Today Josiah is 2 weeks old! =) Today Kaylee started first grade. Today Brian went back to work. Today has been...stressful!!
This isn't going to be a post completely full of complaining...but it may seem like it. ;) My morning was so bad that I came home and had to sit down and smile because I know that THIS is reality. Believe it or not, God has a purpose in my bad morning, and I made it out alive. =)
So first things first, I'm up every 2-3 hours feeding a newborn. Last night was a good night, and I got to sleep for 2 1/2 hours twice! Everybody was awake by 7 am, which worked out because I had to take Josiah to the doctor. Or so I thought. We get up and eat, and I get everyone ready with about 30 minutes to spare, so we started on school. I left the house thinking "Oh yeah, I got this, it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be". Then we got to the Dr office and after signing in I realize that my appointment isn't this Monday, but NEXT Monday! Great, I've made a trip across town for nothing. It is NOT easy loading and unloading 3 kids, especially when one of them is a newborn. I didn't want to waste the trip, so I decided to go ahead and do Josiah's pku at the next plaza over. So we get all the paperwork done for that and I'm waiting to be called back when Kaylee starts pushing on her brother and fighting over the toy tables in the waiting area. Sometimes I wonder if she didn't successfully make it out of the terrible twos. ;) So she is in time out beside me and I hear Josiah make a poopy diaper. I thought, "No big deal, I'll just change him when they call me back". They called me back a few minutes later, and as I was taking him out of the car seat I realize that the poop is running down his leg, and is now all over my shirt!! I go to grab the wipes out of the diaper bag only to realize that someone had taken them out. So poop is everywhere and I have no wipes. I wrap a burp cloth around him so she can go ahead and stick his heel so I can get him cleaned up. I tell Kaylee and Bubba to sit down in the chair so they aren't in the way, and of course that means push each other and fight like crazy. It took forever for her to finish the pku (or so it seemed, probably because I was stressed). I wet some paper towels, and strip him down and clean him up. I asked Kaylee to hand me the bags for dirty diapers and somehow when she was putting it back it opened and the roll of bags went across the floor, so I had to roll it back up to put it back in the bag. Meanwhile, the lady is standing outside the room waiting to call the next person. I get everything cleaned up and ready to go and head to the car. Kaylee helped me by buckling Bubba up, but she accidentally pulled the seat belt too far and it locked. As I'm driving off Bubba starts freaking out about it. I told him that I wasn't going to pull over, so he would just have to wait a few minutes until we were home. Josiah decided he was hungry, so he screamed most of the car ride home too. As I'm driving home feeling like my head is going to explode with 2 screaming kids in the back, I stop and realize, THIS is real life. These moments matter. Having multiple kids is not always easy, and it is not always pretty. Somehow, you survive though, and ultimately enjoy it. So we get home and I go to take Josiah out of the car seat only to realize that he had pooped all in his car seat too! So I had to change him and clean him up again, pretreat all of the clothes that had poop on it, change my own clothes and clean up, and start back school with Kaylee. Then, Bubba pooped in his underwear. He wasn't feeling well yesterday, and had a bit of diarrhea, so today it wasn't a lot better. I think I've reached my max on cleaning up poop today. But, we got almost through all of Kaylee's work for today. She enjoyed it, and I did too! Lord willing, tomorrow will be less stressful. If not, I know Gods grace is sufficient, and He will get me through. When we attended the homeschooling conference last month we listened to a speaker named Todd Wilson. One thing he pointed out was that Jesus said in Matthew 11:30 "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light". We need not stress out or think things are impossible. That has really stuck with me. This morning may have been rough, but I'm thankful still.
On to happier news, I'll update on Josiah. We took him on Friday the 12th to the doctor and he weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. He had gained 10 oz since we left the hospital on Tuesday evening, which is a good thing. He had a little bit of jaundice, but she said as long as he was feeding and pooping well, it didn't need to be treated. He has been doing great! The first few nights he slept 4-5 hours at a time. That quickly wore off and he has been waking me up every 2 hours pretty consistently. After feeding and changing him, that only leaves about an hour and a half before he is awake again. Somehow I still have energy to get through the day...that is obviously a God thing! He doesn't cry as soon as he is hungry, he will root around for awhile, whimper a bit, and give you plenty of warning before he lets out a full on cry. He is already a Momma's boy. He almost never poops in a wet diaper. He waits until we change it and poops almost immediately after we get a clean one on. He sleeps through the chaos and noise of our house, I guess he is used to it now. ;) He is a sweet, sweet baby and I am so very thankful for him!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
C-section or Natural?
