4th of July
Eliot's version of the American Flag
Ira wanted to draw the Constitutional Colors instead, which was our nation's flag until 1777. That's right. It lasted one year.
Red White and Blue Juice....which is 0% juice, but fun nevertheless.
Then we went to a potluck and the church parking lot to set off fireworks with some friends. Yes, Eliot is barefoot near open flames. Don't judge us. He was completely naked about a half hour before this. So we were just happy he had anything on.
Our gladiolas in bloom
Eliot studying up on conception and birth, while enjoying a strawberries.
Now for the
Birth Story
I've been hoping that the baby would come a little early, but hoped that Ant and I could make it to church on the July 5th since both of us had lessons to teach and would feel bad deserting everyone to scramble. So, we got home from church, ate lunch and took a nap. I had a few contractions that felt stronger than Braxton Hicks during my nap.
Last day of having a baby bump
Then we went on a walk while I continued to have contractions. But they were mild enough that I could walk and talk through most of them.
We hung out at the house, ate dinner, put the boys to bed, and things continued to feel more intense. Our potential sitter, Heather, said she'd be up till midnight. So at 11:30 p.m., we asked if she could come over and sleep in our guest bed so we could head to the hospital. I don't think things were serious enough for me to want to head to the hospital if it were 11:30 a.m, but I was feeling like things were getting intense quickly, and it's tricky finding sitters at 3 a.m. Contractions were 5 minutes apart for about an hour and were taking a lot of work to relax through. If we were on the same timeline as we were with Eliot, we could have a baby in our arms in a few hours! Not so.
Midnight: We got to the University of Michigan Birth Center and was only dialated to 3. But contractions were getting closer and stronger, so we decided to be admitted. I was a little disappointed that the U of M midwives and nurses were pushing back on simple things that they were fully supportive of in my birth plan earlier. First I was told that my preference to not have the initial routine 20 minutes of EFM was a great idea, seeing as I was low risk and that evidence says it's safer to skip it in my situation. But instead the midwife that was there argued for it and we finally compromised on a "few minutes," which turned out to be 30 minutes. Lame. Likewise, I asked that the heplock from the GBS antibiotics be removed, which everyone was supportive of a month ago. But at the hospital, I had to argue pretty hard for it. Lame again. I also thought I'd only need one dose, since I timed my other births so well. (You need the antibiotics within 4 hours of the birth.) Spoiler alert: I needed 4 administrations. So, after they put the second heplock in my arm (SO much better than the hand,) I let them keep it in.
2-3:30 a.m. I got in the Jacuzzi tub, which felt great, until I started throwing up and shaking. It felt like transition. Puking during labor was a first for me.
4:00-6:00 a.m. This was kind of our groggy period. Anthony and I were falling asleep between contractions. I was on the egg ball, which I had never heard of before but loved! Anthony could give me a lot of back pressure, without me rolling off like I probably would on a yoga ball.
6:00-9ish a.m. More walking and moving around. Lots of position changes.
9-10:30 a.m. I got in the tub again. Which felt great, except when I started throwing up again. Weird! Could it be transition this time? I was also shaky, again. It was a little like deja vu except that the nurse couldn't find the baby's heart beat because it was wedged down so low. So, she had to have me reclined pretty far back, with the monitor being held on my pubic bone...for about an hour! She had to do this quite a few times outside of the tub as well, but for some reason it was substantially more bothersome while in the tub, and for such a long time.
Through this all, Anthony was an incredible coach, and the staff was generally really fabulous.
11:45 a.m.: At this point, I was getting a little annoyed that this baby hadn't shown up yet. My water hadn't even broken! I was having mild urges to push on and off. So I labored sitting on the throne for a little while. Meanwhile, Anthony and I had a little conversation that went like this.
Me: It would be really convenient if my water broke right now, nice and mess free. I wonder if we should ask them to break my water. Maybe it would speed things up. (note: our philosophy is generally very intervention free. So it's a major sign of desperation that I even brought this up.)
Anthony: Let's just wait a little longer. You're doing great.
Me: A little longer?!?! It HAS been a little longer! It's been A LOT longer!!! I was thinking about having my water broken 6 hours ago, and have used all my willpower waiting this long to say anything at all! (Um, kidding. I didn't have the energy to say that much. I think I sort of moaned at him and responded with minimal verbiage.)
Anthony: I bet it'll break soon.
The very next contraction, there was a huge gush. And yes, it was convenient that it broke on the toilet. And no, I wasn't annoyed that Ant was right. I was too relieved to see any sign that this baby would eventually come out of my body.
11:55 a.m. Urges to push got more serious. I had mild urges on and off throughout the early hours of the morning. But now they were stronger and more consistent. They checked me and I was mostly dilated but had a lip on the cervix in the front. I wanted to push, but unfortunately no-one else wanted me to, for fear that I'd tear the cervix.
12:00-12:30 p.m. I did a lot of "breathing through the urge" on my hands and knees on the floor and on the birth stool and at some point using the peanut ball. It was not fun. I wanted to PUSH! But every time I did, about 3 people would start shouting, "Breath through it! Don't push!" I got checked again, and it looked like the cervix was getting swollen so the midwife, Heather Lemon at this point, along with the midwifery student Jasper from Norway (maybe?) had a little meeting in the hallway, and came back with a new strategy.
