Caleb's Gentle Cesarean Birth Story

Thank you to all who were praying for us!  We received your texts while we were in the hospital, and because we were a few minutes late heading into the OR, we saw most all of them before the surgery.

I'm not sure exactly how to tell this story, so I'll just try to catch everything I remember!  We arrived at the hospital and started in with all the monitors and IV's in preparation for surgery.  Even though everything was going smoothly, I still was struggling with the overpowering urge to get up and walk out.  I don't know why, but the mental and emotional strain of walking into an experience where I give up all control of my body is almost more than I can handle.  The nurses getting us ready were absolutely wonderful- very mothering and sugary sweet!  Sometimes that is sickening, but they pulled it off!  Dr. Pitts arranged for Dr Witham to be our anesthesiologist, and soon after he reviewed the surgery with me she came in to discuss the plan and my problems with morphine.  I requested morphine to be put on my allergies list so no one would be giving it to me with thoroughly discussing it with me first!  (Due to my last experience with Isaac, and being given an extra dose even though I had said no to it.)  I chose to go ahead with the morphine, but to also be extremely proactive in combating the nausea, which included two doses of different anti-nausea drugs and a patch behind my ear.  (I did still get sick, so I did my best to wait out the morphine before eating.  I was able to keep down ice chips, so something worked a little better than last time.)  We also discussed the process of my "special wish," as she put it.  Since I hadn't been able to read more than what is scantly available online about Gentle Cesareans, I didn't know what all I could request.  Basically I just asked that the Apgar scores and cleaning be done as much as possible on my chest instead of on the warming table.  (She asked later, after I was on the table, if I wanted to try to nurse him, but because I wasn't mentally prepared for that feat, I said no.)

We moved on in to the OR and went through the process of getting the spinal block and laying me all out.  Since this is all very much a blur in my mind, I'll just skip most of it.  As far as the surgery goes, I did well- didn't get sick at all that I remember.  When he was born, he gave a couple little cries, so I knew he was headed my way.  The assisting Dr passed him in a blanket to the nursery nurse, who then placed him on me. An amusing note (but hard-at-the-time) was that the blanket also ended up over my face, so I couldn't see, nor move the blanket because I was still strapped down.  She removed it quickly, and I could see an amazing little body laying on me. 

He had quieted right down, and was laying still on me, but breathing.  These are all specific memories, but I have no idea of the passage of time.  I know the nurse was patting his feet; I think she wanted him to cry more, but he wasn't.  His Apgar scores were 9-9, which I overheard the nurses in recovery saying that when it's a 9, that means his color wasn't completely pink unless another explanation is given.  I remember his feet were a little blue.  After a few minutes, she asked if she could remove him to the warming table for a minute because he was getting a little cold.  Of course I said yes- all along I have maintained that I understood the priorities and I promised I wouldn't interfere with any of their medical opinions about necessary care. (This may have not been necessary had I been bared skinned, but for some reason this part of the process didn't happen, so the warming from my body wasn't happening.)

 The moment she removed him from my chest, he burst into the crying newborn.  She weighed him while on the table, and then brought him back to me.  He immediately quieted back down.  I heard at some point a voice behind me commenting, "That's remarkable," in reference to his change in demeanor based on his location. I also remember not saying much~  I'm not sure why, or what I planned on saying to this beautiful little miracle on my chest, but I hummed and murmured most of the time.  Maybe that was an instinctual bonding sound from mother to child.  Whatever it is, he responds to it now as well.  

Part of why I wished for this experience was because with my other C-sections, they take the baby straight to the warming table, clean him (her) up, do all their stuff, then Gabe brings the baby to my side.  At that point, one arm is released, I can kind of pet them and kiss their head, and then pretty soon they go away to the nursery, leaving me with the Dr's who carry on all sorts of conversations while they finish the surgery.  Then they take me to the recovery room where I am left with the nurse.  I have felt so very lonely in these past experiences, without Gabe or the new baby.  They return after a while, but I'm alone for what seems such a long time.

