Thread: ***Our August Bumblebee's Spaces***

We're here! As we neared our 34th week our housing unit decided to start making some changes. The liver enzymes started increasing, protein started showing up in its urine, and eventually its blood sugars starting making weird changes. All indicators were that the individual apartments we were living in had done all they could do. After hearing our mom and dad discussing these blood sugar numbers - 95 after oj and 1/2 of a small cinnamon roll, not a good sign - they called the dr. and she said to go ahead and head in to hospital to get checked. Goofy dad then asked if he could take a shower as mom added the last minute things to her hospital bag; he was told to be quick. Silly guy then took time to get the dogs outside one last time before leaving...hello dad - we're waiting! Finally we were off to the hospital with mom's bag packed just in case. Good thing since when they were checking in we could hear the nurse say "they are being admitted, but we're holding them in triage for now." I could tell by mom's heart rate that she didn't know she was being admitted for sure. Good thing she remembered to bring the down pillow for comfort. Ironically we did learn that the one room we always visited when mom got worried about us (in ob/triage) is the only room we could have visited. We went there because it was big enough, but today we learned that it's also the only room with enough plugs for both monitors.

Here come the monitors, urine check, blood work up, and various other fun stuff. When the dr came in and told mom "let's have some babies today!" mom about got up and ran home. Even though she has been wanting to meet us for a while, she was really scared once the day to meet us came. We love that she loves us so much she really did want us to bake some more, but we really wanted to meet her and dad so we decided to overrule her. The dr. scheduled our c-section for 7pm, a silly time really since that is shift change and of course we didn't want to come out until closer to 8pm. We hung out in ob/triage until 6, moved into a L&D room just so mom could take some meds, talk to the guy who was going to make her "comfortable" and again, hang out.

A little after 7 she rode away to the operating room in a wheel chair. Boy oh boy did mom have a hard time with the spinal block. We agree that dads should be allowed in the room for this because mom needed some love for sure. The dr. tried to help, but it is nothing like having dad there. Once all was said and done, dad finally got to come in and hold her hand. It was tough on mom being scared, feeling like she couldn't breath (an effect of the spinal block) and just not knowing how we were going to do. So stressful in fact that mom and dad forgot to play the music they made! Good thing dad kept the playlist and will play it for us all the time later.

The first cut was made at 7:53 pm and Katherine made her debut at 7:58 pm...not to be outdone by Zachary who also made his debut during the 7:58pm minute! Adalyn just wasn't quick enough and was born at 7:59pm. We all think 7-9-11 is an AMAZING birth day! We were in such a rush to be born and the nurses were in such a rush to get us to NICU that dad only got a picture of Zachary - even though the dr. asked them to pause so dad could take pics, they didn't. Drat!

Our NICU experience: Katherine and Adalyn were pretty good for the most part. Zachary has what many refer to as "white boy syndrome" where he was a little lazy with his breathing so they put him on forced room air, just a tube in his nose, not real oxygen. The next morning we all moved into our own private room called the Annex where we were doing awesome enough that we all only needed one nurse. Woop Woop! Zach lost his air tube, but then gained it back for another day later. He eventually ended up on caffeine treatment to help regulate his breathing, but that ended this past Sunday (7-17) and now we need to wait 10 days to make sure he'll be ok. We'll blame mom for the need for caffeine.

To date: We moved into another private room Sunday night, that didn't last long with the construction the hospital is doing. Dad about went through the roof when he heard them working yesterday - we are way too young for such a loud noise! So, we are moving again up into PICU I believe. We are all doing awesome. All of us lost our IV's on 7-16-11. We took our first nakie bath with no tubes/wires on 7-17-11 and started sleeping together in the same crib that day. We are now starting to practice with bottle feeding. Once we get that down we can be sprung!!

Mom's recovery has been pretty ok. She had a touch of a rough go the first night/day with the catheter not draining right, but boy once they removed it all was ok. She has a rash on her belly driving her crazy and man alive we have never seen such elephant feet! The swelling got real bad after birth, but is starting to subside now. We're hoping she can drive again maybe next week. We are all glad we are able to help her get over the loss of grandpa. Our being here and doing so great health wise is really keeping her going. We are sad we won't get to meet him, but we already know he loved us more than anything and is now watching us from above.