12:30-1:30 p.m. The new philosophy was that leaning forward was swelling the cervix, rather than dilating it. Supposedly this would make a bad tear more likely. So now, they wanted me to lean back. Waaaay back. Flat on my back then tilting the head end of my bed down. Agh! So now my uterus, and the baby were working against gravity. It felt awful. I'm pretty sure the word I used was "torture." So I ended up, bringing my upper body back up, just reclined far back, which still felt pretty awful with each contraction. For this entire hour I worked at not pushing. But eventually it became irresistible. I found myself breathing slowly through contractions but sneaking little inconspicuous pushes at the end of each breath. The midwife kept asking "Is the urge irresistible?" But I wasn't sure if we were using the word the same way. The pushing wasn't "involuntary" like it sometimes was in my other labors. I could sort of resist it, but it was really difficult to do so. So, eventually I just started pushing. I have a feeling I should have done that an hour earlier.
1:30ish-1:57 p.m. Pushing. This was again, less than ideal as they asked me to push in a CRAZY position in hopes of saving me from a tear. Typically, people push in a position where gravity works to their advantage.
Like this Or this
Now imagine laying on a flat bed, and trying to do a backwards somersault, as in, bringing bent knees towards your head...with your pelvis off the bed curling up towards the ceiling while trying to push 9 lbs of human out of your body. The 3rd image below is the closest thing I could find to the position I was in. Each time a contraction started, Anthony and a nurse would grab a leg, and help me into crazy backwards somersault position. And for some reason, no one seemed satisfied with how long or hard I was pushing either. I need a serious debrief with the midwife on this portion of labor. I'll never know for sure if this was inhuman torture, or if it was resourceful genius.
Anyway, I tried focusing on thoughts like, "I'll see me baby soon!" "Open and down." "Relax everything between contractions, now push like I've never pushed before!!!" Instead of what was really going through my mind, "This is the absolute WORST!!!!!"
Finally I felt some major stretching and burning which, mentally at least, was a huge relief that this would all be over soon. I was told her head came out. And then according to Anthony she seemed a little stuck, especially one shoulder. She was turning a little blue, and then pop! She was born. It was 1:57 p.m. July 6th, about 24 hours after contractions began. And yes! It was a girl! To my huge surprise. I really was expecting a boy.
As unflattering as this picture is, it makes me laugh every time I see it. I'm trying really hard to flash a beautiful smile, like I didn't just fight my way through a war zone. Not succeeding.
Slightly less grimacy. But look how cute Esther is!!!
Check it out. There was a knot in the umbilical cord! Glad everything turned out alright.
I didn't tear at all. Heather had Jasper re-check, because she didn't believe it. She gave me some pitocin because she said I was at high risk for hemorrhaging after pushing in such a crazy way. Everything from here on out, was pretty great. I got cleaned up, could walk and use the bathroom much easier than my other labors, had some happy bonding time, ate a bunch of food, and was basically on a "I can't believe we have a girl!" cloud.
Anthony was a fantastic coach throughout this entire craziness. He was with me through every contraction, and was the positive balance I needed during the challenge of it all.
8 lbs 8 oz and 20 7/8 inches of joy.
Anthony's wanted a red headed little girl named Esther for about 5 years now. So when she came out with a little red, we knew it was Esther.
That's a giant bow that our nurse made out of gauze and stuffed into a hole she tore into the cap.
I LOVE her!
The next day Anthony brought my parents and the boys to pick me us up and take us home. Unfortunately Eliot had a fever the night before and a doctor's appointment that day. So he was told that he could be around Esther as long as he was wearing a mask.
They really wanted to be close to her, but afraid to touch her too much with the germs going around.
Birthday cake and icecream
Sibling bonding after Eliot's symptoms cleared.
Ira: "When will it be my turn to hold her again!"
Ira: She looks like an angel in that dress Mom.
Me: Like an angel from Heaven?
Ira: Not 'like.' She IS an angel from Heaven.
Her bear from Grandma Ellsworth. Not so sure what she thinks.
The boys introducing Esther to Legos.
Twinners
Look Mom! No hands.
Eliot: "Baby came out of Mom's tummy?!?"
It was a huge blessing having my parents around for the week and a half after Esther was born. They played with the boys and took them to the park and the Hands On Museum. They made us delicious food, while Ant had to wrap things up at work before taking paternity leave. And my Dad painted our basement! Amazing.
Two peas in a pod
Check out those neck muscles when only a couple days old!
Rocking blue and dinosaurs, girl style.
Before
This is the only before picture I could find of the basement, when we decorated for Ira's birthday more than 2 years ago.
After!
During
First time out of the house. Mom and I took Esther to Ann Arbor so I could buy some comfy postpartum recovery, stretchy pants. It was a little insane because we didn't realize we'd be down town during the AA Art's festival insanity.
First bath
My little flower children
Almost 2 weeks old.
Things have been exciting since then. 15 days after Esther was born, we flew to Utah for some family reunions and happy times. But that'll be the next post, which I'll get around to writing eventually. Happy end of summer everyone!
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