Avery's Birth Day

Yes, I am a slacker. I had Avery 11 days ago, and I am just now getting around to updating my blog. But hey, in my defense, I had a baby 11 days ago, so life has been a bit busier than usual. Here is the story of her birth along with some pics.

I started having some contractions around 9pm on Friday the 15th. Nothing too intense, so I thought they were just more Braxton Hicks. I was tired and decided to lay in bed and watch TV at around 10. Contractions were still coming, but they weren't that bad. At about 10:40, I felt a pop. I knew it was different than anything I had felt before. I laid there for a couple more minutes and stood up. Water just poured out. I called for Rob and he was able to come in and get a towel underneath me before I had the chance to ruin our carpet. He started to get a little frantic as I stood there laughing at him, pouring water out. We called my parents because they were coming to stay with Will since he was sleeping. The midwife had told me on Thursday that as long as I was at the hospital within a couple of hours, it should be fine. (I had tested positive for Strep B and would need antibiotics administered during the course of my labor.) My parents left right away and live an hour from our place.

As soon as my water broke, I started having pretty strong contractions. I bounced around on my birthing ball, put my relaxation scripts on my IPod and got into hypnosis. I felt really good then. Lots of pressure, but no pain at all.

When my parents arrived at our house, we left and headed to the hospital. We did have to turn the car around and come back to the house after we got about a mile down the road, because we realized that after all that packing we had done, we actually forgot to put the suitcase in the car. Nice. At this point, my contractions were every 3 to 4 minutes apart and getting stronger. While in the car, I continued listening to my scripts and turning myself to the"off" position (a Hypnobabies practice). We arrived at the hospital and got checked in. All the rooms were full and they were cleaning the room that I would be in, so they asked us to wait in the waiting room for a while. The nurse didn't think I was very far along anyway because I was so calm going through the contractions. She estimated me to be about 2 centimeters just from watching me go through a contraction. When we got into the room at 1am (about 5 minutes later), the midwife checked me and was pretty surprised to find out that I was at 6 and most likely in transition. My contractions were now every 2 minutes apart, but I was still able to stay in the groove of my hypnosis, which helped me so much. Rob and our doula were wonderful too, and I couldn't have done it without them. They were talking me through each contraction, encouraging me and using cue words from Hypnobabies to trigger me to relax. I labored mostly on my knees, on the bed with my arms draped over the top because that position felt best. I also had the doula putting a lot of counter pressure on my back. I didn't realize how hard I was having her do it, but after Avery was born, she said, "Man, I bet your back is going to be sore tomorrow. You kept telling me to press harder and harder." I guess she was right because I actually had some bruising on my lower back the next day from it.

Because I was able to stay so calm, the labor progressed quickly. I was breathing deeply through each contraction, making low tone sounds and keeping my jaw loose to help open me up. I asked if they would check me again at almost 3am and I was at 9 centimeters.

At 3:40, I felt my body starting to push by itself which was a crazy feeling, because I wasn't initiating the pushing, my body was just doing it on it's own. The midwife checked me and said I was complete and could push when I wanted with my next contraction. The pushing felt SO good. It was like a huge release. I was on all fours pushing and got her worked down pretty far. Then I went into a squatting position and pushed some more. My legs were pretty shaky, so I had to move from that position pretty quickly. When she started to crown, I got on my back, pulled my legs out and pushed her the rest of the way out in that position. I was still using my hypnosis and cues, so I never felt the "ring of fire," though I did have a small tear that required 2 stitches.

Avery Wynn was born at 4:26am after being in my hospital room for less than 3 & 1/2 hours. She immediately latched on to my breast and nursed for about 45 minutes. About an hour after she was born, they weighed and measured her while I went to the bathroom for the first time. OUCH! She weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and is 20 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair and has stolen our hearts already. Here we are 11 days later and I still can't stop staring at her. She's so alert and calm (most of the time). She's amazing.

After the delivery, the nurse kept going on and on about how she has never been a part of one like that before. It was fairly quiet, really calm and relaxing. No yelling, screaming or cussing. haha She couldn't believe how well my hypnosis worked and said she was bragging to all the other nurses about it. It just so happened to be her birthday too, which was pretty cool.

I had the "natural childbirth high" that I kept hearing about after my delivery and I never expected it to be that intense. The nurse told me that the adrenaline was coming, but WOW. I had so much energy and adrenaline pulsing through my body that my teeth were literally chattering and my whole body was just shaking like a leaf. I was sitting on the toilet and my knees were knocking together. Crazy stuff! I only slept 2 hours in about a 40 hour time span and I didn't feel tired at all. I was so happy and awake. Our bodies are really amazing.

We brought our girl home on Monday, and have since been adjusting to life as a family of four. She eats well, sleeps a lot (until the middle of the night rolls around) and has captured all of our hearts. Before I had her, I couldn't imagine how our lives would be once she arrived. Now, I can't imagine life without her. It's like she has always been here as part of our family. Will loves her and is such an awesome big brother already. He has adjusted to her beautifully, and though I didn't think it was possible, I love him more now that I have her. I love her. I love my family. I'm tired. I'm a little sore still. I'm not as clean and put together as I would like to be, but I couldn't be happier.





Till next time,
L

Christmas 2009

After a brief set back with our memory card, I finally got all of our Christmas photos uploaded. Then I looked through them all and realized, "Hey, not too many good pictures from Christmas this year." This is good and bad, I guess. Bad because, not too many good pictures from Christmas this year. Good because, well, we were having too much fun together and enjoying our time with each other to take good pictures. Here are a some that I managed to round up though. Enjoy!