Baby Kendra's Space

Baby Elizabeth's Space

Elizabeth Renee Wenzel "Lizzie"
Due Date: August 27, 2011
Birth Date: August 23, 2011
Time: 7:10 pm
Weight: 7lbs, 3oz
Length: 21 inches


I thought I would share her birth story, it's a bit long - so bare with me.

I had been scared to death for labor. I was scared for a vaginal birth and scared for a c-section. My DH's 96 year old grandmother told me that DH's mom said that giving birth was a piece of cake. Grandma said not to worry and that I would say the same thing.

I was up most of the night Sunday because I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. We called in doctor's office at 7 that morning. He has said it's normal considering how far along I was. He said it if continued to call the office. He then called back within 30 minutes and told my husband he wanted me to come in since my blood pressure was borderline high last time.

I went to the office and my bp was high and he decided to send me to the L&D to triage to monitor my BP for 10 minutes, have chest xrays and blood work. If my bp remained high they were inducing and if it stabilized they would let me go home.

It remained high. X-rays and blood work was fine. I just started crying because I was so scared. My doctor came in and said that he was inducing because my bp was still a little high, not scary high, but since I was 39 weeks and she was close to 40, why mess around with my bp. He made a few jokes and tried to make me feel better. I was worried about pitocin and al the stuff I heard about it. I just knew I was going to have ac-section.

I went into a room, was given cervidil. I never dilated past 1 cm. At 3 am Monday night/Tuesday morning I started getting pitocin, I also had pain meds and they went ahead and started my epidural (because the anesthesiologist said if you want it get it know because I am going to the c-section floor and it may be awhile). So I got my epi. My IV hurt way worse than the epi.

At 8 am, my doctor came in and said I was 7 cm - I was so excited. I finally became 9 cm around 4 or 5 pm (I think).

At noon, I started having terrible contractions. At 2:30 they were painful and I wanted a c-section. I found out my epi ran out. It was refilled and withing an hour I was feeling no pain, thank goodness!

At 6, I was 10 cm and we went ahead and started pushing. My nurse was an excellent coach and teacher and my DH was the best, very encouraging, very awesome. I had to stop pushing because the doctor wasn't there yet and Lizzie was ready to come out. one push later, Lizzie was out. It didn't hurt, it was so easy - a piece of cake. I swear I have to give tanks to my nurse and DH- without them, it wouldn't have been like that.

I didn't tear or have any issues. They were afraid they were going to have to cut because they thought she was sunny side up - she wasn't. She came out fine.

Elizabeth Renee Wenzel was born at 7:10 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 03 oz and was 21 inches long. She has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

I'll have more photos to come. This one my DH took right after birth. We haven't had much time to do anything. We are learning the whole BF and sleep thing. It has been a bit hard because we didn't know about cluster feeding and we were told by several nurses that she is an advanced eater. Looks like I will be spending time on the BF thread.

Payton Mackenzie
Due Date: August 5, 2011
Birth Date: August 15, 2011
Time: 10:02pm
Weight: 7lbs, 10oz
Length: 20 inches


















Paytons Birth Story:

Camdyn's Space

Our sweet little boy is here!

Cormac Thomas arrived at 2:08am this morning (8/25). He's 7lbs 14oz and 21" long and just beautiful.

Birth Story (as written for our blog):

I had been having prodromal labor for weeks and was unsure if I would know when to go into the birth center when the real deal hit. I was really hoping that my water would just break so that I would know for sure. To add to that, Tyson's work schedule had me really anxious that he wouldn't be here for the birth.

On Monday 8/22, I mentioned to my midwife that I hadn't been feeling the baby move as much as normal. She opted to do a non-stress test to see how the baby was doing. The test was reactive, meaning that he passed, but his heart rate did dip into the 110s a few times. It bounced back quickly each time, but just to be on the safe side, she scheduled me for a BPP (biophysical profile - another test involving an ultrasound) on Wednesday 8/24. Tyson was scheduled to leave that morning to Chicago for four days for work. I was very nervous that the BPP wouldn't turn out well and that I'd be forced into an induction or c-section.

