So much has happened since I last posted. We bought a home! Our moms came out to visit (at the same time, and they finally met for the first time!), and we had our 5th child - Alan Christopher Mizzell. This is his birth story.

Alan was supposed to come on February 8th. Even though I wasn’t due until March 4th, my doctor wanted to induce me early because of the complications that can come with delivery and having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. He was leaving town on vacation on the 9th and wouldn’t be back until the 22nd. All of my kids, except Anastasia, were born prior to 38 weeks, and he wasn’t sure I’d make it until the 22nd, when I’d be 38 weeks 3 days. However, to induce in Nebraska prior to 39 weeks, you have to have an amnio that confirms lung maturity.

To prepare for the delivery, we had our moms come out and visit. They had never met each other before, and we thought this would be a great time to finally meet! The plan was for Chris’s mom to care for Anthony and David during delivery (we’d take Charlie and Anastasia with us), and for my mom to be in the delivery room since she’s never seen me give birth before. I began having a lot of bloody show around the 5th of February, and my husband and mom were both convinced I wasn’t even going to make it to my induction.

On the 8th, we all went to my MFM doctor for my amnio. Oh my goodness, that was painful! My MFM rocked it out, and it went very quickly, but as soon as the needle was inserted in my uterus I slightly shifted and ended up contracting around the needle. It burned after that. Afterwards, they have to monitor you for an hour to make sure you aren’t going into labor and that the baby isn’t in distress. Alan was not happy. His heart rate was in the 200’s and stayed there for about half an hour before it finally came down and stayed down. The results came back that his lungs were not mature. We found out at my OB appointment that afternoon that his numbers were only 19, and they need 40’s to 50’s to be considered mature. He was REALLY not ready. I was upset, but I didn’t want him to come if he wasn’t ready.

I felt really bad for Chris’s mom. She had wanted to come out at the end of February, but I convinced her to come out earlier so she could meet my mom. (more…)

You know the part where life gets so good that you have to pinch yourself over and over to make sure it’s real?  I’m there.  All the pieces of the puzzle seem to have come together, and I am as content, happy, and complete as I’ve ever been - which has left me savoring every moment and putting off blogging about any of it!  But, here we are on her due date, and she’s already 15 days old, so it seems an appropriate time to add the story of her origins to the blog.  Let me start at the beginning.

I went in for my 37 week appointment on April 4th wondering how much progress all of the contractions I’d been having had made.  Quincy was so low, it seriously felt like she could pop out unannounced at any moment.  I was crossing my fingers (and legs) that she’d wait until my mom arrived on Thursday, but all signs were pointing to “any moment now.”  In fact, I even snapped this picture of my belly before I left the house, thinking it could be the last belly shot…and a shot of my gloriously unswollen feet!  It was a first (more…)

One of my big concerns with the pregnancy was the thought of going into labor. How would I know it was time? What would it really be like? Given that I was induced with Junior, I didn’t know what to expect this time around.

On Monday (at 36w2d pregnant), I had an OB appt. I told him about my increased discharge, changes in Braxton-Hicks (BH), among other lovely things. He said he guessed I had 1-2 weeks left before the baby would arrive. I was excited, but I didn’t put too much stock into that idea.

Two days later, Junior and I spent the morning with some friends at a play date. While we were there, I noticed a couple of contractions, but blew them off as BH. We went home and I got ready for work. Again, a few contractions, and even though they were stronger, I ignored them. At 2:30, I hopped in the car and headed off for work.

While I was driving, I noticed that they got much stronger and started glancing at the clock with each one. They were 3-4 minutes apart. I drove the 35 minutes to work, trying to convince myself that it was nothing. I was about half an hour early for work, so I decided to go out and take a quick walk first. They kept coming 3-4 minutes apart and got stronger, so I went into work and told my boss I was officially starting maternity leave!

I drove to my mom’s house a few blocks away and called Hubs. I told him that it would probably fizzle out, but that he should go ahead and pack bags for DS and I (because, of course, I hadn’t done them yet!). My mom and I went for another walk, and the contractions just kept coming. After 45 minutes or so, I couldn’t talk through most of them. I called Hubs and told him to meet us at my mom’s, and we’d figure out where to go from there. I called my doula and told her I was in labor and would call her with more info later.

I called my doctor’s office. Even though my contractions didn’t exactly hurt (except in my lower back), they’d been going for more than 2 hours at 3-4 minutes apart. They said I should go to L&D. Hubs, Junior, my mom, and I all headed off. They hooked me up to monitors for a while first and they were off the charts, so I was SURE there had to be some good cervical change. Nope. 1cm/70%. (more…)

So, it has been more than two weeks since my last *real* blog post… I thought maybe it was fitting that today, I post my birth story. Tomorrow, Izzy will be two weeks old – nursing like a champ, wearing her cloth diapers at home, snuggling in her wrap carrier while we’re out… I feel very special to have a little girl who took to my crunchiness so easily!

Without further delay, here is Isabella’s birth story… I actually wrote this our first day at home, so all of the details are fresh in my memory.

As you all probably remember, she hadn’t turned or dropped before I went into labor. My water broke some time early Tuesday morning (between 2 and 10, but it was a leak so we aren’t sure…) and I started having contractions around 5AM. At first I was convinced it was bad gas pain or more prodromal labor, but by 7AM I realized that the pains were coming at regular intervals so I decided to get up and start timing them. Contrax were about 3 minutes apart, and lasting about 30 seconds each. I woke hubbster up (more…)