Ramona's Birth Story

(Baby) Survival Tip #21: Don't think you're too cool for an epidural. You're not.

   Ramona has (obviously) made her debut and is amazing. For those who care to know I thought I'd post a brief "birth story". I wanted to write this ages ago, but these are the things that have happened since Ramona was born: We came home from the hospital, Chelsea visited, Vander threw out his back and was in crippling, debilitating pain, I went back to school (and finished the quarter with solid A's!!), Vander went back to work, my mom visited, my dad and Laura visited, Vander had an MRI, we had two more wonderful baby showers(!), Thanksgiving, Vander is finally diagnosed- herniated two discs in his spine, Vander gets shingles, Vander gets shots in his back to successfully treat pain, Christmas, Leavenworth trip, Ramona goes through INCREDIBLY fussy period leading us to fear somethings wrong (which leads to fears of bladder infection that isn't there) but it just turns out she was over tired, etc. ... And here we are today.

I'll try to keep it brief, though I know it won't be short, and I won't give too many gory details (I'll spare you that, as well as myself the memories), but here it is!

   We decided to induce her birth the day after she was due for fear of her size becoming so large that a C-Section would be necessary. I never originally wanted to induce, but my doctor was on call during the time period of her induction and I trusted her fully with actually giving me the chance to labor. We arrived at the hospital on 10/19 at 8am and she was born 10/20 at 8am. I had been having contractions before going to the hospital, but nothing regular. I could feel some, but turns out a lot more were happening that I couldn't feel. Upon arrival to the hospital we let our families know the baby's name started with an R, and they were free to guess, though no one was able to do so. (With exasperation my dad wittily guessed Rumpelstiltskin). After the first part of the induction process I had barely started painfully contracting and wasn't dilating... eek! 

   So we moved on to procedure two, and that brought on hours of painful contractions that eventually led to some dilation. I first used a pain med that went in through my IV to dull the pain, but by the time the second dose of that was administered I thought I was just about going to die, even with the drug. The girls in my WA family were so sweet and came and sat and prayed with me while I was in so much pain, so Vander could have a break, even though I know it freaked them out. So I got an epidural, even though I was only dilated to 2. The doctor was so awesome and I did not feel any pain what-so-ever during the process. I wish I could remember his name because he deserves a raise! The best part was I could still move my feet (though I couldn't get out of bed) and feel the pressure but not the pain of the contractions! I figured this was the best one could hope for when it came time to push and was SOOO pleased. I was a new woman at this point, and my body could tell, and began to dilate more quickly, but I was only at a 6 by the time 10pm rolled around. So the family went home, and Vander and I went to bed.

   I kept waking up during the night because what ever side I was sleeping on would start to tingle, so I would roll over, which would wake Vander from his restless sleep, but all seemed to be going well. At 4am June called to make sure we had not had Ramona without calling. We assured her that hadn't happened, but after hanging up I realized I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, (a telltale sign it might be time to push). The nurse came in and checked me, and I was dilated to 9! In the process of checking she accidentally broke my water! What a WEIRD feeling! The nurse told me to wait as long as I could to push because Ramona still hadn't dropped enough. About 30 minutes later I couldn't wait any longer. We called June to let her know, and started pushing with the nurse.

   It is bizarre how primal the birthing process feels. It was like my body totally took over, but not to the point of pushing Ramona out for me. It is also worth noting that about 15 minutes after I started pushing a doctor noted my epidural bag had run out of medication, but decided not to replace it. Not a big deal necessarily; they want you to have some feeling so you can push more effectively. But I already had some feeling. I was so disappointed that it was going to hurt more than I wanted it to (silly, I know). If only we knew after an 1.5 hours of pushing labor would stall and pushing would last about 3 hours total and I'd feel every painful moment...

