Phew! It's been two months since I posted. So I am obliged to give my introduction as to the many excuses of why this is so. Being in my last trimester was tiring. Fall semester started and I am in one class now, soon to be two and going half time. The kids started back to school. I had a big writing project with *finally* a fair price that I was glad to get chosen for. I HAD A BABY. So, yeah...but I'm glad to update my family journal now!
My little E was born September 11. Growing up, we always remember the birth of Jesus at this time. Several different cultural and historical as well as astronomical reasons point to this time as the most likely for his birth. So, I like that day and choose to remember and honor the ones who gave their lives for others on that day, and the ONE who gave his life for the whole world. For those who like "birth stories", I will share mine here -
Little E's labor and birth story -
It's Time...
It was a dark and rainy night. Just kidding, but it started out like a scary story. I had been having contractions that would come for awhile and then go away for a few days. The night she came I was sitting on the couch and I was trying to keep track of them, thinking that this was, yet again, a prelabor situation. I was counting contractions at about 8-10 min apart, so no biggy yet. However, I got up to go pee and my water broke as I was in the bathroom - convenient!! But the scary part was, all I heard was the sound and all I saw was blood. I didn't know my water broke at this point and panic set in. I knew bleeding wasn't "normal" necessarily, and it certainly had never happened to me in any other birth. I searched the internet quickly for what it could mean. I got two scary options, and NO option that said, 'Sometimes a normal part of birth.' So, I'm a little terrified at this point. I can honestly say that I began praying and just asking God for Him to be with me and strengthen me and that it would somehow still be OK for baby and me. I called the hospital and had a weird conversation with whoever answered. We ended it with me coming on in.
I called my first "on-call" friend and it was about 9pm at this point. She packed up her two littles and came over in what I would call record time. I told her I was scared and she gave me a precious hug and said she was praying for me and that it was going to be okay. I took that as truth, and I felt that she was right in my gut and in my heart. I shed some tears for my two year old who was very distraught that I was leaving him. We are totally attached and I knew everything was about to change for him. He pleaded for me not to go, but we reminded him that I would be back and that we loved him.
Triage....
This was my very first "curtain-door" as opposed to 'your own little room' maternity triage experience. The way it was going that night was that they had more than usual moms coming in, and from what I could overhear the nurse saying, the people in L & D were a bit wearied with them sending down moms who weren't far enough along. I overheard her say she wasn't putting me in until after shift change because she had, "gotten in trouble enough". At that point, I was about five minutes apart w/ contractions.
The midwife who was doing her rounds in the triage checked me and reassured me that sometimes moms can have some vessels that break with the pressure, and my blood loss wasn't great enough for her to really worry about it because the baby was looking great. Hallelujah!! Take that, stupid internet search! By three hours into my water breaking, the contractions were getting a bit more intense and about four minutes apart. Still wasn't admitted into L & D. I was about a four cm, effaced completely with my last triage check.
Time for Transitional Labor...
On my way out from my who knows how many-th bathroom trips, I saw a very petite middle-aged nurse ask if I was Emily. I was getting really uncomfortable at this point and had to concentrate on breathing through my contractions. It more than halfway past 1:00 and we walked down to L & D. The contractions just kept coming and got more intense as I walked down the hallway. By the time I got to my room I started really getting worked up and I kept saying, "Why are these so intense - what does this mean?" LOL. She told me that the intensity was probably because I was in transition, and told me things could go much faster because it was my fourth birth. This helped me, actually. Still, I imagined myself going through another hour or more of these intense, 'one on top of the other' contractions. She checked me at a six cm...a little disappointing since I had little more than 60 seconds as a break between each contraction.
She left the room and I continued to just really work through labor, hoping and praying that I could handle the intensity. About fifteen minutes later I feel "push pressure". I yell, "I feel push pressure," realizing that this sounds ridiculous. The next contraction I yell that again and tell my husband to push the nurse button. They answer on the bed phone and hear me as I'm having a contraction. Within thirty seconds, three nurses run in and I ask her to check me. I said something like, "You JUST checked me - how can I feel push pressure?" She reminded me again that this labor might go really fast and then glanced up and said that I was at a 10cm!! So it WAS intense, not my imagination...time to push!!! I obviously didn't get to really meet the on call midwife as she briskly entered the room and asked if she was in the right place. "Oh, you're in the right place," my nurse said.
Less than ten minutes later, 7lb 7 oz little Baby E was born. My littlest yet - over two pounds smaller than my last big boy - what a difference!!
As always, I remarked..."I can't believe that just happened!"
I greeted my little sweetie until they heard some "grunts" that they didn't like. She was having a little issue breathing due to the fast labor, and possibly ingesting some fluid/blood. Initially they told me that she would have an x-ray and best case scenario that she would be back to me in two hours. "This sucks..." I said. I then just trusted God and prayed for my little lady.
About a half hour later the NICU nurse came back in and said that she was actually looking great already, no x-ray needed and she was hungry!! Rooting away and wanting mommy. So, I got her once again!
