Rua Mae - Birth Story

Our beautiful baby girl, Rua Mae, was born Sunday, October 5th at 6:11am. She was born at the birth center and everything went smoothly and relatively quickly. We are so excited that she is here and have been loving the time we've had this past week to get to know her and get used to having one other little person in our house.

If you don't like the details of birth stories, you can stop reading here.:) I had been having contractions off and on for about 3 weeks already, sometimes seeming as though they might be picking up and getting more regular, only to die back off for a while. During this time we were having all those NSTs (non-stress tests) and after each one I kept hoping that she would just come before the next test. I had been so sure that we were going to have a September baby, especially since Abby had come a week before her due date. But I guess these things really are unpredictable... 40 weeks came and went and I was getting discouraged  since we kept having to do these extra tests and as each one came out with perfect results, I felt that we were just racking up extra expenses that we really would rather avoid.

Saturday started out with the same sporadic contractions, but as the day went on, they seemed to be coming more frequently. Around 4pm I started timing them and for an hour they were consistently 6 minutes apart. They weren't strong at all and unless I was paying attention, I could easily forget they were happening. I called the midwife to give them a heads up that the contractions were regular, and she said to keep monitoring them and to let her know if we wanted to come in for her to check us.  Since it was the weekend, no one was at the birth center so she would have to drive out to meet us there - a 20-30 minute drive, so I didn't want to ask her to come unless I was sure it was the real thing. So I kept timing. I took Abby to do a quick last minute shopping run, to get a journal for me to write in for the new baby. The contractions were more like 4-5 minutes apart now, still not strong. But it seemed that this might really be it. So I asked Abby if she wanted to go ahead and make baby sister's birthday cake since she was probably coming out soon. Abby and I had decided a while back that we would make a cake when the baby came, mostly as a labor project for myself and because I knew Abby would love doing it.

So we got all our supplies out to make our amazing chocolate cake (recipe here). It was getting late-ish so we just got the cake mixed up and in the oven before finally putting Abby to bed around 8:30. I finished up the cake and Eric I and worked to get things cleaned up and last minute things put in our bags. The contractions were 3-4 minutes apart around this time, but still not very strong. We talked to our neighbors to make sure they would be ok coming over and sleeping on the couch while Abby slept. I finally called the midwife again around 11pm to let her know that the contractions were 3 minutes apart, wondering if I should come in. She said it was up to me. I felt so unsure since I had been having these contractions for so long, it was hard to me to tell if they were any different, especially since they didn't feel very strong. She said she was meeting another client at the birth center around midnight if we wanted to come and get checked then. So we did that.

The midwife checked me and I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced. She said the baby's head was really low down, she could touch if when she reached in to check me. But, she said we were still early enough that we could go home and come back when we felt like we needed to. So home we went. I tried to lie down and sleep but that wasn't happening, the contractions were definitely more intense when I was lying down. So I got up and spent most of the next few hours sitting or leaning on the birth ball, walking around, and trying out different labor positions from my pile of books. I made sure to eat and drink consistently (running out of energy with the long second stage with Abby was just terrible, so I didn't want to repeat that). Eric came out and joined me for most of it, though he was able to get a couple hours of sleep in.

At 2 or 3 am, I get a text from the midwife saying that she was back at the birth center and would be all night, as there was another lady having a baby. This meant I could just come in when I felt like we needed to and not worry about giving a whole 1/2 hour notice.

Finally, around 5am I told Eric that I thought we should probably head in. The contractions were finally getting really intense and I wanted to make sure we got there before I felt like I couldn't move anymore. Our friend came back over and we headed out. That short, 5 minute drive sure felt long with having a couple contractions and not being able to move around. Finally we got there (this was 5:40am) and the midwife was waiting at the door. The other baby was already born so we had her full attention, which was great. We went straight into the room where she checked me again. I was dilated 8cm. Yay, almost there! She said I could head straight into the tub whenever I wanted. The warm water sounded great so I went right in. The atmosphere was wonderful. The lights in the bedroom were dimmed, a fire was going in the fireplace, and candles were lighting up the room where the tub was.

