Birth # 3

  This one is much longer and has a lot more detail. One reason is because I wrote it a few months after he was born. The second reason is because my doula was taking notes. Thanks Erica!

I had a feeling my 3^rd baby would be born before his due date. He decided to make his appearance at 36 weeks and 6 days. My first child was a medicated vaginal birth and I don't remember the labor and only some of the delivery. My second child was an emergency c-section. I was determined to deliver my 3^rd child in as natural a way as possible in a hospital. My doctor was agreeable to a VBAC since I had delivered my 1^st child vaginally. So my husband and I asked a good friend to be our doula and prepared for our VBAC.

  Finnegan decided to make his appearance on January 9, 2011. I woke around 3 am feeling slight contractions that were far apart. I decided to sit in my living room and watch some television. Around 5 am I decided to take a bath and wait to see if my contractions continued. At about 6 am I decided that my contractions were starting to move closer together so I woke Vinson up and told him what was happening. My contractions were coming between 7 and 5 minutes apart so we decided to make the 45 minute drive to the hospital.

I called my doula Erica on the way to let her know we were going to the hospital and she said she would meet us there. We arrived at the hospital in the early morning and made our way to labor and delivery. The hospital was very quiet.

The nurses took us to a room and started getting us settled.  The nurse checked me and said I was  4 1/2 cm, -2 station, 80% effaced. I was put on monitors for the baby's heartbeat and contractions. Erica arrived and greeted us. The nurses decided to start an IV and we informed them that the Dr. had told me I could have a heplock with IV fluids nearby and used only if needed. After several tries at starting my IV line the nurse still was unable to get it in the vein and had an anesthesiologist start the line. Not long after the nurse came in to start fluids. We again informed her that my Dr had told me I could have just the heplock. She left and returned with the Dr who then got into an argument with us about IV fluids. The nurse started the IV fluids and they stayed in until after delivery.

Erica brought me water and peanut butter crackers to help keep up my strength and quench my thirst. The fluids they were giving me had me going to the bathroom frequently.

The Dr checked me again at 11:20 am and suggested rupturing my membranes. I was put back on monitors. After discussing the options with Vinson and Erica we decided to proceed with having the Dr. rupture my membranes. I was now  5 cm, 80% effaced, -2 station.

My contractions were still easy and regular. I got a break from the monitors and was able to sit on the birthing ball and move around. Even though I had no monitors to carry around I had the IV line that followed me everywhere.

Around 1 pm the nurse came to put me back on the monitors. She was having trouble finding the heart beat, mostly because the baby wouldn't be still. She went to get the Dr. who came in and told me I would have to stay on the monitors. This meant no more moving around and I was to stay in the bed. Erica recommended an internal monitor. I didn't really like the idea of an internal monitor but at least I would be able to move around. The Dr came in and inserted the monitor and then left.

I sat on the birthing ball for a while and then moved to the rocking chair. At some point my sister-in-law Gaylen joined our birthing party. My brother, Claude, decided he would sit in the waiting room and since we didn't have a name yet he took the baby name book and sent ideas to us via text.

  The contractions were getting a little stronger and I was having to concentrate during them. At one point Erica suggested everyone in the room should be quiet during my contractions. That didn't work out well. I felt like I was performing on stage. I told them to keep talking.

At 3 pm the Dr. checked me again and I was at  7 cm, 100% effaced, -1 station. I sat in the rocking chair but it was getting harder to find a comfortable position especially with the fetal monitor that felt like it was pinching if I sat forward.

4:15 pm and they are checking me AGAIN!  8 cm, 100% effaced, 0 station. The constant checking is getting really annoying and so is the nurse. The contractions are getting even more intense and I can feel it in my back. I am moaning through contractions now. A few times I held my breath and Erica gently reminded me that moaning through them would help. She was right but sometimes it was really hard not to hold my breath. I had Vinson pressing into my lower back with his fist to help ease some of the pressure. That helped some but it still hurt a lot!

Somewhere around 5 pm three nurses came in to check on me. I was in the middle of a contraction and saying get out, get out, get out. Vinson told them I was talking about the baby but they didn't seem amused and quickly left the room.

At 5:45 pm the nurse came in, checked me and said I was at a 9 and could push through to a 10. I was in pain and decided okay lets push. The nurse then left to get the Dr.

Erica had warned me that I would come to a point some people referred to as the Ring of Fire. Boy was that an understatement!

The Dr. returned with a whole crew of people. By this point it was hurting a lot and there wasn't a comfortable position to be found. My Dr. decided I should be in the most painful position possible – on my back. I am now starting to experience the Ring of Fire. Can't even begin to explain that feeling! The Dr told me to push. I shook my head and said “I can't”. Of course everyone says yes you can. Like I had any other choice anyway.

