Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A whirl wind of EMOTIONS!
It has been eleven days since Jake came into my life and I have experienced a whirlwind of emotions I never thought would take a hit at me. I've been told that this is normal. I am glad to hear since I am typically not an emotional person. At least not this emotional.
I have enjoyed being a mom so far. Each day brings more joy and love into my life as I bond with my little man, and my big man too. Joe and I both knew that we didn't need to have kids to improve our life or make us happier because we were perfectly happy just they way we were. However, now that Jake is in our life he has opened up a new kind of love that Joe and I have never felt for each other and for another person. I understand more of how God loves us because of the way I love Jake. I would do anything for him, just to see him happy, safe, and healthy.
My first week as a mom was full of visitors, a lack of sleep, many tears shed, making hard decisions about what is best for Jake. Should I use a pacifier? How long should I nurse him? Should I rock him to sleep? How long should he stay in our room with us before we move him into his own room? Does he have gas, or is he just fighting sleep? Is he hot, or cold? Should I wake him up to feed him? I know, it seems like I am probably over thinking things a little too much, but when you have never had your own child to nurture and your world revolves around him, you want to make sure you are doing the best possible thing for him.
Nursing is going really well, except for all the spitting up. Yuck! At least it doesn't stink. Our first couple of days were a little tough but he has caught on to it quickly and even though it make for a very mundane kind of life right now I do enjoy the time I get with him that no one but me gets to share. Evening feedings aren't so bad. He consistently eats every 3 hours, sometimes sooner, but I do end up getting a good couple of hours of sleep in between his meals.
We took Jake to the hospital on Saturday morning for his circumcision. Not a fun thing to watch! Have I expressed my distaste for hospitals? I am glad we have doctors and nurses, but when you walk into a doctors office and the nurses and doctors treat you having a baby as an illness, and ask me if I am seeing an OB to make sure things are healing well etc etc, it is just slightly annoying to me. Hospitals are for sick people. Being pregnant is not an illness, and having a baby is a completely normal part of life. Sure, there can be complications that require the expertise of a doctor, but holy cow, I have a perfectly healthy baby who gained an once and a half in the first week, and I have healed rather quickly. Our pediatrician was so worried to do the circumcision because Jake hasn't had his Vit K shot. I told him he would be fine and to go ahead with the procedure. He did great and healed nicely.
Joe is gone for the next several days, hiking up Mt. Rainer with our friend Todd Rielage from Anderson. I am glad he can have this opportunity to live out a dream. Thanks Todd and Bethany for making this trip happen for him. Even though I miss him like crazy and he misses us, I know he will be glad he went. He comes home Monday night. I can't wait!
My mom and sister Heather are here with me for the week/weekend. My dad other sister Kim will be here tonight. It is so nice to have family to keep me company. It can get a little lonely around here when it is just me and Jake so if you ever want to come visit me, give me a call.
Well, time to nurse, again!
I have enjoyed being a mom so far. Each day brings more joy and love into my life as I bond with my little man, and my big man too. Joe and I both knew that we didn't need to have kids to improve our life or make us happier because we were perfectly happy just they way we were. However, now that Jake is in our life he has opened up a new kind of love that Joe and I have never felt for each other and for another person. I understand more of how God loves us because of the way I love Jake. I would do anything for him, just to see him happy, safe, and healthy.
My first week as a mom was full of visitors, a lack of sleep, many tears shed, making hard decisions about what is best for Jake. Should I use a pacifier? How long should I nurse him? Should I rock him to sleep? How long should he stay in our room with us before we move him into his own room? Does he have gas, or is he just fighting sleep? Is he hot, or cold? Should I wake him up to feed him? I know, it seems like I am probably over thinking things a little too much, but when you have never had your own child to nurture and your world revolves around him, you want to make sure you are doing the best possible thing for him.
Nursing is going really well, except for all the spitting up. Yuck! At least it doesn't stink. Our first couple of days were a little tough but he has caught on to it quickly and even though it make for a very mundane kind of life right now I do enjoy the time I get with him that no one but me gets to share. Evening feedings aren't so bad. He consistently eats every 3 hours, sometimes sooner, but I do end up getting a good couple of hours of sleep in between his meals.
