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Anthony Clarence Sex: boy Born: 17 October, 2008 Age: 3 years & 120 days Birthday in: 245 days Starsign: Libra Development: See the 32 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Original due date: 10-28-2008
Type of delivery: Vaginal (with pain relief)
Duration of labor: 18.5 hours
Weight @ birth: 8lb 5oz
Length @ birth: 20 1/4\

Anthony-Clarence`s birthstory

My birth story began at 12:30am on October 17, 2008. I woke to menstrual-like cramps and low back pain. When I used the bathroom I noticed a bloody show and told my husband. I wasn`t sure if this was the start of labor but decided I should start to time them as if they were contractions. By 6:00 am I decided to call my OBGYN and told them I was having irregular contractions 3-15 minutes apart with a bloody show. The on-call physician said it sounded like early labor and told me to call the office between 8:30 and 9:00 to make an appointment to be examined. I called at 8:30am sharp. The office said I could come in at 11:00am but if contractions got to be 3-5 min apart for an hour or more I should come in sooner.

From 6 till 10 I tried to keep distracted by preparing to leave for the hospital. I took a shower, got dressed, checked my bags, ate breakfast, called my mother and all the while continued to record the times for my contraction...6:01, 6:10, 6:15, 6:20 and so on and so forth. My husband went to work for 2 hrs to wrap things up for the week. When he returned he made a few calls and sent some text messages to friends and family to let them know we might be having a baby today!

We left around 10am for the hospital, but decided to make a pit stop at the grocery store for Halloween chocolates to put in my room for the nurses if I got admitted. We arrived at the OBGYN hospital office on time but because maternity was hussling and bussling with babies being born and other complications, I was asked to go down to maternity and wait to be examined. At 12:30pm the doctor came into my room to examine me. My husband and I were happy to see that the doctor on call for the day was the doctor that I had been seeing all along in my prenatal group visits. I was 3 1/2 cm dilated. The doctor said I should stay and be examined again in an hour.

Over the next hour my contractions intensified and got very close together. I tried breathing and other relaxation techniques including a hot shower to relax but nothing worked. I asked the nurse to examine me at around 1:30. She said `don`t be disappointed if you haven`t progressed much`. She checked and to her surprise I was nearly 6 cm dilated. I quickly asked if I could get an epidural. She called the anesthesiologist in and relief came within 20 minutes of administering.

The nurse checked me at 2:30pm and I was 8 cm dilated. By 3:30pm I was nearly 10 cm dilated a small lip to the cervix so they broke my bag of water. Unfortunately, I went backwards to 9 cm.

At 5:40pm I was finally there, 10 cm, ready to push. I was very happy that I didn’t have to deal with the pain of contractions but could still feel when to push. The contractions just felt like a building of pressure at the top of my abdomen and rectal region.

After nearly 2 1/2 hrs of pushing Anthony Clarence was born but not without some complications. The last part of my labor got a little hairy. After about 2 hrs into pushing my labor nurse decided to administer what she called a pitocin push. She said my contractions where not lasting long enough and that I was working too hard pushing without a lot of payoff. Not to mention I had a cold which made it all the more harder to take deep breaths hold for 10 seconds and push over and over or at least as many times as I could manage. The pitocin made the contractions stronger and longer – stronger to assist me in getting Tony out and longer so I could spend more time pushing during the contractions. The next hurdle that came at us was that my temperature was rising and Little Tony`s heart rate was dropping. The doctor was preparing me for the reality that they may need to use forceps to pull Tony out, but knowing that made me work harder then ever to get my baby out. In between contractions they gave me an oxygen mask to hopefully re-energize me for the pushing. At one point my husband said I was pulling my hair at the top of my head forward to get an extra hard push. Tony was starting to crown, and the nurses where up on the table helping me push and the doctor was stretching things out down there to help the head threw and at some point I think there was someone pushing on my abdomen. Meanwhile, my husband was eagerly waiting to assist in “catching” the baby and cutting the cord, but when the baby’s head finally came threw and part of the cord, the doctor asked my husband to step aside. Tony was stuck at the right shoulder and because part of the cord came out his life line was being pinched off. My doctor worked quickly. He grabbed a scalpel and performed an episiotomy and then proceeded to do what it took to get Tony out. When the doctor got him out they laid him on my abdomen. His face, hands and feet looked blue, but his body was white. I heard a small cry, while the nurses suctioned his nose and mouth. My husband cut the cord and then the nurses took Tony for further examination.

