August 2010 Lil' Sunshines Arrivals and Birth Stories

This thread is for the arrivals, birth stories, and pictures of our Lil' Sunshines! Please DO NOT comment unless posting your birth story or adding pics! And please TURN OFF all siggies so it stays unclogged for pictures! I'll try to add your babies as you post their stories and info, but please PM me to be sure that I get you added to the list :)

Gender Count:
22 Girls
32 Boys

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June 16, 2010
Rhys (RhysesPieces)-Natalia Cassidy was born at 12:53 AM; 1 lb 10 oz; 12 in; 31 weeks

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July 16, 2010
(stars101) - Mason Adam - born July 16th, 5 lb 13 oz, 18 1/2", 35 weeks 5 days

July 17, 2010
Meredith (Smileymere)-Logan Roy was born at 6:25 PM; 5 lbs 7 oz; 18 in; 35 weeks

July 20, 2010
Nichole (NicholeC)-Cooper Riley Tj was born at 2:30 PM; 6 lbs 7oz; 19 1/2 in; 38 weeks 4 days
Carisa (carisathedreamer)-Clara Ivy was born at 3:01 PM; 8 lbs 3 oz; 37 weeks 6 days

July 23, 2010
Holly ( Holly_Anne618 )-Cameron Keith was born at 8:10 AM; 7 lbs 9.5 oz; 20.5 in; 39 weeks
Elizabeth (menaparker)-Isleia Michelle was born at 4:21 PM; 6 lbs 2 oz; 18 in; 36 weeks 4 days
Tabitha (MommyEdison)-Jayden Alexander was born at 10:45 PM; 5 lbs 9.5 oz; 18 in; 39 weeks 3 days

July 25, 2010
Beth (mrs.doolittle)-Nash Irby was born at 8:34 PM; 7 lbs. 11.5 oz; 21 in; 37 weeks 4 days

July 26, 2010
Karen (Karen0622)-Ryan David was born at 10:15 PM; 8 lbs 3 oz; 19.5 in; 39 weeks 1 day

July 27, 2010
Lori (LoriLoo)-Simon Atticus was born at 2:00 AM; 8 lbs 9 oz; 39 weeks 2 days

July 29, 2010
Amy (mamato6)-Jacob Michael was born at 2:09 AM; 8 lbs 1 oz; 20 in; 38 weeks 3 days
Mari (MRC_DAS)- Dennis John (DJ) was born at 5:43 AM; 7 lbs 14 oz; 38 weeks 2 days

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August 1, 2010
Jessica (overtherainbow)-Noah Matthew Adams was born at 12:24AM; 8lbs. 6oz.; 19 1/2 inches ; 39 weeks

August 2, 2010
Cameron (babyprayers)-Chandler Scott was born at 8:21 PM; 5 lbs 10 oz; 18 in; 36 weeks 3 days

August 3, 2010
Mandy (aphart0)-DJ was born at 3:38 PM; 8 lbs 12.6 oz; 20.5 in; 40 weeks 1 day

August 4, 2010
Mandy (mandyt)-Grayson Tyler was born at 10:50 PM; 7 lbs; 18 in; 36 weeks 4 days

August 6, 2010
Jess (WaitingforCharlie)-Samuel Lucas; 7 lbs; 38 weeks 2 days
Phawn (PokeyPoke)-Hugo Forrest was born at 7:59 AM; 8 lbs 6 oz; 20 in

August 7, 2010
Susan (shuzie)-Treyson Mark was born at 3:45 AM; 6 lbs 13 oz; 37 weeks 2 days

August 9, 2010
Kristin (kristin21906)-Lyla Jean was born at 5:52 AM; 7 lbs 15 oz; 19 in; 38 weeks 6 days
Krista-Annabelle Claire was born at 10:24 PM; 9 lbs 6 oz; 20 in

August 10, 2010
Jill (tobben15)-Jospeh Alan was born at 6:00 PM; 7 lbs 6 oz; 20.5 in; 40 weeks
Crystal (cryssyk)-Westley; 8 lbs 5 oz; 20.5 in; 39 weeks 1 day

August 11, 2010
Colleen (toothy35)-Jack was born at 8:30 PM; 8 lbs 1.3 oz, 20 in; 39 weeks 5 days

August 12, 2010
Jen (serwachic) Cohen Bennett was born at 7:10 AM; 8 lbs 6 oz; 21 in; 40 weeks 1 day
Marcie (moosie)-Liam Fuata was born at 8:23 AM; 8 lbs 3 oz; 21 in
Stephanie (shauber)-Ellie Jayne was born at 1:20 PM; 8 lbs 3 oz; 21 3/4 in; 40 weeks 1 day

August 13, 2010
Guadalupe (warmasonqo)-Veronica Rose was born at 2:11 PM; 6 lbs 12 oz; 19.5 in; 39 weeks

August 14, 2010
Melissa (mjones6102)-Malia Rose was born at 3:45 AM; 7 lbs 5 oz; 21 in; 41 weeks 6 days
Amy (acandjh)-Nora Mae was born at 5:40 PM; 6 lbs 15 oz; 19 in; 39 weeks
Melody (melody811)- Sarah Elizabeth was born at 9:31 PM; 7 lbs 15 oz; 38 weeks 6 days