I spent the rest of the night cuddling her, unable to sleep. Typical. So many hormones and excitement that I can never sleep on the a first night or day.
Who can sleep with a new sweet little cuddly face who needs snuggles?
My little E was born September 11. Growing up, we always remember the birth of Jesus at this time. Several different cultural and historical as well as astronomical reasons point to this time as the most likely for his birth. So, I like that day and choose to remember and honor the ones who gave their lives for others on that day, and the ONE who gave his life for the whole world. For those who like "birth stories", I will share mine here -
Little E's labor and birth story -
It's Time...
It was a dark and rainy night. Just kidding, but it started out like a scary story. I had been having contractions that would come for awhile and then go away for a few days. The night she came I was sitting on the couch and I was trying to keep track of them, thinking that this was, yet again, a prelabor situation. I was counting contractions at about 8-10 min apart, so no biggy yet. However, I got up to go pee and my water broke as I was in the bathroom - convenient!! But the scary part was, all I heard was the sound and all I saw was blood. I didn't know my water broke at this point and panic set in. I knew bleeding wasn't "normal" necessarily, and it certainly had never happened to me in any other birth. I searched the internet quickly for what it could mean. I got two scary options, and NO option that said, 'Sometimes a normal part of birth.' So, I'm a little terrified at this point. I can honestly say that I began praying and just asking God for Him to be with me and strengthen me and that it would somehow still be OK for baby and me. I called the hospital and had a weird conversation with whoever answered. We ended it with me coming on in.
I called my first "on-call" friend and it was about 9pm at this point. She packed up her two littles and came over in what I would call record time. I told her I was scared and she gave me a precious hug and said she was praying for me and that it was going to be okay. I took that as truth, and I felt that she was right in my gut and in my heart. I shed some tears for my two year old who was very distraught that I was leaving him. We are totally attached and I knew everything was about to change for him. He pleaded for me not to go, but we reminded him that I would be back and that we loved him.
Triage....
This was my very first "curtain-door" as opposed to 'your own little room' maternity triage experience. The way it was going that night was that they had more than usual moms coming in, and from what I could overhear the nurse saying, the people in L & D were a bit wearied with them sending down moms who weren't far enough along. I overheard her say she wasn't putting me in until after shift change because she had, "gotten in trouble enough". At that point, I was about five minutes apart w/ contractions.
The midwife who was doing her rounds in the triage checked me and reassured me that sometimes moms can have some vessels that break with the pressure, and my blood loss wasn't great enough for her to really worry about it because the baby was looking great. Hallelujah!! Take that, stupid internet search! By three hours into my water breaking, the contractions were getting a bit more intense and about four minutes apart. Still wasn't admitted into L & D. I was about a four cm, effaced completely with my last triage check.
Time for Transitional Labor...
On my way out from my who knows how many-th bathroom trips, I saw a very petite middle-aged nurse ask if I was Emily. I was getting really uncomfortable at this point and had to concentrate on breathing through my contractions. It more than halfway past 1:00 and we walked down to L & D. The contractions just kept coming and got more intense as I walked down the hallway. By the time I got to my room I started really getting worked up and I kept saying, "Why are these so intense - what does this mean?" LOL. She told me that the intensity was probably because I was in transition, and told me things could go much faster because it was my fourth birth. This helped me, actually. Still, I imagined myself going through another hour or more of these intense, 'one on top of the other' contractions. She checked me at a six cm...a little disappointing since I had little more than 60 seconds as a break between each contraction.
She left the room and I continued to just really work through labor, hoping and praying that I could handle the intensity. About fifteen minutes later I feel "push pressure". I yell, "I feel push pressure," realizing that this sounds ridiculous. The next contraction I yell that again and tell my husband to push the nurse button. They answer on the bed phone and hear me as I'm having a contraction. Within thirty seconds, three nurses run in and I ask her to check me. I said something like, "You JUST checked me - how can I feel push pressure?" She reminded me again that this labor might go really fast and then glanced up and said that I was at a 10cm!! So it WAS intense, not my imagination...time to push!!! I obviously didn't get to really meet the on call midwife as she briskly entered the room and asked if she was in the right place. "Oh, you're in the right place," my nurse said.
Less than ten minutes later, 7lb 7 oz little Baby E was born. My littlest yet - over two pounds smaller than my last big boy - what a difference!!
As always, I remarked..."I can't believe that just happened!"
I greeted my little sweetie until they heard some "grunts" that they didn't like. She was having a little issue breathing due to the fast labor, and possibly ingesting some fluid/blood. Initially they told me that she would have an x-ray and best case scenario that she would be back to me in two hours. "This sucks..." I said. I then just trusted God and prayed for my little lady.
About a half hour later the NICU nurse came back in and said that she was actually looking great already, no x-ray needed and she was hungry!! Rooting away and wanting mommy. So, I got her once again!
I spent the rest of the night cuddling her, unable to sleep. Typical. So many hormones and excitement that I can never sleep on the a first night or day.
Who can sleep with a new sweet little cuddly face who needs snuggles?
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