The Birth Story of Teagan Astelle
Here’s the short version. I woke up at 4:00am with contractions. I woke Price up at 4:30am. We called Tina at 5:00am. She got here about 5:30am and I got in the tub. Started pushing a little before 6:00am. She was born at 6:12am. She weight 8 lbs 14 oz.
Here’s the long version. Because I like details.
When Presley was about 6 months old, we found out that I was pregnant again. Presley’s birth was hard and long. She was so big that my cervix stayed very low afterwards causing me to be achy for months after she was born. I was literally “to’up from the flo’ up”. Six months was almost not long enough to fully heal for me let alone forget the pain of labor. Forgive me if I made Presley’s birth story sound peachy. It hurt like hell and I was scared to do it again. I knew I wanted to do it at home, but I just hoped and prayed that it would be faster and easier with it being my second. My prayers were answered. Thank you, Jesus!
(Side note: In my last trimester of pregnancy with Presley, Tina was over for a monthly checkup. After seeing a bag of snickers on the coffee table, and maybe hearing I had a major sweet tooth, Tina told me that I should try not to eat too many sweets from that point on because it all goes straight to the baby. I didn’t really believe her. But after Presley was born at 9 lbs 2 oz, I became a believer. And I was bound and determined to cut back on the sweets the whole dang pregnancy with Teagan.)
We had decided that we would labor in the tub and if I wanted to actually deliver in the tub, we would. We were just going to play it all by ear. The one plan we had in place was to call Alison so she could come be with Presley if she were to wake up. (Kenzie had just had my nephew not even three months prior, so she kind of busy to be calling in the middle of the night!) We didn’t know how I would handle the labor and Pres was still such a baby, I didn’t want to scare her. And I knew from round one that I needed Price to be with me.
The last four months or so of my pregnancy, I had lots of Braxton hicks contractions. So many that I thought I might be in a labor a few times. But my uterus was just practicing. Enough so that the day before I went into labor, at my scheduled appointment, Tina checked me and I was at a 4 not in labor. So that was a good sign. We ended up going to a high school football game that evening. I woke up about 4 in the morning with some pretty heavy duty contractions. They had never woken me up and required me to get up out of bed. So I timed them for a while and they never stopped or got less intense. It’s so weird because even a day after my due date, I continued to ask myself, is this really it? And then I actually doubted that it was. I finally woke Price up to get a second opinion. He immediately tried to pull the “let’s see if you can go back to sleep”. Which caused me to have another “massive change in demeanor”. Because damn it, it hurt and I was NOT laying back in the bed. So then I think he fully woke up and realized, oh my goodness, this could be it!! So we timed a few more and decided we better call Tina. We gave Alison a call as well. Tina made it here about 5:30am or so and checked me. I was about a 6/7 and she said I could get in the tub if I was ready. So I got in and it felt divine. Alison and Amanda, Tina’s midwife-in-training, arrived shortly thereafter.
While I was having a contraction in the tub, I would lie on my side and move up and down the tub using my legs to kick off the bottom of the tub. It worked to get me through each one. It’s weird because your body just kind of does what it needs to do and what gives you some relief at the time. Another fascinating thing about labor is that during a contraction your brain doesn’t think. Your body just takes over. But then after each contraction is over, your brain starts working again and you then actually engage in conversation.
At some point Tina broke my water which is never pleasant. But it wasn’t long after that I started having these grunty contractions that meant it was time to push. Tina checked me and again, just like with Presley’s birth, I had a little cervix left. So she manually pushed it back while I pushed Teagan’s head past it. Ouch. But it was all pushing from there. But then a new problem arose. The tub was so long that I couldn’t hold my legs, push and stay above the water. Price had made it clear that he did NOT want to be in the tub. And I don’t blame him. There were lots already floating around. We tried a few things to prop me up, but nothing was working. Price took one for the team and suited up and got in behind me. He basically held me up while I pushed. Once again, being my rock!
I suddenly remembered that I wanted a mirror down yonder so that I could see my progress as I pushed. (This would have been a great thing for me to have had while I was pushing Presley out, but in ALL the hubbub I nor anyone else thought of it.) I hadn’t thought about it beforehand so all we could find was this little mirror that was in our bathtub that’s fog resistant, so it wasn’t clear and I kept asking whoever was holding it to move it up or down. But it still worked fairly well and before we knew it, Teagan’s head was out. We had to wait until the next contraction to push the rest of her out, which seemed like eternity. Finally she was out and up on my chest. Her umbilical cord went on for miles so Price could have held her from behind me!
Teagan’s first few breaths sounded very wet. So Tina used some sort of contraption to suction out probably about 50cc’s of water. Afterwards they put some oxygen on her for a few minutes. When she first came out, we thought she looked JUST like Presley. But then over the next few hours, she had her own look and no longer looked anything like her big sister.
After a little bonding time in the tub, the cord was cut and they took her into the next room to clean her up and do her APGAR score and get measured and weighed. That’s what I was most curious about!! She weighed 8 lbs 14 oz. Whoo hoo!! I saved myself 4 whole ounces and I appreciated every single ounce. I still can neither confirm nor deny the validity to the whole ‘sweets go straight to the baby in the last trimester’ thing, because it really makes no real sense. (I’m assuming it’s not just sweets, but any additional calories above what you and the baby need.)