We took Jake to the hospital on Saturday morning for his circumcision. Not a fun thing to watch! Have I expressed my distaste for hospitals? I am glad we have doctors and nurses, but when you walk into a doctors office and the nurses and doctors treat you having a baby as an illness, and ask me if I am seeing an OB to make sure things are healing well etc etc, it is just slightly annoying to me. Hospitals are for sick people. Being pregnant is not an illness, and having a baby is a completely normal part of life. Sure, there can be complications that require the expertise of a doctor, but holy cow, I have a perfectly healthy baby who gained an once and a half in the first week, and I have healed rather quickly. Our pediatrician was so worried to do the circumcision because Jake hasn't had his Vit K shot. I told him he would be fine and to go ahead with the procedure. He did great and healed nicely.
Joe is gone for the next several days, hiking up Mt. Rainer with our friend Todd Rielage from Anderson. I am glad he can have this opportunity to live out a dream. Thanks Todd and Bethany for making this trip happen for him. Even though I miss him like crazy and he misses us, I know he will be glad he went. He comes home Monday night. I can't wait!
My mom and sister Heather are here with me for the week/weekend. My dad other sister Kim will be here tonight. It is so nice to have family to keep me company. It can get a little lonely around here when it is just me and Jake so if you ever want to come visit me, give me a call.
Well, time to nurse, again!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
My Baby Story
In my nine months of being pregnant and not having a whole lot to do but clean the house and wait on Jake to arrive I spent a lot of time watching "A Baby Story" on TLC. I often thought about what my story was going to be like and was excited to be able to share my experience with everyone. I am not quite sure how to share this experience with you since it was everything I hoped it would be, but then again, in some ways not what I expected it to be. So I will just start from the beginning and end with the ending.
Saturday September 12th at 6am I woke up feeling my water break. After 20 days of waiting for Jake to arrive I was so relieved, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I actually shook for about an hour wondering when my contractions were going to pick up. I thought for sure I would have him by that evening! I called my midwife and she told me to try to time contractions once I able too and give her a call around 12pm. I felt nothing more than a small cramping sensation so we repeated that process until three. Still Nothing! Midwife called around 8pm saying she was heading to bed and recommended I should too in case my labor starts in the middle of the night we would both be rested.
Sunday morning rolls around and nothing had happened that night. Crap! What is the deal with this kid? Midwife decides to come by and observe around 8am while she sat on the couch and knit socks. Around 9am she asks Joe and I to go into the bedroom and strip down to nothing and just cuddle with skin on skin contact. I guess this is one way of getting labor to start. Well after an hour of cuddle time I was having consistent contractions and labor had officially started. I should also say that when she first arrive she did give me a antibiotic because of my water breaking over 24hours prior.
I labored for several hours in bed and around 1pm was able to get into the doula tub. Once my stomach hit that warm water I felt instant relief. Contractions were still painful but not quite as hard to manage. After several hours in the tub the midwife decided that we needed to speed things along and had me go back to bed to lay on my left side. Left side lying is the best way to get full dilation so that I could start pushing. It was around 5:30pm that she checked me and said I was between 8-9 cm so the next little while would be the hardest part of labor but go quickly. She was right about the intensity I felt like my stomach was being beaten by a bat! No, it was worse than that! I give credit to all the women out there that have more than one kid and delivered all of them without drugs. The whole time I was in those last 2 cm of dilation I was thinking about how nice an epidural would have felt at that time. Oh well, a few hours of pain didn't kill me once all was said and done. By the time I was ready to push we ended up trying three different positions. First side lying. Then a full squat. Then the tub. After an hour of wimpy pushing we decided the best position was full squat. Yes, I was a wimpy pusher. I thought that once I got to be able to push I would feel relief and enjoy that part. Boy was I wrong. I hated pushing which is probably why I didn't push like I was supposed too. After some serious coaching from Joe and the midwife I was able to put my back into it and within a half an hour of correct, hard pushing Jake slid right out for Joe to catch him and hand him to me. Joe said he was more excited about having a boy than he thought he would be. I was happy either way.
Okay, here comes the part of the story you might want to skip if you have a weak stomach.
About an hour after Jake was born I had yet to deliver the placenta. I tried to push hard but was so tired and weak that I felt like I was going to pass out if I kept pushing. The midwife was getting concerned about the time past and gave me a shot of PIT to prevent my uterus from bleeding out. She decided she was going to have to go in and see if it was stuck. That was more painful than anything I have ever experienced, even after delivering a 14.5 in head. She failed her first attempt at getting it out. Her second attempt I got mad and started pushing as hard as I could to get it done and over with. Finally, success! He was born at 10pm and was declared a 40 week baby according the the apgar test. I was so glad that we waited until Jake decided it was time to come out. I know there were many people concerned about the length of time past our due date but as much as I prayed over the situation I trusted God and the midwife to wait.