I decided to do everything I could to get baby here before Wednesday so that the threat of induction wouldn't be looming over me, and so that Tyson could be present for his son's birth. My midwife prescribed cotton root bark, which is an herb used for natural induction. We also tried pretty much all of the old wives' suggestions for naturally inducing labor. And while they brought on moderate and regular contractions, they always petered out. I also realized that the baby was in the posterior position, commonly referred to as "sunny side up". Since this makes it more difficult for baby to enter the pelvis and for a more painful labor, I had really been focused on getting him to rotate. I had tried all the body positions that are recommended or this and had been swimming a lot, but he wouldn't turn. On Tuesday morning I finally went to see a chiropractor that's trained in the Webster technique (a method that involves adjusting the pelvis and applying pressure to ligaments, not adjusting the baby himself). During the adjustment I felt the baby rotate (ouch!) and he stayed in the proper position. Yay!

On Wednesday, Tyson left and we both felt fairly apprehensive about it. I went to my BPP appointment that afternoon. During the BPP I had to lay on my back and I started to have contractions. They were fairly mild, and since I'd been having them for weeks, I didn't think much of it. The results of the BPP were good, and I was sent home. I continued to contract about every 10 minutes or so - still very mild. I called Tyson because I knew he would be leaving the airport to go back to his hotel at about 6:30 and the last flight of the night to Austin leaves at about 8:30. I let him know that I was contracting and that it was his call as to whether or not he wanted to come home. He opted to stay at the airport and we agreed to talk closer to the flight's departure time.

Our friend Liam is staying with us for awhile while he writes his dissertation and he arrived back at our house Wednesday afternoon after traveling for a month. He cooked dinner for my friend Amanda, Daphne and I - he makes delicious crepes. During dinner, I felt and heard (!) a pop that was followed by a torrent of fluid. My water broke! I couldn't believe it. I immediately called Tyson, it was about 8pm. He was so excited and made sure to get a seat on the flight home. Amanda brought me a towel and I proceeded to finish my crepes...priorities.

After I was done eating, I called my midwife and arranged to meet her at the birthing center at 9pm. I took a shower and my Amanda helped me pack up the car. I was able to put Daphne to bed and tell her that in the morning she'd have a new baby brother. She was VERY excited...might not have been the best thing to tell her when she needed to go to sleep. It was great that I was able to leave her at home with Liam. We had arrangements with our sweet neighbors across the street to take care of her if need be, but it was just so easy to have her sleep in her own bed.

On the way to the birthing center, I felt my first contraction since my water broke. It was moderate and I was easily able to breathe through it. When we got there, we were met by the midwife I'd seen on Monday. She wanted to test to make sure that my water had broken, but then decided it wasn't necessary when she saw the sheer volume of fluid that I was still leaking...it was CRAZY how much fluid I was leaking. No wonder I had been so big! By the time I stopped leaking later that night, I looked 6 months pregnant instead of 11 months pregnant.

I was able to breathe through my contractions with the help of Amanda and the two midwives...the midwife on call, who happens to be my favorite one, had arrived by that time to take over. I moved from the chair to a birthing ball and was comfortable enough between contractions to laugh and joke. At this point, they were coming every 2-3 minutes and were moderate in intensity. At about 10:45, Tyson texted to say that his flight had gotten in early and he was heading straight to the center. I was so happy when he finally arrived.



Amanda left shortly after he arrived because she had her first clinical day of the semester starting at 6:45am the next morning. My body must have been holding out on heavy labor until Tyson got there because about ten minutes after he arrived, my first really hard contraction hit me. I wanted to get in the birthing tub, but I wanted to make sure I was far enough along that labor wouldn't stall once I got into the water. I had been 2cm dilated on Monday. When the midwife checked me, I was a "stretchy 5cm". I opted to get in the beautiful tub. The water felt great at first. I was able to get through the intense contractions pretty well, especially when Tyson applied pressure to my lower back.



I only labored in the tub for about 30 minutes because I got really, really hot. I was in the water from about 12:15-12:45. I got out and got back on the birth ball. With each contraction, Tyson would put really firm pressure on my lower back and it made a huge difference. I tried to listen to my Hypnobabies tracks, but the lady's voice was really irritating to me and instead I listened to the Fleet Foxes and Iron and Wine - good birthing music.