After Price and I cleaned up, Presley woke up a big sister! Perfect timing!! She was curious about the new baby that just appeared! She might have had a few moments over the next few weeks where Price and I looked at each other and asked, “is she acting out”? But she did great!
Teagan was a great nurser from day one! Pair that with the fact that my milk came in super fast and we ran into a little bit of a problem. Teagan would eat and then get way too much and then projectile vomit. There was no amount of preparation that was suitable to catch or contain it. It went everywhere!! So when she was three days old we had to take her to the doctor. It finally got better as my milk adjusted. And then she never spit up again. (She preferred massive blowouts!)
We went into raising baby number two with the assumption that we knew what we were doing. We quickly learned that what worked for the first, did not always work for the second. We had to learn Teagan and find out what she liked. For example, she didn’t like to be rocked and cuddled to sleep. She wanted to be put down and left alone. She didn’t want to be held like a baby in the crook of your arm, she wanted to be held upright so she could keep an eye on everyone. And the biggest shock of our lives – she did not like a pacifier! (Presley was literally obsessed with ALL of her’s!) I tried every make and model manufactured to no avail. Overall, we worked it out and are still learning what works and does not work for each of the girls.
Before I had Teagan, I got a nice hand-me-down pump to use. I didn’t pump much with Presley and I was looking forward to being a little more free to leave Teagan knowing I could pump and she could have a bottle. Well! First Teagan wouldn’t take a bottle. It was like poison in her mouth, just like with a pacifier, tried every make and model. Second, Teagan wouldn’t go to anyone except me. She didn’t even like Price for a good little while. While flattering, you can imagine that this plum wore me out!! When I would leave her with someone, mostly my poor mother, I would pick her up saying “Thank you and SORRY!!” It wasn’t easy for them, her, or me to leave her. But oh how I was refreshed after I picked them back up! (She didn’t quite feel comfortable with others, even family, until she was a good 18 months old. She still doesn’t like big crowds and remains weary of new faces. She’s 3 ½.)
Having the girls so close together, I look back and it’s literally a fog of memories. When both girls would be crying at the same time, Price and I would look at each other and laugh. That’s all you could do! My motto soon became “whatever works for now”. Some things that worked included co-sleeping (all four of us), naptimes in the baby carrier (I would put her in there, cover with a blanket, and give it a shake), nursing on demand (I WAS the pacifier! Price called it ‘the silencer’!), late nights and late mornings, glasses of wine – oh wait, that was what worked for me!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Rainy day
The other day when it rained, it was perfectly stormy and an awesome night to just sit on the porch and watch the rain start. The girls grabbed their umbrellas and rain boots and had a ball.
"I hear it!"
"Did it stop?"
Presley stuck her umbrella in my plant for a hands free moment or two. We keep letting Mav out front with us, but it never fails he runs off and then gets a nice spanking when he gets back.
Love her sweet dimples in this one.
Love a rainy evening!
"I hear it!"
"Did it stop?"
Presley stuck her umbrella in my plant for a hands free moment or two. We keep letting Mav out front with us, but it never fails he runs off and then gets a nice spanking when he gets back.
Love her sweet dimples in this one.
Love a rainy evening!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Creek
Today Price took us to where he made many MANY childhood memories. So many that he's always said he wants our kids (even back when 'our kids' were fictitious) to grow up living on a creek. We packed up our picnic basket, put on some old tennis shoes and headed to the creek.
First we ate lunch under the bridge. We threw rocks and sang 'the grumpy ol troll who lives under the bridge' from Dora the Explorer a lot.
Then we walked up the creek bed to the right until we reached this tree. Price told the girls that when you see a tree down like this on a creek that means pirates have been through there.
Then we walked back and down the creek bed the other way. The girls loved getting their feet wet and splashing in the water. Eeew.
We eventually turned around and headed back to the car that was parked by this awesome park. Of course all the girls wanted to do was swing. Presley was pretty much swinging all by herself for the first time. She's growing and learning new things all the time!
We had a lot of fun and will probably be asked to go back there soon!
First we ate lunch under the bridge. We threw rocks and sang 'the grumpy ol troll who lives under the bridge' from Dora the Explorer a lot.
Then we walked up the creek bed to the right until we reached this tree. Price told the girls that when you see a tree down like this on a creek that means pirates have been through there.
Then we walked back and down the creek bed the other way. The girls loved getting their feet wet and splashing in the water. Eeew.
We eventually turned around and headed back to the car that was parked by this awesome park. Of course all the girls wanted to do was swing. Presley was pretty much swinging all by herself for the first time. She's growing and learning new things all the time!
We had a lot of fun and will probably be asked to go back there soon!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Kindergarten roundup
It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that Presley will be going to school in just a few months!! Real school! The kind where you get in trouble if you're late! And you go five days. In a row! And it lasts for 7 hours each day!
Last week was the kindergarten roundup. She was such a big girl! They took all the soon-to-be kindergarteners and took them for story time while the parents listened to the spill. At first she didn't want to go, and they didn't have to, but with a little encouraging she jumped up and got in line to go. (I made her leave her purse.)
I, on the other hand, with all my crazy hormones cried during the orientation. And had a hard time stopping. It was ridiculous and I was embarrassed. It was when they mentioned a 'boo hoo breakfast' for the parents the first day of school after we drop the kids off at their classroom. We'll just have to play that one by ear. It's a nice idea, but who wants to boo hoo in front of others? I don't...again!
