New Addition to the Family

Dottie Lynn was born on January 9th at 1:06pm, 8lbs 3oz and 19 in long. Needless to say we are absolutely over the moon in love with her.  I know everyone says having a little one is amazing,  but now that we are parents ourselves, my husband sums it up as he was missing out on life before she was here. Somehow the love the 2 of us had multiplied and is overflowing with love for her.

I do want to share and document a bit about her birth in case it is helpful to others. I read a lot of natural birthing stories and want to be a supportive, positive light for those that are worried or have negative feelings.

I also want to preface a couple of items that I think helped contribute to an easier birth. Despite all of the green and healthy things I eat, I was absolutely devastated when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes toward the end of my pregnancy. I kept thinking, how could this happen? I eat my green smoothies everyday for breakfast, some kind of veggie soup and salad for lunch and a sensible dinner. It is what it is, so no carbs, no fruit and no sugar for the last 2 months of my pregnancy.

Since I wanted to try to have natural birth, I had to keep my sugar in check with diet and exercise alone. If I were to get on any medication I would be disqualified from the facility we choose. So I revamped my eating and exercised for 20 mins every morning, usually with light weights, and walked 2.5 miles with my husband every evening after dinner. Sometimes I would walk the 15 flights of stairs at my work as well.

I actually lost 4lbs the last 2 months of my pregnancy, I felt great and was mentally prepared. I did ask my midwife for a membrane sweep at my 39 week appointment as I was already dilated to a 3. I left the office feeling nauseous, lightheaded and already had some cramping.

My husband and I ate dinner and I relaxed for once, due the cramping and didn't walk our usual path. I did however lightly and slowly shovel some snow in our driveway.

I woke up at 2am with contractions. I was so giddy excited but tried to calm myself to go back to sleep not knowing how long this process could be. I knew I needed rest and strength. I woke at 5am with stronger contractions and debated whether or not to wake my husband.

5:30am I woke him and told him he probably shouldn't go to work. I called the midwife and she said since I could talk through contractions, that I should wait a little longer. They did ramp up, and in the meantime I slowly ate a spoonful of peanut butter and 2 scrambled eggs. The contractions were more intense and I called back an hour later and they said to head into the birthing center. From that point on, to work through the contractions, I would breathe in and do a slow and low hum out and repeat. Knowing that it was only a minute long was a big help and then have a few minutes break in between. I just kept at it.

At that point it was 7:30am ish on a Tuesday and there was some rush hour traffic that took us awhile to get to the hospital. Finally at the hospital, my husband offered to drop me off at the door but I really didn't want to leave his side so I insisted he park and we would walk in together. We were parked on the 2nd floor of a structure and stubborn me also insisted on walking down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

We got into triage, where baby and I were checked and they deemed us both healthy to continue onto the natural birthing suite. They also checked my progress and confirmed I was already dilated to a 7! We both cried and hugged. All of our worry at the beginning of this pregnancy when we kept almost losing this sweet baby, the memories of the one we lost in February last year, my determination and walking 2.5 miles in below zero temperatures....well here we were on the brink of baby's Birthday and it was just so sweet!

I lucked out with my favorite midwife on call, and she met me in the natural birthing suite with a full bathtub, the lights dimmed and lavender oils. It was like a luxury hotel room, not the typical stark, sterile, cold hospital environment. It helped my husband and I feel more relaxed, which is one of the reasons why we chose this facility. It is also apart of the hospital, so if any complications arise, a couple doors down was a surgical room and there was a crash cart located outside of our door.

I labored in the tub for a while and it felt best when they were putting the hot water with a hose on my lower back. Come to find out later, she came out sunny side up, which contributed to my back labor and longer delivery. After some time my water still hadn't broke but I was dilated to a 10, so my midwife had me sit on the toilet for 3 contractions, and sure enough, sploosh! My water broke.

My husband then helped me to the bed. I had a contraction on my way there and he literally held all of me as I was too weak to stand. We don't have any pictures of me in labor, but the mental picture I have of that moment still brings me to tears. What a great man I have.

There was then 3.5  hours of pushing. My midwife and nurse, massaged my legs between contractions. It felt heavenly. Not something I would have imagined but they knew exactly what I needed. Their supportive words and encouragement kept me going. My husband would put a cool cloth on my forehead as I got hot with each contraction and then I got cold and he would wrap me with warm blankets once it would cease. He said he knew when another contraction was coming because I would scrunch up my face.

Before I knew it, out the baby came. My midwife said, "Stacey, grab your baby." And I reached down and finished pulling her out and onto my belly. All wiggly and slippery, I laid with her on my belly in a heap on exhaustion and wonder. We didn't know if we had a baby boy or girl, so my husband helped pick her up and slide the umbilical cord over to announce that we had a little girl.

Dottie Lynn joined our family! I almost couldn't believe it, she was here, safe and perfect. I felt hot tears on my face, and I looked up to see they were not mine but my husbands. And we cried and held little Dottie.

We picked out her name for a few different reasons. My husband's grandmother's name was Dorothy and he describes her as revolutionary, and was a big part of his life. I wear her wedding ring today as my own.  Dorothy also means "gift from God." We had a hard time picking out a middle name but finally landed on Lynn. As a shortened rendition of Linda, another motherly figure in my husband's life and meaning "lake." Also suitably as Grandma Dorothy lived on a lake that we now own property and will work on building our home in the next couple of years.

Like everyone says, the time goes by so fast. We have already seen her change so much in the last 2 months. We look forward to seeing what kind of person she will be and we look forward to expanding our family, God willing.