Making Christmas cookies at GrandMomma and GrandDaddy's

There was A LOT of gift opening involved

Christmas Morning...more gifts

And let's not forget about the stocking. Because if you ask Will what he got for Christmas, out of all those expensive presents, the thing he remembers most is "CANDY CANES!!"

Discovering the fish tank that Daddy got him, nicely hid away in Mommy's messy closet

One of his favorite gifts, a real train! Thanks, Grandma!

And, of course, the good ol' clothes handoff. Every kid does it. Rip into present, see clothes, throw them in Mommy's direction.

Hope your Christmas was as memorable as ours was!
L

More Love

I laid across from him in his big boy bed. It was so dark, I couldn't see him, but I could feel his tiny little hand as he stroked my arm trying to get to sleep. It was still and quiet, the only sound was the soothing hum of the fish tank that Daddy bought him for Christmas. Then he broke the silence.

"I love you, Mommy" out of the blue. There is no feeling better than that one. None. My heart immediately melted into a million pieces just like it does every other time he says those words.

"I love you too, buddy."

Silence again.

We don't make a habit out of laying with him to get him to sleep, but he had been really sick that night and he needed me there. And as sad as it made me that he wasn't feeling good, I really needed him at that moment too. I started thinking about how he would only be my "only" for a while longer. How that very soon there would be someone else to lay across from and care for when she's sick.

"How will I ever love another one as much as I do you?" I said it so loud inside my head that it might as well have been out loud. This is something that I have struggled with since finding out I was pregnant again. It has grown lately since I'm so close to holding another baby. Then almost as though he sensed it, Will said "Sis can come out now, Mommy. She's bigger."

Tears burned my eyes wondering how on earth my heart will ever hold enough love for the both of them.

I still don't know, but I hope to find out soon.

Thirty Nine Weeks

39 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Only 5 more days to go until my guess date. All I can really say at this point is, I'm ready. I'm ready for the labor and ready to meet my baby. I don't want to be pregnant anymore. This has been a long and exciting ride, and I'm anxious for it to come to an end and move to the next chapter of our lives. I had been experiencing a lot of Braxton Hicks in the past few weeks, but they have completely come to a stop, and I feel a bit like my body is stalling. I felt like I was making some progress, and now, it's as though nothing is happening down there. Who knows. It's all a waiting game at this point. I'm just trying to be patient and know that she'll come when she's ready.

And here's the email for week 39...

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Well, it's finally here. Drumroll, please for the....mini watermelon. I feel more like I'm carrying an extra large watermelon right now, but whatever. What do you think next week's fruit or vegetable is going to be? I don't want to be around to find out. Hopefully I'll have a baby in my arms before then.



L

P.S. We had some major technical difficulties with our memory card this weekend. I stuck it in our computer to download the Christmas pictures and nothing happened. Talk about a freak out. Rob worked on it last night though, finally found the problem, and got them uploaded. Whew!! I'll post them tomorrow.

Thirty Eight Weeks

38 weeks and 3 days pregnant. And yes, I'm going to get technical about it because once you enter those last couple weeks, EVERY DAY COUNTS. I have 11 days until my due (ahem, guess date) and I'm getting anxious to say the least. Will arrived 10 days before his guess date, so my prediction that this little girl is going to be a stubborn one is holding up pretty well at this point. Typically, second pregnancies are shorter than firsts on average by about 5 or 6 days, but that has not held true for this pregnancy.

Let me just say this, I loved being pregnant. Loved it and enjoyed it for about the first 8.78 months. Now that I am at the end, I just want it to be over. All my shirts are getting too short because my stomach is growing straight out at this point, so I spend all day pulling my shirts down and my pants up. And don't even get me started on maternity jeans. They are from the devil. No, literally, when I squeeze them on in the morning, I envision Satan's little minions lined up at sewing machines, flames shooting out around them, stitching the God awful elastic bands onto maternity jeans. I hate them. I really, really hate them. I can't wait to pack them all up in a box and banish them to the attic once this is all said and done. The going to the bathroom in the middle of the night is out of control as well. I'm just to 5 or 6 times every night, so I wake in the morning feeling like I've been in some kind of choppy dream haze. And then I'm ready for a nap in about an hour and a half.

***Men, don't read this next part. Because it's disgusting. And it will gross you out. And you may stop wanting to procreate all together. And that just wouldn't be good for the human race. You've been warned.***

Okay, now that all the guys are gone, what is up with the discharge!? I mean, buckets of it. That's all I'm going to say about that. Oh, and I can't shave down there. In that area. I think it might have something to do with there being a big ol' giant belly in the way and not being able to see that area. It's like throwing a dart in the dark. Pretty pitiful, really.

Now on to much more jolly news. The good thing about keeping Avery on the inside is that she matures and gets stronger all the time. So, I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Bad mommy!

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)



It's funny that they are still using length on these comparisons, because lately Will has been telling me that Sis can't come out yet because she isn't tall enough. He'll stretch his little hand far above his head and say, "She has to be THIIIIIS tall to come out, Mommy." Great, so I'm going to give birth to a toddler! However, just yesterday, he informed me that "Sis is taller now, Mommy. She can come out." Thank God! I hope she heard him in there. Though he's also been getting up to my stomach and saying, "Come out Sis so we can play trucks!" I don't have the heart to tell him that it might be a while before she's running around the floor with him.



Hopefully there will be a baby before next week's update. PLEASE!

L

P.S. I know I said that I would get a Christmas update on the site last week and I didn't do it. I've been a bit preoccupied to say the least. I will get it done in the next couple of days though. Cross my heart!