Since both boys have their birthdays in May, I scheduled their yearly check ups back to back. First I was overwhelmed by the thought of taking them together but then realized E would be back from his trip in time to help me.
Logan's stats
Weight 36.4 lbs 50-75%
Height 40.3 inches 50-75%
Good blood pressure
Good hearing
FAILED vision test 20/70 in both eyes
Urinalysis was normal
Excellent development and physical exam
Logan got four vaccines and started crying during the last two. He was so brave and did a great job. The doctor said that if he stays on this growth curve he has been on he will probably be 5ft 10 in as an adult, which is E's height.
Lucas' stats
Weight 24.6 lbs 10%
Height 34.5 in 50-75%
Head 19.8 in 90-95%
Hemoglobin 11.9 Normal is above 11.3
Excellent development and physical exam. Once again the doctor said Lucas had great speech, that of a 3 or 4 year old. Poor thing has the body of a bobble head with such a skinny body and such a big head!
Lucas got one vaccine and started crying. Logan told the nurse "You hurt him, don't do that!"
All in all was a pretty good visit but it seemed to take forever. I was glad I had the extra help. I need to make an appointment for Logan to see a Pediatric Opthomologist. Any recommendations? It wouldn't surprise me if he needed glasses. He falls all of the time and I was wondering if there was a medical cause for it.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
What to do about school next year??
Lucas is dying to go to school. He wants to be just like his big brother and tells me all of the time that he wants to go to school. I sent Logan to school when he was two and I am having some guilt over not sending Lucas to school as well. Logan's school is a little more expensive than the church day schools and to be honest we really can't afford to send Lucas next year to Logan's school.
I have been considering trying to send him to the neighborhood school where Logan went when he was two. It is much more reasonably priced but the catch would be that Logan would go to school M/W/F 12-2:40 and Lucas would go to school T/Th 9-12. I feel like I would constantly be running to go somewhere every day, getting lunch or snack ready every day and keeping the boys from spending time together. But on the flip side, I would have more quality time with each child individually and maybe less fights and arguments between them. What to do???
I have been considering trying to send him to the neighborhood school where Logan went when he was two. It is much more reasonably priced but the catch would be that Logan would go to school M/W/F 12-2:40 and Lucas would go to school T/Th 9-12. I feel like I would constantly be running to go somewhere every day, getting lunch or snack ready every day and keeping the boys from spending time together. But on the flip side, I would have more quality time with each child individually and maybe less fights and arguments between them. What to do???
Brahms' lullaby
I have a confession. I have always loved Celine Dion. I think I mostly just love singing along with her. Before I had children, I was given the CD miracle by Celine and it has lots of sweet songs about motherhood. I love Brahms' lullaby and she sings it in English and French. I pulled out the lyrics and learned the song and always dreamed of singing it to my future children.
We have always read stories to Logan before bed but not as much with Lucas. In the last few months I have been giving Lucas the option of reading a book or rocking him to music. He almost always chooses rocking to music and I always sing him Brahms' lullaby. Recently, he has been singing along to the music as well. Now he knows how to sing the whole Lullaby in English and French and it is the most adorable thing. I know people always say "oh he likes to play music so he might be a musician" but I really think Lucas might have some musical skills when he grows up.
We have always read stories to Logan before bed but not as much with Lucas. In the last few months I have been giving Lucas the option of reading a book or rocking him to music. He almost always chooses rocking to music and I always sing him Brahms' lullaby. Recently, he has been singing along to the music as well. Now he knows how to sing the whole Lullaby in English and French and it is the most adorable thing. I know people always say "oh he likes to play music so he might be a musician" but I really think Lucas might have some musical skills when he grows up.
Another Birthday boy
Logan at 4 years old
Logan and Mommy asleep together in the hospital (newborn)
Logan at 12 months old
Logan and baby Lucas at 2 years old
Logan and the bluebonnets at 3 years old
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Eric in Africa
I just got an update from Eric. He has not had such a great time on his buisness trip this time. Poor thing is sick and has to work. Here is some of his email....
