I've been meaning to write down the story of how you came into this world- already it is fading and it was only a couple weeks ago! So, right now while you are in the carrier staring up at me and chilling out seems like a good time.
On the night of Wednesday, May 18th, I woke up with contractions, they were 5 minutes apart for a few hours and your dad and I got so excited! We got out of bed and called the midwife, who informed us that we were still in "early labor" to our great disappointment. So we tried to go back to bed and by 5 am they had subsided. Darn it! These same shenanigans continued Thursday and Friday night, with contractions during the day off and on. Come Saturday, we were trying everything we could to bring on the labor! We went for a big long walk at Powell Butte, went to see Alice in Wonderland at the Academy to keep our mind off things, and then another walk. That evening I took the midwife's advice to take a bath and have a glass of wine (as medicine to help sleep) and went to bed.
We woke up as contractions became stronger and stronger- your dad helping me get through the strong sensations of every one, often by doing the "hip squeeze" we learned in our Birthing from Within class, and by 3am I couldn't function any more and it was off to the hospital!
When we first arrived, they put us on a monitor to see how you were doing. Instantly our plans for waterbirth were out the window because every time I had a contraction- your heart rate went all crazy! With a distinct possibility of C-section looming over us at all times, we did squats and lunges for a long time trying to move you into a good position for your heart rate. It worked! Things started looking up, I made it through every powerful wave with your dad behind me as the ultimate support and love, and our doula Rita in front of me speaking kind words of encouragement and coaching me through. A midwifery student named Annie was with us the whole time, as was the midwife who delivered you, Michelle. The other amazing person we had in attendance was a nurse named Caron- she was the most amazing pushing coach ever!
Once we got to the pushing stage is where we had more issues, as we found out later that you were turned sunny side up (the wrong way) and brow presentation, one of the most difficult ways to push a baby out. It took me a little over three hours of pushing until we finally saw your beautiful head. You were worth every drop of energy, though.
When you came out, your head looked square (says your dad) and they had to rush you across the room to help you breathe and make sure you were ok. I was so relieved it was over, and so impatient to get you in my arms, I could hardly stand it! I heard your cries from across the room and I needed to hold you! Your dad got to hold you first, and you tried to latch on to his shoulder. When I finally got you, you latched on right away like a champ! I was so proud of you.
When I sang you your song, you instantly opened your eyes and looked at me the whole time I was singing, it was magical. It felt like my whole heart had stretched so big to include the entire world with you at the center of it- so much love!
Our midwife says it was one of the most difficult births she had ever attended, and that you gave her a grey hair, but I'd do it all again to have you in my arms.
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April Showers bring May Flowers
Well, technically one of the showers was at the end of May, but all the same....
I am floating on a cloud of love and support from all the amazing friends we have! I've been given two baby showers lately and it truly was a neat experience to celebrate the coming of a new baby into the world. Everyone is so excited to meet Ginny and welcome her, and oh my, the sweet little gifts she received, we are so spoiled. Big thanks to Ryan, Johanna and Franny for organizing the March 27 shower, and to Terri and Sandra for organizing the OHSU April 1st shower, we feel so special!
We're at 32 weeks and a little bit now, and I've definitely had an insane desire to organize all the baby stuff we have in our house. On Friday Steve and I trekked to Beaverton and bought a used antique dresser/changing table that is adorable, and I spent Saturday morning putting the itsy bitsy clothes away in drawers, preparing the unbleached cloth diapers for use, and visiting babyworks (the cloth diapering gurus around here). I feel so much more ready, come what may. I do have a strong feeling she will come really near her due date, maybe the full moon on May 27th. So I do think we have time, but I think that whole "nesting instinct" thing has something to it!
Another cute story as of late, I was driving to work when a song by Ella Fitzgerald came on NPR. Ginny started kicking and twirling, it was so funny! So we got an Ella Fitgerald CD from the library, we'll see if we can replicate the experience. She's a very active little womb occupant, it is so fun. As she has been growing I'm feeling a lot more movement around my ribs, which totally tickles.
I think Pepper will be so happy when Ginny comes, because then Steve might stop playing "burp the baby, swaddle the baby, you be the baby" with her. It is hilarious, but I get the distinct feeling that she doesn't enjoy it all that much.
