Her First Portrait

Natalie's Birth

So, it's about time I posted the birth story, don't you think? It's hard to believe it's been two weeks already! It's really long, so feel free to skip this one, and I tried to keep it as medical as possible, but if you're squeamish about births, again, feel free to skip this one.

November 3:
At about 3:30am, I have my first real contraction...FINALLY!! It's strong enough to wake me up, and I wonder if this could be the day. Contractions keep coming about every 20 minutes, but I doze in between them, and practice my hypnobabies during them. I'm pleased, and relieved, to discover that while using my hypnobabies, I feel the pressure of the contractions, but no pain...it's a good sign!!

James and I talk it over, and decide that he should go to school, and I'll call or text him when things change, and it's time for him to come home. At about 9am, James walks out the door to go to school, and the contractions stop altogether, which really frustrates me. I decide that I need to just relax, so I ask my parents to take the boys out, I text James and ask him to come home, and I listen to the birth day hypnobabies script.

As soon as James walks in the door, the contractions start up again...I guess I just needed him there! :) The contractions start coming about every 10-15 minutes. At 2pm, James and I go to my scheduled weekly appointment with my midwife.

At the appointment, I tell my midwife that I think this could be it, and ask her to check me. She does, and discovers that my cervix is posterior (pointed towards my back). She pulls it forward so that the baby's head is resting on its opening, and I dilate from a 2+ to a 5+ in a matter of a couple of minutes. At that point, the midwife asks if we want to head directly to the birthing room, or if I wanted to go home for a little while and come back later. I tell her that I want to go home for a little bit, and that we'll come back when things pick up a little.

We go home, and the contractions pick up a little - coming about 7 minutes apart, and increasing in intensity...still no pain, though.

At 5:30pm, the contractions start coming 5 minutes apart and I can no longer talk or walk through them. I start using my hypnobabies in earnest at this point, and it works. I feel intense pressure, but no pain. It's an awesome feeling.

At 6pm, I try to call my midwife, but I'm not able to get through. After several tries, I call one of the other midwives. She is able to contact my midwife and explains that her cell service is down...great timing or what?

At 6:30, James and I head to the birthing center. I get settled (no IVs, no hospital gown...awesome!). I have my midwife check me again, and I'm at a 7+, but my cervix is still posterior. A posterior cervix isn't necessarily a problem, but it means that labor can last much longer since the contractions aren't as effective. My midwife pulls my cervix forward again, and holds it in place through several contractions, until I'm almost completely dilated and effaced. I decide that I'd like to go sit in the tub for awhile, and we hope that the cervix will now stay in place and things will move quickly.

To be honest, I don't know how long I sat in the tub, maybe 45 minutes or so. The water was great, and the hypnobabies continued to work beautifully. It was really encouraging when one of the assistant midwives commented that it didn't even look like I was in labor because I was so calm and relaxed.

I should mention, too, that James was awesome. He was so encouraging and supportive, and did his part as the birth partner perfectly - helping me to stay focused and deeply relaxed.

Well, after awhile, I decided to get out of the tub, and laid on the bed. The contractions had really intensified. I felt a lot of powerful pressure, but not what I would call pain. Then my midwife came in, and offered to check my progress. I was disappointed to find out that the cervix was still posterior. It would eventually correct itself, but I could be in for hours of more labor, so I decided to have my midwife pull it forward again, and she would try to slip it over the baby's head to keep it in place.

We did this while sitting on birth stool. At this point, I have to say, I lost my focus. I forgot about all the hypnobabies tools I had learned about and practiced. All I knew was that I couldn't relax while sitting on the birth stool, and those contractions started to hurt. Not only did it feel impossible to relax, but my midwife had me push through non-pushing contractions to try and work the baby's head down enough to slip the cervix over it. That hurt. Tensing up all my muscles to push through those contractions DID. NOT. FEEL. GOOD. But really, I think it was only for two or three contractions. Just when I felt like I couldn't push anymore, all of the sudden I couldn't stop pushing and pushed Natalie out in a matter of seconds. She was born a little after 8pm - not quite two hours after we arrived at the birth center.

After Natalie was born, we moved to the bed to finish things up. Apparently I'm a bleeder...I've bled quite a bit after each of my kids was born. It was no different with Natalie - I was bleeding quite a lot, so my midwife gave me a shot of pit and some other drug that I don't remember the name of. It helped things to really contract down...crisis averted :)

It was the best feeling after Natalie was born. Knowing that James and I did it together, experiencing all of it...it was incredible. I LOVED my experience with using a midwife and a birth center, and with using hypnobabies. It was a much more comfortable way of doing things, and makes me wonder why I didn't do it this way from the start :) If we ever have another baby, I will do it this way again!

After eight hours to recover, we went home. We were excited for the boys to meet their new little sister, so we stayed up until they got up. They LOVE her, and I have a hard time getting them to keep their hands off of her!




The first thing Ethan did when he held Natalie was to start singing to her. Nevermind that it was Darth Vader's death march, it was still sweet.

Justin likes to hold her, too, but he needs a little more supervision, so I don't have a picture of it yet. :)

She's Here!

November 3, 2009
8:10 pm
7 lbs. 1 oz, 20 1/2" long

YAY!!!