I started to get sick the day of or before flying out, so I stocked up on what medicine we had in the house. However, it did not seem to help much and I got a headache on the plane ride and couldn’t sleep much. On the second leg from London, white liquid (milk?) started dripping out of someone’s travel bag from the overhead onto the guy next to me, along with his laptop and suit. I got some too, but one good thing about being sick is you don’t care about the trivial things. Not sure where the liquid came from but we moved to the back. The flight from London to Algeria was full of the normal range of people, from business travelers to family. Most of the apprehension I may have had about coming to a country that has a travel advisory went away because of this. Actually I was mostly annoyed that everyone else was seemed to be in great spirits and talking loudly while I wasn’t in the greatest mood.
The country appears to be fairly safe, although not maybe what we are used to. No terrorist or anti-American type worries, just more crime than we are used to. The police are everywhere and frequently search your car when you are driving around. Businesses and hotels also search your car. Everybody is friendly so I haven’t seen any need to worry. I don’t plan on walking around by myself at midnight though.
When I arrived, I got stuck in customs for 2 ½ hours. I brought this toolkit with me and they made my local rep get a letter stating I or the luggage was allowed in the country. And they needed some cash for some reason. I should have gotten some formal papers for the items, but they were fairly small and worthless, and in the past I have gotten papers and that seemed to make them focus on me more and still owe money anyway. The local CommScope salesperson Hakim was very helpful and we got through it.
So then we went to see the customer and I found that driving around was not so much fun if you are sick (Jennifer - think of Dominican Republic). There are just no stoplights or right of ways, so you have to get in when you can. Lots of speeding up and slamming on the breaks. Plus the local population on foot seemed to merge with the traffic. There were several occasions where it seemed like we would have hit someone if they were a step slower. You also honk a lot when you pass people because a lot of swerving is expected; Hakim even honked at a cop to get out of his way, so I guess it is no big deal.
I was getting car sick fast. When we got to the customer site I told Hakim I needed a moment and threw up behind a car. Something had told be to grab the airline bag for just such an occasion so I at least was able to keep it contained. I wasn’t feeling like the class had been well discussed beforehand so I did want to meet with the customer instead of going to the hotel. So I cleaned up a bit and managed to be somewhat presentable. We made a few side trips, including a meeting with the business partner that was supposed to be helping me. No surprise, but all of our previous discussions by e-mail and phone about what was needed had gone out the window and we appeared to be starting from scratch for some reason. I got home around 10, ate some food that Jennifer bought me for just such occasion and then crashed. I got some sleep last night, although not really very much.
Day 2 –
I woke up feeling better, but sort of nervous that I would start to fade as the day went on. I couldn’t eat too much breakfast but tried to. The buffet had about 20 types of rolls and breads, plus a few other items. If you were on Atkins, you would be out of luck. My ride to work was about 1 hr late so we showed up to the customer site about 20 minutes late. That apparently was not issue, but no one was ready to start training until 10 AM anyway. That reminds me that last night we had met the business partner at their hotel, which was right across the street from the training location. But my hotel is about 40 minutes away. Not sure what the thinking was to book me here, although it is nice. Back to the training, I had a translator and I think she did a good job. But the students kept getting stuck on one point that was not very important anyway and even when I would leave it for the next topic they would come back to it later. So we didn’t get too far in the morning.
Lunch was a big salad with tuna on top, 2 chicken breasts and mashed potatoes, plus an apple and some dessert tarts. I was called out for “not being hungry” because I couldn’t manage to eat both pieces of chicken. There have been lots of questions to me about the "pig" flue. I have kind of made it sound like reports in the US were really exaggerated. Since I think that my illness is some sort of flue, I decided to downplay it. It wasn't an issue in the airport, but I was extra careful not to blow my nose or cough while going through security.
During lunch the customer asked to see something that I was planning on doing the last day first. I tried to explain that it wasn’t a good idea, as I like to set up and make sure things are prepared and working before the students are watching me, but he and my sales person were not listening. So I tried to demonstrate what he wanted on the equipment that was brought in locally and I had not worked with before. Besides the electronics having buttons and text in French, one of the main items wasn’t working. And they had only brought 1 of several items when I had asked for at least 3 – just in case something wouldn’t work.
To coincide with this, I was starting to lose my voice after lunch and really cannot say a word right now. I am using a translating program online to order some food at the hotel. So my plan is to write up some things for the students to follow if I can’t talk tomorrow. Not sure how that will go.
