Announcing the birth of our little lady!! Monday night she made her first appearance in this world and we are so proud of her! Welcome to your
second estate, our little El (or L for short (: ).
*****Warning. Birthing details ahead. Proceed with caution if you're a wimp... :)*****
Monday night, while making eggplant Parmesan for dinner (Jared's favorite way to eat eggplant), I realized this was it! All my practice pressure waves from the previous week were actually leading up to something. It was 5:30 pm, Jared was on his way home from work already, and I was making dinner for the little guy. Many of you know we used Hypnobabies for self hypnosis and relaxation during birth. More info about that approach to birth can be read
here and
here. This technique has proven to be a winner for our family twice now.
So, I listened to my Birthing Day Affirmations track (from the course material) while making dinner. The track is just relaxing music with a calm woman repeating positive, encouraging thoughts like "I am going to have a calm, beautiful birthing" or "Every pressure wave brings my baby closer to being in my arms today." They are so positive and help set the mood for an optimistic, fear-free birth.
Jared got home at 6:30 and I had just laid down to relax and get into my hypno-zone, listening to the Fear Clearing track. He jumped into action like he always does when I need his help. (thank you, my love!) He fed the guy dinner, dished me a serving and cleaned up the mess. I ate dinner very slowly while still in my "trance" :) and laid back down. I originally asked Jared to put the guy to bed and run me a hot bath. But by the time he was down for bed, I realized things had progressed so quickly that there was no time for that.
I asked Jared to give me a
blessing and that only added to the peaceful, happy calm that filled the house. He packed the car, arranged to drop the guy off at my brother's (thank you, bro!), and we were off to the hospital. I listed to a different Hypnobabies track (Easy First Stage) in head phones all the way through the rest of the labor until it was time to push my baby out. It was on the background for about an hour before she was born.
Anyway, all those Hypnobabies details are for those that I know want to know more about this method.
We checked in to triage, my legs were shaking lots and I was dilated 7 centimeters. My midwife arrived as quickly as she could and was a superstar! She was right where I needed her when I needed her, but allowed me and Jared to be alone when he was all I needed. She added to the calming atmosphere. Jared made sure that the nursing staff received our homemade banana chocolate chip muffins and thank you card. We did that with the guy's birth too, to thank them for their help and support of a natural hypno-birth.
The nurse ran me a burning hot bath in the deep jetted tubs they have in every private room at the Birthing Inn. It was a great place to give birth because of that little detail. I love the water. Although, hospital policy is no water births. But labor in the water is AWESOME. While in the water only after 10 minutes, I felt like I needed to push. I got out, everyone got ready (including putting on the Pushing Baby Out track) and then the weirdest thing happened. My body took a 10 minute break and I just laid in the bed waiting for the feeling to push again. It was so strange and I kept asking Jared what happened. Bless his heart, he just patiently said I don't know. Like he would know why my contractions stopped... I knew I should squat again to get things going, but I was so comfortable laying there. I even said out loud, "I should move but I am so comfortable." I wonder how often the delivery nurses hear that during transition or pushing!
My midwife checked to see if my water broke at any point while in the tub, and later told me that at that point I was only dilated 8 centimeters. The sac still had not broken. I knew I should squat if anything was going to progress, but squatting did not get the desired effects. So, I remembered that my job is just to relax and let my baby's birth happen. We sat the bed up a bit so I was squatting a bit but fully supported. I completely released all my muscles to a complete limp state and a couple minutes later she was born! Relaxing everything completely allowed we to dilate the last 2 centimeters, not tear at all, and I pushed her out in one contraction. It was incredible. Seriously out of this world. I got to hold her immediately and told her she did such a good job. I am really so proud of her because I know it is hard work. But we did it! Team Ondricek did it again!
She was born at 10:42 pm, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 19 inches long and a screamer. She has proven to be a very vocal baby since then. She's got opinions and she makes them known. :)
Our hospital stay was longer than I wanted and there are several things that happened that reminded me a healthy birth is a hospital is not my ideal birth. For example, someone came in at 6 am to draw my blood and she turned on the lights immediately upon walking in the room. Jared, the lady and I were all asleep in there, so I barked out, "You can take my blood without giving my whole family cardiac arrest!" I felt bad for being rude, but seriously that sucked. I want to be at a birthing center, but I want to know a hospital is close in case of emergency. There is no good combination like that close enough to us.
Since her birth, we have all fallen in love with E and make sure she knows it. Big brother loves her, enjoys holding her, saying her name, and showing her his toys. He wanted her to go down his slide once she came home. He is so excited to have a sibling and friend.
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| The poor girl was uncomfortable with gas the first 2 days. Probably all the delicious cheese in my eggplant parm. Yum! |
We also have enjoyed the incredible assistance and love from LeAnn or "Mimama" (Jared's stepmom) and Aunt Rachel this week. What a difference they have made in our transition. Thank you so much for your help!!
And thank you to all who have offered their love and help. We love you so much in return!
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| The proud makers of a delicious homemade white chocolate raspberry ice cream pie! |
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| We heart games. We are kind of obsessed lately. |
Lastly, Jared and I are so grateful to the Lord for helping our family grow and for making the journey so enjoyable. E's name means different things in different languages. Among its meanings are "my God is bountiful," "God's promise," and "consecrated to God, noble." Jared and I know that our God is bountiful, has given us great bounty in life, and that He keeps his promises. And we hope to teach our lady to love God and consecrate her life to Him. Her middle name is in honor of her grandma, Ann Marie Ondricek, who passed away last year. We trust that these two wonderful ladies already know each other from before E was born. :) We have undoubtedly felt Grandma O's love and support this week. The tender mercies of the Lord have been many these last few days. And for that, we are grateful.