August 15, 2010
(vparker)- Zoe Lynn was born at 5:07 AM; 8 lbs, 21 in; 41 weeks 4 days

August 16, 2010
Vanessa (Rudysmama)- Elizabeth Arcessa was born at 5:01 AM; 6 lbs 9 oz; 19 in
Christie (Dont_Jinx_Me)-Dade Christopher was born at 10:32 AM; 8 lbs 3 oz; 21 in
Kanika (nikalady)- Kristian Chase was born at 12:44 PM; 7 lbs 6 oz; 20 in
Mel (more2come)-Jaxon was born at 5:03 PM; 7 lbs 5 oz; 37 weeks 5 days

August 17, 2010
Christina (cc_ttc) Enzo Thomas was born at 12:17 AM; 8 lbs 1 oz; 39 weeks 4 days
Kelly (kmg74) Molly Carolyn was born at 8:02 AM; 10 lbs 1 oz; 21 3/4 in
Amber (ambie719) Isaac Alexander was born at 11:07 AM; 8 lbs 8 oz; 20 in; 39 weeks 1 day
Georgina (supergeorgina) Clara Marie was born at 3:30 PM; 5 lbs 15 oz; 19 in

August 18, 2010
Niki (NikiAngel)-Alexa Rose was born 3:25 PM; 7 lbs 11 oz

August 19, 2010
Cheryl (mommy-of-six)- Jillian Michelle was born at 7:56 AM; 9 lb 2.8 oz; 21.5 in; 40 weeks 4 days

August 20, 2010
Stephanie (epiclesis) Jonathan Matthew was born at 12:21 AM; 9 lbs 22 in/ 42 weeks 1 day
Katie (katielynn13)- Thomas Sanford "Bo" was born at 12:21 PM; 9 lbs 10 oz; 21 in
Brooke (hugger07)- Natalie Grace was born at 2:13 PM; 7 lbs 5 oz; 20 in
Amy (AmyLynn07)- Harley Blake was born at 3:30 PM; 7 lbs 14 oz; 19 in

August 23, 2010
Meagan ( bartswife0618 )- Sadie was born at 7:54 AM; 7 lbs 12 oz; 20 in; 40 weeks
Corissa (Corissa5) Olivia George was born at 12:35 PM; 8 lbs 6 oz; 20.5 in

August 25, 2010
(Sabine) Lorelei Celeste; 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 1/4 in

August 31, 2010
Jen (nenzifer) Sean Cooper was born at 1:58 AM; 8 lbs 4 oz; 40 weeks 1 day

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September 3, 2010
Lorna (LornaRose) Kathryn Grace was born at 2:46 AM; 7 lbs 8 oz; 19.5 in; 41 weeks 5 days
Tasia (BabyV) Ayla Jo was born at 3:55 AM; 7 lbs 12 oz
Erica (Fairecurls) Lily Antonia Louise was born at 6:59 PM; 6 lb 15 oz; 20 in



:angel5: August 2010 Angels :angel5:
Nicole (Happy Song)
Christine (HaiTai)
Alison (azin_may)
Tarra (organic-mama)
Melanie (MelanieP)
Shelley (Jesebelle)
(klub07)
Renea (reneakelly)
Jessica (jmoehle)
Denise (2Denise1010)
Kathy (soxfan_kam)

Natalia Cassidy, 1 lb 10 oz 31 cm (a little over 12 inches long)

Quote:

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Natalia's Birth Story:


Around 8pm on 6/15/2010 I started having severe chest pains, and upper abdominal pain. I called mummy to ask what I should do. I couldn't catch my breath while on the phone with her and she did not like how I sounded at all, so she called DH and told me to call the on call at my OB's office. I left a message for the on call doctor but when DH came home I was on all fours on the bed in mid contraction and he said we were going to the ER straight away.

I checked into the ER a little after 9pm and they put me on the fetal HB monitor and the contraction monitor. An ultrasound was ordered but the tech could not give up any information. We waited what seemed like forever for the on call OB to show up, she explained that the baby was measuring extremely far behind and showing signs of an enlarged heart and it wasn't a question of whether she was coming out but at which hospital. Since she had such high signs of distress it was decided to go ahead with the emergency c-section and have her medivaced to the teaching hospital 2 hours away. DH was not allowed in the operating room with me so I had to go alone. I was originally scheduled for a spinal but I could feel pain and it made me extremely nauseated and I was vomiting almost immediately. The anesthesiologist asked the OB to give the medicine 5 more minutes to start working but she said absolutely not, either put me under completely or not but she had to get the baby out now. He put me to sleep and I remember waking up feeling a LOT of pressure and pulling and what felt like my insides being torn out. I cried out "OUCH" and that I wanted to throw up, and I guess they put me back out after that because I didn't wake up again until they wheeled me into recovery.

Two of my good friends came to keep DH company and I'm so thankful that they did because I know he was killing himself with worry. I was really groggy but they let him come and see me immediately, he hadn't been allowed to see her just yet because they had to get her stabilized. At around 3am the pediatrician came in to let us know her status and that the team coming to pick her up would be here shortly and we could see her before they took her away. She was prepped and ready to go after 5am and I saw her for about 5 minutes and hold her hand and let her know that I loved her dearly and to fight. We only had DH's phone so we snapped a quick picture. She has her daddy's eyelashes but I have yet to see her face.

