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.