April

It's true this post has set new records for how long it's taken me to write and publish! April now seems like such a long time ago, but we're only just three weeks past. ::Sigh:: It's been a busy three weeks, though. I'll save those stories for a future post.

The first day of April directly followed Easter Sunday this year, and with it came a new experience in parenting for Matt and I. We try to follow a no-sugar policy at our house, which translated means the sweet stuff is reserved for only once-a-week desserts and 2-5 daily jelly beans as payment for chores done with happy hearts. Well, on this particular Monday morning our childrens' eyes were glued to the abundance of Easter candy showered on them by family members the day before. All were obedient, however, and put the candy in a special place for consumption at a TBD time. Except, that is, for one.

It was later in the morning and I had run upstairs for something, only to come back down and discover Jadyn was missing. Neither of the other two kids had seen her and after calling and searching for her for several minutes I got a bit panicky and called to Matt for help.

A few anxious minutes later we found her. Naked. In the dark. Yes, it's true. We found her sitting cross-legged and naked on a pile of laundry in the dark laundry room, with the door tightly shut, shoveling Easter candy into her mouth by the handful. I only wish I could have captured a picture of that little face when I discovered her. She had chocolate smeared all over her cheeks and was at that moment popping Starbursts (unwrapped ones, at that!) into her little rosebud mouth like there was no tomorrow. 'Twas the first time in my short parenting career that I couldn't do anything but quietly close the door, retreat to the living room, and fall on the floor laughing. So much for taking advantage of a disciplinary moment. I could hardly hold it together!

Needless to say, Matt and I had a good long talk with our little Jady-Bug and after hearing what the consequences of her behavior would be she tearfully admitted her undying love for candy. It was really too cute. Here's a photo of her I snapped a few days later that displays her cuteness, but in a better light :-). Yes, that's a skirt she's wearing in the picture. Yes, she pooped out colored candy wrappers for a couple of days. No, I don't think she'll do something like that ever again.

The other resident cutie-pie in our household is growing like a weed. She turned 7 months old the beginning of April and is still her Daddy's girl. She flashes grins like these at everyone she meets, especially if they are males. Heaven help us, this baby is definitely boy crazy. Ah, I could just eat her up!

April found us enjoying the opportunities to get outside and away from the house. With my business website in full swing I decided it was time to hit the trail and forage for some fresh herbs to write about. Nettle just happened to be the herb of the month and so the kids and I headed for my parent's property to go in search of them. Novice that I am, we discovered what we thought was a patch of Stinging Nettle (not that I wanted to touch them and find out!) and proceeded to harvest quite a bit. Later my grandfather took a look at my "weeds" and declared they were not nettles (as he grabbed a fist-full) and we later found out they were noxious weeds called Garlic-Mustard. Who knew? I redeemed the trip by taking this cute picture of my girlies with some wild Bluebells.

The gorgeous spring weather beckoned us outside for chores as well as play. Matt's lawn is his favorite project and it was green and beautiful this spring... and tall. Keeping to tradition he hoisted MJ on his hip and set out to mow one evening. Later I discovered this precious father/son bonding that was taking place. I think this will be a cherished photo for years to come.

I'll wrap this post up with another picture of our Jordynn. Our nicknames for her have turned out to be Jordy, Georgy-Porgy Puddin n' Pie, Punky Brewster, Lil' Ewok and Ham. Quite an assortment I guess. And as the picture suggests, she is a lover of food! We've moved on to cheerios and pancakes and muffins and... you name it she loves it! Here she's indulging in my Dandelion Banana Muffins.

Until next month... adieu!

Welcome, Water Baby!

On September 5th we welcomed our fourth child and third daughter: Jordynn Evangeline Marie…. This is her story:

Born @ 7:42PM
8lbs 6oz
19inches

For you GUYS who might be reading, here’s an abbreviated version:
 
True labor started around 9am Wednesday morning Sept 5th and 10.5 hours later we had a live baby at home. Yes, my husband missed the very first NFL game. No, he didn’t complain about it, albeit he glanced mournfully at the TV every 5 minutes. Just kidding. 