The OB came in to let me know that I have a bicornuate uterus that had been undetected until she went in to perform the c section. She had to close the initial incision and cut through my stomach muscle to get into the half of my uterus where the baby was located. She was in the smaller half which restricted her growth severely and she is only measuring 26 weeks. I've been on morphine since the c-section so I've been really out of it. She was actually born at 00:53 this morning but I've been telling everyone 2 since that was when I woke up.

Her lung function good (she is on a ventilator) and her heart function was really good when the neonatalogist called however they fear internal bleeding because her blood is not clotting and her hemoglobin count is low. So she's getting a transfusion (3-4 hour process) and fresh frozen plasma. DH & Mummy are up there with her now and my sister and daddy are here with me.

Overall I feel extremely blessed that she made it through delivery and that was all I could ask God for, but I've been praying nonstop all night. I have yet to sleep, but I've been taking naps here and there. Everyone at the hospital has been superb, my nurses, the ped, on call OB, every one.

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We got to the hospital about 11:30am Monday. The got me started on some medicine to help soften my cervix at 12:00. Well for some reason Cooper's heart rate had times it would drop and come back up. So they watched it closely. They gave me some more medicine at 4pm and sill they had problems with it. I started having these horriable contractions and Cooper's heartrate would drop so they gave me breathin (sp?) to stop them and they had to give me some medicine for pain to help with the contractions. The doctor told them not to start poticin until she got there in the morning. During the night i got a real bad scare. I woke up and there were 4 nurses in the room checkng on me. Cooper's heart rate and dropped again and took longer to come back up. They got me flipped on my left side and got it back up. When the doctor got there about 8:30 am the started poticin. I was already 3cms. I got a epidural about 11:45 or so i think. I had been having some bad contractions. I was so glad to see the doctor for the epidural come in! About 12:30 we had another scare, Cooper's heart rate once again went down. They came in and 3 nurses were having to flip me from side to side trying to get his heart rate back up. They finally got it up. The doctor said if it happened again we would have to have a c-section. The finally got the poticin started back up after givng it a break. I was 7 cms at about 1:30pm and 9 abot 2pm. I pushed during 4 contractions and he was born at 2:30pm. The reason his heart rate kept going down was b/c his cord had a very thin spot in it and they think he was laying on it at times. The doc said she was glad she induced me b/c it had probably been going down alot. We are both doing good!


First born!
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Big brother looking through the nursery glass
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Big brother loving on Cooper
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Mason Adam - born July 16th, 5 lb 13 oz, 18 1/2", 35 weeks 5 days

I don't really have time to post the whole birth story now, but it was so exciting to be able to take home our baby this time! He had to spend 24 hours in the NICU since he was still preterm, but his only issue was keeping down food, and they solved that by giving him Good Start formula. He got to come home with me! :)

Cameron Keith J.
July 23, 2010
7 lbs 9.5 oz
20.5 in long
Apgars of 9 and 9

On Friday, July 30, Daddy and I arrived at the hospital at 6:00 AM. We were told to be there 2 hours prior to the c-section so that paperwork could be filled out and you could be monitored. We got to the hospital, and went up to Labor and Delivery. We checked in, and the first thing the nurse did was have me use the restroom and Daddy change into his scrubs.

We went back into the room, and the nurse then sterilized my belly, shaved me, and put the fetal heart monitor on. Instantly we were able to hear your heartbeat, and the nurse was able to tell if Mommy was having any contractions. At first, there didn’t appear to be any contractions, but about 30 minutes later, the monitor was picking up random contractions. After the fetal monitor had been hooked up, Mommy had to fill out a bunch of paperwork. When that was finished, I showed the nurse my birth plan. Most of the items she thought would be doable, but they “forgot” to do quite a few of them.

Once paperwork and everything was in order Mommy realized that it was already 7:00 AM, only one more hour until your birth!! Daddy and I tried to relax and watch some television, but soon there were people coming in and out of the room. The nurse hooked me up to some antibiotics for Group B Strep around 7:15, anesthesia came in to talk to me at 7:30, Dr. Hamburger came in to say hi followed by Grandma and Grandpa Burnham and your sisters. At 7:45 they wheeled me back to the OR and moved me to the operating table.

The nurse helped me sit up and then the doctor was able to give me a spinal. The nurse was great about keeping Mommy talking so that she wasn’t paying attention to the anesthesia. Suddenly I felt a small poke and they laid me slowly back down on the table. They then hooked up some other monitors and started prepping for surgery. Shortly after, Daddy was allowed to come into the room. Then they poked my belly (which was now numb), and started the surgery at 8:00 AM.

It felt like forever, but at 8:10 I heard that first beautiful cry. The doctor said that after he made the first incision you stuck your hand out. I guess you were ready to get out and explore the world!! Once you were finally out everyone kept commenting on how much hair you had and how dark it was. I was anxious to see it, but they took you over to the warmer to get you cleaned up. Daddy followed and took pictures, and shortly after, Daddy walked you down to the nursery to weigh you. The nurse came back in and told me you were 7 lbs 9.5 oz and 20.5 in long. I was shocked at how tiny you were because I was expecting you to be bigger like your sisters.

