West made cookies with mama and Grandma. The whole process went really well, I half expected him to either flip out and not want to do it, or to get his germie hands all over the flour, sugar and dough… neither of those happened. He enjoyed the process and is quite a good cookie decorator.
Here are the highlights of cookie-fest 2009:
Mabel Kelly was born on October 2, 2009
8:02 pm
2o in long, 10lbs,
Born at home in a wonderful waterbirth.
The Birth of Mabel Kelly Mathews:
Mid-morning on Oct 2nd I called my midwives to ask about labor inducing herbs they have. I was huge and very tired of being pregnant. One of my midwives reassured me that this was indeed coming “soon” and that she thought we should hold off on the “big guns” until the following week. She advised me to get some acupuncture and maybe go on a date with John.
My friend Tele agreed to watch West while I got acupunture that afternoon and my friend Amy agreed to come over in the evening for a couple hours to hang with West while John and grabbed a bite to eat. It was wonderful of both my friends to help us like that.
I was having very irregular, very mild contractions on and off that day and was hoping acupuncture would kick things into gear. Alas after my session they stopped. I was very upset and thought that acupuncture was actually stalling my progress. I vowed to never to acupuncture again. However by the time John came home from work (around 4 pm) I started having some again. They were very mild but more regular and around 5 mins apart. 15-20 later Amy showed up to watch West. I told her that maybe we’d be having the baby tonight, but it wouldn’t be for a while and that we still were going to eat.
On our way to the restaurant I called the midwives to tell them that tonight was probably the night, but that we wouldn’t need them for awhile. However after I got off the phone I was noticing that the contractions were closer together and although they weren’t painful I did have to focus during them. I decided it wouldn’t be a fun dinner and I wanted to go home and listen to my Hypnobabies. I just wanted to be in a good place so when labor really did kick in I’d be ready. On the drive home I did get overwhelmed with emotion and started crying. I was so happy that this long journey was going to end. I called the midwives back and told them that maybe they should come over sooner. Heather told me she was on her way.
So we get home around 5:30 and I just zone out in the basement listening to my Hypnobabies “Easy First Stage of Labor” tract. We asked Amy to stay until West went to bed and she very nicely agreed. Around 6pm Heather comes in and just sets stuff up while I lay in bed listening to my relaxation tracts. After about a half an hour I ask when I can get in the birth tub, she tells me I can now. Sweet. I wasn’t in any pain or discomfort, but the contractions were getting stronger. However as soon as I got in the water I thought I ruined things. It felt sooooo good and so much more relaxing. I thought for sure I got in to soon and my contractions were much more comfortable. The other midwives show up by this point.
Around 7pm I started moaning through the contractions, there was so much power surging through me I just had to moan. I also started feeling emotional again at the peak of each contraction. After a few of them I finally let go and just sobbed. It felt so good to release that energy. John tells me he’s going to put West down for bed around 7:40 and since it seemed like we still had a ways to go it seemed like a good time for him to go. He gets back at 7:50 (with Amy upstairs with West, John didn’t need to make sure West was asleep yet). When John got back I had a HUGE INTENSE contraction, the midwives told me that the amniotic sac was “right there” (an inch or two from my opening). Then next GIANT contraction my water broke. The next MONSTER of a contraction her head came out. I was beyond shocked. I had no idea that I was about to push her head out. I just couldn’t believe were there yet. Both John and I were like “what just happened. You have to be kidding me”. The next BIG WAVE came and her body came out. I just kept saying “what just happened?” over and over again. I just couldn’t believe it was over. How could I have just done that?
After I birthed the placenta there was much discussion on her size. The midwives thought she was 9lbs or more… but she looked so little to me. They got one scale out and it said 10lbs 5 oz. I didn’t believe it. Luckily they also had their digital scale to so they weighed her there. 10lbs even. I was again floored. How could I deliver a 10 lb baby with 2 pushes. Impossible.
We covered our birth tub with a blanket so the cats wouldn’t scratch up the lining. Apparently that didn’t work. But at least the blanket helps to somewhat protect it. But it also makes a desirable kitty bed.
So for the past several years my husband has been REALLY into cargo bikes. Being a good wife (yes, I’m bragging) I have encouraged this passion. At one point when we had extra money I actually told him we should use the money to buy a cargo bike.