   I wasn't a great pusher. It's true, but Ramona wasn't a great maneuver-er either. She got stuck in a position and couldn't get out for a whole hour. Yes. An Hour! (TMI alert: I could feel her hair she was so close to coming out, but wasn't moving!) I had maintained some composure but after two hours of pushing I broke down and started swearing. The doctors took this as a sign that she would come out soon. I was in so much pain from not having the epidural, and the desire to eject that baby out of my body was so extreme I thought I was going to die. My doctor was about to call it and send me out for a C-Section when Ramona finally wiggled enough to start moving again. About 30 more minutes of pushing and she was out! 

   It was the weirdest sensation and I had so much relief, but I was in so much pain that I wasn't able to adore Ramona like I wanted to. When they held her up I was shocked by her beautiful, dark hair, and her sweet cry, but I don't remember much else. They placed her on my stomach and I tried to hold her as the doctors dealt with the rest of the birthing stuff that needs to happen, but I was in so much pain I thought I was going to drop her!! I was so scared and I just sobbed. Needless to say, the pictures aren't pretty. She was also thickly covered in vernix, which makes me think if we hadn't induced she would have stuck it out for a while longer. Also doesn't make for cute pictures, but it's Ramona so they are totally cute.

   Not to scare those who haven't had babies yet, but I felt like the whole birthing process was horrible. It was like a violent crime was committed against my body that I could not stop until Ramona was out. I am sure not all moms feel this way, but it was awful.... And oddly totally worth it. Hours after Ramona was born I told Vander we were adopting our other kids. Days after I said we were waiting a good long time. Now, I need to really think about it to remember how much I hated it. I'm scared to do it again some day, but I know I will. And maybe, hopefully, the next time will be better :).

   Ramona is a girl of round numbers. Ramona was born...

                                                                      at 8 in the morning,

                                                         weighing 9 pounds

                                                              in the 10th month

                                                                of  2011,

                                                              on the 20th day

                                                       measuring 22 inches.

A quick special thanks to the Corley family for the hours spent in the hospital (especially June!) waiting for Ramona, and our many sweet visitors who brought our family presents and told us how beautiful Ramona was (the Abshers, the Linkes, the Kuriatniks, Paula and Caleb, Terri, the Stabberts represented by James, Austin, John, and others I can't think of in this late hour). Thank you Lou for spending time with me while Vander was out. And a huge thank you to Vander. I will write another post about how amazing he was through this whole process.

I'll write another entry later with details about how badly Ramona scared us in the hospital, but in the mean time, here are pictures I know you're waiting for. Vander took most of the them, BTW.

10/19- Going to the hospital!

It's Go Time!

Foot Print

Trying not to drop her 

A nerve was pinched in her jaw during the birthing process, so she has that lazy lip there when she cries. It's so cute.

First Family Photo

Ramona Lee, I'm sorry I put a picture of your swollen newborn face and adorable nipples on the Internet. I couldn't help myself. You're just too cute!

A Flood of Posts

You may have noticed the HUGE gap in posts. Well, first I wasn't getting pictures off my camera (lazy). And then I had a baby without taking a quarter off grad school (I basically mentally am still in October. I missed November almost entirely). I'm trying to amend that as quickly as possible, thus lots of pictures will be posted without much narrative, similar to the last one. But it's currently after midnight and if I'm lucky I'll get 4 hours of sleep before I wake up again, so the rest will need to wait... hopefully not too long.

Summer Pictures

I was going to add captions to these, but I think I'll leave them as is. Maybe I'll add them in later...

Salmon Fishing:

4th Anniversary:

FBC Baby Shower:

 Fair:

 Baby Prep:

Hawaii

Survival Tip #20: If you didn't before, start using sunscreen. You're base tan will fade.

Summer has found Washington. While much of the country experienced a heat wave, Washington kept herself temperate. Lots of people have said this was a terrible summer, but I feel like I remember last summer being not as nice as this one. Maybe I've just adjusted to the climate, or lowered my expectations. Or maybe it's because I'm pregnant and running hotter than before. Regardless, it has been beautiful here.