And for the LADIES:

1. Why a homebirth?

2. Jordynn's Story


Let me first answer a pressing question… why a homebirth? 

My previous two births were attended by terrific CNMs (certified nurse-midwives) who had hospital privileges. I had good experiences with them, however, Jadyn and MJ were both diagnosed with shoulder dystocia during labor. This uncommon issue can be an obstetrical emergency resulting in damage or even death to the infant in severe cases. Thankfully our issues were never so serious. That said, my CNM with MJ was a bit shaken by our birth experience and she encouraged us to induce or grow a smaller baby the next time around. Ha!

When I returned pregnant with Jordynn, I found I had a bit of a reputation in the CNM’s office for my shoulder dystocia experience. As the months went on I grew tired of their continued mention of it and their reluctance to let me have the hospital birth I wanted simply because I was a bit of a liability. Concurrently I read “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth,” a wonderful, albeit very crunchy, book written by one of the US’s most experienced midwives. Ina seemed unshaken by the urgency of shoulder dystocia which inspired me to do my own research about the issue.  I came away feeling strongly that my past births weren’t truly shoulder dystocia cases; the baby was simply not given time to rotate properly. Furthermore, all the safety the hospital afforded me in that situation was the possibility of a C-Section, in which event the baby is usually so stuck that the time required to prep for surgery can be too long. 

Armed with this info Matt and I confidently switched to a small home-birth midwifery practice in my eighth month.  Though so late in my pregnancy the midwives agreed with my evaluation that I most likely didn’t have dystocia issues and simply needed better support, direction and patience in labor... and they agreed to give it to me. Thus we fast-forward to September… 

Jordynn initiated her arrival in mid-August when my enemy/”friend” prodromal labor arrived. I fully anticipated a baby during week 39 and experienced contractions every day from 4pm-10pm starting around week 38. I was less than thrilled when no baby appeared days later. Ditto the following week.  Aaaaand ditto the following week. Seriously?! Me, past my due date?! Three weeks of prodromal crap?! Inconceivable!  

Me at 41 weeks

September 4th I started having stronger contractions in the morning – rather unusual from the prodromal pattern – and they continued all day at 3-5 minutes apart. I asked one of my midwives to come check the baby and she did a cervical check as well… no change. I was still 3cm and 60% as I had been for weeks. So after a Tylenol, a glass of wine and a good cry Matt and I went to bed. They stopped sometime in the night.

*Drumroll, please….*

Wednesday September 5th found me 41 weeks, 4 days preggo. And tired. And cranky. Thankfully I had a mother’s helper lined up for the morning and when she arrived I escaped upstairs to call one of my best friends. Then a *real* contraction hit. Finally! 

(Prodromal labor often leaves a laboring woman feeling so stupid when real labor starts. It’s rather retrospective in that sense… only in hindsight can you look back and say… “oh, yes, I WAS in labor”. However, there was no doubt in my mind that we finally reached a birth day. Yay!)

I didn’t time my contractions (I never do when they are the real thing since they are ALWAYS irregular. Whoever met a textbook laboring woman, anyway?) but they were intensifying so I called my midwives to cancel my office appointment and let them know I’d be needing them later. Once the kiddos were down for their naps my mom came over and we watched “Sense and Sensibility”. Contractions were now at the small land-mammal noise-making level. :-) Progress!

At 4pm… it was time to rid the house of small children. My parents graciously obliged and I finished the movie alone while waiting for the midwives to arrive. Matt busied himself by preparing our last minute items and tending to me when my primal noises approached the more mid-sized land-mammal level.

 -- Might I interject here how AWESOME it was not to have to prepare to head to the hospital! It was SO much more relaxed and comfortable at home. Using my own bathroom :-). No pressing thoughts of who else had been laboring on the toilet... --

My 3 midwives, Jill, Tanya and Alison arrived at 5pm. Two focused solely on me and my comfort while the other joined Matt in filling the birth tub in our living room. I still had no trouble working through these contractions; my biggest hurdle was the knowledge of what was coming and dreading… dreading… dreading. There is bliss in first-time birth. Not so much in subsequent ones.

