Laura's Birth Story

Laura Roessler Rousseau is another friend from long ago. I found her on Facebook a few months ago, and was led to her blog, A Little Miracle. I was shocked to find out that she was expecting her second child and that baby Claire had Spina Bifida. There were all sorts of complications related to her birth, the least of which being that the family had to relocate from Canada all the way to Cincinnati (where Laura is originally from and where her family still lives) just because the doctors at Children's Hopsital are the greatest in the land! Since her story is on her blog, I'll copy my favorite parts, but before I do, I want everyone to know that I think Laura is one of the most inspirational women I know. Her fortitude, strength, and FAITH are astounding! Just read a few entries of her blog and you'll see for yourself!
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[Katie] took Paul and I back to the prepping room and started everything. As we were walking back, I couldn’t help but think how weird it was that in a couple of hours my baby would be out of my stomach, without any work on my part. The whole “Scheduled birth” is such a foreign concept! Ha, Katie had someone else put the IVs in because she didn’t want me to hate her after all of these years! The prepping time took about an hour. Katie kept me calm by telling me funny family stories. While we were sitting there, I started having contractions, and I could feel them in my back. I still wonder if the amnio was what caused them. They eventually wheeled me into the operating room.
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The whole atmosphere of the surgery room just seemed so peaceful and prayerful. It seemed almost that God hand picked each person who was present for the birth. Everything was as perfect as it could be.
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Once they were ready to pull her out, they lowered the curtain so I could see her little body emerge from my belly. The cord was around her neck, and her head, I thought, looked a little blue, but a couple seconds later she cried. I knew then that she was fine. We were all surprised when we saw that her lesion was completely covered in skin! YAY! She even scored a 9 on her APGAR test! Fr. Nick, the hospital’s chaplain, was there for the birth, and baptized our baby soon after she was born...The nurses took pictures and video taped the whole thing, and even prayed along with us when she was baptized. At the end of the baptism, there was a loud “Amen”. It was awesome!
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After about an hour Katie wheeled me down to the NICU to see and hold Claire before she was transferred over to Children’s hospital. She was beautiful, but it was so sad to see her little arm poked with an IV. I couldn’t help but think about how cozy and safe she was inside of me, only to be pulled out and poked as soon as she entered the world. At the same time, I was Ok with everything that was happening. When thinking about this moment in the weeks prior, I pictured myself crying when they took her away. I don’t know if it was all of the prayers that everyone had been offering, or if the mental preparation helped at all, but I was totally calm and at peace. It was just something that had to be done, and I was ok with it.

Claire is doing much better than expected and you can read up on her status on Laura's blog. The sweet little girl is scheduled to have surgery TODAY at 9:15, so I thought this would be a good day to post my own little tribute/prayer for a safe and successful surgery. Now take a look at the cutest pictures you ever did see!

Oh, she is just SO SWEET!

And here she is with sister Eva and Daddy! This one gives me goosebumps. Precious!

Christmas Tree!

I finally got a new camera last week and I LOVE it! I'm so over the Kodak cameras I've been using - they take crappy pictures, especially with a flash. But my new Canon Elph is faaaantastic! Here are some pics of our Christmas tree, which still needs a few finishing touches - the hubs won't call it a "Christmas Tree" until it has candy canes on it. Right now it's just the "Decorative Pine" in our front window.



Now, here's where the great camera comes in. Every year I try to take a picture of these particular ornaments - my baby booties and my first Christmas ornament. And every year the pictures don't turn out because of the flash - it's either too bright and you can't see the ornaments, or it's off and the picture is blurry. But here you can see them both! No one remembers who made the booties for me when I was a baby - mom swears that Grandma made them, but Grandma insists that it wasn't her. So the mystery goes unsolved! The First Christmas ornament was a gift from my Godmother, Cindy, who passed away in 2000 with Lou Gehrig's Disease, so this ornament is quite special. I like to put them both way up top where everyone can see them!