Other items of note. Not everyone has a mustache here; it is probably 50/50 or even less. So maybe that was unnecessary to grow. But I have had two comments about my good looks, so it may have been worth it. One was that I was handsome like some province in Algeria, and the other was that I looked like a star (I was wearing a suite today). I can’t be sure these were both compliments instead of sarcasm; I suppose I will have to go see that province and see whether it is nice or not. I will just assume the positive for now. Also, I think I have seen people use their left hand here for passing food, so that is another item that is not really an issue. The languages are French and Arabic, so I would say that I have had more trouble being understood here than anywhere else. I have tried to speak French some as we all know the common words like bonjour, but have actually spit out more Spanish than French. I have said “gracias” for thank you a few times now.
You will note I haven’t really discussed the city very much. While driving around I was keeping my eyes closed to help with car sickness a lot. There are lots of palm trees and you see the Mediterranean while driving around, so it is fairly nice. The buildings are not really built for looks though and there are many signs of poverty. Built on a hill over the water like some of the pictures you see of Italy. Lots of smoking – Our sales guy smokes all the time but avoids caffeine for health reasons.
Well that is the start of my trip so far. It is not all bad. The patio I am sitting at now overlooks a small botanical garden that is part of the hotel. I would rather work with some fresh air than in my hotel room. Let’s hope it goes better tomorrow! Love to all, Eric
I guess we should have brushed up on his french before he left!
I started to get sick the day of or before flying out, so I stocked up on what medicine we had in the house. However, it did not seem to help much and I got a headache on the plane ride and couldn’t sleep much. On the second leg from London, white liquid (milk?) started dripping out of someone’s travel bag from the overhead onto the guy next to me, along with his laptop and suit. I got some too, but one good thing about being sick is you don’t care about the trivial things. Not sure where the liquid came from but we moved to the back. The flight from London to Algeria was full of the normal range of people, from business travelers to family. Most of the apprehension I may have had about coming to a country that has a travel advisory went away because of this. Actually I was mostly annoyed that everyone else was seemed to be in great spirits and talking loudly while I wasn’t in the greatest mood.
The country appears to be fairly safe, although not maybe what we are used to. No terrorist or anti-American type worries, just more crime than we are used to. The police are everywhere and frequently search your car when you are driving around. Businesses and hotels also search your car. Everybody is friendly so I haven’t seen any need to worry. I don’t plan on walking around by myself at midnight though.
When I arrived, I got stuck in customs for 2 ½ hours. I brought this toolkit with me and they made my local rep get a letter stating I or the luggage was allowed in the country. And they needed some cash for some reason. I should have gotten some formal papers for the items, but they were fairly small and worthless, and in the past I have gotten papers and that seemed to make them focus on me more and still owe money anyway. The local CommScope salesperson Hakim was very helpful and we got through it.
So then we went to see the customer and I found that driving around was not so much fun if you are sick (Jennifer - think of Dominican Republic). There are just no stoplights or right of ways, so you have to get in when you can. Lots of speeding up and slamming on the breaks. Plus the local population on foot seemed to merge with the traffic. There were several occasions where it seemed like we would have hit someone if they were a step slower. You also honk a lot when you pass people because a lot of swerving is expected; Hakim even honked at a cop to get out of his way, so I guess it is no big deal.
I was getting car sick fast. When we got to the customer site I told Hakim I needed a moment and threw up behind a car. Something had told be to grab the airline bag for just such an occasion so I at least was able to keep it contained. I wasn’t feeling like the class had been well discussed beforehand so I did want to meet with the customer instead of going to the hotel. So I cleaned up a bit and managed to be somewhat presentable. We made a few side trips, including a meeting with the business partner that was supposed to be helping me. No surprise, but all of our previous discussions by e-mail and phone about what was needed had gone out the window and we appeared to be starting from scratch for some reason. I got home around 10, ate some food that Jennifer bought me for just such occasion and then crashed. I got some sleep last night, although not really very much.
Day 2 –
I woke up feeling better, but sort of nervous that I would start to fade as the day went on. I couldn’t eat too much breakfast but tried to. The buffet had about 20 types of rolls and breads, plus a few other items. If you were on Atkins, you would be out of luck. My ride to work was about 1 hr late so we showed up to the customer site about 20 minutes late. That apparently was not issue, but no one was ready to start training until 10 AM anyway. That reminds me that last night we had met the business partner at their hotel, which was right across the street from the training location. But my hotel is about 40 minutes away. Not sure what the thinking was to book me here, although it is nice. Back to the training, I had a translator and I think she did a good job. But the students kept getting stuck on one point that was not very important anyway and even when I would leave it for the next topic they would come back to it later. So we didn’t get too far in the morning.
