Ainzley's Birth Story

Friday the 18th, my wonderful sister-in-law, Linda, drove from St. Louis to Springfield to be here to help with our home birth. Since she's had 2 home births of her own and has been there for me through so many tough times, I knew she was perfect for the job. She got here around 1pm and we ran to WalMart to get a few things for her and her daughter Ava. We spent the afternoon hanging out and catching up. We went out to dinner at a fun Hibachi grill here in Springfield where I started having mild contractions. Since they were identical to the contractions I had been having for weeks that led to nothing, I didn't think to much of them and we continued with our evening. After dinner, we went home and had a couple friends of ours (Shannon and Aaron) come over for games. We became fast friends with them after moving into the same ward and they are so great with David. Shannon is his nursery teacher and he really likes her. Anyway, I continued to be uncomfortable but the contractions fizzled out a little later. Shannon and Aaron went home and Linda and I started one of our marathon chat fests.

Around 2am, Jason came into the living room and told me I needed to go to bed. I came in and started my bedroom routine and felt something weird. I went to the bathroom to find I had passed a blood clot about the size of a half dollar and was bleeding a little bit. I yelled for Jason to get Linda and to call the midwife. Since I wasn't gushing blood or soaking pads or anything, I laid back down to try to get some sleep. Around 2:30, the contractions started. I knew something was different about them so after breathing through a handful of them, I went to get Linda. They were already 2-3 minutes apart and lasting a minute. Since I was bleeding, I wanted to make sure we were being careful. We called the midwife after a few more contractions and she said she was on her way. Once she got there, she checked out the bleeding situation and assured me that everything looked fine. She checked me and got a surprised look on her face. She looked at me and said "Amy, you're dilated to an 8 and completely effaced. I'm not sure the other midwife will even make it here before Ainzley is born." I couldn't believe it! We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler and she sounded great so Linda and I continued getting through the contractions. It was 5:15 in the morning.

Jason started filling the birth pool and called Shannon to come watch David if he woke up and we got out the birth supplies. Amazingly, Ava and David both slept soundly through this rather noisy period. Since we were boiling water for the birth pool, we were using every burner on the stove and the heat from that set off the fire alarms at least twice, lol. I continued breathing through contractions and eventually had to let everyone else finish the preparations as I had bigger work to do. My contractions were really starting to pick up right before the birth pool was ready so I laid on my side on the bed while they finished. When I was FINALLY able to get in the pool, I was more than ready to be there. The water helped lessen the strength (or at least what I was feeling) of the contractions. I was a little annoyed with the temperature - it was so hot! Well, at least to a woman in labor it was. We stayed in the pool for a little while before the other midwife arrived a little before 6am. We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler again and she was still sounding perfect.

After awhile, I was ready to get out of the tub. I got up, dried off and returned to the bed. Jason held my hand and stroked my hair - he did amazingly, too. Not long after I got out of the pool, the midwives came and talked to me. They were getting concerned about the bleeding and wanted to monitor Ainzley more frequently with the Doppler. After every contraction, we listened to her and she was still doing perfectly. By this point, the contractions were unbearable and I knew I was in transition. Not too many contractions after that, I noticed that my body had started to push during contractions. I announced to everyone in the room that I was pushing and couldn't stop it! lol Jason wanted to catch Ainzley so he got ready and Linda was by my side helping me focus. After the first push, something interesting happened, I birthed the amniotic sac. My water never actually broke before this point. Jason and one of the midwives broke the sac (which was difficult as it was very strong they said) and I pushed again. This time, Ainzley's head came with an arm crossed over it! She was born after only one more push at 7:20am. She was perfect in every way. Jason placed her on my tummy and it was love at first sight... she even pooped all over me to let me know, lol! I was given a shot of Pitocin after the birth to ensure the bleeding was kept under control. Ainzley and I both got cleaned up and finally had time to just snuggle - it was perfect!

Our home birth experience was amazing. Jason and I have talked several times over the past few days and both agree that while we're not "anti-hospital", we definitely prefer the more intimate home setting. There were lots of interesting and even some scary things that happened in our experience. The scary part being the bleeding throughout labor and delivery - my estimated blood loss was about 4 cups. 2 cups is considered a hemorrhage. We examined the placenta and found that it had started to age a bit which probably caused a small placental abruption. The more interesting/uncommon being the amniotic sac being delivered first and needing to be ruptured, and her head/shoulder/arm being delivered at the same time and the cord was wrapped around her neck and abdomen. I share these parts of my birth, however, to show the abilities of these amazing women - the midwives. I've been in their care since about 17 weeks pregnant and have not doubted their abilities. I've actually felt better taken care of by them than the doctor I started seeing in the beginning of this pregnancy! It makes me so sad that people would talk bad about midwives without even having any experience with them. It makes me ridiculously angry that some Missouri legislators are trying to make home birth midwives illegal again. Without my home birth midwives, Ainzley's birth would have been very different - More traumatic and definitely not what I wanted. I'll always be grateful to the wonderful women who helped me have the incredible birth I was after. Pics to come later

My predictions were correct

Here I sit... 2 days past my due date, lol. My children just are not prompt little people! ;) I know I don't have a problem birthing large children seeing that David was nearly 10 pounds so I'm ok letting them cook a little longer than average. I thought about it when I was pregnant with David and decided they just want more time with Heavenly Father while they can... and I don't blame them a bit. Yes, I DEFINITELY have my moments of weakness/anxiousness/impatience. Last Friday I cried for an hour because I was "just done being pregnant". The feeling passed before I went to bed and I woke up the next day feeling ok. Well, today I had another moment but I thought to myself, everyday she is getting a little stronger, a little healthier, a little more intelligent, a little more prepared for her earth life... I made it 4 days passed my first "moment" and can make it another 4... step by step. It doesn't help that it seems like everyone around me wonders why I haven't had my baby yet or what's taking so long. Although, I can't decide if it's worse being pestered about where the baby is or people who haven't said a word to me about my pregnancy at all or just when they want to criticize.