My favorite part of the tree this year is certainly my new tree topper! I made it myself! The battle rages on between me and my mother as far at tree toppers are concerned. She has always insisted that big, giant, red bows belong on the tops of Christmas trees and I have always vied for a star. She always used to say, "Someday, when you have your own tree, you can put anything you want on top!" And now I do. For the last few years I've really enjoyed putting a star on top, but this year I wanted a bigger, better star - one that lights up or something. So off to Garden Ridge went I. I wandered up and down every giant aisle of Christmas decorations - one could seriously get lost in that place - and there were NO stars to be found. Can you believe that? But alas! I DID find this beautiful red bird and I promptly purchased it (for 50% off, no less) and carried the darling thing home. Now she sits atop my tree with the beaded twig thingies that I almost used as wedding centerpieces. See! There's a purpose for everything, isn't there? I know she doesn't look like much when you stand back and see the sad tree under her (we need some ribbons or something, oh yes, and candy canes) but I can fix that next year. For now, you just have to "ooh and ahh" over the bird, okay? Just look at the bird (NOT the ugly curtains either, people - keep your eyes on THE BIRD)!

Now isn't she purty??

Merry Christmas, everyone! And if you're working on a birth story, get it to me soon! I need more to fill up all my *free* time (he he...that means procrastination station). Get 'em in!

22 Weeks

I've said it before: I'm not interested in documenting how fat I get, but I'm starting to get to the point where I actually look pregnant instead of fat, so belly pictures aren't quite as scary...still a little scary, but better. You can see what I'm talking about when I complain about maternity clothes - I thought these jeans were awesome until we took this picture - I do NOT have a square butt!

Anyway, here we are, me and baby girl, at 22 weeks. She's starting to move around more and she gives me a little kick here and there. Early Saturday morning (I'd say around 3:00 or so) she was moving like crazy while Sylvain AND the cat were snoring in bed. My entire family was keeping me up....great.

Now that I have a *new* camera, I'll post some Christmas pics soon. I'll be getting back to the birth stories this week as well, if everyone who has promised to write one really comes through!

Mood Swings

I'd like to interrupt these beautiful birth stories to bring you....MY RAGING HORMONES! When people ask me how I'm feeling these days, the answer is always a cheerful, "Great! I feel great!" Which is totally true. Compared to other pregnancies, mine has been a breeze so far. No sickness or ickyness, no physical problems whatsoever. But in the last two days, the emotional side effects of pregnancy have reared their ugly heads, all fifteen of them, from my own body.

I've always prided myself on my uncanny ability to cry at the drop of a hat for no good or rational reason - this is nothing new. I'm an emotional person to begin with, so I thought this pregnancy stuff would be just like regular times for me. For the most part, it is just like regular times, but now I go from happy to sad to sentimental to angry to exuberant to scared to silly all within a matter of fifteen minutes. And it's driving my husband crazy - especially today. Since we've spent all day together, he's the only person who gets to catch the brunt of my hormonal surges, poor thing.

One minute I'm close to tears because I have the greatest husband in the world. If it weren't for him I wouldn't have this beautiful baby girl growing inside of me, or a beautiful Christmas tree in my living room, or any food on the table (he's the cook around here), or anyone to cuddle with when it's cold outside....blah blah blah cry cry cry. Then, within the next TWO MINUTES, I'm close to tears again because I hate my husband and he's the meanest person on the planet. Why does he treat me this way? Why would he say things so mean and hurtful and terrible like, "Are you hormonal or something?" He must hate my guts. Our baby is doomed, our marriage is doomed...blah blah blah cry cry cry some more.

I wouldn't even admit to having these mood swings if it didn't take three other people to point out that I sound "hormonal." To me, I sound perfectly rational and sane while the rest of the world spins around me in a crazy mess. Then, when things slow down and I have a chance to reflect on the day, I realize - I've almost cried TEN TIMES today for TEN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASONS! That's not normal. I must be....hormonal. Ugh.

I think a lot of this comes from lack of sleep, which I will do my best to fix tonight. With a good night's sleep and a whole Sunday at home with nothing too pressing or urgent to do, I might be able to balance myself out a little bit. Ooh, and lots of tea. Tea's good for that right? Hopefully tomorrow the crazy lady inside of me won't be around. Hopefully.

Elizabeth's Birth Story

Elizabeth was my first roommate in college. Had it not been for her, I would not have survived those first few cruicial months of being away from home! Her birth story is very different, and it's the first one I'm allowed to post here that is NOT on another blog, so it's wonderfully long and detailed! She and her husband lived in Italy at the time of Jonathan's birth. European labor and delivery is a bit different than American hospital births. The most amazing part of her story - she birthed naturally! Somehow she managed to get through labor without an epidural, even though she did have an induction - VERY hard to do! Enjoy her story:

Getting pregnant was the easy part...I knew right away because my boobs hurt so bad. So, I took a pregnancy test 4 days early and could barely make out a blue plus. I waited 3 days and took the test again and the blue line was clearly visible. At first I thought, "Yea! I'm pregnant!" Then when reality set in I thought, "What the hell have we done?"