This time, they left Caleb on me for nearly the entire stitching up process. Instead of listening to random conversations that I was not a part of, I was able to love on my child and bond with him in his earliest moments outside of my womb. 

Post C-section:  Now- you can think that all of this is pure coincidence, and it just happens to be his personality.  And that's fine- it may be.  But when we compare our first three children born via C-section to him, we feel that this experience impacted him in ways we probably don't even understand. For the first two weeks, he was amazingly content.  Since then, we think he's developed some kind of gas issue.  Other than that (not that trying to help him feel better is any small task...) he's been very cuddly, which is the big difference we see between him and his siblings. 


We adore our new blessing and thank God for the opportunity He allowed this time around. 

10 Days and Counting down...

Today is day 10 on our countdown, and boy, am I ever feeling the time crunch!  Kiera's birthday is this weekend, along with the Kiddie Parade.  We are trying to make a co-birthday happen with Isabel's birthday on Sunday (Izzy's is Tuesday).  I need to schedule a day for my painting helps to come and climb the ladder for me in the boys' room.  I'd really like to fit in a pedicure (a VERY rare treat, my third ever!), plus my massage and ob appt's next week, then Apple Blossom festivities... and the norms- CoOp, karate, Awana, schooling.... OI!  At least I don't have to work next week; that will really help!

And I haven't shared this here yet, but we are attempting to bring a new option to C-section moms here at CWH.  If everything goes smoothly (healthy mom- healthy baby) we will be the first "gentle" cesarean!  This would change the practice of taking the baby away to the warming table for the Apgar tests and cleaning process to placing baby on mom's chest and making available this option for a more "natural" experience (if so desired).  But for this to happen, Dr P had to get the right head nursery nurse and anesthesiologist to be on board... and that means baby boy may NOT come early!  So your prayers for a "planned" birth would be appreciated.  And that planned birth is Monday May 7th, 7:30am.

Whew- one day at a time, right?  One day at a time!

Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op

Our co-op has a new webpage!  I thought if any of you were curious as to what it is we participate in as homeschoolers or what a co-op schedule looks like, I'd share. 

Enjoy :-)

http://www.cchcwenatchee.org/home

A Little Update from Our House

I thought I should get on here and do a little family update, if nothing else! 

We are doing great!  I am tired, worn-out, and extremely round, but like I told Gabe last night- if I start to sound unhappy, remind me of how happy I am!  Here's a few things we've got going on around here...

Baby is scheduled to arrive in 4 weeks and 3 days!  And by scheduled, I mean if he doesn't show up by then himself... But I haven't gone into labor yet, and I'm really not expecting to this time :-)  I have been having some pretty impressive contractions if I'm not careful, but it's probably just my body giving me a reminder not to over do it.

About the decluttering:  Annie came over last week and was extremely motivating!  She helped me rotate and clean out the girls' clothes.  Hopefully she'll come help with the boys' room!  I would still like to paint it, but I've got to do something about all the trucks and trains first!  I've failed completely at "cleaning one thing per day" idea, but I am trying to keep working at those problem areas :-) 

Gabe completed the TV area- and it's much more functional now!  We have a place for our new-to-us TV and all those black boxes that needed a better place to sit.  In addition, with the back half of that space, we have floor-to-ceiling shelves in the back room... Which aren't exactly organized *yet!*  But we've moved things around in that room to allow half of it to be for school, and that is helping a ton in the dining room because all our school was taking place out there.  As for school, Melia clued me in to a fascinating little fact about her... She does much better focusing when I leave the radio on (and it has to be Positive Life Radio :-).  Her reading is really picking up as well, which is SO fun to see!  Kiera's perfectionist mindset is slowly making room for her own creativity.  She's drawing a LOT now, and not being quite so frustrated when something doesn't look just right.  With numbers and letters though, she's still irritated that they don't look exactly like mine, which, ironically enough, often means her penmanship is better than Melia's :-)

