Reid's Birthday : Part 2

   Here is the second half of Reid's big day! I left off where Milt and I were headed to the hospital.................(also, be warned it was such a whirlwind from here that I don't know what time it was from on thing to another!)

   Milt pulled into the front of the Women's Pavilion at St. Mary's where our doula was waiting for us. I got out and went in with her while Milt parked the car. I think Danielle wanted to laugh at me as we went up the elevator to the L&D floor cause I was still in the excited stage but stopped to have contractions then went right back to chatting and smiling. I have never been so excited to be in labor! I had waited 9 months for this, to deliver Reid the way that we wanted to :D

   Once we got upstairs they took us into a triage room to check me and make sure that my water did break and that I was truly in labor. It hurt so bad to lay down for this but I new I would be in a room and hopefully in the birthing pool soon. The nurse said that I was still 6cm and that my water did in fact break (No duh! I wanted to say, cause it's still running down my leg LOL) They got us into our L&D room and we waited for our midwife to come while they got us checked in and got my vitals and Reid's heart rate. They very quickly set up the birthing pool cause they were afraid that I was about to have a very quick delivery. One of the nurses joked to me, "I'm setting this pool up so you better use it! :D" I let her know that I would sit in it with Reid after I delivered if he refused to wait till she was finished. From the moment that conversation ended with the nurse my contractions starting coming fast. I was still able to stay on top of them but I don't think I said another full sentence until Reid was delivered. I was in full concentration mode. Milt was wonderful! He was there to encourage me, rub my hair and just let me know that I was doing amazing and that he was so proud of me. Milt's and Danielle's encouragement really kept me focused on the goal and kept me calm! I had about three contractions before I could make it up to get into the pool. The water was such a great relief but only for a short time. 
   My contractions started coming in twos and were not letting me have a resting period at all. My doula and midwife noticed this and realized that Reid was turned the wrong way and that was what was causing my contraction to couple like they were. They told me to get out of the pool and into the bed so that I could get into a position to try and encourage Reid to turn into a better position for delivery. This was incredibly uncomfortable and I let them know I was not to happy about it but I would do it anyway! LOL This was about the time that I had enough of Milt rubbing my hair and snapped at him during a contraction. Thank goodness he understood and didn't take it personally :D Reid did turn the right way so I flipped over to start pushing. Unknown to me as soon as I flipped over Reid did to. Milt said Reid continued to flip back and forth the entire time I was pushing and was born in a corkscrew fashion! Once he crowned my midwife saw that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice and was the reason he was flipping back and forth. (they didn't tell me this at the time and I'm so thankful for that LOL) Once she unwrapped the cord I pushed one or two more times and Reid was here!
    I was completely amazed at what I had just accomplished. Somewhere in the back of my head I think I felt like having a natural birth would just be a pipe dream for me. They placed Reid on my chest and he took his sweet time crying for the first time but was so calm and content. I just kept saying thank you over and over again to our doula and to Milt for helping me. Reid then nursed for the first time like a pro! It was just one more confirmation to us that we did this birth the right way for our little man. The positive news just kept on coming. While I was feeding Reid my midwife went to do repairs on me. She jumped up and said, "Well, you don't need any stitches! Way to go momma." (considering how Reid came into the world that was quite a feat!) 
   My water broke at 9:30 that morning and Reid was born a short five hours later at 2:30pm. Reid ended up surpassing Cooper by a few pounds :) Reid was born a hefty 9lbs 1oz and 20 3/4 inches long. I would not change anything about that day and will always have amazing memories of Reid's birthday. I am forever thankful to our doula, and midwife but without Milt's support and knowing me so well, I could have never made it through. Milt has told everyone that he knew I could handle a natural birth and that I was stronger than I thought. His faith in me is the reason I kept going when I wanted to cave. I love that man!