I knew my due date should be October 7...and was verified by our first ultrasound at 7.5 weeks. As luck would have it my friend Terra was due 8 days before me. It was wonderful having someone to share all the ups and downs of pregnancy with. It seemed easier knowing she was going through the same things I was. However, when she started getting a cute little belly around 3 and a half months and I was still flat as a pancake I wasn't too pleased. When we would go shopping everyone would start asking her about the baby etc....I would get nothing. No belly appeared until I was 5.5 months pregnant and still wearing my regular clothes. I learned to love my low-rise curvy Gap jeans, the stretch was just right for baby all the way through the 8th month.

38 weeks was the most depressing of the entire pregnancy. I started applying butter balm, lotion, baby oil, cocoa butter and pure olive oil to my tummy throughout my pregnancy with complete dedication in hopes of not getting stretchmarks. Then the dreaded night came...in my dimly lit room as I was getting ready for bed I caught a glimpse of my belly in the mirror, and there it was! So far I had been dealing quite well with the popping and cracking pelvis, waddling, enormous breasts, and a strange fixation for toast and chocolate pudding. From that moment I couldn't wait to get that baby out of me.

39 weeks had come and gone - dilated 1 cm effaced 25%. Nothing changed at 40 weeks and Dr. F told me I needed to come in for a stress test to make sure the baby was doing ok. Of course I started to worry, this was not part of my birthplan...I read horrible things in the Bradley book about the stress tests and how they would try to convince the parents induction was the only way to go and I wasn't sure I could make it through an induction. Stress Test Day came. Baby was fine, but we scheduled the induction for Tuesday October 16th (1 week later)....This gave me time! I was sure the baby would come by then.

October 13th - I went to the bathroom and this horrendously icky things came out of me. I screamed for my mother and she told me what it was - the mucus plug....ewwww! So, still only having braxton hicks contractions, we all decided to make the trek to church (which was 75 miles away in Vicenza, but in the same place as the hospital.) After praying for the baby to hurry up and get here before Tuesday I again had to pee, and wouldn't you know, more of the plug decided to come! Oh, the wonderful things your body will do. I told my mom, and Dustin made the decision to get a hotel room because I didn't want to drive all the way home only to have to drive all the way back to deliver the baby and have the slight chance of getting stuck on the AutoStrada in Labor and deliver a baby in BFE Italy!

October 15 - So far I had had no contractions. Nothing worked to make this baby come...walking, light jogging, jumping, squatting, sex, nipple stimulation...nothing. I was tired but too nervous to sleep. Finally I made myself lay down at 1am.

October 16 - 5am, I woke up every hour on the hour hoping I would feel a pinch or a pull maybe even a slight tug. I got up and took my last shower and even shaved my legs. God forbid I have hairy legs during delivery! Knowing that this was my last day of being pregnant I decided to indulge in donut holes and a coffee for breakfast! A great start to the day!

6am - walked into the birthing center and was told I was not allowed to eat, and if I had wanted to eat I should have done it prior to walking through the door. "SHIT" Just my luck...I still ate a couple donut holes though.

7am. IV was started. Blood was drawn. All the wonderful questions were answered. I told the nurse I really wanted to have natural childbirth but was not totally opposed to IV Pain Meds. But, an epidural was entirely out of the question and I did not want to be pressured into one. I told her I didn't want it to be suggested to me either.

7:30 I was at a whopping 2 cm and 75% effaced! Dr. Frost put a pill in my cervix (Cytotec) and I put on Harry Potter & the Scorcer's Stone and relaxed. It wasn't anything new, felt like my tummy was getting hard; no pain whatsoever. Mom was asleep in the rocker and Dustin was trying to not look nervous. Throughout the morning I was left alone to relax and watch the movie, no pain at all.

By 10:30 things had started to heat up. My contractions were getting stronger and I was doing a great job of just relaxing through them. I think by then we had put Chamber of Secrets on...I was starting to tune things out.