The best part of the story for me is when we were having hard time delivering the placenta the midwives layed their hands on me and prayed that God would take care of the situation. It was so comforting to have two women their with me who loved the Lord just and much as we do give everything over to God and let him do what he does best.
Even though the experience was one of the hardest things I have ever done I would totally do it over again. My midwife told me that if I had had the baby at the hospital they would have induced me, I probably would have screamed for the epidural since PIT intensifies your contractions. I may have also had an episiotomy because of the size of the babies head and could have very well been given a C-section because the babies head came out a little crooked. His cone head was slightly to the side instead of directly on top. I did end up with a little tear, but no biggy. Tears heal faster than episiotomies anyway.
I am more than happy to answer anyones' questions that I may not have answered in this blog.
So there you have it. My baby Story. I am glad it is over, but when looking back would not change a thing about it.
Saturday September 12th at 6am I woke up feeling my water break. After 20 days of waiting for Jake to arrive I was so relieved, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I actually shook for about an hour wondering when my contractions were going to pick up. I thought for sure I would have him by that evening! I called my midwife and she told me to try to time contractions once I able too and give her a call around 12pm. I felt nothing more than a small cramping sensation so we repeated that process until three. Still Nothing! Midwife called around 8pm saying she was heading to bed and recommended I should too in case my labor starts in the middle of the night we would both be rested.
Sunday morning rolls around and nothing had happened that night. Crap! What is the deal with this kid? Midwife decides to come by and observe around 8am while she sat on the couch and knit socks. Around 9am she asks Joe and I to go into the bedroom and strip down to nothing and just cuddle with skin on skin contact. I guess this is one way of getting labor to start. Well after an hour of cuddle time I was having consistent contractions and labor had officially started. I should also say that when she first arrive she did give me a antibiotic because of my water breaking over 24hours prior.
I labored for several hours in bed and around 1pm was able to get into the doula tub. Once my stomach hit that warm water I felt instant relief. Contractions were still painful but not quite as hard to manage. After several hours in the tub the midwife decided that we needed to speed things along and had me go back to bed to lay on my left side. Left side lying is the best way to get full dilation so that I could start pushing. It was around 5:30pm that she checked me and said I was between 8-9 cm so the next little while would be the hardest part of labor but go quickly. She was right about the intensity I felt like my stomach was being beaten by a bat! No, it was worse than that! I give credit to all the women out there that have more than one kid and delivered all of them without drugs. The whole time I was in those last 2 cm of dilation I was thinking about how nice an epidural would have felt at that time. Oh well, a few hours of pain didn't kill me once all was said and done. By the time I was ready to push we ended up trying three different positions. First side lying. Then a full squat. Then the tub. After an hour of wimpy pushing we decided the best position was full squat. Yes, I was a wimpy pusher. I thought that once I got to be able to push I would feel relief and enjoy that part. Boy was I wrong. I hated pushing which is probably why I didn't push like I was supposed too. After some serious coaching from Joe and the midwife I was able to put my back into it and within a half an hour of correct, hard pushing Jake slid right out for Joe to catch him and hand him to me. Joe said he was more excited about having a boy than he thought he would be. I was happy either way.
Okay, here comes the part of the story you might want to skip if you have a weak stomach.
About an hour after Jake was born I had yet to deliver the placenta. I tried to push hard but was so tired and weak that I felt like I was going to pass out if I kept pushing. The midwife was getting concerned about the time past and gave me a shot of PIT to prevent my uterus from bleeding out. She decided she was going to have to go in and see if it was stuck. That was more painful than anything I have ever experienced, even after delivering a 14.5 in head. She failed her first attempt at getting it out. Her second attempt I got mad and started pushing as hard as I could to get it done and over with. Finally, success! He was born at 10pm and was declared a 40 week baby according the the apgar test. I was so glad that we waited until Jake decided it was time to come out. I know there were many people concerned about the length of time past our due date but as much as I prayed over the situation I trusted God and the midwife to wait.