You may remember me mentioning in previous tips that the weather being bad here is a perfectly good reason to travel, but that is not the only good reason. Louisa graduated from High School this June, and to celebrate, the girls in the family (minus Shawna :( ) took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate. Originally this trip was scheduled for September, and I would not be able to go, but the date got changed to August, and I was able to go! I had never been to Hawaii before, and with Baby on the way this seemed like potentially my last chance for a while to be able to go. So I got permission from my doctor, copies of my chart notes and refills of my prescriptions and was off!










We went to Oahu and stayed at the Ko Olina Marriot resort. It was fabulous and beautiful! At first when we landed at the Honolulu airport I was a bit disappointed; I thought it looked unfortunately similar to Southern California. But then we began to drive away and things began to look tropical. It was a week that was both busy and restful. We went to Pearl Harbor, the North Shore, and the Dole Pineapple Plantation, and spent LOTS of time tanning, floating, resting and reading at the resort's pools and lagoon. It was heavenly. I took advantage of my lack of stretch marks and wore a bikini. I read "The Help"and loved it! And it was amazing to see all the birds and wildlife in Hawaii. I can't even describe how cool the trip was, and I can't wait to tell my daughter someday about how she went to Hawaii before she was born :) AND I can't wait to come here with her on the outside, and Vander sweating in the humidity beside us!

I still need to get pictures from Emily, but here are a few I have.

at the beach restaurant where we ordered lots of frozen lemonades :)

The Disney Aulani, about a month before it opened. A short walk from our hotel.

At Pearl Harbor

Sunset

Pipeline, off season

mini pineapple at the plantation

Sunset on our last night.

Goodbye Lagoon, I'll miss you!

32 weeks

Survival Tip #19: If you are discouraged, find people whom you identify with.

We are seven months into this pregnancy... only two more to go! It feels like time is passing so fast, and so slow at the same time. Baby is doing great. She is measuring within expectations (which means ahead but not beyond the margin of error for a fundal measurement). I now feel her up in my ribs, down really low, and have had a few Braxton Hicks contractions. She moves a ton and is so strong. The other day she kicked me and I saw my whole belly reverb from side-to-side. Crazy! Sometimes I feel like she is pushing so hard it hurts. Other times I feel the gentle push of a little hand/foot/elbow and she'll leave it there long enough so I can touch the little spot. It's almost like holding her. I am so excited to meet her and see what she looks like! Will she have my nose, or Vander's eyebrows ;)? I started throwing up more again, so the ARNP has me taking my Zofran every 8 hours regardless of how I'm feeling. I'm also now taking Zantac for heartburn and an iron supplement. All this makes me feel like maybe I wasn't made for pregnancy and can be discouraging. I'm so thankful for how supportive Vander is through all of this though; I don't know how I'd do it without him... although I suppose I wouldn't be in this state without him either :). In addition to Vander, several women have come up to me and told me they were also really sick with their pregnancies. Hearing them helps me to not pity myself. I always thought I would be the type of girl who is at her best when she is pregnant. That has clearly not been true. Yet every time I meet a woman who had a hard pregnancy she tells me it was totally worth it. Most of these women have multiple children so I believe them. :)

   I realized about a week ago that I have been so focused on the idea that Baby will probably be late (the average gestation period is 40 weeks, 3 days), that it never even crossed my mind she could come early! I'm suddenly freaking out that we are not going to be ready for this baby because I'm counting on 9ish more weeks before she comes, when really she could come whenever God wants! In some ways I know this is ridiculous, but there are still a few things to take care of. We have done our hospital tour but still need to do our birth class. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on that might help me understand how to care for our daughter. I watched "Pregnant in America" and "The Business of Being Born". We have a crib now (a hand-me-down from Vander's co-worker/mentor), thank goodness! Some of my sweet friends are throwing a baby shower for me in September and after that we will pick up anything else we need. I need to figure out childcare for her while I'm in my internship (8 hours a week, but don't even get me started; I hate the thought of leaving her!). I know that really, I don't need to worry, I just need to slow down my racing mind, and enjoy where I am now.

With that all said, here are a few monthly progress pictures to catch up:

Little Wiggler

This was taken with my iPhone. Sorry about the quality. Baby was moving so much today I was able to get a few video clips. I think I wrote before about how shocked I would be if Baby started moving (like this) and I somehow didn't know I was pregnant yet.  If your stomach just started moving like this how would you feel? :)

24.5 weeks down...

