Sometimes, medical intervention is best

There has been a lot of talk recently on fb about unassisted childbirth and basically how stupid doctors are.  I know that you all mean well and are trying to educate others, but there is another side to the story.  When I look at my sweet baby I am so glad that he is here and so grateful for my doctor who delivered him via c section and saved his life. 

My first child birth experience was unsuccessful.  I pushed for 2 straight hours and my baby was not moving anywhere.  He had been stuck like that for 2 months.  I could feel his little head kinked off to the side and no matter how I moved or prodded him, there he stayed.   He was born via c section and I felt like a failure for a while.  On my official medical records it states “failed labor” as the reason for the c section.  Yeah, way to make a woman feel good about herself!

My second baby, Grant, has a different story.  I prayed a lot about what would be best for my baby and me.  I really felt like I should go ahead and plan on having a vbac even though my ob told me it wasn’t likely the baby would fit.  So up until I was 39 weeks, that was my plan but it didn’t seem like it was Heavenly Fathers plan.  Even though I was having contractions all the time I wasn’t at all dilated and nothing was changing.  I prayed and prayed some more.  Being pregnant was VERY painful and the baby was only getting bigger.  Vbac was no longer an option for us at that point, and it is a damn good thing I didn’t go into labor.  His head was wrapped up in the cord so tightly that he had bruising on his ear, cheek, and nose and it was wrapped again around his neck.   It felt like forever that they were untangling him before they could lift him out.  If I had tried to give birth naturally he would have been strangled.  Mothers and babies used to die all the time during childbirth. It was made manifest to me that Grant and I were among those who wouldn’t have lived if it weren’t for the c section. 

Not one day goes by that I am not more in love with my little baby!  I am so glad that he was born safely without brain damage.   So, while unassisted childbirth is great for those women who have the opportunity to do it please have some sensitivity for those of us who simply can’t. 

Kentucky

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but life has been crazy!!  We are finally getting settled here in Kentucky.  Let me just say that it was a pretty tough first month here.  The house that we had planned on buying, and renting till we could close on it fell through.  The owner decided that he didn't want us to live in it until we closed on it.  That turned out to be a trial and a blessing.  We were stuck in a motel for 2 weeks (which sucks a lot when you have a 3 year old who wants to run and play and a baby that needs it quiet to sleep and it is over 100 degrees outside).  Anyway, we were able to find a house with 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms 1 car garage and a big yard (compared to what they have in Utah) for half as much as the first house! We are also renting it until we can get our stuff together to buy it.  One problem..... the house was over run with mice while it was vacant for the last year+.   The landlord replaced the fridge and the stove (after we turned it on smoke was coming out and we discovered a mouse nest in the insulation) It took me several days to get the kitchen up to par. 

We are still dealing with some funky smells (not mouse poop anymore thankfully) and I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's just the way it smells here or if something is going on with our plumbing. 

Now that we are 90% unpacked we are really enjoying this house.  It's plenty of room for us and the yard is really fun to have.  Did I mention how nice it is to live above ground level?  It's WONDERFUL!  Even if I don't get out of the house I don't feel so couped up. 

Kentucky is beautiful, really hot (then surprisingly really cold the next day), green, and the people are..... well lets just say that I have seen my share of hicks.  There are more consignment shops here than regular stores which I hate shopping at (it feels more like hunting, and when you are trying to get in and out asap with 2  kids you don't have the brain power or patience to hunt for the right size).  

Our branch is pretty big, most of the people in it are older however.  Last Sunday an older man tried to open up a 1 liter of coke in the middle of sacrament meeting when his wife stopped him.  Josh was called to be in the Young Men's presidency, last Sunday they didn't have any young men show up so Josh and the ym president, also named Josh, had a "presidency meeting".  I am a primary teacher and had the cutest little 4-6 year olds, still need ideas on how to teach an hour lesson to kids that age, we ended up playing hang man last Sunday.  

Ethan is talking more and being such a big boy.  His new love is photography believe it or not.  He knows how to turn the camera on on my phone and takes some pretty good pictures (I have posted a few of them on fb).  Grant is teething I think.  He has been fussy lately and super drooly.  He is rolling all over the place and acts like he is learning to crawl (yikes!)  He is such a sweet baby- 5 months old  in just 8 hours from now!  

We are really blessed and getting used to our new town and this chapter of our lives.  I really miss all our family and friends.  Just because we live far away doesn't make it any harder to call!  I also have skype and haven't used it yet, so add me.  Miss you! 

frustrated

Ethan got his cast off last week but he still isn't walking on it much.  He got blisters on the bottom of his toes on his good foot from hopping on it in the swimming pool, so he wasn't walking at all on Saturday afternoon.  We were with my inlaws at the park and the kids were playing on the playground.  Ethan was sitting on the ground and playing in the wood chips.  He burried his own lap and I'm sure he was throwing them around.  I was only watching him out of the corner of my eye while I was trying to watch Josh play soccer with his brothers when I heard Ethan start to scream.  I ran over and saw 4 ten year olds trowing and kicking wood chips at him.  He was covered in them and had no way to escape since he couldn't walk.  There were at least 6 other parents standing there just watching it happen and letting them pick on the kid that can't walk.  Josh was livid and so was I.  The one kid that didn't run away before we got there (he tried to flip on the others and avoid getting caught) his dad acted like it was not that big a deal and just made him appoligize.  I tell you what, if Ethan had done anything like that he would have had the guilt trip of a life time not to mention no more  playing in the park for the day. 
Ethan was so sad about it.  He tried to tell his aunts and grandma what happened to him.  His ears now have bloody sores in them from the itchy wood chips.  Oh and still can't walk.

Grant's newborn pictures. Taken by Emmalee Prigmore

Grant is born!

I had really wanted to have a VBAC, but that wasn't looking like an option at my 39 week appointment.  I prayed and thought a lot about it and really just couldn't stand being pregnant anymore, so we scheduled the C- section for Friday April 8th.  We got to the hospital at 5:45 am and by 8:01 we had our 8lb 2oz, 20 inch baby boy.  Recovery was so much better than I had experienced after my first c section, and it's a good thing because when Grant was only 9 days old, Ethan broke his tibia.  So now we are adjusting to life with a newborn baby and a handicapped, 45 lb almost 3 year old.  It's been crazy but getting better!

Big Mistake

I thought that I could rush mother nature, I was wrong.  I'm 38 weeks pregnant now, and had my membranes stripped on Tuesday.  I've been having false labor and contractions very often, so I figured I could jump start the real thing with some castor oil.  I've tried it before and it wasn't bad, but yesterday I took 4 times more than before.  HUGE MISTAKE.  I had the worst stomachache plus cramping and diarrhea.  I was also having contractions that were pretty strong.  At about 11pm I got in the tub to see if they would stop.  They didn't.  So there I was wondering if I was in real labor, or if it was the castor oil making my stomach cramp. I finally went to bed at 3 am and was able to sleep.  This morning I'm defiantly not in labor.  Needless to say, that's my last time with castor oil. 

37 weeks

Went to the doc today.  He did not say what I wanted him to say, but it's what I expected.  Not really effacing or dilating baby is head down, but not engaged.  He also reminded me that I have a contract with Heavenly Father till April 12th.  So I guess we wait.  Oh, and he also said that my 3lb weight gain in just one week means that I need to lay down more.  That should be doable.  Oh, and is it normal to hurt like crazy after getting examined?  ouch