Our Labor and Birth Story

Ambulance Ride, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Should have gotten it up sooner, but you know how it is with a new baby and all... things take time.

Remember when I'd mentioned that Erik and I were feeling silly about him deciding to stay home on the 23rd? Well at about 3:30, we didn't feel silly any more-

When I went to use the restroom, I could tell that something was NOT right. I called Erik into the bathroom to check and confirm my suspicion... something was coming out, something that shouldn't have been coming out...

I jumped into the bathtub and assumed the knees to chest position, so that my rear was up in the air, and confirmed that it wasn't a head or an umbilical cord... what it was we did not know. In a panic, Erik called 911. The lady on the other end was very helpful, even though she was at first trying to walk Erik through performing an emergency delivery. Once she realized the baby was not about to pop out, she called our doula and my mother. The EMS team arrived shortly after that and hauled me out to the ambulance. The whole while Erik ran through the house grabbing everything he could remember we needed. Thankfully, we were all packed up so he was able to get things together quickly. We rode to Clark Memorial via ambulance in 19 minutes. Considering the heavy traffic at the time, it was a good thing we had that ambulance.

Hello world, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We arrived at the hospital and met our midwife. She was all ready for an emergency situation, but what she found was not what she expected. I was not in labor and the baby was doing well... too well! For at least 2 months little Sophia had been in perfect "head down" position... well, not on July 23rd! She had moved completely transverse! I guess she was tired of the old position. What we had witnessed earlier in the bathroom was most likely her hand covered by the bag of waters. Thankfully, my water had not broken or I would have had no choice but a c-section. While I was not in labor at the time, my contractions were picking up a little. This baby had to move quickly or I was headed to the OR. My midwife and doula began to brainstorm about how to get Sophia to move. We started with hot and cold packs on the belly and finished with me sitting with my read end up in the air for 45 minutes. Much to our relief, this worked perfectly! My midwife quickly broke the water so she could not move again. It was time for Sophia to make like a baby and head out! That's exactly what she did - at 9:32pm Sophia Elizabeth was born drug free! How's that for a dramatic entrance?

getting ready to go home, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Well- since we still haven't gotten our birth story up yet- I thought I'd share a bit from the pre-labor... I'm calling it pre-labor now instead of fake labor, because at my Tuesday appointment with the midwife, we found out that the contractions were doing a lot- I was 5-6 cm and 90%... pretty dang far along for not even being in first stage labor...

anyhow:

Sleepy Girl, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Early Sunday (July 20th, 2008) morning (2-3:00 AM) contractions picked up. We were out of bed, timing and trying different comfort measures/ positions by 4… contractions were still fairly far apart and inconsistent, but much stronger than before. Erik and I were pretty sure we were entering advanced first stage labor. At about 5:30, Matthew woke up and asked that we both lay down with him…. But only his bed was good enough- not ours!
I laid down next to him while Erik sat in the rocking chair and read us a book. I thought Matthew was asleep, and could feel a contraction building up, so I tried to move out of bed into a more comfortable position- but alas- he was awake and upset at the thought of me leaving. Erik helped me through the contraction, and around then, I think he went back to bed…
Matthew told me I was “perkit (prefect) like a chocolate milk” and asked to eat something- I was feeling like a snack too so we went into the kitchen and ate bananas together. I had 3 contractions while we snacked in the darkness- Matthew sweetly held my hand during each one, then he asked to watch ‘A Bug’s Life’. We headed downstairs and watched TV until about 8:00. I napped on the sofa in between contractions- which I would guess were about 15 minutes apart. After that, contractions fizzled down in intensity and then in space, we showered and headed on to church. During church I’d say I had 3 or 4 contractions. We came home, changed clothes and went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. Few contractions here and there… Matthew took a nap when we got home, and so I took the opportunity to doze off also- no contractions woke me up from 3:30 to 5:00PM.
Monday morning I had a few contractions starting at 1:00 am and lasting until about 6:00 am, Erik went to work as usual and contractions were very few and far between.
Tuesday Erik stayed home to drive me to my doctor's appointment. I was uncomfortable all day from the weight on my lower abdomen. No contractions though. AT the appointment, we were told to call in as soon as contractions started with any pattern at all- and to think about heading to the hospital soon afterwards. With as far along as I was (more than 1/2 way ready to have the baby) we were told not to plan on laboring at home too long, unless we wanted to deliver there.
Wednesday (July 23, 2008) Erik stayed and worked from home since my mom and sister were both at work and wouldn't be close by to offer assistance if necessary- and since we were so close to being ready to deliver... we were both a bit nervous and excited.... though as the morning turned to afternoon, we were both feeling quite silly for being so sure that the baby would make her entrance that day...

