Crazy Things My Husband Does in His Sleep

At approximately 2:00 am this morning, I wake to my husband thrashing around frisking me.  I asked him what he was doing and the conversation goes like this:

Me:  What are you doing?? (in a half-asleep voice)

Bryon:  Looking for the eggs I bought.

Me:  Well, hopefully they aren't here in the bed.

Bryon:  Of course they aren't! (In a "did you seriously just say that" tone)

Me:  I think you are dreaming.  I love you.

Bryon: What?  I couldn't hear you.

I repeat myself.

Bryon: Okay, love you too.

I thought by this point I had woken him up out of his dream...then he started frisking the bed and me again.

Bryon: I guess they aren't here.

And he rolls over like nothing ever happened.

I love my husband! He makes me laugh in the middle of the night!! :)

Why, Yes I Did Eat My Placenta!

I have intrigued many of my family and friends by telling them that I ate my placenta after Rowan was born.  I'll let that sink in for a minute...

***FYI There will be pics of my placenta in this post, I'm just letting y'all know now before you delve too deep. If you can't handle that...turn back now!!  But, it's not as gross as it may seem.***

Okay, so I didn't fry my placenta up and eat it with a side of french fries.  I had it encapsulated.  Placental encapsulation is actually not as uncommon as you might think.

Backing up a bit.  Long ago, when I was still pregnant and working (seems like eons ago now!) I was having discussions with my friends at work about eating placenta.  What?  You don't have these conversations with your coworkers??  See, one of my CNAs (from Kenya, let's just throw in the culture mix, otherwise this might get even odder) wanted to eat my and another person's placentas after birth.  Only he wanted to do it all cannibal style.  Or he wanted our breast milk to treat eye infections...Now most, if not all, of these talks ended in all of us laughing but it got me to thinking, what is so great about the placenta that other cultures know and we don't?

I remember hearing a couple of years ago on the radio that there were websites that actually gave recipes on how to prepare and eat placenta.  At the time, I was thinking there is ABSOLUTELY no way I would ever do that!  Who in their right minds wants to eat placenta?  Seriously.

Fast-forward again to the time when I was pregnant.  I was talking to my sister and she was telling me about this fantastic blog that she reads, MODG, and how the author had her placenta encapsulated. ***side note, I absolutely love this blog and it makes me laugh out loud and someday I want to be besties with the author (no I am not a stalker!)***  My sister sent me a link to the specific entry about the placenta.  I read it (then proceeded to spend the next three days getting caught up on the MODG story) and then did some research on my own.

Consuming the placenta is supposed to decrease postpartum depression, aid in faster recovery, help your milk come in faster, and provide you with a TON of vitamins and minerals (think, you are consuming the organ that provided all of the nutrients to your baby).  It also does some other beneficial things, but those were my top reasons in my decision.

I discussed all of this with my husband and he was all for it as long as I actually took the pills because we had to pay to have this done.

I wanted my midwife's opinion also before I committed to anything and when I mentioned placental encapsulation to her she got super excited.  I mean "you have just won a million dollars" excited.  Turns out she is a mega-fan of the placenta.  She even gave me the card for a doula that provided encapsulation services.  I contacted the doula (who was extremely sweet and I recommend her to anyone in the Washington area!) and got everything arranged.  After this experience, if I was still living in WA with my next kiddo I would see about her doula services, she was so nice!

After I delivered my placenta, it was placed into a biohazard bag and then a container so that my husband could deliver the placenta to her the next morning.  We just had to keep it refrigerated (not frozen) until delivery.  She emailed me some pics of the prep work and I received my placenta capsules the very next morning.  I wish I could have observed the process, but I was kinda in the hospital...

My placenta was so big, the doula thought that Rowan was around 9 lbs (he was 7.5)

Kinda icky, I know, but at least it's healthy!

I got a ton of capsules, more than the average I guess.  The instructions were to take two capsules three times a day for the first two weeks postpartum.  I followed the directions and I think it made a difference.  Mood-wise, I was much more emotionally stable and less down compared to now (depression sucks, but that's another entry).  I did have to stop taking them for a few days because the instructions said to stop taking them temporarily if any kind of infection develops.  I guess that the placenta capsules can actually drive the infection further into the body making it harder to fight.  I had a UTI a few days after I got home (sheer hell, let me tell you!).  After that pain when away though, I started the pills again.

If there are leftover pills I guess they keep forever.  They can be used during times of "extreme emotional stress" or can be saved for menopause.  The B vitamins deactivate though if they are frozen.  It's recommended to keep them in a dark, cool, dry place (like my bedside table).  I actually have a lot left over.  I'm thinking about starting them again to see if they can improve the down feelings.