Whiling Away the Hours

My friend, Candida, took some pictures for me. She's expecting, too, so I'll be taking some pictures of her in a few weeks. She did an awesome job, and I had fun editing them! Though, I have to say, I don't love being the subject of photos! :) Thanks Candida!

Patience is a Virture...or so I'm Told

Right, any day now :) Just gotta keep watchin', and waitin', on the edge of our seats anticipatin'...
What I could really do without are the dreams that she's half lamb, or a boy, or going to the birth center only to have it be a busy office where no one will help me.

Tick tock , tick tock :)

It Could Happen Any Day, But Probably Won't for Awhile

So, I'm almost 38 weeks, which is a whole week past full term. So, technically, Natalie could make her debut at any moment, any moment. But, probably won't. I tend to have my babies within a day or two of my "guess date" (thank you hypnobabies for the cool new terminology). Even though I've already dropped, I still think it will be a couple of more weeks. I've declined to have my cervix checked this time...unpleasant experience, and tells me nothing, as I usually walk around for a couple of weeks 85% effaced and at a 3.
But, things are looking good. My weight gain has plateaued, she's moving around a lot, and she's in the ideal position for birth.
My only complaint is being super sore in my back and pelvis, especially at night when I have to get up, and in the morning when I wake. I tend to hobble more than walk these days, but it's not too bad.
I'm getting excited to see her, and I'm really looking forward to the birth, but I'm still fine with it being a couple of weeks off. I still have some things that I want to finish before she's born. I'm this close to finishing her blessing dress and blanket, and then I just have a few odds and ends that I'd like to get done if I have the time. I've painted the crib a nice apple green...I know, not everyone's cup of tea, but I LOVE it. I'll post pictures when we get it set up.
I also finally found a bed for Justin on Craigslist today. It wasn't an incredibly amazing deal, but it was pretty good - much cheaper than it was looking like we were going to have to spend. I got the bed, mattress, boxsprings, and bedding for just a little more than I was going to have spend on the mattress alone (the cheapest mattress I could find was $130 at DI), and the best part is, they've all never been used. It's all been sitting in a model home for the last couple of years. Woohoo!! Justin was so proud of himself when I got it all set up. He LOVES it. I just hope that he doesn't fall out!
Anyways, sorry for the rambling post.

PS Pray that Natalie hangs in there for at least one more day :)

Projects Keeping Me Busy

In addition to being school bus extraordinaire, secretary in MBASA, taking weekly hypnobabies classes (with tons of homework!), learning how to do genealogy, and being a wife and mother, I keep busy with creative endeavors. Here's a little of what I've been up to:

I saw a diaper bag in an etsy shop that I really like, but didn't want to spend $50 for it, so I came up with my own using fabric scraps I had. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.


I sewed a pair of blessing shoes that will match Natalie's blessing dress I'm crocheting.


A cute hat to keep Miss Natalie's head warm this winter.


I made a ton of fun, funky nursing pads with more of my fabric scraps. Having sassy nursing pads makes me almost look forward to it!


I made two baby slings as well. One I lined with a microfleece.

And one I lined in regular cotton fabric. These retail for about $40-$60, and I made both of them for about $30.


And, I've been contemplating selling some of the things I make, and this apron is one. It's my own design, including the embroidery and crochet flowers. I'm happy with it!
You gotta have some apron bling! (the rhinestone button).

I also made a butterfly wall hanging for Natalie's room, a hooded towel (actually 4 hooded towels because I made one for each of the boys, too), and I'm working on crocheting her blessing dress, crocheting her blanket, embroidering some muslin swaddling blankets I made, and spray painting a crib that some nice people in our ward gave us. Which is why I can really wait for Natalie to be born. I have a lot to do before she comes, so wish me luck!!

Matthew's First Day of School...One Month Late

Let's see, we moved back into our rental house on the night of August 25, Matthew started school on August 27, and we've haven't had much of a chance to catch our breath since! (Hence the silence in the bloggersphere)

This is Matthew on the first day of school. He was so excited to finally be able to go, and had been counting down the days all summer. I fully expected to be one of those moms that was bawling when I dropped him off. Not because three hours a day is too long to be separated, but because it's an end of an era for our family. We're no longer totally free - we're tied to the school schedule for the foreseeable future. That, and all I could think was that I had five whole years of him at home, to mold and shape into the kind of little person I wanted him to be...and did I use that time to the fullest? The answer to that question is no, hence the crying whenever I would think about it.
However, the day came, and no tears - they threatened, but I kept them at bay...until it was time to leave. Ethan said "Matthew, it's time to leave, let's go get in the car." To which Matthew responded, "Nope, I'm staying here, you get to go home." The look of shock and horror on Ethan's face would be enough to break anyone's heart. But then he started crying - pure devastation in the form of liquid sorrow. It was too much, my resolve broke, and I started crying, too.
To re-cap: Matthew loves school. Ethan is totally bored while Matthew is at school.
Matthew's awesome *new* school shoes. He loves them because they look just like his dad's and uncle Brett's. I love them because I bought them for $5 (that's right, real adidas for $5) on ebay. Awesome.

*they're used, but I have a great recipe to clean dirty tennis shoes in the washing machine, and new shoelaces make a world of difference.