Andrias's Birth, Part 4 -- The babymoon

The first week was delicious.  By midwife's orders, I was on bed rest.  Baby and I spent all of our hours together.  We slept, we snuggled, we nourished ourselves.  I breathed in the scent of his new skin and stroked him.  There is no touch like that of newborn skin; there's nothing smoother or softer.  He spent his first several days naked, wrapped in blankets or wool sacks. No diaper to squish his bottom into.  No forcing his arms and legs into tiny clothes.  And he never left the room.  So there was no wrestling this tiny, fragile frame into the straps and buckles of a car seat or exposing him to the harsh elements of the outdoors.  No swirling cacophony of people, places, lights, sounds, and smells to fill his senses.  Only calm, only us.

When we slept, he wriggled his way to my breast, latched himself on and fed.  Breastfeeding has been so easy this time.  Painless and easy.  And when he pooped, I held him in my arms and put a little bowl or blanket under him to catch it.  The beginnings of EC, and it went really well.  On day four, I caught four poops.  I knew him, his rhythm, and his body language already. 

Everything was easy, and so natural.  Effortless.  I felt myself naturally become Mother in a way I never had with my first. 

At night, Baby slept, skin-to-skin with either George or myself.  Regin slept with us too.  And something strange happened to him that first night that became more and more obvious that first week:  he grew about 3 feet and gained about 20 pounds.  George laughed about the teenager that was suddenly in our bed.  Our little one had become our big one, relatively speaking anyway.

Regin loved his brother right away.  We had to hold him back a little from smothering the tiny infant with his kisses.  And in their sleep the two brothers kept drifting towards each other, trying to snuggle.  We tried to keep them separate early on, because we were worried that Regin would be rough in his sleep.

Everything was easy, except for the little matter of his name.  We'd chosen three candidates, but when Baby Boy arrived, we didn't agree on the name.  I leaned towards one of the Faroese names, Andrias, George leaned to the Spanish name, Eliseo. We waffled on it for several days, and on her check up visits, our midwife, Sena, reminded us that she needed to send in paperwork with the name by about a week.  My pull to my cultural heritage made me want to choose Faroese, plus his hair was light and reddish, like a viking!  But it was only fair to give George the choice, since I'd made the final call on Regin's name.  So, at around 6 days old, Baby lived with the name Eliseo for a day.  We told my mom and I was surprised to hear her highly linguistic tongue absolutely struggle with the name.  Then I began to feel more and more guilt over not passing on my culture to him.  Latin culture, after all, is so prevalent in the world, but there are only 50,000 people in the world that call themselves Faroese.  Plus Regin had such a lovely story to go along with his name.  So, we decided to switch back.  Andrias it was.  Sorry George.  Eliseo is a wonderful name.  We told everyone else his new name, and it seemed we made the right choice.  Even my mother-in-law had negative associations with the name Eliseo, the only person who preferred it was my dad, who still thinks Andrias sounds like a girl's name.  Haha!  Well, that's why family wasn't invited to be involved in the naming process!

The story behind Andrias's name?  Other than just being a Faroese name we both loved, it's also one of my grandfather's nine names.  He was named after the crew of a boat from his village that all died at sea.  His name was Oli Hans David Frederic Andrias Guttorm Elias Mellamgord Jacobsen and his named wrapped all the way around the back of his driver's license.  He's also one of my favorite people who has ever lived, an artist, a teacher, a giver of deep, warm hugs, and I miss him.

Andrias's middle name is Micael after my father, Michael. Who is also wonderful and thankfully still with us.

I've been surprised to find that his name is difficult for some to pronounce, so once again it's:  Ahn-DREE-ahs Mee-kah-ELL.  And for those who don't know, big brother's first name (Regin) is pronounced RAY-ihn, I assume you all know what to do with his middle name, Oscar?

---

During my week of rest, my mom and George were both there taking care of me.  Sena made several house calls to check on me and the baby.  That's another thing I love about home birth and midwifery.   There's so much respect for the mother's recovery process and baby's need for calm, quiet, and being left in the comfort of home with the mother.  I think Andrias was 6 weeks old before he really needed to venture outside of the home (by car). 

