Monday, June 27, 2011

Powerful Preparation Installment #1

When I was pregnant with Sir Oliver, preparation was so easy and relaxed.  I was so immersed in my pregnancy, so in tune with my baby, so ready and excited to have birth pangs, so ready to be a mom.  I had no fear.  I had a birth team of stars all ready to be with me for a gently wonderful home birth. We even did a belly mold!  I was READY!


Then, a week before my due date I was diagnosed with preeclampsia.  My midwives had to break the news that we would have to go to the hospital for the birth and that I was being induced on my due date. I did some crazy heavy grieving that weekend.  And then, we regrouped, replanned, and got ready.

I went into the hospital and was induced at 3 in the morning on Wednesday, February 25.  I had Oliver via Cesarean on Saturday, February 28 at 10 pm.  Yup, a long ride of Pitocin, epidural, etc.  Not at all what we planned, but gentle (I know, oxymoron), unrushed, and caaaaalm.  Oliver and I were both calm and it was all good.  Of course, he was non-responsive at first and they rushed him off to NICU for two days.  That was when I lost my cool.  It was NOT fun.

Thankfully, the nurses at the hospital were fabulous and after my two hours of recovery, those fantastic ladies wheeled my bed-gurney into the NICU.  They moved furniture so that I could see my sweet baby and I got to hold him right away.  Two days later I got to nurse him for the first time and on Tuesday, we got him all to ourselves in the room.  I finally put a do-not-disturb on the door so that we could all be alone.


And then, on Wednesday, a whole week after we went into the hospital, we took our little, tiny, sweet baby home.  It was the beginning of what has been an amazing, challenging, completely unhinging two years.
















Now, I'm pregnant again, and it's different this time.  Come back next time and we'll talk about some of those differences.

4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! I want to talk about some of the differences!!

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  2. It's amazing how different each pregnancy can be. I have to laugh because with my second child I wanted every drug in the world and the birth happened so quickly they couldn't give me anything...talk about so much pain that you have an out-of-body experience. Low and behold, he is the one we've had health issues with NOT the one who's birth was assisted by an epidural.

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  3. Well if no one else can get it, at least Dave, your Mom & I all understand how gentle your birth experience, given the rough sounding play-by-play. quite incredible. thank you!

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  4. YEAH! Congrats on #2! I am so excited for you and LOOOVE this beautiful blog. We moms all have to share our birth stories - mine didn't go as planned either - but I got 3 babies now and all are well and happy and fun! Enjoy every minute of it and write it down!! Each baby removes a few brain cells (doesn't say much for my IQ)....hahahha

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