Daphne's VBAC

Yeah, I should change the subtitle of this blog sometime--we're now up to 3!

Quick background: J was a normal birth, unusual only in that he was born at 39 weeks and came in 8 hours. Pretty nice for a first-timer--I think he heard my midwife say he wasn't coming anytime soon just a couple days previous, and took it as a challenge.
B was a planned C-section at 40 weeks. She was stubbornly breech, and all attempts to turn her had failed. If she'd been frank breech, they were willing to give me a trial of labor; but, she was footling, and with her measuring large with low fluid levels, a C-section seemed the best course.
No regrets for either birth, but with 2 kids running around, I did rather want to avoid another C-sec for #3. :)

So, here I was at 40 weeks, with no sign of baby coming. My new practice was a hospital-based mixture of OBs & midwives, and although I was technically a midwife patient, the hospital required an OB to sign off on any VBAC attempts. According to ACOG (that's the American College of OB/GYN), I was a picture-perfect candidate.
The first OB I saw turned me down flat. Lots of scary words, like "macrosomia" (J & B were 8lb 5oz & 9lb 6oz respectively), "rupture", & "dystocia". Obviously, she was completely up to date on current research & recommendations. *sigh*.
Thankfully, I was able to get a second opinion from another OB, who gave me the go-ahead...as long as I went into labor naturally before 41 weeks. Yay for backwards Illinois.
Anyway, I'm 4 days before my scheduled c-section, doing everything I can to turn these infernal Braxton-Hicks into real contractions. I was all set to run to the store for cohosh (if I could find it) or castor oil first thing Saturday morning. Luckily, it didn't come to that.

After a rough couple hours of sleep, I gave up and starting pacing the apartment at about 3 AM. These contractions were definitely different than what I'd been having over the last week--they didn't fade when I sat down, stood up, laid down, took a shower, whatever. And they were all in my back. It sucked. The only thing that even semi-relieved them was to bend at the waist, and press down on a chair as hard as I could. And that only got me through; it didn't stop them or anything. So, I woke up Dave around 4 and informed him that we were going to the hospital NOW. He dutifully got the kids ready and called his parents to meet us at the hospital to take them. I admit, at this point I didn't really care about getting a VBAC; I just wanted something for the pain!

We get to the hospital around 5, & I leave Dave to wait for his parents. After a few questions I'm whisked to L&D and a nurse checks to see how progressed I am. Now, with J, I had contractions for over 12 hours before going in, they were about 4 minutes apart, and I was admitted at 2cm (they almost sent me home).
So...I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or the nurse: "Honey, you're nearly at 9cm!"
Yay! That means she's coming really soon...right?

It's a bit after 6, and I'd decided to turn down an epidural since I'm so far along (honestly, I'm surprised they offered), and just have an IV with the promise of fentanyl. I just cannot get comfortable, and the drugs aren't helping. I make some comment along those lines to the nurse, only to be told that they were waiting for me to say I needed it. YES PLEASE.
It helps, but the back labor is still horrible, I cannot find a good position, and it's now 7 am-ish, and I've still not progressed past 9cm. My midwife, Ellen, encouraged me to push if I feel pressure, and hopefully that'll break my water to get this show going. Pushing does help, but my water still won't break! Finally, she breaks it for me, and I do get to 10 cm almost immediately. Unfortunately, I still can't find any good position to labor in, and pushing is pretty darned ineffectual.
A nurse convinces me to lay on my side, which I didn't even know was an option. Relief! I can feel her actually coming, and in just a few pushes, Daphne Constance made her appearance. She's 7lb 12oz, 20.5", and has a very smushed face from being pressed up against my back. :)

I Should Really Retitle This Blog "How My Children are Driving Me Crazy Today".

I'm not really sure when the switch flipped, but sometime in the past year, my little girl went from this calm, laid-back, contemplative darling to a chattering whirlwind. Even in her sleep, she still moves and talks. Combined with her equally loud & stubborn brother, they can be quite a disaster, but she somehow still produces frustration all on her own (partially due to her own amazing sense of bad-timing).

