Our little angel has finally joined us. She made her debut at 4:38am on November 2, 2011 weighing 6lbs and 13oz. This pregnancy was by far my most difficult and uncomfortable pregnancy because I was carrying her so low the whole pregnancy, it put a lot of strain on my pelvis and joints. However, it was also my easiest labor and delivery so I guess there was a trade off.
We feel very blessed to have such a healthy beautiful girl join our family and she was gracious enough to come right when we needed her to. A few months previously Adam had signed up for a non-refundable, two day CE course in Portland scheduled two days before my official due date on the 11/7. I couldn’t blame him, it was a great way to get in the hours he needed, but as the date approached I was really nervous that he would either be in Portland when I went into labor or have to leave me alone in the hospital. I saw my doctor on Tuesday the 1st and explained the situation. I was already totally effaced and 2cm dilated so she suggested we take some methods to ensure the delivery of this baby prior to the weekend. Inducing labor is something they really wanted to avoid because I was planning another VBAC which means they considered me (as silly as this is after 3 successful VBACs) a “high risk” patient. Dr. Rollins stripped my membranes at the office and suggested, what’s considered by many, an old wives tale of drinking caster oil if that didn’t work. A few hours later I didn’t notice any changes so I had Adam bring me home the caster oil when he got off of work at 5:30pm. Drinking 2oz of oil is about the worst thing you can imagine, it makes me gag now just writing about it. Ugh. However, it did seem to do the trick. We took a family walk after dinner (which I couldn’t eat after that oil!) to further help speed things along. The boys were in bed by 7:30pm and at 8:00pm I started to have contractions. I was ignoring them for the most part because they weren’t very painful but eventually Adam noticed and started timing them. They started at about 15mins apart but quickly progressed to 5 mins apart. When they got to that point Adam started to get very anxious. One of my favorite memories is of him running from room to room trying to pack a hospital bag while I relaxed on the couch. I still wasn’t convinced that this was real labor and did not want to go to the hospital yet but Adam was adamant. Frankly I was having fun watching Adam being as frazzled as he was because it doesn’t happen very often. One of his big concerns was getting me to the hospital at least three hours prior to the delivery because that’s how long I needed to have an IV with antibiotics to treat the strep B I tested positive for. With Seth’s birth, I also tested positive but the doctors didn’t have enough time to get all the antibodies into my system before he was born so we had to stay an extra day in the hospital for him to be treated. I really wasn’t feeling ready to go the hospital but for Adam’s sake, I gave in. At 11pm Adam called his parents to have them come watch the boys for the night. Adam and his dad gave me a blessing and then we were off to Ashland. Ashland is one of only three cities in Oregon that has a hospital that will consent to doing VBACs.
It didn’t take long after arriving at the hospital for my contractions to become a lot more painful and frequent. After Seth’s natural birth, I knew that I wanted an epidural this time around and I received one within the hour. I was so grateful for the respite from the contractions and for the chance to sleep for a little while but I was a little disappointed at how completely numb it made my lower body because I had specifically asked the anastisialogist for a very small dose of medication so that I would be able to still feel the contractions, but it would take the edge off. I frequently asked my nurse, Blossom, (who by the way was incredible) to turn it down but it still wasn’t worn off enough by the time I felt like it was time to push so I had them turn it off completely. My doctor, Jani Rollins, who had been periodically checking on us but mostly napping in the room next door, joined us at that point. I was so grateful for her birthing approach. She kept the lights dim, used a calm quiet voice and really took her time. It was such a relatively easy and actually quite peaceful experience. As soon as Laina was born, she laid her in my arms and just let us enjoy the moment. I loved that she didn’t rush Laina off to weigh and measure her, in fact I don’t think they weighed her for almost an hour. Adam was able to cut the umbilical cord (which had actually been wrapped twice around her neck) and then they just left us to enjoy our beautiful new baby.
If I could recommend a hospital, the Ashland hospital would be the one. Our few days there were like a vacation. Everyone was extremely kind and helpful but best of all, they left us alone. They only checked my vitals a few times a day and only when I was already awake. They were also very accommodating to Adam. Unlike any other hospital we’ve experienced, they actually provided a bed and food for him. Their menu was extensive and the food delicious.
The two days we were there Pauline took care of the boys and then my mom came for a week to help out. It was wonderful having here there to help me catch up on all the projects that were piling up and I took every opportunity while she was here to just hold and snuggle my baby. The biggest difficulty that we had that week was trying to come up with a name for our new little girl. Names are so important, not to mention permanent, we really wanted to get it right. We considered a lot of different names before finally settling on Laina Rose. It’s a variation on my Grandmothers name, Rosealane. Adam was funny when we came across that name, he immediately jumped on it. He knew right away that that was her name. I’m so excited to get to know our sweet little Lainey. She has already brought so much joy into our lives. We feel so incredibly blessed.
