Recently Annalise was able to make her acting debut. She played Baby Jesus at our church Christmas party. All the primary kids acted out the Christmas story and sang songs. I thought the yellow pacifier was a nice touch.
We have been trying to get everything ready for our trip out West. I mailed off our clothes yesterday to avoid the hassle at the airport. It has been quite the undertaking. Chris' mom gave us quite a few clothes, but most of them are not the kids current sizes. So I had to sort all the clothes and pack away the clothes that are out of season and either too small or too big. Then plan out what sort of outfits the whole family will need. I am glad the shipping part is done. Now I have to put away all the madness left in the wake!
As many of you may know, I have trouble around this time of each of my kids' lives and keeping my milk supply. With Kiah I was told it was most likely a fluke and would not happen again. SO I was caught off guard with Eli. So I made plans with Annalise. Each child I change-up the plan. With Kiah I just tried Fenugreek. It helped a bit, but not enough. With Eli I added Domparidone to the mix. Unfortunately, by the time I got it going he was refusing to nurse. He was a MASSIVE eater, so I pumped for as long as I could stand it. With Annalise I decided to try something new. I went on Metformin. It is a insulin regulating medication. I was very hopeful. However, as of a couple days ago, I determined it had failed as well. SO I went back on fenugreek and Domparidone. I am now trying to decide if I want to stay on the metformin. It is now official, breastfeeding is my biggest challenge in life. I am not sure why. My supply issues are not the only problems. Kiah wouldn't latch, Eli was tongue-tied, and Annalise has reflux. The odds are stacked against me! Thankfully fomula is readily available. I often wonder what would have happened years ago. Cow's milk I suppose.
When Chris and I were married we got season passes to Disneyland. I had just started a new job and couldn't take much time off for a Honeymoon, so we decided this was a good option since we could break the Honeymoon up over a year. On our hallway wall there is a picture that Chris and I took with Minnie Mouse. The other day Kiah saw it and wondered why she wasn't in the picture. So Chris told her she wasn't born yet. She then stated "Daddy I want to be there. I be in the picture, can we go now!?"
I was very fortunate yesterday. On Saturday it was my friend Margaret's baby shower and she was scheduled to be induce 12/15. She had a rough experience with the birth of her first daughter, Mary. Mary was born with aspiration pneumonia, from passinf meconium. Her APGAR was 1 when she was born. (APGAR is a score that each child is given as they are born to access the health and vitals of the baby. Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration are the 5 areas observed and each area is given a score between 0-2, for a maximum score of 10, one is not good) She spent 11 days int he NICU after her birth. The NICU is not where any parent wants to end-up. Mary was almost 9 lbs when she was born. So Margaret's Doctor wanted to make sure this baby was not as big, to help avoid the passing of meconium. The ultrasound a week ago measured the baby at about 7 lbs 8 oz.
Anyway, Margaret asked me if I wouldn't mind going to the hospital on Monday and help her to stay calm and relaxed. Her husband Murray was going to be there, but sometimes it is really nice to have a females support through the birthing experience, especially one who has been there. Chris had a final that morning, so when he got home I ran and dropped our boxes of clothes for California off at FedEx then drove to the Hospital. I got there just after 11am. Margaret already had an epidural, s she was feeling pretty good. So I stayed and chatted with her for awhile. Pretty soon she started to feel a lot of pressure in her abdomen. And she started to shake a lot more. (one of the side effects of an epidural is it can cause shaking) But her shaking was increasing a lot. The Nurse had just informed Margaret her Doctor would be there in less than 30 min. But I suggested she have the nurse check her before then. I didn't tell Margaret, but I had a feeling she was in transition and was basically ready to push the baby. So she had the nurse come in and check her, and sure enough she was fully dilated. Margaret got VERY anxious then. #1, she was worried about the baby, since all she knew was Mary's birth and it was a traumatic birth, and #2 her doctor wasn't there yet. I stuck around to distract Margaret. I had Murray and Margaret predict when they thought the baby would be born. Murray picked 12:25. It was 11:55 at the time. I also asked them how big they thought the baby would be. Murray predicted 8 lbs. I just tried to keep Margaret talking and laughing and distracted, while rubbing her shoulders and stroking her hair and holding her hand. The nurse came in right after she got off the phone with the doctor saying " your doctor didn't believe me. She will be here in 4 min." Margaret felt much better once she knew her doctor was so close.
Then Margaret's concern changed. She asked me to wait outside during the birth so that I could be there for her when Murray leaves with the baby. It took me awhile to convince her the baby wasn't going anywhere. The baby would stay in the room with her. I told her I would be happy to stay, but Murray and the baby were not going to leave her side. And they didn't. Margaret gave birth to a VERY healthy baby girl, Rachael Jane Pratt at 12:25pm (just as Murray had predicted.) She was a big girl too, weighing 9 lbs 4 oz. She is the cutest and chubbiest baby I have seen. She is only 20" long. I think there will be a lot of newborn diapers Margaret will be taking back from her shower.
For awhile now I have been very fascinated with birth. I have always loved educating myself about it and others if they care. (Honestly, I love it. I dream about the day when my own daughters give birth) Helping Margaret was so much fun. I was able to use some of my Social Work skills I studied for so long and paid greatly for and use my "hobby" at the same time. Maybe I will toy with the idea of becoming a doula.
Nicole-B Borders:
Your help sounded so nice that I found myself thinking, "she should be a doula" before I got to the end and I was like, "maybe I need her"...even thought I didn't have any problems with Charles' birth. I've been meaning to tell you that I really enjoyed the way you played the part in the RS play. I appreciated how you really got into your role and made it interesting. I could feel the Spirit and saw it on the faces of others during your part. Have a great trip!
Shannon Standifer:
Okay...I am not pregnant yet, but I still don't understand everything as good as you do. I know you don't have a lot of free time to talk on the phone (I'm so glad you are here in California for a while). The doctor is talking fertility meds now and I don't understand everything...Maybe you can help. I think you would make a fabulous doula.
1 comment:
Luna, I have never seen this post until now, I guess I didn't check blogs so much after Rachel was born. Thank you! You are a good friend and I am lucky to know you! You are a special person with some wonderful gifts. Thank you for the support you gave me. You're being there really helped prevent me from getting too upset. I love you so much for that! Oh and I will NEVER forget Chris coming in the Santa suit. Please convince him to do it again this year!!
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