After a couple of terribly intense contractions, the midwife said I could push whenever I felt like it. That first pushing contraction was so painful, I wasn't sure I could do this. All I had in my mind was the 7 hours of pushing I did with Abby and I wasn't sure I could do even a fraction of that time. I kept trying to empty my mind of those thoughts and focus completely on getting this little one out. The burning sensation was so intense as I pushed again, and to my surprise the midwife told me I could reach down and feel my baby. She was crowning already! One more push and her head came out. The relief after her head came out was incredible. I felt like I could relax for a minute. The midwife unwound the cord from her neck and told me I could keep going. A couple more pushes and she was out. She came out with her hand up by her head (the hand that was squeezing on the cord and causing all the trouble with our extra tests!). So Rua came at 6:11, just a half hour after arriving a the birth center!

The midwife brought her right up to my chest and I held her close as they suctioned some fluid out to get her breathing better. After several minutes Eric cut the cord and I pushed the placenta out. What an amazing feeling it is to hold a brand new baby like that. So incredible. Here was our little girl that we had been looking forward to for so many months.

As I held her, I looked down a little more closely in the dim lights and noticed her hand seemed a little different. A moment of worry and fear went through me as I asked the midwife if her hand was ok. The midwife just said, 'We'll talk about that later. Your baby is just perfect.' She said it so reassuringly and confidently that I tried not to think about it and focus instead on the beautiful moment. (We'll do a follow-up post on her hands and feet). It was incredible to watch as she almost immediately started rooting and moving up my chest before attaching herself to suck and try to start nursing.

After a few minutes Eric took her for some skin to skin time as the midwife helped me out of the tub and over to the bed. Rua came back over to me and I held her and gazed at her as the midwife sewed up my second degree tear and massaged my uterus. (Ouch!) Over the next couple hours, the midwife and nurse were in and out checking on us and taking temperatures, etc. At about 9am, maybe later, the midwife came back to do the newborn exam. Rua weighed in at 6lb 13oz, 19.5 inches long. Not a teeny tiny baby after all! Just perfect.

Our friend brought Abby over around 8am so she could meet her new baby sister. Abby was a little quiet at first but then climbed right up on the bed to be next to mom and baby sister. My parents dropped in around the same time and after about an hour, took Abby back to our place. Eric and I then got to enjoy the next few hours together with our beautiful Rua. We went home around 1pm.

                                 

I am so grateful that everything worked out well, and that our Rua was healthy enough for us to have the birth I wanted not just for me but also for her.

Pregnancy #2 - update continued

So this is a follow-up to my last pregnancy post. (This is kind of long, sorry...)

On Monday we had an appointment at the birth center as well as our first non-stress test (which the doctor had wanted us to do since the baby was measuring small).  The test showed that baby girl's heart rate dropped after one of the contractions, which is called a late deceleration.  Apparently this is a very worrisome thing. So then we were off to have an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid, since if it's low, it could be a sign that baby isn't getting enough nutrients/blood through the cord, or that the cord is being compressed which could cause the heart rate to drop.  But the midwife said my fluid looked great.  So then we had to sit and wait while she consulted with the doctor.

After a while, she called us back and told us to head over to the hospital for an extended non-stress test.  She also recommended that perhaps Eric give me a blessing before we went (it's so nice having a Mormon midwife!), which we did. Eric stayed home with Abby so she could get a nap (we had been at the midwife since 8:30am and it was noon by this time), since we figured I would be there for an hour or two.

I checked into triage and they got me all hooked up. I found a chocolate bar in my bag to eat to try and calm my worries. After about an hour, the nurse came back and said that there was another of those variabilities, and that they were going to do an ultrasound to check fluids.  So, for the second time that day, it was off to get an ultrasound.  Once again, my fluids looked great, but the technician mentioned that the cord seemed up high by the head.  After consulting with the doctor, the nurse said that the doctor was worried that the cord might be below the head which would cause a risk of cord prolapse if the head was already engaged (low down) and I went into labor.  So he was going to come assess me after his office hours to see if this was the case.

