BOYS: 28
GIRLS: 28

August
08/08/2007 Chases's Mommy ~ William Michael
September
09/25/2007 kellyqdouglass ~ Jonathan
October
10/11/2007 Janice ~ Alexander
10/12/2007 wnabbygrl(Jessica) ~ Madilynn Claire
10/20/2007 darcieleanne ~ Haile Paige
10/21/2007 Sunny1 ~ Baby Boy
10/22/2007 Steph ~ Samantha Joann
10/26/2007 Prayingforbabie (Kellie) ~ Lexxie Mary-Lynne
10/27/2007 JuliainCA (Julia) ~ Lydia Grace
10/30/2007 kristiraine (Kristen) ~ Elenore Miriam-Rose
10/31/2007 smiley (Christina) ~ Liam Oliver Andrew
11/1/2007 spinblossom (Karrie) ~ Landon Xiiytras Tobin
11/2/2007 JBB373 (Jenn) ~ Jarrett Dawson
11/2/2007 aussiehen (Heather) ~ Jacob Albert Dinko
11/3/2007 Ackray (Stephanie) ~ Georgia Stephanie
11/5/2007 canadianmommy (Stacy) ~ Kara Mackenzie
11/5/2007 Deena5Aboys (Deena) ~ Ameline Elise
11/5/2007 Jennredd (Jenn) ~ Javon Juliano
11/5/2007 drnmd1216 (Melissa) ~ Rylan
11/5/2007 drnmd1216 (Melissa) ~ Gavin
11/6/2007 Stina716 (Christina) ~ Violet Isabelle
11/6/2007 third&last (Sarah) ~ Liam Efraim
11/7/2007 mommykonny (Konny) ~ Vincent Christopher
11/7/2007 HD20rulz (Tami) ~ Hayden William
11/7/2007 luvjax628 ~ Cash Weston
11/8/2007 happily.ever.after (Carson Michael)
11/9/2007 Mom2Madeline&Jonas (MaryAnne) ~ Mason Owen
11/11/2007 Annah&Zach1.28.05 (Arrianah) ~ Karsten Tobias
11/11/2007 babybabybaby ~ Maxwell Thomas
11/13/2007 wannaBmomma (Kara) ~ Irene Audrey
11/15/2007 achio444 (Amy) ~ Elise Ellyn
11/15/2007 mateosmama (Malati) ~ Liliana Sofia
11/16/2007 breecan2 (Bree) ~ Jacob Tres
11/16/2007 simplyaz ~ Capri Carol-Jayne
11/19/2007 Val (Val) ~ Addison Grace
11/20/2007 RochelleT (Rochelle) ~ Allison Marie
11/20/2007 carmeldreams (Stacey) ~ Victoria Lauren
11/21/2007 akcizek (Ambra) ~ Jakob Anthony
11/21/2007 laura_allie_18 (Laura) ~ Madison Syke
11/21/2007 Canuck78 (Melissa) ~ Haylee Marie
11/22/2007 lydiapaige (Lydia) ~ Annabelle Faith
11/23/2007 Ommama (Kristin) ~ Indiana Hawk
11/23/2007 Sejmann (Suzi) ~ Elise Anne
11/24/2007 Mels Otterpop (Melanie) ~ Kira Lindsay
11/26/2007 kalhayd ~Mckenzie Faith
11/27/2007 Casinater (Dana) ~ Jennifer Marjorie
11/27/2007 kalhayd ~ McKenzie Faith
11/29/2007 Christa J (Christa) ~ Asher
11/29/2007 kaseykahne9 (Stacey) ~ Benjamin Vincent
11/30/2007 DoulaMom (Jessica) ~ Jackson Bryce
11/30/2007 Ms.C (Chastity) ~ Devyn Soliel
12/01/2007 LittleGuy+1 (Beth) ~ Isaac Daniel
12/01/2007 Chickee (Barb) ~ Colby Alan
12/02/2007 4 flowers (Shannon) ~ Hannah
12/07/2007 LabLover (Kate) ~ Edison Ernest
12/9/2007 Veronika01 (Veronika) ~ Ziva Gavrielle

OUR ANGELS
Baby William (Chase'sMommy)
11/18/2007 Blessedmomof10 (Chell) ~ Matty-Ray

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Co-Host JAB April 2005

Hadleigh and her latest boy toy!!!