Lunch was a big salad with tuna on top, 2 chicken breasts and mashed potatoes, plus an apple and some dessert tarts. I was called out for “not being hungry” because I couldn’t manage to eat both pieces of chicken. There have been lots of questions to me about the "pig" flue. I have kind of made it sound like reports in the US were really exaggerated. Since I think that my illness is some sort of flue, I decided to downplay it. It wasn't an issue in the airport, but I was extra careful not to blow my nose or cough while going through security.
During lunch the customer asked to see something that I was planning on doing the last day first. I tried to explain that it wasn’t a good idea, as I like to set up and make sure things are prepared and working before the students are watching me, but he and my sales person were not listening. So I tried to demonstrate what he wanted on the equipment that was brought in locally and I had not worked with before. Besides the electronics having buttons and text in French, one of the main items wasn’t working. And they had only brought 1 of several items when I had asked for at least 3 – just in case something wouldn’t work.
To coincide with this, I was starting to lose my voice after lunch and really cannot say a word right now. I am using a translating program online to order some food at the hotel. So my plan is to write up some things for the students to follow if I can’t talk tomorrow. Not sure how that will go.
Other items of note. Not everyone has a mustache here; it is probably 50/50 or even less. So maybe that was unnecessary to grow. But I have had two comments about my good looks, so it may have been worth it. One was that I was handsome like some province in Algeria, and the other was that I looked like a star (I was wearing a suite today). I can’t be sure these were both compliments instead of sarcasm; I suppose I will have to go see that province and see whether it is nice or not. I will just assume the positive for now. Also, I think I have seen people use their left hand here for passing food, so that is another item that is not really an issue. The languages are French and Arabic, so I would say that I have had more trouble being understood here than anywhere else. I have tried to speak French some as we all know the common words like bonjour, but have actually spit out more Spanish than French. I have said “gracias” for thank you a few times now.
You will note I haven’t really discussed the city very much. While driving around I was keeping my eyes closed to help with car sickness a lot. There are lots of palm trees and you see the Mediterranean while driving around, so it is fairly nice. The buildings are not really built for looks though and there are many signs of poverty. Built on a hill over the water like some of the pictures you see of Italy. Lots of smoking – Our sales guy smokes all the time but avoids caffeine for health reasons.
Well that is the start of my trip so far. It is not all bad. The patio I am sitting at now overlooks a small botanical garden that is part of the hotel. I would rather work with some fresh air than in my hotel room. Let’s hope it goes better tomorrow! Love to all, Eric
I guess we should have brushed up on his french before he left!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Medical bills are rolling in
The surgery and procedures that I have been having have been adding up to more than was estimated. The hospital bill was $21,000 before insurance paid anything on it. We had a bill of $1,500 to pay the hospital still. Recently, at a girls Bunco game night at my house I learned that you could offer to pay less than what you owe and ask the hospital to forgive the rest. Several people said they have tried that in the past and it has worked. One of them said the magic number is 80% of the bill and almost every time they will take it if you agree to pay it in full at that moment.
I would rather get four teeth pulled than deal with stuff like this so my wonderful hubby called them and got 400 bucks knocked off of our bill! Wow! He said afterwards that since we did not have to spend an extra 400 bucks that maybe we could buy a Wii with that money. And what do you know, a Wii showed up at our house just yesterday! It was from my parents for all of our birthdays. We are all so excited to jump on the bandwagon and have one. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great and much desired gift!
I would rather get four teeth pulled than deal with stuff like this so my wonderful hubby called them and got 400 bucks knocked off of our bill! Wow! He said afterwards that since we did not have to spend an extra 400 bucks that maybe we could buy a Wii with that money. And what do you know, a Wii showed up at our house just yesterday! It was from my parents for all of our birthdays. We are all so excited to jump on the bandwagon and have one. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great and much desired gift!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Anyone for Algeria?
E has not been traveling much lately, which has been a blessing. I have enjoyed having him around more although he probably can't tell since we watch TV in different rooms every evening. He will be going to Algeria next week. If you are like me and don't know where that is...it is in North Africa between Libya and Morocco.