I asked the nurse how serious this would be, and she said that it would mean a c-section, that day most likely.  That was a big blow for sure, and I just started crying and wishing Eric was there. While I was waiting for the nurse from labor and delivery to come get me, I started doing a little research on cord prolapse, and sure enough it's not a good thing to have and can be very dangerous for the baby. So I started trying to resign myself to the fact that baby might be coming that day by c-section.

I called Eric and told him to start trying to find someone who could help watch Abby so he could come up to the hospital. Then I got picked up by my new nurse and off we went. I was checked into a room and hooked up to an IV and monitors and told I couldn't eat or drink in preparation for the possible c-section. And then I waited. The doctor came at about 5:30pm and Eric (thankfully!) walked in right after him.

The doctor did a quick ultrasound and then told us that, yes the cord looked like it was up near the head but it wasn't below the head so the c-section wouldn't be necessary (sigh of relief!). But then he continued to say that he felt we should start induction right away. He said that since the baby was small and having these heart rate variabilities, we should get her out right away. He gave us the option of breaking my waters or starting the Cytotec. I felt overwhelmed. This was a ton he was throwing at me. I asked him what would happen if we did nothing right now. He said he wouldn't let us leave the hospital without having the baby. I asked if it would be possible to wait overnight to think about it. He said yes, but seemed very upset by this (but I could see the nurse in the background giving me encouraging faces). The doctor then said,'but then you run the chance of something happening in the middle of the night and us having to do an emergency c-section.' I felt like he was really pressuring me and I did not feel comfortable with him at all. He left so we could think it over for a couple minutes.

After he left, the nurse told me that in the few hours since I had been admitted, the baby's heartbeat had looked great, and that it was perfectly ok for me to ask to wait overnight. She also said that we could always ask for another opinion if we weren't comfortable. She had told me earlier that they had offered to the doctor to have a specialist come and do an in-depth ultrasound and he had declined this, saying he could do it himself. He did do an ultrasound but just a real quick one, with no measurements. So she said that we could always request that this ultrasound be done so the baby could be more carefully measured to see how small she is.

Can I just say how wonderful the nurses we had were? I felt like they were being our advocates the entire time, and helping us know what we could ask and that we did have other options. It was so helpful and relieving.

So when the doctor came back we told him that we would like to wait til the morning and also that we would like to have the perinatologist come do the ultrasound. He again did not seem happy but said he would so see if there was still one at the hospital. After he left, the nurse told us that she felt we made the right decision, that from her observations, we didn't need to rush into an induction quite yet.

A little while later the perinatalogist showed up. He was so great! Eric and I both said after he left that we wished he could be our doctor. He was so calm and personable, I felt very comfortable and trusting in his opinion, something I wasn't feeling with our own doctor. So he started up the ultrasound and doing the measurements, talking to us and making jokes the entire time, completely putting us at ease.

And the results? He said our little girl looked beautiful. She is small, but not too small. He measured her at 16th percentile (10th is where the worry starts). He said the blood flow through the cord was perfect, and the fluid levels were great. He turned to us and said that he knew why we were having those decelerations - the cord was around her neck. That didn't sound good! But then he continued to say that it was very loose around her neck, more like a loose necklace and that this is actually very common. He said you don't need to worry unless it is 3-4 times around, and that with how it is, 99% of the time there is no problem. He said he didn't see any reason why we needed to be induced or why we couldn't have the baby at the birth center. (!!)

Wow.That was completely unexpected! He said he would share his results with the doctor on call for our doctor. So again we waited. Soon the nurse came in with the news - no induction needed, but the doctor wanted us to stay overnight for monitoring. If everything looked good, we would be headed home in the morning. Yay!

By this point my parents were already almost there, which I felt really bad about. But they came anyways. We also had our friends bring Abby up to us to be with us until my parents came, which was great. Abby loved being there with us and it was so great to be with her. She thought our hospital room was just awesome.

