'Taters for Breakfast!

So my little one, four year old Gavin, wakes up today informing me that hes sick.  He sneezes a couple times and does look slightly ill.  I felt his face, he feels fine.  Then he eyes up the bag of potatoes on the floor I neglected to put away last night after getting groceries.  "I need mashed potatoes for breakfast, cause I'm sick..  from eatin' too much junk."    He has not been eating junk at all lately but I know this statement comes from good ole mom :)  Halloween has recently passed and I recall the countless times I said "Don't eat too much junk, you'll be sick!"    

Of course, me being the sucker mom that I am, I chop up some potates and throw them in a pot.  Who says mashed potatoes can't be a breakfast food anyway?  They are probably better for him than what most kids eat -sweetened cereal, waffles, pancakes and processed instant oatmeal!   I sliced up an orange and served it with the potatoes for breakfast.  Oh the looks I got from my older two kids!   But they enjoyed it and will probably ask for it again some morning :) 

The Birth Story of our Fourth Child

I should first start out saying that I LOVED being pregnant with this baby.  I loved her kicks, loved her hiccups, loved the way I looked down and saw my round belly and stick-out belly-button.  I did have morning sickness (or should I say all day sickness?" )  and I was extremely tired for the first 4 months.  I decided from the very beginning that I wanted a midwife to do the prenatal care and deliver my baby.  With my previous 3 babies I had an OB. I found it very impersonal and too professional.  And when it came time to deliver, I was stuck with 2 nurses for most of the labor and then whatever OB happened to be on the Labor and Delivery Ward at the time would come in just when the baby is about to be born until the placenta pops out and then they were gone.

                                                                                                                                

I loved the two midwives I was placed with.  They were wonderful with my older children and they sincerely cared about our well-being.  The baby was breech during weeks 32-34 and my midwife taught me how to find her head, which was right under my ribs.  I loved feeling the baby in this position. I felt like a kangaroo with a joey in my pouch. I could hold her head in my hand.  It was cool.

I can't believe how bonded we were when I was pregnant with Myla, I knew she was a girl from the very beginning. I felt a closeness the whole time. Much different than the other 3 kids, even though during this pregnancy I had some severely stressful moments. - [My best friend's little baby boy died at 32 weeks (she was 4 weeks ahead of me).  We moved to a new house, my uncle died, and I was in a small car accident.]  I'm not sure if its because I am older and more intuitive or if she and I just had a different in utero bond, but I loved every second of her in my tummy and actually wished she would come a few days late.

The day before everything went down, I felt GREAT.  For weeks before I was anxious and irritable.  But on October 5th I was relaxed, mind and body.  I went through the day just hanging out by myself, relaxing on the couch. My husband  JJ was on the night shift so I took my kids to the park when they got home from school to keep the house quiet. We had a blast with me not being so grumpy for once.  After I tucked them into bed that night I felt a huge anxious urge to clean my kitchen. So I spent about an hour cleaning and headed to bed (which was the couch cause hubby was at work).

On October 6, 2010 I awoke at 3:03 am with a popping sensation below the tummy and a huge gush of water rushed out.  I was in shock and as I stood up and trickled my way to the kitchen it just kept coming.  By the time I reached the washroom my entire pair of pants were soaked and about 2 litres of water was pooled on the floor.  I started to shake, maybe because I was scared but I think I was more in shock than anything.  I changed my clothes and called my husband at work and told him the baby was coming today. With this being my fourth child my midwife and myself thought this would go quickly.  JJ and I had discussed earlier that we hoped the baby would come on the 7th, the due date given. - So we were both disappointed, thinking this baby would surely be here by noon that day.  He called someone to come in and cover the rest of his shift and came home.  We called his mom at 6am to let her know what was happening so she could come here and take care of our other three children  while we were gone.  When the kids woke up we told them they'd have a new baby brother or sister by the time they came home from school (boy were we wrong!) They were very disappointed when they came off the bus to find me still home and big-bellied.
 