A few weeks ago E went to work and when he came home I did a double take and noticed he had some extra scruff on his upper lip. He has missed some spots shaving but that was embarrassing how much he missed.....then it hit me that he was going to grow a mustache. He read somewhere that mustaches were considered very masculine in Algeria and almost all men have one. E and a few other co-workers are growing them together to see whose is the best looking and fullest by today. Everyone thinks E's looks like a 70s porno star. I can say we haven't been kissing as much as we normally do because I am not a big fan of facial hair. Hopefully he will come home from his trip with a clean shave.
A few weeks ago E went to work and when he came home I did a double take and noticed he had some extra scruff on his upper lip. He has missed some spots shaving but that was embarrassing how much he missed.....then it hit me that he was going to grow a mustache. He read somewhere that mustaches were considered very masculine in Algeria and almost all men have one. E and a few other co-workers are growing them together to see whose is the best looking and fullest by today. Everyone thinks E's looks like a 70s porno star. I can say we haven't been kissing as much as we normally do because I am not a big fan of facial hair. Hopefully he will come home from his trip with a clean shave.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Realization
In the last couple of weeks as Lucas turns two it is just hitting me that I have two boys. I know it sounds crazy, but now Lucas is not acting so babyish and unisex, he is acting like a little boy. Logan was not like this at two years old. And as Logan is approaching four years old he is also acting much more "boyish". As each day brings more roughhousing, pretend shooting, hitting, and sword fighting I grow increasingly aware that I have two boys to deal with. I don't allow play guns in the house but they make them with legos or use their hands and sound effects. They are playing much more physically than I expected. I honestly think I would do much better with having girls. I don't want to play cars, superman and wrestle. I want to play barbies and have tea parties. And no, there is not a chance that I will have a daughter. I have a long time to wait to possibly have a granddaughter.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
How I spent Mother's Day...
being nurse, mom, cleaning lady, and full time care taker of my children. Poor E is so sick today from too much partying last night. I woke up at 5:30 am to find that he never made it in the bed. I got worried and looked outside for his car...no car. I looked in the guest room and no evidence of him either. I was really starting to worry. I wasn't sure if I should drive around the neighborhood and look for him or not. There was no way I could go back to sleep. Ten minutes later I hear him getting sick upstairs. Poor fellow is miserable.
I spent the morning giving baths, cleaning carpets and all the other mommy duties. I am really not complaining. I have had my fair share of days feeling bad, just not from drinking too much. I will say that next weekend I am going to request a redo Mother's Day. This not exactly how I envisioned I would spend the day.
I spent the morning giving baths, cleaning carpets and all the other mommy duties. I am really not complaining. I have had my fair share of days feeling bad, just not from drinking too much. I will say that next weekend I am going to request a redo Mother's Day. This not exactly how I envisioned I would spend the day.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Remembering 2 years ago...
Warning: This is a long birth story and kind of graphic but I wanted to share anyways.
I went to see the midwife 14 hours before Lucas was born and found out she was 1 cm dilated and 30 percent effaced. I woke up at 3:45 am to go to the bathroom and could not go back to sleep after tossing and turning. E asked if he was going to get out of work today but the answer was "probably not". I decided to work on the computer and try to do a project for Shutterfly and returned some emails. I noticed that cramps were coming regularly but just thought I was dehydrated. I drank some juice to see if that would help. By 4:45 my contractions were becoming uncomfortable and more regular at probably 4-5 minutes apart so at 5 am I woke E up to tell him I thought I might be in labor and needed him to get up.
I started getting things together, got a long shower, sat on the labor ball, and breathed through the contractions. I even worked on a word scramble in the newspaper. I did not want to wake anyone up until 6am so we called the midwife and told her I thought I was in labor and she said she would meet me at the birth center around 6:40. We called Erin in the neighborhood and she said she could be over soon. She arrived quickly by 6:15, we gave her too many instructions about what to feed Logan and we left the house.