I stayed mostly in our bedroom, lying down. Occasionally I'd venture out to the loft to sit and watch a show with the others.  But the pain of sitting was intense.  My tailbone and all was extremely sore.  We bought me a donut to sit on, but it was still unbearable and I mostly stayed reclined. After a week, my body began bouncing back already, though I still took it easy, and at that time my mother left just as George's mother arrived in time to celebrate George's birthday.  He had a very special birthday present this year, one I worked really hard on!

Andrias's Birth, Part 3 -- The birth

Monday, February 8th.  I had consistent contractions all through the night.  They were frequent and rhythmic enough to make me think they might be the real deal.  I felt them through my sleep.  But they weren't the least bit painful (hypnobabies working?) so I wasn't sure if I should call my midwife.  By morning they had stopped.  Turns out, I had actually been listening to my hypnobabies tracks all night, and I believe I accidentally listened to the "Baby Stay In" track too.  OOPS!  Maybe Andrias was trying to come Tuesday morning!

By Wednesday night, I was worried that the baby was going to prove my prediction wrong that he'd come 1-2 weeks early.  Can't have that!!  He only had one day left!  So I went for a walk and did what you do to request that baby come out now.  I even asked the baby directly.  Baby, I love you, and it's time now.  I'm ready and I want you to come.

At 4a.m., Thursday the 11th, I woke up to pee.  Things were a little... shall we say... moist.  Then in the bathroom, there was a... um... gush.  And when I stood up, another, and tried to walk out, another... I made it over to George, woke him and quickly asked him to call our midwife before I ran back to the bathroom in time for several more gushes.  I guess that would be my water breaking! (It didn't break until baby came out the first time.)

George handed me the phone and Sena, my midwife, asked all sorts of detailed questions before asking me if I was having any contractions. 

"No," I sighed.

I knew what that meant.  The clock was ticking now.  I had 24 hours to make serious progress or I'd have to transfer to the hospital.  Sigh.  She told me to go back to bed and sleep as much as I could.  I went and laid down and popped on the hypnobabies tracks on my iPhone.  Within minutes I was having a contraction.  Then... another.  I knew it could be a while till I was in 'real' labor, so I tried to relax through them and sleep.  But I didn't sleep and they kept coming.  I finally woke George up again at 6 to time them.  Yep.  One minute long, five minutes apart.  Things were rolling!

We called Sena, we texted my sister JoAnn who we'd asked to be present to handle food prep for all of us, and to entertain and possibly remove Regin if needed.  George went and woke my mom up and told her the haps.  And guess what?  I decided I no longer cared about the number of people in the house, and we asked my mom to stay.  Funny how things change when you're in the moment but I knew that was a possibility and I felt strong in my right to make that decision.

The timeline after that was a blur.  We have no clock in our room, and I was in full labor, so I never left the room.   In the first hours, it was manageable.  I would walk and walk and then when another contraction hit, I would drape myself over George and we'd stand there together as he coached me through relaxation. 

I tried listening to the Hypnobabies tracks, but there was enough commotion and distraction that I didn't really hear or listen to them.  I couldn't really put myself into hypnosis every time because I hadn't practiced the unguided hypnosis enough.  And what I had practiced was mostly with me being totally alone, fully reclined, in total silence with hardly any sensory input.  I couldn't get myself in that state in the throes of labor, so I relied solely on George's ability to help me relax, which we had practiced several times during the Hypnobabies course.  And it really worked.  Unlike my friend Teddi, who had managed to get all the practices in, I would absolutely describe it as pain, but the pain with George's relaxation cues was manageable, without them I thought I was going to die.  He had a script he recited, and he'd begin reading it every time I indicated that a contraction hit.  If he delayed even by a few seconds, it wouldn't really work and I'd be in tremendous, earth-shattering pain again.  For some reason, if I lay down, I was in the worst pain of all, and if I sat, it was pretty darned uncomfortable too.  So I, the woman who had spent most of her pregnancy sick in bed with various colds and flus, the one who'd had trouble eating for months, the girl who was terribly weak and generally out of shape, walked miles in a circuit around our bedroom for hours and hours, stopping every few minutes for an intense workout called a "contraction". 

