Birth Story (Part 1)

I don’t even know where to begin.  When did my labor really start?  The week before my mom arrived, I started having serious braxton hicks contractions.  I was up all night one night, wondering if it was time, and hoping I could hold off before my mom got here.  Then my mom arrived and although I continued to have random contractions, things weren’t as serious until the first week of July.  It kind of surprised me because I figured I’d end up going into labor early with the baby.  (I went into labor with Madison 1 week early, the day of my scheduled C-Section). 

My doctor gave me a due date ranging between June 30th and July 4th.  I always thought it would be neat to have the baby on the 4th of July, not just because it is a national holiday, but also because it’s my mom’s birthday.  But really, what are the odds?  After June 30th came and went, I told my mom that I predicted the baby would be born July 3rd, right in between her birthday and Scott’s biological mom’s birthday. 

Well, July 1st came, and that evening, I started having serious contractions.  They started off about 30 minutes apart, and gradually came in closer together, increasing in pain as the night progressed.  I spent the most of the night in my bed, so uncomfortable, but not wanting to get out of bed.  I let Scott sleep, because I knew he had to work if I wasn’t really in labor, and if I was in labor, I wanted him to be as rested as could be before things got real bad. 

Eventually, the contractions were 5 minutes apart, and then even closer…and then by the wee early hours of the morning, as the sun began to rise, they spread back out until they stopped.  I could not believe it.  I just spent the entire night enduring false labor.  I told Scott what happened, and warned him to be available by phone just in case things progressed during the day.  Nothing exciting happened other than an occasional contraction here and there, though painful!  And sweet Madison.  Every time I’d get one, she’d see me close my eyes and she’d say, “Shhhh, Mommy sleeping!”

So no steady serious contractions, at least not until that evening, when the same thing happened around dinner time.  They started off pretty close together this time, 5 - 8 minutes apart, and Scott decided it was time to call our friends and drop the kids off at their house.  He was wise enough to know that it was going to be another long night.  I sobbed when he walked out the door with the kids.   Especially thinking about Madison staying over at someone else’s house all night, for the very first time.  She was excited to be going to Uncle Joe’s house of course.  And I was a bit relieved to see her wave and excitedly tell me goodbye.  But gosh, was it hard!

But it was the right thing to do.  I was up all night, from July 2nd to the wee early hours of July 3rd.  This time, I wised up a bit and got out of bed.  I spent the rest of the night on the couch.  I was in crazy pain, and tracking my contractions by the clock on the t.v. because I was too tired to grab a timer.  I remember both Patick and Dwight coming down before the sun rise.  Both woke me up during my brief breaks between contractions, Patrick to see if I was okay, and Dwight to see “who was watching t.v. downstairs”.  Ugh.  I certainly can not do this labor thing with these kids at home!

Finally, the contractions once again subsided.  I could not believe it.  How much longer could I possibly handle this?  Two nights of no sleep can wear a pregnant woman with 5 children out!  In fact, I seem to remember now that the day before I tried to take a nap and during my nap time I had contractions that hurt too much to really let me sleep.  I guess my body just didn’t want me to sleep!

Anyway, I got up and got ready for my doctor’s appointment.  The doctor and I discussed whether or not he should check me.  He offered the last several appointments, but always left the decision to me, reminding me that often times, it really won’t tell me anything because dialation can occur several weeks before labor.  But this time, he was a bit concerned that with my two previous C-Sections, that I might have too much scar tissue built up, preventing my uterus from pushing the baby downwards. 

I was really afraid to let him check because I knew that if I wasn’t dialated, or even 1 cm dialated, that I’d end up leaving frustrated after all those sleepless nights.  But I kind of felt that it was time to check and start monitoring any progress after all these contractions. 

So, my doctor checked, and was very happy to report that I was 4 cm dialated and 85 % effaced!  Wow!  That was thrilling news.  Then he threw another decision at me.  He offered to sweep my membranes.  Everything I’ve read on natural childbirth seems to discourage this practice, and knowing my doctor is a strong advocate for women who want to pursue natural childbirth (as well as supporting midwives and doulas in their work), I felt confident in asking him for his opinion on this subject.  He told me that after several sleepless nights, he would like to go ahead and do this to help labor progressed.  He said he felt it would help me go into labor within the next 24 - 48 hours.  So, even though I couldn’t remember why sweeping the membranes was discouraged in the books I’d read, I agreed it was the best decision and ended up leaving the doctors office confident that we were going to have a baby very very soon.

We went straight from the doctor’s office to pick up our kids, and then Scott stopped at a restaurant to pick up some BBQ, and a bakery to pick up some fresh bread.  Mmmmmm…  It was a great lunch, and it seemed like we were almost celebrating the fact that I was almost there.  We were going to have a baby real soon!