I still have a ton of stuff to do before baby comes, but hopefully we'll get the main stuff accomplished.  If not, we'll figure it out when we bring him home!  If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I have to let go of my preconceived ideas and be flexible.  It'll all work out :-)

And no, he still doesn't have a name.  We stopped looking a while ago, just hoping he "looks" like something when he's born.  If not, we do have a small list of possible fits :-)

March 1st

It's hard to believe I will have another birthday this month, as yesterday was so full of blessings it felt like my birthday!  First, I had a massage with my favorite lady at Hurst Chiropractic, and discovered that she, too, is expecting!  Then I had my 30 wk appt... and became SO thankful for the essential oils I've been using to help with the sometimes-excruciating pain that has been plaguing me this pregnancy!  Dr's only recommendation was a pregnancy belt, which I had read doesn't *really* help, it just assists a little, whereas the oils have given me pain-free days!  Lastly, God paved the way for me to not have to work so that I could attend a new local homeschool encouragement group which blessed me in a variety of ways! 

Happy Not-Quite Birthday to Me!  Thank you Lord, for Your abundant blessings!

Love My Melia

This is a pattern for little knitted horsey blankets that Melia wrote up.  As in, made up, on her own.  And then wrote down so she wouldn't forget, and so that Kiera could use it later.  She also laminated it with packing tape :-) 

Love it... Adore her :-)

Another Melia Tidbit

Last night, as we were discussing the Torah and the law,  Melia asked what we do for the Sabbath....

Looong story short, we shared with Melia that we aren't Jewish, and with a VERY confused look on her face, she says...

"But I thought we were Jesus people?"

*Love...* 

Snow Pics

I am so glad we finally got some snow this year!  Unfortunately, it looks like that might be it...  But Kiera got her "winter wish"- we fit in one evening of sledding :-) 

Whew! Still Got It!

We haven't couponed in a while for a variety of reasons including it takes a decent amount of prep work, our printer's been broken, shopping with kids and a plan doesn't go together well, and I've run out of extra "food" room!  But we're down to 6 boxed of cereal (which we actually don't eat that often!) and Gabe was getting nervous ;-)  So, I saw an "ok" deal on cereal at Albies and thought I'd give it a go.  Then I saw in their ad that they were rounding coupons up to $1, and thought "Let's do this!"  (I hate all those little "$.40 off 4" and such coupons, but make it $1?  YES MA'AM!) 

So we went last night after karate- and did fairly well!  Gabe was happy, even though I only added 6 boxes of cereal to the stash.  I found lots of other good deals (though prices have really gone up since my last trip!  $2.19 for a can of cream of chicken soup?  Yikes! But I got it for .75, so I'm breathing again ;-)

I'll try to get back to blogging- life is just amazing lately, but along with the fun stuff comes a lack of down time... and what down time I have I use for Knitting!  Yay!

Christmas Gifts and Pretty Sure He never saw this coming...

 Melia looked all through her new molding book before she decided to do something else :-)  Without any instructions, I think it turned out all right! 

 Our first completed batch of cake pops!

And I really don't think in all of Gabe's wildest imaginings that his deer would ever become the girls' dress-up "toy."  Ever. 

Isaac's first Christmas, Sick- 2011

I thought I would photograph Isaac opening his gifts from the Elliott side so everyone can see how he loved his presents :-)

 Wooden sound puzzle from Great-Gma Elliott

Tool set from Ken and Brenda

 Buildable Big Truck from Sissy (part of the kids' exchange)

Fire Truck Track Puzzle from Roy and Lois

Adventurer Rig from Great-Gma Elliott



Good Start to the Holiday Season!