In my next posts, I think I am going to take a cue from my friend Margaret and start writing this blog as a series of letters to Ginny. Pictures coming soon!
I am floating on a cloud of love and support from all the amazing friends we have! I've been given two baby showers lately and it truly was a neat experience to celebrate the coming of a new baby into the world. Everyone is so excited to meet Ginny and welcome her, and oh my, the sweet little gifts she received, we are so spoiled. Big thanks to Ryan, Johanna and Franny for organizing the March 27 shower, and to Terri and Sandra for organizing the OHSU April 1st shower, we feel so special!
We're at 32 weeks and a little bit now, and I've definitely had an insane desire to organize all the baby stuff we have in our house. On Friday Steve and I trekked to Beaverton and bought a used antique dresser/changing table that is adorable, and I spent Saturday morning putting the itsy bitsy clothes away in drawers, preparing the unbleached cloth diapers for use, and visiting babyworks (the cloth diapering gurus around here). I feel so much more ready, come what may. I do have a strong feeling she will come really near her due date, maybe the full moon on May 27th. So I do think we have time, but I think that whole "nesting instinct" thing has something to it!
Another cute story as of late, I was driving to work when a song by Ella Fitzgerald came on NPR. Ginny started kicking and twirling, it was so funny! So we got an Ella Fitgerald CD from the library, we'll see if we can replicate the experience. She's a very active little womb occupant, it is so fun. As she has been growing I'm feeling a lot more movement around my ribs, which totally tickles.
I think Pepper will be so happy when Ginny comes, because then Steve might stop playing "burp the baby, swaddle the baby, you be the baby" with her. It is hilarious, but I get the distinct feeling that she doesn't enjoy it all that much.
In my next posts, I think I am going to take a cue from my friend Margaret and start writing this blog as a series of letters to Ginny. Pictures coming soon!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I dream of Ginny
Last night was the latest in my series of dreams about Ginny. Each time I dream of her, she is an itsy baby with a shock of beautiful dark hair like her daddy and I when I see her I just fall head over heels. Steve has wondered if he is going to have to explain to her why her momma doesn't love her so much if she ends up being a blondie :). Of course, she is loved beyond the universe no matter what color her hair is or if she has any at all, but I sure want to know if my dreams are right.
Before I knew I was pregnant, I actually had what turned out to be one of Steve's reoccurring dreams, that I was a soldier in WWII in the South Pacific escaping from something by swimming underwater with a reed in my mouth. Not sure what it has to do with anything, but it felt like a strange mind-merge that I attribute to carrying his kid!
The dreams of Ginny started with being at the ultrasound appointments and being able to just "take her out" for a minute and cuddle her (not sure the mechanisms of how this is done, folks). She was just palm-sized in these dreams. From there, I progressed to the nightmares of having her be switched at birth with a six year old child who happened to have fangs when I went to feed her (any psychological issues there, I wonder?), and of course the terrifying "where's my baby, you took my baby" dreams.
Last night's dream was the best of all though. I was at the hospital in labor, alone in the room because it was clear it would be a long while before "it was time," so Steve and everyone else had gone off somewhere. But, all the sudden "it was time!" and she arrived! There wasn't anyone there to catch her! When I went to look for her she was all cuddled up on a stack of blankets across the room, perfect and clean with her dark hair and chubby cheeks, and unharmed (and by the way, giving birth wasn't in the least painful in this lovely dream).
When everyone returned they were astounded that she was unharmed! I proceeded to explain that she didn't get hurt because SHE IS A BOUNCING BABY.
Before I knew I was pregnant, I actually had what turned out to be one of Steve's reoccurring dreams, that I was a soldier in WWII in the South Pacific escaping from something by swimming underwater with a reed in my mouth. Not sure what it has to do with anything, but it felt like a strange mind-merge that I attribute to carrying his kid!
The dreams of Ginny started with being at the ultrasound appointments and being able to just "take her out" for a minute and cuddle her (not sure the mechanisms of how this is done, folks). She was just palm-sized in these dreams. From there, I progressed to the nightmares of having her be switched at birth with a six year old child who happened to have fangs when I went to feed her (any psychological issues there, I wonder?), and of course the terrifying "where's my baby, you took my baby" dreams.
