I show up for the appointment in my sweats, I'm done and the baby will probably come soon. Sure enough, I went to my appointment in my sweats for the first time on Monday morning. All day, Levi, our cat would not leave my side. And around 9:00 pm, Evie started kicking like crazy and didn't stop for TWO HOURS!!! I woke up at 1:00 am and when I stood up, my water broke. I freaked out because at first I thought I was peeing my pants and couldn't stop. Then I realized, hey... that's not pee. I called the midwife to let her know and then the contractions started... five minutes apart and intense. That was not a surprise to me since my water broke. I even told Jamie that this labor would be more of a challenge since the cushion of water wasn't there on my cervix this time. After an hour, my contractions were two to three minutes apart and they stayed that was until second stage (pushing time). We went to the hospital around 4:00 and I'm glad we did because once the contractions picked up, I don't know that Jamie could have convinced me to leave the house, let alone move at all. At 7:00 am the midwife finally checked me and we found I was only 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I cried and told Jamie I didn't think I could do it without drugs this time if I was only 3 cm!!! That's still a lot of laboring to go. But then I pulled myself together and reminded myself of what I always tell my Bradley students - an exam tells you nothing more than where you are at that exact moment. It is no idicator for where you will be in an hour or how things will progress. So I then asked if I could get in the tub since I was having a lot of back labor. I got in the tub (ahhhhhh... that helpd a lot!) and after two and a half hours, the midwife asked me if it still felt like a good place to be. It then occured to me that I had just had four very intense contractions without a break at all and I knew I was in transition. So I got out of the tub and made it back to the room. Another exam showed that I was 6 cm now and I thought, boy am I in for a rough transition! However five minutes later I was at 8 cm and after another five I was pushing. I started pushing and the midwife noticed I had an anterior lip (a tiny little bit of my cervix still hadn't dilated). So we tried not pushing for a few contractions... impossible. So instead she had to physically push it back as I pushed to get Evie through. Not so fun, but better than a c-section for sure! I have to say, I pushed as hard as I could, but it was really difficult. Once Evie got pretty far down it became clear why she was so hard to push out, she was flipped up into a posterior presentation (sunny side up) and was much harder to push out. After a little more than an hour of pushing, she was crowning, but not coming out (I've been there before... for four hours!) and her heart rate took a huge nose dive. The midwife told me she really needed to get out and she'd have to do an episiotomy so I could push her out with the next push. No objections from me. So with the next push, out she came with the cord wrapped around her neck. She was absolutely fine and making plenty of noise to let us know it. I nursed her right away (so as not to need pitocin for third stage labor) and after ten minutes I asked if it really was a girl. The midwife laughed and said she didn't know, she just handed the baby over to me. I looked and sure enough, Evie was a girl. She nursed for an hour and then Jamie held her for a bit before she had to go to the nursery for all the usual stuff. Ten hours, quite an adventure, but worth it all. It amazing how different two labors can be!

Tuesday, 06 May 2008

Linvilla

We went to Linvilla today. It was a great morning to get out of the house as a family. I played with Adelle while Jamie sat with Evie. Then we went a bought tomato plants, some fruit, and a cookie for Adelle (of course). Then Jamie played with Adelle for awhile and I took pics of Evie for her birth announcement. I also took a few of the two of us together...

She's doing great. Such a joy to us all. I can't imagine not having two children now. I have to say, it takes a little more coordination and planning for everyday life still and intentionality about spending quality time with both girls, but I am really enjoying having more than one child. If the memory of her birth wasn't still so fresh in my mind, I'd be sold on having another... as it is, we'll wait and see in at least a year.

We went for he weight check at the doctors on Monday and she gained two ounces over the weekend. Woo hoo! She ought to be back up to her birth weight well before her two week visit.

Thursday, 15 May 2008

So thankful.

Last night Evie slept for five hours... in a row! Which meant I did, too. I was so stunned this morning when I looked at the clock expecting to see 1:30 or 2:00 and instead found that it was 4:15. I sat in her room nursing her and just cried and thanked God for 10 minutes before I was able to pull it together. It's amazing how quickly such little things (like 5 continuous hours of sleep) mean so much. I really thought I was on the verge of losing it earlier this week because I am so sleep deprived and hormonal... not the best combo. THANK YOU, LORD for that gift!

I took some pictures of both girls yesterday but I'm too tired to go get the camera now so I'll post them another time.

Monday, 19 May 2008

Some new pics

Finally. Sorry for the delay. Here are a few recent shots of Evie.

Sleeping, well, like a baby.

Wide awake (and cute as can be)!

She sees the doctor tomorrow, so I'll post an update then.

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

a sigh of relief

For those of you other moms out there who have ever breastfed, you know it can be a bit stressful in the early weeks (especially when your baby loses almost a full pound after birth). Thankfully, Evie's doing just great. We went for her weight check today and she gained a full pound and a half the past two weeks. She's now up to 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Woo hoo! So I can now relax and trust that she is certainly getting plenty to eat.