Tuesday, 5 December 2006

At 4:00 a.m. we awoke to realize we had no power in most of our house including the heating system, which was unfortunate since the outside temperature was in the 20's. And thus began a long and frustrating day of trying desperately to get the transcription job I had completed because I knew that Holly Jo was going to go into labor soon, and Virginia's MRI was the next day, and my time was going to be limited for transcribing. However, as I would type, off and on the power would go, and I would lose what I was typing- so frustrating!

We had the electric company out twice, and both times they said the problem must be on our end because they couldn't find evidence of a problem, and maybe our breaker box was going out. We called Melanie's husband Craig to come out and replace it, and by 9:45 p.m. we had power (and heat) again- hurray! The typing wasn't done, but at least we weren't freezing!

Wednesday morning, 6 December 2006

At 4:30 a.m. I sat straight up in bed from a vivid dream that Holly Jo was in labor. It was so real, I was positive that she was in labor, this was the day. And my next thought was, uh-oh, today is the MRI. I looked over at the clock to see what time it was, only to discover to my dismay that the power was out again. My next (groggy, irrational) thought was, "what if HJ called me and the phone didn't work!"

I jumped out of my warm bed in my frigid (thermostat said mid-50's) bedroom to check my cell phone- no messages or missed calls. Hmmm.

So I woke Kurt up to go call the power company and get them out here again, right away, while it was out again, because since we fixed what they said it must be on "our" end, it HAD to be something on THEIR end!

Then I lay back down and prayed over Holly Jo's birth and Virginia's MRI and for God's perfect timing, until Kurt came back upstairs at 5:30 a.m. to tell me the power company had arrived and that one room had power and light.

I went downstairs with him and I told him about my dream and that I felt like today was going to be the day for Holly Jo's baby, and we laughed about it and hoped she would wait until about 4:00 p.m. to go into labor, right after the MRI was over.

6:00 a.m.

The phone rang, and I jumped for it, while Kurt and I both said in unison, "Holly Jo!" But to my surprise and consternation, it was just my part-time job calling to see if I could come in to work that day- I declined! I just couldn't believe it wasn't Holly Jo.

6:35 a.m.

The power company did a "band-aid fix" so we could have power until they could get out here and actually fix the problem, which WAS on their end after all… Since it was now almost an hour after my husband usually leaves for work, he decided to stay home that day rather than fight the commute which would have been twice as long as usual because of leaving so late.

I immediately logged onto my email to write to Holly Jo and tell her about my dream, Virginia's MRI schedule and where I could be reached at each point of the day, because I was sure she was going to go into labor. Then I wrote Brandy and told her I had had that dream, too, and we were talking about her bringing us food that night because we would have been at the hospital. I was so grateful.

While I was doing that, the house phone rang, and I again said, "There is Holly Jo!" but it was a dial tone when I answered it, on the second ring.

6:45 a.m.

My cell phone gave me the signal that there was a voice mail without ever having rung. (How does that happen?!) …and THIS time, it was Holly Jo- saying she was in labor, and her contractions were 10-15 minutes apart for the last two hours!!! (I said, two hours, huh? Since right about when I sat bolt upright in bed thinking you were in labor? LOL)

We talked for a few minutes, and HJ told me that Gracee had gotten up at 6 and she had been cleaning her kitchen in the middle of the night, even before the contractions got as close together as 10-15 minutes apart. (Nesting, anyone?)

After I listened through her having a contraction, I told Holly Jo that I was going to get in the shower and be ready to come at any moment she called, and then we could see where we were… She told me that she hadn't called Joyce yet and wasn't sure if she should call me, because they were still 10-15 minutes apart, but when she had received my email, she knew she had to call.

I ran Kurt through the procedures on how to take Virginia to her MRI, which was his first time to do one of her specialist appointments by himself. Then I got him the insurance card, reviewed with Gigi what was going to happen to make sure she was comfortable and confident, got my kids and myself ready for the day. Then, off the big kids and I went, leaving Kurt behind to take Virginia to preschool and then to the hospital. And to think- if the power hadn't been out, he would have been at the office and too far away to help me!

7:45 a.m.

I dropped my children off at school and called Holly Jo to tell her I was on my way to her unless she just specifically did not want me to come, because I had the "feeling in my bones" like it was time for me to come. And she agreed that she was ready for me to be there. However, she decided she would be more comfortable at her mom's house with just David and me (since her folks were at work) than at her own house, with her children underfoot.

So HJ decided she and David would get ready and head to Garland and I would meet them there at her mom's house, leaving her girls in the capable hands of David's parents to make the birthday cake and be on stand-by to come when the baby was born.

