Two Months Old
I just wandered back to ol’ Ruby Pines Adventures in Arkansas to see that my last post was three days before the birth of my son (over two months ago). You know all that stuff people say about babies taking up all your time and energy? Well, it’s true! It seems ridiculous that I haven’t been able to sit at a computer and type up Henry’s birth story in two months, but life has definitely taken a different twist…for the better, of course.
Henry was born at 9:30 a.m. on September 5, 2009. He was born at home as planned, although everything didn’t go exactly as planned. Here’s the overall adventure. My water broke and I immediately went into intense labor around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. I dilated fairly quickly for a first baby, with intense contractions close together from the moment they started until I was ready to push around 3:00 a.m.. Although the contractions were incredibly painful, I was able to handle the pain by moving from the birth pool to the yoga ball to the shower, etc. and having Leo next to me to encourage me to remember all the relaxation techniques we had been studying. Now is where things start getting crazy. The pushing stage did not go quickly for me. I basically pushed with every contraction for six hours. When I saw the sun come up, I started panicking a bit internally because I was exhausted and felt like I was not capable of pushing this baby out on my own. The midwife was trying every technique she knew. I was trying every existing position trying to get this boy out! Poor Leo was almost as sore as I was the next day from me pushing and pulling on him. The baby was slowly descending, but there was a long period of time where he seemed to be hung up on something. Finally I was trying to take a break for a bit when another contraction came on and I felt like I wasn’t able to push anymore, but something took over (endorphins or something!) and miraculously, my baby was suddenly placed on my belly. Leo was the first to see that he was a boy and Henry began nursing immediately (Well, after pooping all over me and Leo). The only reason we were able to keep at it for so long was because Henry’s heart rate never changed throughout the entire process, and he came out perfect with an Apgar score of 9 or 10. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as perfect after his birth. I began losing too much blood. It turned out a blood clot had formed probably due to a rip in the uterus lining. Because the baby’s head was in the birth canal for so long, the blood could not drain, and a large blood clot formed. An ambulance was called when I was bleeding and I was given pitocin to stop the bleeding. Once the clot was delivered, the bleeding stopped. We aren’t sure if this is due to the pitocin or the blood clot being expelled. When the ambulance arrived I still had not delivered the placenta and I had a small tear, so we decided to go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok. We are still not sure if I didn’t deliver the placenta because of the pitocin or because my body just shut down. Henry rode with me in the ambulance and nursed the entire trip and nursed the whole time I was waiting to go into surgery. They sent me to surgery to remove the placenta and stitch my tear (second degree). Leo and I came home the next morning with Henry. It was sad spending that first night in the hospital, not sharing a bed with Leo and Henry, but we are just thankful everyone is healthy and that most of the things that were really important to us were able to happen. Henry was born naturally with no drugs and we were able to hold him in our arms immediately in the comfort of our own bed. Before we left for the hospital, the midwife weighed Henry and he was 8pounds, 10ounces.
About 15 minutes old
Henry is now just over two months old. He is a beautiful, big boy! At his last doctor’s visit, he was seven weeks old and weighed nearly 13 pounds, which puts him in the 95th percentile for his age. He has also grown to 23 inches (he was 21 at birth). A few weeks ago, he really started to smile and laugh and he likes to be carried around in my wrap all the time. He is adjusting to life in the “outside world” and becomes more enjoyable daily. Here are some photos I took a few days ago:
Daily garden tours in the beautiful Herb Gardens begin at 11 a.m. Stop by the Plant Market for scheduled mini-workshops. Friday, May 15th features a Musical Tea at 3 p.m. on the Dr. Bessie Moore Deck.