A few people have asked me which I would prefer, a c-section or natural birth. Of course, I would prefer natural birth. Don't get me wrong, it has it's own pain to recover from, but I would still take a natural delivery over a c-section any day. With my first c-section, I was in a great deal of pain afterward and took a good 6 weeks to recover. I was so drugged up when Kaylee was born that I can hardly recall seeing her for the first time. I don't even think I was awake in our first "family photo". They whisked her away and 4 hours later I could see her again. I wanted to nurse her but I couldn't even move because of the pain. Recovery was slow and awful.
With my second c-section, which was a planned c-section, I had virtually no pain afterward. In fact, I came home from the hospital on a Saturday and did a load of laundry. I remember being disappointed that Brian wouldn't let me go to church that Sunday. The birth, however, was probably one of the scariest times of my life. The spinal didn't take, and I could feel the doctor start cutting me open. I hadn't found out the sex of the baby before hand because I wanted to have some sort of special moment during his birth. Little did I know they would have to put me to sleep, and again, I would be the last to see my baby, and the last to know the sex. I had to view pictures of him before I ever met him because, again, they took him for 4 hours before I could even see him. I was pretty much heart broken.
This time I was the first hold my baby. I was the first one to feed him. Brian and I got to spend precious moments with our baby before the nurses took him away and cleaned him up, and even before family came in. The experience was indescribable. I am in pure awe of God's handiwork. While I'm holding my baby I think about how he, just a little over a week ago, was curled up inside of my tiny abdomen. How God has designed a woman's body to carry a child, and then give birth, it is a beautiful experience. Only a Perfect, Holy God could create something so beautiful.
I am thankful for all of my babies, and their births. I am thankful for my c-sections because they have made me appreciate the beauty of natural birth that much more. I am thankful for doctors and technology that when things go wrong, they no longer have to choose the mother or child's life, but through a c-section can most times save both. But I'm thankful as well for the beauty of giving birth without a scalpel. Given the opportunity, I'd gladly choose a natural birth any day.
With my second c-section, which was a planned c-section, I had virtually no pain afterward. In fact, I came home from the hospital on a Saturday and did a load of laundry. I remember being disappointed that Brian wouldn't let me go to church that Sunday. The birth, however, was probably one of the scariest times of my life. The spinal didn't take, and I could feel the doctor start cutting me open. I hadn't found out the sex of the baby before hand because I wanted to have some sort of special moment during his birth. Little did I know they would have to put me to sleep, and again, I would be the last to see my baby, and the last to know the sex. I had to view pictures of him before I ever met him because, again, they took him for 4 hours before I could even see him. I was pretty much heart broken.
This time I was the first hold my baby. I was the first one to feed him. Brian and I got to spend precious moments with our baby before the nurses took him away and cleaned him up, and even before family came in. The experience was indescribable. I am in pure awe of God's handiwork. While I'm holding my baby I think about how he, just a little over a week ago, was curled up inside of my tiny abdomen. How God has designed a woman's body to carry a child, and then give birth, it is a beautiful experience. Only a Perfect, Holy God could create something so beautiful.
I am thankful for all of my babies, and their births. I am thankful for my c-sections because they have made me appreciate the beauty of natural birth that much more. I am thankful for doctors and technology that when things go wrong, they no longer have to choose the mother or child's life, but through a c-section can most times save both. But I'm thankful as well for the beauty of giving birth without a scalpel. Given the opportunity, I'd gladly choose a natural birth any day.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
This is the story of the birth of my son, sparing some of the details that you just don't need to know. ;) Be warned, however, that it IS a birth story, so proceed with caution.
I've had 2 c-sections with my other children. One in 2006, and one in 2008. My first c-section was the result of a doctor who was impatient to allow my body to do what it was designed to do. I've felt for 5 years now that his practices were wrong, and had I labored naturally, I would have progressed just fine. However, as part of inducing me, he immediately broke my water, putting us all on a time limit to give birth. My second c-section was scheduled because my due date had arrived, and baby was transverse and not dropping.
