giving in. Our Birth Story!

I've been ask a few times to add my birth story to my blog, so I'm giving in.  Here goes!

My due date was set for November 18th, 2012.  I was more than ready to give birth a couple weeks before that, but Avery decided he needed a few more weeks to bake.  So not only did we make to our due date, but the day came and went without a single contraction.  I was so uncomfortable and desperate to meet this little one, I spent all day out walking mile after mile, doing squats, bouncing on an exercise ball, drinking red raspberry leaf tea, etc..  but he was determined to stay in there for a while longer. 

On November 21st, I was getting ready for Woman's Bible Study at my church when a sharp painran down and across my belly.   I didn't think too much off it as I had been having Braxton hicks on and off for over a month or so.  Then sure enough 5 minutes later another one hit.  again, this wasn't abnormal so I kept on getting ready.
  My mom in law picked me up and we headed to the church, and exactly five minutes later another one.   I started to wonder, but didn't want to move on a false alarm as our hospital was a little over an hour away. and so I continued in Bible Study, and noticed my mom in law watching me very carefully.  I could tell she knew and so when another half hour past and I was still having contractions five minutes apart,  I decided to call Kurt.  And apparently he decided to turn his phone to vibrate so that if he received any texts it wouldn't bother those working around him.  (yes, it is not the smartest thing to do when your wife is four days over due) So I left a message and went and sat back down.  then called again..and again.. and again...
I was starting to panic a bit, because this being my first labor and delivery,  I had no clue if I would be one of those lucky ladies who are in labor for only a couple hours.   So my MIL finally stepped in and told me she would take me home to pick up my stuff then take me to where Kurt was working.  So off we went.  just as we pulled in the driveway and I stepped out of the van, I turn to see Kurt ripping around the corner in his truck and flying down the road (going much faster than he needed too).  he jumped out, helped me with my stuff and away we went!
I had to tell him to slow down a few times, nothing was progressing and although the contractions where consistant, they weren't getting any closer.  So I could tell we had more than enough time to get there.  But he was so excited and his adrenaline was pumping,  so he just kept on speeding down the highway.  (our normal hour and 10 minute drive took about 45 minutes!)
we arrived at the hospital and they hooked me up to the contraction monitoring machine and check to see how dilated I was, I was only at 1, but my contractions were strong so they figured I was in real labour, so they told me they wouldn't keep me in the hospital yet, but they didn't want me going home. The nurse told me to come back when I felt the pain was unbearable.
So we went to Wal-Mart and walked around for a while, the contractions were strong, but tolerable at this point.  then we got a hotel room to wait it out.
This is were things really started to get more interesting.
There was a marathon of Duck Dynasty on, so Kurt was in heaven, But I was far from it.
 My contractions were about 3 minutes apart and very intense. I would lay on the bed for a bit, and a contraction would hit and I HAD to get up and start moving, not that it really helped with the pain.  I just felt like I had to do something.  So I'd paced the room, crying, moaning, squatting, kneeling.. all the while Kurt seemed to fine this funny and would laugh (which would make me laugh and cause the pain to double)  I laid in a warm bath for a while, which didn't help the pain at all, but seemed to speed things up a bit.  Until at 5:30 I decided I couldn't take it anymore, I had to go back to the hospital.
When we got there they once again hooked me up to the machine and check, and I was 4 cm dilated, so the nurse said "yep, we're going to keep you.  You won't leave here wthout a baby in your arms!"
What exciting words! 
at around 7:00 pm is when things started to get really bad. I was no longer laughing at myself along with Kurt. Every time a contraction hit it was like a huge spiked rolling pin rolling up and down, and side to side across my belly.   What a terrible feeling!  Kurt and I were alone in our room until about 11:00, the nurse popped in too check and I was 7 cm's so they said it was time for me to move into the labor suite.  I was so nervous, I knew it would be long until I'd need to start pushing, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it! 
well, I'll spare the gory details, but after 3 1/2 more hours of screaming, sweating, crying, kneeling, walking, squatting, Kurt encouraging me and being so supportive, and one horrificly embarrassing moment where I projectile vomited across the room, (Kurt had to dive out of the way to avoid getting hit, which even in my pain, I found funny)  They said it was time to push! 
forty five minutes later, I felt the worst pain in my life, and then all the sudden there he was being laid onto my belly!  It seemed like everything and everyone in the room disappeared except me and him.  I couldn't think of anything to say except repeating "my baby! my baby!" a few times.  And then Kurt came to mind and I looked up at him and said "Our baby!" 
Best moment of my life thus far, giving birth was a crazy experience, but absolutely worth every minute of those 18 1/2 hours. and I'd do it over a thousand times for our little Avery!

(Just as a side note, The nurse doing the delivery said that I had one of the most "muscular pelvic area" she'd ever seen (whatever that means?) and she said it was all due to the walking I did every day while pregnant.  If your pregnant, WALK!  I can't encourage you enough!  It's so worth it.  Even when your 9 months pregnant and it feels like there is a head between your legs, keep it up!  I often wonder had I not walked every day and built up those muscles, how long would I have been pushing for instead of just 45 minutes?)

Does Mommy look like Baby?

Mommy at six months

Avery at 4 months

 

Then and now!

twenty weeks pregnant!

Birthday!

One Month old!

Two months old!

Three months old!

Four months old!

The Father to my children

Tonight as we changed Avery into his over night diapers, got him into his PJ's and handed him to his daddy,  I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes as Kurt sat Avery down and read him a Bible story from Avery's "Adventure Bible" then prayed with him. 