I still can't believe we're already to this point. I swear she was just born!
When they were talking about school starting at 8, Price leaned in and said to me, "you are going to have your work cut out for you!" He sees me trying to get two ready and to school twice a week by nine. One, five days a week, by eight with consequences? Oh dear.
Pres, we're going to have to work on that together! (And pick out what you're wearing the night before!)
Right now she's into long dresses. It can't just be a dress anymore. I think I was in the fifth grade before I cared what I wore to school. Where did we go wrong?
Did I mention how well (good?) her pre-k class is going? After a conference with them, they saw no red flags on her waiting another year before starting and gave her two thumbs up.
Despite her clothes antics, I'm excited, scared, nervous, and already completely exhausted thinking about it. She feels like the biggest kid on the block! She's proud and so are we!
Last week was the kindergarten roundup. She was such a big girl! They took all the soon-to-be kindergarteners and took them for story time while the parents listened to the spill. At first she didn't want to go, and they didn't have to, but with a little encouraging she jumped up and got in line to go. (I made her leave her purse.)
I, on the other hand, with all my crazy hormones cried during the orientation. And had a hard time stopping. It was ridiculous and I was embarrassed. It was when they mentioned a 'boo hoo breakfast' for the parents the first day of school after we drop the kids off at their classroom. We'll just have to play that one by ear. It's a nice idea, but who wants to boo hoo in front of others? I don't...again!
I still can't believe we're already to this point. I swear she was just born!
When they were talking about school starting at 8, Price leaned in and said to me, "you are going to have your work cut out for you!" He sees me trying to get two ready and to school twice a week by nine. One, five days a week, by eight with consequences? Oh dear.
Pres, we're going to have to work on that together! (And pick out what you're wearing the night before!)
Right now she's into long dresses. It can't just be a dress anymore. I think I was in the fifth grade before I cared what I wore to school. Where did we go wrong?
Did I mention how well (good?) her pre-k class is going? After a conference with them, they saw no red flags on her waiting another year before starting and gave her two thumbs up.
Despite her clothes antics, I'm excited, scared, nervous, and already completely exhausted thinking about it. She feels like the biggest kid on the block! She's proud and so are we!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Carnivals
After we went to the zoo a few weeks ago, we had an impromptu trip to a carnival with the Peavys.
We started off on the ferris wheel. I ain't gonna lie, I was scared up there.
Then the kids got to ride lots of rides. When I see the girls all packed in a car, I ALWAYS flash forward to when one of them will be *really* driving.
Teagan comforting Victoria who was only a smidgeon scared on the alligator ride. They rode like this almost half the ride, until Teagan's arms got tired and then Victoria was on her own!
Then they rode the helicopters which the little bar did not stay shut during. The carnie gave instructions to hold it shut. Then all four parents reiterated that a couple times each.
It was fine, they had fun and we were on to the next ride! And then this happened.
Teagan didn't get to ride the mini sizzler. She wasn't tall enough. But Presley and Victoria were! She was sad but handled it pretty well.
We ended the night with cotton candy and a corny dog. It was a good time!
We started off on the ferris wheel. I ain't gonna lie, I was scared up there.
Then the kids got to ride lots of rides. When I see the girls all packed in a car, I ALWAYS flash forward to when one of them will be *really* driving.
Teagan comforting Victoria who was only a smidgeon scared on the alligator ride. They rode like this almost half the ride, until Teagan's arms got tired and then Victoria was on her own!
Then they rode the helicopters which the little bar did not stay shut during. The carnie gave instructions to hold it shut. Then all four parents reiterated that a couple times each.
It was fine, they had fun and we were on to the next ride! And then this happened.
Teagan didn't get to ride the mini sizzler. She wasn't tall enough. But Presley and Victoria were! She was sad but handled it pretty well.
We ended the night with cotton candy and a corny dog. It was a good time!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Presley's birth story
I wrote this when Presley was about 15 months old, just to give you a timeline. I'm not a writer by any means. And this is really long, just to warn you! ****************************************************************************
The Birth Story of Presley Anne
I’ve wanted to write the story of Presley Anne’s birth for about 15 months. Now when I sit down to write, my mind has gone blank. Where to start….? I started my pregnancy like everyone else. I went to my women doctor and started there. Then my sister gave me a book (Ina May's Guide to Childbirth) that had a good list of questions to ask your OB-gyn in its reference section. Questions like “rate of episiotomies” and that sort of thing. So when I asked my doc about his rate of episiotomies, his reply was 95% of first time moms. He said it as if that were the answer I was looking and hoping for…uh…NO!!
So I started talking it over with Price and telling him I might be interested in a home birth with a midwife. He thought I was a little nutty and proceeded to tell everyone who we came in contact with that “she thinks she wants to birth this kid with no pain medication.” So then after some coercion, not as much as I actually thought, we met with a midwife, Tina, who I had talked with over the phone who I found where else? The Internet! She answered all Price’s questions and really calmed his fears of whether a home birth was safe. The great thing I like about Tina is that she knew her limitations. She didn’t try to come across as ‘all knowing’ as some of the midwives had when I talked with them briefly over the phone. So we called her back and told her she was the one for us and we were going to do it.
