Birth Story

Margalit's birth story. October 30, 2013. 38 weeks 6 days pregnant.

 Labor was relatively short, sweet, and to the point. Nothing complicated.

 4:23 Wake up from a deep sleep to "run" to the bathroom. This is my early morning ritual at 38 + weeks pregnant. Wait, am I feeling a contraction? Tightening? Yes. Cramping?  Yes.  Could be?

 4:33 More tightening and cramping. I want to run back to the bathroom. Is this labor now?

 4:43 Oh, my. More tightening and cramping. That's some strong cramping. 10 minutes apart. This is it! Now, 10 minutes-- this is early labor, right? But, these kind of hurt, so .... ???

 Another? Now, it hasn't been 10 minutes already. Has it? What's going on?

 4:53 More? Are we at 5 minutes now? Uh oh. Better wake Ricky and call the midwife (she's about 45 minutes away).

 4:57 Another contraction? These are coming fast. 4 mins apart? Waiting for Charlotte, our midwife, to return my call. Ricky's up. I'm sleepy but start putting my stuff by the front door and running up and down stairs to add a few last minute items to my bag.

 5:01 Break for a contraction. Yes, these hurt, but I don't want to stop moving the family toward the car. Nothing like racing up and down stairs to keep labor going. Although, actually, I don't need to keep anything going at this point. It's taking off. And the contractions I'm feeling are centered in my sacrum and bum. Really! Midwife said she thought baby was riding low at about a -1 yesterday.  I could so use a booty massage, but there's nooooo time.

 5:04 Another one? That was only 3 minutes since the last. Oh, sh***.

And the contractions keep coming. Very close together. How do I handle them? I proceed to throw some snacks in a bag for my kids to eat at the birth center. They'll need breakfast. I grab apple sauce, cookies, pretzels, whatever I can get already packaged from the pantry. No time to make sandwiches now. Charlotte finally calls. I tell her how quickly things are moving. I hope we can make it. This labor is not giving us a 14 hour early labor phase like the last one to ease into things and methodically get all our ducks in a row. Fortunately, this is #5, and I have some idea what to do.  Regardless, I must be acting a little frazzled, so my faithful labor partner, Ricky, just tells me "don't panic."  I'm trying not to.

 5:36  These contractions are still every 3 minutes. Ricky, grandma, 4 kids, and I are in the van headed to Marshall, TX about 45 minutes away. Some of us are dressed, some still in PJ's. Grandma is telling us to just stay home and have the baby at the house because we'll never make it. She's anxious about this whole out of hospital birth thing anyway, so that's quite a statement coming from her. I have my doubts, but the midwife is on her way to the birth center, and we have the car loaded up. And, unlike with #3, we have my seat draped with a shower curtain just in case baby comes in the car. There are also chux pads and a towel on the floor board. We're going. By about 5 miles down the highway I really do wonder if we shouldn't turn around. I can deal with the contractions, but they are sooo strong. How will baby stay put 40 more miles? I really don't want to have the baby on the state line, 20 minutes from home and about 20 minutes from the birth center or a hospital or anything, though I could probably handle it if necessary. We keep going!  My three year old is happily squealing "wheeee" as we drive down the highway.  I'm not quite as happy-excited as she at this moment, though she does make me laugh.

5:58 Contraction ended. I call my sister to tell her we're in labor and read some Facebook posts. Odd but calming somehow. In between contractions I post my FB status (On our way to Marshall.  Ctx 2  minutes apart!) and quickly email my other sister.

6:11 We get to Marshall. Only about 5 minutes to the birth center now. Contractions are now consistently 2 minutes apart and have been for about 15 minutes. Yikes! Finally, we arrive at the birth center, but I'm slow to leave the car as I have one whopping contraction that must have been at least 90 seconds long. Water hasn't broken yet, though, so I guess we're good.

Inside the birth center Charlotte checks me out. FHT's are good, so I can get into the jacuzzi. AHHHHHH. Now that's the way to have a contraction. Submerged in water. I figured this would be really good, but I never had access to a big, deep tub in previous labors.

Well, I labor in the tub for about the next hour. Everything is pretty calm, though Ricky and I notice that the contractions are getting longer. He times them at 90 seconds. I keep laboring-- breathing in through the nose and out forcefully through the mouth to keep my composure. I hear my kiddos all playing with their sitters, Lynn and Kevin, in the background. Occasionally, one comes to check on me and make conversation. They're showing me their Halloween coloring pages. Ana likes splashing water on my head. I love that my family is all about and that we are really free to do as we please. I believe that everyone knows and trusts me to just do my thing. Miranda and Charlotte (midwives) chart quietly and check the baby's heart beat from time to time. They also keep running back and forth with water buckets to get the tub water warmer. It's fine, but I could definitely use it a few degrees warmer.