Survival Tip #18: Summer weather means summer clothes! Just because you don't live in California does not mean you don't get to wear those cute dresses and tank tops you once loved!

*So I needed to think of a Survival Tip for this post and was struggling to do so, but I found a way to make it work! In the summer it gets warmer, even in Washington, and the longer you live her the more acclimated you become. So with that warm weather comes the opportunity to wear summer clothes! It's this pregnant woman's dream! I love being able to throw on a dress and leggings for the day! Way easier to get into/out of than jeans, and it just adds to the feminine feel of being pregnant. So there, the tip is done, and now I can add a baby update without trying to connect it to WA living.*

5 Months Down! Took this a few weeks ago now...

When I checked this picture to see if it was blurry I was shocked at how big I'm getting! Oh my goodness! And it's just going to keep growing too... And I went to Target to look for this shirt in a bigger size so I can keep taking pictures of it in October... and they didn't have it! Eek! Let's hope it's stretchy enough, or comes back in stock!

I have this funny back-and-forth feeling about being pregnant. I feel a little bipolar. At times I love it so much, and then sometimes I hate how uncomfortable I feel. It is odd because one moment I will find myself hating the heartburn and thinking "How can I do __ more weeks of this!" and then Baby will move and I forget all those feelings in a blink.

I love feeling Baby Girl move around inside of me. She is big enough now that I can touch my stomach and know she is right under my hand. For example, right now I have the laptop on my stomach and I can feel exactly where she is. And she literally just kicked to prove to me that is true :) Baby definitely responds to pressure (will touch where pressure is applied) and some times I wonder if she is doing this to say "Give me space!" or perhaps she is trying to snuggle up to the pressure source. I hope I'm not giving her a complex, touching my stomach all the time. Anyways, I more often find her on the left side of my body and she likes to touch my belly button area. Two new developments in movement: I can now feel her kick/punch/whatever in multiple spots simultaneously AND she has started doing this funny thing that feels like she is pushing her foot/fist/whatever along my stomach. From the outside it feels so alien-like, if I did not know I was pregnant I would freak-out. When Vander felt her moving this way he looked almost scared. Even though it can be freaky, I love feeling her move.

At my last Doctor's appointment we found out that Baby is totally healthy and measuring in the 80th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for all her limb lengths. This means she is measuring big, just as we expected. The NP who saw me (I'm trying to find a new doctor because mine is moving to TX with her re-stationed Army husband), said that sometimes they will do ultrasounds to see how big baby is closer to the due date and possibly recommend C-Sections or inductions if the baby seems to big. I really hope that isn't what happens for us. I want to give Baby and me a chance to do everything naturally, and I really don't want to be told I can't have a baby vaginally because she might be too big (btw: ultrasounds are not a great way to predict birth weight as much as limb length). If my mom had my sister and I (10lb 4oz babies) vaginally, I think I should be able to try. And the reason my mom needed a C-Section with brother is because he was 24 inches long and was basically too long to move into a birthing position, but even then she still tried. And I don't see my desires as a prideful thing, but rather I just don't want to take care of a baby and a C-Section scar. I'm just practical I guess. :)

As for me, I am still throwing up occasionally. Since the last baby post I had one week where I only threw up once, and then got food poisoning the next day. Cruel. Besides that week, my average has been 3 pukes a week now, and it is way more manageable! When I throw up it isn't followed by constant puking the rest of the day, and because of this I haven't taken my Zofran in two weeks! Yay! I love when people ask how I'm feeling to see how they react when I respond "I am only throwing up 3 times a week! I feel great!" Something that has become tricky is now when Baby wiggles around it sometimes feels similar to a queasy stomach feeling. I just try to calm myself down when this happens and remember I have thrown up a million times now, what is one more if it does happen, and to appreciate feeling her move.

Well, that is all for now. I'll try to keep updating more regularly, especially as we get closer to the EDD!