So Tina came to our house for all our prenatal appointments and we got to know her more and vice versa. Well, I hadn’t had so much as a fart cramp and I was nearing 40 weeks. Then on my due date, we were having dinner with Price’s family, and I felt my first sensation of a contraction. It didn’t hurt at all, but it was there. It was right before we left that I started having them. I didn’t want to say anything to the whole family for fear they would follow us home and be waiting in the driveway for any baby news. But when we got in the car, I told Price and we timed them all the way home. They were fairly consistent, but didn’t really get any more intense. I was still excitedly telling him when each one would start. So we called Tina when we got home just to give her the heads up. She told us when we should call her back, that we still sounded like we had a good ways ahead of us. Boy was she right! So we went to sleep Saturday night.
Sunday morning I woke to a pretty strong one that quickly got me moving out of bed. We called my sisters and we all headed to the mall to start walking and try to move this thing along a bit. Price was armed with his stop watch around his neck and was eagerly timing them. We were dorks! The contractions were not really that strong, but they weren’t going away….so that was a good thing. So it was me, Price, Kenzie, my niece, Chloe, Alison, and my brother-in-law, Jay. We ate at Luna de Noche, and my intentions were to eat light, but as usual, I ate more than a teenage, athletic male and was stuffed full. We headed back home with little progress. On the way we stopped at Target and got a kiddy pool to blow up and have just in case I wanted to labor in once the time came. We blew that up and filled it with water for some reason. But that night we were able to go to sleep again. I slept fairly well although the contractions intensified a hair.
Early Monday morning a contraction jolted me out of bed where I had to stand upright to make it through. Now we’re cooking, I thought. So all morning on Monday my contractions were a little more intense and I was vocalizing and rocking with Price to get through them. In retrospect, these contractions were nothing compared to what they were to become. Now I look back at my sillier self and laugh a little! Ignorance is bliss. Anywho, we went to Wal-Mart, got some last minute items (popsicles, flowers, who knows what else). Every time a contraction would come, we’d duck into an empty aisle and sway and I’d keep my noise level down. We got back home and my mom came over. We wanted to have her there for an extra set of hands. Well, she starts crying at my first contraction! I also felt a little inhibited vocalizing, which really got me through them, and after not that long, my contractions slowed down and the intensity didn’t increase and probably even decreased in intensity a bit.
At some point Tina came and checked me and I was only about a 4, but my bag of water was bulging and this was definitely labor. She told Price to call her when I had a change in demeanor. I was still in great spirits and looking good (well, as good as a 40 week pregnant girl can look with seriously no clothes that fit and ‘swole’ up all over) with my makeup on and I think my hair was even half-way done. A change in demeanor, huh?? So Mom decided to go ahead and go back home since things had slowed. I think she and I both wondered if she could really handle being there or not. Alison invited us over for dinner that night with the family – lasagna. Well every book I’ve read said you do not want to eat tomato-based anything before or during labor because it’s very unpleasant to throw up, just in case. We also planned to go for a hot June walk to help labor along. So we walked over to Alison’s and at this point the contractions were picking up. I had to tell everyone, or at least the girls, that I was having some major anal pressure, which now I know as back labor. After dinner, which this time I ate like a dainty ol’ lady, we started off on our labor walk that we had planned so many months before. It started off as me, Mom, Kenzie, Alison, and Chloe. We walked a good ways, stopping every once in a while if I needed to stop and have a contraction. But I think I was walking through them for the most part. Then we dropped Mom and Chloe back off at the house and took a break. At this point I would have to dash to the back room to deal with the contraction because I didn’t want to scare anyone, namely my dad, who was nervous about the whole thing. So then me, Kenzie, and Alison headed out for another hot June labor walk. We kept the pace up and I was stopping frequently to deal with the contractions and then we would journey on. We took a turn to go through an alley-type path when we heard a horse nay. We live in the city, so we weren’t quite sure where this horse and his hauntingly loud nay came from. Then we heard it again. We decided we weren’t fully committed to walking this direction and turned and went the way we came. Despite this rush of adrenaline, the contractions continued nice and strong.
We headed back to Alison’s, who’s house is only a couple blocks from ours. Mom and Dad decided to take our dogs at my dad’s persistence. I was still thinking that we had a few days ahead of us. So I’m glad that he insisted. Between contractions, and running to the back room to have one when each came, we said our goodbyes and started walking back home. I distinctly remember holding on to Price’s arm on the way home and stopping in the middle of the street to have a contraction. I want to say they were really strong, and they were. But compared to how they got later in the night, they were still ‘sissy stuff’. And they were still nowhere near where we needed them to be in order to call Tina.
We were so tired, it had been a long couple of days. So we laid down and I propped myself up a bit to see if would allow me to sleep in between, I just wanted to sleep or have this baby….sleep or have this baby!! I didn’t last one contraction, I was upright swaying. I knew that I had to be standing to have a contraction. Therefore, there would be no sleeping in between. So then we prayed. This is my favorite part because it is a true testament that God is always with you, always listening to your prayers, and gives you just what you need when you need it! Amen! We prayed that we would either sleep or have this baby. Right after we said 'amen', I had a five minute contraction! And Price called Tina and told her there had been a “massive change in demeanor”….who me??? So now we were REALLY cooking. They didn’t stop or let up. It was about 12:45 when Tina arrived and quietly starting setting everything up and unloading. Price started filling up the kiddy pool with hot water and started boiling water on the stove to finish filling it up after all the hot water ran out of the tap. (We had to drain it from the day before earlier Monday, because we realized that there was no way to turn it from cold to as hot as it needed to be without starting from scratch when it was time.) Tina checked me and I was a 7, whoohoo! Once the pool was ready, I got in and oooooooh, how nice it was! I had my maternity bathing suit top on, but no bottoms. So yes, I was bare butt chillin' in the pool, and during each contraction “flopping around like a fish” per Price. I was still vocalizing with each one, which as I’ve said before, really helped. Price, still with his stop watch, would tell me when each contraction would peak and then I knew I was on the other side and on the way back down the contraction. Each time, thinking ‘I got through another one’.