 7:30 ish The water is feeling a little cold for my taste. Should I stay in? Charlotte turns on the jets to keep the hot water circulating. I had recently started to feel some pushing sensations creeping up at the peak of the last couple contractions. I can't explain it, really; it just felt good to bear down lightly as the contraction got stronger. No one is telling me what to do; it's just pure instinct at this point. With the jets running full force and making quite a loud hum I start moving very deeply into my own space. My eyes stay closed now even between contractions. I sink into the water and move from hands and knees onto my side and kind of picture myself as a mermaid floating in the sea.  I am soon feeling pushy. Minutes pass, and the pushing urges get stronger with each contraction wave. I suddenly feel something escape my body, but it isn't big enough to be the baby. I say something, and Charlotte says that my water bag has broken. Here we go!

Sure enough, the next contraction wave builds, and I bear down hard ... just a few times and out pops baby's head.  A little relief but not total. Ricky is apparently serenading us with Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." Very funny, but I am completely oblivious at that moment. The burning and stretching I feel are extremely intense, like I'm going to just split open. I don't like it, but I know the baby is right there, about to be fully born. I can so do this. The shoulders release with my final grunt, and then I relax as Charlotte catches the baby in the water and passes me my baby girl, Margalit. She feels divine.

7:47 She's beautiful. She's really perfect, and she has such very dark hair--she even has fuzzy shoulders! Surprise. What a miracle yet again.  And before long her placenta is born. Alexander (7) asks about it. He remarks how it looks like a stomach. Others agree. The kids have been standing around the tub with their papa and grandma the whole time, watching everything unfold and capturing it on video. My oldest, Milena (9), agrees to cut the baby's cord, and Alexander (7) helps Charlotte place a ring on her umbilical cord. Everyone is talking and animated. I make my way to bed to get acquainted with baby and start nursing her. We get cozy under blankets and have a hot water bottle to help us warm up even more. Papa Ricky says a Hebrew blessing for our newest family member. All want to hold baby sister, especially Milena and Talya. Eventually, they and grandma all get their turn. It's hard to be patient.

My mom isn't with us or on her way this birth, but I look at the ceiling and wonder if she is watching from above. I don't feel anything dramatic at this moment, but a few tears do trickle easily down my face. The baby who is named after her really does look like her-- dark hair and olive skin.  My mom's spirit must be here somewhere.  Baby also looks like my husband, of course, so very different from my other 4 babies who all got my coloring.

 I am perfectly well (absolutely no sign of hemorrhage and no stitching needed), and so is Margalit. She weighs in at 7 lbs 1 oz and measures 19 inches. Good size considering I never look more than 6-7 mos. pregnant by most standards. I'm enjoying her company, but after a couple hours my crew is ready to get back home.

 11:00 We leave the birth center just a few hours after baby Margalit's amazing water birth-- only fitting of a Scorpio baby.

 12 Noon Safe at home. Ready for a big blueberry pancake birthday brunch from my husband, Ricky.  Labor really leaves me famished!

New baby

Margalit arrived on October 30, 2013-- exactly 10 years after my first prenatal appointment with Milena??? I think so. Anyway all went smoothly, like a dream ... and now baby is on my bed swaddled (I thought she might feel closer to the womb that way)and making noises in her sleep. Just days ago my womb was full-- to the ribs again. Belly was super tight to the touch. I anxiously awaited sign of of life-- which often came more in the form of little pokes and waves, not big kicks for the most part anymore. I think she was packed in there pretty tightly. I sure will miss the life inside-- never knowing when muscles would tighten involuntarily or when baby would kick or roll hello. I got some video of my belly moving toward the end but seeing is nothing like feeling it, especially when the video isn't that great a quality. I won't miss the tightness or restrictions in movement, but once in while-- every few years-- it has certainly been worth the discomfort to experience the joy of new life and the ANTICIPATION of meeting whomever is in there. We sure got our joy on Wedenesday morning at 7:47. She was fine, beautiful, perfect, 10 fingers, 10 perfect toes, and I believe exactly 46 chromosomes. Something you wonder about at 42-43 years of age. I would accept Tri 21 if it was God's gift, but it would be scary and unknown too, that's all. So . . . a 4th little girl with 46 chromosomes is what we got, what we could handle and love, right? What an awesome miracle! More on her pregnancy and birth to follow in the coming days. For #5 we experienced a beautiful water birth-- and by we, of course my whole immediate family plus a few, but mostly Margalit and I.

