Our precious baby girl has arrived safely and soundly! Praise God!
I woke up Monday morning with some contractions and getting a little anxious about Jeremy going to work for the day because he was going to be an hour away with no real communication. I had been praying that the Lord would give me a CLEAR sign that labor was starting so I'd know when to call everyone I was going to need. I woke up and looked at my watch and it was 2:47am. I decided to get up and use the bathroom and when I got up and was walking back to bed, my water broke! There was my clear sign. It took me a few "gushes" to realize that it truly was my water that broke, so I told Jeremy and I went downstairs to call my parents. I ate breakfast, packed the rest of my stuff and fixed my hair and face. I wanted to be TOTALLY ready, just in case. The contractions did not continue though, so when my parents arrived around 8am, we had to decide what to do. I didn't want to wait around TOO long and I didn't want to go in too early because I know full well that as soon as you set foot in a hospital, they start wanting to do stuff to you. And I did not want anything done. I wanted a natural labor and delivery again. My mom and I went walking and contractions picked up, but definitely not enough to be heading to the hospital for...but when we came inside, I had a couple of good, strong ones that made me a bit anxious. I did NOT want to get caught at home in fast, hard labor...so we decided to go in to the hospital.
We got all checked in and the contractions were not picking up. We walked...and we walked...and we walked. They did a test to be sure my water had broken...as if there was another explanation. My doctor called me to confirm that my water had indeed broken--thanks, Doc! They started discussing my options--and were throwing around Cytotec and Pitocin. I didn't want EITHER, but of course, you're in the hospital...they want to do SOMETHING. I was reading about Cytotec and was horrified by what I read, and was so relieved when my doctor came in and checked me and said I was at 4cm and said I was too far progressed for Cytotec. That solved that issue!! :) Then of course, they started pushing pitocin. We walked some more, rested, ate...contractions were coming stronger, but still not enough to really get a pattern established. I was getting tired since I had been up so early, so at 6pm, I relented and asked them to start pitocin...but the SMALLEST dose possible. I also told the nurse that if she upped the dosage, I would, SERIOUSLY, rip the IV out of my arm. I do NOT like pitocin and just the thought of it made me very anxious. I did not want any other interventions, but I was so afraid that if pitocin was started, I would not be able to handle it. Everyone assured me that as soon as a pattern was established, Liberty would be there in no time. At this point I was still 4-5cm, so I was getting a bit desperate to move everything along. They started the pitocin and the contractions started coming. They got very uncomfortable, but not unbearable. I went into my little zone. I kept hearing everyone say, "I don't know what's going on with her, she's so stoic." I was in pain, I wasn't going to get up and dance!! My doctor had missed the first baby he was supposed to deliver of mine and nearly missed the second, so he was here with me the ENTIRE time, which is very unusual. Pretty soon I started feeling that wonderful animal instinct to push. It wasn't strong yet, but my doctor checked me and I was at 8cm. He said I could go ahead and bear down if I felt like it. At this point Liberty's heart rate started to drop a bit with the contractions. It wasn't anything super worrisome, but the doctor wanted to get her OUT. It started to get a bit crazy now. I felt like everyone was grabbing me and pushing me here and there. The doctor started pulling Liberty out manually. He had me push--HARD. It was hard work, but thankfully I only had to push 4 or so times before she finally came out. Once she was out, I started to bleed heavily. The doctor delivered the placenta and upped my dosage of pitocin and the bleeding subsided. I only ended up needing 2 small stitches. Liberty is absolutely PERFECT. Everyone was commenting on how perfectly round her head is. She has a LOT of dark, dark hair. My doctor even said, "That's a lot of hair for a white baby!". Hahaha.
So that is how Liberty Rose made her arrival into this world. She started nursing right away and has been very happy and content so far. She's been sleeping a LOT. Oh, she arrived at 8:04pm and weighed 7lb14oz and was 20 inches...same weight as Savannah and one inch shorter.