After a terribly uncomfortable night, we met with our doctor again, who was back in the hospital.  I was a little nervous, hoping he would go with what the doctor on call had decided. He came in and said, 'looks like we don't need to do an induction!' Good, good. He then told us that he thought that we should transfer care over to him and plan on having the baby at the hospital. I was a little surprised and mentioned that the perinatalogist had said it should be fine to go back to the birth center. He then said that there was a 1% chance, with having the cord around the neck, that something could go wrong. I asked if we had an option, if we could talk with the birth center. He said, yes it was up to us and the birth center but that his recommendation stayed the same.  He seemed very confident that the birth center would stand by his recommendations.

Of course we were so happy that everything was fine with baby! What a relief! And for now, the birth center has approved me coming back to them, as long as I continue the biweekly non-stress tests. Which we have had two of. And so far, things look great!

Baby girl #2 quilt finished!

I knew I wanted to make something special for this little girl and decided to tackle a quilt again.  I made sure to pick one that seemed simple-ish and straight forward since Abby's was super difficult. It still ended up being very time intensive but I really love how it turned out. 

I wanted to go with a different color scheme than pinks and girly colors. So I chose blues and yellows - cotton on one side and soft minky fabric on the back. The chevron pattern was inspired by my sister in law, Lindsay's beautiful quilt that she made for Danny, her newest little guy. I used this tutorial for the quilt.

Some projects

Update: I added links to the tutorials and patterns that I used. Forgot to do that. 

I have been sewing up a storm this past while.  Which is silly since I don't even like sewing that much.  If our friends would stop having babies all at once, I wouldn't be doing any of this. I love the idea of homemade things, and the huge cost savings is attractive too, so I keep sewing....

Here are some things I have made recently.

 My favorite - teeny tiny baby girl skirts.  Love these!  Made some for all the baby girls coming along.  Also made three for our own little girl. Can't wait to dress her in these.  And matching headbands too!  Abby even got to have one skirt of her own to match baby sister.

Here's the link for the skirt tutorial and where I got the headbands from.

Sensory balls and taggies blankets.  For the baby boys, and for my little girl too. Minky fabric on one side of the blanket, with cotton or fleece on the other with lots of ribbon to grab.  The balls have a ball in the middle. Did not follow tutorials for these.  I glanced at a few for the taggies blankets, but mostly just winged it. The ball I based off one I got from my good friend Heidi.  I did find a pattern for the ball here, and then added the ball and ribbon.

(These are for our baby girl.  They match her quilt!)

Sleep sacks.  The biggest cost savings here since I got the fleece on a crazy sale, but the most time intensive for sure. Did not have one bit of fun making these. These were for two special baby boys of close friends.

Followed this tutorial from Make it &Love it.

Apron.  Not for a baby, but for Abby.  It was supposed to be a birthday present but now I think it will be a post new baby present.  There will be a matching one for me when I get around to it.

This apron pattern is great because the neck is stretchy and the waist strap is velcro so she can put in on by herself. Here is the link to the pattern.

Baby quilt.  Yes, I finally finished baby girl's quilt.  And I just love how it turned out.  But I think that it will get it's own post full of pictures. ;)

In progress:
Blessing dress for baby girl.  Clothes intimidate me, so this will be a super simple peasant dress made of pink satin.  Am attempting matching tiny shoes.  Will see how this goes.

This has felt like so much, mostly because I've been making multiples of each.  It has been seemingly neverending.  Why 10+ people had to get pregnant in our ward I the same time, I don't know.

Pregnancy #2 - maternity pictures

Really these were only partly maternity pictures.  Having an adorable 2 year old means she pretty much takes over any photo shoot. :)

These are at 38 weeks. We took them the same place we did Abby's maternity pictures.

Pregnancy update

I mentioned in my last pregnancy post about how I was again measuring really small, 32 weeks instead of 37.  I went in again this last Thursday, after spending the week drinking tons of water and eating lots of protein to see if we could get that measurement up.  Nope, didn't work.  My uterus measured 33 weeks instead of 38, so again 5 weeks under.  The midwife was really concerned, so scheduled me for a growth ultrasound the same day.