She also asked me to call Joyce for her, which I did. At this point, HJ said her contractions were around 7-10 minutes apart.

8:15 a.m.

After filling up with gas, I arrived at the birth center about five minutes away from HJ's mother's house. I didn't want to get to her mother's house before HJ did, since I didn't have a key, and I knew that Joyce had done a birth the day before, so I wanted to make sure everything was ready for HJ's arrival.

So I went to the birth center, called Joyce and let her know HJ was in labor and going to labor near the birth center for awhile, and I folded the laundry and rinsed out the birth tub from the bleach, etc. so everything would be ready to go.

8:25 a.m.

David called and said they were on I-30 and would I please get him an ultimate breakfast burrito on my way to HJ's mom's house? I said of course, and that they should call me when they were ten minutes away from her house, and I would meet them there with the food.

8:35 a.m.

David called back and said they were 10 minutes away, so I locked up the birth center, got in my car, and made the U-turn to head north on Centerville, only for him to call me back and say, Holly Jo has changed her mind, and she wants to just come straight to the birth center.

I asked if he still wanted me to go get the burrito, and he said skip it.

I didn't talk to HJ directly because she was not enjoying the car ride, but I thought maybe things were moving along faster than before!

So I made another U-turn to get back to the birth center, unlocked the door again, and called Joyce to update her on the change of plans.

8:45 a.m.

The birth center lost power. You have got to be kidding me?! Why is it so hard to get electricity in a major metropolitan area in the USA in 2006? LOL

I called Joyce to get the number for the electric company. She assured me she had paid the bill, which cracked me up. Given what had been going on at my house for the last two days, imagining that she hadn't paid the bill had never crossed my mind. But nice thoughts about the electric company also were not crossing my mind.

I called the power company and filed a trouble ticket after checking to see if a breaker had tripped. (Nope.)

8:54 a.m.

David and HJ arrived at the birth center. I met them outside and let them know about the power outage, and asked if they would rather go labor at her mom's house, or gamble that the power would come right back on. HJ wanted OUT of the car and did not want to get back in it, so the decision was easy, to stay put at the birth center and hope for the best.

I assured them that if it got too cold, which I knew from our previous day's experience at our house could happen fairly quickly, we would just go to her mom's and we could always have a homebirth there if we needed to.

When they arrived, HJ's contractions were about seven to eight minutes apart but good and strong. She easily settled into resting between contractions in a tailor sitting position on the floor of the room where I teach childbirth classes, and kneeling on the floor, leaning her face into the couch cushions, during the contractions.

I had found a flashlight and I lit some candles so we had a little light.

9:06 a.m.

David got out some yogurt and juice for HJ to snack on between contractions, after we ascertained that she had not been eating or drinking since the night before. She wasn't too into it, but was game to try it if it would help.

9:15 a.m.

Since the contractions were still about seven minutes apart, David decided to go get his breakfast burrito while the getting was good. As he was about to leave, he came back in and said that a man had gotten here who he assumed had to do with the power outage. As it turns out, it was Joyce's husband Rick, so I assured David he was kosher and it was okay to leave!

Rick checked to make sure the power was actually out and it was not a breaker problem, and then went outside to see if other neighboring businesses had power or not.

I went and rubbed Holly Jo's feet between contractions, and her lower back during them.

9:28 a.m.

HJ went to the restroom, David got back with Whataburger for breakfast, and the power came back on, so Rick left after assuring us that Joyce would be there shortly.

I got the space heater going in the birth suite to take the chill off, and started getting the tub filled, because HJ was ready to get in. She decided to wait until Joyce arrived to get in, because she knew Joyce would want to see where she was when she arrived and having to get out of the tub right after getting in, didn't sound too good.

HJ labored standing up in the bathroom and bedroom for half an hour. Now that she was upright, her contractions were closer together, coming about every 4-5 minutes instead of 6-7 minutes. I took a picture of David cuddling Holly Jo while she rested between contractions. It was sweet.

10:00 a.m.

Holly's labor was becoming more intense quickly now, and food was quickly losing its appeal, so I had her take just a couple more bites of yogurt before tossing the third of a container that was left in the trash. She used the restroom again.

10:10 a.m.

Joyce arrived at the birth center.

10:19 a.m.

Upon examination, Holly Jo's cervix was 6-7 cm dilated and FHT's were in the 140's- happy baby! As soon as this was out of the way, Holly Jo sank into the tub gratefully and pronounced the water covering her belly to be a big relief. We started processing water through the coffee pot to add hot water to top it off, since the water in the hot water heater had cooled with the power outage.

10:28 a.m.

