Cora Jane

7 lbs. 6 oz (3440 g)

20 inches (51 cm)

Cora Jane's Birth Story: Katie's Perspective

In case you didn't understand that last post from Scott, here's the translation into "normal people" terms from Katie.   His description is probably better for the squeamish men-folk though.  If words such as "contraction" "pain" "blood" bother you, than stop now.  I'm serious.  This description is for my sisters and friends who have told me their amazon women birth stories.  (It's not meant to gross everyone else out.)

So, Saturday, I was 2 days past my due date (normal for me), and was asked to go into the hospital for a routine check to make sure that the baby was doing well with enough amniotic fluid, etc.   I dropped the boys at a birthday party at 2 pm, went into the hospital, had everything checked and picked them up at 4.  Everything fine.  No problems.   I was told that if she took longer than 5 more days, the hospital recommends being induced, but for the time being, everything looked good.

That night, the boys were in bed, and mom, dad, Scott and I decided to watch "The Host." Timothy pulled his normal "my tummy hurts" gig  to try to stay up watching Mormon Messages on Utube to fall asleep to.  (He's been doing that every night....so we're onto him.)   We got him down in our bed eventually. 

About half way through the movie, I noticed I was having some mild contractions that were painful (different than Braxton Hicks), but really far and few in between.  I figured it might just be from being examined a few hours before, but had some blood, so I called the hospital to ask about it.  They said that I could stay home, and to wait until any more contractions picked up for now.   So, Scott and I showered and packed up what we needed, and we all went to bed, not knowing if we'd be up again later or not.

Dad was betting on 5 am.  He was pretty close.  I started having contractions at 2 am.  We left for the hospital at 4 am, after having a little food and taking one last pregnancy photo.  The contractions were not close together, so we took our time.

 (4 am - on the way to the Uniklinik)

A little background on my expectations.

Timmy's birth - 24 hours of long, slow, painful labor.  No medication by choice.  Never want to repeat it, but was proud to have survived.

Aaron's birth - Labor started very distinctly at 4 am.  Strong, productive contractions immediately.   Epidural in and working by 8 am.  Lovely nap.  30 Minutes of pushing, and done.   Couldn't have gone better.  Only 4.5 hours of labor pains, first hour of which, wasn't even bad.

I was hoping for the latter experience again, but knew that this labor was not looking so promising from the get go.  The contractions were not close together at all, and would disappear when I laid down, but were unfortunately super-painful still in sitting/standing position.

When we arrived at the hospital, she did the normal CTG scan, which takes 30 Minutes.  I asked her to take my blood and get the tests going, because they warned me before that if the blood tests were not finished (takes about an hour) the anesthesiologist will not give you an epidural until they are.  

So, we got all that taken care of, and were anxious to see how the birth was progressing with dilation.  I was only dilated to a 2.  Bummer.  You might think "What a whimp!" but I can assure anyone who has not been in labor that your dilation has little to do with your pain level, energy level, or how long you've been laboring.

With Aaron, I was at a 6 at this point, and epidural on the way.  (Which had been sweet!)

Luckily things were not as gloomy as it had been with Timmy's labor where I was checked at only a 3 cm after going to the hospital.  After having labored already for 15 hours at home, and they wouldn't even let me into the hospital, I had wanted to break down.

This time, I hadn't been in labor that long, so I was ready to work to get the labor going.

I needed to work the labor up to a point where it was certain that the labor would progress before they could give me an epidural.   Although the contractions were super-painful and 2 minutes apart when I was standing or walking around, they got further apart when I would sit, and would stop mid-contraction the moment I laid down.  Since that was how I got through them with Aaron s birth (laying down with Scott giving my back counter pressure), I was not too happy to have to pick a new less-comfortable method, but you do what you have to do.

So, we had a system of walking, then stopping, sitting down for the contraction, Scott giving me counter-pressure on my back, and then again and again.  It was a lot less tolerable pain-wise than the other method, but I knew it wouldn't produce anything the other way, and wanted to "earn" my epidural.  We continued that way for 2 hours and then did another CTG (sitting up this time to keep the contractions going) and exam.  I was tired and it was not fun, but I was hopeful when she said I was dilated to a 5 and could then get an epidural.   But.....even though it had been over an hour, the blood test was actually not done, so I did end up having to wait, and continue walking and working through.

(Epidural in! Yay!)

At 9:10 the epidural was in and starting to work, only on the left side completely, and was still uncomfortable on the right, but WAY better than full strength.  So, I curled up for a nap.  Not surprisingly, the contractions pulled way back.  They were only about every 12 Minutes, but I was exhausted and slept between them.  The nurse came in and gave me some Oxitocin to get them going again.  Despite the epidural, I could feel the contractions on my right side and a lot of pressure with the baby moving down with each one.  (I couldn't feel that at all with Aarons.)