He didn’t, which in some ways is good because more and more really cool cargo bikes keep coming on the market. Like the Madsen Cycle. One thing that makes this bike more appealing is the price (up to $1000 cheaper than some of it’s competitors). I also like that the cargo part is on the back of the bike (some other brands are on the front). And I’ll admit I like the colors and look of the Madsen bike. Mostly I’ll be toting my little ones to the store, libary and park (all within a mile of our house), but I live in a stylish city, in a cool neighborhood and looks wise this bike is my favorite.
As most of our friends and family know we’ve been on the edge of our seats for the last two weeks in regards to the birth of this baby. When we found out how dilated I was at my 36 week appointment we thought this baby would be making her appearance sooner rather than later. And we were told that things would most likely go pretty fast once labor started…. so with every contraction or Braxton Hicks I felt there was a part of me that would ALWAYS think “this is it”. I have been battling my self with trying to find a balance between freaking out and thinking my baby will come any minute with trying to just be Zen about it.
In a random google search— looking up something completely unrelated–I came across a message board archive discussing stalled labor. I am not having stalled labor, even though I am 5 cm dilated– I am having lots of prodomal labor. In skimming the message board I came across a section titled “Very stretchy Cervix”. Interesting… this was the exact words my midwives used to describe my cervix 2 weeks ago. Hmm, what does a very stretchy cervix have to do with stalled labor? Apparently this message board if for birth professionals, mostly midwives. Here is the midwife’s question and a great response to her question from another midwife.
There’s a type of cervix that stretches amazingly under your fingers, even with a weak or irregular labor pattern. Sometimes the labor stalls out altogether. Have any of you come across cervixes of this type before? How did you measure them and what did you tell your client? How did they end up?
On occasion. They are kind of neat. Sometimes these women are so stretchy they can open to nine or ten centimeters with a slight stretch of your fingers. Sometimes they even rest there at 8 cms or so and can walk around for days or weeks.I finally learned (after many experiences with false labors and stalled labors , and many times of rushing to the home because I thought the baby would be born within minutes, etc.), that these women are different, and we should measure their cervix in a different way. Their cervical dilation is irrelevant to their labor. They can be at 8 cms with contractions and then completely quit. Their cervix may even go backwards and tighten up again. They may get to where they seem to be fully dilated and then quit contractions. Or they can have labor and go from 4 to 9 in one contraction. I think the type of contractions they have is really important — because it’s the type of contractions they have which gets and keeps labor going — not the dilation of the cervix.
Eventually all of these women had normal labors — usually about two hours. It seems as if they just went into “real” labor without all the preliminary stuff. And the babies really didn’t fall out like we thought they might – -mom still had a couple hours of labor. A couple of them had many bouts of start-and-stop-labor— I remember one woman who we spent several overnights on several occasions when she finally went (or stayed in) the real thing and had a two hour labor, but she’d been “nine cms” for a few weeks and on a couple of occasions I thought we’d see a baby within a few minutes!
To me the key seemed to be the type and quality of contractions. In all of them so far they were completely unpredictable until they started having strong contractions well over 60 seconds long. Anything shorter than that could peter out and stop at any moment.
And I also found that I think it’s best to discount the cervical dilation with a loose and baggy cervix – -unless it is also well thinned (thinning seemed to be the key with some of these women). [The loose and baggy cervix may be the "shirt sleeve" cervix associated with an ill-fitting or malpositioned head.]
I’ve also known people to just AROM (breaking the water) with these women when folks get tired of feeling like they are “always on the verge of labor but the baby will never come” (I say of course the baby will come and true labor will begin). It’s too much stress for some midwives and for some moms. They are frantic about being so far dilated and not in labor — or of being in start-and-stop labor — and they can’t handle it emotionally and some will go for induction (home or hospital). If AROM she will probably go into labor, but she might not and she is disposed to malpresentations. Some of the women I’ve worked with (or known of) handled things very well. Others got stressed out — and we all ended up wishing there’d never been a cervical exam in the first place!
