It's a Girl!!!

For those of you who have not already heard...

Carys Desse-Anaya LeCureux was born on June 3rd at 2:15am. She is precious and beautiful and a wonderful addition to our family!:)

Labor and delivery went very well!

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.:)

A New Chapter In Our Life Begins

September 28, 2007, my precious son, Caedmon Emmanuel, came into this world at 11:50a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 6ozs. and measured 22 inches long. Whew! Had not expected to have that big of a baby! Totally makes sense now why his moving about towards the end was sooo uncomfortable!

Pic #1 was taken on Day 1, pic #2 was taken on Day 2.


I don't even know where to begin; my mind is spinning with details and I'm not sure what to focus on.

I was starting to feel pretty sure that this day would never come, so as I had contractions throughout the day on Thursday, I basically ignored them. I was so sick of false alarms. Even that night, as they were coming closer together, I continued to ignore them. But then I went to bed at 12:30a.m. and when Corey came back just to "tuck me in":), he never ended up leaving again. As soon as I laid down, they started coming harder and at about 4 min. apart. We counted for a couple hours before we finally decided it was time to go to the hospital and call our doula.
It was so weird to finally be in that hospital for something I'd been waiting for for over 9 months!

Labor is not something you can ever fully prepare for! I thought I was doing really good till my water broke! Wow! Then the pain REALLY started!

My doula was awesome - couldn't have done it without her!

Everything went the way I wanted - no surprises to deal with. But I did about everything I had said I wouldn't.:) Guess you never know till you're in the situation. Had wanted to use a birthing stool rather than laying in bed. I'd learned about gravity being a huge help when you're delivering, but when it came to that point, I couldn't move! I'm not sure I was even conscious - they asked me a couple times if I wanted to switch positions - I don't even think I could answer them. Regardless, my baby was born!:)

My midwife had me pull him up onto my stomach (that was as far as his cord would go), and later I had to ask Corey if I'd even done it; I was so out of it.

I watched Corey cry as Caedmon came out - a precious memory I'll never forget! I cried when he was finally laying on me, although I think my crying was partly involuntary. (My body's never gone through so much!)

What an absolute miracle the entire process of conception all the way to delivery is! How amazing our bodies are! What a gift a baby is!

Dolphin Birth

I've been reading a book called Creating Your Birth Plan: The Definitive Guide to a Safe and Empowering Birth by Marsden Wagner, M.D.,M.S. The book has been very informative about all the variations of birth and hospital routines and when an intervention is absolutely necessary and when it is not. This Dr. is very liberal in his views as he believes that birth is a natural process and not medical.

In the chapter about a support and advocacy team during birth, he described the support of a dolphin mother about to give birth. The whole pod is involved. The mother is central and swimming in a circle around the mother is a group of female dolphins. The rest of the female dolphins in the pod swim in a circle around the first circle slightly further away. Then, last but not least, all the males swim in a third circle still further away. The pod pulls together to protect the birthing mother from intrusion and harm. And I quote: "A woman giving birth to a baby thrives when she's at the center of a circle of love."

Just thought it was a really cool picture. I don't think enough can be said for the support a woman has during birth - I truly believe it must make all the difference!

Doula

I've had a lot of trouble coming up with the "perfect" person to have with me during labor and delivery, other than Corey of course. Perhaps I'm being really weird about this, but the whole process seems like a very vulnerable time! Especially for me, being my first and having no idea how I'm going to react to pain and exposure. Who can I be absolutely comfortable with no matter what I say or do? Who will have a calm personality and completely support me in my desire to do it all naturally. (I'm not even sure if Corey's with me on this - his philosophy is, 'if it hurts, take something.')

In my reading and in my childbirth education class, I've recently come across the word "doula." Doula is a Greek word meaning "a female birth companion." Basically, any female you have in the room with you could be considered a doula. But it's actually a profession that woman are trained in. A doula is "a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during, and just after childbirth."(Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus, in Mothering the Mother)

My first thought was why would you pay someone you hardly know to attend the birth of your baby?! But as I continued to struggle with who to ask, and as Corey listened to the issues I was having, he encouraged me to look in to this doula thing.

There's a website, www.dona.org, that has a list of doulas you can find in your area. I contacted one and then himhawed around, still trying to decide what to do. I finally met with a doula Tuesday night, and now I'm really excited about the prospect of having her at my birth!

I'm sold on the idea of having someone there who's experienced in childbirth and trained in how to best encourage and comfort and help in the whole process! The lady I met with had a bag full of stuff to help comfort and aid in the process: blow up birthing ball, snacks, sour candy (I hear this might be desirable), powder, lotion, massage oil, a knobby massaging device - I love the last items; massage sounds wonderful! They're also there to support dad and help him in how to best assist his wife. I think Corey's probably feeling somewhat hesitant and unsure - he's never done this either - and I don't want him to feel sole responsibility for supporting and caring for me in a completely unknown and intense situation!

And perhaps I'll enjoy the fact that I don't know this lady very well - she should have no expectations of me.

So I believe I've made up my mind on who to have with me during labor and delivery. I guess that means I can cross one thing off my list of things to worry about!:)