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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Lil'er Euphrony is here!

Lil'er EuphronyIt wasn't easy. It never is, really. But our son is here! Mrs. Euphrony started having serious pre-labor Friday night, with contractions at night every 5-8 minutes (harder when she was laying down) and during the day every 15-30 minutes. With such nightly fun, and having a three year old jumping with energy during the day, Mrs. E got very little sleep over the weekend. Saturday night and Sunday night were identical, so by Monday we were both exhausted. I stayed home from work to help with Lil' E and we took Mrs. E in to see her midwife for a check-up. Apparently, all that pre-labor was doing something, because she was dilated to a 4. Since she still was not in consistent labor, we went on and saw a chiropractor for a "labor" adjustment (stretching the back and pelvic muscles, relaxing to prepare for labor), after which we went home. By this time, Mrs. E was in steady labor with contractions every 4 minutes, and we called our doula to come and help until we were ready to go in to the hospital.

Lil'E and baby broWe checked into the hospital at about 9:00 p.m., with Mrs. E doing just fine and dilated to around 6-centimeters. Once the nurses there got used to the idea that we did not want and IV, and that she would actually (gasp!) eat a little food during labor to keep up hydration and strength, they were very supportive. Since Mrs. E had a previous c-section, they required her to have constant monitoring of the baby's stats (she was in almost no risk, but the legal system is all over medicine - that's why we were in the hospital instead of at the birthing center in the first place). Their constant fiddling to adjust the monitors to keep track of the baby was the most annoying thing. Not once, though, did anyone ask Mrs. E if she wanted an epidural; and she didn't need one, either.

Lil'er E, mom and midwifeOur midwife was great, and the doula was a terrific help throughout the whole birth. By the time it was time for Mrs. E to be pushing, she was pretty well worn out (between several sleepless days and around 11 hours in active labor). We had me, Mrs. E's mom, the midwife, the doula, the nurse, and our old midwife and personal friend there to help encourage Mrs. E on. She did great! After about an hour of pushing, he was here! All exhaustion was gone; we have a new boy and we were (and still are) thrilled!

The Euphrony'sLil'E is thrilled to be a big sister. She's feeling a little loss of mom and dad being distracted right now, but we'll all be home together today. We're happy as larks right now; still in euphoria from the birth but not strained from the sleepless nights yet. We had taken Lil'E to Build-a-Bear to make herself a bear and she made little brother a puppy dog (in the picture above) as her present to him. We're doing well, and we appreciate all the prayers that everyone has given for us through this pregnancy and birth.

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7 comments:

The Secret Life of Kat said...

What a cute family!!!

Anne said...

What a precious little boy! Your family is just beautiful. Thanks for sharing with us.

Get some sleep - your house is gonna be a lot busier now.

euphrony said...

Kat, just you get ready. I'm sure your little boy will be here soon. And I want to see pictures, even if you put a paper bag on his face ;)

We came home last night. My mother-in-law is here right now, helping out, so I'm at work for a couple of days trying to keep up. We actually all slept fairly well last night. Lil'er E is already finding his thumb to suck on; this kid won't wait for us to think about a pacifier, just taking matters into his own hands.

My first two-child experience: after we got home last night, I was going to run to the drug store to pick up something for Mrs. E, but Lil'E was craving her daddy for bedtime so Mrs. E and mother-in-law ran the errand. Since Lil'er E was sleeping at the moment, we put him in the swing and I took Lil'E up for bed. All went well, she was in bed, and I come back downstairs just as Lil'er E starts squirming and crying. As I pick him up out of the swing, I hear Lil'E jump upstairs as she hears him cry and rushes to check if he's okay. However, having inherited my grace, her jump puts her head-first into the headboard of her bed. So, here I am with a 36-hour old child in my hands crying and a 3-1/2 year old girld upstairs crying, with no one else in the house. I'm getting broken in. (By the way, all was well. Lil'E had a small bump, and once I got upstairs with Lil'er E in hand to comfort her, she saw he was alright and calmed down, too.)

Chaotic Hammer said...

Great pics, adorable family.

Once again, Congratulations!

Anne said...

LOL!!!!!!!!!!! That sounds about right! :)

Seth Ward said...

WONDERFUL!!

What a beautiful family. We expect great things from young Euphrony J.R.!

Anonymous said...

Well done and congratulations to you and Mrs. E. Hope all continues to be well.

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