Only I didn’t realize how quickly sweeping my membranes would work.  I also forgot one of the reasons why some nurses and midwives discourage this practice.  I went to take a nap around 12:00 that afternoon, and by 2:00 I was in tears from the excruciating pain in my back!  Scott woke up from his nap as I rocked in the glider in our room just sobbing in pain. 

He grabbed the timer and found that my contractions were 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes apart.  “Do you want me to start making some phone calls?”  He asked between contractions. 

“Nooooooo!  I sobbed.  “They’ll just stop!”  But they didn’t, and they hurt.  Scott stayed with me for a while longer, and then he told me he was going to get my mom while he made some calls.

So my mom came in my room and stayed with me while he called our friend, Amanda to come over and stay with the kids.  He also called my doula and doctor.  I remember trying to get last minute stuff together and then waiting for Amanda to show up.  Finally, she arrived and I tried to breath through contractions as Scott went over last-minute instructions with her. 

I remember her talking to me and then a contraction coming on.  All I could do was close my eyes and breath.  I remember he saying, “ooooh, I remember that!”  And something about never again.  No kidding!

I can’t even remember if I hugged the kids goodbye, but I think I did.  We loaded up in the car and Scott offered me a popsicle.  I didn’t even finish 1/4 of it.  The contractions seemed to pile one on top of another as we drove towards the hospital.  The drive seemed like hours as Scott followed the curvy roads, and then eventually merged onto the highway. 

The bumps, the slightest bumps or potholes made things hurt even worse.  But finally, we arrived in front of the hospital.  I remember asking Scott to wait a sec before going over the speed bump in the parking lot.  After the most intense part of the contraction passed, I gave him permission to drive forward.  :)  He pulled up front and dropped my mom and me off while he found parking.  I was offered a wheel chair by a man up front, but for some reason I thought walking might be better.  What was I thinking?  I had to stop in the middle of the hallway and just focus on breathing.  I felt people watching me, but I didn’t care.  I just wanted to get to the elevator. 

Of course, with all the pain there to distract me, I had a hard time remembering where to go.  Why did I tell the person who asked me if I knew where to go that I KNEW WHERE TO GO?  I couldn’t remember.  Mom and I looked for signs.  It took us a while, but we eventually found them.  We finally made it to the registration desk where I signed in.  I had to initial and sign a form or two, and the nurse at the desk asked me if it was just a coincidence or did I plan on wearing the shirt I was wearing?  “Oh Baby!”  It said.  Trust me, “Complete coincidence!”  I breathed out as another contraction came on.

A few minutes later they called me into a room.  They wanted me to put on this tight belt like thing, only it was as wide as my belly.  I wanted to cry when the nurse handed it to me.  How did she think I was going to put this on me?  Did she realize how much it was going to make those contractions hurt?  But they wanted to monitor the baby and contractions to be sure I was actually in labor. 

Scott finally made it in the room, to my relief, and I got dressed in the stupid hospital gown and put the stupid spandex-like belt that I grew to despise over the course of the night on my belly.  The nurse checked me, and to my disappointment, I was still only dialated to 4.  In spite of all the painful contractions, I hadn’t progressed at all since my appointment.  I was afraid it was going to be a long night!

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Monday, Monday

Ahhh, it’s taking some time, but maybe today I’ll get this birth story posted.  I don’t know what it is about Mondays since the baby has been born, but this Monday was just as hectic as last Monday!  Scott called me at 8 a.m. to tell me that he was rear-ended (but was okay).  Good news is that he only suffered some soreness.  I can’t imagine what I would do without my husband right now!  The other good news is that it was the minivan that was hit.  Would you believe that our Kia Sadona has been hit 4 times now?  What are the odds?  We bought it 6 years ago and it has been hit 4 times! 

It just so happens that Scott took the van yesterday morning because the car seat base was in the Expedition and I had an appointment for the baby’s first pics.  So he took the van instead of messing with switching the base out.  If he’d taken the Expedition, chances are that it would have suffered more damage since it rides much higher and then we wouldn’t have a car big enough to transport our entire family!!!  Our minivan miraculously has only some bumper damage this time around.  The lady’s car, however, looked totaled.  (She’s okay too, by the way) 

Anyway, Scott was okay but made an appointment with his doctor just to be sure.  In the meantime, I took the baby for her pictures, thinking it would take an hour tops to go through the entire process.  Two hours later, I was in pain (forgot to take my Motrin), especially after all the sitting, and I was starving (forgot to eat breakfast in my mad rush to get out of the house in time)!  I couldn’t wait to get out of there! 

Mom, Madison, the baby and I loaded up in the Expedition, went through the drive through for a quick lunch, and then headed home in time for me to get ready for my doctor’s appointment, which I had to schedule because I discovered I am suffering some minor complications (don’t want to give too much information, but it isn’t pleasant!)

