Wowza.

Ayla had a two week appt yesterday – this is new, none of my others ever went in this early… but I digress…

Remember at birth she weighed 8 lbs 5.6 oz.  Beautiful, perfect baby.  As is normal, in 24 hours she lost a few ounces, only shy of three – so down to 8 lbs. 3 oz.

At her 15 day appt, she weighed… 9 lbs. 14 oz.!!!  Girlfriend gained an extraordinary and wonderful amount of weight… and she’s exclusively breastfed right now!  I haven’t begun supplementing formula on a regular basis yet!  90th percentile, for all that’s worth.  Both her big brothers followed this pattern too!  I guess Autumn will be my only “petite” widdle one…

Holy cow – literally!  Mama’s got some good milk a goin’, I guess! LOL!

Anyways, she got a completely clean bill of health – she’s perfect!  I must’ve done something right, for God to bless me with yet another great nurser, fantastic sleeper, peaceful and content little one…

 

She may only be 10 days old, but Ayla may by far be the most mellow of all of my babies… maybe I just breed ‘em that way!

I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard her cry (that’s if I’m not fast enough in grabbing her when she stirs), she nurses like a champ, sleeps phenomenally snuggled between me & Daddy (or me & Autumn & Daddy!), and is just so perfectly beautiful. 

I do truly thank God every day for four perfect little human beings, all healthy, happy, and loved so much it hurts.

Yes, I’m bragging.  I deserve to.  I’m old.  I have had my fourth baby at 40.  I am woman, hear me roar.

I was asked to write out a better description of my childbirth for a childbirth publication.  I thought I would cut and paste what I sent the author and what I could recollect from Ayla’s birth here.  The other three were just about as uneventful!  I’m backdating this to January, even though I just wrote it this month (Sept 08). 

I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have four pain-free natural childbirths.  I will recant the story of my fourth, the most vivid in my mind, but very similar to the others.

Being 40 years old and getting ready to have my fourth child, I never dreamed I would make it to full term, 40 weeks.  My doctor also felt the same… so as my due date of January 1st got closer, we got more and more anxious for the day to arrive.  We anticipated having the baby around mid-December.  Well, Christmas came and went and still no little bundle of joy… but then on the morning of January 1, around 3:00 a.m., my water broke (my water has broken at home for all of my children).  I called the doctor to let her know what had happened, but I was not having any contractions so I didn’t feel it was time to head to the hospital.  I know there’s no urgency even when water has broken.

Then my doctor reminded me of how long my last labor was – 46 minutes from the time my water broke.  Okay, maybe she has a point.  Baby #1 took 89 minutes.  Baby #2 took 43 minutes.  My doctor didn’t make it to baby #3’s birth… but she wanted to be there for #4, so she instructed me to go ahead and head on in.  We lingered a little while at home, taking our time, and letting our teenager know we were leaving and that he was in charge of the family and would be back home in a few hours.  We got to the hospital around 4:00 a.m. or so.

This time they put me in the room across the hall from the coffeemaker.  See, they learn. 

I had refused all internal exams up to this point (at the doctor’s office and in the hospital) because frankly, they’re pointless.  So I could’ve been at 0 or at 10, we didn’t know.  My Birth Plan was very very clear in it’s instructions to the hospital, so when I arrived, I was left to my own devices.  I was escorted to a private room, where the lights were dimmed and my husband and I were left alone to enjoy labor.  I had no IV, no silly rules saying that I couldn’t eat or drink, no being stuck in a bed.  No nurses or doctors came in to intrude on this natural experience – no continuous fetal monitoring, no exams, nothing – it was perfect, just the way it was meant to be.

At 5:00 a.m., I felt the first real contraction.  I allowed my doctor to check me at that point, just as a baseline measure.  I also allowed her to put the fetal monitor on for a few minutes, again as a baseline.  I had my coffee in one hand, hubby’s hand in the other, and was enjoying this beautiful experience.  The contractions were coming fairly regularly, and as I did with the other three, I simply envisioned the rollercoaster ride – going up the hill is always a little scary, but when you hit the apex, you realize it’s all downhill from there – until the next incline… but they all are so brief, and yes, pain-free.  The mind is an amazing tool, it can make your body feel pain, or make your body reject pain.  It is true.  Through a form of modified hypnosis, I controlled the pain, and there was none.  Don’t get me wrong, there WAS discomfort, but never ever a moment when I felt real pain.  And since I went into all of my labors knowing medications and interventions were NOT an option for me, I didn’t have that “out” to think that I couldn’t complete my labor and deliver an alert, happy, healthy baby with no dangerous drugs in either of our systems.

I know some disagree and say you must be prepared for every situation, but I believe that as long as I didn’t have that “out” of medication, I was less likely to think about taking it.  I highly recommend this for every mother.  It’s absolutely possible to control the pain, control the situation, control your own childbirth.  Unless my life or my baby’s life was in imminent danger, drugs would never be allowed near us.  Period.

So, the contractions had begun.  I choose the sitting position for my labors because I believe that’s the most beneficial for gravity and nature to do it’s job.  So I was sitting, and riding through my roller coaster contractions, and truly having a good time.  Really.  The lights were kept low, I was in a birthing suite that didn’t make it seem like a hospital room, no staff other than my doctor were present, and all of my wishes from my Birth Plan were honored.  I was having fun.  At 5:49, I told my doctor to get ready, she was coming… at 5:50, I pushed her out.  My little miracle Ayla arrived in our world.  Weighing in at 8 pounds 5 ounces, she is tied with my second son for weight (my first was 8 pounds 10 oz., my other daughter was only 6 pounds 4 ounces).   My doctor counts labor as the time from contractions starting to the time she arrived, so we chalked up our third labor under an hour – 50 minutes.  And again, I fully believe my mind controlled the entire situation.

