It's continued to be interesting around here. Gi-gi remains, and so far I've done very well not to turn off the mellow university DJ playing classical music all day, OR (and I should get even more credit for this) her "they always give both sides" NPR. Not only do I not usually turn it off, I don't turn on Rush Limbaugh extra loudly like other members of this family. And it is not my fault if Gi-gi hollers to said member that she'd "rather eat dirt!" than listen to him. But at least Hubby was inspired to OFFER to take our eldest for a trip to the store after hearing her ask Gi-gi why she doesn't like the man on the radio. Well, his offer was after Gi-gi replied, "Because he's a liar and a bigot!" I think that's the "both sides" available on NPR...
I don't know if the Radio Station Battle has anything to do with it, but Gi-gi is actually not doing so well. She nicked her forearm the other day - her top layer of skin tears easily and this happens frequently - she washed it with soap and water and put a band-aid on it, but it didn't get better. It got infected, and there is a patch at least 4 inches in length of red, swollen skin around the area. We've treated it with antibiotic ointment, and at the recommendation of my midwife, a poultice of plantain, but she's still not doing well. She's felt crummy, run-down, and has even had diarrhea, all since yesterday afternoon when it really came upon her. This is VERY unusual for Gi-gi. She had the Korean flu in 1950-something, and another bout of sickness in 2004ish, but she just doesn't do this. She's opposed to taking antibiotics or seeing doctors unless absolutely necessary, but in my mind we're pushing that line here. Lord knows if she falls unconscious, and I call an ambulance and she's hospitalized, that she'll never forgive me. She'll haunt me all my days, she's promised. :)
Also, my midwife recommended a hearing screening test for Baby. This is usually done at the hospital, but... So I called the little state hotline, who gave me a number for another outfit, who put me in touch with the speech/hearing pathologist. I couldn't remember whether I was dealing with the Health Department or the Department of Health and Welfare. As a backwoodsy, red-state, homeschooling-freak-of-nature that I am, you can be sure the latter would make me a bit nervous. I decided that it must've been the health department, because this wasn't about food stamps or medicaid or anything like that. In any case, the lady called me back yesterday and made an appointment for the test here at my home today at 2. My breath caught a little in my throat when I saw her nametag sporting the "State Department of Health and Welfare." I decided to be charming and engaging, and to say as little as possible about anything at all.
Which is when Gi-gi walked through and made reference to the sleeping toddler upstairs. Then, blind to both her nametag and my angst at having one of Them within My Home, went on to comment about how busy that 2-year-old is, and how she (Gi-gi) recommends we put her in a playpen with a net over it. Yes, she said this to that lady! And that I refused her recommendation because someone would 'turn me in and I'd be arrested' if I did that. And, it would be wrong! And hurtful! And wrong! I wanted to point out. *sigh* I'm sure the lady was red-flagging our file.
She did the screening test on Baby, who passed. Big Sister was close by, and wanted to hear the "echo" she had described when explaining how the test worked. The lady obliged, and did the test for Big Sister... Who, were she newborn or 2 years old, as most of their 'clients' are, would be referred to an audiologist. *sigh* She tells me (this is only a screening, by the way, not an official test) Big Sister isn't hearing all the tones in her left ear. I was hoping to visit a chiropractor soon, to straighten me out after having this baby, but after the doctor visit, the lab test, and the newborn doc visit, I was going to have to put that off. Now an Ear, Nose, Throat doc? We won't discuss how long it's been since the dentist referred us to an orthodontist...
She asked if we had insurance, and I said no. She said she didn't know what the pricetag was for such a visit, as most of their referrals are on Medicaid anyway. Of course; if someone else is paying, why care what it costs??? Argh.
THEN she asked Big Sister's age, and if she'd had this screening yet in school.
*gulp*
"I'm homeschooled," she declared. "All my schoolbooks are in there," she gestured toward the dining room.
I think she upgraded our file from red-flag to... I'm not sure what. A flashing beacon?
And why hasn't HSLDA sent me my new membership cards??
"Oh..." the lady said. "Yeah, they usually test for that much earlier..."