10:50 Dr. F breaks my water with a device that looks like a giant-sized crochet hook. This was the most disgusting feeling ever. Warm gushing nastyness. Then a contraction. Holy Shit. I got scared and started to cry. I had so much self doubt at that moment. How was I going to do this? How could I handle this for an extended period of time? Then the Dr. saw me in tears and told the nurse to wait a few minutes to start the Pitocin. Mom and Dustin started to rub my legs and feet with oil and I started to relax and concentrate.

11:10 - a very short 20 minutes later Pitocin was started. The contractions were strong, there was no warning, they just hit me full force and kept the intensity for the entire contraction. Distraction was a good thing. Mom decided to get Dustin lunch and Dustin was doing a great job. I was so glad I made him practice the Bradley Book...it was worth it.

11:30- I was sick of just laying in bed so we got the birthing ball out. Keep in mind that with every contraction amniotic fluid was still gushing out of me...not my best moments. The ball worked great, I rolled my hips around and leaned on the bed while getting back rubs. I felt like this was bearable. I had gotten in the mind frame of labor. Contraction to Contraction. Breath to Breath.

12:30 - 4 cm 80% effaced - Labor was working at a very slow rate. The pain was getting worse, I had to do something different. Nurse suggested the shower! Oh, the warm water was wonderful. For the next hour and a half I swayed, sat, kneeled and relaxed in the shower. For some reason the water eased the pain in my belly. Both Dustin and the nurse ended up soaking wet but it was worth it. Then at 2:00 my contractions intensified. I wasn't sure I could stand up much longer. I felt like I was getting weaker and weaker with each one. Drying off and walking back to the bed were the hardest 10 minutes of my life it felt like.

2pm -I was 5 cm. Dustin had spoken to Dr. F and had been told and "estimated" time of delivery. He asked me if I wanted to know, I said,"No, please don't tell me. It will make me doubt myself and I want to do this without drugs." Once in bed the nurse told me laboring on all fours was a good position and allowed the baby to get off my back. I was willing to do anything to make it feel better. The next contraction was like a slap in the face. My body was screaming in agony, then I got hit with a piggy back contraction. 2 full force contractions back to back with no break. I could no longer kneel, and I got into the Bradley Position. Dustin was rubbing my back. Mom was rubbing my legs. The nurse was doing hip squeezes and knee presses. I started to moan with each contraction. I couldn't help it. I was trying desperately to relax. Instead of a slap in the face I felt as if my body were being steam rolled. (Looking back, this was my transition into the last stage of labor).

3:15 - The room has been kept dark, everyone is quiet except for me. The steam rolling wave has continually hit my body. Nothing is helping. I'm not sure if I can go on this way. I ask the nurse about the effects on any medicine she could give me and would it really do anything for me. Would it hurt the baby? My mom (which also read the Bradley Book and Lamaze Book) asked me to wait just a little longer. She said," You're doing great Lizzy. You can do this."

3:50 - I tell the nurse "I need to push." I did it. My entire body convulsed, I curled into a ball on my left side. Pushing made the pain go away! It was relief. The nurse checked me. I was ready. She said,"Page Dr. F"

3:55 - Dr. comes through the door and asks if he has time to change. "NO" I kept pushing. By the time the Dr. put on his gown Jonathan was crowning. I had only pushed a few times. Then I screamed in pain,"he's hurting me!" Mom said,"I can see his head." Dustin took one look and almost passed out. Dustin would spend the next 5 min. with his head buried in my pillow while holding my hand.

4:04 - Jonathan is born. 8 pounds 4 ounces 21.5 inches long

And here they are - one, big happy family! Doesn't she look GREAT?! That little peanut of a man in her arms looks so content and happy, doesn't he?

Elizabeth is currently studying to be an OB nurse.

Thank you so much for sharing your story!

Madonna's Birth Story - 2 Years Ago Today!

I met Madonna last year when I started teaching at my new school. She taught third grade down at the other end of the hallway, and we quickly became friends. She was very good at helping me get through all the "new teacher" wonkies, as I came close to tears while she was in my room more than once. She was a supportive and caring listener, which means, of course, she's an amazing mother! She, like Katie, is also an avid blogger, so I won't copy her whole story here, just my favorite parts. You can read her entry over at Just Us Three. Enjoy!