Everything happened so quickly at the end. The best parts for me during labor were touching Tony’s head as he was crowning, and holding him for that brief moment on my abdomen before they took him. Once he was examined, given his apgar scores, and cleaned they gave him to me to try and breastfeed for 20 minutes. I couldn’t get a good latch with him, so we stopped and my in-laws came into the delivery room to see their 3rd grand child for a few minutes before the nurse took Anthony to the nursery for further evaluation. The room cleared out and for 2 ½ hrs and I sat alone in quiet eating from a cold dinner tray. It was a little upsetting but understandable. Once the baby came back I felt much better, and I stayed awake till 3am bonding and trying to get him to breastfeed.

The nurses in maternity were absolutely wonderful. They helped me with breastfeeding everyday I was in the hospital. They came to my room frequently to change my bed pad and make sure I was comfortable. They also showed my husband how to change a pee versus poopy diaper, and how to swaddle wrap the baby.

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Rebecca Lynn Sex: girl Born: 17 October, 2010 Age: 1 years & 120 days Birthday in: 245 days Starsign: Libra Development: See the 16 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Original due date: October 25, 2010
Type of delivery: Vaginal (with pain relief)
Duration of labor: 16 hrs
Weight @ birth: 7lbs 2oz
Length @ birth: 21 inches

Rebecca-Lynn`s birthstory

Rebecca Lynn was born on her brother`s Birthday! Her birth story began around 7AM when I woke with early signs of labor. Uncertain if things would progress we decided to go about our day as planned. At 10:30AM we took Tony to a neighborhood Halloween Party. We stayed till around 1PM. Tony had loads of fun. We went home, had lunch, and I made a cake for Tony`s Birthday while he took a nap. We all ended up taking naps while the cake cooled. I woke to assemble and frost the cake while Tim wrapped presents. We called our neighbor over with their 2 kids to sing to Tony and play for a bit. All the while my contractions were intensifying in pain and length but not in regular intervals (I was told to go to the hospital when my contractions were 5 minutes apart for atleast an hour lasting for atleast 1 minute or if my water broke). After 7PM we decided to call the on-call midwife to see if I could come in to be checked. She said to come in but warned if labor wasn`t progressed enough that they would have to send me home.
We got our things together, loaded Tony in the car to take him to his uncles for the night, then headed straight to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were much closer together and even more painful (in my back like my last labor). By around 9PM I was put in a room in maternity to be evaluated on a fetal monitor for 30 minutes. 5 nearly 6 cm dilated. And my contractions were 3 minutes apart and getting closer. I moved to another room to prepare for delivery. I decided I wanted them to call the the on-call anesthesiologist for the epidural. I figured if I waited any longer I might miss the window of time to get the epidural. As it turned out I got the epidural just in time for it to fully kick in after the birth, although it atleast alleviated the back pain. I was fully dilated and definately knew it was time to push but had to wait for the on-call doctor to arrive before the midwife would break my bag which was bulging. Once the doctor appeared they broke my bag and it wasn`t long before we were holding our baby. My husband said it only took 3 contractions with 3 good pushes for each to deliver.
For this pregnancy we decided to not find out the gender of the baby. When the baby was delivered it was a nice surprise. The doctor told my husband to call it, but the cord went between the baby`s legs. He said I don`t know, they moved the cord, and he said I think its a girl with tears of joy in his eyes and he asked them to confirm it. We were very happy to meet our daughter, but we hadn`t decided on her name. The names we picked just didn`t seem to fit. The next morning Tim went for coffee and he told me to think of a name by the time I get back. I looked through the 100,001 name book for one last time and when he got back I said `what about Rebecca Lynn?` He said I like it....and so it was decided.
Tony had a meltdown at daycare after his uncle dropped him off, so Tim went to see if he could calm him. He decided to bring Tony to get balloons and meet his sister early. It was a sweet meeting.
Since then Tony has been good with his baby sister, but he is having a hard time with us. The pediatrician said he needs some good quality time with Mommy alone and the same with Daddy. He also said we need to make Tony feel like no one is a better helper then him. And to let him check out his sister without telling him no too much (within reason) so we don`t create animosity.

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