Around 1am, things started to get very, very intense. I knew that I was in transition. I was making far more noise than I ever thought I would. Not screaming or yelling, but deep primal noises. I have to say that I'm relieved I delivered in the middle of the night so that no first time moms were waiting in the lobby for appointments...I would have terrified them. With every contraction I repeated a mantra to myself "This will only last a minute and then I can rest. I'm doing this, and I'm going to birth this baby soon. I'm doing this." It helped to keep me calm, although with almost every break between contractions I asked the baby for a little longer break. At this point, the contractions were every 2 minutes, lasting for a full minute. There was not much time for rest.

I started feeling like I had to push, so my midwife checked me again. I was 9cm, really I had just a small lip of cervix left on one side. She told me that when I could no longer control the urge, to go ahead and push, because I would probably be complete then. She convinced me to move onto my side on the bed. I was very hesitant to move because throughout my labor every time I would change positions, the next contraction was unbearable. Being on my side wasn't as bad as I thought. By this time, the midwife assistant and postpartum midwife had arrived to help. They helped hold my legs while Tyson pushed hard with his fists into my lower back. I held onto the bed frame so tightly and for so long that my wrists and hands are stills sore now. The midwife checked me again after a couple of contractions and I was complete. She encouraged me to push as hard as I could when I felt the urge. This was about 1:45am.

Pushing was very painful, but to me it was much more tolerable than transition because I could do something about it. Everyone was very calm and encouraging...nobody was asking me to push when I didn't feel it and nobody was counting at me. They just kept telling me how good I was doing and how I was almost done. It was perfect. When he was low enough, I heard Tyson exclaim that he had tons of hair - this was surprising because Daphne was nearly bald until she was 18 months old. I realized then just how little work I had left to do before I could meet my son. It really motivated me and I pushed like crazy. A couple more pushes and he was out. I for sure felt the talked about "ring of fire" as his head was born...I'm pretty sure I commented that I was "@#%$!ing on fire". Oops.

After his head came out, he slid right out and they placed him directly on my chest. He had a really long umbilical cord, but it wasn't wrapped around him at all. I remember commenting "I did it! I'm awesome!" and then "I never have to do that again!" I was so, so happy to have delivered him without medication and in a peaceful, beautiful environment. He cried a little bit, but then looked at us for a minute and calmed right down. He pretty much immediately started rooting around trying to nurse. His Apgars were 8 and 9. Healthy and perfect.

Thanks to my fantastic midwife, I only needed one minor stitch, not a big deal. I've been on a fantastic endorphin high all day. Delivering in the birth center was amazing. I feel so much better and more energetic than I did after Daphne's birth. Seriously, I remember thinking the day after Daphne's birth that I never wanted to go through childbirth again. After this birth, I totally feel like I could do it again. Yes, it hurt and was super crazy intense. But, I finished feeling so strong and empowered and just awesome...and I have this beautiful little person. Childbirth is a strong drug.







We stayed at the center for about 6 hours after the birth so that they could monitor us. The home visit RN is coming to visit Saturday morning. We're taking Mac to see the pediatrician tomorrow morning.

He's nursing like a champ and so far is very sweet and calm. His big sister is totally in love with him. She showers him in kisses and wants to be right next to him all the time. She was disappointed that he couldn't take a nap in her room with her because "she wanted to talk to him". At one point she said "mama, I love my baby brother so much" and it just melted my heart. I'm really looking forward to watching them grow together.





Phew, that was long!

BIRTH STORY(copied from a prev post): On Wednesday, I went to the OB because I had wiped and got old blood. He checked me and said that everything was okay. On Thursday night I went to L&D because I was having contractions. I was given a shot in my arm and an IV to stop them. Once they stopped I was sent home because the cerclage was still intact and my cervix was fine. Went to work on Friday feeling a little achey but the contractions were very far apart. As the night went on I started having them more frequently . So I took a shower to see if that would help ease the pain as I didn't want to be sent back home if I made another trip to the L&D. I decided to just lay down and fell asleep. However I kept waking to go to the bathroom. Well in an earlier conversation with my sister I had mentioned that my water was going to break because of the contractions. I had a dream that my DD1 and her bestfriend was driving down the road and I said to her gosh I feel wet and reached behind me and sure enough I was wet. So I woke my hubby and said we have to go to the hospital. I think my water broke. Sure enough that's what happened and into the world came Poetrie Keturah weighing 5lbs 6oz. She's doing amazing. Breathing on her own, maintaining her body temperature and she has the whole sucking and swallowing thing down. Maybe able to go home Monday or Tuesday
Well that's the story. Sorry it's so long.