At 6pm I started pushing and screaming at the top of my lungs because it hurt. At 6:04 pm Finnegan Michael Mouser mirrored my cries with his own as he entered the world in a gush of fluid. The pain I felt diminished quickly. Now it wasn't the screaming pain but an, ouch that hurts, kind of pain. The sight of my baby boy made me forget about everything else. My first words were “he's so tiny” and compared to my other two his 6 lbs. 4 ozs. was tiny. The Dr. laid him on my chest and I couldn't believe he was finally in my arms. I held him for a little while then gave him to the nurse so she could clean him up and check his vitals.

I must say that after having had a birth with meds and a c-section, I couldn't believe how great I felt after this non-medicated natural birth. I didn't need pain meds, I was wide awake for everything, and an hour later I walked myself to the bathroom without any help.

Birth # 2

The birth of our 2nd child was not how we thought it would happen. We expected her to arrive in much the same fashion as her big brother but she had other plans. She had been breech just a few weeks before her arrival but had finally turned so we expected nothing out of the ordinary.

Her arrival began with some light contractions. Vinson stopped by the house between his college class and work. When he came in he asked me what was going on and I told him I thought I was having some contractions. He called the doctors office but they were closed and the answering service said they would page the doctor on call. The answering service called us back a little while later and said they couldn't get through to him but they would keep paging him. We decided because it was a 45 minute drive that we would go to the hospital.

On the ride to the hospital the contractions stopped but we were so close to the hospital we decided to go on in anyway. When we arrived the doctor was just coming out of surgery. The nurse told him she would take care of it but he said since he was already there he would go ahead and check on me himself. They hooked me up to the monitors and the doctor checked everything out.

After a few minutes he asked the nurse to get a new belt for the monitor because he didn't think the one we were using was working. She came back with a new belt and hooked it up. The doctor looked at the read outs and shook his head and said lets change to another room because this monitor seems to be broken.

We settled into another room and got a whole new monitor. The doctor looked at the new read outs and seemed very puzzled. They decided to give me a caffeinated drink and used a machine on my belly to try to stimulate the baby and get her moving but she didn't. The doctor started to get very troubled and said that the read out was showing a heart rate but it wasn't changing at all. It should have changed with the mild contractions I was having and the stimulation.

The doctor recommended we break the amniotic sacks. We agreed and he did but there was no amniotic fluid. He sat with both of us and told us that we had two options. We could either do a c-section or deliver naturally. We asked what he recommended. He said I know you want to deliver naturally but if you do I  don't know what you will have, if we do a c-section you will have a baby tonight. We told him if that's what he recommended then we would go with the c-section.

After we made the decision there was a flurry of paperwork to sign and the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. The anesthesiologist just happened to be the same one from our second birth class (yes we took a birth class again). After getting the epidural they moved me onto a gurney and strapped my arms down. The epidural had my arms shaking terribly. They wheeled me to the operating room and started delivering our baby. When Kaia was born she let out one cry. I was so happy to hear that cry because it meant she was okay and I started crying too. The doctor announced she was a boy and we were all very confused.

Here's what I didn't know! My baby only cried once because the lack of amniotic fluid caused her lugs to be stuck together and she was unable to breathe again. Vinson and the anesthesiologist kept me distracted so I wouldn't hear what was going on with Kaia. The nurses were having trouble finding her heart beat but the neonatologist found her heartbeat and told them to bag her. I got only a brief, blurry glance at her as they wheeled her out of the room. The reason the doctor told us she was a boy was because she had a pound of extra fluid in her body and was very swollen.

They put me under and had Vinson leave while they sewed me back up. I came to twice and talked to the doctors. Once telling them that what they were doing didn't feel very good and the second time I heard the Dr. say "Count the instruments we don't want to leave any behind".

When I woke up I was in recovery and very thirsty. It's weird the memories that stay with you. Vins and his mom were there and he let me know that Kaia was in NICU and the doctors were taking care of her. When I woke again I was in a hospital room and my parents were there.

I didn't get to see Kaia until later that day. I had to be wheeled to the NICU in a wheelchair because I was so groggy from the medication they had given me. I was able to touch her but not hold her. No one knew what was wrong with her, only that she was very sick.

Later they told us that she would have to be life flighted to Oschner's in New Orleans. Kaia went on a helicopter and Vins left immediately for New Orleans. I had to stay in the hospital and recover. Three days later I was finally able to see her again.

At Oschner's they figured out that she had a heart problem that occurred in utero and that we were lucky that she had survived long enough to be born. She was two weeks old when we finally got to hold her and at one month old we got to take her home!

Birth # 1

My first child's birth. All I can say is WOW! There was so much I'd read about but so much I still didn't know. You see a doctor every month and then near the end every other week but they don't give you much info.

His birth started with me leaking amniotic fluid that morning. I called the doctors office and got the on-call dr. He rudely told me that it was probably just my bladder leaking. I was pretty sure I would know if I peed on myself! I nicely told him thank you and hung up.