It all happened so fast. After a while, the other midwife, Rose Marie, arrived. It’s always a pleasure to meet someone while you have no pants on, but nevertheless, it was nice to have another set of hands and additional midwifery knowledge and experience. She asked us what we were naming the baby. After we said “Presley”, she said, “so it’s a boy!” That made us all laugh. Meanwhile, Price was still running back and forth bringing boiling water to the pool to keep it warm. Although, it was feeling great, I was so hot and sick of the water. Tina checked me again and I asked, am I at least a 9? In which she replied, “no, just an 8”. In which I replied, a single profane word that starts with the letter F. That was the only time that I swore the entire labor and delivery, which I thought wasn’t too bad. I was just so tired at this point! And I had only progressed a single centimeter?
Then it got really intense, or should I say, even more intense. I remember one time, feeling ‘out of my mind’ and looking at all three of them – Tina, Price, and Rose Marie – thinking, begging for them to tell me what to do. As if there was something more I needed to do. I also remember getting frustrated because my bangs were all curled up and on my forehead (hot steamy water and curly hair don’t mix) and getting in my eyes and I was constantly moving them aside. Finally I asked for some bobby pins. Then suddently, I just wanted OUT of the water, so I got out and used the bathroom and I had one contraction. Price recounted it later saying I took a ‘swan dive’ back in. Definitely better in than out no matter how hot and water logged I was.
So Tina broke my water. I remember around this time that I was hanging on to Price over the edge of the inflatable pool and still flopping about that I leaned into him so close and I seriously almost bit him – twice. How weird is that?? I did have the sense enough to refrain, thank goodness. Soon, I was done with the water. I stood up and striped off my bathing suit top and hopped on the bed. Um, hello, totally naked?? Yep, and I didn’t care at all for some reason! So then I still wasn’t fully 10 cm, but Tina was able to stretch the last little bit of cervix over Presley’s head and I could finally start pushing. Yeah, the part of labor everyone and their mama said was the best part because you were doing something. Well, it wasn’t so great for me. I pushed and pushed and pushed….for two hours. Finally I was on my back, the position that I feared the most. But I was pushing the best in that position and I was getting to sleep a little in between contractions which weren’t as strong or as close together as they had been prior.
Rewind a little. Tina had estimated Presley to be about 7 pounds after palpating my stomach with her hands. Just a rough estimate, I understand. Ok back to the head now coming out after two hard and long hours of pushing. Tina looks at Rose Marie and says “I don’t think this baby is 7 pounds.” Rose Marie says to Tina, “I don’t think she’s 8!” Of course I was oblivious to all this. What I wasn’t oblivious to was the fact that once the head was out, Tina causally, as if we had all the time in the world, asks Price if he wanted to catch the baby. Well he was to my left, and I distinctly remember saying, “uh…can we just…” PROCEED was what I was thinking. But Price quickly got prepared to catch Presley and soon she was on my stomach. How special that he got to catch his first born.
Her umbilical cord was really short so she couldn’t even come up all the way until it was cut. Presley was born at 4:45 am. She wasn’t crying, which I was wanting to hear, just to confirm all was well. No one else seemed concerned. She was good and pink and looking up at me with her big open, blue eyes. Oh it was so good just to see her little face and see what she looked like! And what a relief that it was all over….well almost. The placenta was like pushing a bean out compared to Presley, who wasn’t 7 or 8 pounds. She weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces!! Who would have thought, not me. But my dad had guessed that exact weight when we were poling weights and heights and dates. He was only one day off from her birth date too!
Anywho, she was so bruised on her face. She didn’t quite enjoy the passage out either. She got a vitamin K shot and the bruising went away within a couple of days. So right when she was on my chest, Price started calling the family to come over and meet Presley. Presley and I took a herbal bath to clean up and by the time I was done with a quick shower, a couple of stitches, and first attempts at breastfeeding (it wasn’t as easy as I’ve heard – and what a curiously strong suck for such a little thing!), everyone was here. They were already holding and enjoying Presley for a couple minutes by the time I was dressed and back in bed. It’s no secret that I wear Price’s ‘panties’ (they’re pretty much panties, very panty-like, anyway. They’re briefs and very comfortable, especially when I’m pregnant.) So Tina was helping me get dressed and asked where my underwear was. I had to explain that I wear Price’s panties and where they were. She said that was the first time she had ever put “man panties on one of her mama’s”. I guess it’s nice to be the first in some form or fashion.