July 2013

Little baby is still inside-- happily kicking away.  Not aware of any problems.  She's a girl.  Don't want pregnancy to go too fast.  Do have my little discomforts with this growing belly.  It was very full feeling for a few days last week in San Antonio.  I couldn't eat much at a time at all.  Was this a growth spurt, or baby moving from breech to vertex?  At my Monday appt. she was head down.  Hope she stays there.  I'll keep up the pelvic rocks and the occasional forward inversion to help balance my ligaments and create space.  Went to a high risk specialist-- kind of caught me by surprise, actually--for my 20 w ultrasound.  Good news-- no markers for chromosomal problems.  So, while there are no guarantees at this point, I would be very surprised if my babe had a life threatening trisomy.

I'm getting larger. Up to 127lbs at almost 24 weeks.  (My first pregnancy I think I was at 118 only, but I also gained in spurts with that one and probably started out around 8 lbs lighter from the get go.  Metabolisms slowing down with age and babies, I assume. At this rate I would expect to reach 137-38, but time will tell.  Maybe growth will slow a bit.

Ana Boo Boo Kins is a gerbil loving tasmanian devil with a sweet side. Highly observant child. 

Alexander at 7 yr 2 mos. is missing one of his top front teeth-- only one, though.  He's very dramatic when he loses a tooth I tell you.

Ana and Natalya -- love watching how they take care of each other and play so well, but we still have trouble when both need a nap and/ or both are suffering from low blood sugar and want all of mama at the same time.  I can only really cuddle one at a time, and no matter who I choose the other throw BIG fit.

Worse thing with 4 kids-- well, at least they can all buckle their car seats when they want to, but 1) they don't always want to, and 2) they don't all jump to get in the car unless it's some place they want to go.  Getting them in the car safely can be a HUGE pain and takes a long time.  Hate it.

May 30

Starting summer
So relaxing
Lots of time to get everything done

Ana is 35 mos. (almost), and we're working on potty training.  Her language and observational skills are very strong.  She can be self-centered. Age appropriate, no doubt.  Her catch phrase: "I don't care."  She doesn't mind if she hurts me as long as she feels pleasure :)) What she says anyhow.


Almost 17 weeks pregnant.

Just remember, like the song playing when I saw my first ultrasound images at 14 weeks, "your body is a wonderland."  True-- but remember, day to day life is good but not always all that.

Most days are quite normal.  I spend some energy trying to figure out clothes to wear so my bulge doesn't show.  It's not too noticeable yet, but it's there.  I was already 121 at 14 w.  My first pregnancy I don't think I was 121 until somewhere around 28 weeks.  Last time it was probably at 18-19 weeks. Those midnight snacks are killing me.

May 24-25, just as I had hoped and predicted, I started feeling movement. Light pokes and taps. Someone's saying hello, I'm in here. 

This is reassuring.

Nausea and "bloating" appeared at 7 weeks and really peaked around 10-11 weeks.  So unpleasant, particularly in the afternoons.  I just wanted to read in bed and sleep but instead had to pick up and shuttle kids around, go to meetings, cook dinner, clean up, etc...  Remember if you think you want to get pregnant again - - - this phase is a little exciting, yes, but really BLUH. 

Now that's pretty  much gone, but now I am trying to keep my spider veins in check.  These things are really horrendous.  Hoping they don't get much worse than they did last time.  I'm going to be a bit self conscious out at the pool, but what can you do? 

News for/ from Milena:  She got into So. Highlands Magnet.  Arghhh Choices.  But we've always been curious to see how it is over there, so, considering it's free, she's going to have to give it a try.

