I will post photos as soon as I find my transfer cable, but Clare Anah was born this morning (early due to a 3am bleeding episode). Mom and Clare are doing well and resting. Thank you for your prayers!
Craig
UPDATE: Thanks to Justin’s IPhone for the first photo:
We had one last OB appointment yesterday afternoon. She helped clear up the confusion we were feeling after the ultrasound last week, and really it looks like the previa was worse that we thought at first. So we’re planning on being at Touro for 6am next Friday, the surgery should be around 8 (unless the woman scheduled ahead of me has her baby sooner, then we’ll go in at 7), and should all take about an hour. Then at least 2-3 days in the hospital, if all is well, and back home again.
In the space of an hour tonight, the girls’ imaginative play included two hilarious and touching games. The first was “Mass”, complete with Goldfish and water intincture for communion, the girls taking turns as priest, and a fantastic version of “Hosanna to Jesus the King” of Lucy’s own creation.
When that was finished, Lucy announced that we were going to do what the man on the computer was doing (Craig was watching the State of the Union): she would stand up and talk, and we would all clap. The speech sounded roughly like this: “Blah, goobdy-glah, ookie jimbas.” It was quite hilarious.
This is one of the best things I’ve seen come out of the government in a long time.
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/breastfeeding/calltoactiontosupportbreastfeeding.pdf
The Surgeon General has issued a “Call to Action in Support of Breast Feeding”, which (from my quick look) is pretty sweeping in its arguments for giving mothers more breast feeding support and in its suggestions for how to do that. It’s a long read, and a lot of it is common sense (but apparently somebody has to say it – it’s not happening otherwise!) but there are a couple of parts worth looking at.
Somebody please disagree with me if this is not you experience.
This is my request. Please, please, do not tell me that “the only thing that matters is a healthy mom and a healthy baby.” I’m not saying I don’t want a healthy baby, or that I would rather bleed to death, or that I don’t appreciate that I live in a place where I have the opportunity (not to mention the medical insurance) to allow us to catch a placenta previa and do something “safe” about it. But what I hear, although I know it is not what it intended, which is why I try not to get upset about it, is, “don’t get so worked up about your birth. Your experience of it doesn’t matter. Stop being upset.”
That is the day our C-section has been scheduled. Apparently the placenta has not budged, and the risk of massive bleeding is too great if I go into labor, so we’re going in at about 38 weeks, which is actually longer than we probably could have hoped to wait if we had any other doctor.
I have to say I’ve been pretty overwhelmed by all the notes we’ve gotten saying that we are in people’s prayers. Thank you all so much!! No matter how things end up going, it has been a great blessing for me to know how many people care about me and our family.
The ultra sound appointment is set for 2:40 this afternoon, then it’s straight to the OB’s office to discuss where we stand, and then if there is time, we’re meeting with the midwife while we’re uptown. And then I’m hoping for a celebratory dinner somewhere… So I’ll update as soon as I can, but it probably won’t be until this evening.
These are the reasons we risk our lives and have children.
Samantha: Want more pickle!
Me: I know pickles taste good, but they won’t make you grow big and strong.
Samantha: I strong enough!
I had no answer for that. Grandma just laughed.
And then,
Samantha, holding the “Bible Storybook“: This book heavy because lots of God in it.
And every time she stands on something tall, she says, “I big!”. And when she can’t do something she wants to, she hangs her head sadly and says, “I too little”. And we all giggle.
Yesterday I had the appointment with the OB who backs the midwife we’re looking at using, and I am offically certified “low-risk” for home birth! Yay!
I spent 3 1/2 hours at the doctor’s office, and took a tongue lashing, because the OB has had some pretty bad experiences with the midwife we used for Samantha’s birth, but she said she trusts Emmy’s (the new midwife) judgement so much that she thinks we will be fine, even if something should go wrong. So I have an appointment with Emmy in two weeks, and all I have to do now is keep from doing anything that would kick me out of the “low-risk” category between now and February.
The midwife finally called back (she’s had at least 4 births -that I know of- in the last two weeks and a hard time getting in touch with the doctor, too) and it looks like we have a good chance at a home birth! I have to make an appointment with her back-up doctor and then we go from there. Thank you St. Rita, St. Gerard, and everyone else who has been praying for us over the long last two and a half weeks.
Loyola Kids Book of Heroes: Stories of Catholic Heroes and Saints Throughout History by Amy Welborn
The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (Penguin Classics) by Unknown
The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day by Robert Ellsberg
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the by Sam Kean