This time around I really wanted to try a vbac again. It isn't common that one would be able to do this, so I was pretty excited to find a doctor who would be willing to allow me to try. He told me that my bone structure was too small, and he didn't think I would go into labor, nor would I progress. But, if I did go into labor, we could try. I spent the last month of my pregnancy doing nearly everything I could to help this baby come out. I had started to dialate a tiny bit at around 37 weeks, and had braxton hicks like crazy on a daily basis. As I went for my last couple of check ups, I became increasingly frustrated that NOTHING had changed. I had a c-section scheduled for August 9th at 7:30 am if I didn't go into labor by then. I even tried to get him to strip my membranes, but I wasn't progressed enough. I left the doctors office on Friday thinking I'd never get to experience natural labor. Although I was sad, I had accepted it, and decided to enjoy my last few days of pregnancy without trying to make him come out. Another c-section was my fate, and I had accepted it. We had a busy weekend, and I did nothing extra that I had been doing. No extra walking, no natural herbs, no disgusting tea. ;) Sunday night we went to bed around 10. I woke up at midnight thinking I had just peed on myself a little. It wasn't a lot, so I thought the baby just kicked my bladder or something. I went potty and felt another little gush...but still didn't know what to think. I waited awhile to make sure I had an empty bladder, and returned to bed. As soon as I got to the bed, another little gush. I woke Brian up and told him I thought my water was breaking. I got up and put on a pad, and figured I'd go back to sleep until I started having contractions. Of course, as soon as we laid back down, they started. I thought, "Maybe I should time these" so I got my pen and paper. Of course, I remembered a few things I needed to pack up before we left for the hospital, so I got sidetracked on timing contractions and started rounding up last minute things. Then, I thought, "Maybe I need to go in now, since my water broke. Maybe I should call the hospital and see what they say". So I did, and they told me to come in. I'm in shock as I realize that I am going to have a baby, one way or another. We round everything up, call my Mom, and drop the kids off at her house. We arrive at the hospital and walk up to the main entrance, only to realize that they lock the doors after hours and we would now need to walk through the emergency room. When we got in there, they insisted on putting me in a wheelchair to get to labor and delivery. I wasn't contracting much at all, so I tried to avoid it, but the lady said she didn't want the baby "sliding out" as I walked. So I get in and the nurse in triage says "I'm going to check and see if your water did actually break. Do you think maybe you just peed on yourself?" I informed her that there was absolutely no doubt it was my water breaking because I was soaked. She went to check me and quickly realized that my water indeed did break. She asked if I was having a repeat c-section and I told her no, we were trying vbac. She asked who my doctor was and when I told her, she was shocked. She said he almost never does vbacs. When she found out that I had 2 previous c-sections, she was even more shocked. She said no doctor around her would even attempt that. I knew my rights, I knew the risks, and my doctor had already agreed, so I was going for a vbac. She was very supportive and helpful, even though my doctor wasn't very happy with me. She checked me and I was only dialated at 1. She wanted to give me a fighting chance at vbac, so she stretched my cervix to 2 and 1/2, bringing on the contractions strong and hard. That was pretty painful. They said they wanted me to get an epidural since the risk of uterine rupture was higher, so that they would be ready to wheel me into emergency c-section if need be. I am SO thankful for that, because the contractions were killer. I got the epidural around 5 am, and was dialated 3 1/2 then. I was worried that the epidural would stall my labor, and ruin my chance for a vbac, but I knew that it was a life threatening situation if my uterus ruptured, and it was best to be prepared for emergency c-section. The doctor came in at 7, clearly agitated, thinking I hadn't progressed any. He checked me and I was between 5 and 6. My daytime nurse came in and introduced herself and asked if she could pray with me. That was so special to me, more than words could express. God's hands were obviously all over this process, and this woman was just another reassurance of that. She got her prayer partner, who would end up being my nurse for the majority of my stay, and they prayed for me. I was quite humbled by that. She turned me on my side, set pillows up between my legs and behind my back, and left. 30 minutes later she came back and checked me and I was at 9 1/2. I have probably never been more excited in my whole life. Finally, this thing looked possible!! I might ACTUALLY get to have a vaginal delivery like I had been wanting for 5 years! She told me that she didn't want me pushing much, so we were going to let the contractions push the baby down until she could see hair. I was nervous, Brian was petrified, but we were both so excited. I labored for another hour and a half. It wasn't too bad because I had an epidural, but the contractions started getting worse and worse as he was moving down. Dr came in and checked me at 9, not thinking I was progressed very far, only to realize the head was visible! The nurse said she wanted me to wait about 15 more minutes before I started pushing. She had me do a few practice pushes, and said I was ready. So at 9:15 she did a few pushes with me, trying to stretch me to avoid an episiotomy. I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out I was pushing so hard. She told me to stop pushing till the Dr came in, and a few minutes later we started again. I pushed a few more times, Dr had to cut me, and Josiah was here!! I can't describe the feeling I felt when they put him on my chest, but I don't think I could have possibly smiled any bigger. The doctor stitched me up, and we were left to spend time with our little man. I left a few things out, and don't want to go back and edit, so I'm just going to add them here.