Violet Isabelle
11/06/07
5:41pm
7lbs 8.5 oz
19.5 in
32.5 cm head

We got to hospital just barely making it at 7. FUN START! Boy was i nervous. i was checked again before the pitocin was given and i was about a finger tip dilated 30% effaced. They started the pitocon at 8:30 by then my own contractions made me 2cm but i wasn't effacing and the baby wasn't decending. I was having contractions off and on until 12:30pm at this time my doctor came and said i was 3cm and about 50% effaced. We decided to "break my water." moments after this was done i began having contrations back to back the dr said he thought at least 5 hours just to finish effacing and he was hoping we'd have her out the 6th. i was terrified, the pain was so intense i was screaming and crying. by 1:30 i had an epidural and was so relieved. they checked me again right after the meds and i was 5-6 70%. progress. i was contracting every 2-3 minutes but felt nothing! SO GRATEFUL for the epidural. checked again at 3:30pm 90% and 7cm. Things went on i read a magazine.. around 4:45 i started to feel ctx again my stomach was tightening up really hard but bearable i asked to be checked again and i was 100% 9 but the baby was still high. the nurse explained that it would be better to get in more ctx before i began to push to get her to come down. i agreed she said she would check me again at 5:30 and it was 5:05 then. i was starting to feel the urge to push but it wasnt intense so i mentioned it and she said i would know! i said ok. She walked out the door and BAM i had to push and i had to do it then!

She came back in the room with the anastheisiologist (sp?) thinink i needed a bit more pain meds. Checked me and said "oh my" you're complete (5:10pm) they got everything ready and called my dr. at 5:20 i began to push hoping the dr would get there in time. i pushed for 15 minutes and the dr. decided to give me an episiotomy she had poopied inside and i wasnt tearing no matter how hard i pushed.

GOT SNIPPED (16 stitches) and there she was 5:41pm.

SHE IS PERFECT!
scored 9 on both apgars

I am so in love like never before!

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rian born 11/24/07 @7:30am weighing 5lbs 6.4ozs

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Our birth story...

My contractions started Tuesday, November 20, at about 10 PM. They were really inconsistant all night long - sometimes they were 4 minutes apart, sometimes 15. By Wednesday morning, however, they had stopped completely and I honestly felt good enough to go to work, but Troy convinced me that wasn't a good idea. So I waited at home all day...it was torture! Not because I was in any real pain yet, but because I was just SO anxious to get this show on the road. The contractions started at about 10 again, and this time they were much more consistant, getting closer and closer together until 4 AM when I finally decided it was time to call the midwife. When I described my contractions though, she seemed really hesitant to believe that I was in actual labor. She had told me at my last appointment that she thought I would probably go past my November 25th due date, considering that my cervix hadn't even started to soften yet. I knew in my gut though that this was it, and she said she would meet me at the hospital.

We arrived there at 4:45 AM. As she prepared to do my internal exam, my midwife was explaining to me that she would probably send us back home to wait it out for a few more hours. I'm not sure what made her think that I wasn't in labor but she looked genuinely surprised when she told me that I was dialated to 5. Her attitude changed completely at that point, and there was no more talk of sending me home to wait it out! She did, however, tell me that I should get as much rest as I could while the contractions were still relatively mild, considering that I had hardly slept at all for the past 2 nights. So I was able to sleep for about an hour while Troy called our parents to let them know what was going on.

The next few hours were a blur because the contractions started to get a LOT stronger as I walked around the maternity ward and used the jacuzzi. My water had to be broken by my midwife, and thats when things really started moving along. As she continued to check me through the day, she said that I was dialating normally and I was 100% effaced, but the baby was not moving down the birth canal at all. Because of the way her body was positioned, each contraction was pushing her in the wrong direction, toward my spine instead of down the birth canal. When I was dialated to 10 and she still hadn't moved from where she started, my midwife decided to start some Pitocin, as well as some Stadol for the pain. I had really hoped to go all natural but at that point I was so frusterated that I was in so much pain and didn't seem to be accomplishing anything, so I gladly accepted the Stadol. I think this all happened around noon...like I said, things started to get blurry.

