Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful that we hired packers/movers for our move. This is the least stressed out I have been before a move and its the biggest move that we have done.

I am also thankful that I finally get to see our new house in person on Monday. I am thankful to Jeff for visiting and taking pictures for me as often as he has.

What are you thankful for?
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thankful Thursday

Catherine had her appointment with the pediatrician yesterday because of her toe walking. Luckily we were able to see a pediatrician that I have worked with at the hospital. He watched her play, had her run/walk up and down the hallway and checked her reflexes. Other then her right foot not coming back as much (when you pull your toes up towards you) as her left foot, everything looks good. She can walk heel to toe, she just prefers to walk in her toes. She should stop by the age of 3, but she may still unconsciously do it after that too. So all we have to do is work on stretching out her tendons in that right foot when she is sitting and relaxing.

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the wonderful family that I have. Sam, Catherine, Jefferson, my mom and I all headed to Ottawa earlier this week for Sam’s University Convocation. We had a great time and I am so proud of Sam. Then my Grammy came to visit Catherine, Jefferson and I this morning.

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Monday, June 13, 2011

Friday, June 10, 2011

Jefferson August Cremasco is here!

 

I’m a little late in posting this, but life with two and a husband that is working away from home is busy.

 

Happy Birthday Baby C!

Name: Jefferson August Cremasco

Date: May 30, 2011

Weight: 8 lbs 5 oz

Length: 20.5 inches

I woke up on Sunday May 29, 2011 at about 6:30 am to a contraction. I thought nothing of it because I had been having contractions for over 2.5 weeks at that point, but these contractions seemed to be more uncomfortable. I kept having them on an off from then until 10:30 am, but they were all over the place time wise and the length was varying as well. Then they stopped completely for a few hours. After that I would have them randomly again. I laid down in the afternoon when Catherine went for her nap because I was super exhausted from not sleeping well and being up at 6:30 am. I only slept for an hour and a half and then woke up to my Grammy calling about my uncle Gary’s birthday BBQ that evening. I got up and started to get ready to go. We headed over to her house around 4:30 pm, I was still having the contractions and they seemed to be even more uncomfortable and about 10 minutes apart give or take, but they were still really varying in length, so I didn’t think it was the real thing. We had dinner and cake and then my uncle drove Jeff home so that he could get ready to head up north for training for the week (and he was getting pj’s and a few other things for Catherine, so we could put her to sleep there if we had to). My Grammy urged me to stay at her house until Sam (my sister) got off of work, so that I wasn’t alone at home in case I was really in labour. Shortly after Jeff left I text messaged Sam to ask her to come to Grammy’s after work. She sent me a message right back saying she had been cut early and as just cashing out and she would come. I called Jeff to tell him not to worry about the stuff for Catherine since we would be home before her bedtime, so he stopped by my Grammy’s on his way our of town to say goodbye to us and I told him I would call if I needed him to come back. Sam got to my Grammy’s around 8:15 pm and by that point I was really uncomfortable even between contractions and I had a heating pouch on my back because it was killing me. Sam took Catherine and headed home and my uncle Gary drove my van home. Sam then took my uncle Gary back. Once Sam was back, a huge thunderstorm started rolling in. I decided that I had had enough and I paged my midwives to see if they had any suggestions on what I could do because I was miserable. I spoke with Laurel, the student midwife, for about 10 minutes, during which time I had 5 contractions, but they were still really short in length (about 30 to 45 seconds). She told me she would call Rebecca and see what she thought we should do and that Rebecca should be calling me shortly. About 5 minutes later my midwife Annita (the midwife that delivered Catherine and my favourite midwife) called me back because Rebecca and Laurel had been to 2 births in the last 24 hours. After talking to me for a few minutes in which I had a few contractions, she decided she was coming to check me. Shortly after I hung up with Annita, Jeff called to say that he was pulled over at the side of the road because the rain was so heavy he couldn’t see the road. I told him I had called the midwives and that Annita was coming to check me. He said he would stay where he was and to call him once she checked me. I commented to Sam at this point that I could see why some women get epidurals because I was so uncomfortable and that maybe having a home birth wasn’t such a good idea. Annita got to our house at about 9:10 pm and later told me that she knew I was in labour as soon as she walked in the door. She asked me to go use the washroom before she checked me, when I finished using the washroom I noticed that I was having bloody show. When she checked me, much to my surprise, I was 5 to 6 cm dilated, with bulging membranes to which she said your in active labour and that water could break anytime now. The house then went into a frenzy. Sam started moving the kitchen table in to the living room and began putting the birthing pool up. I began making calls, first I called Jeff to tell him he needed to head back, then I called my Grammy to tell her she was right, and then I called Jeff’s parents to tell them that I was finally going to have this baby. Sam text messaged our mom because she was in Toronto at the Lion King Musical with work. She called right back and said she would be at our house around 11 pm as long as traffic was okay