While putting in the iv, the nurse messed up on the first one. She didn't want it to blow out, so she was holding that one while trying to insert another one. I had a contraction as she was trying to tape the new one, and it apparently caused the first iv to blow out and squirt blood everywhere. Brian was not happy with that, he was annoyed that they didn't do it right, and the sight of the blood made him have to go sit down.
I got to feel Josiah's head as it was coming out. Brian thought this was totally gross, but I thought it was pretty amazing.
The nurse told me signs of uterine rupture to watch out for, mainly unexplained pain and bleeding. As Brian would help me flip over, he noticed a little blood on the towel. I couldn't see it to know if it was normal, so he called the nurse. She said it was normal. About 30 minutes later when I flipped again, he got all worried again, but decided not to call the nurse this time. He was SO concerned the whole time, it was very sweet to watch.
As I was pushing, I remember looking at Brian and thinking "Could you please not look so disgusted as I'm giving birth to our child!" lol! I'm not sure if I said it out loud or not, but I definitely thought it.
It was an amazing experience! I may update with more details as I remember, but that is all for now.
I've had 2 c-sections with my other children. One in 2006, and one in 2008. My first c-section was the result of a doctor who was impatient to allow my body to do what it was designed to do. I've felt for 5 years now that his practices were wrong, and had I labored naturally, I would have progressed just fine. However, as part of inducing me, he immediately broke my water, putting us all on a time limit to give birth. My second c-section was scheduled because my due date had arrived, and baby was transverse and not dropping.
This time around I really wanted to try a vbac again. It isn't common that one would be able to do this, so I was pretty excited to find a doctor who would be willing to allow me to try. He told me that my bone structure was too small, and he didn't think I would go into labor, nor would I progress. But, if I did go into labor, we could try. I spent the last month of my pregnancy doing nearly everything I could to help this baby come out. I had started to dialate a tiny bit at around 37 weeks, and had braxton hicks like crazy on a daily basis. As I went for my last couple of check ups, I became increasingly frustrated that NOTHING had changed. I had a c-section scheduled for August 9th at 7:30 am if I didn't go into labor by then. I even tried to get him to strip my membranes, but I wasn't progressed enough. I left the doctors office on Friday thinking I'd never get to experience natural labor. Although I was sad, I had accepted it, and decided to enjoy my last few days of pregnancy without trying to make him come out. Another c-section was my fate, and I had accepted it. We had a busy weekend, and I did nothing extra that I had been doing. No extra walking, no natural herbs, no disgusting tea. ;) Sunday night we went to bed around 10. I woke up at midnight thinking I had just peed on myself a little. It wasn't a lot, so I thought the baby just kicked my bladder or something. I went potty and felt another little gush...but still didn't know what to think. I waited awhile to make sure I had an empty bladder, and returned to bed. As soon as I got to the bed, another little gush. I woke Brian up and told him I thought my water was breaking. I got up and put on a pad, and figured I'd go back to sleep until I started having contractions. Of course, as soon as we laid back down, they started. I thought, "Maybe I should time these" so I got my pen and paper. Of course, I remembered a few things I needed to pack up before we left for the hospital, so I got sidetracked on timing contractions and started rounding up last minute things. Then, I thought, "Maybe I need to go in now, since my water broke. Maybe I should call the hospital and see what they say". So I did, and they told me to come in. I'm in shock as I realize that I am going to have a baby, one way or another. We round everything up, call my Mom, and drop the kids off at her house. We arrive at the hospital and walk up to the main entrance, only to realize that they lock the doors after hours and we would now need to walk through the emergency room. When we got in there, they insisted on putting me in a wheelchair to get to labor and delivery. I wasn't contracting much at all, so I tried to avoid it, but the lady said she didn't want the baby "sliding out" as I walked. So I get in and the nurse in triage says "I'm going to check and see if your water did actually break. Do you think maybe you just peed on yourself?" I informed her that there was absolutely no doubt it was my water breaking because I was soaked. She went to check me and quickly realized that my water indeed did break. She asked if I was having a repeat c-section