I was so grateful though that I had had a break to regain strength, and then was ready to work again.  I did everything the midwives said.  They turned down the meds and I got up on my hands and knees.  They had me move all around as much as I could.  I was fully dilated, but pushing was unproductive because she wasn't down far enough. 

The midwife was really good though at listening.  I told her that the positions she was suggesting weren't producing anything, but that on my side I felt a lot of pressure.  Each time I got on hands and knees or was seated the pressure and contractions stopped completely.  So, she said "OK - lets try on your side."   I moved on my left side (knee up in my right hand) did just one strong push and could feel the baby immediately move down and into the birth canal.  The midwife called for the doctor and said "The baby is coming."  4 more contractions (I was hardly even pushing, because they were telling me to slow it down) and she came out all-at-once.

(Immediately after birth with a big goose egg on her head)

She was so calm, not crying at all.  It was a really calm birth.  There were only 3 women in the room with us.  The doctor, the midwife and a nurse. 

(Minutes after the birth)

They immediately gave her to me and I held her for almost an hour before they took her from me to get her weight and stats.    That was very different from my other births.  I usually held them for a few minutes, and then they had to get a bunch of tests done.  I kept holding her wondering when they would grab her away, but they just kept working, delivering the placenta, etc.   After the hour, they took her for a few minutes, got her stats, wrapped her up and gave her back to me. 

(About an hour after the birth still in the delivery room)

They had us in an intermittent room right there in the Kreissaal (triage/delivery area), for another couple of hours where we just held her and took photos and I fed her more (she was rooting right after the delivery).  That is where we had time to prepare a quick SMS/email to the family and a few friends.  Then, we were led up to the recovery room on the 8th floor.

(In between delivery and recovery rooms)

We had a private room, which was great.  There is a shared bathroom right outside the room, but no one was in it for the first two nights, so it was very nice.  We opted for Scott to sleep at home, rather than pay for a "family room", which worked out nicely, because the nurses were really great to take her at night so I could sleep, and I think we'll both need our rest for when she comes home tomorrow.

The after-care was great.  Really nice nurses and no one coming in and waking me up to ask unnecessary questions (this was unfortunately the case at the U of M hospital with Aaron).  The photo lady woke us up, but the other staff and nurses have all let me sleep when they crack the door and see we are sleeping.  They have been really good at letting us recover and keeping testing and checks to a bare minimum. 

Plans Now
The nice thing about Germany is that you get to decide when you are ready to leave the hospital.  I decided that since the baby was born Sunday afternoon, that Wednesday would be a good time to leave, but if I wanted to, I could have chosen to stay a week, or I could have had a few tests done and have been released to go home only hours after the birth.

The other nice paid-for option is midwifery (Hebamme) care at home after the birth.  The insurance pays for it, and the midwife comes over every couple of days to your home, or every day if you need.... for....something like....8 appointments to check on you and the baby, answer questions, weigh the baby, help with nursing, etc.

I didn't realize that I should schedule one until just recently, so I called only 2 weeks ago and made an appointment with a Hebamme named Eva.  I feel SUPER fortunate that even though I didn't do a lot of research on chosing one, that she happens to be totally wonderful.  Amazingly, she also happened to be the midwife on duty at the Uniklinik Sunday night, so she delivered Cora.  

I met with her for the first time at our home for 2 hours on Tuesday afternoon.  We got to know each other and she took the time to find out all about our family and what our experience/needs are.  She only works part-time, so when we had the baby on Sunday, it was so nice that she knew exactly what I wanted and was the one to actually deliver the baby.  She'll come visit us this week and next at home.

Cora is doing great.  She's eating well, sleeping well, pooping....and all that good stuff. :)
We will be sure to post more pics soon, and are looking forward to taking her home tomorrow.
She is a really really sweet baby, and we love her already!

The Story of Mädchen Stapleton

So I have been once again chastised by my mom for lack of updates, so while KT and Mädchen are napping, I will write a bit about the story of her coming into being. 

-As a side note: Mädchen is not her first name.  I definitely understand the problems that would come if she had such a name: in Germany people would be confused because Mädchen just means "girl", and in America people would have no idea how to pronounce it.  Also we would be dooming her to an eternity of having to insert a special character when typing her name.  That would make writing emails that much more difficult.  We are not that mean.  Maybe I am, but "we" aren't.  The boss has some doubts on the current name of choice, so it will remain unpublished until some degree of certainty reigns or when German law dictates that a decision must be made.  We are currently allowed to remain in our state of uncertainty.  Hence Mädchen Stapleton.  But I digress...

