Lauren's Birthday

Lauren's birthday was quite a memorable day. It was a wonderful experience, and I feel so blessed that we all made it though with no problems. I found that with Mason's birth, I quickly forgot many details, so in effort to hang on to the memories, I jotted down notes from our day.

Monday, October 13 (Columbus Day)
2:15am - Was woken up with pretty hard contractions. Started timing them. After having contractions of varying strength and frequency for a solid two weeks, I wasn't quite sure this was the real thing.
2:45am - Contractions around 6-8 minutes apart. Still had them after drinking a glass of water and moving around. Upset stomach.
3:00am - Contractions too painful too talk through them. Woke up Dave.
3:30am - Finished packing my bag for the hospital
4:00am - Called the midwife's office and started getting ready to head to the hospital. Woke up my parents to tell them we were leaving.
4:22am - Headed to the hospital. Contractions about 5 minutes apart.
4:45am - Admitted to triage room at hospital with head nurse. Was put on monitor for five minutes for initial assessment. Dilated 6cm. Contractions getting a little more painful.
5:15am - Moved to room 11, changed into gown, and settled in.
6:00am - Nurses tried to get IV antibiotics started (for Group Beta Strep). Three different nurses (including the head nurse) tried 4 different times in different places on both arms to find a vein, but it kept getting "blown".
7:00am - Midwife Sage arrives along with my labor and delivery nurse, Angie.
7:05am - Sage checks progress. 7-8cm dilated, 90% effaced
7:10am - Decision made to forgo antibiotics since vein could not be found for IV. Sage says there probably won't be enough time to get at least two rounds in anyway (which would be necessary to not have to test the baby after delivery)
7:30am - Began walking in maternity center halls. Passed by nursery. Never seen so many babies at one time. (Perhaps due to the full moon?)
7:50am - I have some graham crackers and water for breakfast
8:30am - Contractions about 3 minutes apart. During each one, I hold Dave's hand and bury my head in his shoulder. I move between sitting up in bed (with foot of bed lowered), sitting on a birth ball, and walking. Nurse Angie occasionally checks baby's heartbeat during a contraction, but I'm never hooked up to the monitor.
9:00am - Back begins to hurt. Try getting on hands and knees in bed with Dave applying pressure to my lower back
9:04am - Sage checks progress. 9cm dilated
9:10am - I begin light pushing. Sage helps baby's head move past pelvis
9:15am - Start of two contractions which I consider the "transition" phase. (They were pretty painful).
9:25am - After a fairly long resting phase with no contractions, I begin really pushing while sitting up in bed. Nurse Angie and Dave helped hold my legs.
9:51am - Water broke as baby's head was crowning. Stinging and burning sensation very intense now. Dave said I was making loud, guttural groans. I couldn't bear to stop pushing.
10:01am - Lauren Reese is born! As she came out, I reached down and pulled her up to my chest.
10:02am - The baby nurse helped clean her off as she assessed her condition. First APGAR score 9. Lauren poops on my belly.
10:07am - Second APGAR score 9.
10:11am - Sage lets Dave cut the cord after it finally stops pulsing.
10:12am - Begin trying to nurse.
10:19am - Lauren weighed and measured: 7lbs, 10oz. 19in. Placenta delivered.
10:20am - Sage begins stitching up small tear.
10:32am - Lauren nurses like a champ. Nurses for about 50 minutes. She's very alert.
11:30am - My parents and Mason arrive at hospital to meet Lauren
11:40am - Dave changes first poopy diaper
12:52pm - Nurse Angie gives first bath

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Lauren was healthy despite my being GBS positive and not getting any antibiotics. I had the natural birth I was hoping for (no pain medication, no IV, no monitors, no medical intervention, no artificial rupture of membranes). The pain was manageable, and I felt in control the whole time. (It wasn't as bad as with Mason's birth when I was induced with pitocin and my water was broken manually.) And we have a beautiful baby girl to complete our family. We've truly been blessed.