Introducing

Sophia Elizabeth, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia Elizabeth
July 23, 2008
9:32 PM
7 pounds 5 ounces
21 inches

It's nice to be home again. We have QUITE a story to share about her arrival- ambulance ride and all... Hopefully we can work to get all of the details together later today. :)

mommy, take a picture

mommy, take a picture, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

That must be my job now... I must be known for sneaking in at book time and taking a picture of the precious moments before Matthew enters the land of knod... It was a request the other night, made by the little guy.

Yes. To any who may be wondering- we're still here, Nope. I'm not kidding... no, I'm not in labor. Yes... I'm ready for this child to make her apearance, yes... It's sometimes tough to accept that she has a schedule of her own that my body is going to have to just work with- much like the midnight feedings that we will be up for after birth... hopefully she's as good as her brother and will go back to sleep soon after making sure someone will still come to her rescue if she needs it... but that's a 'worry' for later. :)

nail found in our tire

nail found in our tire, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Erik noticed our tire was flat. We filled it up with air. A day later, he went to check the air pressure- this is what he saw... a nail head, sticking out of the tire. Thank goodness he saw it and we were able to get it fixed before crunch time.
Can you imagine trying to drive a laboring woman to the hospital and then having to stop to change a flat??

mowing like dad

mowing, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew did a great job 'helping' Erik mow the grass. When he heard it was time for Erik to mow, he offered his assistance- "Mahoo help youu Daddy?"

Erik taught him the basics- you have to wear tennis shoes (no sandals!), and you should fill up your mower's gas tank before you start.

Matthew would have preferred to follow directly behind Erik, to be as much like his daddy as possible, but it was my job to keep him on the opposite side of the yard. He's starting to become a bit of a daddy's boy... this weekend at one point I was taking him to get a diaper change and he wined "NOO! I wan DADDY!"

a pirate

a pirate, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Pirates and super heroes are the hot thing in this house. Specifically the super hero Batman... Not only is this little guy excited when he sees anything batman themed, the big guy of the house is pretty excited about Batman too.

in other news, I went back to my old 'to do list' in the notebook, you know, just in case.

Fake out

"recovering" today from some fake out contractions last night. They started at 3:00AM and then tapered off to a halt at around 8:00. I'm wondering if the moon had anything to so with it, though it could have been the fact that my to do list was staring me in the face. Another possibility is that she just decided she wasn't ready after all. Oh well- it was good practice.

unlocking the door

unlocking the door, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew knows how we get out into the back yard- get the keys, unlock the door.
Here he is bringing the HUGE water bottle out to his dad the other day while Erik was mowing the grass. He carried the huge heavy thing all the way down the steps BY HIMSELF while holding the keys. Gosh, he's good.

thinking...

thinking..., originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I came up with this thought just as I was ready to try to free hand something on the wall (inspiration from here). I'm wondering what you think about it? Am I crazy, is it cute?

I was thinking I could maybe use this technique to secure them to the wall. I'm a little scared though- the starch isn't supposed to damage walls- but it's not the walls I'm worried about... what about the fabrics? These were hand crocheted by Erik's Great Aunt Jenny. I'd hate it if they weren't able to come off of the wall in one piece... still, I'm not sure what else to do to display them, and I love the handmade love added to the room.

edit to add: after a little further research- looks like there are people out there that claim you just have to wash the fabric for it to be like 'new' again...

