Elly's blessing

It's official.  Little Elly was blessed as Eleanor Marilyn Layton on June 3rd.  It was a lovely day and Chris gave her a sweet blessing.  It was nice to have my dad be in the circle.

I am not super thrilled with her dress, as it is a little to frilly and not a comfortable cotton one.  However, she looked cute, and she didn't seem to mind the material.  I'm not so sure about the bow on her head, but both Chris and Dad really liked it, so it stayed.

Peter has seemed to figure out that it's appropriate to smile for pictures.  Funny boy.

Elly is gaining like a champ, as evidenced by her chubby cheeks.  It's so nice to have a good nurser!  It is so much easier than bottle feeding!!  And tons easier than pumping and bottle feeding.  Thank goodness for my little nursing baby girl.  She wouldn't have been patient for me to pump, and Peter definitely wouldn't have been patient for me to pump.  

It's hard to get any pictures of here with her eyes open in the morning, but we managed to get a few.  She also just started to smile at us socially.  She's not as smiley as Peter was, but she'll give us cute little smiles every now and then. 

 

For the first 6 weeks of her life, I slept on the couch--that's how bad she slept.  But finally, it has started getting better and she is sleeping longer in her little cosleeper bed that we bought. 

She is a little higher maintenance baby than Peter was.  She has sort of fussy periods in the evenings where she wants to be either eating or being held while we walk around or bounce on the exercise ball with her.  This lasts from about 5 to 9.  Then I try to put her to sleep, but I can't seem to get her to go down for the night before 11:30.  But at least she sleeps for a few hours once I've finally put her down.

Now if only Peter would sleep in a little later than 5:30...

She is a sweet little addition to the family.  We love you Elly!

Elly's first month

 Newborn Elly in the hospital with Grandpa.  She hasn't had her bath yet, so her hair's a little messy.  The hospital was nice about postponing her bath so that we could have lots of bonding time.

Our stay in the hospital was a little longer than normal due to my not having had antibiotics at least 4 hours prior to her birth.  But thankfully they let us go the evening of our second day there so that we didn't have to stay another night at the hospital.  It's so hard to sleep with nurses coming in and out at all hours of the night.

Elly was very healthy from the start and only had a little jaundice.  Poor baby--they kept monitoring her bilirubin levels, and so they pricked her little heels about 6 times in the end.  She was not a happy baby for those times.  Because of the jaundice, the doctor wanted me to supplement a little to get the bilirubin out of her system faster.  I was very sad to have to bottle feed her, but I soon got an SNS to supplement her to allow her to get her supplement while breast feeding.  I worked with a lactation consultant also because of lots of discomfort, and the consultant was hugely helpful.  I also discovered that Elly was gaining really well and super fast, and that I probably didn't need to supplement her in the first place.  But such is the way with doctors--they always err on the side of caution.  Anyway, she has been such a good nurser that she was 7 lbs. 13 oz. at her two week appointment.  A full 13 oz. up from her birth weight.  Go Elly!  And I happily only had to use the SNS for a very short time, and she is solely breast feeding now.  Such a huge relief and feels like quite a feat after pumping all of Peter's milk for ten months of his life.  When I told the lactation consultant I pumped for that long, she told me that she'd never heard of anyone doing it for that long.  I thought it was more typical of women to do it that long, but I guess I was wrong.

Peter's present from Elly upon her arrival.  He was VERY excited to have this special train set, and I think it has distracted him a bit from the very big transition of welcoming a new addition to our family.  Peter was sort of an indifferent big brother in the beginning, not really knowing what to make of his little sister.

 Grandpa and Elly on her 2nd day of life.  Dad has been great at helping out with both Elly and Peter.  Elly has not been the best sleeper by any standards.  In the beginning she wouldn't sleep unless she was being held, but thankfully she will go down now.  After the first week or so, I realized that she has a little acid reflux problem.  So that means I have to keep her upright for about half an hour after she eats before putting her down.  Also, she has a dirty diaper just about every hour of the day and night.  This causes some diaper rash issues which also affects nighttime sleep.

So because I have to change her diaper every time she wakes at night, burp her for half an hour afterward, then she only sleeps for an hour and half at best in her little co-sleeper bed when the cycle begins all over again.  Sometimes she I have to change her twice in a waking, and then she's so awake it takes me an hour to get her to go back to sleep.  Ew.  I think I average about 4 hours a night.  It is not getting better, and I have been sick three times in her first month of life.  And that's with my dad helping me out during the day.  I'm not sure how I'm going to survive when he goes, but I sure am so grateful to have his help while he's here!

 Daddy with Peter and Elly. 

 These items were a gift from the people at Chris's work.  They are all very soft and cuddly.

 Two weeks old

So little!!

 A gift from my in-laws.  So funny!  But I must admit I do sort of feel like I have superpowers for being able to nurse her. 

This is about one month old.  Notice her chubby cheeks!

Peter has started to take an interest in his sister.  He enjoys pointing out her toes and nose.  And he's started saying goodnight to her before bedtime.  I think she's winning him over.  :)

Welcome Elly!