Eric came down from work to be at the ultrasound too, and we got another peek at our little girl.  Just like the other two ultrasounds we've had, she was not being photogenic at all so we didn't get any fun views of her.  But I guess that wasn't the point of this one.  So baby girl measured out at an average 36 weeks, which didn't seem so bad.  Until they said that the only reason she averaged 36 weeks was because she has super long legs.  Her other measurements were in the 33-34 week range.  They were particularly concerned with her abdomen measurement, which was 33.  I guess this is an important one for growth indicators. Looking at these specific measurements, she is right at the 10 %tile, which is borderline IUGR (intrauterine growth restricted).

Basically they are worried that she is not growing as well as she should be, that for some reason she is not getting all the nutrients she should.  The midwife told me she would consult with the other midwives and with my back-up doctor to see whether I would be able to continue care at the birth center.  I was devastated. Being able to birth naturally in the environment I choose is so important to me that it was so hard for me to realize that might not happen. Knowing that we needed to do whatever is best for baby did not make it any easier to hear.  She also said that if the doctor feels that her growth is being restricted enough, he might want to induce me to get her out and eating faster.  Again, something that is not at all part of what I wanted.  Eric was wondering why I was already tearing up when they hadn't even said that anything was for sure, but even the possibility was hard to hear.

I had to wait til Friday to hear back from the midwife. She said that after talking to the doctor, he wants me to come in so he can do an assessment.  In the meantime I need to have bi-weekly non-stress tests, drink lots of water, and rest a ton.  Apparently he wanted me on bed-rest, but the midwife said she didn't think that was necessary. And if I go into labor before meeting with the doctor I would still at least be starting at the birth center, they would just be consulting with the doctor.

So not terrible news yet, really nothing is decided yet.  Tomorrow we have our first non-stress test at the birth center, and then hopefully meet with the doctor before Wednesday.  I am currently 38 weeks 3 days, so maybe this little girl will just quickly come on her own.  

Pregnancy #2 Weeks 31-37

Things are sure moving along quickly!  Here I am already 36 weeks.  Pregnancy wise, not too much has changed. I'm just getting huge.  More discomfort with sleeping and general moving around.

This last week in particular (week 37) has been super uncomfortable.  The weather has been so hot and humid for SD and we don't have the option of AC so it gets really really warm in our apartment. Fans only do so much.  Yesterday I jogged/walked to a dentist appointment and just about died on the way home because it was so hot. Probably wasn't a great idea right in the middle of the day. I think I need to take it easier with the exercising outside if it stays this hot.  I've been having round ligament pain which the midwife says is probably due to trying to move too quickly/too much.  So I guess I need to slow down a bit.

Some more fun things from these past few weeks:
-Felt baby girl hiccup for the first time.  With Abby, I remember that it seemed she was always hiccuping.  I've only felt baby girl hiccup maybe three times. Abby was sitting next to me during one of the times and she thought it was the funniest thing.
-Watching her move.  Since she is getting so big, it's fun to watch her little feet poke out and my stomach roll around while she moves.  Abby has lots of fun with this too.  So much that we'll be out somewhere, like at church, and she will start trying to pull up my shirt to 'watch baby.'
-Started baby girl's quilt.  I've been putting this off but finally was feeling the time crunch and started.  I'm almost done and will post pictures then.  It's been so nice making something for her and focusing just on her while I do it.
-Also finally started getting things ready for her.  Have a carseat, clothes are out ready to be washed and folded.  Ok, really that's it.  But at least it is a start!

Since we are at 37 weeks now, we are officially good to have the baby at the birth center if we go in to labor.  Our window of time is 37-42 weeks. We had an appointment today and apparently I'm again measuring really small.  Only 32 weeks.  Which is going backwards - I was 34 weeks last week.  It was a different midwife so I don't know if it was just due to different people measuring, but she was super worried.  So next week if it isn't better, she thinks we should do another growth ultrasound.  Hopefully we won't need to do this.  Or maybe baby girl will decide to come and then we won't have to worry about it! Abby came about 5 days before her due date, so we are thinking and preparing for this girl to come about a week early.

We'll see!  I'm getting super excited to meet her!

34 Weeks

36 weeks