Melody's Birth and Beyond
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
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The Hope Chest Home School News
Special Report
August 14, 2005
Melodys Birth and Beyond
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Hello friends!
I promised a while back that I would send more baby details and here they are, for those who like them. (I wont feel at all offended it you delete this. In fact, I wont even know!) I will try to put Melody's picture on my blog page when I get this computer fully operational again. For some reason, it will let me send e-mail, but when I try to use the web, it tells me I dont have a modem hooked up. Go figure!
As many of you know, I had planned to be induced on July 25, five days before my due date, for several reasons. First, because I had gestational diabetes and the midwives didnt want baby to get too big. Also, because my last few had been successfully induced (one after failure to progress during spontaneous labor), and I didnt think my body could do labor very well without it. Then too, we wanted to be able to plan ahead and know when my mom should be in town, and be able to get a good nights sleep and have a daytime birth. Not to mention that school would be starting August 15 and I wanted to leave as much recovery time as possible! So we had all of our ducks in a row, so to speak. We were going to have that baby on July 25. Or so we thought. After two days strapped to a monitor and an IV pole on high doses of pitocin (which did nothing more than give me some bad cramps), I got sent home! Aagh! I was NOT a happy camper!
Thus disillusioned, I decided to rest as much as possible and hope that I would go into labor by myself before August 4, when the midwives would insist on another induction. The next day, my mother decided to take Joanna (12) and Andrew (8) with her down to Port Charlotte to visit her parents, who are in their 90s. (Their retirement condo was badly damaged by Hurricane Charley exactly a year ago today, and they only recently moved back in after several months with my mom in Maryland.) They stayed down there until Saturday, while I rested and finished up a lot of little loose ends.
On Monday morning, August 1, I went for my appointment with midwife Cathy Rudolph, who strongly recommended that I go buy some castor oil and take it that afternoon. I had not been open to this before, but we decided to go for it and get it over with. It didnt taste nearly as bad as I had been told, but it sure did have a massive purgative effect, shall we say. I spent the entire afternoon and evening in and out of the bathroom. By late afternoon, I had regular contractions every three or four minutes, but not strong enough for labor, so I went to bed around 10.
I woke up shortly after midnight with much stronger contractions. I tried to let Thad continue sleeping as much as possible, but by 1:30 it was time to call Cathy. Thad and I met her at the hospitals OB triage around 3 AM. I was moaning in pain at 4 cm dilation and mostly effaced. Shortly after they moved me into the birthing room, my mom and my oldest daughter Mary (18) arrived. Cathy broke my water and gave me some Nubain for the pain Im not sure in what order.
Eventually the Nubain wore off. Cathy didnt want to give me anymore because it might slow labor and stay in the babys system. I was really trying to avoid an epidural, since we had found out it would cost us an extra $1,600. I did my best to breathe through the contractions, sitting upright and wrapping my arms around my mother, who was standing in front of me. Thad was encouraging me, holding my hand and rubbing my back. I kept saying things like, I dont like this. I cant do this. Finally, back on the bed for an exam around 6:20, I found I was still only 5 cm dilated. That was rather discouraging. At this point, I knew it could still be hours before birth, so I caved in and asked for an epidural. Cathy went out to the nurses station to make the arrangements, but by the time she came back in around 6:45, I was feeling the urge to push, which I was allowed to do a few contractions later. I went from 5 to 10 cm in less than a half hour! How about that for the mercy of God! I pushed three or four times, and out came Melody at 6:53!
Mary was the only one of us, other than the medical staff, who actually saw Melody emerge. It was rather an alarming sight, because Melody was totally covered in red and pale white (blood and vernix). The next hour or so was a blur of activity. Mary cut the cord. The nurses cleaned up Melody a little, weighed her and did the APGAR tests. I nursed her. Eventually I was moved into my regular room. The nurses took Melodys blood glucose levels every few hours until late in the evening. (She had to pass six of these tests in a row in order to be released.) We stayed overnight and left the next morning.
My mom stayed until Monday, August 8. She did a lot of shopping and gardening for us, as well as keeping the younger kids occupied. Three cheers for Grandma! Folks from our home group at church brought plenty of meals, which really helped me to rest.
The kids all adore Melody and beg for turns to hold her. Shes a sweet little thing, pretty good natured, though she does cry when shes hungry. We had to start her on supplemental formula last week since, as with her last three siblings, I dont produce nearly enough milk to satisfy her. In fact, she lost 13 oz by her three day checkup.
Melody has dark brown hair and adorable dimples -- she's simply beautiful!
Well, I could go on and on, but Ill try to keep this short. Do pray for us this week as we start school. Im still rather foggy headed, but I dont think waiting a week more is going to help any with that, so we may as well get on with it. The kids need something to keep them busy, anyway!
Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
In closing, I thought you might enjoy the following, which my friend Mary Lou Graham forwarded to me:
The Birth Order of Children
Your Clothes:
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
Preparing for the Birth:
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.
The Layette:
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?
Worries:
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when his/her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
Pacifier:
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
[Virginias note: I always say, Send the dog after it. Its a good thing we dont have a dog, I suppose!]
Diapering:
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
Activities:
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
Going Out:
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
At Home:
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
Swallowing Coins:
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!
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