Mother's day 2012

Nursing Ana is still so sweet, even with all the wiggles
Not wiggly after shower tonight

we sat in the hall on the floor, ana in my lap, nursing away
her head heavy on my left arm, her booty on my right leg

sucking softly. rhythmically, her eyes focussed intently on my wet hair  her left hand pulls several strands, tug tug, twist, twist
a game
then her eyes get heavy and close
now that left hand tries to find my other breast and rests on my chest, then pulling my night shirt
a deep breath and ana is almost asleep

July 31, 2012d

Gymnaskicks
Synagod

Some of my tribe's cute phrases


I wanna change. I got BIG poopoo.  Anya just turned 2. Her sentences are usually short, but she has many words and a very expressive face. She recently started asking Why for everything.  You have to wait until you're 3 to go to camp. "Why?, Mama?"  She knows a lot.  With hand signals, words, and pulls she can tell me she wants me to put my swim suit on so we can go to the pool. Another of her big questions is - Where-- as in Where papa go?  Where Tala go?

Natalya still uses object pronouns for subject pronouns.  "Them are still in Boston," for example, referring to her friend "Raine" and her family. She and Ana are really cute together.  Ana is often her 'baby.'  Sometimes they are both moms pushing baby in stroller.  It reminds me of myself growing up.  Very odd.  Right now it's after 10 PM.  For some reason Natalya did not fall asleep an hour ago when I put her to bed.  She is now contentedly playing daycare with her babies in the yellow room with the light on.  Happily entertaining herself.  Hate to interrupt, but I really don't want her to be in an awful funk again tomorrow due to lack of sleep again.  She has taken a liking to phones too.  She pretends to converse with friends and relatives, walks around the house in circles, like I do I guess.  She wants a cell phone; maybe to talk to her "cousin."  She has a cousin for everything-- kind of her imaginary friends, I guess.

They both still love mama milk. Ana likes to say I want Mok.  Natalya had a chance to quit when I was away from her for 3 days in Massachusetts. She managed and has mostly stopped night nursing, but she still has a voracious appetite for milk.

Milena is getting big-- dramatic as ever.  Can't stand when she get angry. Her fits drive me mad. Crying, yelling.  Makes me wish I never had kids--- but other times she's sweet.  Trying to figure out who she is, her talents, her strengths, her weaknesses.  She loves the Shake it Up show on Disney.  Reading is a love of hers, though she's been kind of busy to really just sit and read this summer.  She doesn't love math.  Guess we have to keep working there.  The Spanish she knows isn't bad.  Gotta keep reinforcing that one.

Milena, Alexander, and Natalya have had a big summer.  Tackled the 2 slides and the diving board at the Elks Swim Club.  Milena is still nervous about the purple slide.  Little Natalya actually beat them all to it.

They all hosted Madeleine and Caitlin for their first sleep over and then a couple week later spent the night at the Harris's.  I was kind of worried.  What if someone over there smokes and the one night my kids stay over there is a house fire?  Mom's worries.  Typical or just me?

Alexander's all about bugs and other creatures.  Milena wants a dog; he would take anything. It's kind of sad and kind of funny when he plays with and loves his geikos so much that he kills them.  He really cried the first time it happened.

What a day, what a week.  I am really happy to have just learned that my HPT was positive.  Now, I do not know how long this pregnancy will last or if there is even the makings of a baby in the sac.  Is there even a sac at this point (2 weeks past O)?  I am just excited to know that the egg and sperm met and did something.  I convinced my husband to try for one last baby a few months ago, and twice AF came, so I was beginning to think we were just too old.  We actually are too old, but apparently even old people can conceive without a RE. So Feb 13-14 was the day things finally worked --- unless they worked in late December too.  My Jan cycle started a couple days later than I would've expected, so that may have been a chemical.  That is why I decided to test today rather than wait until Monday or Tuesday when I would be sure I was + and just wanted to take the test for the heck of it.  I want to know if I have a chemical or not, not just suspect.


Today, I had my suspicions, but I really didn't know.  My PMS symptoms are close to my HPT symptoms, you know.  My face is rather clear, but I did get one pimple a couple days ago. I tried testing with OPKs and got what looked like a positive yesterday and the day before, but they were those 90% positives-- very dark, but were they really darker than the control?  The test took no time to read positive, so I know the hormone is there, but now we'll just have to see if little bean has the goods to really implant.  I hope honestly that it only takes if it has the potential to be normal and healthy, but we'll see what God has in store for us this time.  At least we conceived under a good sign-- Ricky's grandmother's yart zeit.  Ana was conceived on Ricky's dad's yartzeit.

More later!

At least now I don't have to keep running to the restroom to see if AF is here.  I've had cramps for 3 days and gas cramps for 6 or so-- a little odd, but could have been PMS.  Also, cramps starting at 12 dpo are not as convincing as those starting at 10 dpo (Milena, Natalya), but we'll see what happens.