I'm not one to stay in the hospital. I don't like the hospital, I can't sleep...I'm uncomfortable...I just want to be back in my own home. Yes, my home is crazy and chaotic and LOUD, but it's home. My doctor has always been wonderful with letting me come home early and we've never had a problem. In fact, he was there at 6:45am to check on me and have me discharged--bless him! Getting Liberty discharged, however, was a completely different story. We don't currently have a pediatrician. First of all, I try to avoid doctors especially this time of year. It seems like whenever we go to the doctor for a "well-child" check, I end up with a "sick-child". But the main reason is that the practice we have been with for the past 9 years has released us from their practice because I refuse to give my younger children the MMR vaccine. I'm not anti-vax, but Aaron, my 3 year old, has displayed some sensitivities and I don't want to inject him with heavy metals, especially with a vaccine that has been linked to autism. I don't want to argue this whole thing...there is plenty of evidence on both sides, but for us as parents, we feel strongly that we don't want to do this vaccine. We also feel strongly that, as parents, we should have the right to do what we feel is best for our children. We educate ourselves, make a decision and WE take the responsibility for how things turn out. That's our duty as parents. I don't want to be forced to do something to/for my child that I do not feel comfortable with. Anyway...I figured that we'd go into the hospital, choose a physician I know takes our insurance and meet him there and if we like him and he will take us, we'd continue the patient/doctor relationship. Unfortunately, it was not that easy! The doctor didn't come to the hospital because he wasn't expecting a new patient--even though I told the nurses he was going to be who we'd be having. When they finally called him, he was confused about what was going on...why we didn't have a pediatrician, why we had chosen him, why we don't vaccinate, etc. And after waiting and waiting, he decided he did not want us as patients. So all of the blood work that Liberty had done (thankfully just little heel pricks) had to be RE-done because the tests had that doctor's name on them. UGGH! Now we were left seeing the on-call doctor, which wasn't a problem for me...I didn't care WHO saw her, I just wanted her checked out and released...I could go home and pick a doctor! So the on-call doctor came in and started asking us why we don't have a pediatrician, why we choose not to fully vaccinate and wanted us to get on the phone that MOMENT and make an appointment with a pediatrician so he'd KNOW we were going to have her care followed up with. As if we're negligent parents who don't want our child even seeing a doctor. Yeah, and we're only going to feed her vegetable juice for the first year of her life. Seriously, we're not alternative health wack-a-doo's! I WANT my child being seen, I want her healthy. I want to do what's best for her. So once that was FINALLY taken care of and she was taken off to re-do her tests, a social worker came to visit me in my room. She first asked me if I'd ever suffered from postpartum depression and I said, "No, I'm usually just so happy not to be pregnant anymore!". She asked me if I have help...and I said, "Yes, my husband will be home, and my parent's are helping". Then she said, "Well the reason I'm here is, and this is usually an error, like the nurse accidentially checked the box, but it's because of drug use." I just looked at her kinda funny because I really had NO IDEA what in the world she was talking about. I said, "You mean, MY drug use? Like I'm using drugs? I really don't understand." She said, "Yes, if you tell a nurse that you use drugs or if she over hears you talking about it, she has to report it. This had to do with marijuana or cocaine" I kinda, in shock, started laughing. I said, "I have 7 children, the LAST thing I want to be doing is smoking weed!" She said, "Okay, I figured it was a mistake, I'll make a note of that and we'll have that removed from your file." Oh gee, that makes me feel so much better! Now it's on record that I've been visited by a social worker because of my alleged drug use, that of course, I denied. I don't fully vaccinate my children, nor do I have a pediatrician...I have 7 children (what normal person does that?) and I've told the nurses who asked where my children go to school that we homeschool. Lovely. I felt like a bit of a target. Even though this was obviously a big mistake, it was very unnerving to me! I just wanted to get out of there and get home. One of the nurses came in and I told her what had just transpired and she said, "Oh no, that is SO not okay!" She left and went to "investigate". When she came back, she said she had figured out what had happened--who had accidentally checked that box (yes, it WAS just an accident), and made sure it was UNchecked and said the unit manager would be there shortly to offer me an apology. So the unit manager came and sat down and had a long talk with us. She felt really bad that everything had gone so haywire the whole day. I told her I had had 3 other children there and it had never been a problem getting out of there. She was very sorry that we had to go through the whole social worker ordeal and she gave us a $50 gift card to their little boutique there in the hospital where I was able to buy some cute things for Liberty and I that I never would have splurged on...so that was a little silver lining. And alas, within 30 minutes, they had us all ready to get out of there and get home. Praise God! Jeremy said next time will be a home birth!! I'm not sure if that will truly happen, but the whole ordeal did not ease my dislike of hospitals! However, we're home...we're all good and we have a precious baby girl who is absolutely ADORED by all of her siblings. For that we are very, very grateful!