Little Elly right after birth.  See her squished little nose.  And for some reason, it looks like she's got really dark huge eyebrows.  But this is just a shadow from her brow, not actual eyebrows, which were barely visible at birth.

Now that Elly's over a month old, it's probably time I updated the blog.  First things first: the birth story.  And I don't know how to be brief, so this is a long one. 

             It was a different experience bringing Elly into this world from my experience with Peter.  This time around, I was ready for her to come.  I couldn’t wait to meet her and I prepared myself for her arrival, so all I was doing was waiting. 

            By 37 weeks, I had a prenatal appointment, and Elly’s measurements had not changed from one week to the next.  So, the midwife ordered an ultrasound.  This was exactly what precipitated all the nonsense with Peter’s arrival with the doctors wanting to induce me.  So, I was very fearful and frustrated by the potential that this might happen with Elly.  All I wanted was to go into labor naturally and have as relaxed a birth as possible. 

            After much consideration, I decided to go ahead and schedule the ultrasound.  But the offices were so booked, that they couldn’t see me until after my next prenatal appointment.  I felt at peace that Elly was all right and that I needn’t worry.

            At my 38 week appointment, she measured another inch in growth, which was encouraging.  However, my midwife still wanted me to keep the appointment for the ultrasound.  I was a little annoyed, and a little anxious.  I really wanted Elly to come before I had that ultrasound appointment.  I tried to get lots of good exercise to get this little girl to arrive.  I even climbed a very tall tower at Gettysburg hoping to get labor going, but it was not to be.

            As it turns out, I went in to labor at 39 weeks—two days before my ultrasound appointment, so I felt very blessed.  Up until I actually went into labor, I had had a few episodes of false labor.  I didn’t actually go to the hospital, but I thought I might on a few occasions where I had regular contractions.  I think my false labor episodes were part of the reason that I was so anxious for her to come and part of my anxiety was that I wanted her to be as early as Peter was (38 weeks).  The day that I went into labor, I actually decided to stop driving myself crazy with anxiety and just patiently wait for her to come.  Typical that I wouldn’t calm myself down until right before the big event! 

On April 23^rd, Dad and I took Peter to the mall.  I remember having some stronger contractions while I was having to chase after Peter.  Not so easy to run after a toddler during a contraction, it turns out.  Later that night after we put Peter to bed, we were all sitting down to watch an episode of “Missing” on ABC.  I started to feel some painful contractions in my back, just like I felt with Peter.  And they were coming every 5-6 minutes or so.  I got to the point where I had to use the exercise ball and counter pressure to make me more comfortable during contractions.  Dad and Chris both thought it would be a good idea to get ready to go to the hospital.  I agreed, although I kind of felt like this was probably another false alarm.  When I started to get things packed, then the contractions started to kick into high gear.  The more active I was, the faster they came, coming every 3 minutes, and they were continuing to grow in intensity.  I recall thinking, “This better be the real thing this time, because this is uncomfortable!”

I called the midwife on the way to the hospital and talked to her in the middle of a contraction.  We finally got there at 11:15.  That late at night, no one was walking about.  While Chris was parking the car, I was making my way to the third floor of the hospital, not stopping for contractions, even though they got more and more uncomfortable. 

I made it to the desk of the birth unit, and they had me fill out a bunch of papers.  Not such fun while I was having contractions!  I think I had about 3 of them during the time it took me to fill out all the papers, even though there were only two pages to sign. 

Chris came in and met me with all our bags.  A nurse came to meet us and took us back to telemetry.  I put on a hospital gown and slippers and they hooked me up to a monitor to see how Elly was doing and to see how far apart my contractions were.  I was only supposed to be monitored for 20 minutes, but because Elly was so still and sleeping, they wanted to monitor her when she was more active.  So they had me drink some apple juice and lay down for an additional 10 minutes.  Again, not fun during contractions, especially when I had back labor!  They slowed to about 4 to 5 minutes apart, but the intensity did not let up.  And every time I would get up and move around, I would get another contraction, no matter when the last one had come. 

Eventually my midwife showed up and checked my progress.  Only 4 cm!  All that pain and only 4 cm!  I was so discouraged because when I was in labor with Peter, I was at 4 cm before I even realized I was in labor.  And Peter came a full 18 hours later after I was 4 cm, so I was worried that I’d be in a lot of discomfort for a long time with Elly too. 

They gave me a hep-lock IV for antibiotics for Group B Strep right before they let me get up to move around.  Once I got up, the contractions kicked into high gear, getting closer together and stronger.  I had one really hard one and thought I wasn’t going to be able to endure hours and hours of that.  And I was shocked it was so uncomfortable when I was only at 4 cm.  During a painful contraction in the beginning, my midwife instructed me to let myself relax into the contraction and to let my legs relax apart and knees bend.  I had been a bit tense up to that point, so it was a good reminder to relax. 