I was stitched up and moved back into recovery. Unfortunately, my body temp was not coming back up as it should, so I had to wear a bear blanket to help bring it up. The blanket alone was not helping, so they had to wrap infant blankets around my head too. After about 2 hours, my temp was stable, although not really high, so they moved me back to my postpartum room. I was able to hold you for the first time and relief was all I felt. It has been a long, hard, sometimes scary journey to get to this point, but I am so thankful to have you here, happy and healthy!

Here are some pics:
My last belly pic
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Getting Cleaned Up
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Brr...It's Cold!
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So Happy
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First Family Pic
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Well, it started out as my routine 38 week appointment on Tuesday. Everything was going fine, and I mentioned to the doctor that DJ’s movements had significantly slowed. He said, “Well, let’s hook you up to the monitor just to be safe.” So, they hook me up. I was on for about a half-hour and was thinking about how I had not felt him yet when these alarms start going off. I assumed the machine was out of paper or DJ had moved and the monitor lost the heartbeat. My doctor comes in, looks at the paper and says, “We’re having this baby now.” I cannot even describe the flood of emotions. I called Andy and couldn’t even talk through the tears. All I could tell him was that we were having the baby. He thought I was emotional for being so excited; he didn't realize that I was completely terrified. They put me in a wheelchair and run me across the parking lot to the hospital. I honestly couldn’t believe this was happening…I was impatient for DJ’s arrival but not like this. They get me up to L&D and start prepping me for an emergency c-section. At this point I still don’t know what had happened back in the office. They get me changed into a gown, get me into the bed and get me hooked up the monitor. My doctor comes in and explains that while I was on the monitor in his office, DJ’s heartbeat had dropped to 80 for four minutes straight. On the monitor now, he looked good and, because he knew I wanted to deliver vaginally and because the heartbeat seemed to stabilize, he said he would let me wait to get a vaginal delivery going instead of the emergency section. One caveat: no getting out of bed. This was about 4PM on Tuesday now. Andy had arrived thank goodness (one funny note I think he just randomly grabbed any bag he saw laying around the house. He had my hospital bag and about 3 others LOL). Around 5:30 PM they started me a low dose of Pitocin to see if DJ would handle the contractions. After much praying he passed! They stopped the Pitocin. Bad news: I was only dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced. They wanted to wait a certain amount of time before they started the next medicine. I cannot remember the name of it and when they were explaining it to me all I could think about was the medicine that Ariel had warned us about but I couldn’t remember the name of that, either. I just trusted in God that whatever my doctor was doing was the right course. They were going to start this medicine at midnight but because I hadn’t eaten since noon and wouldn’t be able to eat again for a while, my doctor let me have some jello and broth and pushed starting the new medicine back to 2:05 AM. It was a LONG night of no sleep and waiting. My doctor came back in around 8AM Wednesday to check my progress and…nothing. I was heartbroken. He gave me another dose of the cervix medicine. I was starving and having painful contractions and frustrated that the contractions weren’t doing anything. I had 2 more doses of the cervix medicine throughout the day but still very little progress. My doctor is a God-send and said he would start me on Pitocin to hopefully help keep my wish for a vaginal birth. They started the Pitocin at 6:30 PM Wednesday and my water broke 6 minutes later. YAY! Finally! Something! Andy and I were ECSTATIC! They checked me around 2AM and I had dilated up to a 2-3. Another long night of painful contractions and no sleep. I was really, really hungry. They came back in later Wednesday morning and…no progress. No more dilation. I was again heartbroken. I was just so disheartened and exhausted by this point. I hadn't had any pain med yet and was sore. They had been steadily upping the Pitocin this whole time. Later, the contractions were getting so painful that I asked the nurse to please check me again…I was at a 5!!! I was proud and ecstatic and beyond ready for an epidural. Got that and Lord did it help but my body didn’t like it. BP dropped so I was put on oxygen and rolled around and what not. Then, the alarm went off. I had a bunch of contractions all together and DJ’s heart wasn’t tolerating it. They stopped the Pitocin to let him stabilize. My doctor again let me wait and try again and they started the Pitocin back up around 4PM I think. I was so worn out and the epi so wonderful that I actually fell asleep. They continued checking me and I was still stuck at a 5. They could feel DJ’s head, which made me hopeful. Fast forward to 3:30 AM Thursday morning. The alarms go off again. DJ’s heart was not tolerating the cluster contractions. They didn’t stop the Pitocin this time but got me back on oxygen and rolled me again and that helped. But still, stuck at a 5. The nurse calls my doctor. He would give me just one more hour to try to dilate more. I cannot tell you the absolute discouragement and heartbreak I felt. After so many, many hours of trying to get my body to cooperate. I just cried and cried. My nurse was an angel. Andy was an angel. I knew in my heart that it didn’t matter how he arrived as long as he was healthy and safe but I was just so worn out and, frankly, scared and so angry at my body for not delivering this baby. The nurse came back for the final check and despite the contractions, I was still stuck at 5. I asked her to explain what was going on. She said I had dysfunctional labor pattern, that the “normal” contractions weren’t doing anything and the “cluster” contractions were hurting DJ. My doctor later called it “failure to progress”. I was a mess. Terrified of having a c-section, exhausted, sore, completely overwhelmed. This was not how I was supposed to be having DJ. I was supposed to have a nice, normal labor. Something happy and exciting. How did we get here from a normal appointment??? My nurse just rubbed my feet and said, “Honey I’ve been praying since midnight for you but this is what the Lord wants” and Andy just held my hand. They started prepping me and I just tried to let go and give in to the excitement of meeting DJ finally. After 38 hours of lying in that bed willing my cervix to cooperate I would be meeting my son soon. Andy was thrilled to be meeting his little boy so soon…he was psyched to wear scrubs and tried to convince the nurses that him getting a stethoscope was part of my birth plan. LOL. I get wheeled into the ER and we begin. I was honestly absolutely terrified and then I heard Andy say, “Baby I see his head!!” and then heard my doctor say, “there we go”. DJ peed all over everyone and then, finally, that sweet, amazing, unbelievable cry. I could not believe it. The tears just flowed. He was born at 5:43 AM Thursday, weighing 7 lbs and 14 ounces, 20.5 inches long. He had the cutest cone head from pushing against my cervix for so many hours but it is amazing how quickly it is subsiding. He is beautiful, amazing and truly my little miracle. He gave Andy and I some real scares and the longest, most emotional 38 hours of my life, but he was so beyond worth it. I love him so much.