Little Artist made an appearance shortly thereafter and the lady asked her age as well. I was not liking this, though not because of anything suspicious on the lady's part. It's all me and my "don't tread on me" paradigm. I liked being under the radar, darnit! And here, in the space of a few minutes, The State now knows a). who we are, b). where we are c). that we homeschool (without benefit of hearing screenings!) and d). that we don't have babies where they do hearing screenings (i.e. the hospital) e). that we have four daughters, and their ages, and f). that my grandma advocates unapproved (disapproved!) "child restraint systems!" Ack!
Am I not supposed to still "be resting?" I don't rest well when there is an under-the-weather liberal hanging around who may or may not be up to leaving at the appointed time, and I CERTAINLY don't rest well when an Agent of The State is under my roof finding out my business.
We're off to find Gi-gi some Immodium and Colloidal Silver.
And the next newborn hearing screening is taking place on the porch.
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homebirth. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Men, Don't Read This
First off, it's LONG. Secondly, it's full of details you don't care about and would probably rather not know.
Ladies:
I had a prenatal appointment Friday and everything looked good. Including my pee test. :) That always makes me happy. I did a few errands, all on my own, as my mom had arrived the night before and the girls were playing with their cousins. My dad arrived that evening, with my cousin, and it was a fairly busy evening, I think.
Dinner was late that night, like 8 or 9 pm, and I was having contractions occasionally like I tend to have when busy in the evening, but they were a little more serious, and they were causing some downward-feeling pressure.
I went to bed and they continued (usually my evening contractions would stop when I rested), so I called my midwife at about 11:30. She told me to time them; 'real' ones would last a minute or so, and be in the neighborhood of 5 minutes apart or so in active labor. I started timing them just before midnight. They stayed about 10 minutes apart, ranging from 8-15 minutes. Most were a minute or more, and they were not the kind you could sleep through, but required focused relaxation and breathing.
This was new for me, believe it or not. Usually if I have "serious" contractions they're not spaced that far apart. And it's hard to get good sleep in 10 minute intervals.
I called my midwife again at about 1:00, to give her my strange results. We agreed I must be in early labor, "serious" feeling or not, and I'd call her when they picked up.
I continued timing them until about 3:45 when I took an hour break (that is, I stopped checking my phone clock and writing the time. I still contracted. :)). I timed them again before 5 a.m. and they were a bit closer (some of them), but still not what would be "expected." I called her again, and she told me to use some of the ginger (one of those birth supplies that they don't use at the hospital?) and take a bath with 2 tablespoons added. This would increase circulation or something, and either they'd stop, or speed up.
It took me a while to accomplish this. Waking my husband can be a long process (it had been in the wee hours when I'd had him set up the birth pool), and I hadn't planned on needing the bathtub, but with the grubby kids that had been bathing in it, I wasn't going to use it as-was. And I wasn't going to be able to scrub it out in my condition.
About daybreak (6:30 or so) I finally had him roused a bit (I hadn't really tried terribly hard), and told him what I needed to do, and therefore what I needed him to do: scrub the tub out. Of course, he said, "how do I do that?" :) I instructed him where to find the necessary supplies and he set right on it. I think I got in there about 7:00 and spent about a half hour or so.
I can't say the ginger increased anything very dramatically, and I still had no hint of "bloody show" but they definitely weren't subsiding at all, so about 8:15 or so I told her she should probably head this direction, but there wasn't any terrible hurry. I think after this I saw and spoke to the kids and my mom, and did my best to get my mom to take the kids swimming, as she'd promised, or Anywhere Else Would Be Fine, Too. There was a glitch, as she'd planned to leave Organique home with Daddy for the swimming, but he was going to be busy. I offered other suggestions and ideas, and kept hearing that she was loading the kids up as soon as [fill in the blank]. My dad had left early to go look at an airport or an airplane or something, but I was growing bewildered with the delays that kept my house full of everyone else.