Now I had always assumed that when your water breaks before contractions start that they would start right away.  Well they didn't.  We waited for contractions to come.  And waited.... and waited some more.  As a matter of fact they didn't start until 3pm that day.  And they were not regular were only a 2 on the 1-10 pain scale.  Our midwife told us that if the baby not be born 24 hrs after my water breaking that she would consult an OB about induction and IV antibiotics.  When I went in to see her at 5pm that day I was only 2 cm dilated.   I couldn't believe that with my water broken that her head was not dilating me more!  14 1/2 hrs later,  at 5:30pm - After a non-stress test, we decided to go out for dinner. My contractions at this point still didn't have me gasping and grabbing at something to squeeze but they were 6-7 minutes apart so we were excited they were regulating.  We went over to our friends John and Theresa and hung out with them until 11:30pm. During our stay here they were getting further apart (5-20 minutes) but getting so intense that I was needing to breathe through them.  They were all over the place so  we didn't know what to think.  When we got home we though rest would be best, so we went to bed to lay down.  I was still timing these contractions and I noticed that when I layed down they were 7-10 minutes apart, but when I stood up they were 2 minutes apart.  Getting pretty painful by then I decided I did not want to be standing.  By this point I was incredibly tired, I had been awake since 3am and it was now midnight.  I slept in between a few contractions but the pain was getting worse with each one.

I labored in bed for a while, until I couldn't take it anymore. I woke up my husband and told him we had to go to the hospital because I NEEDED some sort of pain relief.  I couldn't even walk once we met the midwife at the hospital at about 1:30am.  JJ had to grab a wheelchair since emergency didn't even offer me one and it was a long walk plus an elevator ride up to labor and delivery.  When we got to the room she settled me into the bed and started the paper work.  I had about 3 contractions and felt the baby move down with the third one.  "ITS COMING!" I screamed at her.  She jumped up and phoned the other midwife to hurry and come help with the delivery.  Then she checked my cervix - I was 8 1/2 cm dilated.  I was begging for the gas so she hooked it up and gave it to me.  It did help some, enough to help me through the next 1 1/2 cm. 

My husband called my mom to let her know I was only 1 1/2 cm away from pushing.  At around 2:25am I was 10 cm.  Now its all a blur because the pain took over and I pushed and screamed for what seemed like forever, but it was only about 10 minutes.  Right before she was born they asked me how big do you think baby will be?  I said "8 lbs or just under 8lbs"  And having carried 3 previous babies of various weights, I was pretty confident with my guess. 

The midwife discovered during my last 2 pushes that the baby's arm was behind her head and her elbow was up against my hip. Later the midwife told me that was why I didn't start contracting until later that day and that is why my contractions were so unpredictable and irregular. She nudged her arm up and out of the way.


On her due date, at 2:37am on October 7th 2010, with the last push and scream out came baby.  They placed her on my chest, and with instant relief of pain I was stunned.  I didn't say a word for about 30 seconds.  I felt her head and awed her big body with disbelief that this baby was just in my belly and now it was on top of it.  I finally managed to speak, "what is it?"  They flipped her over, and this part still makes me cry when I think about it. "It's a GIRL!"    JJ smiled and looked at me with love and said "We had a girl."

 

We named her Myla, as planned. If we'd had a boy his name would have been Holden.  She weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz.  One ounce away from being 8 lbs.  Just like I'd guessed :)  She was absolutely perfect and beautiful.  Perfectly round head, dark hair and beautiful eyes.  She ate right away and then fell asleep.

No words that can express my emotions of all the births of my children.  Until you experience it yourself, you'll never know the high you get when you hear your baby's first cry.  The first time they look up at you and look in your eyes while you are feeding them.

 

That is the birth story of my fourth child Myla Rose.  Precious and unforgettable.  As I finish this story shes looking up at me puckering her lips and cooing.   Loving her mom smiling down at her.

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