Link to photos: http://s901.photobucket.com/albums/ac219/MRCDAS/Birth/

I wrote this up the day that he was born, but it took me a few days before I had time to actually edit it, add pics, and publish it out. This is the finished product:

The birth story of Simon Atticus

I included every aspect of it that I'll want to remember later but might forget, so it wound up being really long. I included the prestory though, so for those who aren't too into the "how I got there", then just skip right down to the active labor portion.

For those who only want to know "how it all went down", I'll write up a quick recap. I don't like this version at all though because it doesnt do the experience justice in any way. Bleh. Oh well, here's the quick version though:

I was at a 4 and nearly fully effaced on Thursday at my midwife appt (38.5 weeks gestation). After being up all night on saturday night with intense braxton hicks cx, I was getting pretty annoyed that nothing was kicking into full gear. I tried to get labor going on Sunday, because I could feel that the time was growing close for the baby to come. Using all of the classic "induce labor" techniques, I actually was able to work into some decently strong contractions that held consistently at 4 minutes apart for 4 hours or so. Once I stopped bouncing on my birthing ball and doing what I could to get them going, however, they started to fizzle out. We went to the hospital at 9pm anyway and met with my midwife. By the time we got there though, my cx were nearly gone and I was pretty sure I just wanted to go home. She told me I was about the same as I had been at my appt on thursday, so I definitely wanted to just go home at that point. I walked around for a half hour and gained a cm, but I still wasnt feeling like I was in active labor so I opted to go home instead of staying there and having my water broken or something that would commit to getting the labor in progress. I went home and had another sleepless, uncomfortable night of strong and annoying braxton hicks.
With about 4 hours of sleep over two days time, I decided to lay really low all day monday. I didnt want to do anything that would bring about false labor. If labor came, then I wanted to know it was the real deal. I really wanted to conserve my energy the best I could.
That evening at 9, I started to feel the burn and pull of dull active labor cx. I let them take their course for 2 hours, then at 11 I decided that we needed to figure out what was going on. I took a bath in hopes to calm the cx and maybe get some sleep, but they persisted. At 11:30, my cx went from "dull pain" to "high intense I'm going to stab someone to distract myself pain". It was crazy how quickly it all changed. I called my midwife and got to the hospital at midnight.
I was in triage for 40 minutes which was horrible and I hated it. I hate being monitored, strapped to a table and being poked at. Laying on the table was making my crazy bad cx SO much worse and i was starting to lose it. I wanted to get to my birthing room, i wanted to be with my midwife... but triage is all part of a hospital birth so I stuck it out however long I had to.
I was freaking out at this point because I was only at a 5 when I checked in and my water hadn't broken. The cx were so bad though! I thought to myself "if this is the beginning of labor and it hurt THIS bad, then there was no way I can make it for hours on end without an epidural". I was starting to lose my faith in myself. I was only at a 5, so I knew that I'd be able to get an epidural if I asked for one. I knew that I could handle the pain for longer though, so I decided to hold out until I was settled in my birthing room and didnt have anything left of myself to give. Little did I know though, that I was actually at the END of labor, experiencing the hardest contractions that come just before the baby is born.
After finally being released from triage, I got to the birthing room and jumped right in the birthing tub. This was at about 1am. I was able to gain my composure there and recommit to my natural childbirth plan. I started all of my birthing techniques like breathing deep, only allowing myself to omit low, deep moans during each contraction, forcing my body to relax and ride each contraction through, and envisioning each contraction being like a wave in the ocean that I have to withstand as they bring my baby closer to me. My cx were only 30 seconds apart at this time and they lasted about a minute each.
At 1:45am, I actually felt a huge gush of swishy water come out from me. I could only assume that my water had broken, but it was hard to tell that when you're already sitting in a jetted jacuzzi tub. I told my midwife and she checked me and I was at a 7 and my water had indeed broken. Within 2 more contractions, I called out in a weird monotone voice that lasted the length of the contraction "I FEEEEEEEEEEEL INCLIIIIIIIIIIIINED TO PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSH".
I caught my midwife off guard because it was so soon, but she had me jump right out of the tub and I knelt beside the bed like I was going to pray.
Here I am working through them:
http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._NUiBg-S-3.jpg http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr...05_Ahbx8-S.jpg