So, Scott drove straight from his appointment to home so he could drive me to mine, and we were there for a good while, mainly because I had to stop to feed the baby twice between my visit.  So needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got home! 

Thank God for my mom who is still here helping out.  I don’t know how I would do this without her and I hope she’s not wearing herself out trying to keep up with all these kids!  And thank God for my husband, who still fixed us dinner after his accident the same day! 

It was another eventful day but we survived!  I think that next Monday we are going in hiding!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA

I can’t believe it has been a week since the baby was born!  I promise to get on the birth story soon!  But obviously it has been a crazy week, and today we celebrated Joshua’s 7th birthday. 

So today made for an emotional morning as I remembered where I was last week, giving birth to my daughter, and where I was 7 years ago, giving birth to my son.  Time flies way too fast, especially when you are trying your hardest to cherish and treasure every moment!

Infestation

I should be blogging my birth story, and I can’t wait to do so, but for now, I just have to put in a quick post to say we have spent the last 2 days dealing with a lice infestation!  Imagine my horror, coming home from the hospital on Saturday with a newborn and discovering lice on my 5 year old 2 days later! 

It started off so good too.  The home nurse came by for a visit and the baby has only lost 4 ounces since birth!  She was very encouraging and we had a great visit.  Then we went on with the day, thinking it was going to be a day of relaxation and recovery.  But no.  Kelly kept scratching her head, complaining it itched.  So I told her she probably had dandruff and to let me check.

I pulled her hair over and discovered those little bugs crawling all over her head!  “Ewwwwwe!  Oh nooo!  She has lice!”  I freaked.  I was so disgusted, and Scott knew to get out the door and to the store right away, where he spent $150 on lice treatment products! 

So we started with Kelly and she was covered.  I’m not talking about just a little lice.  My mom used the comb on her hair after Scott shampooed it and she covered 3 paper towels with lice and nits!  It was so disgusting. 

Then we checked our hair and sure enough, Mom and I both had nits and then we found two live lice on Madison’s hair, so we treated her too (although we found no nits/eggs). 

We spent the entire day dealing with the lice infestation.  Laundry, hair, bagging up pillows and stuffed animals, clean up, etc.  My poor feet were so swollen by the end of the day, which was crazy because they hadn’t swollen up the entire pregnancy.  But I had to get that stuff taken care of right away.  It was making me crazy just thinking about it, and you can bet I’ve been picking through the baby’s hair just looking for signs of lice on her head. 

Oh, and if the baby blue’s hadn’t set in yet, Lice will most definitely make a postpartum mom cry!  Yesterday was Scott’s last day off and I was really looking forward to some bonding time.  Instead, we spent the day just dealing with nasty bugs.  Fortunately, he’s still working from home the rest of the week, but he isn’t off work.  I’d love his full attention right now, but I’m thankful he’s at least home!  I love having him around right now. 

Today I continued to find lice in Kelly’s hair so we treated it again and I pulled out several more nits and a couple of lice.  Ugh!  It’s certainly not how I anticipated spending the last 2 days, but thank God for my wonderful mom and husband!  I don’t know what I’d do without them! 

So, now I get to start making some phone calls to let our friends/family who’ve been exposed, know about the situation.  The call I’m dreading most?  My Doula.  That’s going to be a fun one!

The Baby

Hi, this is Melissa’s mom again.  I am now officially the worst blogger in the world!  I know Melissa’s desire was for me to keep everyone informed, and that is what my intention was also.  The way things occurred, it just didn’t happen.  I did try to get on the internet while we were at the hospital, but they hadn’t given me the password that I needed to hook up.  So, I gave up on the blog, and just concentrated on the events going on around me.

So, I’ll go back to where I left off on my last blog.  On Wednesday evening, we just knew Melissa was in true labor.  The pains were consistent and getting stronger and stronger.  After the kids were taken to a friend’s home, we timed the contractions and waited.  The strange thing was, the pains didn’t come closer together.  They kept coming, and eventually started became inconsistent, but stayed strong.  Melissa decided she was going to take a bath and rest.  Scott and I layed down for a few hours, not able to sleep too well knowing the baby could soon be on the way.

The next morning Melissa was just exhausted.  The pains had lasted throughout the night, but never formed into a consistent pattern again.  We were glad that she had a scheduled doctor’s appointment this morning (Thursday), hoping that he would be able to enlighten us as to why labor wasn’t progressing as we thought it should be.  When the doctor checked Melissa, he said that she was dilated to 3 already, and was 85% effaced with the baby at minus 1 station.  We were all so encouraged at the news.  With Melissa’s permission, her doctor stripped the membrane to help labor along the course.  He said that Melissa should be in active labor within a day or two.