The best part of the story for me is when we were having hard time delivering the placenta the midwives layed their hands on me and prayed that God would take care of the situation. It was so comforting to have two women their with me who loved the Lord just and much as we do give everything over to God and let him do what he does best.
Even though the experience was one of the hardest things I have ever done I would totally do it over again. My midwife told me that if I had had the baby at the hospital they would have induced me, I probably would have screamed for the epidural since PIT intensifies your contractions. I may have also had an episiotomy because of the size of the babies head and could have very well been given a C-section because the babies head came out a little crooked. His cone head was slightly to the side instead of directly on top. I did end up with a little tear, but no biggy. Tears heal faster than episiotomies anyway.
I am more than happy to answer anyones' questions that I may not have answered in this blog.
So there you have it. My baby Story. I am glad it is over, but when looking back would not change a thing about it.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Pictures of Jake Owen
Here are some pictures of Jake Owen Wisley, born on Sept 13th at 10pm. I will post a blog on my home birth experience soon!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Update on WHY Baby Wisley isn't here yet!
Hey everyone! I know, I know you are all wondering if I have had this baby and if not, why it hasn't happened yet? Well, these things take time and obviously the baby isn't ready to come yet. There are several reasons for this. I shall explain so you can all relax and work on your patience as I have been trying too.I had an appointment with my midwife today. It went very well. We did a non-stress test to make sure the baby is healthy and that the placenta is still working properly. After laying down for 10 minutes. She checks for the baby's heart rate and then bangs a metal pan with a metal spoon right next to my belly. She then checks the heart rate again to see if the baby's heart rate increased any. Well it went from 128 to 140. So that was a postive test that things are going great. We have bascially determined that we have my due date off by 7-10 days so that puts me at only a week or so behind my actual due date now. I am also measuring at 40.5 cm which also means that we are very close to baby time. I am very glad that I have not decided to induce. I am a firm believer in God's timing and really wanted things to happen when he wanted them too vs. my timing. My midwife also said that babies who go to 40 wks plus are better nursers because they are more developed then an early baby. That sounds good to me since I want to nurse. So just a little bit longer, maybe tonight. I appreciate your excitement and your prayers. I will post an update as soon as labor starts! I promise!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
When desperate drink castor oil. Yum!
So here I sit on day 13 past my due date and suffering the symptoms of castor oil. Okay, I wouldn't call it suffering but it certainly isn't comfortable. I slept well until about 3:30am this morning and decided to get up, drink some milk, watch Family Matters and check my email. I finally got an email from a girl who is using my midwife. She was due on the 9th and went into labor on the night of the full moon. The night I thought for sure I would be in labor. Well, she had her baby after 24 hours of labor. Another girl had her baby Saturday as well. She was due on the 1st. Then there is me. Due on the 24th of August and still no baby. How annoying! I think I may have my due date off by a few days but who really knows. So in my desperation for make something happen I have had many people tell me that castor oil can do the trick but be very ugly and painful. I told Joe that if I did it he would have too drink it too. That didn't work.
He went to church this morning and I stayed home to avoid all the gasps from people who were hoping to see me with a baby in my arms and not in my belly. Joe comes home around 12pm and asks if I am going to drink the stuff. I broke down and drank 4 tbs with 2 oz of orange juice. 30 min later drank another 2 tbs and then another 2 tbs 30 mintues after that. It wasn't nasty at all, but what was to come could be very nasty. One of my birthing books said that if it works I would be having contractions within half a day or may start sometime tomorrow.
I took a nap at 330 and woke up around 415. Joe decided to go for a run with Maximus and I decided a walk might help get things rolling a little. I didn't get more than .3 miles away from the house when I suddenly realized I wasn't going to make it home in time to get to the bathroom. Luckily, a thicket of woods were just to my right and I was able to duck away and take care of business without embarassing myself with all the cars driving by. That happened 6 hours after drinking the oil and nothing has happened since then. So I guess we will see if I wake up with contractions tonight or not. I am guessing it's not going to work, but I only say that because I am starting to loose hope in that this baby will ever be ready to come out. I had Joe measure my uterus and it's at 40-41cm which is about 1cm more than last Tuesday. I am praying something happens before Tuesday because that is when I see the midwife again. Our next step will be to sweep the membranes. I really don't want to go that route,but if I must then I must. I am still feeling great. The baby is still moving around a ton and I am sleeping better at night. Now if only I could have some sort of sign! Joe is leaving for a trip with a friend to climb Mount Rainer on the 23rd, so as each day passes he gets a little less excited about having to leave us for five days. I am glad that he gets the chance to go and it was me and our friend who arranged the trip as a surprise, so don't think that it was all Joe's idea to leave his wife and new baby. I am totally okay with him being able to experience this adventure. I'm guessing by the end of this week we will have a baby so check in and I will post when something happens. You can also check my facebook. Be praying for me! I am loosing my mind and my patience!