and I told her no, we were trying vbac. She asked who my doctor was and when I told her, she was shocked. She said he almost never does vbacs. When she found out that I had 2 previous c-sections, she was even more shocked. She said no doctor around her would even attempt that. I knew my rights, I knew the risks, and my doctor had already agreed, so I was going for a vbac. She was very supportive and helpful, even though my doctor wasn't very happy with me. She checked me and I was only dialated at 1. She wanted to give me a fighting chance at vbac, so she stretched my cervix to 2 and 1/2, bringing on the contractions strong and hard. That was pretty painful. They said they wanted me to get an epidural since the risk of uterine rupture was higher, so that they would be ready to wheel me into emergency c-section if need be. I am SO thankful for that, because the contractions were killer. I got the epidural around 5 am, and was dialated 3 1/2 then. I was worried that the epidural would stall my labor, and ruin my chance for a vbac, but I knew that it was a life threatening situation if my uterus ruptured, and it was best to be prepared for emergency c-section. The doctor came in at 7, clearly agitated, thinking I hadn't progressed any. He checked me and I was between 5 and 6. My daytime nurse came in and introduced herself and asked if she could pray with me. That was so special to me, more than words could express. God's hands were obviously all over this process, and this woman was just another reassurance of that. She got her prayer partner, who would end up being my nurse for the majority of my stay, and they prayed for me. I was quite humbled by that. She turned me on my side, set pillows up between my legs and behind my back, and left. 30 minutes later she came back and checked me and I was at 9 1/2. I have probably never been more excited in my whole life. Finally, this thing looked possible!! I might ACTUALLY get to have a vaginal delivery like I had been wanting for 5 years! She told me that she didn't want me pushing much, so we were going to let the contractions push the baby down until she could see hair. I was nervous, Brian was petrified, but we were both so excited. I labored for another hour and a half. It wasn't too bad because I had an epidural, but the contractions started getting worse and worse as he was moving down. Dr came in and checked me at 9, not thinking I was progressed very far, only to realize the head was visible! The nurse said she wanted me to wait about 15 more minutes before I started pushing. She had me do a few practice pushes, and said I was ready. So at 9:15 she did a few pushes with me, trying to stretch me to avoid an episiotomy. I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out I was pushing so hard. She told me to stop pushing till the Dr came in, and a few minutes later we started again. I pushed a few more times, Dr had to cut me, and Josiah was here!! I can't describe the feeling I felt when they put him on my chest, but I don't think I could have possibly smiled any bigger. The doctor stitched me up, and we were left to spend time with our little man. I left a few things out, and don't want to go back and edit, so I'm just going to add them here.
While putting in the iv, the nurse messed up on the first one. She didn't want it to blow out, so she was holding that one while trying to insert another one. I had a contraction as she was trying to tape the new one, and it apparently caused the first iv to blow out and squirt blood everywhere. Brian was not happy with that, he was annoyed that they didn't do it right, and the sight of the blood made him have to go sit down.
I got to feel Josiah's head as it was coming out. Brian thought this was totally gross, but I thought it was pretty amazing.
The nurse told me signs of uterine rupture to watch out for, mainly unexplained pain and bleeding. As Brian would help me flip over, he noticed a little blood on the towel. I couldn't see it to know if it was normal, so he called the nurse. She said it was normal. About 30 minutes later when I flipped again, he got all worried again, but decided not to call the nurse this time. He was SO concerned the whole time, it was very sweet to watch.
As I was pushing, I remember looking at Brian and thinking "Could you please not look so disgusted as I'm giving birth to our child!" lol! I'm not sure if I said it out loud or not, but I definitely thought it.
It was an amazing experience! I may update with more details as I remember, but that is all for now.
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| Just got the news that he will soon arrive! |
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| I was beyond happy to see him! |
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| Daddy holding him for the first time |
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| So in love! |
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