We then picked up the kids and went home, with the thoughts of having a good nap.  Melissa was still feeling pains as we ate lunch and afterwards as we all went to rest for awhile.  I wasn’t able to sleep too long, probably an hour, and after puttering around in my room for awhile decided to see if anyone else was up.  I could hear voices coming from Scott and Melissa’s room, and finally I heard Scott calling for me.  He asked me if I would stay with Melissa while he went to make some phone calls.  He needed to call a friend to come stay with the kids.  The doctor had been called, Melissa’s pains were now 2 to 3 minutes apart, and poor Melissa was having strong, hard, painful contractions.  As soon as their friend arrived and we had the kids settled (Addison was still napping), we left for the hospital.

I will let Melissa post about the things that she wants to share about the labor and delivery.  We took many pictures, and waited and waited and waited.  The baby didn’t come that night, but decided to wait until the next morning.  I will share that Melissa, through all the hard work and excruciating pain, did wonderfully, and that she was able to have the VBAC that she so desired.  I am so VERY proud of my daughter.  And I’m proud to announce that my new grandbaby was born on my birthday, July 4, at 9:15 in the morning.  The baby is a girl!  Yay, Team Pink!  She was 7 lbs 15 oz, and 21 1/2 inches long.  She is so absolutely beautiful!  She is the best birthday present in the whole wide world!

Baby Girl

The Real Thing?

Well, this is Melissa’s mom.  First, let me say that I am not the writer that Melissa is.  She can write things and make them so interesting, just full of life.  But I told her that I’d try to keep everyone informed, so here I am.

Melissa has been having steady contractions now for several hours, and, of course, we’re wondering if this is the real thing.  These contractions have again been steady, but this time they are even more intense.  I have to say, Melissa has been doing so well, and she’s handled things wonderfully.  I’ve never gone through labor having 5 children around me.  Even little Madison has been sensitive.  She’ll look and see Melissa has her eyes closed and say, “Mommy is sleeping.  Be quiet.”

Scott has just taken the kids to a friend’s home.  The pains are coming too close, and are too intense now.  We’re hoping and praying that this is it, and that both mommy and baby come through wonderfully.  Melissa deserves to have exactly what she is wishing for (a successful labor and delivery and healthy baby).  And I believe that is what the Lord has planned for her.

Another Long Night With No Baby

What is it about the night that makes my uterus want to work?  I was up all night again.  The contractions became more intense and eventually I got out of bed and headed downstairs with a couple of pillows and sat on the recliner part of my couch.  I had the heating pad on, which did wonders for my back, but these contractions were definitely doing something.  I could feel the tightening sensation work its way down, and while painful, I have to admit there is something powerful about being able to feel this muscle work from top to bottom.  There was no talking through these, just focusing on relaxing and breathing!

I had the tv on when I first went down and ended up flipping to that reality show with Tori Spelling.  It caught my attention and I was able to pause between contractions so I could keep up with what is going on in the show.  I have to say that I got a good laugh when she was waiting to see her OB and freaking out about her baby possibly punching through her placenta and uterus and damaging vital organs (therefore drowning itself in her own blood).  Oh my gosh.  What a way to lighten up (false) labor!  Her husband tried to rationalize with her that she has nothing sharp to puncture through the uterus with, but Tori said, “Hello!  She has nails!”  As she held up her hands with her neatly manicured (probably fake) long pink nails attached to her fingers.  Just what I needed to lighten up a long, exhausting night!

Finally, I moved off the recliner and lie on the couch where I was able to sleep for 2 hours with a few contractions waking me up in between.  They apparently spread out after I stopped timing them, but I’m stilling having a few every hour!  This could go on for days, folks.  I guess I’ll deal, because I know I’m getting closer to having this baby! 

I’m off to attempt to take a nap now.  I don’t know why I’m even trying.  The contractions are starting up again, but who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky!

 

 

Shirts

I’m still having contractions.  They are just here and there.  They got pretty intense early this morning.  I really had to focus on my breathing and there were a couple of times they caught me off-guard and I was not in a relaxing position when they hit…nor could I get in a relaxing position until they stopped.  OUCH!  I got up later this morning and sat with my achey back and hips against a heating pad.  It felt so good!  I guess my body is just getting ready for the real deal.  At least I can take comfort in knowing that I’m going to have a July baby!

We did manage to get the t-shirts done and packed in the bags the other day.  Here are a few pics of what the kids will wear when they show up at the hospital to find out if they have a brother or a sister.  (Okay, we have t-shirts too!)  Since Dwight is on Team Pink but didn’t want to wear pink, I made his special. 

Now, I’m going to go get ready to get out of the house for a bit.  Scott is working from home and taking us out for some Mexican food for lunch…maybe that will get things going!