So my kids reminded me today that it's been awhile since I posted. Yeah, I know. I'm kind of in turbo nesting mode as I am currently 37 weeks and 4 days (but who's counting?) When I'm taking a break from turbo nesting, I'm being lazy. Unfortunately during all this nesting I still have NOT gotten out the baby girl newborn clothing from the attic, the crib from the garage, nor the infant car seat from the garage attic. I think I have a fear that if I'm completely ready, then baby will actually come. The truth is that I'm experiencing a bit of anxiety regarding childbirth. Some might think, "But you've been through this seven times, you are a pro." But I think, "I've been through this seven times, I know what to expect, and I'm SCARED!" Here is a brief summary of how the previous seven births went:
#1 - First baby. Had no idea what to expect. Did some natural laboring. Ready to ask for an epidural. Turns out the extreme pain I was feeling was transitional phase of labor, I felt Emily's head crowning, and there were no nurses or doctors in the room. My husband had to run into the hallway and call for someone, and a random doctor from another practice delivered her. After that I knew I could do it without an epidural, so I have chosen not to receive them for subsequent births.
#2 - Calm birth in middle of afternoon. All went well. My mom and Emily waited in the waiting area. Nineteen month old Emily pooped in her diaper and it leaked on her overalls, so she had to wear my maternity shirt the rest of the day at the hospital.
#3 - Started labor at about 10 PM. Had to call next door neighbor to come over and sleep on couch. Labored most of the late night/early morning by myself because my husband was half asleep in the chair next to me at the hospital. Difficult labor and delivery because Sarah was face up instead of the ideal position of face down, and it required much more pushing.
#4 - Probably my best labor and delivery. My mom was there to watch it while Emily, Bradley, and Sarah were swimming at a friend's house. It was the middle of the afternoon. Everything went well. No hard pushing. She slipped right on out.
#5 - Almost born in the car. Born about 10 seconds after being rolled into the emergency room. Never want to repeat that scenario again. Never.
#6 - Born in the middle of the night. Her head was facing sideways when she came out, so it required a bit more pushing.
#7 - Born in the middle of the night. Not a bad delivery, but an uncomfortable labor because I had to pee really bad and the nurse wouldn't let me go to the bathroom, because she was afraid I would have the baby on the toilet while the doctor was delivering another patient. She gave me a bed pan instead, but I couldn't make it work. I missed my husband's full, wide-awake attention while I was in excruciating pain. It's not fair, but I had infomercials to keep me occupied. My parents were not in town yet, so I had to call someone to come over at about two in the morning to sleep on the couch.
#8 - Who knows? And that's what scares me. The good news is that my dad is here, so I don't have to worry about finding somebody to watch the kids. The whole length and intensity of labor remains a mystery.
So today I give you pictures of our new kitchen table. I know I promised them awhile ago. The thing is, I was waiting to have a clean kitchen in the background, but I gave up on perfection and finally just took them to get it over with. So here they are. Ta da!
#1 - First baby. Had no idea what to expect. Did some natural laboring. Ready to ask for an epidural. Turns out the extreme pain I was feeling was transitional phase of labor, I felt Emily's head crowning, and there were no nurses or doctors in the room. My husband had to run into the hallway and call for someone, and a random doctor from another practice delivered her. After that I knew I could do it without an epidural, so I have chosen not to receive them for subsequent births.
#2 - Calm birth in middle of afternoon. All went well. My mom and Emily waited in the waiting area. Nineteen month old Emily pooped in her diaper and it leaked on her overalls, so she had to wear my maternity shirt the rest of the day at the hospital.
#3 - Started labor at about 10 PM. Had to call next door neighbor to come over and sleep on couch. Labored most of the late night/early morning by myself because my husband was half asleep in the chair next to me at the hospital. Difficult labor and delivery because Sarah was face up instead of the ideal position of face down, and it required much more pushing.
#4 - Probably my best labor and delivery. My mom was there to watch it while Emily, Bradley, and Sarah were swimming at a friend's house. It was the middle of the afternoon. Everything went well. No hard pushing. She slipped right on out.
#5 - Almost born in the car. Born about 10 seconds after being rolled into the emergency room. Never want to repeat that scenario again. Never.
#6 - Born in the middle of the night. Her head was facing sideways when she came out, so it required a bit more pushing.
#7 - Born in the middle of the night. Not a bad delivery, but an uncomfortable labor because I had to pee really bad and the nurse wouldn't let me go to the bathroom, because she was afraid I would have the baby on the toilet while the doctor was delivering another patient. She gave me a bed pan instead, but I couldn't make it work. I missed my husband's full, wide-awake attention while I was in excruciating pain. It's not fair, but I had infomercials to keep me occupied. My parents were not in town yet, so I had to call someone to come over at about two in the morning to sleep on the couch.
#8 - Who knows? And that's what scares me. The good news is that my dad is here, so I don't have to worry about finding somebody to watch the kids. The whole length and intensity of labor remains a mystery.
So today I give you pictures of our new kitchen table. I know I promised them awhile ago. The thing is, I was waiting to have a clean kitchen in the background, but I gave up on perfection and finally just took them to get it over with. So here they are. Ta da!
If you are just tuning in and are wondering what this kitchen table thing is all about. My husband and I made benches and a new table top to fit our expanding family. We used lumber from Lowe's and some basic tools (drill, jigsaw, sander). If we can do it, you can do it. I think the total cost was about $100.
Although the benches aren't quite as comfortable as a chair, I'm liking the clean lines in the kitchen. The new table can seat 10-12 people now. If you have any questions about the construction of them, just ask. This post is obviously not a tutorial.
That's all for now, folks. I can assure you that Bradley will not allow me to not promptly blog about the birth of the new baby. I'll be in touch.
#1 water broke at my mom's house minutes before having dinner. I was in pain but only at a two, so they gave me an epidural and I slept for hours to be woken up and was at a ten. Pushed for two hours, hemorraged, was punched until I was better.
ReplyDelete#2 two weeks over due, induced hard and fast four hour labor. Pusher her out in two minutes, I was up and showering in two hours.
#3 water broke at home 30 minutes after we got home from church. Baby was face down so the epidural didn't seem to help.
#4 induced early so I wouldn't have her in traffic. The baby went into distress and the doctor cleared the room. He yelled at me to push and then insisted I stop because the cord was wrapped around her neck. It was a long few seconds waiting for her to cry.
#5 I was induced. I did not hurt, I thought that I wasn't making any progress when they checked me I was at a ten. He slid right out.
#6 the doctor had me come in and induce me with seaweed about 10 at night. About 5 am I started feeling pressure so I watched Napolean Dynamite. The pain was easy to get a hold of and she slid out around 10 am.
#7 my only c-section. Baby was out in minutes. Recovery was months and months.
All the births were different too. I hope all goes well.
I love that you wrote summaries of your births! So question....did you get an epidural when you were induced? I'm sure I knew this, but I had forgotten that you had a c-section with #7. That's one of my fears, but I probably would've been more fearful with earlier births because of the fact it would limit the number of children I could have. At this point, I don't think I need to worry about limiting anymore :) Kelly must have been doing gymnastics in the womb to get that cord wrapped around her neck :)
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