He went to church this morning and I stayed home to avoid all the gasps from people who were hoping to see me with a baby in my arms and not in my belly. Joe comes home around 12pm and asks if I am going to drink the stuff. I broke down and drank 4 tbs with 2 oz of orange juice. 30 min later drank another 2 tbs and then another 2 tbs 30 mintues after that. It wasn't nasty at all, but what was to come could be very nasty. One of my birthing books said that if it works I would be having contractions within half a day or may start sometime tomorrow.
I took a nap at 330 and woke up around 415. Joe decided to go for a run with Maximus and I decided a walk might help get things rolling a little. I didn't get more than .3 miles away from the house when I suddenly realized I wasn't going to make it home in time to get to the bathroom. Luckily, a thicket of woods were just to my right and I was able to duck away and take care of business without embarassing myself with all the cars driving by. That happened 6 hours after drinking the oil and nothing has happened since then. So I guess we will see if I wake up with contractions tonight or not. I am guessing it's not going to work, but I only say that because I am starting to loose hope in that this baby will ever be ready to come out. I had Joe measure my uterus and it's at 40-41cm which is about 1cm more than last Tuesday. I am praying something happens before Tuesday because that is when I see the midwife again. Our next step will be to sweep the membranes. I really don't want to go that route,but if I must then I must. I am still feeling great. The baby is still moving around a ton and I am sleeping better at night. Now if only I could have some sort of sign! Joe is leaving for a trip with a friend to climb Mount Rainer on the 23rd, so as each day passes he gets a little less excited about having to leave us for five days. I am glad that he gets the chance to go and it was me and our friend who arranged the trip as a surprise, so don't think that it was all Joe's idea to leave his wife and new baby. I am totally okay with him being able to experience this adventure. I'm guessing by the end of this week we will have a baby so check in and I will post when something happens. You can also check my facebook. Be praying for me! I am loosing my mind and my patience!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
It's just a Different Viewpoint
I feel like I need to clairify a few things I have posted in previous blogs about my different way of thinking in regards to my choices to have a home birth, to use a midwife and not a doctor, avoid a medicated birth, and not be induced as well as several other topics I don't need to mention to protect myself. I know that I am the minority in these decisions. 95% of the people I know don't do things the way that I do and I am okay with that. When it comes to my difference of opinion on any subject matter I do not want people to think that just because I have choosen a different path that my way is better than your way, that I am right and you are wrong, that because I have a difference of opinion that your opinion doesn't matter. Does that make sense? When I feel strongly about something I want people to know why I believe the way I do, but I also know that in the past I have sent a false message that if you don't do things the way I do, I think you are stupid and irresponsible. That couldn't be further from the truth, especially since a majority of the people I know may not agree with my way of thinking.
So if you have read my blog in the past, and been offended by anything I said, or felt attacked, demeanored, or that I was trying to tell you the way you do things is wrong, I apologize to you for causing you to feel that way. My intentions are not to hurt people. I simply want to explain why I do the things that I do because I am usually in the minority in the choices I make. I also want to raise awareness on the many different options that are out there for having babies that can work better for you. I don't judge those that have hospital births, have epidurals or inductions etc. Whatever works for you isn't going to change the way I think of anyone. It just isn't the way I want to do things. It is as simple as that. Don't take it personally please!
So if you have read my blog in the past, and been offended by anything I said, or felt attacked, demeanored, or that I was trying to tell you the way you do things is wrong, I apologize to you for causing you to feel that way. My intentions are not to hurt people. I simply want to explain why I do the things that I do because I am usually in the minority in the choices I make. I also want to raise awareness on the many different options that are out there for having babies that can work better for you. I don't judge those that have hospital births, have epidurals or inductions etc. Whatever works for you isn't going to change the way I think of anyone. It just isn't the way I want to do things. It is as simple as that. Don't take it personally please!
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