Shortly before 9:30 I called Gi-gi to let her know we were probably going to have a baby that day, as well as my in-laws and another friend. I would have liked to post here to ask for prayers, but I was a bit busy, I suppose. Plus, my cousin was sleeping in this room, and slept late, as the obnoxious air pump to fill that pool was enough to wake the dead the night before.
I decided it might be a good time to see if a warm pool of water is really all that helpful, so had Hubby begin filling it. I finally had a tinge of pink on the toilet paper when I used the bathroom, and figured it was about time.
The pool wasn't to the minimum line yet, but I wanted to get in anyways. I found myself shaking quite a bit, as I think is common during transition. Hubby helped me into the pool and let me grip his hand during contractions. I was having a harder time really relaxing through them at this point, partly because the midwife hadn't arrived and there were still people here. I suppose it would be like trying to pee in a crowded room. You just can't relax. :) I stayed on my knees in the pool, and realized the water coming from the hose was cold. Hubby jumped to adjust it, but it was still cold, so we figured that was it for the hot water. The pool wasn't chilly, though not as warm as I would've liked it.
At this point I felt something... something. I gestured and said one or two words to indicate I might be quite near to having this baby, and then just requested my phone. I called my midwife to say, "how near are you?!?" and pointed Hubby to the yellow "emergency childbirth" information sheet. She was within a mile or two (I think I'd called her before this, to say the same thing, with considerably less urgency) at this point, and 'talked me down' and encouraged me in what to do if I needed to. I really didn't want to push, at all. Not then, not later, not ever. She arrived with her assistant/apprentice (her other assistant, who she once apprenticed under, was en route from a farther distance, and they eventually told her to turn around and go home. :)) and began to ready their stuff. She'd been down the lane on Thursday night for a garden club meeting, and had dropped off all her supplies and equipment then. I'm quite glad she did. I continued to have contractions, grip Hubby's hands tightly, pray hard, and *not* push for a long time. I did get out of the pool and move to the bed. I went ahead and had the first internal exam of this pregnancy. I was dilated to 10. :)
My water had not broken yet (I had wondered if that's what I'd felt in the pool), and my midwife was content to let me push or not, as I preferred. I was pretty tired, so mostly preferred not. I had Hubby stationed behind me to give me something to lean against, and would prop myself up with my arms with each contraction. It seemed like things were taking some long time, so I supposed I should start pushing and get on with it. "No way out but through" I always figure. So far I'm always right, too. :) Once I started pushing in earnest, it was only moments before my water broke, and a minute or less before baby started making an appearance. Oh, ow, I hate that part! The more I do it, the more I remember...
"Time to catch your baby!" the midwife said, as she placed it upon my belly. I breathlessly noted the head of dark hair (reminiscent more of our firstborn) and checked for gender. "Oh my gosh Daddy, I think we have another girl!" Another girl! My head spun, as I drank in the beautiful little creature who hadn't opened her eyes but was hollering plenty to help clear her lungs.
I felt the placenta begin to move outwards, despite admonitions that I'd probably need to push for that (I didn't!), and it was delivered with quite a gush of fluid. My first inclination was that it must be "more water," though right about the time I decided that was unlikely, the midwife said, "Ok, we need you to stop bleeding now.."
See, this is where more savvy bloggers would stop, having written far too much already, and desiring you to return tomorrow. I, however, am not so savvy (or cruel), and will continue on, figuring if you've read this far I owe it to you to finish the story. :)
Since my midwife had left her IV and Pitocin with the Epidural Equipment, I knew Other Things would have to be done. Being well-read in Things of A Freakish Nature, medically speaking, I knew that breastfeeding or any other nipple stimulation would help contract the uterus. I had been trying to latch baby on, and began doing so with a little more urgency, though she was not really taking to it very well. I haven't asked Hubby if he was freaked out more by the bleeding issue or the term "nipple stimulation" that was thrown out there, but I'll try to remember to do so... The midwife directed her assistant to put some droppersful of Angelica (?) under my tongue, then later had me swallow it, followed by St. John's Wort. And let me tell you, when they don't have time to dilute 50% alcohol extracts and you sit with them under your tongue for a minute each, you can kiss one layer of under-tongue tissue goodbye. First it just feels burned, like your tongue might if you sip hot tea, and in a couple days it will peel off. In any case, the bleeding halted, I never felt light-headed or anything, and it was determined that I did not lose much more than would be apropriate anyhow.