By the time we got in the car my contractions were probably 2 minutes apart and by the time we got to the corner of Custer and hwy 121 (which is only 3 miles away) I was starting to feel the urge to push. E was speeding at this point, but not fast enough. I started getting worried at that point because we still had a good 12 minutes left to go. I remembered that if you tried to pant then it would be physically impossible to push. I could not figure out how to pant. I could not make myself do it. I made E turn on the hazard lights on the car. At the corner of Custer and McDermott we saw a police car in front of us. I was actually disappointed because I was going to make E try to really speed and felt like the police officer in front of us was going to slow things down but then I thought we should try to pass him and get his attention. We drove by him with our window down on the left. I tried to get his attention and show him that I was in labor. He drove up on our right side and asked if I was in labor and what hospital I was going to. We told him the Allen birthing center and he said to follow him. He pulled up ahead of us and we were following him. We realized that he was not going any faster than the speed limit, did not turn on his lights, and was not going through lights, passing anyone or anything. We must have looked entirely too calm. I made E go a different way than the police officer because by that point I felt like the baby was coming out whether we liked it or not. He did run one light and cut in front of someone to turn left to make it one more block to the birth center. I was telling him that something was coming out and to “go, go, go”.
I felt relieved that we made it there but then was really concerned when I realized that no one was there but us. The birthing center was completely dark and there were no other cars. Then the police officer pulled up right behind us and got out of his car. I was screaming and yelling to E that the baby was coming out and I needed help. I pulled my shorts off, flew open my door and reclined my seat. I felt between my legs and there was a bulging amniotic sac. I was screaming “what is that?” and E said “it is a bubble” and I screamed “well, is there a cord in it?” I was really freaking out at this point and not acting civilized at all. I starting screaming at E to call someone so he grabbed his cell phone and called the first number he could find and it was Amy, one of the nurse midwives. The police officer was shocked to see what was going on and said something like “oh, wow” and called for more help. Apparently the rescue squad was just two blocks down the street.
While E was on the phone with Amy I had another contraction and the head came facing the right way – downwards. The sac broke as the baby’s head came out but was covering the baby’s head. E had to move the sac away from the baby’s head. E was asking the midwife what to do and the cell phone was being held by his ear and shoulder so both hands would be free. She was telling him that if the head was out to tell her to push. With the next contraction I pushed again and Lucas was born; he came out very quickly and smoothly sometime around 6:45 AM. E caught and delivered his baby and then we pulled him up to my chest together. We were screaming and crying all at once. We were trying to get the baby to breathe so we were rubbing him and he did finally make some cries. He was wet and beautiful. The police officer finally chimed in and said “Do you have any blankets?’ and we just remembered that we did bring 3 blankets. So we grabbed one and started to try to dry him off with one of them. It was a cool morning and it was starting to rain. Lucas did start crying and breathing and turning a little pink. I remember not being too concerned about getting him to breath the very second he was born because as long as the cord was attached then he was still getting oxygen from me. I was telling Lucas I was so sorry to have him born in such a crazy way. I just kept thinking and saying “It was so fast, it was just so fast”. I think I was in shock for a few hours that something like this had happened to us.
After Lucas was born the fire trucks, police cars and ambulance/rescue squad showed up. They came over to the car and checked on the baby. Amy was still on the phone and told E to make sure that the rescue squad did not take us anywhere like the hospital. The EMT worker used a little oxygen in front of his face; they took my blood pressure, and listened to the baby’s heart. They said he had an Apgar score of 8. I realized that I was nude from the waist down and there were 15 men standing around looking at us as well as nosy neighbors across the street. I had brought some chux pads in the bag and wanted to cover up with that. The midwife showed up at around 6:50 but disappeared into the birthing center and was asking some questions. The EMTs clamped and cut the cord. Eventually they decided to take us into the birthing center with a metal chair they strapped me into. They had to carry me up the stairs and the men were still standing around looking at me while they were pushing me up the front porch with E carrying the baby and walking up behind me. After we got upstairs the EMT worker asked us some more questions. I delivered the placenta and the nurse midwife started her normal postpartum exams and procedures.
The midwife monitored me for a couple of hours. She went downstairs and made some cinnamon buns and hot herbal mother’s milk tea that was supposed to encourage my milk to come in faster. I was able to try to nurse Lucas right away. E went downstairs and cleaned up the car with some supplies from the birthing center. He also ran to McDonalds to get us some breakfast with protein and more to drink. I never had any IV fluids so the midwife was really encouraging me to drink a liter or two before we left. I do remember feeling very thirsty. I called some family and friends on the cell phone. A few friends said that they wanted to come by but I told them that we would be home soon. Lucas and I were able to be together for two hours or more before anything was done to him. I got an injection to help my bleeding slow down. Lucas got a shot of vitamin K and the ointment in his eyes and a bath. I was able to get into the shower to rinse off but felt a little faint so ended it quickly.