We decided to slowly make our way to Lake Charles. We stopped at the Factory Connection Outlet and when I got out of the car and stood up the amniotic fluid started leaking again. We decided we should just go ahead to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital they checked me in and did a strip test to see if it was amniotic fluid and got an inconclusive result. Probably because all the amniotic fluid was gone by that time. They called the doctor and because I wasn't having contractions and my blood pressure was a little high he told them to start me on pitocin. Looking back the blood pressure issue was probably because I was nervous about being in the hospital and because the first nurse had me laying on my right side.

A little while after being there the nursing shift changed and my new nurse was one from the birthing class we had taken. The first thing she did was tell me to lie on my left side. When they started the pitocin she told me that the contractions would get painful and if I wanted pain meds it would be best to get them early on as they may not work as well further into labor. I went ahead and asked for the pain meds. They put me on Demerol and I fell asleep. I don't remember much after they gave me the meds. I remember coming out of the fog a few times and going to the bathroom once. They tried to get me to use a bed pan but that was just crazy.

At some point I came to enough to tell them I needed to push and they wheeled me to a delivery room. I remember it being all very sterile and bright. By this time I was in a lot of pain and just wanting to go back to sleep. Vinson held my hand and after just a few pushes Tanek was born at 12:56 pm, weighing 8 lbs. 5 oz. The doctor held him up for me to see but my glasses were back in the room so he was mostly blurry. He had a good set of lungs and let us know about it.

The next thing I remember is being back in my hospital room with Tanek swaddled in a blanket. Vinson, my parents and Vinson's mom were all there oohing and ahhing over our new bundle of joy. I fell back into my medicated haze.

When I woke in the morning I was still a little groggy but happy to have my new baby boy in my arms.

Birth Rite Louisiana

Birth Rite Louisiana is a great group. Their mission statement is "Birth Rite Louisiana is a volunteer based organization working to lower neonatal and maternal mortality and morbidity through education and activism.  We seed and support birth networks throughout Louisiana as well as facilitate activism and awareness events"

They have a great support group online and in person. If you are planning to have a baby check them out. They have lots of birthing knowledge to share.

Business of Being Born

My plan this week is to put up several post about birthing babies. For my first post I thought I'd start with the documentary The Business of Being Born. Click here to see a trailer for the film.

The Business of Being Born was an eye opening experience for me. I already knew about some of the issues they talk about but found out a lot more when I watched the film. If you are planning to have a baby please educate yourself about birth or else you will be giving someone else control over the most amazing experience you will ever have in your life!

I plan to share the stories of each of my children's birth here as the week goes on. Each one was different and taught me so much about birth. I wish I had known more before I had my first baby. I hope YOU will know more before you give birth.

Alexandria Zoological Park

Last week we took our family to visit the Alexandria Zoo . The weather was beautiful and we had a fun day together. The thing I like most about this zoo is that you can see the whole zoo in a few hours. The walkways are nice and shaded and the kids love the playground.

Koi Fish - Photo by: Kaia Mouser

 We always start our visit by feeding the fish in the pond. The monkeys were in an especially playful mood and entertained us by swinging on ropes and acting silly. We rode the train, another activity my kids love to do at the zoo.

The otters were out and swimming. The bears, lions & tiger were also out enjoying the cool weather. Peacocks could be found roaming the zoo as well as the fat squirrels that enjoy the other animals food.

Photo by: Lucrecia Mouser

The zoo is currently undergoing renovations and upgrades. Some parts of the zoo were roped off for this purpose but there was still plenty to see and enjoy. While this zoo doesn't have the big animals, elephants and giraffes, they still have plenty of animals to keep the kids attention.

Next time you are looking for something to do in Alexandria check out the Alexandria Zoo.

Driving Blind

One of my husbands childhood friends has a degenerative eye disease that may eventually cause him to be blind. His brother also suffers from the same diagnosis. They recently put together a documentary and we had the honor of being able to view it. They traveled across the United States and filmed their experiences of seeing the beautiful sights of America and talking to wonderful people they visited along the way. The film is full of beautiful scenery and images I realize I never stopped to appreciate. The story is heartwarming and raises awareness for a disease that most of us have never even heard of before.

Visit the websites below to view movie trailers and stills from the film. Donate to their cause and if you get the chance, see the documentary. It is an unforgettable experience!

For trailers and info: Driving Blind Website
Like their Facebook Page and stay updated on film festivals they are attending.

Oogie, Oy Song/Cheer

My husband put together a song/cheer that is fun at campfires. Check it out and share it with your friends:)

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Paparazzi Giveaway for October is Melissa Dartez! Congratulations Melissa, you won one free piece of Paparazzi Accessories.
Readers continue to visit our blog frequently as you never know when we will have another contest! Plus check out and like my Paparazzi page on Facebook!