Do I recommend placenta encapsulation for you? Maybe.  I think they helped me, but then again, I have no other birth experience to compare it to.  Next time I give birth I am planning on doing it again.

I leave you with a couple of pics.  I documented the initial dose for my sister since she couldn't be there to observe.  Enjoy!

My first dose.  They were very "fragrant" when I opened the jar.

This is part of my umbilical cord preserved in the shape of a heart.  It turned out really cool!

And I thought I would be eaten alive by bears? Shoot...

It's not the bears you have to be worried about living up here in Alaska.  It's the freakin' mosquitoes!  I swear, every time we go outside we get swarmed.  And leaving the doors or windows open?  Forget about it!

When I went to buy bug spray the first time around I wanted the least amount of chemicals, something natural...Yeah, the stuff I bought I think attracted them more than anything.  After this, I had Bryon spray me with the deep woods stuff that has DEET in it.  It works...for all of 30 minutes or so, then you had better reapply or look out.  A word to the wise, don't spray it on your lips!  This was accidental and it numbed them like lidocaine for longer then the bug spray lasts!

So instead of doing the flee-fly mosqeeter dance for the rest of the summer, we broke down and invested some money in a Mosquito Magnet.

Bryon hard at work putting the Mosquito Magnet together.

YOU HEAR THAT YOU DAMN MOSQUITOES?  

WE GOT YOUR NUMBER!!!

You can see the mosquitoes in there, it was hard to get a good pic.

How does this work one may ask? Magic.  Actually, I'm not to sure, but it runs on propane and emits carbon dioxide and some other thing that humans put off to attract them.  It is supposed to cover an acre of land and the numbers will be drastically reduced in just a couple of weeks.

This might be one of my new favorite things!

It's already trapped a ton of them and it's only been on for just a few hours.  Relief, it's just a magnet away.  Ahhhhh!

Rowan's Birth Story

Now that Rowan is two months old I figured it was time to get back into the swing of blogging.  The following is my labor and delivery story.  Don't worry there is no graphic images, but if one comes to mind, apologies all around!

First off, I have to thank my super wonderful husband, Bryon, for being there and supporting me.  I don't think I could have made it through without you.  I don't think I can even begin to express the depth of gratitude and love that I feel for you!  Thank-you feels almost inadequate.












Now, for the story you all have been waiting for!

As far as birth plans go, I had one.  That's about all I can say about it.  About 97% of it did not come to fruition, but since my main goal was to have a happy, healthy baby, then what does it matter when it's all said and done?

My water decided to break at home at approximately 5:40 p.m.  It was one of the weirdest feelings I have felt.  It was a small gush, almost like I peed myself.  In fact, I had just peed so I was wondering if maybe my bladder had decided to empty the rest of the way.  I went out to the living room and asked Bryon what it felt like when you water breaks (because it had totally happened to him before, right?).  The decision at that point was to keep an eye on things because I wasn't 100% sure that it was my water.  Then, I decided to go sit on the couch.  Gush again!  From there we decided to go into the hospital, but only after we ate dinner (which was almost ready).  We were telling Asher what the plan was and he asked me, "Are you sure you don't have the runs?"  This made me laugh and gush some more at the table.

After we ate, I threw the few last minute items I needed in my suitcase and we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital.  At this point, I was having contractions, but they were similar to the ones I had been having so I wasn't in pain really so to speak.  We were almost to the hospital and we saw a black bear!  My first live one out in the wild.  I wanted a picture but there were cars behind us, plus there were a couple of people that looked like they were approaching it for a picture.  Maybe it would have been a cool pic of "When Bears Attack." But I digress...

Anyways, we get to triage on labor and delivery and get all hooked up into monitors and such.  I'm still gushing fluid and we figure out that there is meconium in it.  Not good.  Then the midwife comes in and does my exam.  I'm not even dilated to a one.  She wanted to start Pitocin which I absolutely did not want.  We talked her into giving us time to get this labor going on our own.  The plan was to walk once I was admitted.  She reluctantly agreed to this.  The nurse came into complete my admission and that's when the holy hell! contractions came.  I could not talk, tears started leaking out of my eyes, I didn't want to breath etc.  Asher was still with us and he was so sweet.  He kept telling me how strong I was and that I could do it.  He made me so proud of him during the whole process!

Once my admission was complete, we were taken to the labor and delivery room.  I had a pretty sweet room.  It was humongous!  Bryon's friend came and picked up Asher and then we started trying to work on this labor process.  The contractions were hurting pretty bad (I think that is an understatement).  I tried the birthing ball for about 20 minutes. I tried swaying my hips for just a few.  Then I made the mistake of laying down.  Let's just say the walking never happened.  I tried as hard as I could to breath through the pain.  I kept thinking (and verbalizing) if the contractions would just stop for five minutes then I could refocus.  It was like as soon as one contraction would calm to where I could breath normal again another one would start.