Everyone came and stood around the bed and heard all about the experience while we all bonded with Presley and passed her around, I wanted my turn too! Mom brought me a boiled egg and some pita bread – I was starving at this point. Price and I were euphoric, but completely exhausted! He said we would have handed off Presley to the Taliban at that point just to get some sleep. The family took Presley and we went to sleep for about four hours, they made breakfast and celebrated Presley’s birth. We woke up and it was the beginning of being cared for, and we needed it! When we went into having a home birth, we didn’t even consider or think about the fact that we were going to need help after the birth. Our families effortlessly stepped into that role without even being asked. My mom didn’t stop cooking and cleaning for a couple days! How fortunate we were! Mom stayed with us for the first night. And Price’s mom stayed with us the second night. How nice it was to be able to get a couple hours of sleep knowing that Presley was in good hands! We were feeding her every two hours because she was so big, that’s what we were instructed to do. So we didn’t leave a lot of time in between.
With so much company, when Price and I did have a minute to get some shut-eye, all we could do was talk and relive the whole experience. We were still euphoric days and even weeks later! I seriously could not have done it without him. He did amazing through the whole thing, way surpassing any and all of my expectations! We are closer having made that journey together! How could you not? His confidence in me never wavered, although afterwards, he said that he had his doubts at a couple points. I never would have guessed it.
We praised God for His hand in the middle of it all and for blessing us with a perfect, healthy baby girl! We continue to praise God for Presley Anne and seek His guidance in raising her and now we praise God for his hand in speeding up the conception of Teagan Astelle (a little sooner than we had on our timeline). At 36 ½ weeks along, I can’t sleep well and falling asleep is really hard. So tonight, instead of just laying there thinking, I decided to get up and write this story. To not only document the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced, but to reflect on Teagan’s soon-to-be arrival. This time, I’m more nervous because I know what to expect. I know the intensity and I fear Teagan’s birth weight…surely she won’t be bigger!!! I have faith that just as God was there with us for Presley’s birth, He’ll be with us for Teagan’s birth. Just as I was anxious to see Presley’s face, I am just as eager and anxious to meet Teagan! We have faith that Presley is going to love her little sister dearly! I look forward to writing about Teagan’s birth in the upcoming weeks!
The Birth Story of Presley Anne
I’ve wanted to write the story of Presley Anne’s birth for about 15 months. Now when I sit down to write, my mind has gone blank. Where to start….? I started my pregnancy like everyone else. I went to my women doctor and started there. Then my sister gave me a book (Ina May's Guide to Childbirth) that had a good list of questions to ask your OB-gyn in its reference section. Questions like “rate of episiotomies” and that sort of thing. So when I asked my doc about his rate of episiotomies, his reply was 95% of first time moms. He said it as if that were the answer I was looking and hoping for…uh…NO!!
So I started talking it over with Price and telling him I might be interested in a home birth with a midwife. He thought I was a little nutty and proceeded to tell everyone who we came in contact with that “she thinks she wants to birth this kid with no pain medication.” So then after some coercion, not as much as I actually thought, we met with a midwife, Tina, who I had talked with over the phone who I found where else? The Internet! She answered all Price’s questions and really calmed his fears of whether a home birth was safe. The great thing I like about Tina is that she knew her limitations. She didn’t try to come across as ‘all knowing’ as some of the midwives had when I talked with them briefly over the phone. So we called her back and told her she was the one for us and we were going to do it.
So Tina came to our house for all our prenatal appointments and we got to know her more and vice versa. Well, I hadn’t had so much as a fart cramp and I was nearing 40 weeks. Then on my due date, we were having dinner with Price’s family, and I felt my first sensation of a contraction. It didn’t hurt at all, but it was there. It was right before we left that I started having them. I didn’t want to say anything to the whole family for fear they would follow us home and be waiting in the driveway for any baby news. But when we got in the car, I told Price and we timed them all the way home. They were fairly consistent, but didn’t really get any more intense. I was still excitedly telling him when each one would start. So we called Tina when we got home just to give her the heads up. She told us when we should call her back, that we still sounded like we had a good ways ahead of us. Boy was she right! So we went to sleep Saturday night.
Sunday morning I woke to a pretty strong one that quickly got me moving out of bed. We called my sisters and we all headed to the mall to start walking and try to move this thing along a bit. Price was armed with his stop watch around his neck and was eagerly timing them. We were dorks! The contractions were not really that strong, but they weren’t going away….so that was a good thing. So it was me, Price, Kenzie, my niece, Chloe, Alison, and my brother-in-law, Jay. We ate at Luna de Noche, and my intentions were to eat light, but as usual, I ate more than a teenage, athletic male and was stuffed full. We headed back home with little progress. On the way we stopped at Target and got a kiddy pool to blow up and have just in case I wanted to labor in once the time came. We blew that up and filled it with water for some reason. But that night we were able to go to sleep again. I slept fairly well although the contractions intensified a hair.
Early Monday morning a contraction jolted me out of bed where I had to stand upright to make it through. Now we’re cooking, I thought. So all morning on Monday my contractions were a little more intense and I was vocalizing and rocking with Price to get through them. In retrospect, these contractions were nothing compared to what they were to become. Now I look back at my sillier self and laugh a little! Ignorance is bliss. Anywho, we went to Wal-Mart, got some last minute items (popsicles, flowers, who knows what else). Every time a contraction would come, we’d duck into an empty aisle and sway and I’d keep my noise level down. We got back home and my mom came over. We wanted to have her there for an extra set of hands. Well, she starts crying at my first contraction! I also felt a little inhibited vocalizing, which really got me through them, and after not that long, my contractions slowed down and the intensity didn’t increase and probably even decreased in intensity a bit.
