Alexa "Lexi" is 5 weeks old today and I am surprised it has taken me this long to sit down and write this. Then again, since writing that first sentence, Lexi has woken up and needed to be nursed so maybe that has played a part. Having "two under two" has definitely been an adjustment but that's probably a whole different blog and seeing how I obviously am not a blogger (last post was Logan's birth story--oops!), I'll stick to the topic at hand.
Prologue
In July 2013 I did the math and decided I wanted to try to have Logan's sibling right behind him in school. I figure this will make it easier on me when I go back to work if they're always at the same school except for 2 years. So, August we went off birth control and I took a positive pregnancy test October 12. A part of me didn't think we would get pregnant again so easily and there was a definite phase of--what was I thinking? Two under two? but that was brief and the excitement came soon after. I ordered a shirt for Logan that said "Only Child Expiring June 2014" and had him wear it to tell daddy. This meant I had to wait 5 days to tell Steven which was hard but I liked briefly being the only one who knew about "Junebug's" existence. I thought she was a girl right away but wasn't sure if that was just my hope or "mommy's intuition".
First baby bump picture, November 2013
Pregnancy
Like Logan, my pregnancy was extremely low maintenance. I never got morning sickness or nauseous. I was tired and frequently napped when Logan did but I think that's often the life of a pregnant mom with a toddler. I did have a 24 hour stomach bug 3 times during the pregnancy; 2 were mild but 1 had me go to the ER to get fluids to prevent dehydration. Other than that, it was uneventful.
Birth Plan
We loved our "out of hospital" birth center experience with Logan. The midwives were awesome and I was bummed we were no longer in San Antonio to use them again. We moved to Pflugerville halfway through my pregnancy. We had 3 birth centers to choose from! I honestly hated having choices because they were all good. We went with Beautiful Beginning Birth Center which was a one midwife establishment. I liked Emma Morrison, the midwife, and it was 10 minutes from our house.
42 Week "dilemma"
Logan was born at 41 weeks and 4 days. I had consistent contractions for 5 days, my water broke on it's own but it was still 32 hours after that before he was born, and only after using castor oil as a last resort. Even though second babies are normally much faster labors than first, Emma wanted to make sure we "helped" my body as much as possible so from 35 weeks to 40 weeks I took "Gentle Birth", an herb supplement to help prepare my body. On Monday, at my 41 week checkup, Alexa was still looking great but no signs of labor. I started taking "Start up" herbs and went to the chiropractor an an acupuncturist. On Thursday (41 weeks 3 days) still nothing. Now, I was completely fine with this. I am a big fan of babies coming when they are ready as long as there is no medical reason to intervene. However, Emma informed me that if we reached 42 weeks, Monday, she might be forced to transfer my care to her OBGYN sponsor, Dr. Brown, who might then "require" a pitocin induction. This was the first time I had heard about this "hard stop" timeline and I was not happy about it. So, we attempted every natural induction option we could think of at that point. I completed 3 acupuncture appointments that week, 2 chiro appointments, black and blue cohosh herbs, tried to have a membrane sweep but couldn't, and literally spent about 12 hours between Friday and Saturday on the breast pump for nipple stimulation.
my set up in the game room Friday/Saturday
even Steven tried to "help"
Not a single glimpse of a contraction by Sunday morning. FYI by this point my Aunt Alice was staying at my house along with my in-laws and my friend (and Logan sitter for the birth) Cari. EVERYONE was standing by awaiting Alexa's arrival while I was unsuccessfully attempting to get things started. Our last resort, again, was castor oil. If there was one thing after Logan's birth that I said I would not do again it was castor oil. I hated the thought of using it again because I really wanted a water labor/birth with Lexi. However, Sunday morning our options were exhausted. Tomorrow would be Monday and Dr. Brown might not "allow" Emma to keep me in her care. Emma had tried to get ahold of Dr. Brown over the weekend to see if she would be able to give me a few extra days but she had been unsuccessful in reaching her since she was not on call. I hated not knowing if the doctor would "force" me into her care. Steven and I went for a walk to talk about what we should do. We definitely felt like we were "damned if we do/damned if we don't"--we wanted Alexa to come when she was ready but we didn't want to have to do a pitocin induction the next day. One of the "nice" things about castor oil (if there is such a thing) is that it only works if your body is ready for labor. We decided to go ahead and use it.
Birth Day
At 11:30 am on Sunday, 41 weeks 6 days, I took a castor oil/mint chocolate chip milkshake. Yum! One nice thing this time around was that Emma only had me taking half as much as I took with Logan so that was a plus. Then, Steven, myself, Henry and Cari played Ladder ball in the backyard. At 1:30 I tried to take a nap but couldn't fall asleep. At 2:30 my stomach was upset so at 3:00 I went upstairs by myself (everyone was napping) and started doing some of my labor positions with my fitness ball. By 3:30 I was sure I was having contractions but they weren't bad. I sent a text to Emma, my birth photographer (Dawn) and my best friend, Shelia. Steven joined me upstairs around this time. (Sidenote: the castor oil got labor started but without all the nasty side effects which was awesome!) We woke Cari at 4:00 and she joined the party. At 4:30 contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart lasting at least a minute but they still weren't bad. Steven was trying to get me to try some different labor positions but leaning on the fitness ball while on my knees was the only position that I liked. At 5:30 we consulted with Emma and decided to go to the birth center for an "assessment". When we left, I told Cari and my in-laws that we might be coming back since she was just going to check me. Oh, little did I know! Seriously though, the contractions still weren't intense.
last family pic as we left for the birth center--Logan wasn't happy to see us go
We arrived at the birth center around 6:00pm. The drive to the birth center was okay but I definitely shifted into my "focused" mode. This means that if you try to talk to me or interact with me, I probably hear you but you shouldn't expect a response right away, or at all if I think the question is unnecessary. Emma went ahead and called in her student midwives, Alisa and Rachel as she could tell I wasn't going back home at this point. They checked me and I was dilated to a 6, Alexa was still really high and my water had not broken. Then came the "red flags"--my blood pressure was already high (it got very high during Logan's labor) and, the real zinger, I had protein in my urine which are both signs of pre-eclampsia, which can lead to seizures. Since I had a history of long labor and was only dilated to a 6, Emma consulted with a colleague and made the call to transfer me to St. David's Round Rock as a precaution. Obviously, I didn't like hearing this news but I trusted her judgment.