You know, in hypnobabies, you avoid use of the word contraction because of the fear and pain pregnant women associate with the word.  But when you look at the word after having birthed, it doesn't seem strong enough.  It sounds like little squeezes, like the painless, prelabor contractions I had that I called "The Squeezies" or like a bicep you're flexing and then releasing.  It doesn't remotely convey the pain, the sweat, the grunting, the moaning, the crying out, the howling, the begging, the pleading that it induces when you have one.  But that came later.  In the early hours, I was able to face each contraction, with George's help, calmly, quietly, internally, and relaxed.  It was intimate and graceful, though still painful.  My mom downstairs thought we were sleeping that whole time because it was so unbelievably quiet.

When my midwife, Sena, arrived, labor changed.  That happens.

As hands off as midwives can be, there is still a kind of performance pressure a birthing woman feels, or at least this birthing woman felt, when someone shows up to watch you and make sure things are happening as they should.

The way a midwife makes sure is very different from how a doctor would make sure, or so I've been told as I've never birthed with a doctor's assistance.  A doctor will make you undress and put on the infamous and barely there gown (and why they should call something so ugly a 'gown' I'll never know, some marketing spin there I think), then you'll be connected to machines, monitored with boops, beeps, and moving graphs, and your feet put up in stirrups while the doctor looks at you and gives you internal exams to see where the baby is and how dilated your cervix is.  I think in most cases during labor you're not allowed to eat or drink.  The doctor also has a lot of other patients to see, so he's off checking on other moms a lot, or if there's some other conflict, you have a different doctor.

Your midwife, is your midwife.  Obviously conflicts can occur, but she schedules very few births per month to try and eliminate the possibility.  And you've been seeing this woman, and not her nurse practitioner or other assistant (in typical US, assembly-line medical care), for 1+ hours once a month, then twice a month, then once a week throughout the pregnancy.  You know each other so well, she's almost like family by the time baby comes.

At that time, the midwife comes in (to your home) when you've told her you'd like her to come (or the birth seems imminent), sets up her equipment around your room, puts her oxygen tank over there, rearranges your nest to include her bag of tools in easy to reach places over here, makes sure she knows where you have put the towels and basket of birthing goodies you've gathered, and then asks you how you are doing.  Actually that's not true.  She asks how you're doing before setting up.  Then she leaves you alone as needed, because she knows you will labor better without someone hovering, or she stays in the room if you need it.  She's there 100% for you and only you.  She gives emotional and comforting support, she gets you food and drink to keep your energy up, and does her best to encourage you.  Occasionally she will request to listen to the baby with her little device, and she'll check your dilation and whatnot, if you request.  It's all on your terms.  Plus, you're in whatever clothes you want, whatever position you want, in whatever place you want... you can even deliver in your edenic backyard garden pool if you want.  It's your birth, your way.

Thing is, though I absolutely adore my midwife, I was laboring better and more comfortably before she arrived.  And though she was mostly out of the room and out of the way and she spoke in whispers to keep the quiet and make her presence less intrusive, the pain became much more difficult to bear once someone interrupted the calm, came into my space, and began to take note of what was happening.  So, for this reason, even though Sena was UHmazing and I'd recommend her to anyone, I do think I'd reconsider unassisted birth in the unlikely case that I ever had another.

-----

Things were progressing quickly this time.  It was only a couple of hours from the water breaking that contractions were regular and quite close together.  But then, after a few more hours, it became apparent to me that nothing was changing.  It continued at the same intensity, and I even felt a little, almost "pushy" but the giant lump inside me was staying exactly in the same place.  I began to ask Sena to check to see where the baby was and what was going on.  There was a lip of cervix in the way.  Ugh, that again.  She tried to help pull it aside, but that was painful and I hated it.  I began to feel defeated.  Sena reassured me that things were moving quickly and efficiently but I felt like something was stalling the process and I was becoming angry about it since I'd worked so hard to make sure I wouldn't have the same obstacles this time as I had with Regin's birth.  I was shaking with fatigue, but I kept walking and walking.  I spent some time in the bath.  I tried different positions and sat a little on the birthing ball otherwise known as my exercise ball.  But mostly I walked.  I went back to the bath, I cried out, I screamed, I moaned and wailed.  I got angrier and angrier every time George delayed when beginning to recite his relaxation script as he had been doing every few minutes for who knows how many (15) hours.  I began pushing in the bath.  I pushed and screamed so hard, my throat quickly became raw.  And then... I wanted out.  I wanted to get on the birthing stool, which I hate, because I wanted this to be done.  I wanted rest for my trembling legs, and I wanted the position that would expedite birth.  We put it in almost the same spot that it had been put for Regin's birth, the spot where Regin had then taken his first breaths. 