At some point Tina came and checked me and I was only about a 4, but my bag of water was bulging and this was definitely labor. She told Price to call her when I had a change in demeanor. I was still in great spirits and looking good (well, as good as a 40 week pregnant girl can look with seriously no clothes that fit and ‘swole’ up all over) with my makeup on and I think my hair was even half-way done. A change in demeanor, huh?? So Mom decided to go ahead and go back home since things had slowed. I think she and I both wondered if she could really handle being there or not. Alison invited us over for dinner that night with the family – lasagna. Well every book I’ve read said you do not want to eat tomato-based anything before or during labor because it’s very unpleasant to throw up, just in case. We also planned to go for a hot June walk to help labor along. So we walked over to Alison’s and at this point the contractions were picking up. I had to tell everyone, or at least the girls, that I was having some major anal pressure, which now I know as back labor. After dinner, which this time I ate like a dainty ol’ lady, we started off on our labor walk that we had planned so many months before. It started off as me, Mom, Kenzie, Alison, and Chloe. We walked a good ways, stopping every once in a while if I needed to stop and have a contraction. But I think I was walking through them for the most part. Then we dropped Mom and Chloe back off at the house and took a break. At this point I would have to dash to the back room to deal with the contraction because I didn’t want to scare anyone, namely my dad, who was nervous about the whole thing. So then me, Kenzie, and Alison headed out for another hot June labor walk. We kept the pace up and I was stopping frequently to deal with the contractions and then we would journey on. We took a turn to go through an alley-type path when we heard a horse nay. We live in the city, so we weren’t quite sure where this horse and his hauntingly loud nay came from. Then we heard it again. We decided we weren’t fully committed to walking this direction and turned and went the way we came. Despite this rush of adrenaline, the contractions continued nice and strong.
We headed back to Alison’s, who’s house is only a couple blocks from ours. Mom and Dad decided to take our dogs at my dad’s persistence. I was still thinking that we had a few days ahead of us. So I’m glad that he insisted. Between contractions, and running to the back room to have one when each came, we said our goodbyes and started walking back home. I distinctly remember holding on to Price’s arm on the way home and stopping in the middle of the street to have a contraction. I want to say they were really strong, and they were. But compared to how they got later in the night, they were still ‘sissy stuff’. And they were still nowhere near where we needed them to be in order to call Tina.
We were so tired, it had been a long couple of days. So we laid down and I propped myself up a bit to see if would allow me to sleep in between, I just wanted to sleep or have this baby….sleep or have this baby!! I didn’t last one contraction, I was upright swaying. I knew that I had to be standing to have a contraction. Therefore, there would be no sleeping in between. So then we prayed. This is my favorite part because it is a true testament that God is always with you, always listening to your prayers, and gives you just what you need when you need it! Amen! We prayed that we would either sleep or have this baby. Right after we said 'amen', I had a five minute contraction! And Price called Tina and told her there had been a “massive change in demeanor”….who me??? So now we were REALLY cooking. They didn’t stop or let up. It was about 12:45 when Tina arrived and quietly starting setting everything up and unloading. Price started filling up the kiddy pool with hot water and started boiling water on the stove to finish filling it up after all the hot water ran out of the tap. (We had to drain it from the day before earlier Monday, because we realized that there was no way to turn it from cold to as hot as it needed to be without starting from scratch when it was time.) Tina checked me and I was a 7, whoohoo! Once the pool was ready, I got in and oooooooh, how nice it was! I had my maternity bathing suit top on, but no bottoms. So yes, I was bare butt chillin' in the pool, and during each contraction “flopping around like a fish” per Price. I was still vocalizing with each one, which as I’ve said before, really helped. Price, still with his stop watch, would tell me when each contraction would peak and then I knew I was on the other side and on the way back down the contraction. Each time, thinking ‘I got through another one’.
It all happened so fast. After a while, the other midwife, Rose Marie, arrived. It’s always a pleasure to meet someone while you have no pants on, but nevertheless, it was nice to have another set of hands and additional midwifery knowledge and experience. She asked us what we were naming the baby. After we said “Presley”, she said, “so it’s a boy!” That made us all laugh. Meanwhile, Price was still running back and forth bringing boiling water to the pool to keep it warm. Although, it was feeling great, I was so hot and sick of the water. Tina checked me again and I asked, am I at least a 9? In which she replied, “no, just an 8”. In which I replied, a single profane word that starts with the letter F. That was the only time that I swore the entire labor and delivery, which I thought wasn’t too bad. I was just so tired at this point! And I had only progressed a single centimeter?
Then it got really intense, or should I say, even more intense. I remember one time, feeling ‘out of my mind’ and looking at all three of them – Tina, Price, and Rose Marie – thinking, begging for them to tell me what to do. As if there was something more I needed to do. I also remember getting frustrated because my bangs were all curled up and on my forehead (hot steamy water and curly hair don’t mix) and getting in my eyes and I was constantly moving them aside. Finally I asked for some bobby pins. Then suddently, I just wanted OUT of the water, so I got out and used the bathroom and I had one contraction. Price recounted it later saying I took a ‘swan dive’ back in. Definitely better in than out no matter how hot and water logged I was.
