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This is part 13 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here, part 11 (Followup on Little V’s Traumatic Birth) is here, and part 12 (Beautiful Little Girl Passes Away After Long Battle) is here. Our daughter and I share a birthday. She is the best birthday present I could ever have asked for. I’ve been complaining about being ready to give birth (despite not having hit my “due” date) for a while now. See “False” Labor post here, see Prepared for Baby No. 2 here. She arrived at 39 weeks and 1 day, and not a moment too soon for me. We were dying to meet her! SuperBoy had a rough night on Monday night and was awake around midnight crying. Rather than keep to my new tough mama status of soothing him for a few minutes, but refusing to haul him out of his crib and into the floor bed we keep in the room, I relented…
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We share a birthday! And she was the best birthday present ever. I’m writing up her birth story and will post it Monday for the Birth & Parenting Series. She came at 9:17pm and was 7 pounds, 6 ounces, 20 inches long. We birthed in the water at St. Joes with our wonderful midwife, fabulous doula, and caring nursing staff. AA was a stellar labor coach and it was amazing to finally meet our little girl, SweetPea. She’s living and sleeping with us in our room, but her nursery is ready for her! We put the finishing touches on the nursery this past weekend. The toy chest & dresser were acquired back in the 70’s for my eldest sister, the rocker from that era as well, the crib a hand-me-down from my sweet aunt, the mobile was mine from back in the day, most of the little girl clothing from my sister!, and the quilt one I made for her in the past few months. Whew! Fun!
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This is part 12 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here, and part 11 (Followup on Little V’s Traumatic Birth) is here. The family that I shared with you about in November, whose little baby girl had the rare medical condition requiring a bone marrow transplant, suffered the most difficult weekend as their little girl passed away on Holy Saturday. She was just shy of 8 months. What a fighter! What an amazing little sweetie. Her Caring Bridge website is here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/quinnseymour. Her condition is called Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa – Herlitz. Please pray for her parents and their little 3 year son as they grieve. And please pray for all the wonderful medical support staff they’ve had throughout these long hard months up here in the Twin Cities. Thank you to everyone who was able to bring them meals, and prayed for them. I know it meant so very very much to them during this time. Life is a…
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We love fresh fruit & oats around here. So SuperBoy’s breakfast is fairly simple. After a long stint with Super Baby Food, how can I give up the wonderful properties of grains multiple times a day? So we start the day with oatmeal, yogurt, and fresh fruit. Nina’s Coffee Cafe in Saint Paul has a similarly delicious oatmeal that’s such a sweet way to start your day. He loves theirs lots, as they also have cranberries or raisins to boot! (Another great reason for Nina’s with a small child: the buses run on Selby frequently and can be viewed out their huge windows.) The other day we shared a smoothie as well. LouLou Ingredient’s Blueberry Smoothie. So delicious for mama & tot! Love her recipes. If you’re not a subscriber, you are missing out.
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Or so I think. Our hospital bag is packed (especially in light of last week’s “false” labor event), the nursery is done in girlish hues, the baby girl clothing has been generously handed down or acquired (sister & consignment sale), my doula team is on standby (I’m the luckiest girl ever–get a great doula. It will make your life so much easier.), and SuperBoy is excited about his little sister “whooshing” out of mama’s belly (his term of choice). You know you are ready to have a baby when two fears are overridden by the physical exhaustion of building and carrying another human being. Those two fears being: a) labor & delivery pain and b) no longer having sweet long sleeps at night. Bring on the unmedicated labor! Bring on the birth tub! Bring on the sore everything! I’m over it. We went on a lovely double-birthday date the other night. AA’s and my birthday are exactly seven days apart, and I’m hoping our daughter comes sometime between our birthdays. She isn’t due until the 15th, but hey, come anytime, little lady! I had contractions through most of dinner and then was physically ill (no details) when we got home. But it was so nice to go out! And not do the dishes! I didn’t care that it was riddled with labor-related issues. Amusingly, the waitress kept saying things like “we have non-alcoholic mixed drinks as well” and “the sheep’s cheese is raw milk” and “can I get you anything…
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This is part 11 of our Birth & Parenting Series. Part 1 (Thoughts From a Mother of Four) is here, part 2 (Mother of Seven Shares Her Empowering Birth Stories) is here, part 3 (First-Time Mother of Twins) is here, part 4 (How First-Time Parents Braved a Placental Abruption) is here, part 5 (Childbirth Collective Doula Film Premiere) is here, part 6 (First-Time Mama Bravely Faces Transverse Baby & C-Section) is here, part 7 (Homeschooling Mama Shares Her Path to Schooling) is here, part 8 (First-Time Papa’s Perspective on Birth Center Birth) is here, part 9 (Mama’s First-Time Birth and Faith in Women’s Bodies) is here, and part 10 (Unmedicated Birth for First-Time Parents) is here. This story picks up where my sister left off last week, wherein her daughter was born, but not breathing. I was able to fly out to New York the day after she was born and stay for almost two weeks to help them a little during this unbelievably difficult time. AA and I are V’s godparents and pray for her continued strength every night. We feel so blessed by her presence in our lives! The experience of childbirth, even in this day of technology and modern medicine, is an open portal into the great unknown. Mothers can hemmorage; babies can arrive in critical condition without any sort of advance indication. But no one ever hears a horror story and thinks it could happen to them. I never imagined having anything other than a normal healthy baby. Why shouldn’t I? All the scans were normal, we…
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