On another note, I was thrown a surprise baby shower! My calling is with the young women in our ward right now (secretary) and their Wednesday night service project for February was doing projects for me! They made us a freezer casserole, a baby blanket, a diaper cake and a memory book. It was so sweet of them and so nice to feel loved. It really was a lot of fun with lots of yummy goodies!

Jason took his test for his promotion at work yesterday and he got the results back today - he passed! No... not passed... ACED it! He got a 100% in all aspects. I was so unbelievably proud of him and he was ecstatic. He starts the class in April. It's a 3 week class followed by a state written exam and clinical hours. I have complete faith that he'll do just great.

There's not much else going on here. David continues to be the most amazing little boy I've ever met. He LOVES going to nursery at church and has so many little friends. We're still potty training though we're not really "active" in it yet. He will tell us when he needs to potty - even when he's in a diaper so that's a small win.

Hello March!

Well, my due "month" has finally arrived! It's strange to think at some point this month, I will be a mother of two! I would say we're as ready for Ainzley to come as we could possibly be and more excited than we realize is possible. I am so excited for our home birth experience and to welcome our sweet baby girl.

Other than our growing excitement, not too much is going on here. Work is going well for Jason and David continues to grow and explore new things.

Kind of a short post but the weather is amazing today and my mind is elsewhere :)

Dreams

I sometimes love Dreams... they can be a nice escape from the diapers and house cleaning for sure! Sometimes, they can really bite. I have a certain character who appears in my dreams from time to time - a friend with whom I have a sorted past. Those dreams almost hurt. I miss this person and now I'll be thinking of them all day. Not really what I wanted today

I also dreamt for Disney Land.

And woke up with my favorite Christmas song in my head - O, Holy Night.

It's probably going to be a weird day

Praise for the Webster Technique!

So, I saw my chiropractor yesterday for the Webster Technique. It's a chiropractic technique that helps loosen the ligaments and tendons around the pelvis and uterus to help make more room for the baby to turn. I also got a standard adjustment since I haven't had one in a long time. Anyway, I went in for a follow up appointment this morning and can you believe it - Ainzley flipped and is head down!! Granted, since she hasn't dropped and settled down into my pelvis yet, she can and probably will continue to move around but we know that she has the room to be able to do so. I have another appointment on Friday and my chiropractor wants to see me 3 times a week until she's born. I'm not sure I'll go quite THAT frequently, but I'll definitely keep going!

37 Weeks

I made it to 37 weeks on Sunday - wahoo! Still quite uncomfortable but, hey, it's pregnancy! Had a midwife appointment yesterday and everything is looking good except that Ainzley has flipped breech again. At 37 weeks, breech becomes more of a concern due to the lack of space for baby to flip... the idea that she might not turn sucks. However, I went to the chiropractor today for the Webster Technique. The Webster is a technique that stretches the ligaments and tendons around the pelvis and uterus. It minimizes internal constraint on the baby and gives them more room to move around. The good news for me was that my lower back and pelvis (right side) was tilted backward which could easily explain Ainzley's constant favoring of the breech position. So the dr performed the Webster and gave me a normal adjustment. I have another appointment tomorrow and again on Friday. Plus an appointment with my midwife on Thursday to re-evaluate her position. The Webster technique has a very high success rate of 97% so we're hoping for a good outcome.

Besides that, I'd say we're pretty ready for Ainzley to be here! Jason is very excited! We got family pictures done right before Christmas and David loves to point out everyone in the family. Today, Jason asked him where Ainzley was and he pointed to my tummy in the picture - it was adorable! Everything is ready for her so whenever she decides to come would be great!

It snowed for hours today and I was stuck inside just watching. Jason and I played Ticket to Ride this morning after he drove all the way to work for a meeting that he didn't find out had been canceled until he got there... awesome. The roads were horrible. I made dinner early (around noon) so Jason could take it with him to work. It was nice to only have to reheat dinner rather than cooking a full meal as I became lazier and lazier as the day stretched on. I straightened up the house after Jason left for work and while David was napping. Then David and I just played the rest of the day until bed time - I love days where I'm not ridiculously busy and therefore feel like I'm neglecting my child. David and I spent a fair amount of time straightening up our mess for the second time today before bedtime.

Once he was in bed and the dishwasher was running, I got the urge to go outside. When I lived at home, the days that brought snow were my favorites. Chores took at least twice as long only because I wanted them to... I loved being out in the snow. The unique quietness that accompanies it on my parents farm is something I remember very vividly. Just past their big, red barn is the gate that leads to one of the pastures - the one with the giant hill. I used to beg Dad to dive the tractor down the hill so I could use the tire tracks for sledding. Without fail, there was always a new lamb or two born during a snow storm... sheep are never easy or convenient! Sure enough, today, Dad got out the tractor and drove down the hill for my little brother to go sledding on and new lambs were born... and I am home sick.

It was these memories and talking to my little brother today that inspired me to take a trip outside tonight. It was cold and dark and very windy. There are no big red barns in my back yard nor did a man show up with a tractor. There are bright lights from our apartment building and noisy neighbors... yet I was still able to stand there and "hear" the quietness. There was nothing outside except a perfect blanket of snow... no one had walked through it or made it into a snowman yet. Though the setting is vastly different, I still felt at home. So far, I've done nothing but grumble about the snow we've gotten this winter and how I'm ready for spring. Today, I was able to stand there and appreciate the snow. Besides, it will be gone soon enough and when it is, I always miss it ;)