7/29/11: My how time flies. Poetrie will be 4wks tomorrow (and my 1st DD will be 16). She is now weighing 6lbs 7oz. She is such a little Diva and knows how to get her way already. She loves for to be talked to and smiles so much. But please don't disturb her beauty rest for anything. She will give you a very vocal protest. She is a night owl and has to eat every 2 hours on the dot. If you're late you will hear about it(Hopefully that will change once she begins to take in more milk. I'm a zombie now because of it).

More updates soon to come....

Born: August 3 at 12:13 pm
Due Date: August 9
Weight: 7lb 12oz
Length: 20.5 in



Our little August surprise was born right on schedule (via c-section), quick, routine surgery. Pretty amazing when they announced it was a boy, though I was sure the whole time that it was, well worth the wait.
He is doing quite well, eating, sleeping and all that. He just doesnt like to sleep alone at night, will work on that.

Big sister, Peyton, is doing pretty well. She is very protective, always wants to help and to hold him. Just a bit of jealousy, needing attention and bored out of her mind, hard to keep her entertained when I have been up most of the night. Doing my best to keep her involved and busy.

Eve Katherine Renee's Space

Born August 19th at 11:09am
weight: 6 lbs 15 oz

Length: 20"

August 2 (36 weeks 1 day) – Wonderful GBS test (praying its negative), checked for dilation and I’m 1cm, but the cervix is high, thick and closed. I’m measuring 37 weeks along. HB is 155 (2 weeks prior it was 145), maybe the fluctuation is a direct reaction to Mommy’s anxiety of the GBS test??? Or is it a girl playing tricks on us?

August 9 (37 weeks 1 day) – GBS test NEGATIVE (whoot whoot). Mommy didn’t gain any weight this week. HB is 145. The measurement of Mommy’s tummy is 40 weeks. I was checked for dilation and I’m 1cm, but the cervix is still high, thick but a bit softer than last week. Skipped the sweep this week cause Mommy’s trying to procrastinate for Grammy to arrive.

August 17 (38 weeks 2 days) – Mommy gained 1 pound this week (probably too many milkshakes). HB 144, tummy measured 39 weeks. Mommy was checked for dilation and still 1 cm, high and thick but maybe a bit softer than last week. Doc decided not to do a sweep because it would be too painful with lack of dilation. But I’m still head down just not engaged or dropped. Mommy walks about a mile in the evening and uses 2 EPO caplets for the first time.

August 18 (38 weeks 3 days) – Mommy wakes up for the morning (after a night of having to pee every 2 hours) to find that she can breathe a bit better and notices that there is space between her belly and her boobs. Guess I dropped last night. No other signs of progression though. As the day progresses Mommy had some mucus plug loss but nothing significant. There are a few contractions, but really they’re more like Braxton Hicks but a bit more intense. Daddy and Mommy go out to dinner alone and Mommy has a few more Braxton Hicks while at dinner and a few more while shopping for puffy paints for Big Brother t-shirts. They get home and Mommy is tired at goes to bed at 9pm. She wakes at 11 with Daddy coming to bed and goes pee and wakes again at 12am.

