Tag: birth

 

She seems like a peaceful soul, our little Wren, and how is it that someone only days old can look so wise?

She was born March 3.  I slept fitfully the night of March 2nd, dreaming about contractions and labor until a strong contraction woke me straight up at 3:15 am.  I realized I had been contracting through the night mildly, as I had been on and off the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, but this contraction was a powerful jolt.  I lay in bed for a while, resting and waiting, then decided to get up and move around, to see if labor would pick up or die off with a change of activity.  I think I will probably want to remember that I cleaned bathrooms at that point, at around 4 am.  The house was mostly clean and ready so I had to find something to do.  I figured a last minute clean to get it ready for my parents would be a good idea anyway (they would be staying with our kids at our house while we were in the hospital).  I folded laundry, organized, whatever I could, while breathing through contractions.

By 5 am I woke Brandon and said it was time to get moving.  I felt like it was still early to tell, but I didn’t want to wait too long.  I had such a traumatic difficult labor with Noah that I’m always ancy now to get to the hospital quickly and have help on hand rather than wait too late.  I let my parents know to head over as well, and we began to pack up the car.  As we were getting ready to go, our “getaway” car (we were leaving the van for my parents to use with car seats in it for the other kids) wouldn’t start.  I was pacing at the door in the dark, breathing and laughing a bit to myself–of course the car wouldn’t start now.  We took my mom’s car when they arrived and all was well.  We live about 10 minutes from the hospital so it was a quick drive over.  I wasn’t as far along as I had hoped I would be when I arrived, but I progressed almost to full dilation within an hour.  At this point I got the epidural, which was truly amazing.  Actually I think it was a spinal block? but I can’t remember.  All I know is that it is the craziest thing to have experienced natural child birth and then to experience the miracle of meds!  Both have been wonderful experiences.  However, after delivering Noah naturally (at 9 lb 8 oz) and having hours of hemorrhaging afterwards and all the work/meds they had to do to stop the hemorrhage without any pain meds as well as a separated pelvis, I have been too terrified to do it again.  I felt guilty about getting the epidural with Philippa but this time, I felt more at peace about it.  And this experience was, again, amazing.  I was just about in transition when I got it, so to go from that chaos to total peaceful calm was truly incredible.  The doctor kept saying things like “we’ll have a baby soon” and it all still felt totally surreal to me.  In what felt like a few minutes later, after two pushes, baby Wren was born.  There she was, another beautiful girl, so small and fresh and snuggly.

I am so thankful all went well with the birth and my recovery has been normal, which is a great relief and blessing as well!  Wren has done really well, also, and we’ve been well taken care of by family, friends, and our community.

Our stay in the hospital was pretty quiet.  No visitors except my parents.  The biggest bummer was that the kids couldn’t come see us and meet the baby.  The flu and pertussis have been so bad in our area that the hospital wasn’t allowing any visitors under age 18. My parents brought the kids by the road near our room’s window, and they jumped out and we waved and showed them the baby through the window.  So we wanted to wait to announce the baby’s name until we were home, so that they could be the first to hear and so that we could tell them in person.  It’s nice to wait a bit too and see the baby and see if the name fits.

It is the best to see the other children meet the baby for the first time and finally hold her, especially Philippa who was becoming a big “stister” for the first time.  Noah didn’t want to hold Wren right away, but quietly the next day when no one was around he asked if he could.  That first night home from the hospital is historically emotional and weird for me, and it was this time as well, and its just something I have to ride out.  Brandon always amazes me in these times, how well he takes care of me and our family when I’m feeling weak, helpless, and overwhelmed.  I’m convinced and reminded once again how much we need our community around us in times like these, and it’s always amazing to see how God orchestrates things to meet our needs.