We feel very blessed to have such a healthy beautiful girl join our family and she was gracious enough to come right when we needed her to. A few months previously Adam had signed up for a non-refundable, two day CE course in Portland scheduled two days before my official due date on the 11/7. I couldn’t blame him, it was a great way to get in the hours he needed, but as the date approached I was really nervous that he would either be in Portland when I went into labor or have to leave me alone in the hospital. I saw my doctor on Tuesday the 1st and explained the situation. I was already totally effaced and 2cm dilated so she suggested we take some methods to ensure the delivery of this baby prior to the weekend. Inducing labor is something they really wanted to avoid because I was planning another VBAC which means they considered me (as silly as this is after 3 successful VBACs) a “high risk” patient. Dr. Rollins stripped my membranes at the office and suggested, what’s considered by many, an old wives tale of drinking caster oil if that didn’t work. A few hours later I didn’t notice any changes so I had Adam bring me home the caster oil when he got off of work at 5:30pm. Drinking 2oz of oil is about the worst thing you can imagine, it makes me gag now just writing about it. Ugh. However, it did seem to do the trick. We took a family walk after dinner (which I couldn’t eat after that oil!) to further help speed things along. The boys were in bed by 7:30pm and at 8:00pm I started to have contractions. I was ignoring them for the most part because they weren’t very painful but eventually Adam noticed and started timing them. They started at about 15mins apart but quickly progressed to 5 mins apart. When they got to that point Adam started to get very anxious. One of my favorite memories is of him running from room to room trying to pack a hospital bag while I relaxed on the couch. I still wasn’t convinced that this was real labor and did not want to go to the hospital yet but Adam was adamant. Frankly I was having fun watching Adam being as frazzled as he was because it doesn’t happen very often. One of his big concerns was getting me to the hospital at least three hours prior to the delivery because that’s how long I needed to have an IV with antibiotics to treat the strep B I tested positive for. With Seth’s birth, I also tested positive but the doctors didn’t have enough time to get all the antibodies into my system before he was born so we had to stay an extra day in the hospital for him to be treated. I really wasn’t feeling ready to go the hospital but for Adam’s sake, I gave in. At 11pm Adam called his parents to have them come watch the boys for the night. Adam and his dad gave me a blessing and then we were off to Ashland. Ashland is one of only three cities in Oregon that has a hospital that will consent to doing VBACs.
It didn’t take long after arriving at the hospital for my contractions to become a lot more painful and frequent. After Seth’s natural birth, I knew that I wanted an epidural this time around and I received one within the hour. I was so grateful for the respite from the contractions and for the chance to sleep for a little while but I was a little disappointed at how completely numb it made my lower body because I had specifically asked the anastisialogist for a very small dose of medication so that I would be able to still feel the contractions, but it would take the edge off. I frequently asked my nurse, Blossom, (who by the way was incredible) to turn it down but it still wasn’t worn off enough by the time I felt like it was time to push so I had them turn it off completely. My doctor, Jani Rollins, who had been periodically checking on us but mostly napping in the room next door, joined us at that point. I was so grateful for her birthing approach. She kept the lights dim, used a calm quiet voice and really took her time. It was such a relatively easy and actually quite peaceful experience. As soon as Laina was born, she laid her in my arms and just let us enjoy the moment. I loved that she didn’t rush Laina off to weigh and measure her, in fact I don’t think they weighed her for almost an hour. Adam was able to cut the umbilical cord (which had actually been wrapped twice around her neck) and then they just left us to enjoy our beautiful new baby.
If I could recommend a hospital, the Ashland hospital would be the one. Our few days there were like a vacation. Everyone was extremely kind and helpful but best of all, they left us alone. They only checked my vitals a few times a day and only when I was already awake. They were also very accommodating to Adam. Unlike any other hospital we’ve experienced, they actually provided a bed and food for him. Their menu was extensive and the food delicious.
The two days we were there Pauline took care of the boys and then my mom came for a week to help out. It was wonderful having here there to help me catch up on all the projects that were piling up and I took every opportunity while she was here to just hold and snuggle my baby. The biggest difficulty that we had that week was trying to come up with a name for our new little girl. Names are so important, not to mention permanent, we really wanted to get it right. We considered a lot of different names before finally settling on Laina Rose. It’s a variation on my Grandmothers name, Rosealane. Adam was funny when we came across that name, he immediately jumped on it. He knew right away that that was her name. I’m so excited to get to know our sweet little Lainey. She has already brought so much joy into our lives. We feel so incredibly blessed.
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