August 19 (38 weeks 4 days) – So this story will continue from Mommy’s perspective.
So the night was interesting. Ever hour or two I was awoken to need to go poop. LOL….guess I was cleaning out. I figured it was the “hot” banana pepper appetizer I’d eaten the night before. Then around 3 when I decided to go to the couch so I could lay more upright that these feelings were coming around once an hour…..I got up and had a granola bar and a glass of water and texted Mom to say that things were starting to progress. At 4 I realized that things were happening once every 30 minutes. But I was able to relax and breathe through them. DH got up when the alarm went off at 6. He’s like how are you, what’s going on. I’m like I think I’m having contractions. He’s like ok. So he gets showered and ready for the day. I was surprised to see him in work clothes. He comes in and I’m like oh….your dressed for the office. And he looks surprised at me like he didn’t realize that I was serious about the contractions and then I had one in front of him. And he’s like okay how frequent. I’m like once every 20-30 minutes. So we made a game plan, he’d get the boys up and dressed and take them to “school aka day care” and then go into work let them know that he’s going to be out and come right home. Sounds good to me, I’m handling things ok. The boys are both clingy; I think they know something is up. And we tell DS1 that his baby sister or brother was going to be born that day. DS1’s excited but wants to stick with Mommy. Poor guy he just didn’t quite get it. So DH feeds the boys and gets them off and is back around 8:15am. Meanwhile I’ve taken a shower to relax and feel clean. It had been a sweaty night.
He changes and starts cleaning. LOL….yes he cleaned my shower and the tub, then vacuumed the floor and cleaned the cat box. Meanwhile I can’t sit anymore. Its 8:30am now and I’m definitely into active labor. DH called Mom around 8 and let her know so she can start the journey. I’m disappointed, I know then that they aren’t going to make it; it’s a 9 hour drive on the best of days. So I’m swaying and rocking my hips side to side an am able to just relax through the contractions. I’m really actually impressed with myself. DH’s like is it ok that I’m cleaning I’m like yes just don’t stray far. I didn’t need his touch just his presence.
Around 9:15 (give or take) I decide to take a nice hot bath in my clean tub. I let DH know and he helps me in and gets a towel to go behind my neck and head. I sat for probably 15 minutes in utter bliss. It’s the first time I’m actually able to relax and get off my feet for the last hour or so. Then things change and the contractions start coming closer together. I’m using all the vowel sounds I can think of to “sing” through them. Ok I felt like it was singing or toning but I’m sure it sounded more like screaming. DH calls the doula, Amy to come over. And he can’t get through. So he’s like dialing all the numbers to get ahold of someone to get her. She’s to come to the house because I went from not needing help to needing help NOW in like minutes. So I’m “singing” and DH goes back down to finish up the cat box really quick. LOL…..all the sudden he hears the tub draining and my tones have changed. And comes flying back up the stairs. What happened??? Yeah at 10am my water broke with a POP and rushing liquid that I could see escapes my body, it was dark and I was worried it was meconium. I made the tub drain cause I knew I shouldn’t be in the water when my bag of waters had broken. The contractions are one on top of the other now. I’m still in the tub on my knees leaned over the edge with my head buried in DH’s shoulder. I’m toning but also going “I don’t like this”, “this really really really really hurts”, a few choice words here and there. DH’s freaking out that Amy isn’t there yet. I was feeling the same way, well not freaking just really wanting her support but couldn’t articulate that either. The liquid I noticed in the tub was just blood and snot stuff…more mucus plug or my amniotic fluid, not sure which it just wasn’t meconium and that fear went away. And then well I noticed that I was feeling kinda pushy. I don’t know how I knew just did. DH said that I’d “sing” and then like lower my body like I was pushing and he’s like ok when I said I think we need to go to the hospital. And another round of phone calls to let Amy know that she needed to go to the hospital instead….and NOW.
DH manages to get me out of the tub and I stand in the middle of the bathroom gripping a door frame while he helps me step into underwear with a huge pad leftover from DS2’s birth. We get my pj top back on and we start moving. Which is an act in itself because the contractions aren’t stopping.
I’m now in the back of the minivan with some blankets on the floor, kneeling and gripping the side of the seat and the wall. DH heads out. I’m toning or screaming. DH’s trying to concentrate on the road and me and he’s doing it all very quickly. And of course we manage to get behind every slow poke imaginable. And I’m noticing that I’m screaming my vowels through the first part of the contraction and pushing during the second half. I’m trying not to but it’s just happening. I can’t think of what I’m supposed to do to keep from pushing.
We finally arrive at the hospital. Very cool they now have valet parking. DH pulls up and is like my wife is in labor and he and the lady at the valet desk run in and tell the desk and grab a wheelchair. The come to the back of the van to get me. I’m doing my best to get out but from a kneeled position and not being able to sit on my bottom it hurt like heck. I get in the chair but am like only touch my tailbone to the seat and using my legs to hold me up. DH throws a towel over my knees (modesty hahahahah). And I’m like get the suitcase it’s got the camera. He grabs it the valet lady says GO I’ll get the door. And off he’s pushing. And I’m trying hard not to sing too loud as we go by the desk I call to the ladies there “Dr. R. is my doctor”. They’re like we’ll take care of it.