I have always known that I was very blessed to have a God fearing husband,  but just lately I've realized how incredibly blessed I am to have a God fearing Father to my children.   I never knew the worry I'd feel knowing that someday my children will need to make a decision whether to follow Christ, or walk away.  As a parent we are to lead our children in a way that will show them God's love,   And I am so very thankful that I have a husband who bears the weight with me!

As I listened to Kurt pray, I couldn't help but smile as he said "  Thank you for our fingers as we're discovering to use them, to grab things and hold things, and for our toes as we learn to stand and balance."   Too often I forget to thank God for the things I take for granted, like my fingers and toes!

He just gets cuter and cuter by the day!

Natural Childbirth

Okay, so with Avery's birth I hadn't researched or really even heard too much about natural birthing before his birth, but after I became quite curious and have done a lot of research and watch quite a few documentaries on it and I know that I will absolutely plan for a natural birth with my next child!

Some of the benefits I have come to see are:

Natural Childbirth lets you experience labor as God intended

Natural Childbirth greatly reduces the risks for mother and baby

 Using medications during labor adds risks that are not otherwise present in birth.

Your body has less to recover from with Natural Childbirth

A cesarean is major abdominal surgery and can make it difficult to care for your baby in the first few weeks postpartum. After a vaginal birth with medications your body needs to recover from the birth and clean the medication out of your system. Depending on the timing of your medications, your baby may also need to clear some of the medications out of his system. A natural childbirth gives you both the best chances for a speedy recovery.

Less risk of other interventions

"When asking for an epidural, you may not realize you are going to be stuck in bed with an IV, hooked up to the monitor. Then, because you can't walk you are usually catheterized. Using medications for pain relief requires some interventions, such as the external fetal monitor and an IV. In addition, using medications increases your chances of other interventions such as catheters, use of pitocin, forceps and vacuum extraction. 

an epidural is not proven to be 100% "safe." According to Penny Simkin, physical therapist and Childbirth Educator, the use of epidural anesthesia increases the chance of cesarean section two to three times in first-time mothers. It can slow labor, necessitating the use of pitocin to speed up contractions. This oxytoxic creates unnatural contractions whose intensity more easily creates fetal distress, requiring that the baby be continually monitored with an external or internal monitor (electrodes screwed into the baby's scalp while in utero).
An epidural can cause a drop in maternal blood pressure and a subsequent reduction in blood flow to the uterus increasing the potential for a decrease in fetal heart rate. It can also cause the mother to have a significant fever without having an infection; because maternal fever puts the fetus at risk regardless of the source, the mother may now be treated with antibiotics (as will her baby following birth). The mother is no longer free to eat or drink and must be fed intravenously; she may experience nausea, vomiting, or itching. She can no longer walk or squat and may need to be catheterized in order to urinate. In short, complete control of the labor process has been given over to medical personnel.

In contrast, women who choose to give birth without pain medication use different types of natural pain reliving techniques  to help deal with labor. Deep abdominal breathing, walking, squatting, warm baths and showers, cool compresses, massage, reflexology, acupressure and counter pressure are just few of the comfort measures which helps mom's deal with the pain and be able to focus on the end goal: Our baby!!

Cloth Diapering ( I am in LOVE)

So about a month and a half ago I decided to take the plunge and start to cloth diaper.
My reasons for this is:

1. Save a WACKLOAD of money!  We live in a small money-sucking town that charges an insane amount for diapers, so I knew that at the rate Avery was going through diapers, disposables were going to cost us an arm and a leg.
2.  I am not actually a huge green person, but diapers seriously do not dispose for a very long time.  I just kept imagining all those diapers lying around and it grosses me out.


So I bought 14 Alva one-size diapers with micro fiber inserts.  Alva's aren't the most top notch diapers out there, but they are much cheaper than a lot of other kinds of diapers.  needless to say the first couple weeks were hit and miss with figuring out what kind of detergent works best, how to wash them, having tons of leaks and blow outs.  and one wonderful moment when  hadn't tightened the diaper enough and he pooped out his leg holes and it ran all over my lap, down my legs and in-between my toes. it was disgusting. 
Because I have micro fiber liners I had to put Avery in disposables at night, or if we were out for the day because with micro fibers you need to change them more often as they aren't as absorbent as disposables.
I was getting fairly worn down because with only having 14 diapers, I'd have to wash 7 a day so that I could hang dry the diapers and they'd be ready for the next day.  And if I didn't get them done in time, back in disposables he'd go.

But just recently I was able to get 21 more diapers and better liners, a diaper sprayer, as well as some over night BAMBOO LINERS!!!  I am so pumped about the bamboo liners, they are way more absorbent than micro fiber and I have yet to have any leaks!  Now that I have more diapers, I can wash them every few days and do bigger loads which will save us even more money with the water we use.   I have yet to have a leak, and haven't had to put him into a disposable since we got them!  The best part of it all is that I was able to get this all for $80!  ( they were used from a friend who also cloth diapered) That is such a savings seeing as how you can pay anywhere from $170-$650 for all of that!

My husband keeps laughing at how excited I am over the diapers, but seriously, this makes me so happy!

New blog!

Back before I had my wonderful (adorable, sweet, slightly wild) son Avery, I kept a blog.  I wasn't super dedicated to it, but I'd update it every couple weeks or so.  Needless to say, when my baby came along 4.5 months ago I kind of let blogging fall to the wayside as I tried to figure out how to be a new Mommy.

So I decided to start a new blog dedicated to the adventure that is called "parenting".  or in my case, being a Mama. 
I hope to keep up with it so I can always look back on my posts and remember all the different things my boys does as he grows and learns!