HJ's mom arrived. She came in just during a contraction, and at the sight of HJ working through it, asked something like, "Is she having really bad contractions?" to which I brightly assured her that there were no bad contractions here today, only good contractions that were bringing this baby out to see her mama! She gave me a hug, which was sweet, as I went back to the kitchen for more water to put through the coffee pot.

10:35 a.m.

Holly Jo had a contraction and exclaimed, "Pressure!" and felt an urge to pee. Her bag of waters was bulging. FHT's 130's.

10:43 a.m.

HJ's sister Jennifer arrived, and so did Robin. Robin was all dressed up to go to appointments and run errands, but since she was there and a birth assistant was going to be needed faster than Kathleen would be able to make it, she willingly stepped up to the plate!

10:46 a.m.

HJ felt more pressure and her bag of waters released. She was 7 cm dilated. There was still more membrane there and Joyce tried to move it out of the way but couldn't tell if it was all gone.

11:07 a.m.

Upon examination, HJ's cervix was completely dilated and she was ready to push. She blew through and between some contractions, trying to go slow.

HJ's mom and sister stood off to the side holding each other and watching, while David remained at Holly Jo's side and held her hands through every moment, murmuring words of encouragement and confidence, Joyce supported her perineum, Robin held the flashlight and charted, and I took photos. The excitement in the air was contagious- this baby was almost here!

11:15 a.m.

Avree Joy Farrell was born into the water and straight to the arms of her mother! She was beautiful and perfect, and well-loved by many at first sight.

11:20 a.m.

The placenta was born. Apgars at one and five minutes were 9 and 9.

11:22 a.m.

David got to hold his newest little princess for the first time. Joyce helped Holly Jo got out of the tub and to the bed and Robin listened to the baby, who was fine.

11:30 a.m.

Avree tried to nurse for the first time but wasn't quite interested in latching on yet. She was more interested in hanging out and looking around at that moment. Grandpa came in to see his new granddaughter for a minute.

11:34 a.m.

Avree peed on the blankets so we wrapped her up in new ones. She had lots of vernix!

11:36 a.m.

Grandpa had to go back to work. HJ's blood pressure was 110/78.

11:50 a.m.

It was time to do the newborn exam and I asked if anyone wanted to guess her weight before we found out for sure. Holly Jo's mother guessed 8 lbs 2 oz but then changed it to 7 lbs 14 oz. Jennifer thought the 8 lbs 2 oz had been right, so she guessed that. I guessed 8 lbs 4 oz.

We were all excited to see the scales hover between 8 lbs 11.5 and 8 lbs 12 oz!! We went with 8lbs 12 oz since Avree had already peed, after all, and it was very close between them. Avree's head circumference was 14", she was 20" long, and her chest circumference was 14.5".

11:55 a.m.

HJ went to the restroom and felt much better afterwards. She had no tear, her bleeding was normal, and other than painful afterpains, she felt a lot better than she had in awhile! She had some Afterease tincture and some crackers, and orange juice.

12:14 p.m.

Avree latched on with enthusiasm this time when HJ attempted to nurse her. HJ's mom and sister had to leave to go back to work. I took a few pictures and then we all gave HJ and David some privacy to just bask in their new baby.

12:40 p.m.

David's parents arrived with the big sisters. They had made a beautiful cake! HJ got in the herbal bath and then the big sisters came in to meet their baby. Kalee was thrilled, although Gracee wasn't quite too sure about the usurper. Daddy could not have been prouder of his three girls, or their mommy. We took lots of pictures.

Then the baby got in the herbal bath too, and after she was all cleaned up, the girls came with me to dress the baby while Joyce and Robin helped Holly Jo. As soon as everyone was dressed, David's parents got to come in and meet their new granddaughter! They took many photos of all their girls.

1:10 p.m.

Holly Jo moved to the couch to eat the salad David's parents had brought for her, while the girls waited eagerly for her to be done so the birthday party could begin! We got pictures of the grandparents and the baby, and even I got to take a picture with the stars of the hour, Holly Jo and baby Avree!

After Gracee and Kalee blew out the candles (five candles- one for each member of the family now, since they couldn't figure out any other way to have "zero candles" for "zero years old" and still get to blow them out!) and we all sang happy birthday, we served the cake and enjoyed the party!

1:35 p.m.

As the family finished up and prepared to go home, I left the birth center to go to the hospital.

I arrived in time to see Virginia before, and hold her as, she went to sleep with the anesthesia for the MRI. The timing of the birth had been absolutely perfect, after all- a perfect baby at just the perfect time, for a wonderful family that I am honored to call my friends. It was pure joy to serve them on Avree's birthday.