This weekend we went shopping for decorations to do our "Basket of Blessings,"  and for our Operation Christmas Child Boxes.  The girls helped me thread the ribbon through the basket and tie the flowers on top, and so far we've seperated the kids' stuff into different bags because we can't find any shoe boxes :-)  I'm a little bummed we didn't get finished, but this week is the drop off for both these items so that puts the pressure on to GET IT DONE! 

Now, about shopping for gifts...  I need to start making my lists!  (Hint Hint... that means I need some lists, if you all feel kind enough to email me some!!!)

Wenatchee Cross

wenatcheevalleycross.com

This is where you can check who/what the cross is lit for on any given night... For the most part.  Gabe turns it on just for fun sometimes :-)  But not for all night... Just a little blink blink blink to grab your attention :-)

Fall Yummy-ness

Pumpkin Butterscotch w/ a few mini chips just for fun cookies...

Eating the leftovers from our carameled apples- delicious!

Now, may I make a request?  The next time I make these- remind me of how STICKY caramel is, and that I need to find a different recipe than the one on the back of the caramels bag!  Oh yea, plus I remembered to roll the bottom in sugar, but not to layer the wax paper with sugar!  My little "rolling" did NO GOOD when it came to trying to rip those suckers off the paper!

However, we made these goodies for our church's "Bunco and Bema" night (Halloween alternative), and they were thoroughly enjoyed :-)  I am thankful we got to bring a few apples home to enjoy, especially because Kiera was distraught that I had forgotten to give her one at church...   What's really awesome was that both our girls chose to have a big plate of salad over pizza- that really suprised several adults!  And reminded me that I just need to make more of a point to have salad at home more often!

Hunting Pics

Daddy's deer :-)

 When we arrived, the kids were thrilled to have the freedom to run and play!  Kiera quickly returned yelling, "Look what I found!!!"  She was THRILLED.  As the story goes, Gabe and Shaun had been shooting at squirrels/chipmunks a few hours before we arrived, and Gabe had pegged this one... and forgot about it.  We all couldn't believe how Kiera fell in LOVE with her dead little chipmunk!

Melia, examining the specimen..

But, as you would probably guess, we could NOT keep a dead chipmunk!  This absolutely broke her heart- I cannot even begin to explain how she SOBBED for a good 20-30 minutes, and then again every time she looked at it's little tail (which was cut off thinking it would ease her pain...)  SOBBED, people.  No exaggeration needed.

Melia, later at home, watching as Daddy cuts up his deer.  She received a pretty one-of-a-kind anatomy lesson for a 7 year old, and fully loved every minute of it.  Not sure what God's got up His sleeve for this one, but boy, she's gonna be quite the little "lady!"

I know.  Gross, right?  Totally.  Gabe's.  Idea.  OK?  OK.

Fire Station Fun

Saturday I took the kids to the Open House at one of the local fire stations (#2 I believe...).  Gabe took Melia and Kiera last year while I stayed home with Isaac, and the girls (Kiera especially) has been asking to go back ever since!  I hadn't seen the sign, but my friend (Thanks Brooke!) told me about it this week and thankfully we were free to go!

What a great time!  They had several stations set up- I don't think we even hit them all!  But we did build a bird house together (Thanks to Home Depot), the girls practiced calling 911 and answering the questions, we discussed our "emergency exit" plan, I picked up a magnetic 911 board that I can leave on the fridge which has all our information on it, all the kids' faces were painted (I don't think I've ever seen Isaac sit so still!!), we rode on a mini-pumper, climbed in a police car, talked to a K9 officer and met his dog, ate hot dogs, bought a brownie at the bake sale, and spoke with someone about carseats.  WHEW! 

And, to top it all off, Melia won the $25 gift certificate to Fred Meyer drawing!  Wow! 

Salt Lake City: Part One

Last week I tagged along with Gabe to Utah for his annual Spillman user's conference (which is the computer system the jail uses.)  It was amazing :-)  I read FOUR books, took TWO naps, and had lots of fun with him on his downtime.  He also did very well on his certification tests.  It was a great vacation! 

