Sarah's Birthday
Now that I shared my birth with my first daughter (PART 1: Why I want a natural (birth center) birth) I figured I should share my birth with my 2nd daughter.
But first let me back u to when Samantha was 14 months old and as I had said in Part 1. I learned about Leonette and everything she had to offer. She was exactly what I wanted. Who I wanted to be my care provider and help bring our next child into the world.
A year later I found out I was pregnant with Sarah. 18 months of trying to conceive and taking clomid we had another sweet baby girl on the way. I immediately called The Birth Center and set up my first appointment. I was so excited to get to use Leonette. I had spent the past year doing research on natural labors and that women had a say. I was in shock because so much that happened during my first L&D didn’t have to go down that way. I had a say in things. I had a say in what happened with MY baby.
Sadly though that hope of a midwife was out the window for many different reasons. Even though at the time we lived in Riverside, we traveled up to lake Arrowhead to see the OBGYN in the mountain.
I guess you could say my prenatal care was fine. I went every 4 weeks to the OB. I talked with his nurses more than I ever did him. At my 39 week appointment he told me that I was 0cm dilated and 0% effaced and I would more than likely go well past my due date. He then also let me know he would be leaving on vacation later that day and he’d see me in a week.
That appointment was at 9am. By 1pm that same say I was in labor, although I did not know it was labor yet. I took a nap and then around 3pm realized that my uterus kept contracting in a regular pattern. It did not hurt one bit so I figured it was just Braxton Hicks. Around 5pm I had Hubby call the OB office and they said “well if your having contractions every 4 minutes then you might as well go get checked”. So we headed to the hospital and I was indeed in labor and already at 4cm!
This part is when I put my foot down and knew how I wanted my L&D to go. I had my birth plan and I gave it to my on-call nurse, who was awesome! She read it and said, “great! We can make most of this possible for you”. I did need an IV for GBS, even though I was not tested with baby #2 I just said to give it to me. But I asked for a heparin lock, which meant I did not HAVE to be hooked to the IV my entire L&D. I did not want to spend time in bed unless I had to.
From 7pm until 12 am I walked the halls of the hospital, and only checking back in with my nurse every 45 minutes for about 10 minutes for a quick IV dose of antibiotics for GBS. My labor was going exactly how I wanted!
Then the back labor started. I was 8cm and realized I probably couldn’t walk anymore, so my nurse broke my water and that’s when the pain was so intense I didn’t know what to do. This is where I wish I had a midwife there to encourage me and motivate me to breath trough the contractions. My body knew what to do and COULD do it. (reason I want a natural birth)
I did get something in my IV that was supoose to take the edge off, but all it did was make me so loopy. I did not like this. I did not like that I felt totally drugged and I felt like I was slurring my words. So I got an epidural…. barely… we waited a very long time for the anesthesiologist to come. It was past midnight, and up in the small town you basically have to wait for them to get out of bed, get dressed and head over to the hospital. I almost wasn’t able to get it. As soon as it was placed I was rolled over and told time to push.
The new OB showed up to deliver. I had never met the guy. (reason I want a natural birth)
This OB pissed me off! Not only was I forced to push on my back but when I tried to mvoe to make it more comfortable for me to birth my baby he yelled at me. Baby was born after 45 minutes of pushing and he left minutes after delivering the placenta. Like I cared, all he did was deliver the baby, and quite frankly my nurse could have done it.
My nurse was amazing. She knew my wishes of wanting the baby with me, and that I wanted to nurse as soon as I could. Once they had Sarah all clean and wrapped up she gave her me. Now, there are things that happened that while I know are protocol for Hospitals, would not happen with a natural birth center birth.
Postpartum ——- Because I had done more research I knew how I wanted my PP to be. One thing the hospital dd not have a nursery, so the baby stays with mom the entire time. But I was exhausted and needed sleep (Sarah was born around 2am and it was around 4am that I was in my PP room). So I did let Sarah go to the nurse station. The nurses had fun holding her but I made strict guidelines that no one is allowed to give her a bottle. If the baby was fussy and needed to be nursed they would bring her right back to me. And they did. My PP with Sarah was awesome. BECAUSE I, the mom put my foot down and said how I wanted to be treated and how I wanted my baby treated.
I learned that moms HAD a say in their labor, delivery, postpartum care AND the care of their baby.
But I still had things that happened that made me sad I didn’t get my natural birth center birth. Like the cord being clamped right away and I had to wait for THEM to tell ME when I got to finally hold my baby. Overall my birth experience with Sarah was wonderful. I was walking right away, I had no tears but I had to wait for the hospitals protocol of 24 hour stay.
This is reason #2 I did not want another hospital birth. And why I want a natural Birth Center birth.
Did you get the birth you wanted?
Here we are another year. It seems that 2011 just flew by, but at the same time was a long year! So much happened last year, and so many wonderful things for our family! From the kids learning in school, taking on more dance classes and finding out after three years and a miscarriage that our sweet little Shelby is on the way.
I am so excited to hit 32 weeks. That’s 5 weeks until full term and the countdown. I am one of those pregnant women who counts down to full term but that is the goal after that you just receive the constant phone calls “did you have the baby yet?”
Christmas 2011 was an absolute blast!
My girls love journals, so of course I wanted to make them a little journal for them to write what they hope to accomplish in 2012, or if they have their own little Resolutions (like do better in school, or get 5 straight 100′s on a test etc.)
Another super simple item to make for the kids to wear on New year’s Eve! Again, I used coordinating paper to match all the 
What’s a party without a popper? These fun little gifts can be filled with anything you want! Toys, candy… anything really! I thought they would be fun to make in coordinating paper to match the 
This year I wanted to do something fun for the girls for new year’s Eve. It will just be us (unless we go to my inlaws house). So I thought it would be fun to create a little goodie bag for the girls to ring in 2012 with!
the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying in a manger. - Luke 2:10-12
Gingerbread Cookies they are a must have cookie for the Holidays! But my problem is no matter what Recipe I have tried they always end up hard and crispy. I hate hard Gingerbread Cookies. After many different recipes I found one I just LOVE!
I grew up a huge 
