2 by 30 & A Natural Birth (Part II)

So I didn't save the best part for last, the second part is just for recording sake. I asked Nikki to call Mike in after they had stiched me up. Detail: My sister in law, Camilla, had her last son 6 months ago and I was fortunate to watch the birth. I never confirmed with her, but I think he epidural wasn't working very well, because she could feel the urge to push and I think it was painful. So when it came time to stich her up I remember her complaining about the anesthesia shots. I was sooo scared when the doctor said that I needed some stiches and he was going to give me local anesthesia. I freaked out once again, but I think most of my nerves had been damaged enough that I hardly felt anything when gave me the shots. I know it's probably too much information...

Anyway, so Mike came in with Isaac in his arms and we got to hang out with Bella for a long time. They just put her on my bosom and cleaned everything up and left. Except for Montessa, she stuck around to make sure everything was fine. Then she said that whenever I was ready, she could clean the baby up and take her measurements. This part was really neat because they do all of that in the room after the birth. So you get to watch everything they are doing in a private setting. I remember at Timp Hospital, they took Isaac away so quickly to the nursery to get him cleaned up and checked. Mike went with him, but I didn't get to see anything. So I appreciated watching all that, and Mike got to cut the cord then too. Oh one thing I found interesting is that they asked us if we wanted the placenta. It is a Navajo custom to bury the placenta as a form of going back to mother earth. How interesting.. But seeing as it's pretty cold outside and I don't own the land in my backyard I declined. Here's one thing I found a little surprising. They have you stay at the hospital one day, then go home. When you are in post-partum recovery(if you know what I mean), it's nice to be able to stay for an extra day. I was glad when my doctor came to visit and asked if I wanted to stay one more night.

So it starts little Helen Isabella's life. She's a quiet baby, and so cute. I'm glad that I was able to have her completely naturally, even if I wasn't planning on it. Deep inside I've always wanted to have my children naturally, but being the wimp that I am when it comes to pain... Anyway, it was an amazing experience, and I was telling Mike and Lynn later that the contractions hurt a lot more than the pushing. Not having gone through it before you don't realize it, but it was almost as if my body numbed me at the time of pushing. The adrenaline I felt lasted until about 3:00 am when I was finally able to sleep for 2.5 hours. I woke up the next morning, and my eyes were burning, but I felt fine.

What a difference from Isaac's birth, where it took forever for me to dilate and I was in "active labor" for about 12 hours, though my contractions were coming for a total for 25 hours.

When people would say that every pregnancy is different, I couldn't understand how they could say that. A pregnancy is a pregnancy, but I just learned that is not the case. I'm glad I got to celebrate my 30th birthday with my little daughter.