So why does this give me such peace? Because some of my exact emotions have been described above. The emotional and physical stress I have been under in the last two weeks has taken a toll on me. Sometimes I’ve been even mad at the baby for not coming yet. KNOWING that I’m not “due” until later this month. I’ve been so caught up in how far I’m dilated and not really in what my body and baby need… which is time. And to make things worse I told everyone I know that “OMG the baby can come ANY SECOND”… adding to my own stress when another day passes without having the baby. I am letting it go. I am releasing all this energy. Breathe.
Awwwww peace. I now truly feel more centered and balanced. This baby has shown no indication of coming earlier than she is ready. I am not “due” until the END of September. I have two weeks left before I should even be thinking about having a baby, and another two weeks before this baby is consider “late”.
I am 36 weeks 5 days pregnant… all is well in baby land. I have my midwife home visit on Monday. For me it was a milestone in my pregnancy because it means I made it to the golden week to have a home birth. We also got our birth tub, which is fun. It is a big horse troff looking thing. We it is lined with egg carton foam and pillows. When West saw it he thought it looked like a big crib and wanted to take a nap in it.
Also at that visit the midwives and I discussed some issues I had with my birth with West. Mostly about my cervix prolapsing and whether or not it did or didn’t tear and whether or not I had scar tissue (I am using different midwives this time). One of them asked to see my cervix, to assess the scar tissue and then to decide whether or not I should Evening Primrose Oil to help ripen it. We got a nice shock. I was already 4-5 cm dilated (“very stretchy”), 80% effaced and the babies head was in station 0. This was all very exciting news. I had some contractions late last week and over the weekend. Some of them felt VERY real… but they didn’t lead to anything. Now I know they were in fact prepping my body.
All that is fine news, except I’m a little early. Not too early. A 36 week baby can be born at home and can totally healthy. And quite often women can stay at that dilation for weeks. So it makes it a bit un-nerving on when things will start. I had a false alarm yesterday, really thinking we’d have a baby by this morning, but everything slowed down by bed time and then stopped completely for most of the morning. Just sporadic activity here and there. I just wish that everything would stay calm and I’d have no contractions until it’s time for the big event, or just have the baby and get it over with. But this false labor stuff is hard. Emotionally and physically. And I’ve told that most likely thing will happen really fast once they do start, so when I get the steady regular contractions I worry that if I don’t call my midwives soon enough that they will miss the birth and that John won’t make and that West and I will be here alone together. I know it won’t be THAT fast, but still it is my fear and I’m just putting it out there so I can then let it go.
Plus for false contraction they really make my body work. I get a slight fever, just about a degree higher, I start to feel a bit nauseous and get sort of shaky. Often just needing to lay down. And once they stop I feel totally normal. Like nothing ever happened. Oy!
In other news we have our baby shower this Sunday. It will be nice to hang out with friends. And I’m looking forward to the 3 day weekend. More John time!!
John built West a new home, it was time for West to branch out on his own, have his own pad to entertain the ladies.
The house has since moved into our basement and is mostly used as a potty place.
We had a big week this week. West started nursery school this week. He is only going two days a week. We were going to start him once his sister arrived, partly so I could have a little time with the baby and more postpartum recovery time, and partly because he is at the age where he really wants to play with other kids and we just don’t it as often as I’d like. We decided to send him pre-baby so he could have a longer adjustment time and so I could get some much needed rest during my last few weeks of this pregnancy.
I think this week was harder on me. First of all it was hard for me not be with him all day. And I was sick this week but had so many errands to run (errands that are much easier without a toddler) so I didn’t really get a chanch to relax and recover. Next week I have more errands I want to run without him, but hopefully I can manage to rest too. It did make my week fly by though, which is good because weekends mean more time with John and that is always good.
I am in my 34th week of pregnancy, aside from having a flu-like illness this week things are going well. Baby is doing great!
In the past few months I’ve been researching postpartum belly binding. The more I research the more I am sad I didn’t know about this after I had West. Belly Binding is one of those things that have been around for centuries, primarily used in Japan, Latin American and Europe. Though it seems like in the U.S. it is gaining ground very fast. I first heard about it on The Ellen Show via a product called the Belly Bandit.
At first I thought it seemed rather gimmicky… but the the benefits of this seem pretty solid.