I finally broke.  As much as I wanted a natural delivery and as much as I wanted to try the tub and stuff it didn't happen.  I thought if I tried the IM and IV Nubain first then I might calm down enough to be able to go the rest of the way without meds.  Well...it took like 30-45 minutes to get the meds ordered which feels like an eternity when you are in severe pain.  By the time I could get the medicine I had turned into...

THE PATIENT FROM HELL!

You know, the one you can hear screaming clear up and down the hallway.  The one that can't focus on anything or listen to anything.  I yelled a lot of curse words (luckily not attacking anyone or thing in particular).  Mostly I was just crying "Please make it stop!!"  I think they gave me some oxygen at that point because Rowan's heart rate was starting to drop.  The Nubain finally arrived and it helped for about 10 minutes.  Then the whole mess started all over again.

I was in the hospital all of four hours before I said, in a very controlled tone, "I...want...an...epidural."  To which I received.  I had to have the epidural placed twice because the first one only numbed the right side of my body.  After the epidural was placed, then Pitocin was started because I could no longer naturally augment my labor.  I was stuck in bed for the next 19 or so hours.  After my pain was under control, I kept apologizing to everyone, Bryon, the nurse, the midwife.  They all told me it was okay, that they didn't really have a problem with it, but, as a nurse, at some point (in the dark recesses of my brain) I would have thought that my patient was completely over-dramatic.  Would I ever admit that to my patient?  Of course not.

I was a much happier camper after some pain meds and three hours of sleep!

The next several hours consisted of resting in bed, watching movies, nothing too exciting.  There was a moment where I puked.  I drank a lot of Sprite, took some IV Zofran.  I ate a granola bar at some point.  There were a couple of times that everyone got all excited (in a worried way) because Rowan's heart rate decelerated.  Then everyone would help me re-position until it came back up.  Rowan did not care for me on my back at all, and he didn't so much like the left side (but I could get a couple of hours at a time over there before he acted up).  I got more boluses and stuff for my epidural (since I had one, I didn't think I should have to feel pain).  One of the CRNAs told me that I must metabolize the meds quicker than most.

Moving on to the exciting part...it was finally time for me to start pushing!

Pushing is harder than it looks.....

I think I pushed for about two hours.  I am so glad that they had a mirror because Rowan's head became my focal point.  They had to tell me not to push a few times to give him a break and let him recuperate.  It was so hard not to push during those times!  Another thing, and this is way TMI, I know, but it's part of the experience...I had poop that needed to come out!  Nobody would take it out and I resorted to begging even. They were all, push it out, and I was all, I am and it is stuck!  It was sooo uncomfortable!  The nurse and the midwife were trying to tell me it was the baby's head pushing on my rectum but I knew better....it was the poop.

-Moving on-

He was bigger than we thought he was going to be!

I finally pushed my baby boy out and the plan was for him to go right to my stomach.  Unfortunately, Rowan did not breath spontaneously so they had to whisk him away to the warmer.  The NICU team was on hand for the birth already because there was meconium in the water.  I could tell Bryon really wanted to go over there, but he looked a little torn and I told him to go see our boy.  The team suctioned Rowan's cords and then he had to have some PPV (positive pressure ventilation) via a bag-valve mask.  He became more alert, but not quick enough so there was talk of him being transferred to the NICU.  Everything was like tunnel vision and slowed time for me at this point.  Thankfully, he perked up and started to cry!  Meanwhile, I delivered the placenta and they had to give me some medicine to prevent hemorrhaging because my bleeding wasn't slowing like it should have.

Once everything was under control, I finally got to hold my little man.  I cannot even put into words the feelings that went through me at that moment.  It was one of the happiest moments of my life!  All of the hard work of pregnancy, labor, and delivery were totally worth it!

And that was how Rowan was introduced to the world! 

38 Weeks and Counting.....

I am officially 38 weeks today and I must say that I am ready for our baby to be born!  The swelling, difficulty moving, getting up constantly every hour of the night, the fact that it takes 10 minutes to get repositioned in bed...all signs that I think I'm over pregnancy.  Also, at Walmart yesterday this four year-old boy was telling his mom about my big belly and she was like, "Of course it's big, she has a baby in there!"