So Tina broke my water. I remember around this time that I was hanging on to Price over the edge of the inflatable pool and still flopping about that I leaned into him so close and I seriously almost bit him – twice. How weird is that?? I did have the sense enough to refrain, thank goodness. Soon, I was done with the water. I stood up and striped off my bathing suit top and hopped on the bed. Um, hello, totally naked?? Yep, and I didn’t care at all for some reason! So then I still wasn’t fully 10 cm, but Tina was able to stretch the last little bit of cervix over Presley’s head and I could finally start pushing. Yeah, the part of labor everyone and their mama said was the best part because you were doing something. Well, it wasn’t so great for me. I pushed and pushed and pushed….for two hours. Finally I was on my back, the position that I feared the most. But I was pushing the best in that position and I was getting to sleep a little in between contractions which weren’t as strong or as close together as they had been prior.
Rewind a little. Tina had estimated Presley to be about 7 pounds after palpating my stomach with her hands. Just a rough estimate, I understand. Ok back to the head now coming out after two hard and long hours of pushing. Tina looks at Rose Marie and says “I don’t think this baby is 7 pounds.” Rose Marie says to Tina, “I don’t think she’s 8!” Of course I was oblivious to all this. What I wasn’t oblivious to was the fact that once the head was out, Tina causally, as if we had all the time in the world, asks Price if he wanted to catch the baby. Well he was to my left, and I distinctly remember saying, “uh…can we just…” PROCEED was what I was thinking. But Price quickly got prepared to catch Presley and soon she was on my stomach. How special that he got to catch his first born.
Her umbilical cord was really short so she couldn’t even come up all the way until it was cut. Presley was born at 4:45 am. She wasn’t crying, which I was wanting to hear, just to confirm all was well. No one else seemed concerned. She was good and pink and looking up at me with her big open, blue eyes. Oh it was so good just to see her little face and see what she looked like! And what a relief that it was all over….well almost. The placenta was like pushing a bean out compared to Presley, who wasn’t 7 or 8 pounds. She weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces!! Who would have thought, not me. But my dad had guessed that exact weight when we were poling weights and heights and dates. He was only one day off from her birth date too!
Anywho, she was so bruised on her face. She didn’t quite enjoy the passage out either. She got a vitamin K shot and the bruising went away within a couple of days. So right when she was on my chest, Price started calling the family to come over and meet Presley. Presley and I took a herbal bath to clean up and by the time I was done with a quick shower, a couple of stitches, and first attempts at breastfeeding (it wasn’t as easy as I’ve heard – and what a curiously strong suck for such a little thing!), everyone was here. They were already holding and enjoying Presley for a couple minutes by the time I was dressed and back in bed. It’s no secret that I wear Price’s ‘panties’ (they’re pretty much panties, very panty-like, anyway. They’re briefs and very comfortable, especially when I’m pregnant.) So Tina was helping me get dressed and asked where my underwear was. I had to explain that I wear Price’s panties and where they were. She said that was the first time she had ever put “man panties on one of her mama’s”. I guess it’s nice to be the first in some form or fashion.
Everyone came and stood around the bed and heard all about the experience while we all bonded with Presley and passed her around, I wanted my turn too! Mom brought me a boiled egg and some pita bread – I was starving at this point. Price and I were euphoric, but completely exhausted! He said we would have handed off Presley to the Taliban at that point just to get some sleep. The family took Presley and we went to sleep for about four hours, they made breakfast and celebrated Presley’s birth. We woke up and it was the beginning of being cared for, and we needed it! When we went into having a home birth, we didn’t even consider or think about the fact that we were going to need help after the birth. Our families effortlessly stepped into that role without even being asked. My mom didn’t stop cooking and cleaning for a couple days! How fortunate we were! Mom stayed with us for the first night. And Price’s mom stayed with us the second night. How nice it was to be able to get a couple hours of sleep knowing that Presley was in good hands! We were feeding her every two hours because she was so big, that’s what we were instructed to do. So we didn’t leave a lot of time in between.
With so much company, when Price and I did have a minute to get some shut-eye, all we could do was talk and relive the whole experience. We were still euphoric days and even weeks later! I seriously could not have done it without him. He did amazing through the whole thing, way surpassing any and all of my expectations! We are closer having made that journey together! How could you not? His confidence in me never wavered, although afterwards, he said that he had his doubts at a couple points. I never would have guessed it.
We praised God for His hand in the middle of it all and for blessing us with a perfect, healthy baby girl! We continue to praise God for Presley Anne and seek His guidance in raising her and now we praise God for his hand in speeding up the conception of Teagan Astelle (a little sooner than we had on our timeline). At 36 ½ weeks along, I can’t sleep well and falling asleep is really hard. So tonight, instead of just laying there thinking, I decided to get up and write this story. To not only document the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced, but to reflect on Teagan’s soon-to-be arrival. This time, I’m more nervous because I know what to expect. I know the intensity and I fear Teagan’s birth weight…surely she won’t be bigger!!! I have faith that just as God was there with us for Presley’s birth, He’ll be with us for Teagan’s birth. Just as I was anxious to see Presley’s face, I am just as eager and anxious to meet Teagan! We have faith that Presley is going to love her little sister dearly! I look forward to writing about Teagan’s birth in the upcoming weeks!
Self portrait
Teagan likes to take pictures of herself with my phone.
So much so, I had literally 87 other self portraits to choose from. But this one was the cutest!
So much so, I had literally 87 other self portraits to choose from. But this one was the cutest!
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