The cx were back to back and crazy intense now. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but I regained and refocused my composure and started to push just a bit. Within moments, my body took over and pushed out the head. The sensation caused me to yell out the word "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAABYYYYYYY" during the push. The pressure released, but instantly started up again as I realized I had to push the shoulders out still. Here's a pic Sam took of me just before I started my last push:
http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr...71_LjQ5J-S.jpg
The cx took hold and I pushed with all my might. I screamed "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!" and bam! Little Simon slipped right out of me and into my midwife's arms. Here I am as I realized what had just happened:
http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._suQzG-S-2.jpg
Then I shouted out to Sam, "I did it! How about that!!! I did it!!! We're done, he's here!"
http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._uSHur-S-2.jpg


I felt like a million dollars, I just hopped up onto the bed with the baby following in tow and sat down to receive him. It was absolutely amazing. He got a 9 and a 10 on his apgars and was healthy as could be. He nursed right away and everything was truly perfect. I only needed a little stitch for a superficial tear that I havent noticed since, and other than that I haven't had any need for recovery. My body just bounced right back and I rode that endorphin high for days. Three cheers for natural childbirth! I'm so grateful that my labor was under conditions and circumstances that enabled me to keep my goal. I seriously couldn't be happier with my experience and I'm already looking forward to my next (though that's a few years out).

http://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._gVuDA-S-2.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._LK5v5-S-1.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._sMHKm-S-1.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._PRgYj-S-2.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._w4ytu-S-2.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._4546T-S-1.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._yY4Le-S-1.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr..._VPHx4-S-1.jpghttp://pictures.theburkmans.com/Curr...58_x8GaB-S.jpg

Here is Lyla Jean's birth story finally! (she has been nursing like crazy, so it has been hard for me to get anything done- but she got my milk to come in already!!!)



August 8, 2010

About 7:30 pm I noticed I was having some BH contractions- nothing painful, but actually had a little bit of a pattern to them. I figured it was nothing- have experienced this many evenings. I read Ryan a book and put him to bed. Watched some tv, played on the internet and folded some clothes. At 10pm I went to bed, but stayed up to watch Army Wives with DH. I noticed that the BH where still coming. I said to DH, I hope I don't jnix this, but I think I might be in labor. Somehow I feel asleep and woke up at 12:45 August 9, 2010 and realized that it was a contraction that woke me up. I went to the bathroom and saw that I was having some bleeding also. I started timing the contractions- every 3-4 minutes. They weren't super painful, but I could feel them. I woke up dh and decided to take a shower. Now, I was having a few contractions that I had to start breathing through. We got our bags packed, called my parents to come get Ryan, and called the hospital to tell them we were on our way. Ryan woke up as my dad carried him out the car and I told him-"dad and mom are going to the hospital- I think sister might be coming today". (I apparently should not have told him this because he never went back to sleep for my parents- it was 2:30 am!) I was starting to have more "take away your breath contractions". We checked into L & D at 3:05am. I did the usually stuff- pee in a cup, change into a gown, answered some questions. The nurse went to check me and said "I think your water just broke". I said I don't think so, but moved a little and felt something come out. She said I think you are just leaking fluid- hadn't had that big gush. I was dilated to 5 and moved into a labor room. I asked if I could sit in the tub- wasn't sure if they would let me since I was leaking fluid. It was the tub or the birthing ball that I wanted. They let me in the tub. I was in the tub from 4ish to 4:45 when I noticed that I felt different- nauseated and the contractions were different- harder and faster. I got out of the tub and was dilated to 8!!! They called my dr STAT! She came in and checked me and noticed I still had a bag of water- so she hooked it. Then EVERYTHING changed! I felt baby moved into the birth canal-ouch! I went from being able to "handle" the contractions to hugging the side rail, needing DH to put pressure on my low back and having to really breathe through them. Once the contraction was over- I was okay again, but man those hurt! So, I knew that it would take too long for an epidural and I was hoping to go without again. I asked for some IV pain meds, but my dr wanted to check me first. I was still at an 8. They gave me the IV med during a contraction to reduce the amount the baby got. It really didn't do much- I figured it wouldn't, but it did make me feel drunk for a bit. All of the sudden I go the intense "I got to push NOW!!!!" The nurse tried to get me to breath though it and to not push yet- my dr checked me one last time and gave the go ahead to push- I was so relieved to hear that! I honestly don't know how many pushes it took, but it was nothing compared to the 1.5 hours of pushing with Ryan. It felt GREAT to push, but I was a little scared I was gonna tear-baby was coming pretty much on her own. At 5:52 am out came my Lyla Jean. An amazing and awesome feeling- the feeling of a baby coming out of you is breath taking. They placed her on my belly right away and dh got to cut the cord. She was perfect. They took her to the warmer and checked her out- APGARS 8 and 9. Then it was time to deliver the placenta and discover that I had a second degree tear. Now all the adraline that kept me going through delivery was gone. My dr put in the lidocaine to numb me up and I feaked out- that hurt so very badly- oh "get out of there! I just had a baby come out of there!" I seriously almost grabbed the syringe out of my dr's hands! Lyla weighed 7lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long. They handed her to me and she automatically started to look for food- she nursed right away. My mom brought Ryan in to she us about 7am- he was bouncing off the walls in excitement. Instant love for him. My mom went and got him breakfast, while the nurse helped me into the tub. When Ryan and my mom came back the nurse did Lyla's first bath. Then my mom took Ryan home- he was so tired (although he did not nap for my mom until 1:30pm!!!!). Lyla nursed like a champ all day- to the point where I felt like a human pacifier. We had a good amount of visitors, but everything went well. I did get a nap in also. When my dad got off work, my parents and Ryan came back to see us again. DH decided to go home with Ryan and spend the night in a much nicer bed than the crappy pull out chair in our hospital room. We got discharged today about 1:30 pm. I can't believe that she is not even 48 hours old already and we are at home! I must try to get Ryan to bed- dh tried once, but he is just too excited. I am doing great- a little sore from my tear and Lyla power nursing- girl has suction- LOL!