I went to my midwife appointment today and everything checks out healthy with our little Appleseed.  Heart rate good, head down, beginning to engage.  I was disappointed that she wasn't able to strip my membranes though.  She said I was barely dilated.  My cervix is about 75% effaced though.  Then she started talking about how first time moms can be a week late (which I know, but I don't want to hear that about me!!!).

In the meantime, I am attempting, (very carefully Mom!), to naturally induce labor.  I am going to try all sorts of things that can bring labor on, but won't hurt me or the baby if my body isn't ready.  Bryon picked up some evening primrose oil (recommended by the midwife) to start trying tonight.  If it works, it should help soften my cervix more.  Then there is nipple stimulation...we are using the breast pump, which holy hell, freaking hurts my nipples!  On the bright side, it does appear to make contractions occur a little more frequently.  I am getting another massage tonight at the massage place (the last one on my contract, so I am springing for a 90 minute session).  Of course, Bryon and I are trying acupressure on my feet.  If you are doing it right, it hurts, but my feet are more relaxed after and it does cause some contractions to occur.  Then there is everyone's favorite suggestion...have lots of sex.  Um, hello?!  I'm definitely not opposed to the idea, but I am nine months pregnant and I don't think I have the energy anymore for those crazy, constant, teenage-hormone-induced sessions constantly.  I am going to attempt to start walking everyday and see if that helps (walking around Walmart yesterday definitely wore me out though!)

Speaking of contractions, I had a few Sunday night that reduced me to tears!  I've been having them off and on, but none like this!!!  Thankfully I had Bryon there reminding me to breath because I totally forgot to.  It's hard to do some self-hypnosis for pain control when the contraction just comes out of nowhere!!!!  Then there is the round ligament pain in my inner thighs that strikes whenever it wants to, usually when I am walking.  I double over and everyone kinda freaks (except Bryon and Asher because they are used to it).  I just have to  say, "It's okay, I'm not in labor, I swear!"

So who knows when our little man will make his appearance but one thing is for certain...Bryon and I can't wait for him to come out and play!!!!!!

I Am Still Alive....

However, I have been super-tired lately.  So, if it involves more than clicking my mouse on the computer or typing more than a few sentences....as you can tell, that hasn't happened lately.  Don't worry, I still get the day to day done, I just haven't updated my blog in a little while.  The 16 1/2 hour shift yesterday hasn't done much to improve the ol' energy levels either!  Okay enough complaining.  Life is good, Family is good, the Baby in my Belly is good.

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Empathy for Those Who Hate the Dentist

A couple of weeks ago I went to my dental appointment.  A normal, routine cleaning.  Nothing too exciting.  Now I have have had tooth pain on and off for a couple of years.  It culminated in December of 2009 when my mom placed a piece of homemade fudge in my mouth and I almost hit the floor in tears and pain.  I wound up with an emergency visit to the dentist two days later less than 24 hours before I was to fly out to Alaska.  From then on I swore to myself: "I will make these dental appointments every six months like every good patient should!  Never again will I inflict this amount of pain on myself!"  Fast forward to the end of March 2011.  I had not been to the dentist since that last event in 2009.  I can make all the excuses in the world, but in truth, it wasn't  a top priority of mine.

Anyways, at this dental appointment, they found not one or two...but six...count them, SIX, cavities.  I have never had a cavity before in my whole life!  I think it was a combination of some really good sealants and luck.

I went to the first of three appointments today to have these cavities filled.  The dental office will only do two at a time because I am pregnant and it is uncomfortable to sit in that chair for an extended amount of time.  The first thing they did was put a topical anesthetic on.  Then came the shots of lidocaine.  Now, I am not needle-phobic. I do not fear medical procedures generally speaking.  But, Oh...My...Goodness!  The shots in my gum hurt like hell!  Then, I got sweaty from head to toe.  I mean I started dripping in sweat!  I felt like I needed another shower.  My heart rate went up, I felt like I was going to puke and pass out at the same time. I can't say for sure, but I am willing to bet that I turned a deathly shade of white.  So, they sat me up after the shots, gave me some water, and let me come back to normal.  The rest of the appointment went just fine, completely without incident.  The whole numbing procedure probably took less than five minutes but I think it just may have scarred me for life.

Now that I am home, three hours later, the anesthetic has completely worn off and my teeth and jaw ache!  I can only take acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain and for this kind of pain I really need an anti-inflammatory (like ibuprofen).  Unfortunately, ibuprofen is off-limits for this pregnant chick.  Oh well, I can survive this!

I completely empathize with those who may be dentist phobic.  I don't think I am going to freak or be any more anxious at my appointment next week but I could see how someone might continue to draw on a freaky incident like mine and let it affect how every future dentist visit goes.

Wish me luck for the next two appointments!