One of the other midwifes stopped by the birthing center to see how I was doing and to help since the RN that helps them did not have time to get there. I felt faint another time while walking to the bathroom. E and I were ready to get home to pick Logan up from our friend’s house to put him down for his nap. We left the birthing center by 12:45 and picked Logan up at 1:00. We had a quick introduction of Lucas and Logan and Jennifer went to relax in the bed.
It was a very interesting day. We were thrilled that our newest son was born perfect and healthy. We were told afterwards by the midwives that if I would have delivered in transit or in the parking lot of the hospital that the baby would have been keep in isolation as soon as we were admitted into the hospital and I would not have been able to be with him. I would have had to have been transported by the ambulance with the baby. We would not have been able to have the bonding time right after he was born. I will always remember such a special labor experience. My husband was able to deliver our baby. We were the first people to hold him. We had plenty of time to spend with our baby without all of the medical interventions or being taken away to a nursery. He never left our sight. I had envisioned a labor at the birthing center in the water and possibly deliver in the water with relaxing music playing and E at my side. The delivery was not exactly that but I would not change it for the world. Lucas is our perfect baby that was in a very big hurry to meet his family. We are so thankful that everything went well and everyone was healthy. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it all over again.
I went to see the midwife 14 hours before Lucas was born and found out she was 1 cm dilated and 30 percent effaced. I woke up at 3:45 am to go to the bathroom and could not go back to sleep after tossing and turning. E asked if he was going to get out of work today but the answer was "probably not". I decided to work on the computer and try to do a project for Shutterfly and returned some emails. I noticed that cramps were coming regularly but just thought I was dehydrated. I drank some juice to see if that would help. By 4:45 my contractions were becoming uncomfortable and more regular at probably 4-5 minutes apart so at 5 am I woke E up to tell him I thought I might be in labor and needed him to get up.
I started getting things together, got a long shower, sat on the labor ball, and breathed through the contractions. I even worked on a word scramble in the newspaper. I did not want to wake anyone up until 6am so we called the midwife and told her I thought I was in labor and she said she would meet me at the birth center around 6:40. We called Erin in the neighborhood and she said she could be over soon. She arrived quickly by 6:15, we gave her too many instructions about what to feed Logan and we left the house.
By the time we got in the car my contractions were probably 2 minutes apart and by the time we got to the corner of Custer and hwy 121 (which is only 3 miles away) I was starting to feel the urge to push. E was speeding at this point, but not fast enough. I started getting worried at that point because we still had a good 12 minutes left to go. I remembered that if you tried to pant then it would be physically impossible to push. I could not figure out how to pant. I could not make myself do it. I made E turn on the hazard lights on the car. At the corner of Custer and McDermott we saw a police car in front of us. I was actually disappointed because I was going to make E try to really speed and felt like the police officer in front of us was going to slow things down but then I thought we should try to pass him and get his attention. We drove by him with our window down on the left. I tried to get his attention and show him that I was in labor. He drove up on our right side and asked if I was in labor and what hospital I was going to. We told him the Allen birthing center and he said to follow him. He pulled up ahead of us and we were following him. We realized that he was not going any faster than the speed limit, did not turn on his lights, and was not going through lights, passing anyone or anything. We must have looked entirely too calm. I made E go a different way than the police officer because by that point I felt like the baby was coming out whether we liked it or not. He did run one light and cut in front of someone to turn left to make it one more block to the birth center. I was telling him that something was coming out and to “go, go, go”.
I felt relieved that we made it there but then was really concerned when I realized that no one was there but us. The birthing center was completely dark and there were no other cars. Then the police officer pulled up right behind us and got out of his car. I was screaming and yelling to E that the baby was coming out and I needed help. I pulled my shorts off, flew open my door and reclined my seat. I felt between my legs and there was a bulging amniotic sac. I was screaming “what is that?” and E said “it is a bubble” and I screamed “well, is there a cord in it?” I was really freaking out at this point and not acting civilized at all. I starting screaming at E to call someone so he grabbed his cell phone and called the first number he could find and it was Amy, one of the nurse midwives. The police officer was shocked to see what was going on and said something like “oh, wow” and called for more help. Apparently the rescue squad was just two blocks down the street.