Where Is This Baby?

Another weekly appointment with the midwife today. I'm up to 5 cm now, and good grief, I'm still not officially in labor! The good thing about this is I'm well dilated and active labor should be short (which is just what I need being that I'm doing this without drugs) but the bad thing is that once I finally do go into active labor, I might be too late to get enough antibiotics to protect the baby from infection since I'm GBS+ (see earlier post). My midwife, Tina, said that she'd be shocked if I last more than a few more days. In fact she asked if I'd be interested in just heading over to the hospital now. But rather than risk being induced once I'm there, I opted to go home and wait it out a bit longer after promising I'd head to the hospital as soon as I have any sort of irregular contractions (which is kind of hard to judge since I've been having pretty good contractions for two weeks now.) Tina is going to call the on-call midwife at the hospital to alert them I'd probably be coming in today or tomorrow. I'm hoping she's right!

No Drugs, Are You Crazy?!

That's something I often hear when I mention to someone that I had a pain medication-free birth with Mason, and I'm planning on a natural birth with this baby. (I don't quite consider Mason's birth completely "natural" because I was induced with Pitocin through an IV. To me, a natural birth is one without any medical intervention.)

There are a few reasons I feel strongly about having a natural birth, and none of them are because I want to feel some sense of accomplishment or because I'm a glutton for punishment. It mostly all comes back to wanting the healthiest baby possible.

• Reason 1: I know that all drugs given to the mother are passed to the baby through the placenta. I don't like the idea of my baby getting any sort of drugs in her system, even if it's "safe".
• Reason 2: Epidurals often make newborns groggy and sleepy, and I don't want her to be too sleepy to nurse right away. Statistically, babies who nurse within 30 minutes after birth are calmer, healthier, and take to it better than those that don't. Nursing is very important to me, and I want to do everything I can to make it easier. I was able to do that with Mason, and he was a champion nurser for two years.
• Reason 3: Epidurals often slow down labor and lead to further interventions such as having to use forcepts. Since the mother is basically stuck in bed with no feeling from the waist down, this makes sense to me. I'd rather be able to move around and let gravity help with the process. Plus a shorter labor sound better than a longer labor.
• Reason 4: More mothers on epidurals end up with c-sections that mothers that aren't. I want to avoid a C-section if at all possible. I don't want to have major surgery, with all the risks involved, just before having to take care a newborn. It would also mean a longer recovery, not being able to nurse right away, and that someone else would be the first to hold my baby after she's born.
• Reason 5: Women have been giving birth without drugs for centuries. It's a completely natural process, and if millions of women have been able to do it, then I should be able to too.

I'm by no means knocking any mother's decision to have pain medication during childbirth. Believe me, I've been there, and I specifically remember saying "Now I know why women get the drugs" after about 2.5 hours of the most intense pain of my life during labor with Mason. I fully realize that there are women who just can't do it and know themselves enough to know it's not worth it to even try. Plus, anxiety about the pain alone would be enough to make labor too tough for a lot of people.

So as with Mason, I'm going into this birth with knowledge about natural pain relief options, a supportive husband, a midwife who will help manage pain and labor, a birth plan for the nurses and any backup doctor so that they can help me get through it, and basically with the idea that I'm just not going to give myself a choice about whether drugs are an option. I think all of these things are essential for anyone who wants to have a natural childbirth.

Four Centimeters Down, Six to Go!

I've been having some stronger contractions this week, so at my weekly prenatal appointment today, I decided to have my midwife check to see if I've made any progress. She said I was at a good 4 centimeters and looked like I should be ready to go at any time! That was great to hear. A couple nights ago, my contractions were getting stronger and more regular which made me consider heading to the hospital. However, they stopped after about 3 hours, and I was really disappointed. Today I'm having contractions about every 15 minutes or so, but nothing too strong yet. I'm definitely ready, so I'm hoping things start speeding up soon.