I held that darling baby for some time, as after the bleeding issue my midwife got to deal with a case of "trailing membranes." Doesn't that sound nice? Apparently my placenta (is it "my" placenta, "the baby's" placenta, or just "the" placenta? I really don't know whose it is.) came out with an unusual presentation. That is, instead of the shiny, baby-and-sac side outwards, the other scrambled-looking, uterus-side showed itself. And some of the water membranes stayed stuck inside, so she had to remove those. THEN she had to carefully inspect my (the) naughty placenta and work to train her assistant in that art, and there was some concern about a tiny edge piece where the sac had torn loose, and was there any placental tissue missing or does the little finger of tissue right beside it fit down just right?
So. Me. Baby. Daddy. Time. :) Perhaps if the other midwife had made it things would have moved faster, but it was nice. Baby was in no distress, and there was no reason to haul her away for a sterile, bright-lights inspection (not that that was on the agenda here anyway, just another reason I love homebirth). Eventually we thought to find the camera and make some phone calls, and let the kids and everyone (who never managed to leave) come upstairs while the midwife did her 'baby inspection.'
I thought the baby seemed relatively small, for me, and was surprised at that. When she weighed in at exactly 8 pounds, I was quite astonished. A WEEK overdue, and only 8 pounds! A veritable miracle in this family (for reference, Baby #1: 5 days over, 9 lb 5 oz. #2: induced 5 days early, 7 lb 13 oz. #3: 4 days over, 9 lb 6 oz), and I was (am) grateful to God. Of course, while pushing I was sure s/he was 10 lbs or more. :) I hate that part. I did tear (again), both towards the back and upwards (inwards?), and my midwife said I could choose whether to have stitches or not; it was right on the fence. I chose not, and when she came 2 days later, was pleased to find it healing well already. She'd given me some papery seaweed stuff (maybe like you use for sushi?), which I would tear a piece from and dampen it before applying it to the appropriate area. Seaweed is nicer than stitches!
And now, the long-awaited (though not as long as we waited for her, right?) photos. Hopefully better ones will follow. :)
Inspection!
Snoozin'. And please quit with that flash.
I have no idea what a big sister is, but you make it sound pretty important!
I love this picture. Granny says it looks like she's plugging her ears. :)
Ladies:
I had a prenatal appointment Friday and everything looked good. Including my pee test. :) That always makes me happy. I did a few errands, all on my own, as my mom had arrived the night before and the girls were playing with their cousins. My dad arrived that evening, with my cousin, and it was a fairly busy evening, I think.
Dinner was late that night, like 8 or 9 pm, and I was having contractions occasionally like I tend to have when busy in the evening, but they were a little more serious, and they were causing some downward-feeling pressure.
I went to bed and they continued (usually my evening contractions would stop when I rested), so I called my midwife at about 11:30. She told me to time them; 'real' ones would last a minute or so, and be in the neighborhood of 5 minutes apart or so in active labor. I started timing them just before midnight. They stayed about 10 minutes apart, ranging from 8-15 minutes. Most were a minute or more, and they were not the kind you could sleep through, but required focused relaxation and breathing.
This was new for me, believe it or not. Usually if I have "serious" contractions they're not spaced that far apart. And it's hard to get good sleep in 10 minute intervals.
I called my midwife again at about 1:00, to give her my strange results. We agreed I must be in early labor, "serious" feeling or not, and I'd call her when they picked up.
I continued timing them until about 3:45 when I took an hour break (that is, I stopped checking my phone clock and writing the time. I still contracted. :)). I timed them again before 5 a.m. and they were a bit closer (some of them), but still not what would be "expected." I called her again, and she told me to use some of the ginger (one of those birth supplies that they don't use at the hospital?) and take a bath with 2 tablespoons added. This would increase circulation or something, and either they'd stop, or speed up.