Here are some pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...2&l=b74d166717

Friday morning about 9-9:30 I wake up to what to me would be mild menstral cramps. On a scale of 1-10 a 1 being nothing and 10 being the worst thing imaginable. I was only about a 2 nothing seriously hurt but I was uncomfortable. I tried to go back to sleep for an hr. or so because it was my last day off and I didn't want to be up that early. but no go my body said it was time to get up. So being new to all this I did as I normally would when faced with a new and slightly disconcering situation and called my mom. And while on the phone my contractions were a good 6 to 10 min. apart but were getting stronger. So my mom tells me to call my Dr. and while I was doing that she woul be calling the family to let them know that I was probably in early labor. So I call DH first (he was at work) and let him know that I'll be calling the Dr.s office.
10 min later after having called the Dr. (was waiting on a call back) Dh shows up at home. His boss sent him home to take care of me. Good thing is his boss is my best friend! My contractions are now about 5 min. apart and lasting a good 2 min. a piece. I finally get a hold of my Dr.s office and am told I can either wait it out until my contractions are closer together unless I was spotting. Of course someone mentions the restroom and my bladder decides it needs to be emptied right then and what to my wondering eyes does appear? Spotting... I told DH that and so its off to L& D I go.

So in I go its now 11 am they check my vitals and ask if I normally have high BP. I've not until this point so no. The nurse just kind of frowns at me then leaves. I was dong fine no real pain or concern until I started throwing up.... not good and to make matters worse I find out my Dr. is out for the weekend and not going to be in. Someone else is going to have to deliver my son. ENTER DR. EVIL!

Now at noon I am 4 cm and 100 % effaced so they go ahead and admit me. Now I'm really feeling the contractions about a 5-6 on that 1-10 scale. Still doing good with my contrax I'm still able to talk through them. I'm cutting up and laughing with DH MIL FIL and my husbands boss. When Dr. Evil comes in and decides I'm not progressing fast enough for him and decides to break my water. Now I've got a good pain tolerence level but this man was just cruel, He goes to shoving his hand in places already hurting and I told him "You're hurting me." I get ignored man didn't even respond to my statement. He hurt me so bad that he made me curse and scream, when I wasn't even fazed by my contractions. Well come to find out Jayden had defficaed inside the uterus. And they can't keep him on monitor, he doesn't like cold stuff on his mommy's belly. So they think I would look really nifty with a bunch of crap hooked to me so thats what they do. Now I am all wired up a fluid push going into my uterus to clean me out, a cathiter comming out, anti-b's going in one arm, blood pressure cuff on the other and the interuteren monitor on Jayden comming out. I felt like a really uncomfortable electrode.

At 4 they decided I'd suffered enough pain and could have my epi. 2 problems here first is the woman giving me the thing can't get it right she stuck me 5 times in 5 diffrent places. I'm trying really hard to sit still and shes digging around in my spine not an easy task to acomplish. And after all that it still failed I was numb on the right side of my body and hypersensitive on the left, let me tell you when one side of your body goes numb the other makes up for it! My pain level jumped from a 6 to a 9 in just moments. At this point I am rocking my pelvis through the contractions it helped quite a bit, but I thought that an Epi is supposed to dull the pain and mine wasn't even touching it.I tell the nurse that I am really hurting and that I can still feel the contrax on the left side. Her brillant advice (no joke here) she tells me to lay on the left side and let the epi drain that way. A few hrs later I am still hurting so they give me toridol in my IV and out go the lights. I wake up just long to rock my way through really strong contractions and then I'm out again.

Enter Dr. Evil again its now 9-10 pm and he says to my family "So we don't want to be here all night and she's just moving fast enough so for expediency we are going to just take the baby." No one even bothered to ask me my feelings on this, I was dead set against a c-section. Now at this point I have no clue that I'm having bp issues because no one has said anything to me but my blood pressure had sky rocketed to 210/100, and I am being kept half asleep to deal with the pain.

So heavily sedated they take me over to surgery. Now the same woman who couldn't give me an epi. gets selected to give me my spinal block for my c-section. Guess what? Thats right she couldn't do a spinal either. Thats another 20 min of her poking around in my spine with a needle and another 6 puncture wounds on my back. I am sitting on the edge of a table with contractions now a 15 on that 1-10 scale, they are stacked one on top of the other with no gap between. The nurses are telling me to sit still which I am almost unable to do. By the end of her digging around in my back I am begging for them to just stop stabbing at my spine and put me under. I think at one point I even told them if they wouldn't put me out I'd do it myself. I remember little past this point save the fact they couldn't find the assisting surgen.