So let me tell you a tale, a fascinating tale of love, jealousy, wonder, betrayal, heroes, heroines, and cookies.  A tale so intriguing that little children in forthcoming ages will beg their nurse-maidens to tell them the story one more time before they go to bed.  And they will.  And the children will ask for it one more time, but the nurse-maiden will know it is simply a stalling tactic, and she will refuse.  Then, mysteriously, the child will have a stomach ache, to be soothed only with the thick medicine of entertaining media.  The worn nurse-maiden will give in, and let the child fall asleep to YouTube videos.  The child will develop a habit, and need to be soothed by said videos every night.  Yes, this tale is that amazing.  It's either that amazing, or I just have nothing to do in this little hospital room with two slumbering females nearby.  I'll let you guess which one resembles reality. 

So we begin our tale on the 16th night of the month of November, two days after the date foretold by the magicians gazing at their black and white screens filled with smokey images they claim tell them the preordained time of the emergence of the newling.  Four weary adults lounged in a fold-out couch watching "The Host" after spending a weary day chasing children and restoring used baby furniture.  Suddenly there was a stirring in the belly of the one carrying the future Stapleton, she who was destined to be burdened by an annoying father for the rest of her (or his) life.  The stirring came in regular occurrences, with a mildness and frequency that hinted toward a possible event. 

After the conclusion of the cinematic diversion, the two would-be and already-were parents realized that they were wholly unprepared for an abdominal emptying.  They frantically scurried about packing suitcases and showering the days grime off of their weary bodies, preparing for a dramatic entrance into the house of healing.  When all was made ready, it was decided that the amplitude of the contractions was succeeding, and all retired to their beds for what they ignorantly thought was a good nights sleep.  They were wrong.  Dead wrong.  Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn.

At the second morning hour, the waves of stomach tightening began.  The waves were still rather sparsely spaced, but of sufficient intensity to give the impression that something was, in all actuality, happening.  Preparations for the long journey were made, good-byes were exchanged, and tears were shed as the couple made their way in their silver steel steed to the fortress predetermined as the place of emergence. 

Upon arrival, they were hooked up to a myriad of cabled beasts, beeping and ticking threateningly all the while.  The keeper of the ward (aka Hebamme) laid out the preconditions for the release of the euphoric potions which are reputed as bringing their user into a state of bliss and eternal joy.  The brave mother was denied the potions, and forced to wander the grounds on a quest to coax the Stapleton-to-be to venture further to the light.  She began her arduous journey with her trusty hunch-backed sidekick limping eagerly at her side, who occasional fetched water from the well when she called for it, and gave the occasional back rub when it was deemed necessary.  They wandered to and fro through the pale halls of the abandoned ward, asking themselves how they could accomplish their seemingly hopeless quest.  Her powers ebbed and waned as the strength of the surges threatened to overtake her.  She returned to the ward with the white flag of peace, pleading for the ward to allow her to have just the slightest taste of the much-sought-after potion.  The request was granted, but the Sorceress administering the potion was nowhere to be found.  And so the surging continued, undampened by the potion which seemed so close, but so far away.

The brave keeper of the ward sent out a summons in all the land, seeking the elusive Sorceress to produce the magic potion.  Word reached the secluded Sorceress and she arrived, her gown a flapping coat of emerald.  She carefully administered the potion, knowing that too much of it could end in utter disaster.  After the first dose, the effects seemed to be confined to the southward-side, which only hinted at the ecstasy that could accompany a full dosage.  Finally, the concoction reached full power and the effects were enjoyed immensely.  It was decided that a slight respite would be required before the final push of the proverbial hill.

After an energy-regenerating slumber, the somberness of the impending war could be felt in the air: it was time.  The keeper of the ward called for reinforcements, and the ranks were filled with courageous young warrioresses whose battle-scars attested to their skill and experience in such epic battles.  With a war-cry ringing from their lips, the army surged forward for the first offensive.  The defenses were heavy, and the first attack bursted against the gates like a wave against an unmoving rock.  Patience and persistence would be needed to take the fort.  The offensive army tried every position and strategy commonly practiced in such warfare, with no success.  Finally, the general suggested a daring, radical maneuver which was considered too dangerous to try.  Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

The success of the new maneuver was instantaneous, and the prize was immediately presented to the victors.  To the chagrin of some of the inexperienced warriors, the prize was just a slimy, wrinkled helpless being.  They had fought so hard for 11 hours for that?  But the higher ranks assured them that the small helpless being would someday become a full-fledged Stapleton, wreaking havoc and waging her own wars across the land.  And that, is the story of Mädchen Stapleton.  Or is it just the beginning..........?

Baby Stats: Take 3

Mädchen Stapleton is here: 51 cm, 3440 g, 12:55 pm.  Not sure what that is in our crazy English units,  but you're already on the Internet,  so look it up!

Little Scribble

Little Scribble from last year I found:

As Aaron (age 3) does a downward dog over his train track, he says:

"I dus' make a tunnel for my choo-choo!  It's my tunnel."