Around 6pm I climbed in the tub and fell in love. I thought for sure I wouldn’t like it or would feel out of control working through contractions. Not so. Though the "pain" wasn't lessened for me, the weightlessness afforded more opportunities for movement without feeling like a beached whale. 

For the next half hour or so I floated through the “squeezes” and chatted about random topics. Matt was a huge comfort in the tub as he rubbed my back and the midwives helped me keep my voice low. I was encouraged to gauge my own labor progress (a very empowering thing) and finally close to 7pm I was starting to struggle with the intensity. 

--Enter aquatic-mammal noises and lots of whining.—

By this time my mind was chanting “no, no, no” while the rest said “oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.” I told the midwives I was feeling “pushy” and lo and behold the next contraction had a double peak… the first peak broke my water (a lovely and non-messy thing being in the tub!) and the second peak brought Jordynn completely down to crowning. It was so fast that she was very bruised afterward, poor thing.

The midwives helped me control my pushing more than I had with the previous three, which I both loved and loathed them for. During this time it was great to be floating in the water, leaning into Matt’s arms. Pushing in the water didn’t annoy me at all like I thought it would. I still felt very in control and as my contractions eased off I found I could relax much more than being in a hospital bed. And who couldn't with Enya playing in the background and my favorite candle burning nearby?

 After those few intense minutes of waiting, I delivered her head and breathed a sigh of relief. Jordynn had her cord wrapped firmly around her neck but it was still pulsing so the midwives decided to just let her be and summersault her out when the time came.

And now the moment of truth was here… would she be “stuck” like the other two had been? The midwives waited quietly and patiently, watching Jordynn’s color and asking me if I felt any further contractions. I didn’t. So we waited… and waited. For two entire minutes the midwives sat back and just let my body do its thing. It was wonderful. I was in no discomfort and thoroughly enjoyed the rest, floating in the warm water. Sloooowly Jordynn rotated as she was supposed to, but I had no further contractions. My senior midwife suggested I flip to my hands and knees to see if that would trigger a contraction. It was so easy to manipulate myself in the water and the very process of moving definitely kicked things back into gear. One push and out she came… with no shoulder issues whatsoever.

They left Jordynn floating in the water while I turned back around and sat down. I was able to pick her up out the water on my own and lay her on my chest. (‘Tis a very strange thing to see your new baby grayish-blue and floating face down in the water. I’m so glad I had watched numerous water birth videos to prepare me for that!) I rubbed her back and the midwives gave her a few pumps of air. Her first little cry was a pathetic one but within minutes she perked up and let us have it!
 

I climbed out of the tub minutes later and walked to the couch carrying our new child. I delivered the afterbirth there quite easily. Then the midwives excused themselves and Matt and I had a good hour just staring at her by ourselves. It was wonderful! Afterward I had a snack, went upstairs, took a shower, put on my own pajamas and cuddled up in bed while they did the newborn assessment. I felt terrific! I could never have hoped for a more peaceful and beautiful home birth experience.

 

 

Home birth is certainly not for everyone, but to those who are interested I would heartily encourage them to give it a try. My midwives were intuitive and confident in their work (much more than even the CNMs I’ve had in the past) and amazed me with their support and good humor. Moreover, they chose to encourage me in being confident in my body’s ability to do its thing, especially as we moved further past my due date, and in my own intuition. Jordynn showed no signs of being post-term and my placenta had no calcification either. Clearly, my worrying was for not.

Overall the homebirth and waterbirth experience was empowering and peaceful and I would do it again in the future. I loved avoiding the medical stresses of being "watched" in the hospital with the chaos that surrounds most moments at birth and finding comfort and deep peace in remaining at home. It truly reduced the birth experience to the natural, God-ordained physiological event that it is.That's not to say there isn't a place to medical intervention, but I'm a firm believer it should be the exception and not the norm. I hope this story encourages others to believe likewise.

Our new family of six!