I still had no idea how long this had been going on.  No clocks were around to tell me, but I saw the light in the windows change from morning to midday, from afternoon to evening.  Sena kept telling me things were moving along and his head was just there.  But I still felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.

During all this time, I never once asked to go to the hospital.  I never asked to be knocked out.  Outwardly I was in screaming pain, but somewhat in control and just working.  Inwardly I was having an entirely different dialog with myself:
"What the f**k is wrong with me?"
"What do you mean? You're in labor!"
"Why the heck do I insist on doing this the hard way?"
"It's better for you and the baby..."
"Pah!  F**k that!  I'm done with this s**t.  So done.  Sc**w home birth, natural birth.  Give me the fecking drugs.  Hell... next time around, if I do this again... Not only will I go to a hospital like a normal person, but I'll probably deliver the baby in my sleep with a planned c-section.  This s**t is for the birds."

I was saying all of that to myself up until the very last moment, when on the birthing stool, again in the same place, I birthed my second child.  I squeezed and pushed so hard I was actually worried about popping blood vessels in my brain.  I screamed and screamed and pushed and felt the ring of fire as he crowned, and with all that remained of my might, I pushed some more, and I felt him pour out of my body.  And then the most amazing thing happened:  I held him.

Everything melted away when I held him.  He was beautiful and I was strong, and I immediately felt, "Oh that?  That wasn't that hard.  I could do that again."  His head was squooshed and badly mishapen, but I didn't see it. He was beautiful and I instantly loved him.  He cried and my voice immediately changed to sooth him.  Ohhh it's ok Baby, that was hard, huh?  It hurt a lot and it was scary.  Poor baby, I know... it was hard for me too. 

It was hard.  It turns out it was a lot harder than it usually is.  There was a reason my fast-progessing labor had taken so long.  Turns out, not only was he posterior, but my baby had decided to present his brow first.  That's the rarest of presentations and the most difficult.  Hmmm... rare and difficult, he's like his mamma already.   Most literature will tell you that the brow presentation is not even feasible.  Unless baby's head is very small or Mamma's hips are very wide, baby just CANNOT come out that way.  I don't think either of us is unusually proportioned and he's definitely not small.  But somehow, we did it.  And we loved each other right away. 

My mom and sister came in, and with joyful tears I told them it was a boy.  And then I told them I had gotten just what I wanted:  that rush of hormones, that instant love, that connection with my baby.  Everything I hadn't had the first time, everything I had grieved the loss of with my first birth, I had now.  And I wept, and everyone else did too.












 

After a short while I birthed the placenta, which is relatively uncomfortable in itself.  I had hoped to let the baby crawl to my breast by himself as I'd seen babies do in videos.  But after more than an hour, I decided to give him a little help.  I lifted him to my breast, he opened his mouth, and clamped it onto me.  Ouch!  I forgot what that was like!  But I was thrilled that I didn't have to wrestle a nipple into his mouth, he latched himself on.  

I was still on such a high when Sena was examining my war wounds that as vulnerable as I could have felt with my legs draped over chairs, and someone sitting right between them, looking, checking, etc., I was chipper and chatting away and laughing.

That's how it was; with happy tears and laughter, Baby and I began a new life together and a family of four was born.

To be continued.
Part 4 -- Babymoon, coming tomorrow...

El Chapulin Colorado!!!

Regin FINALLY agreed to put on the hat we made him for his Halloween costume -- only three months late.  They tell you about toddler time, but they don't tell you it can be months off your desired schedule!