Up the SLOOOOWWWWW elevator we go. The nurse meets us at the top and helps us get through the locked doors. The first room we come to is the triage room and they wheel me in there and ask me to get up. Hahahah I laughed at them but managed to move in a few. Next thing I know they’ve got my underwear off and are checking me which is incredibly painful and they’re like “she’s complete”. WHAT!!!! I notice at this time its 10:55am.

The nurses ask DH if I was planning on going natural, DH’s answer is there isn’t much choice is there, the nurse laughs and says no but it does give me her state of mind. At this point my body is shaking and pushing on its own and I’m just going with it. DH remembers to say that our friend (i.e. doula) Amy B is arriving and to let her in. She arrives shortly after he says this and we’re asked again if she can come in. probably because my legs are splayed and not much is hidden. LOL! They also are saying about this time that Dr. R. is 10 minutes out. I’m really like whatever I’m just going with my body. I’m also keeping my eyes closed. Probably I did this about the time they asked for my arm to stab me with an IV and something in my hand. I’ve no idea what it was.

I’ve really retreated inside. The only voices I’m really listening to are those of DH and Amy. I do remember being asked to slide down to the end of the bed and not really being able to and saying “owie owie owie owie” a lot (can you tell I’ve got little kids at home already). My feet find a place to rest down and not in the air this time and I’m told if I want to push to grab behind my legs and push. I really can’t tell you if I did the grabbing really or if others just helped me do it but I do remember pushing and feeling like I was being stretched to death. My poor lady parts hurt. I did a few pushes like this and Amy kept telling me to relax my shoulders and breathe. I know someone was doing the 10 count but I really wasn’t listening.
Then I remember DH saying the head was almost out and look to see my baby (i.e. open your eyes). Oh my goodness I could see this gooey head with the vernix on it and it looked so small and smushed together it was amazing. I push again (back with the eyes closed). Dr. R is trying to stretch my perinium (evidently there was a midwife there as well that put mineral oil in that area to help the stretching as well, guess they called all hands on deck not being sure if my Doc was going to arrive). And I’m told to stop…why the head’s out right….well they gave me a shot and proceeded to cut me. And then I had to push again for the shoulders and then for the hips and then the baby kicked me on the way out. DH said that the shoulders came out vertical instead of horizontal….no wonder for the cut.
I’m crying and have my eyes open and ask DH “what is it?” (I’m told I actually shouted it). And his face was priceless. It was one of wonderment, awe, and tears of joy and he’s like “it’s a girl”! OMG our girl, really OUR GIRL!!!! I asked seriously. And have the baby on my tummy I’m rubbing her face and looking at her and looking up at DH to see if it’s really happening. I couldn’t believe it.
I held onto her for awhile and DH got to cut the cord. Eventually they asked to take her away to be weighed and measured so I could work on delivering the placenta. I’m like if you have to. The nurses laughed and said they’d bring her right back.
So now the 2nd painful part starts. Dr. R. is massaging my insides and looking for internal tears and starting to work to get the placenta to deliver. OUCH. I’ve got a death grip on Amy’s hand and DH’s with our tiny one. So there are a few pictures of me staring at my baby girl with that “owie face” going on.
I do get to see the placenta. This is very cool by the way. Dr. R. explains it all to me. Fascinating that it’s where my baby lived for 9 months.
So after he’s done and I’m all stitched up I get to hold my baby and kiss her and just cry over our little girl. I’m shaking from hormones and excitement. It’s really amazing.
So for her stats:
Born 11:09am (remember that I arrived at 10:55am)
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length: 20”
Head: 30cm
Apgars: 9 out of 9

She’s absolutely perfect and nameless for hours after her birth. We totally believed that she’d be another boy, why not we already had 2 it was the law of odds. We had a list of 27 names. So after 4 or 5 hours we narrowed it down to 4 names and then before Grammy and Grandpa Miller arrived we’d picked her name. It was one that we realized that as we looked at her our tongues just pulled upon first. So it was just meant to be.

So we’re very proud to announce: Eve Katherine-Renee L.

Eve - because we liked it and it was feminine and strong
Katherine - after my Great-Grandma Kate (Katherine) a wonderful….strong enduring woman that I hope Eve takes after
Renee - to honor a beautiful soul of DH’s sister that blessed this earth in her own way for 28 years