2 hours later, we were still at the same spot. Even with the Pitocin, the contractions still weren't strong enough to push her in the right direction. The midwife tried turning her manually with no success. At this point she brought up the possibility of a C-section. The on-call OB was called in - I had never met him before so I was really apprehensive about the whole thing. He supported my midwife's decision that a C-section was the best option, so into surgury we went. Troy called our families just as they were sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, and my parents, my brother, his mom and stepdad, his brother and sister-in-law, his two sisters and his grandparents were all at the hospital in the waiting room by the time the surgury started. I think I would have been a lot more upset if I wasn't in SO much pain already...the idea of just being done with the whole ordeal really appealed to me at that point. Most of the surgury is really fuzzy. I do remember the moment they pulled her out and showed her to me. She arrived at 3:15 PM on November 22, 2007 - Thanksgiving day. They handed her to Troy and we both cried. But before I knew it they were both gone and I was being stiched up, which seemed to take HOURS. I actually dozed off for a lot of that procedure. But when they brought me out to the recovery room, I was able to hold her and nurse her. They had already bathed, measured and weighed her. 7 pounds, 2.7 ounces, 19.5 inches long. She scored a 9 on both Apgars and was just perfect and beautiful.

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Lydia
mama to Annabelle Faith 11/22/07

i'm not sure why I didn't get on here, I must have missed something.
12/3 - Lillian Grace

thanks - so cool that we are completely even with boys and girls.

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Hey, I just noticed I was on here twice. McKenzie was born on 11/26 only, lol.

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Could I be added to the list?

Ariel Amanda was born on 11-2-07.

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Birth story...

We were making our way to 42 weeks (again) but I decided to try and move things along by having my membranes stripped. I figured if it worked that would be great but since I was only 41w1d I still had time.

I went to the midwives’ office and had it done around noon. After that ds and I went to lunch and then swimming. While we were in the pool I started to notice contractions. It didn’t take long to realize they were coming at regular intervals (about every 6 minutes). Ds and I had lots of fun in the pool for about 45 minutes. We had races, played catch, floated together and just enjoyed being together. I told him that soon we would have to get out though so I could call dad to come home early.

Dh got home around 5pm and I decided to go lay down to see what would happen to the contractions. Quick bathroom stop showed that my mucus plug had released (normal bi-product of the membrane stripping). I tried not to get excited. I napped for an hour but the contractions kept coming. So, I called the midwife even though the contractions were only 6-7 minutes apart. She said to call back when they were 4-5 minutes apart.

Ds went to my mom’s for a sleepover but he really didn’t want to go. He knew something was up and was reluctant to leave us. I felt very bad about saying goodbye to my little guy. But, he went and I continued to labor at home.

Around 7pm I noticed that I was running a fever. It was low, like 100-101, but it was enough to make me feel pretty crappy. It was hard to deal with the chills and contractions. Otherwise I was really managing labor well. I called the midwife at 10 to tell her about the fever and that contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. I told her that I was OK at home though and she said to just let her know when we wanted to come in. Dh and I hung out for a while. I listened to my birth playlist in the dimly lit living room. I asked dh why we didn’t just have a home birth. I thought it would be nice to just stay home. I was managing contractions best by tailor sitting, closing my eyes and breathing deeply. If I were in a bad position when a contraction started I had a hard time with the contractions because I was unable to change my position. I knew for sure that if I had had to labor in a hospital bed I would have needed pain medication.

I decided that I should go in around 11:30 because I was worried about laboring in the car if I were much further along. It wasn’t a terrible drive but I was glad to get to the birth center.


It was so different to be at a birth center than a hospital. It was just me, dh, an RN and a CNM. It was just peaceful and normal. Not a single poke or stick the whole time we were there for either of us. No monitor either. I was 4cm, 90% and maybe -1 when I got there. Progress from 2cm, 25% and -1 at noon. Not a lot of progress for all that work but it didn’t surprise me. I knew I wasn’t having the emotional signposts of being far into labor and the contractions were still in that 3-4 minute apart range. I continues to manage contractions the same way I did at home. I did try the labor tub but I didn’t find it offered much relief. I didn’t do much walking or upright positioning because it just didn’t feel good. Perhaps I should have as labor could have been shorter.