At 6:00 p.m. we called the hospital to see if they had room for us, they told us to come in at 7:00 p.m. or so. But before we went, Kevin made my favorite dinner--Stuffed Steak Ole. Um! I didn't eat much, but I knew I would not get to have it again anytime soon because of all the peppers and onions. (Hmm, thanks for this tip - I'll certainly enjoy a good meal before I go anywhere near the hospital!)

We got to our room around 7:30 p.m. Our nurse Tracy checked me and found that I was 1 to 2 cm dilated and that my cervix was 90% effaced. Actual progress, shocking! So they held off of giving me anything to encourage more contractions. Around 4:00 a.m., after a long night of restlessness (contractions aren't fun), a doctor came to do the epidural. Can I just give you one piece of advice, get the epidural! After that, the only way I could tell I was having a contraction was from the pressure.

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Kevin was the first to hold him. Ethan did some crying when they were checking him out and cleaning him up, but once they wrapped him up and handed him to Kevin he was completely quiet. Kevin said he did a lot of looking around, mostly looking right at his daddy. Once the doctor was done with me I got to hold our son in my arms for the first time. He seemed so content.

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Kevin and I are just so excited to meet this little guy we've been talking to for months in my belly. It's still pretty surreal. It really hasn't sunk in that this newborn is our son. We're just anxious to get him home and begin our new lives as parents.

Ethan was born on December 3rd, 2007 - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE BUDDY!

I think this picture is just the sweetest! I know he's sleeping, but I want to scrunch his little face and make high-pitched googley noises!

Thanks, Madonna! Enjoy your time at home with your little one. We miss you!

Katie's Birth Story

Well, the first birth story I received was from a dear long-lost friend - Katie Glenn! Who now goes by "Kate Zuerner;" because she's so sophisticated and grown up and married to Joe Zuerner. But to me, she's just Katie Glenn - my brother's "girlfriend" when they were four years old. She's one of, I think a BILLION kids, and her mom, Pam, is the sweetest thing on the planet, therefore Katie and her BILLION brothers and sisters are also the sweetest thinglets on the planet. Okay, so she really has three sisters and a brother, but still, as a pregnant woman, I feel like her mother might as well have had a billion kids, because that's a lot of work! Anyway, Katie is a labor and delivery nurse, so she gets to see birth stories every day! Somehow, she still finds it interesting enough to share her own amazing story with me, and with the rest of the Internet world. Here is a link to her post about the birth of her beautiful daughter, Annie. You can read it for yourself, but I've copied my favorite parts to include on my own bloggy blog, so here you go!

4:30 [am] Pulled over by B. Police for speeding on the Avenue!! :o) Joe was a little upset however I simply told him not to worry he would not get a ticket. When we told the police man I was in labor he offered a squad to which I laughed and told him that I was an L&D nurse and I had everything under control just let me leave!!!! He wanted to know what hospital we were headed to and when we told him he said that his wife worked at ... in the ER and if we were lying he would know!!!! First of all sir, why would we lie about going 35 in a 25 at 4:30 am? And if your wife knows I am at the hospital and tells you about it I will sue her for violating HIPAA!



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6:00 [am] In my room getting the terrible, horrible, worst thing in the entire world...Epidural!!! I would hate them except they make life so much easier. I would not EVER go natural because something tells me that if I didn't like the 5 min Epi process that I wouldn't do well with the 8 hour labor process. However, I freaked out during my Epi. I cried like a baby, I hated the feeling of it! However, it took away the pain...so whatever.


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11:00 [am] 10 cm 100% effaced and time to start pushing. Now being a L&D nurse I know how this first time pushing can go, I have done it with many of my patients, anywhere from 10 min to 3 hours long, most often at least an hour. I was very nervous about this, I had no idea how I was going to push for 3 hours!! However with my first push my moms face lit up and Joe mentioned something about seeing the head! I couldn't believe how blessed I was, this was not going to take long at all!


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I can't believe how blessed I am to have had such an easy labor and so far on day 4 things are going fairly well. When things are hard (breastfeeding) I just have to look at my little girl and I am so in love with her that it is all worth it.

Here's the pic of adorable Annie that I ripped off of her blog, isn't she precious?!

Thanks, Katie, for such a great story! Your positive attitude and confidence are certainly inspiring to a first-timer like me!