Eli's Birth

This is the detailed story of Eli's birth.

If you aren't into details then just know that I was in labor for 10 1/2 hours and Eli was 8 lbs 8 Oz

and just wait for my next post with all the pictures...

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 Friday, the 12th, I had my last prenatal check-up.

I was dilated 2.5 cm already and feeling really excited.

They stripped my membranes.

For the rest of Friday and all of Saturday I was sore, bleeding and had cramps.

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I felt okay on Sunday.

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Monday, the 15th, my due date, I was so uncomfortable.

The thought of being pregnant any longer made me want to cry.

I seriously felt like I was going to explode!

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Tuesday morning, the girls both woke up at 7 am. I was not ready to get up.

So I let them watch Sleeping Beauty for an hour while I laid in bed and slept.

I finally got up at 8 am and was feeling miserable!

I was having some cramps. So I worked on getting some cleaning done to distract myself.

At 8:30, I sent Sean a text and told me that I couldn't do this any longer and that I hoped he was 

being super productive at work because I was praying I'd have Eli the next day.

Around 10 am I started timing my "cramps."

They were coming every 5 1/2 minutes and lasting for about 45 seconds.

So Sean left work at 11 am.

We dropped the girls off at Michelle's at noon and headed to the hospital.

First, I went up to see the midwives.

I got checked  at 1 pm and found out I was dilated 4 1/2 cm, 90% effaced and he was at stage 0.

So, we quickly went to the cafeteria and got some lunch (a turkey and cheese sandwich).

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I checked into Labor and Delivery at 2 pm and found out that I was already at 6 cm.

Sean and I were both amazed by how quickly I was progressing.

I'll admit it, I was a little freaked out.

I thought I'd have more time and had planned on laboring in the tub (I had packed our swimsuits).

But I decided that I wanted my IV and epidural ASAP!

Those are the two things that I dread the most.

I cried when I got the epidural. It hurt and is stressful for me.

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At 3 pm I had digressed and was only 5 cm. I was heartbroken when my nurse told me that.

So they gave me a catheter because we realized that

we might be there a little longer than we originally thought.

Eli's heart rate keep decelerating so by 4 pm I was put on oxygen for the remainder of my labor.

(The same thing happen when I was in labor with Avery.)

At 4:40 pm they broke my water. 

I also got checked at that time.

Teresa my midwife checked me during a contraction and told me that

Eli's head was really low at that I was dilated 8 cm.

But as soon as my contraction ended, Eli wasn't as low anymore therefor 

not putting as much pressure on my cervix and I was only dilated to 6 cm again. 

I was so frustrated! Things had been progressing so fast before and now progression seemed to stop!

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Since things were going slow, I told Sean to go get some dinner.

At 5:00 my nurse, Claudia told me to do some nipple stimulation.

I massaged one nipple for 2 minutes then stopped for 5 then the other nipple for 2 minutes. And so on.

By 5:30 I had made it to 10 cm!!! 

I was still just at stage 0 (that's referring to how low the baby's head is, I think stage +3 is the lowest, I can't remember, the point is I wasn't there yet.)

But I was feeling tons of pressure.

At this point Sean made it back.

At 5:40 I had decided that my epidural was wearing off so I asked to get a little extra dosage.

By this point my nurse had pushed the little button on my epidural tube twice 

so the anesthesiologist came and gave me another dosage.

I later regretted this.

I was so numb! And lot just my lower half but my entire right side. 

I kept raising and shaking my right arm like you do 

when your arm falls asleep and you want to get the feeling back.

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Around 6:10 it was time to start pushing.

I asked for the mirror and watched the entire time. It was so surreal.

Eli was born at 6:24 pm.

Immediately he was laid on my chest and I just couldn't believe that there was my baby.

Sean cut the cord and we wiped him off a little and I just held him.

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Eventually the nurses checked him out.

His birth stats: 8 lbs 8 Oz and 20.5 inches

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I asked Teresa to show me my placenta.

It was so cool. Seriously, our bodies are amazing! 

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Then I nursed Eli.

He didn't want to stop.

Eventually I made him stop so we could go to our new room.

And once we got there, I nursed him again.

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I just have to say that I had amazing nurses both in Labor & Delivery and in the Mother & Baby Unit.

Also, I'm so grateful that I decided to see the midwives.

My midwife was AMAZING!!!

She was with me way more than my MD's ever were and she took time to talk with me.

I have to say that is was my best birthing experience by far 

and Sean and I are already to see how the next birth goes.

Avery's Arrival

She's here! Our precious daughter decided to finally make her grand entrance.

Avery Joy Christensen
April 28, 2010
3:04 am
7 lbs 11 ozs 19 inches

So here is the Reader's Digest version of her birth story...

Monday, I was dilated to 1 cm and things weren't looking promising. So we scheduled a c-section for yesterday. Monday night I pretty much mentally gave up on having a VBAC. Tuesday morning I woke up at 3 am not feeling so well. By 4 am I was having contractions every 6 minutes. Sean and I figured we weren't going to get any sleep so we got up and showered and monitored my contractions.

We went to see the doctor's at 11 am to see if I was progressing. Sure enough, I had made it to 2 cm. So they sent me up to the hospital. By the time we got admitted and checked, I was dilated to 3 cm. Every few hours I progressed another centimeter.