At 3am I felt a leak and thought it was amniotic fluid. It was just a lot of show. A check at 3:30 had me at 7cm. The CNM offered to break my water but I declined as I didn’t want more pain. I was at a level I could handle. If there was a guarantee that labor would go really fast after the AROM I would have done it though.

I was getting really tired. This is where things got interesting for labor; I was able to fall asleep between contractions and they spaced out to about 7 minutes apart. It only lasted 30 minutes but it was such a needed break! Labor picked right back up as soon as that break was done. I was still managing it with breathing and relaxation but I needed to tone (vocalize) as well. A few deep “oh’s” at the peak of a contraction were necessary. There were times that I let contractions start without me being ready and I had to play catch up to relax.

I felt like a watched pot at times during labor because I had found such a solo groove with my labor. I didn't need much from anyone- or if I did (which there were times I did) I couldn't verbalize it or make it happen. And what felt good for one contraction didn't feel good for the next. Dh just breathed with me, held my hand or sat by me. In hindsight I should have asked for more gentle touches as they felt really good.

I was able to handle labor ok but I was getting frustrated that it was going so slow. Transition is supposed to be quick (or it could be) but this was dragging on for hours. It was long with ds too. None of that textbook stuff for me. So, I caved and had my membranes ruptured. Nice, clear fluid and I was 8cm. Labor got super intense immediately. I hit that part of labor where you really and truly don’t think you can go on any more and you wish you could back out. I would have been happy if I could have just taken one contraction off since they were coming just about every minute. I tensed up during this part of labor and was really struggling to stay on top of the contractions with breathing and toning. If I was reminded I always tried to catch up but there were times that all I wanted to do was tense up and say that I couldn’t do it anymore. I forgot that part of the intensity was that I had an anterior lip so I wasn’t able to push.

I kept waiting for that urge to push so I could get relief from the contractions. I remember the pushing contractions being much easier than transition ones. But it was not coming enough. I was so disappointed that the AROM didn’t miraculously get me to the 2nd stage.

The CNM and RN were very surprised when I got up and started lunging on the bed. In my brain I had the idea that it could get rid of the lip. Evidently it was the right instinct. Moms just don’t usually tend to have that instinct.


It was time to push now. We knew the baby was going to be big so I got on my hands and knees to push. Like I suspected the position didn’t feel right. I did it for a few pushes but I didn’t like it. We decided to try side lying and progress was made quickly. I didn’t want to push though because I was afraid of the actual birth and the intensity of the feelings. However, I did it. I just wanted to be done. As the baby was coming out my CNM made me stop so the skin could slowly stretch. Whoa! That was amazingly hard because I just wanted to push. I was allowed to give a baby push with each contraction for 3 contractions in a row. The rest of the time he was crowning. I didn’t feel any burning, just pressure. I knew that if I didn’t want to tear I had to listen to them. I only had one chance to get this right, I felt. They talked later about how much control I had at this point.


Finally I just gave a push and he came out all the way! Next thing I knew there was a little baby in my arms. It was the first time I had opened my eyes in a long time. I couldn’t believe baby was here. I didn’t know how much pushing I had left and figured it would be a while! It turns out I pushed for 22 minutes.

We hadn’t found out the baby’s sex so that still had to be determined. I didn’t even check for a few minutes (I loved that no one announced it!). It was a boy! I was so excited to know that I had 2 boys!

Ds weighed in at 9lbs 8.5oz, 21.75" long, 38cm head and chest. I had no idea he was that big! He was born at 6:47am and the song playing while he was coming out was The Lion King’s “Circle of Life.” How cool is that?

We spent the morning resting at the birth center and were home by the afternoon. I didn’t get the same birthing high as I did with ds. I am sad about that but I still feel really good about the birth experience. I certainly feel like I kicked labor’s butt too. And I am proud of 5'2" small framed me for birthing such a big baby.

So, that's ds' birth. I found it to be a pretty intense experience. I am looking forward to reviewing my birth with the CNM next week and hear what she has to say. She said a few times that dh and I should make a birth video together because we were so in tune and so in control (with the exception of those 10 last transition contractions!). I don't know where this inner calmness came from. I guess some of the prenatal yoga exercises helped. It was nice to have a good way to cope with contractions. The unknown of labor is so interesting. I'm really glad that I got to experience it twice.

Beth

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ds #1 6/02 and ds #2 12/07