It took me a while to accomplish this. Waking my husband can be a long process (it had been in the wee hours when I'd had him set up the birth pool), and I hadn't planned on needing the bathtub, but with the grubby kids that had been bathing in it, I wasn't going to use it as-was. And I wasn't going to be able to scrub it out in my condition.
About daybreak (6:30 or so) I finally had him roused a bit (I hadn't really tried terribly hard), and told him what I needed to do, and therefore what I needed him to do: scrub the tub out. Of course, he said, "how do I do that?" :) I instructed him where to find the necessary supplies and he set right on it. I think I got in there about 7:00 and spent about a half hour or so.
I can't say the ginger increased anything very dramatically, and I still had no hint of "bloody show" but they definitely weren't subsiding at all, so about 8:15 or so I told her she should probably head this direction, but there wasn't any terrible hurry. I think after this I saw and spoke to the kids and my mom, and did my best to get my mom to take the kids swimming, as she'd promised, or Anywhere Else Would Be Fine, Too. There was a glitch, as she'd planned to leave Organique home with Daddy for the swimming, but he was going to be busy. I offered other suggestions and ideas, and kept hearing that she was loading the kids up as soon as [fill in the blank]. My dad had left early to go look at an airport or an airplane or something, but I was growing bewildered with the delays that kept my house full of everyone else.
Shortly before 9:30 I called Gi-gi to let her know we were probably going to have a baby that day, as well as my in-laws and another friend. I would have liked to post here to ask for prayers, but I was a bit busy, I suppose. Plus, my cousin was sleeping in this room, and slept late, as the obnoxious air pump to fill that pool was enough to wake the dead the night before.
I decided it might be a good time to see if a warm pool of water is really all that helpful, so had Hubby begin filling it. I finally had a tinge of pink on the toilet paper when I used the bathroom, and figured it was about time.
The pool wasn't to the minimum line yet, but I wanted to get in anyways. I found myself shaking quite a bit, as I think is common during transition. Hubby helped me into the pool and let me grip his hand during contractions. I was having a harder time really relaxing through them at this point, partly because the midwife hadn't arrived and there were still people here. I suppose it would be like trying to pee in a crowded room. You just can't relax. :) I stayed on my knees in the pool, and realized the water coming from the hose was cold. Hubby jumped to adjust it, but it was still cold, so we figured that was it for the hot water. The pool wasn't chilly, though not as warm as I would've liked it.
At this point I felt something... something. I gestured and said one or two words to indicate I might be quite near to having this baby, and then just requested my phone. I called my midwife to say, "how near are you?!?" and pointed Hubby to the yellow "emergency childbirth" information sheet. She was within a mile or two (I think I'd called her before this, to say the same thing, with considerably less urgency) at this point, and 'talked me down' and encouraged me in what to do if I needed to. I really didn't want to push, at all. Not then, not later, not ever. She arrived with her assistant/apprentice (her other assistant, who she once apprenticed under, was en route from a farther distance, and they eventually told her to turn around and go home. :)) and began to ready their stuff. She'd been down the lane on Thursday night for a garden club meeting, and had dropped off all her supplies and equipment then. I'm quite glad she did. I continued to have contractions, grip Hubby's hands tightly, pray hard, and *not* push for a long time. I did get out of the pool and move to the bed. I went ahead and had the first internal exam of this pregnancy. I was dilated to 10. :)
My water had not broken yet (I had wondered if that's what I'd felt in the pool), and my midwife was content to let me push or not, as I preferred. I was pretty tired, so mostly preferred not. I had Hubby stationed behind me to give me something to lean against, and would prop myself up with my arms with each contraction. It seemed like things were taking some long time, so I supposed I should start pushing and get on with it. "No way out but through" I always figure. So far I'm always right, too. :) Once I started pushing in earnest, it was only moments before my water broke, and a minute or less before baby started making an appearance. Oh, ow, I hate that part! The more I do it, the more I remember...