The weird part for me was traveling alone. Because we used air miles to book my flight, I had to fly down the day before him, and home 6 hours later. While waiting for him to arrive, I took in the Hogle Zoo there in Salt Lake City, and hit a movie (The Help) which finished right as he was landing. Perfect!

We spent that evening with his co-worker and a gal from the Wenatchee PD, and another fellow from the west side playing pool and eating some delicious food at a small sports bar.  I must say, I am not a pool fan.  I'll watch, but please don't make me play! 

Monday Gabe had a review and testing (and I read and read and read...).  After his test we drove south a bit to take in a Brazilian steakhouse called Braza.  I've heard about this type of restaurant, and have been wanting to take Gabe to one for a while, so this seemed the ideal opportunity!  What we didn't know, and had it explained to us later in the week, was that the elevation can affect more than just your breathing... Apparently, it also can change how much you can consume... which makes it not the ideal opportunity to catch an "all-you-can-eat-meat" deal!  However, most of the meat was fabulous, and the salad bar was pretty good, plus the price was right.  We wished we could have eaten more, but this was just setting the tone for the rest of the week!  I went on to not be hungry at all until I arrived back home- it was crazy!   Especially when I am trying to enjoy having my plate to myself and not sharing with three little piggies!  Oh well!  Live and learn!  I also really noticed going up the stairs in the conference center- I felt like I was so out of shape, but then got laughed at because of the altitude thing... and I didn't feel so bad :-)

The next day was the corporate "event," in which they took us all out to Miller Motorsports in Tooele.  Here Gabe rode along in a racing mustang, which he said didn't go fast enough!  This is him exiting the car... he looks like he had fun, doesn't he?  :-)

Can you read the price tag? $80K- polished aluminum... brand new it'd run ya $140K.

Miller Motorsports has the largest private collection of Shelby Cobras, plus Shelby Mustangs and Ford GT40s.  There were some really high prices in this museum... all the way up to 14 million.  I can't believe they let me stand so close...

We also experienced riding in Jeep Rubicons on a rock crawling course and drove *real* go-carts!  You know, the 40 mph kind!  Gabe only passed me 3 times... But I did some passing too :-)  He was just the fastest driver out there by far- so I didn't stand a chance!  The rock crawling ranked high on my "how do they do that" bucket list... though I never would have admitted it.  I only went because these are "experienced" drivers... but they had a tendency to make mistakes here and there too!  Those pics are on Gabe's phone, so I'll have to post those later...

The next day included more conferencing, during which I drove down to Lehi to pick up some essential oils directly from the Young Living office (kinda cool!), plus visited the local Costco where I bought another book (which put my checked bag at 1 pound over the limit!) on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The conference's closing banquet ended the day, but Keys on Main topped off the night!  Keys on Main is a bar which hosts dueling pianos two days a week- and it was the number one thing on Gabe's to-do-again list from last year!  I can't begin to describe how much fun it was- phenomenally talented pianists- funny drunk people- great songs.  What a blast!

Gabe had a few classes to do the next morning, and then we scooted out to do some sightseeing together.  First I wanted to check out the Temple Square- mainly to see the Beehive House and Lion House because I'd recently (in the last year) read about their history and Brigham's countless wives :-)  However, once we entered the square and started rounding the temple itself, we decided to leave due to "feeling weird."  We did drive by the houses the next morning, but after leaving we found the yummiest little bakery/sandwich shop ever!  Hagermann's Bakehouse:  if ever you find yourself in Salt Lake City, visit here.  They had scrumptious samples, tasty sandwiches, and we went up afterwards to pick out dessert (because we couldn't refuse!) and they gave it to us free! 

My apricot-jalapeno jelly was sliming me!  (By then we'd learned to split whatever we ordered!)

To be continued.... because it's late and blogger is not cooperating in the photo upload process... :-)