Last night's dream was the best of all though. I was at the hospital in labor, alone in the room because it was clear it would be a long while before "it was time," so Steve and everyone else had gone off somewhere. But, all the sudden "it was time!" and she arrived! There wasn't anyone there to catch her! When I went to look for her she was all cuddled up on a stack of blankets across the room, perfect and clean with her dark hair and chubby cheeks, and unharmed (and by the way, giving birth wasn't in the least painful in this lovely dream).
When everyone returned they were astounded that she was unharmed! I proceeded to explain that she didn't get hurt because SHE IS A BOUNCING BABY.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
19th week, already!
The past month has been absolutely amazing, my nausea disappeared, I'm starting to show a blissful belly, and we got to visit Salt Lake to see family and friends! It is so fun being pregnant right now- I can feel little flutterings and can't wait for the moment when Steve can feel her too (he keeps trying!).
A couple weeks back we got confirmation that she is indeed a girl, and we're naming her Virginia Beth Isabell. Virginia is Steve's mom's name and Beth is my paternal grandmother. We'll call her Ginny. I have had a couple of dreams about her- each time she is tiny with a shock of really dark hair. I can't wait to meet her!
A couple weeks back we got confirmation that she is indeed a girl, and we're naming her Virginia Beth Isabell. Virginia is Steve's mom's name and Beth is my paternal grandmother. We'll call her Ginny. I have had a couple of dreams about her- each time she is tiny with a shock of really dark hair. I can't wait to meet her!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Peanut
Holy *&^$#%! We're going to have a baby.
For now, we call her/him "The Peanut" and she/he is due 5/28/2010.
Front-runners for names are: Virginia (we'd call her Ginny or Vivi, middle name maybe Bliss or Beth) and for a boy, Oscar (middle name the source of much contention, though we both like Wayne!). These are both family names for Steve. We plan on doing some more research into names when we visit the Holy Halls of Family Name Researching (a.k.a. the Mormon genealogy library) in Salt Lake City over Christmas.
For a part of my job, I teach classes called "Am I Hungry" which help people get in touch with their hunger/fullness levels and all the other reasons we eat. Of course, the end product of working on this kind of thing is that people end up feeding their physical hunger, stop when satisfied, and have better ways to deal with stress, loneliness, boredom and etc. Doing this work myself has meant I am not longer obsessed or fearful about my food choices, and I let my body take the reigns, paying attention to when it needs to be fed, and when it is satisfied.
In the past couple weeks I have discovered a whole new physical reason to eat that isn't hunger- it's called: "to avoid the pukes!" At this point, I'm wearing the acupressure nausea wristbands (they do actually lessen the seasick feeling!), and drinking lots of ginger tea too. I've heard lemons work- so Steve's at the store! This whole experience thus far has given me a heart-full of gratitude for my mom, and some awe and wonder at the thought of her doing this SIX times. Whoa. That's a lot of lemons.
I'm trusting in the process and my body, and marveling at the fact that the thought of ice-cream makes me sick!
For now, we call her/him "The Peanut" and she/he is due 5/28/2010.
Front-runners for names are: Virginia (we'd call her Ginny or Vivi, middle name maybe Bliss or Beth) and for a boy, Oscar (middle name the source of much contention, though we both like Wayne!). These are both family names for Steve. We plan on doing some more research into names when we visit the Holy Halls of Family Name Researching (a.k.a. the Mormon genealogy library) in Salt Lake City over Christmas.
For a part of my job, I teach classes called "Am I Hungry" which help people get in touch with their hunger/fullness levels and all the other reasons we eat. Of course, the end product of working on this kind of thing is that people end up feeding their physical hunger, stop when satisfied, and have better ways to deal with stress, loneliness, boredom and etc. Doing this work myself has meant I am not longer obsessed or fearful about my food choices, and I let my body take the reigns, paying attention to when it needs to be fed, and when it is satisfied.
In the past couple weeks I have discovered a whole new physical reason to eat that isn't hunger- it's called: "to avoid the pukes!" At this point, I'm wearing the acupressure nausea wristbands (they do actually lessen the seasick feeling!), and drinking lots of ginger tea too. I've heard lemons work- so Steve's at the store! This whole experience thus far has given me a heart-full of gratitude for my mom, and some awe and wonder at the thought of her doing this SIX times. Whoa. That's a lot of lemons.
I'm trusting in the process and my body, and marveling at the fact that the thought of ice-cream makes me sick!
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