We left the birth center at 7:34pm in Emma's van. During the drive, I was trying to stay focused but I was saddened to be giving up my water labor/birth center experience. I was also worried that they might say I need a C-section, which I definitely didn't want. I asked her how long the drive was and she said "not long". It should have been 15 minutes--but we hit a train. I'm pretty sure it was the longest train known to man. To give you a hint into my "focused" zone, I didn't even know there was a train until I heard Emma on the phone asking Rachel if she was before or after the train--by this point we had been sitting still for several minutes. I was just sitting in my chair with my seatbelt on (they made me, much to my dislike) and my eyes closed, concentrating. One of the things you learn in The Bradley Method is to make low, deep sounds during the contractions as it helps much more effectively then the Hollywood version of screaming. So while I'm doing this, my breath catches and my sound changes. I'm not sure what is happening at this point but I suddenly hear Emma from the front seat yelling "Do NOT push! You are NOT allowed to push!" I open my eyes and see her glaring at me from the front seat. I say okay and try to relax. At this point the train has passed but we are still in the traffic aftermath. She keeps glancing at me in the mirror and asking me if I am trying to push--I say no, that I'm okay. Alisa, her secondary midwife, eagerly says "I have my gloves!" :) (I think she was almost as unhappy about the transfer as I was). Contractions have lightened up and I'm aware of my surroundings now as she calls the hospital to tell them things have progressed significantly (remember I was a 6 an hour earlier) and that I am ready to push.
8:05ish we arrive at the hospital and walk to L&D. Luckily it was a slow night and they were ready for us. I make a bee-line for the bed and the nurses start asking me all these questions. (seriously?) I answer a few before they get a clue and start directing the questions at Steven or Emma. My water has still not broken. Dr. Irvin is the on call doctor and she confirms that I am a 10. She says "We need to get this baby here" and my mind immediately thinks she's going to say we need to do a c-section but luckily she just told me it was time to push. Just then, my birth photographer arrives (my husband was smart enough to tell her to come on over even though I had said to wait and make sure the hospital would allow her). On my second set of pushes my water breaks. Then, Cari and my father in law came in. They were just coming by to get the van keys to bring our car over since Emma had Steven and I ride over in her car. They had no idea they were about to see Alexa born! A few pushes later, Alexa Moon Faust is born at 8:19pm. She weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. She was perfectly healthy and nursed like a champ right away.
Epilogue
I'm pretty sure I was in a daze for at least the first few hours asking myself "Was that it? Is she really here?" Maybe it was because she was my second, definitely partly due to my water breaking so late but I never felt like I was in intense labor. I had back labor with Logan though and I've heard that if you can do back labor, normal labor is a breeze which apparently proved to be the case for me. In terms of wanting to avoid a hospital birth, short of delivering in the parking lot, I think I avoided one as much as is possible. Emma later told me that I was the first transfer she had ever done that ended up not being necessary. It turns out I had not been pre-eclamsic and my blood pressure returned to normal as soon as she was born.
Midwife Emma and Alexa
The post-birth experience was good--nurses and Dr Irvin were very nice and kept saying "We know this isn't what you wanted but..." We were able to leave after 24 hours instead of the standard 48 so that was good.
I won't lie and say that it was a perfect experience because it wasn't. I wish labor had started without me having to "jumpstart" things. I wish we had stayed at the birth center and I'd been able to have a water birth. I wish we could have gone home to our own bed and our family after a few hours. But then I remind myself that while those were my preferences and my desires, they were my preferences and my desires so that I would ultimately have a healthy baby. That I did. That is what matters.
Things I want to Remember about these first few weeks
--Alexa is a cuddler! She does NOT want to be put down--ever. She wants to sleep on me or in our bed--hates the bassinet and likes to be on her tummy. Not a fan of swings or bouncers for very long. Longest sleep success--Newborn Fisher Price Rocker because it's angled so she doesn't have to sleep flat on her back.
--Has no type of schedule. She wants to eat when she wants to eat. Sometimes she will go 3 hours, other times 30 minutes.
--Hates pacifiers. We've tried 3 and she gags on them. She loves eating her hands instead which gets confusing since this is supposed to be a sign that she is hungry but she does it whenever.
--Hates to be dirty. Quiets down the moment you change her (Logan couldn't care less about being dirty but screamed when you changed him)
--Doesn't like her car seat or car rides.
--Logan started out ignoring her, then became curious and now he's amused by her--gives her "hugs" that turn into vice grips until she cries then he laughs. He has quickly assumed the role of Big Brother Tormenter. (she's crying in this pic which he thinks is hilarious)
giving "hugs"
--Likes being outside.
--She's sooo ridgid in her arms! Even when she is asleep her arms are in the most bizarre positions!
These moments are going by soooo much faster than they did with Logan. Trying to take them all in.
Maybe I'll do a better job of documenting our family from now on...maybe ;)
Thanks for reading!
FYI Steven wrote a rather funny birth story perspective...but we no longer have the computer he saved it to and it didn't get backed up so hopefully I can get him to write it again soon but we shall see.