Fishy

cutting fish, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

The guys went at it again, this time, frying up fish for our friends to eat... there was a motive... this was fish that was caught last summer when we all went to the beach together. The guys (Lee, Erik, Mike and Erik's cousin Nate) went deep sea fishing. They caught a lot of fish and we were unable to eat it all in this past year- being that Erik and I don't really know at all how to prepare fish.

It was some really good fish, and a really great time, despite the heat.

my mirror to do

my mirror to do, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I've been using my mirror as a to do list- so much more satisfying to mark stuff off of the list, so much more in your face- as in get it done.

I learned this technique from a friend, who used dry erase markers to write Bible verses on her mirror, or messages to her roomates.

oops- guess the weekends don't count

the guys at a baseball game, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

There I go- talking about trying to post every day- and then I miss two days... so- OK- maybe weekends won't count- and you totally shouldn't assume that because I haven't posted, I'm in labor or having the baby.

Our Doula called last night to update me on how to get in touch with her, and said she'd talk to me Tuesday after my 'doctor' appointment, 'if not before!!' Me?, I'm all like "yeah right... Last week I was so sure that this little one was going to make an appearance." Now I'm realizing that there's still someone else from our class that's expecting before me, and so I'm not even going to THINK about my baby coming until I've heard that hers has arrived.

Speaking of our class- they're 5 for 5 natural births. That's 1/2 of us- and one lady has had at least 6 of her kids at home, so it's not like she's going to go and request drugs for any reason now... I wonder what the usual rate is for our instructor's students going natural...

morning cartoons

morning cartoons, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew's mornings now... wake up, come get mom out of bed, request chocolate milk, take a sip of chocolate milk, pass it back to mom and request to go downstairs...

usually it's Curious George at 8:00
followed by Clifford the Big Red Dog at 8:30
after that, Matthew will usually turn the TV off by himself and head into the toy room to play. The toy room has turned into a disastrous place... yesterday I attempted to clean most of it up- and was successful, until it got to the kitchen toys- at that point, I was requiring that Matthew do SOMETHING by himself- and he wasn't having it- so the toy room was closed for the remainder of the day. Maybe we'll try again today, just so I can vacuum, and then I'll just let the toy room be a disaster area- only requiring that the toys upstairs be cleaned up, and bringing in a shovel to push things aside when I need to make a path way to the laundry room...

and- if you haven't noticed, my goal has been to post something once every day so that you don't 'worry' thinking that I've had the baby and no one told you... although I'm feeling pretty much like a slacker these days- and there's not too too much exciting planned for next week other than toilet cleaning and grocery shopping- so unless you want to see a toilet before and after- you can just assume that I'm still here keepin' on until you hear otherwise. :)

reading with dad

reading with dad, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew has become a big fan of reading books. Once he gets you started, he doesn't want you to stop.
This afternoon, he had my sister, Susan, read him 3 books during his lunch (and he ate it ALL- he hasn't really even eaten lunch all week long, no matter what it is that I offer...) After lunch, she left and he and I read books while laying in his bed. I think I read.... 7 books? And then he fell asleep- how heavenly is that for a mom? I got to sit back and relax and he didn't fight nap time like he usually would...
At night, just before bed, he'll beg and beg Erik to read 'one more'.
I can see that this is the beginning of a WONDERFUL thing, especially since he'll pick his own book and bring it to you- how nice will that make it when the baby arrives and he needs attention and I'm too tired to do anything but sit on the couch? :)

last Bradley class

last Bradley class, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Last week was our last class.
I'm really going to miss going to class to see these people, talk about having a baby and have time in the car with just Erik and I... no distractions from house work, Matthew, TV...

a pirate in the tub!

a pirate in the tub!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

A few days ago this pirate fellow showed up and he's been around for ever since. I just narrowly escaped the trip to the supermarket with him because of the distracting car shopping carts- thank heavens for those- or else everyone in the store would have been threatened to walk the plank- RRR!

