25 June 2008

A Week and a Day


colic hold

A week and a day ago Jami had a rough night, having been kept up by some minor cramping, which later that morning turned into mild and irregular contractions. It was a stormy day, so I called and checked on her while I was hunkered down in the greenhouse out of the rain. The lights had gone out at the house, so J had scrounged up an old telephone that took power from the line. We both figured they were just warm-up contractions, or false labor, since J's due date was still three days away, and we'd been practically guaranteed that the birth would be late.

walking

During my lunch break I called her up to check on her again, and suggested that she call the midwife (Cherie, who I've know since I was a kid) just for fun, since we'd payed all that money after all, and they may as well know about the contractions. J called, specifying that it was probably just false or pre-labor, to which the midwife responded that she'd "turn it into real labor." I left work and picked up some things for J on the way home, dodging downed limbs and traffic accidents. When we arrived at the birth center we were told that she was at three centimeters, and that we should go for an hour-long power-walk. By the end of the walk she'd had two real contractions about eight minutes apart. Upon further inspection she was found to be at four centimeters, and during that further inspection her water broke, all over Cherie's hand. We were promptly sent home to get our things together, the midwife saying as we left that we'd have a baby around midnight. This was at about 4:30 pm.

labor

pushing

By 6:45 we were back at the birth center, where J immediately jumped in the bath. About two and a half hours later she was in transition, and then hanging off the bedpost pushing. And pushing. By the very end, a little before 11:30pm she was so worn out that they gave her a Dr. Pepper "for medicinal purposes." She certainly needed it. Her uterus quit contracting right as the baby was crowning, so they gave her a shot of pitocin, and then it was a real team effort to get the baby out. Cherie pulled on his head with a suction cup, Beverly the nurse attendant pushed on the fundus, and the rest of us held Jami's feet back. We tried that twice. Between the first and second times the scissors came out as though for an epiosiotomy, but then go back down for one more try. The second time out came a bumpy little head. The umbilical cord was wrapped twice around his neck, which may have prolonged the pushing stage somewhat by pulling him back up between contractions. Despite that his heartbeat was strong to the very end, never giving us any reason to worry for his sake. Once Cherie had unwrapped the cord from around his neck, I pulled him the rest of the way out, placed him on J's chest, and cut the cord. And there he was: Rhus Guy Larsen, 7 lbs 4 oz, 20 inches long.

out

cord

After Cherie and all the rest tended to Jami a bit they weighed him and measured him. Later on I got to give him a bath, and then we all slept for about two hours before filling out some paper work and going home around 6:00 the next morning.

weight2

bath 1

Since this was our very first child, neither of us quite realized that it was actually a difficult delivery until well afterward. Nothing was as hard as we thought it would be, and certainly not as hard as it's made out to be on TV, with women screaming for epidurals, snapping at their husbands, and swearing to high heaven. Jami was definitely somewhere else while she was pushing, somewhere pre-verbal. Cherie would tell her to take a deep breath, but it wouldn't happen unless I took one with her, coaxing her along. But once Rhus was out she was fully present, and smiling as though nothing much had happened. Now when she looks back at the photos all she can remember is how much fun it was.

dressed

7 comments:

  1. Congrats. He's BEAUTIFUL!!! Can't wait to meet him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. congratulations! ! ! ! !

    he looks amazing! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh, love that bath shot from above of little Rhus. What's the pronunciation?? Congratus to you both, I was thinking it was about time and then Annie told me it had happened, then I see your account here, great news. Best wishes,
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Im so proud of you guys!! If yall could handle that, than colic, potty training, and the "no" phase will be no problem. Give the little man a big kiss from his cousins. Gongrats!!! Love, Lisa ,Randy, Kade, and Kara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations! Trent got the email announcement, and we were so excited for you all. Excited for you guys that you have such an adorable baby, excited for baby Rhus that he has such awesome parents. Way to go! Love, Jamie, Trent, and Senya

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm beaming! Thank you for the lovely birth story. I like the part about Jamie being somewhere pre-verbal. I only obeyed if I heard Matt's voice.

    I'm proud of both of you guys and totally in awe of the midwives too. You had a great team with those two.

    It would have been quite different in a hospital. I love the last photo. What a gorgeous little lamb.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations, Dane! You have a beautiful family. I really hope to meet little Rhus someday. Maybe we can get our kids together for a playdate someday :)

    So happy for you two,
    Amber

    ReplyDelete