Turns out when they put me under general anistesia they put me too far and ended up putting Jayden out too. So upon delievery at 10:45pm my son was not breathing. According to family they slam the nursery door open and yell down the hallway that my son is not breathing and is non-responsive. They had to suction his lungs for 5 hrs. in order to clear him of the gas so that he wouldn't get pnumonia.

They got him awake, and tortured me into conciousness. How? By pressing on my uterus! I came too screaming again... told the lady she was trying to kill me. But once fully awake my first coherent words were how's my baby.

So his stats are this....

Jayden Alexzander Edison

July 23, 2010 10:45 pm

Weigh- 5 lbs 9.5 oz
Length- 18 in.
Head- 11 1/2 in.
Chest- 12 in.


He has had a few bottles because of me being under but after that he has been a boob man. He's got a really good latch and nurses for a good 10 min. per breast.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ownload3-1.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...edownload2.jpghttp://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...edownload3.jpg

2 wks old
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ayden/hand.jpghttp://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...jayden/eww.jpghttp://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...yden/2cute.jpg

This is the first time I've had the chance to get on here and post since Treyson was born as many of you probably understand why. So here's my birth story and then pics to follow...

Some of you may remember that we had plans to be crazy busy the week of the 9th with a conference at our church where DH is on staff, so I was hoping to wait until after that week to have this baby. On Friday Aug. 6th, we had a wedding at our church of a couple that is very dear to DH and I that I definitely did not want to miss. I was actually feeling really good at the wedding. We stayed until around 10:30 then DH took me and the kids home. We both put the kids to bed and then DH had to go back to the church to help the janitor strip and wax the gym floor for the next weeks events. Around 11pm I went to bed with the tv on to try to fall asleep since DH wasn't home. Just after midnight I realized I had finally started to doze off. I picked up the remote and rolled over in bed and noticed something felt a little wet in my underwear. As I moved my leg to check what it was, water started to gush down my legs and ALL OVER my bed. My water has never broke like that before. I immediately started saying out loud " this cannot be happening right now " over and over. I grabbed my cell phone that was next to me on the nightstand and called DH who thought I was calling him to say goodnight. He answered his phone and I said " My water just broke!" Dh says, " O Crap!" and dropped what he was doing and ran out the door. I kept telling him that this cannot be happing right now...I'm not ready to be done being pregnant yet! He calmed me down a bit, then placed the call to page my midwife. As I was waiting for the call back, I called my parents to come stay with the kids until we wanted them at the hospital. At this time I was still having no contractions and was almost in shock that it was happening this early at 37wks. 2 days. We rush to the hospital since I have a history of short labors and DH didn't want to take any chances. When I got there I was only at a 3 which for me was very disappointing. I think I had maybe 1 ctrx up until that time. I started to sit on the ball to see if that would help things along. It brought on maybe 2 ctrx. DH decided to call everyone to come to the hospital since this was going to be the first time we would have my mom, sister and 2 SIL's in the room for delivery and we didn't want them to miss it. Some friends were going to stay with the kids and my dad just outside of the room. According to the clock, it was 2:20 am when they were all there in my room just hanging out and taking pics with everyone. I began to feel a lot of pressure and wanted to be checked. After kicking everyone out, she said I was at a 5, but the baby was much farther down. Around 3 am i felt a lot more pressure and I was still at a 5, which was really odd for me to be going this slow, or so it felt. After she was done checking me, the ctrx kicked in finally!! I was moaning through them and trying to relax between each one. Around 3:30 I felt the need to "use the restroom" and as I was in there I felt a TON of pressure and told DH to get me out of there b/c I didn't want anything to happen on the toilet. At 3:43 I asked my midwife to check me again. I was at 8 and +1. As soon as she took her hand out, a MAJOR ctrx hit and I yelled to her "I think I'm pushing". I was concerned since I wasn't at 10, or so I thought. She told me she wasn't worried about it. DH asked me if I wanted him to go get everyone in the room. I said "yes, but don't let go of my leg" since he was doing a good job holding my leg and me squeezing his hand. The very next ctrx, I screamed " IT'S COMING OUT!!!". My midwife had a half a glove on one hand and barely caught him as he came FLYING out! DH said he had never seen one come out so fast. Treyson Mark was born at 3:45am. It was almost unbelievable how fast it all was. After catching my breath, she put him on my chest and Dh and I together looked to see "what" he was. We really didn't have any feelings as to whether it was a girl or boy so we were both very surprised to see a boy. He weighed 6lbs. 13oz. He's been a great nurser and great sleeper. He weighed 6lbs. 5 oz. when we left the hospital, but at his 1 wk. check up he was up to 7lbs. already.

He is DH and I just a couple of hours before Treyson was born...my last preggo pic!!
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0848.jpg
At the hopital waiting for things to start..
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0849.jpg
bouncing on the ball to get things going (my 2yr. on my lap)
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0852.jpg
Treyson born at 3:45 am
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0855.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0856.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0864.jpg
my wonderful midwife...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0862.jpg
The kids seeing him for the first time....I love my 2yr. old's face here...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0863.jpg
after bath..
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0880.jpg
The next 3 are going home...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0911.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0915.jpg
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/img_0917.jpg