"Time to catch your baby!" the midwife said, as she placed it upon my belly. I breathlessly noted the head of dark hair (reminiscent more of our firstborn) and checked for gender. "Oh my gosh Daddy, I think we have another girl!" Another girl! My head spun, as I drank in the beautiful little creature who hadn't opened her eyes but was hollering plenty to help clear her lungs.
I felt the placenta begin to move outwards, despite admonitions that I'd probably need to push for that (I didn't!), and it was delivered with quite a gush of fluid. My first inclination was that it must be "more water," though right about the time I decided that was unlikely, the midwife said, "Ok, we need you to stop bleeding now.."
See, this is where more savvy bloggers would stop, having written far too much already, and desiring you to return tomorrow. I, however, am not so savvy (or cruel), and will continue on, figuring if you've read this far I owe it to you to finish the story. :)
Since my midwife had left her IV and Pitocin with the Epidural Equipment, I knew Other Things would have to be done. Being well-read in Things of A Freakish Nature, medically speaking, I knew that breastfeeding or any other nipple stimulation would help contract the uterus. I had been trying to latch baby on, and began doing so with a little more urgency, though she was not really taking to it very well. I haven't asked Hubby if he was freaked out more by the bleeding issue or the term "nipple stimulation" that was thrown out there, but I'll try to remember to do so... The midwife directed her assistant to put some droppersful of Angelica (?) under my tongue, then later had me swallow it, followed by St. John's Wort. And let me tell you, when they don't have time to dilute 50% alcohol extracts and you sit with them under your tongue for a minute each, you can kiss one layer of under-tongue tissue goodbye. First it just feels burned, like your tongue might if you sip hot tea, and in a couple days it will peel off. In any case, the bleeding halted, I never felt light-headed or anything, and it was determined that I did not lose much more than would be apropriate anyhow.
I held that darling baby for some time, as after the bleeding issue my midwife got to deal with a case of "trailing membranes." Doesn't that sound nice? Apparently my placenta (is it "my" placenta, "the baby's" placenta, or just "the" placenta? I really don't know whose it is.) came out with an unusual presentation. That is, instead of the shiny, baby-and-sac side outwards, the other scrambled-looking, uterus-side showed itself. And some of the water membranes stayed stuck inside, so she had to remove those. THEN she had to carefully inspect my (the) naughty placenta and work to train her assistant in that art, and there was some concern about a tiny edge piece where the sac had torn loose, and was there any placental tissue missing or does the little finger of tissue right beside it fit down just right?
So. Me. Baby. Daddy. Time. :) Perhaps if the other midwife had made it things would have moved faster, but it was nice. Baby was in no distress, and there was no reason to haul her away for a sterile, bright-lights inspection (not that that was on the agenda here anyway, just another reason I love homebirth). Eventually we thought to find the camera and make some phone calls, and let the kids and everyone (who never managed to leave) come upstairs while the midwife did her 'baby inspection.'
I thought the baby seemed relatively small, for me, and was surprised at that. When she weighed in at exactly 8 pounds, I was quite astonished. A WEEK overdue, and only 8 pounds! A veritable miracle in this family (for reference, Baby #1: 5 days over, 9 lb 5 oz. #2: induced 5 days early, 7 lb 13 oz. #3: 4 days over, 9 lb 6 oz), and I was (am) grateful to God. Of course, while pushing I was sure s/he was 10 lbs or more. :) I hate that part. I did tear (again), both towards the back and upwards (inwards?), and my midwife said I could choose whether to have stitches or not; it was right on the fence. I chose not, and when she came 2 days later, was pleased to find it healing well already. She'd given me some papery seaweed stuff (maybe like you use for sushi?), which I would tear a piece from and dampen it before applying it to the appropriate area. Seaweed is nicer than stitches!
And now, the long-awaited (though not as long as we waited for her, right?) photos. Hopefully better ones will follow. :)
Inspection!
Snoozin'. And please quit with that flash.
Organique is pretty interested.
But not dressed. Or combed. Where is her mother, anyway?
But not dressed. Or combed. Where is her mother, anyway?
I have no idea what a big sister is, but you make it sound pretty important!
I love this picture. Granny says it looks like she's plugging her ears. :)
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