July 4th concert

one of the star wars songs- YODA maybe?, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Hum... can you guess where we were? can ya?
Yep. A Weird Al concert is how we spent our 4th. It was VERY entertaining. The picture above is from one of his star wars parodies- YODA perhaps? They had a screen set up above the stage so that in-between costume changes, they could play snippets of interviews and other stuff that Weird AL has done over the years. Erik said that he thinks a lot of the things were from a TV show that Weird AL did at one point. While a lot of it was really funny- some things were a bit risquee too.. but what did you expect from the guy who made UHF?

a happy fan, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Yep. Erik was a happy guy to be there, and I've heard that Matthew was pretty good for his night out too- that'd be all night out- as in away from home sleeping and waking up somewhere else. Thanks Memee and Poppie- we know he had a blast.

So- this is the game that Nick (and Carrie) brought over when we watched Shiloh last week... I didn't really get to play, but it sure looked like fun- so much fun that Erik and I went out the next day to look for a deal on it... no deal found, but Erik did help me to realize that I had money leftover from birthday gifts- and thus I present to you, the first game I've ever purchased for myself- Boom Blox.

There are different types of games you can play, and different techniques. I think my favorite is where you play against another player (sorry, no online play available for this Wii game as far as I know...) throwing baseballs at blocks to knock them down for points.

I've had to shy away from playing lately though... While I realize that my time to play during nap time is limited (In about a month nap time will be the best sleeping time of all for me), I also realize that I have a book to finish, and another book to start and finish- so that my mind will be fully prepared for this wonderful occasion.

I really am looking forward to the whole experience this time. We recently took a look at Matthew's birth video and it was INSANE. I looked like a 1/2 dead person- and people were treating me as such too. Looking back on the video of everyone taking their turns to stand by the bed, pat me on the arm and kiss me on the head, you'd have thought I was on my death bed- or in a casket. It really was that bad looking.

It all makes me feel really sorry for the gal I saw leaving the doctor's office the past visit. Her mom and grandma and little sister were with her... "Holy! The Doc-tor said she's 2 centimeters di-lated!! She's gonna go inta labor tonite!! That's what he said "tonite!!" I had to step in... the doctor is not a psychic. He can not know these things- she could walk around that way for another MONTH. They didn't care to hear what I had to say though- the doctor said it.... it must be FACT. (yet another example that it pays to be an informed consumer)

dream dinners

When we visited friends in Pennsylvania this summer- some of the meals she'd made for us were SO great- that I had to ask where she'd gotten them- they were all recipes that she'd made ahead and then put in her freezer, so that when we got there, all she had to do was defrost the meal the night before, and cook it when we were ready to eat. Wow. AMAZING! I thought- What a great tool for entertaining guests- and for preparing for a new baby!

So- When we got home, one of the first things I did was order this cook book 'Dream Dinners'.

While I have to admit, not all of the dinners have been a dream (We really didn 't care at all for the Lemon Chicken Asparagus dinner, or the Pork and Pears dinner), A LOT of them have been awesome- the Pesto Chicken and Ravioli? To die for. The Red Potatoes and Garlic Chicken are also a favorite for sure. This book also offers a lot of insight into freezing meals- the how to and practical information... and while before I was thinking I'd need a million and one glass baking dishes with lids- I found that their suggestion to line the pan with foil, freeze, then to take the meal out of the pan and wrap and re-wrap, not only saves you from having to purchase a ton of baking dishes- it saves freezer space as well. When you're ready to bake a meal, take it out of the freezer, un-wrap the WHOLE thing, place it in your baking dish and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator all day, or over night. PRESTO- dinner is ready after about an hour of baking time.

Thanks to this book, we've got a freezer full (and my mom has a freezer full too) of meals I've prepared ahead for us to eat when this little one decides to come.

The book gives you a recipe for a 9x13 dish- but I've found that often times we can use an 8x8 for our meal- which allows us to separate the recipe into 3... so that each recipe makes us one dinner for that night- and 2 dinners to freeze...

Now if only we had room for a huge deep freeze here in our house... :)