January '10 album

Just put up the rest of the January '10 album on Facebook as well. Not much in there. We didn't take a lot of pictures in January. It was mostly just baby prep going on. We also had people here a lot to help me in my final weeks of pregnancy. Here's the album. Highlights below:


I had dinner out with both my sisters -- just us girls!  What a great treat that was.  :)



Regin began a new obsession with letters, ESPECIALLY the letter H.  He makes them, he points them out.  All. The. Time!



Baby prep this time includes our new 100% pure wool, undyed carpet with natural rubber padding underneath; a new, king-size, organic mattress; and a custom-built bed frame (by my awesome dad) to hold the new mattress.  Awesome stuff!



Slats going in.



Mattress getting reassembled.  It's too floppy and heavy to move without taking it apart.


Regin enjoying the bed.



C'est finis!

Pregnancy Album up!

I sadly lost my pregnancy album from my first pregnancy.  Kodakgallery.com took it down because apparently I misunderstood their instructions for keeping my account up to date.  I plan to at some point try and reconstruct it as best I can and put down things I remember.  But a lot of those memories are lost.  Such is the digital world.  Sigh.  However, I have a new pregnancy album up on Facebook for this pregnancy.  Yes, I know I should back it up somehow, and no I haven't done that yet.  But if you want to take a look, it's there.  And it's almost finished!  Baby should be arriving REALLY soon!


Pregnancy Album

Ultrasounds, Medicalization, Baby Pics

I've been having some weird symptoms lately, including dizzy spells that are combined with chest pains and send me to the emergency room*, and my doctor decided to check my protein and albumin levels among other things and thinks they're scary low.  My midwife disagrees.  Doc (and his OB friend who has delivered 20,000 babies) has never seen anything like it in a pregnant woman, my midwife has.  Midwife thinks they're only slightly low and can more than likely be fixed by eating more protein, Doctor thinks there may be something seriously wrong with me.  I wonder if he knows fully what the norms are in pregnancy, since they are lower than in a non-pregnant woman.  And OH!  Did I mention that I have had SERIOUS protein aversions this pregnancy (and last) which have made it really difficult to eat protein (of any kind)?  I wonder if that could have had any impact on my blood levels!

So, despite my own research (which suggests he's overreacting) and my midwife's feelings on it, my doctor insisted on me getting ultrasounds of some of my internal organs, and... the baby.  I fought it at first; I was terrified of these (possibly misinterpreted) labs leading him to overreact to something in the ultrasound, which could cause him to further overreact to other things and cause a chain reaction that ends with me having a high-intervention, medicalized birth in the hospital.  There are very real risks associated with hospital (and particularly c-section) births, and this is the biggest reason I'm choosing to birth at home.  And furthermore, there are scientists and doctors out there who dispute the safety of ultrasounds on babies in utero.  So I only wanted to get one if medically indicated and I wasn't sure this was the right indication.

Anyway, though I was totally terrified, I went yesterday to get my ultrasounds.  The woman performing them said they all looked normal (mine & the baby's).  My experience (with my previous pregnancy) tells me that doctors can still decide that there is something to freak out about even when everything is FULLY normal in an ultrasound (remind me to tell you the story of how my local clinic was convinced I was going to miscarry because there was no fetal pole present in a 5-week ultrasound, which is completely normal!), so I'm still uncomfortable about where this may be going.  But we did all get to see the baby.  Regin says, "Hi Baby!"  I thought I'd share some of the best images with you.

First a couple of belly shots:




And now for the baby...

I think I know the sex. I thought I saw the region in question, though I wasn't sure, then the ultrasound woman kept using a certain pronoun, though I wasn't sure if I was mishearing her. Then she clearly used the same pronoun I thought I was hearing, and after a few seconds she corrected herself and said the other 'possibility'. George of course was blissfully unaware of it all, and since he wants to be surprised, I can't share what I thought I heard. I can't talk at all about the baby's sex or what I think it might be for the next few months! AARGH! I don't know if I can keep my mouth shut that long. Stupid ultrasound lady!!


Of course, I don't know for sure... maybe she didn't even look in that area. Maybe there weren't as many slips of the tongue as I thought. Maybe she was picking generic genders just to avoid saying 'it' the whole time. Maybe... maybe... maybe...