coming out of Toronto. I then started pulling our home birth supplies out and was helping Sam and Annita get things set up between contractions. I noticed that my contractions weren’t as uncomfortable as they had been, but were about 2 to 3 minutes apart lasting 1 to 1.5 minutes in length, I was very happy and commented that it must be because I knew I was really in labour and going to have a baby that night or early the next morning, so my body finally relaxed. Jeff got back just before 10 pm and helped Sam get the birthing tub filled, so it was ready when we needed it. Once everything was set up I pulled out my computer to update my Strongmommas and Due in June 2011 message board friends. I also sent my friend Dawn a BBM that I was finally in labour and responded to a BBM from my friend Amy and let her know also. Amy’s sister in law my best friend Jacquie then began BBMing me also. I would stop and concentrate and do my HypnoBirth breathing through the contractions, but I felt great in between them. Everyone was just relaxing, Jeff was watching the NASCAR race and when Dale Earnhardt Jr. almost won the race, but ran out of gas at the last turn I went running to our bedroom to watch the finish. My mom arrived just before 11 pm with coffee and timbits for the troops. At that point my contractions got way stronger and closer together to the point that I was pacing around and around through our kitchen and living room to get through them. I also wasn’t getting much if any relief in between contractions. Annita said in a few contractions she wanted to check me again, so that we would have enough time to get Sarah there for back up. I had two more contractions and she checked me again and I was 8 to 9 cm dilated and my membranes were still intact. Annita then called Sarah to get her to start coming. Annita suggested that I get in to the birthing pool because the water may help with the contractions, so I did. The water did help a lot and I was able to get some relief between contractions. At this point I also got my saline lock put in, so that if I had any post partum hemorrhage they had access to help stop it. Sarah arrived at about 11:20 pm and we began to wonder if the baby would be born on May 29 or 30. Shortly after I told them I felt like I had to push and that I thought my membranes had ruptured. Annita check me again and I was 10 cm dilated, 100% effaced and there was still a layer of membranes intact, so I asked her to break it and his head came right down. I pushed a few times with the next contractions and it hurt so much. Sarah said once the contraction was over that if I pushed like that again I could have the baby out in a few more contractions. I tried, but it just hurt too much, so I would breath through 3 to 4 contractions in a row and then push for 1 to 2 contractions. Once his head was halfway out we realized why the pushing was hurting so much, like his big sister Catherine, Jefferson decided to come down with an arm in front of his face. I pushed 2 to 3 more times and he was out. I scooped him right up and on to my chest and said “Hello Baby” and then announced that he was a boy. They left my umbilical cord attached until it stopped pulsating and the Sam had the honour of cutting it because Jeff didn’t want to. When he came all the way put meconium (first poo) came out too, but he must have gone when he was crowning, because his lungs were clear. I also got a dose of Pitocin through my saline lock for active management to hopefully stop me from haemorrhaging. Sarah then got Jefferson, brought him over to Jeff and asked if he wanted to do some skin to skin holding. Jeff looked puzzled and said do what? I then told him to take his shirt off and hold Jefferson with a towel over them both. Annita and Sam then helped me out of the birthing pool and on to the birthing stool so that I could deliver the placenta in case I hemorrhaged like I did with Catherine. A few minutes later I delivered the placenta and I bled a little, but it was well within normal. At that point it was time to head to the bed in our room, so Annita could see if I needed any stitches. I did need 3 stitches and after getting the freezing she put them in. The entire time I was laying on the bed Jeff kept asking if I wanted to hold Jefferson and I kept saying no I wanted to wait until after she finished my stitches. I found out after that Jefferson had pooped on him and he wanted to get cleaned up. Once I was all done and resting in bed I fed Jefferson and he latched right on and nursed for over an hour. Once he was finished, Sarah did his newborn assessment, gave him his Vitamin K injection and Erythromycin eye drops. Once she was finished it was my turn to get up and use the washroom. After I was all settled back in bed, Annita and Sarah headed home to get some sleep and Jeff and I settled in to get some sleep.

I am so happy that I got to give birth at home in the birthing pool. It was so nice not to have to travel to the hospital in labour and even better to be able to climb in to my own bed to go to sleep when it was all over.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that Jefferson only gets up to eat 2 to 3 times at night and that I am actually sleeping well in between. I am also thankful that Jeff has been home this week because Catherine has been having a hard time adjusting to sharing her mommy and has been a bit rotten. So its nice that there is two of us to deal with her.

What are you thankful for?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

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Monday, June 6, 2011

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that this week has gone so smoothly. I feel almost 100% better now then I did when I was pregnant. I am actually sleeping more at night despite the frequent night feedings. I honestly don’t feel like I had a baby at 12:28 am on Monday morning. I am also thankful that I don’t have to solo parent next week because as much as my wonderful children really were easy on me this week I am looking forward to having Jeff home all next week.

What are you thankful for?