Per our instructions, she was left on my chest for quite a while – no doctors interfering with the natural bonding process between mama and baby (and Daddy too!).  She took to breastfeeding like a champ.  I did not authorize shots or other tests, that’s not for the baby so soon in her life. 

We left the hospital at 10:30 that morning, a short five hours after she was born (personally, I think it’s a waste of gas to go to the hospital at all, but that’s another story altogether).  Recovering at home was so much better than staying in a hospital, I can assure you of that!  I highly recommend that every mom and baby head home, providing all is well, immediately after birth.  I was so much more comfortable in my own bed, with my own shower, and surrounded by all of my family and friends.

 

And there’s my story!

 

I promise I won’t update everyday… lol!

We took Ayla to our family doc (she’s our “pediatrician”) yesterday for her 24 hour check up – that’s done in the hospital for moms that stay, but since we left we had to sign a letter “promising” to take her within 48 hours to our own doctor… and of course Dr. S. got us in right away.  Everything checked out perfect, she’s only lost 3 oz. since her birthweight and the way she’s nursing I anticipate her gaining that back very very soon!

Dr. S. can’t do the initial hearing screening or the PKU, but we’re heading out today or tomorrow for it at a separate lab that does these for moms that don’t stay in the hospitals or go to birthing centers.  None of theses tests are rushes, so we’re taking our time.  The baby doc at the hospital was so cool – he was an “elderly” man, so I figured he would be very old school, but when he came in to sign Ayla out at about 10:00 a.m., he agreed that the plethera of tests given so soon are really not such a rush… he even agreed that we were right in declining the first HepB shot they like to give right away! 

I stopped in to talk to my OB (in the same office) and she said that she really wishes more moms took responsibility for themselves.  She really thinks a lot stay because they don’t ask, for one (duh!!!) and two, they lack the confidence to just get up and DO something.  She truly thinks they’re “programmed” to be incapacitated and believe they must be in bed for 48 hours.  Now don’t get me wrong – those that choose to stay are right in making that choice, and those that do have complications during labor have EVERY RIGHT to cater to themselves! Oh yeah!

Although – she did tell me she wanted me to adhere to the “no sweeping/laundry/lifting more than 10 lbs” for 2 weeks “rule” this time – because of my age!  Awww, twist my arm, I say, as hubby is right now sweeping the living room!

Anyways, I haven’t had a chance to personally thank everyone that’s emailed me – your wishes were all received and all truly appreciated.  Ayla is beautiful, just perfect, everything we imagined.  I had the childbirth I planned and prepared for, was home, showered and comfortable and Ayla was visiting with her grandparents in under 6 hours, what more can I ask for?  She’s sleeping in our family bed with Daddy and I, nursing virtually non-stop (which is wonderful!), and seems to be thriving… although it’s weird to realize she is just now slightly over 48 hours old!  I’m truly enjoying what very possibly will be my last baby (sniffle) but we shall see…

 

Hugs and love to all of you!

I’m making the vax post a page on it’s own, due to it’s popularity.  05/29/09: THE SEPARATE MMR VAX WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN!  SEE DR. SEARS’ SITE HERE FOR INFORMATION!  You can also find information on the MMR vax here.  The separate MMR is not available anymore, as of the beginning of 2009.  Contact Merck and demand that they service the hundreds of thousands of families that want these vax’s spread out.

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We are following a more modified version than Dr. Sears (posted here).  My doc has actually moved a few out longer, giving even less at some appointments.

And we will never give the Rotavirus, Flu, or Chicken Pox vax, and until and unless they perfect the problems with the Gardasil, my daughters won’t get near that one either.

Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule
2 months – DTaP, Rotavirus
3 months – Pc, HIB
4 months – DTaP, Rotavirus
5 months – Pc, HIB
6 months – DTaP, Rotavirus
7 months – Pc, HIB
9 months – Polio, Flu (Do 2 doses of flu between 6 and 12 months if nearing flu season, then yearly tereafter, up to age 5, as flu season approaches. Try to use only a mercury-free shot. If its not available, don’t get it that year, or get the nasal spray)
12 months – Mumps, Polio
15 months – Pc, HIB
18 months – DTaP, Chickenpox
21 months – Flu
2 years – Rubella, Polio
2 1/2 years – Hep B, Hep A
3 years – Hep B, Masles, Flu
3 1/2 years – Hep B, Hep A
4 years – DTaP, Polio, Flu
5 years – MMR (can group together for this booster)
6 years – Chickenpox
12 years – Tdap, HPV
12 years, 2 months – HPV
13 years – HPV, Meningococcal (once the Meningococcal vaccine is approved for age 2, Dr. Bob will move it there and delay hep B by 6 months)

We’re home with Ayla!  She was the first baby born at our hospital for 2008 – we made out with da gifts!

My water broke at about 3:00 a.m. this morning, and I deliberated going to the hospital because I wasn’t having contractions… but we called the doc and based on my history of labor, she told us to head on in just for giggles…  Got there at 3:30 or so… contractions started at 5:00 a.m., Ayla joined us after three pushes at 5:50 a.m. – au natural, as planned! 

We were discharged at 10:30 a.m. and are at home cuddling our new one… I will post pics here as soon as Daddy is done taking them – he’s going a little nuts! LOL!

Here she is at 5.5 hours old, safe and sound at home:

Thanks for reading, not very exciting I know… lol… so Ayla Kendra joined us 01/01/08 at 5:50 a.m., weighing a wonderful 8 lbs. 5.6 oz. with a head circumference of 14.5″ and a length of 19.5″.

I’m so thrilled to be holding her – finally!!!!!!!