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Augustin James Meudt Sex: boy Born: 19 August, 2008 Age: 3 years & 181 days Birthday in: 184 days Starsign: Leo Development: See the 32 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Augustin really digs on searching for Cubbie when we get home (object permanence?) and is holding on to the couch when we stand him next to it. He`s gotten pretty clingy lately, but I think it`s those teeth making their way through... poor little dude!

Birth details

Original due date: August 7
Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: 11pm until 4:30pm
Weight @ birth: 10lbs 7 oz
Length @ birth: 20.5 inches

Augustin-James-Meudt`s birthstory

11pm water broke. Contractions began soon after and normalized into a pattern at 12:30am. We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 am and gave birth at 4:35pm.
100% natural pregnancy and delivery. Pushed for 4 hours, 2 of which (we found out later) were so difficult due to a persistent cervical lip. Having that lip pushed back four times was the most intense part of delivery- the nurse pushed back internally while i had a contraction and pushed from within. Took a nice slow time crowning and the doctor administered ice-chip perineal massage. Barely felt it as the stretching of the perineal tissues numbs so much down there... just felt lots and lots of pressure and stretching from within as his head started to follow his body. There was NO tissue tearing at all! Front shoulder born spontaneously back shoulder was helped out. Another push and we got his torso out. His legs were folded in a cross-legged position inside of me and had to be pulled out while 4 people (!!) held my legs back and opened my hips.

The STRANGEST part of delivery is that i was gifted with two transitions... the first was when finishing dilation and the second was when the lip was finally all the way removed. Contractions piggy-backed through both, and i performed the typical transition `circling of the drain` with feelings of despair, crying and begging for medical interventions. This is where my nurse and doula came in. They were perfect.

SO magical and the nurses, staff, and doctors were always asking me about my birth plan, even for tiny little changes. For example, we didn`t want him bathed right away and put on our plan 24 hours. When we mentioned taking him to the nursery around lunchtime to give him a bath, the nurse said, `Okay, but on your birth plan it says 24 hours...` Very awesome. Anyone who says birthplans are useless should talk to me!!

Shawn was awesome; i can`t imagine having to watch him go through such a physical and emotional journey and only be able to offer words of encouragement and not alleviate any of the tension! He was amazing and at the hardest times, just staring into his eyes made it bearable. He cried from the point he first saw the baby`s face coming from me to minutes later... then again when we decided on a name. He`s already stood by the bassinette in the hospital and informed me, `That is MiNE. HE is mine.`

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Sebastian Blue Sex: boy Born: 07 March, 2011 Age: 0 years & 345 days Birthday in: 20 days Starsign: Pisces Development: See the 11 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Being tolerant of mama`s need to relatch, relatch, relatch!

Birth details

Original due date: 2/25/11
Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: 6 hours
Weight @ birth: 10 lbs 9 oz
Length @ birth: 22 1/4 \

Sebastian-Blue`s birthstory

Going to bed pretty late (11pm), I had had it! After getting some BH going about every 4 minutes apart with nipple stimulation, I nodded off. I woke up and tried again, and they got a little crampy; again 4 minutes apart. Around midnight I woke up my husband and told him that I thought we`d have a baby by the next day. I kept vague track of the contractions... still every 4, sometimes 3 or 5 minutes apart and much more crampy. I woke up DH around 12:30 and I decided that if they kept coming I`d call our midwife at 1. Here comes 1am and I called my mother to come watch our son while we labored; then I called our midwife. By this time the contractions were taking a bit of concentration and I was using low gutteral noises to help me through them. Crouching at our bathroom sink, I`d stand up and lean into the sink during the contractions. I had DH turn up the water heater and put the plastic sheets on the bed. I tried a couple other positions, one on the bed, one at the foot of the bed, and hands and knees... none of them equalled the sink position!
My midwife showed up around 1:45 and quietly started setting up. Just after 2 my mother arrived and sometime between those, our second midwife. They came in and got my BP and the baby`s heart tones via doppler. I was now between the sink and hands and knees. The baby was moving QUITE a bit inside me and would sometimes set off a contraction even if I just finished one. I thought to myself, `Wow, it`s kind of early for these to be piggy-backing! I just don`t feel that far along...` I was terribly focused during my contractions and in a strange state of consciousness between: aware but very inside myself. I had used the bathroom a couple of times and went to use it again. As I went to sit down, it felt like a round ball inside of me was swelling up like a beach ball... I couldn`t handle it sitting down. `Oh, EFF ME!` as I waddled with my pants down around my ankles back to the sink... DH walked in and was watching and I screamed out, `STOP looking at ME!` Come on, dude, pants around the ankles!
I got back to the sink and the noises were getting louder... and I was on my hands and knees. The baby`s heart tones were taken again and I was told that the birthing pool was almost done being set up in the baby`s room... just waiting on a second load of hot water from the water heater! I thought, `Nah, this feels good. Right here. Not moving.` And I didn`t for a while. I kept thinking that they were coming stronger and stronger and I didn`t want to `waste` the warm water tub by getting in too soon and pickling myself through a long birth!
I crawled into the baby`s room to check out the pool. I crawled up alongside it and rested my head against it. It was SO warm. I did this as another wave swept over me and I yelled out, `BUCKET. NOW.` Soon I was vomiting all of the water I had sipped. I saw my lunch, but not my dinner... and I remember finding that kind of funny! Quicker than I believed I could, I had stripped naked and climbed into the water. I was instantly aware of my `workout body odor.` I was surprised by it, but it was a good thing to SMELL like I was working! With my chest against the pool, I was able to hold myself in a hands-and-knees position more easily than before. The water kept the weight off and I said, `OH, this is SO nice.` After only several more contractions, I felt a little `pushy` and tried a couple. I was so afraid. With my first, I had a persistent cervical lip and it was hell. After each pushy try, I would say, `This doesn`t feel right. This isn`t right.` Eventually my midwife offered to check me. I tried one REAL push, grunting behind it but not giving it my all. POP. I felt it let go. My water broke! `EVERYTHING just changed. Oh, THIS is different!`

K, pause for station identification: baby needs to nurse and it`s about time to go to bed. Check back soon for the rest!

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