(note: this conversation happens at least twice a day, under differing circumstances)
B: "Mommy, tan you help me?"
Me: "Help you with what?"
B: "Jus, tan you help me?"
Me: "Help you do what? I'm a bit busy."
B: "Tan you help me?"
Me: "I can't help you if I don't know what you need."
B: "Mommy, tan you help me?"
Me: "Help you what?"
B: "Jus, tan you help me?"
Me: "Fine, I'll be right there". *puts down the cooking, goes to bedroom and changes shirt; returns*

B: *gone from kitchen, found using potty completely unassisted....like she's been doing for months*

Because Sound Doesn't Travel More Than 10 Feet

Scene: The boy is on time-out in his bedroom for talking back, while the mommy takes a brief interlude in the restroom. The girl wanders in to the bedroom, where this conversation occurs.

J: "Bwidget!"
B: "Hi, Djonas!"
J: "Bwidget, tell Mommy that time-out is over."
B: "MOMMY! TIME-OUT!"
J: "No, tell Mommy time-out is over."
B: "MOMMY! TIME-OUT!"
J: "No, Bwidget, tell Mommy to let me off time-out."
B: "MOMMY! OFF TIME-OUT!"
J: "Bwidget! Tell Mommy to let Jonas off time-out!"
B: "MOMMY! DJONAS TIME-OUT!"
J: "No, Bwidget! Go and tell Mommy to let me off time-out."
B (enters restroom): "Mommy, you off time-out."

More Toddlerisms

(I will be adding more as they occur. She's getting quite loquacious.)

Me: "Are you adorable?"
B: "I NOT a doorbell!"


J: "This is not your toy! You understand?"
B: "I NOT under da sand!"


Me: "Well, aren't you opinionated?"
B: "I NOT a penny!"

Well, Dave's in for a surprise when he takes the car to work...

How to shop with a toddler:

1. Placate the toddler with goldfish crackers, and lead her to the car.
2. Realize you forgot your grocery bags. 
3. Get halfway back up the stairs, and remember that you left 2 bags in the car last time.
4. Drive to the store, listening to toddler sing about goldfish crackers.
5. Get shopping done in surprisingly timely manner, despite repeated requests in and out of cart, and multiple backtracks because you don't need to write a list.
6. Drive home, again listening to a serenade about goldfish crackers. 
7. Arrive home, remove crackers from child, and place on roof.
8. Remove child from car, and retrieve groceries from trunk.
9. Reach for goldfish crackers, and watch as a random gust of wind blows the entire bowl into the open sunroof, and all over front seats.
10. Shrug, and go upstairs.

Playtime with B

As I was chilling at my computer the other day (after cleaning, and being completely disgusted at how much dirt came out of our couch), B apparently decided I'd had enough leisure. (She kindly lets me know this by grabbing my pinky and pulling)
We went into her room, where she walked under one of the pet-nets, and starting pointing.
"Hey! Hey! Needit."
Her gesturing is rather imprecise, so the guessing-game commenced.
"Dory?" "No!"
"Puppy?" "No! Uh'er one!"
"Kitty?" "No!"
"Big Dolphin?" "NOOO!"
"Pooh Bear?" "No!"
"Dolly?" "Noooooo...."
The pet net was quickly becoming depleted, and I paused so she could look at all the animals that had been pulled, or fallen, out.
She looked at the pile.
She looked at the pet-net.
She looked at the pile, and smiled.
"Pooh!"
Pooh Bear in hand, she studied the pet-net again, and the animals on the floor. She placed Pooh Bear atop the dolphin.
"Rying! Pooh rying Dawfin!"
And then she toddled off, holding both. My job was done.

Toddlerisms

B's been having a bit of a language explosion. For your amusement, here're selections from her ever-expanding vocabulary:

sleep: "weep"
trash can: "rash han"
cat: "hat"
juice: "dooce"
cheese: "teez"
train: "rain"
diesel: "deezoo" [she only knows this because of her brother's train obsession]
markers: "mars"
funny sound: "fuh-ee sow"
please: "rweeze"
Blue's Clues: "Woos woos"
Care Bears: "Hare Baos"
sneeze: "seez"
pee: "peep"
tummy: "hummy"
Let me see this!: "Ay bee see dees!"
corndog: "horndog"