My midwife asked if I wanted to get into the shower to relax, and I thought that sounded great because I was so uncomfortable.  Chris gave me counter pressure every time I had a contraction, which was a life saver.  Even though he was getting wet from the spray of the shower, he still faithfully gave me counter pressure when I needed it.  For the time I was in the shower, I leaned over for each contraction and tried to surrender to the contraction and just let myself experience it.  I didn’t want to get in the way of my progress. I also found that vocalizing was a huge help to me.  I felt like I needed to release something, and vocalizing was a way for me to let myself release.  I also remembered Ina May talking about the mind/body connection in her book and how many women were able to cause their own dilation by visualization.  So I tried to do this with all my might.  When I was able to fully relax into each painful contraction, I tried to imagine her dropping and myself dilating.  And maybe I’m crazy, but I felt like I could actually feel her getting lower and myself dilating.  And I also noticed that when I started to fear the pain, I didn’t feel any progression, and the next contraction was farther apart and less intense.  So, I really tried to double my efforts to relax, even though it was getting so intense. 

I was probably in the shower for less than an hour.  I remember really hoping that I was close to transition, because I was so uncomfortable.  But then I realized that I was only 4 cm an hour prior to being in the shower, and how could I possibly be in transition in such a short time?  I also remember thinking that I still had it together, so that I must not have been in transition yet.  I also could still talk to Chris to some degree, if only to ask for counter pressure.  When I was in transition with Peter, I was so out of it with exhaustion and pain that I think I zoned out for a while.  So, for all these reasons, I thought I probably wasn’t in transition yet, even though I was really in a lot of pain and discomfort.

However, at the end of the shower, I felt like I was getting a punch to the gut sensation at the end of my vocalization breaths.  My body was pushing by itself without intentional effort from me.  And I felt a lot of pressure.  I told Chris I felt pressure and that I was feeling pushing impulses.  He didn’t say much but informed the midwife.  Later he told me thought I was a little crazy and that I couldn’t possibly be to that point.  Lucky for both of us he didn’t say these words to me.  J

I vaguely remember drying off and heading to the hospital bed.  The midwife checked me and I was at 9 cm.  From 4 to 9 in less than two hours, hooray!  She asked me if I wanted to lie on the bed.  I lay on the bed in-between a contraction for a minute, but as soon as the next contraction came, I flipped onto hands and knees so that Chris could give me counter pressure.  And the urges to push got stronger and stronger.  I remember that I was barely aware of the midwives getting things ready for Elly’s arrival because I was focusing on the contractions.  And then I remember my midwife telling me to go ahead and push, which seemed only a few minutes after she told me I was at 9 cm.  So I started pushing at 1:42am, when my water broke.  I asked my midwife if she wanted me to get into another position, and she told me to push in whatever position felt right to me.  So, I stayed on hands and knees. 

I felt so different pushing this time than with Peter.  I felt so out of control with Peter, like the pushes were controlling me and overwhelming my body.  I was also completely exhausted with Peter because I had been at the hospital for 18 hours of continuous labor.  In labor with Elly, I still had energy as I began to push.  The midwife directed my pushing and helped me to back off and deliver Elly gradually. I felt completely in control and energized that I would meet our little girl so soon.  Chris told me later that once her head was born, they discovered the cord wrapped around her neck.  So the midwife quickly unwrapped the cord and I pushed her the rest of the way out.  She was born at 1:52am, with only 10 minutes of pushing.  I felt so relieved and felt that adrenaline and endorphin spike.  I was so happy and energized! 

I was a little disappointed that they didn’t let me take Elly right away.  She had some meconium staining when she was born, so they took her to monitor her breathing, which was a tiny bit labored as she tried to clear her lungs a little.  The nurse paged a doctor to come and look at her since there was meconium present in the fluids.  The doctor told me I couldn’t nurse her until he came back and checked on her.  I was a little frustrated and anxious because I didn’t want to disrupt our nursing or get off to a bad start, but I still felt pretty good and excited.  Chris stayed with Elly through her monitoring and through her evaluation and APGAR scoring (8). Elly weighed in at 7 lbs. even, and was 19.5 inches long.  Just a tad bigger than Peter's 6 lbs. 8 oz., and 19 inches. 

Chris mentioned that Elly looked exactly like Peter.  When I finally got to hold her, about half an hour after she was born, I thought she looked nothing like Peter, but looked like her own little person.  She had a squished nose for some reason, but the doctor assured us it was nothing to worry about.  But she was still a little cutie to me.  She was quite perturbed not to be able to nurse, and I was getting irritated that the doctor took an extra half hour to come back and give me the okay.  Elly’s lungs cleared quickly and she seemed fine.  She nursed very enthusiastically from the first, and has been a champion nurser ever since. 

I felt a little shocked that she was born so quickly and so easily.  I told Chris I didn’t feel like I had paid my dues to bring her into this world.  Even though I gave birth naturally, the pain was manageable through concentration and surrendering my will and body to the contractions.  And the high that I got after she was born felt so good after all that pain.  It was just a completely sublime experience and I feel so blessed to have gone through it so easily.