While E was on the phone with Amy I had another contraction and the head came facing the right way – downwards. The sac broke as the baby’s head came out but was covering the baby’s head. E had to move the sac away from the baby’s head. E was asking the midwife what to do and the cell phone was being held by his ear and shoulder so both hands would be free. She was telling him that if the head was out to tell her to push. With the next contraction I pushed again and Lucas was born; he came out very quickly and smoothly sometime around 6:45 AM. E caught and delivered his baby and then we pulled him up to my chest together. We were screaming and crying all at once. We were trying to get the baby to breathe so we were rubbing him and he did finally make some cries. He was wet and beautiful. The police officer finally chimed in and said “Do you have any blankets?’ and we just remembered that we did bring 3 blankets. So we grabbed one and started to try to dry him off with one of them. It was a cool morning and it was starting to rain. Lucas did start crying and breathing and turning a little pink. I remember not being too concerned about getting him to breath the very second he was born because as long as the cord was attached then he was still getting oxygen from me. I was telling Lucas I was so sorry to have him born in such a crazy way. I just kept thinking and saying “It was so fast, it was just so fast”. I think I was in shock for a few hours that something like this had happened to us.
After Lucas was born the fire trucks, police cars and ambulance/rescue squad showed up. They came over to the car and checked on the baby. Amy was still on the phone and told E to make sure that the rescue squad did not take us anywhere like the hospital. The EMT worker used a little oxygen in front of his face; they took my blood pressure, and listened to the baby’s heart. They said he had an Apgar score of 8. I realized that I was nude from the waist down and there were 15 men standing around looking at us as well as nosy neighbors across the street. I had brought some chux pads in the bag and wanted to cover up with that. The midwife showed up at around 6:50 but disappeared into the birthing center and was asking some questions. The EMTs clamped and cut the cord. Eventually they decided to take us into the birthing center with a metal chair they strapped me into. They had to carry me up the stairs and the men were still standing around looking at me while they were pushing me up the front porch with E carrying the baby and walking up behind me. After we got upstairs the EMT worker asked us some more questions. I delivered the placenta and the nurse midwife started her normal postpartum exams and procedures.
The midwife monitored me for a couple of hours. She went downstairs and made some cinnamon buns and hot herbal mother’s milk tea that was supposed to encourage my milk to come in faster. I was able to try to nurse Lucas right away. E went downstairs and cleaned up the car with some supplies from the birthing center. He also ran to McDonalds to get us some breakfast with protein and more to drink. I never had any IV fluids so the midwife was really encouraging me to drink a liter or two before we left. I do remember feeling very thirsty. I called some family and friends on the cell phone. A few friends said that they wanted to come by but I told them that we would be home soon. Lucas and I were able to be together for two hours or more before anything was done to him. I got an injection to help my bleeding slow down. Lucas got a shot of vitamin K and the ointment in his eyes and a bath. I was able to get into the shower to rinse off but felt a little faint so ended it quickly.
One of the other midwifes stopped by the birthing center to see how I was doing and to help since the RN that helps them did not have time to get there. I felt faint another time while walking to the bathroom. E and I were ready to get home to pick Logan up from our friend’s house to put him down for his nap. We left the birthing center by 12:45 and picked Logan up at 1:00. We had a quick introduction of Lucas and Logan and Jennifer went to relax in the bed.
It was a very interesting day. We were thrilled that our newest son was born perfect and healthy. We were told afterwards by the midwives that if I would have delivered in transit or in the parking lot of the hospital that the baby would have been keep in isolation as soon as we were admitted into the hospital and I would not have been able to be with him. I would have had to have been transported by the ambulance with the baby. We would not have been able to have the bonding time right after he was born. I will always remember such a special labor experience. My husband was able to deliver our baby. We were the first people to hold him. We had plenty of time to spend with our baby without all of the medical interventions or being taken away to a nursery. He never left our sight. I had envisioned a labor at the birthing center in the water and possibly deliver in the water with relaxing music playing and E at my side. The delivery was not exactly that but I would not change it for the world. Lucas is our perfect baby that was in a very big hurry to meet his family. We are so thankful that everything went well and everyone was healthy. It was a wonderful experience and I would do it all over again.
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