  Our family of four is amazing and I'm already forgetting what it was like when it was just the three of us. Happy Birthday Reid! I love you <3

Reid's Birthday : Part 1

The day that we came home from the hospital with  our first son Cooper, we promised ourselves that our next birth experience would be different. Not that Cooper's was a bad one it was just full of circumstances that we could have prevented had we educated ourselves as well as some unfortunate things that we really had no control over. I was induced (for really no reason other than I was tired of being pregnant), I was on epidural meds for over 12 hours, Cooper had jaundice and was a horrible nurser (which I blame on his two week early arrival) and last but not least when administering my epidural they ended up causing me to leak spinal fluid resulting in a spinal headache for the first 2 weeks of Cooper's life. If you have never heard of these or experienced one take a migraine and multiply by ten. I wasn't even capable of sitting up straight. Remembering that experience, the first thing we did when planning our birth this time around was hire a doula. I knew that if I wanted to have the best chance of having a normal first few weeks of being a mother with no spinal headache and a good start to breast feeding that I was going to have a natural birth. Hiring Danielle as our doula was the best decision we could have made. Not only was she our friend already but she helped educate us and encourage us as well as keep me excited all throughout my pregnancy.

  Coming to the end of my pregnancy, I had the thoughts that every 39 week pregnant woman has........"This baby is never going to come out! I just know it!" In the last few weeks before Reid was born I had done everything I knew of to start labor: Eating spicy food, walking, sitting on an exercise ball, etc with no avail. It really didn't help me with having patience when starting at week 36 my midwife told us that I was already 3cm dilated. I continued to dilate all the way to 6cm by week 38 with practically no discomfort. I was so excited that everything seemed to be moving quickly and was praying Reid would come meet us sooner than later. I felt that it would still be a week or so before he came cause I still wasn't feeling any contractions.

 Milt's father came up to stay with us for a couple of days after hearing how my doctors appt had gone. (looking back it's a godsend that he did!) My sister was here for her masters classes the same weekend. She begged for me to go into labor all day and night on Friday. We went for a walk around the block and talked about how great it would be if she could be here when Reid was born. 

  Saturday morning Cassie went to class and Milt, Cooper and I slept in and got up around 8am to enjoy a family day together. Milt was wonderful and made us breakfast: eggs, bacon, and biscuits. I finished eating and just felt like lying down. So I laid down on the couch while Cooper watched cartoons at about 9:30am. Before I could even get comfortable, my water broke. I think the conversation went like this............

Me: (trying not to yell from the living room)Um..........Milt, I think my water just broke!

Milt : (from the kitchen) Huh? Ok......um......at least let me get dressed!

I called my doula and she told me to not waste to much time at home since I was already so far dilated, but to go ahead and get a shower and start timing contractions once the came. Once my contractions started, after taking a shower, I remember laughing about how silly it seemed that I had called my doula almost everyday the week before trying to decide if what I was feeling were real contractions! LOL There was no doubt in my mind what I was feeling now! They started off pretty bearable but very close together. (this was about 10:30am) We waited through about 5-10 contractions and decided after calling our doula that it was time to go to the hospital. Milt's dad was at our house by this time so we had no worries about Cooper at all. We called him in our room before we left and explained in two year old terms what was going on and that he was about to meet his baby brother. (not sure if it registered or not!) Milt then helped me waddle to the car and we set off for the hospital. I was still in a very excited mood and so ready to meet our son! 

  Halfway to the hospital my contraction were getting stronger and less than 60 seconds apart. I was so ready to get off the road and into a hospital room with Milt and my doula so that I could concentrate. 

To be continued..........................

 

The beginning....

So...........here it goes. I wanted a place to share life, thoughts, and what not that goes on in the Chamblee household. On June 30th of this year we became a family of four. We welcomed Reid into our family and haven't looked back since. I'll share his birth story with you soon :D I love having two boys. It is certainly not an easy feat, nor am I completely settled into having two kids. (Reid is only three weeks old so I feel like I have a little more time to adjust!) In these three weeks however I have had time to think about what I want them to experience as they grow up, what's the most important things to teach them, what kind of household I want them to have and what kind of men I want to try to raise them to be. I haven't covered all of those yet but I do know that I want them to be adventurers.  


"An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold,  risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome."


I want them to be bold and not try to fit in. I want them to grow up in a Christian household and look to Milt for how to be a godly man but make their christian walk personal and not ride on Milt and my faith. I want them to struggle with God on their own and go on an incredible and completely unique adventure with him that makes them fall in love with him more and more everyday. 


Having a house full of boys is amazing, crazy, and never dull. I love this life and raising my adventurers!