36 Weeks - Baby Update

I had another appointment with my midwife a few days ago. This time, I had to take Mason with me. It's always an adventure taking Mason to the doctor's office. When I had to give a urine sample, he had to go into the bathroom with me of course, and it's always hard to keep him out of the garbage cans. When my task was done, he tried to take the cup out of my hand saying "Juice, please". Then while we were waiting in the little exam room for the midwife to come in, he was opening garbage cans and drawers, playing with the belly tape measure, and spinning the rolling chair. The worst part was he pooped while we were waiting, and of course I didn't have anything with me to change him. And even if I did, there were signs everywhere telling me not to leave dirty diapers in the exam room. I debated whether I should just wait until my appointment was over or go out to change him in the car and risk missing the midwife altogether. I finally decided to wait, but ended up waiting about 25 minutes before the midwife came.

I found out at this last appointment that I tested positive as a carrier for Group Beta Strep, something I didn't have to worry about with Mason. I know this is common, treatable, and can be handled well with rounds of intravenous antibiotics during labor, but it's still very distressing to me. I don't like the idea of my baby getting antibiotics in her system before she's even born (Mason's never even had antibiotics), and I don't like the idea of having to come into the hospital as soon as labor begins to get an IV. (I'm planning for a 2nd drug-free childbirth, and any intervention makes that all the more difficult.) Mostly, I'm concerned about Lauren's health of course. I'm just doing some reaseach and praying everything turns out okay.

Baby Update

I'm on weekly appointments with the midwife now, and at today's appointment, I found out I am 1.5-2cm dialated and Lauren's head is in my pelvis. Of course I was assured this doesn't mean the baby is coming early, but it's a start. I would prefer she stay put for at least 3-4 more weeks, but the midwife said they probably wouldn't try to stop labor at this point.

I also learned I gained 3 pounds since my last appointment 12 days ago. I can definitely believe that. (Just take a look at the picture from my last post.) I think most of that gain happened in the last three days. I've been having some pain in my sides which I believe is due to my waist not being able to keep up with the rate Lauren is growing. (Or it could be due to all the cake I've been eating this week.)

34 Weeks and Counting

Here's Baby Roszak at 34 weeks. Since we only have about a month to go until we're officially a Party of Four, it's probably time to officially announce her name... Lauren Reese Roszak is due to arrive October 17. My gut feeling is she will be a little early - especially if she's anything like her Mama. (I hate being late.)

Her brother woke up at 3:45 last night and baby Lauren decided she (and me too as a result) needed to wake up and join the party. Of course Mason pooped out only minutes later, but that didn't phase her. We stayed up and had our own little party on the couch while the two guys in the house slept.

It's 4:39 in the Morning...

...and here I am on the computer. In fact, I've been awake since 2:35 when Mason woke up calling for me to get him some water. He went back to sleep quickly, but I didn't have the same luck. It seems this happens about twice a week lately, and I'm not sure why. Is my body trying to remind me what it's like to be sleep deprived before the baby comes? Am I subconsciously making lists in my head of what I need to take care of before preschool starts? Is my bladder telling me "You're going to have to go pee in a couple hours anyway, so you might as well just stay awake"? Whatever it is, it's not fair! I've got 7 more weeks to pack in sleep before the baby comes, and by gosh I want it!

I've always been someone who's needed sleep. Even in college, I rarely stayed up past 1:00 even during finals week. I don't remember ever pulling an all-nighter. I just couldn't have functioned the next day. I think Dave can attest that if I don't get at least 7 hours, I'm a grumpy girl. We'll, look out sweetie... I'll be trying to function on about 4 hours today.

Oh well, I guess I better get used to it. I'll soon have not one but two kids to wake me up in the middle of the night. Off to drink a glass of milk and see if I can will myself to go back to sleep for a few minutes more.