*I should say that the emergency room doctor said he was confident that there was nothing seriously wrong with me and my symptoms can be signs of such relatively benign things like panic attacks.

October Photos - Halloween!

Happy (belated) Halloween!

On the 30th, after we FINALLY finished our last-minute costumes, we went to a party at Reed & Evelyn Meyer's house. Here are the costumes:


I was "Eye of the storm".

Close up of my tummy:


And George was blackmail:

Get the reference? :)


You can see the rest of our October photos in our October 09 album.

October Photos - Snow Storm!!!

We had a HUGE snow storm on the 28th and 29th.  My mom was up to hang out with us that week to make sure I was ok (after my emergency room trip), and she was helping us prepare for the Halloween party we threw.  But the storm put a serious kink in our preparations.  We ended up being days behind on costumes.  I didn't even get to start my costume until around 7pm on the 30th and I had to wear it to a party that evening!

The storm was a lot of fun though.  We got Regin all suited up and out there playing in it.

Two buddies.  Cracks me up that Smilla squishes herself onto those steps to avoid laying on our hardwood floor.  Poor thing needs a dog bed!  The sweater is one my mom made for my nephew Elias who is now 17.  I have a pile of handed-down knitwear in our closet.  Cool stuff!


She LOVES the snow.  How lucky are we to have found another dog that loves the snow?  She even ran around the yard and lept up into the air to snatch snowflakes out of the sky!


Regin loved being out there too (he's been asking me since then, "Mamma, where's the snow???").  But he had a lot of trouble getting himself up every time he fell down in that chunky snowsuit.


At first I suggested we throw snowballs at each other, but with his aim I knew I would get grumpy with that game fast, so then we teamed up and threw snowballs at Smilla.


We made the beginnings of a snow fort using a bucket to mold the bricks.  We got about three bricks high and 5 or 6 bricks wide before I had to come inside.  My clothes might look warm, but it's all show.  They soaked through and I was growing icicles.  Regin, on the other hand, could not be convinced to come inside without serious bribery.  I need some better snow clothes.  I wonder what I can find for pregnant chicks.

DAY 2
The snow didn't stop all through the second day.  George worked from home that day.  He got some of shots of how thick it was on his iphone.

Those things on the left are our sunflowers.  Never did measure them at full height, but I estimate around 11'-12'.  I think they must have had a good foot of snow on top of each flower.

So much for that snow fort.  Where did it go?


George got to shovel the driveway.

Check out my car!


You can see the rest of our October photos in our October 09 album.

October Photos - Misc

We filled our time with silly things once GEORGE STARTED HIS NEW JOB!!!

One day, I found Regin sitting peacefully in the window sill.  He looked so sweet staring out at the snow.

Turns out...

He was actually looking at and playing with the dead flies in the sill.  Ew, gross! 

I had a crazy day the Friday of George's first week.  I had an INTENSE dizzy spell that continued to get worse even though I laid down on the floor, and I got pouring sweats and chest pain.  So I ended up going to the emergency room.  Dear Teddi came over to make sure I was ok until George made it home from work (I think he was there for about 30 minutes that day!) and he took me.  Since the three of us were recovering from a 'cold' we were asked to wear masks.

Our drive home...

The emergency room doc didn't even want to hear about me talk about a cold.  He immediately corrected me and told me I had the flu.  "The flu?" I asked.
"If you've got flu symptoms right now, it's gotta be the flu.  Swine flu."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"I was wondering since just about everyone I knew got sick at the same time - even all around the country!"
"Yep.  We're seeing around 30 cases a day around here right now."


We got a new sweater from Omma.  Isn't it awesome?


Almost lost it before it was ever worn!  We left it in a diaper bag at a store in Boulder and it was about 3 days before we realized!  Thankfully the store (Ellie's Eco Home Store) held on to it for us.  I was SO relieved!


You can see the rest of our October photos in our October 09 album.

October Photos - Leaf Fight!!!

We went out and played in the leaves.


Uh-oh!  Here he comes!


JUMP!





AAAAHHHHH!


There were lots of lady bugs in the leaves.

 You can see the rest of our October photos in our October 09 album.