Now We Know
Eight weeks and two days.
Now we know this baby’s age.
Due August 16th.
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Prenatal Depression
Unwelcome feelings
and depressive thoughts cling
and surround me like a fog.
I Remember This
Familiar heartburn.
Moodiness, oh, moodiness.
I remember this.
Sleep Is What I Need
Sleep is what I need.
Why is it so elusive?
Oh yeah, the toddler!
Anise's Haiku
Baby. Belly. Grow.
Ready! Nope. Later, baby.
More mamma mia.
Translation:
There is a baby growing in my Mom’s belly.
I’m ready to meet the baby, but the baby’s not ready yet.
We have to wait until later.
In the meantime, how about some breast milk?
Clueless, Not Really
Clueless, not really.
In retrospect, there were signs
Misinterpreted.
Oblivious
Weeks without a clue.
Totally oblivious
To the big event.
Here We Go Again
Here we go again.
We let nature take its course.
She didn’t waste time.
Birth Story
Dear Anise,
Today you are one month old. It’s hard to believe you have been in our lives for four weeks already! And, at the same time, it’s hard to imagine life without you. Even memories of you in my belly are beginning to fade now. I’m glad I kept the belly blog.
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007, that was the big day, and not a moment too soon. We were approaching two weeks past your due date of February 9th, and Julie, our midwife, had scheduled us in for an induction at the hospital for February 24th. We had already tried homeopathics (blue and black cohosh) and spicy foods in an effort to encourage your exit, but apparently, you weren’t ready.
In the five days leading up to your birth, we had had two ultrasound appointments to check on your well-being, and we were scheduled for another that morning. On February 20th, I lost my mucous plug (a good sign), but the ultrasound showed we were running low on amniotic fluid (a bad sign). It also showed, at first anyway, that you weren’t moving enough, but your Dad and I knew that couldn’t be the case because you were always an active one, constantly twisting and turning in my belly. You must have been taking a little nap because after a short break and a snack, you were movin’ and shakin’ once again. In fact, as soon as the ultrasound technician left the room, you were pushing out your limbs and stretching out my belly in all sorts of strange ways. I think that was your way of telling us, “Hey, I’m running the show here, and I’ll perform when and if and for whom I want.” You little diva!
After that ultrasound, we met with Julie. Because fluid levels were only bordering acceptable, she suggested we go for another ultrasound the next day and if nothing changed, we may have to be induced even earlier. In that case, our care would be transferred to a doctor at St. Michael’s Hospital known as the “King of C-Sections” (or “Dr. C” as our friend Dom later nick-named him), making that possibility even less appealing. In the meantime, Julie gave us a whole menu of homemade induction methods to try. She also did a stretch and sweep, and found that I was one centimetre dilated. That afternoon we began Operation Evacuation. I made an acupuncture appointment for the next morning, drank an espresso, ate a whole pineapple, downed an orange juice and castor oil shooter, and then got on the treadmill. After that, another two shots of castor oil and a very spicy thai curry for dinner.
I got intimate with the toilet that evening as the castor oil did its work on my bowels, and as the morning broke we tried a few more things, including another round of homeopathics. Sometime around 7:00am, I started having contractions (Hooray!), and by 8:30am they were consistently 50 seconds in duration and three minutes apart. Even so, I wasn’t totally convinced that this was the real thing. I did know, however, that I was not interested in riding the subway to the ultrasound clinic. I called Julie to let her know that I was having contractions and that I was ditching the appointment. Happy to hear the news, she instructed us to call back when the contractions were too intense to talk through.
By 9:00am, your Dad convinced me that we should post a labour update to the belly blog and send out an email to update some of our friends and family. We had prepared these things in advance, but I was hesitant to put the word out prematurely, a pretty ridiculous concern given what happened next.
At around 10:00am, Julie called to check on us. The contractions were holding steady, and were not too intense for me to talk through, but when your Dad mentioned to her that my mother gave birth to me after only a few hours of labour, she decided to stop in for a visit. She arrived about a half hour later, and with your Dad’s help, set up her gear for the birth. At that time, I measured four centimetres dilated.
For the next hour or so, labour progressed well. Your Dad helped me through each contraction by telling me when each one would begin and end, and by applying counter pressure to my back. I moved around our apartment, but mostly sat on a stool in the kitchen, eating crackers between contractions. Suddenly, at around 11:50am, I felt nauseous. The crackers I had consumed made a hasty reappearance in the kitchen sink, and then I went into the bedroom to lie down. I had another contraction, more powerful than any of the previous ones, and then another as my water broke. Apparently, there was a lot of blood, but (thankfully) I didn’t see it. The concentration of blood was due to a combination of two things: very fast dilation to nine centimetres and relatively little amniotic fluid. Julie called Melida, our back-up midwife.
As soon as my water broke I felt an urge to push, though I didn’t quite realize it right away. Julie asked me, “Are you pushing?” I answered, “I don’t know. I’m confused.” Then, the next contraction came, and she said, “You’re pushing! Do you want to stay on the bed?” I knew I didn’t, and asked for the birth stool. By 11:55am, I was pushing on the birth stool, fully dilated. At this time, your Dad also posted a sign on our door, announcing, “Home Birth in Progress”. We had prepared the sign in advance, unsure if we’d need it, but as soon as I started pushing, I also got a little loud, and we didn’t want any passers-by in the hallway to be needlessly alarmed.
At 12:05pm, we were feeling your descent with each push, and at 12:10pm we saw your head crown. At 12:15pm, Melida arrived, but the concierge in the lobby wouldn’t let her upstairs until he spoke with your Dad over the phone! Then, as Melida came through our door, a neighbour we’ve never met before stopped by to congratulate us! I only have a very fuzzy memory of this because, as you can imagine, I was distracted at the time.
Everything happened so quickly. Your Dad tried to update our website as often as possible, to keep our friends and family three time zones away well-informed of our progress, but there was little time for that.
At 12:28pm, after Julie swiftly unwrapped the umbilical cord twice around your neck, you were born into your Dad’s hands. I remember holding you in my arms, overwhelmed with love, and saying, “She’s so beautiful” and then, after a moment, because you were so quiet and still and slightly blue, “Is she okay?”
It seems your quick delivery into the outside world was a little traumatic for you, and you weren’t breathing well. The midwives helped clear your airway of fluid and gave you some oxygen, and you were well in no time. By 12:45pm, you and I were resting together, skin to skin. And, a couple of hours after that, you, your Dad and me, were left alone together for the very first time as a new family of three, blissful, exhausted and more than a little naïve.
Of course, there were a lot of interesting and amazing things that happened before all this, and a lot of interesting and amazing things that have happened since, and I’m sure there are many more interesting and amazing things yet to come, but that’s what happened, Anise, on the day you were born.
Love,
Mama
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Baby Anise
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Anise Therèse Laflèche
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Labour!
UPDATES
9:00am - Contractions are about three minutes apart, and lasting about 50 seconds
10:20 - Contractions holding steady. Midwife arrives, and measures cervix at four centimeters dilated
11:30 - Labour progressing well
11:50 - Water breaks; nine centimeters dilated; midwife calls back-up
11:55 - Pushing on birth stool; fully dilated
12:05pm - Feeling descent with pushes
12:10- Baby is crowning
12:15 - Back-up midwife arrives
12:25 - Head visible on the perineum
12:28 - Baby girl is born; mom is doing well
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