By 10 pm, I made it to 5 cm and was getting tired, so I got some pain meds and rested a little. By 12:30 am I was at 6 cm and couldn't handle the pain any more. So they broke my water and gave me an epidural. And 30 minutes later I was all the way to 10 cm!!! So they had me "labor down" for a hour and a half. Basically I slept while my body pushed the baby down.

When it was time to push, my nurse woke me up and said it was go time. I pushed for less than 30 minutes. It was such a surreal experience. I was so happy I was able to have a VBAC and Sean was able to cut the cord and I was able to hold Avery right after she came out. I consider this delivery one of the greatest blessings of my life.

When Avery was born she had a lot of fluids in her lungs. They had to stick a tube down her throw to get it out and give her some oxygen. She sit up a bunch of fluids the first 24 hours. And because she was born 9 days overdue, she skin is incredibly dry and cracking on her hands and feet. But other than that, she's perfect!

We decided to come home from the hospital last night. We're so lucky that Avery is an amazing sleeper. We got more sleep last night than the two nights before. She slept all last night on Sean's chest. She LOVES to be swaddled and cuddled and loves to sleep. All of that is very different than Lexi.

I want to thank everyone who kept us in their prayers. I know that all the support made a huge help. Also I had the world's most amazing doula Kelly. I would recommend her to anyone. She is one of the biggest reason I think I was able to VBAC. She kept me calm and focused. I also had an amazing nurse. I just feel like my Heavenly Father was taking care of me and I feel so blessed.

I will post more pictures and details later. I'm tired and this is all I'm feeling up to for now.

Scary E.R. Visit and Pregnancy Update

This week I've been having trouble sleeping. So last night I look a Unisom sleeping pill. Not long after that I was experiencing REALLY intense stomach pain. I couldn't sleep at all and was so miserable! I wasn't sure if the pain was related to the pill but I knew that something wasn't right. So at 2 am this morning Sean took me to the hospital. Our amazing neighbors listened to Lexi's baby monitor for us.

I was in tears when we got the ER. I was worried and so tired from the Unisom. My blood and urine tested normal but they had trouble finding our baby's heartbeat. It look more than a minute but felt like an hour before they found the heartbeat. Sean later said that if they took much longer to find the heartbeat he would have started crying, which is saying a lot because Sean NEVER cries.

They couldn't determine what was wrong so they gave me some pain medication and a drink to take to clean me out incase I was constipated. Which I knew I wasn't. On the way home I started drinking that nasty liquid and instantly started throwing it up. Good thing I had brought along a bowl just in case.

This morning we went back to the hospital for an ultrasound. We got hooked up and the technician told me that I needed to go drink 3 water bottles full of water and come back in an hour. I drank a ton of water and some orange juice. I drank so much that I felt so sick. When we were walking back up to the hospital, I felt horrible. I threw up all my breakfast and all those liquids right on the grass outside the front entrance. So all that hard work was for nothing!

Our ultrasound went good. At first the tech wasn't saying anything which made me worried. She thought there might be a problem with my cervix she later told us but ultimately she determined that everything looked great. Our baby is healthy. "Pat" has a good heart rate and is VERY active. During the ultrasound the baby flip completely several times. We were hoping that we'd get to find out the gender today but our child wouldn't let us get a good look. So we have to wait until the 1st still. This baby is reminding me a lot of Lexi. She wouldn't cooperate in her ultrasounds either.

The tech did tell me that she saw me having contractions on the ultrasound. So that probably was what caused all this. I never even thought of that.


The highlight of it all is that we have a healthy baby.

10 Months Old!!!

Yesterday, Lexi turned 10 months old. I can't believe that is she going to be a year old soon! A lot things have been happening in our little ones life...

Lexi used to just have a snaggle tooth on top. Last month she got her three other front teeth and for the first time, I have been able to get a good picture of her with all her teeth. Are all her teeth adorable!?

Another first- last Saturday we took Lexi swimming on campus during the open swim time. We expected her to love it because she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES the bath but she didn't like the pool. She screamed and screamed. We were in the shallow end which was full of screaming and splashing kids. Another reason I think she didn't like it is because she has her first ear infection.

This brings me to another first. Monday night we took Lexi to the ER for the first time. Don't worry it really wasn't a total emergency. We just wanted to get her some meds since Tuesday I had Ryan and Sean was be gone all day. Plus our insurance covered it. She did so great at the hospital. They even gave her a bracelet with her name on it.

Our poor little girl has been sick for days. I took her again to the doctor yesterday. She had lost 1/2 lb in 2 days, which is a lot considering that she only gains a pound a month. But her ears look great and she is just now working on getting over her cold.

Okay, on to more exciting things. Lexi had a bubble bath for the first time. She was a little frustrated because the bubbles kept disapearing when she picked them up but she seem to enjoy it overall.

Something very exciting to me is that Lexi's hair is growing. She can now sport pig tails! Check it out.

Sean and I both agree that we have been so blessed. We love our daughter Alexia more than anyhting. She is such a blessing in our life. She is my life. She is my day. I am pretty much always with her. And I am actually tearing up as I just write this. There is no way for a mother to express her love for her child.