Rowe's Birth Story

This is a very long and detailed post. You have been warned!

I want to preface this by saying that with my first son’s birth my water broke so I knew I was going to have the baby soon. But after laboring for about 15 hours I got an epidural and Pitocin, and had him 5 hours later!  Talk about a long freaking day. Also my contractions felt different, I thought so anyway.

On Monday August 5^th in the morning I started having some lower abdomen pain but I didn’t think anything of it, I just thought I had to go to the bathroom (#2).  Throughout the day I kept having the pain (contractions) so I thought I should maybe timing them and see if it was labor. They were very sporadic and not time able, so again I didn’t think it was labor pains and kept going about my day. I even went to Target with my son and walked around, but having to stop when a contraction would hit. For the rest of the day I just took it easy and relaxed. Before going to bed Sean and I were talking and I told him that I was determined to have this baby naturally and I didn’t want to give in and get an epidural, but if in the end of labor, where I’ve heard it’s the hardest, I ask for one don’t let me get one! We then went to bed. At around 1am I couldn’t lay in bed anymore because the contractions were getting a little more intense and coming every 10 minutes. I got up and called my midwife to let her know what was going on. She said to try to get some sleep and call her back when they got more intense and closer together. I decided it was going to be a long night. I started a movie (The Breakfast Club, which I will always remember now as the movie I labored through) to try to take my mind off of the contractions. When each one would hit I would get on my hands and knees and rock back and forth, it seemed to help a little bit.

At around 3am I think my water broke but it wasn’t like with my first son where it was a gush of water and then trickling, it was more like a little gush and then that was it. So they think that maybe it broke up high and his head was blocking anymore water from coming out. I continued to watch the movie and rock back and forth. At about 4:15am I decided to get in the shower to see it that would help. At that point they were coming a little faster, maybe every 5 minutes and getting very intense. I was kneeling in the shower with the water hitting my back for about 15 minutes and then couldn’t handle it anymore and decided it was time to go into the hospital. I got out and woke Sean up. He took a shower while I called my midwife and told her we would meet her at the hospital. I then called my mom so she could come over and sleep at the house with Cru. That 15 to 20 minutes waiting for her to show up were miserable. The contractions were every five minutes and HARD! We left our house at 5am and the drive was not too bad but not fun. Luckily it was early in the morning so there was no traffic. We got to the hospital at 5:15am. We went to the ER to let them know I was there and they wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery Triage. I was about to change into the hospital gown and my midwife showed up and saw how much pain I was in by my face and because I wouldn’t sit on the bed. It just didn’t feel good to sit I wanted to be moving with each contraction. So she asked if I wanted to skip triage and go directly to a room, I nodded! So to the room I went.

Once I was in my gown and on the bed she checked me. (Side note: On the way to the hospital I told Sean that when they check me to see where I’m at and I’m between 5-7cm then I can keep doing what I’m doing but if I’m anywhere below that I’m going to be pissed and I AM going to get an epidural) So when she checked me I waited for the worst…..she then said I was 8cm!!!! Uh…what?!? Ok that’s pretty much awesome! After she checked me I wanted to get back in the shower while they filled up the tub for me. The contractions got way worse and I started to get nauseous. I did throw up in the shower which was interesting because I hadn’t had anything to eat for a long time so there was nothing really coming up. The tub was filled and I was done with the shower at that point so I moved to the tub. When I got in the tub the contractions picked up a few notches. They were probably every two minutes or so….I wasn’t really focusing on timing them, but they were very painful and that’s when I started telling them I couldn’t do it and I wanted an epidural. Sean stayed really calm and kept telling me I could do it and that I was almost there. The midwife kept saying just one more contraction, just one more contraction. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t get the tears out. After about 15 minutes in the tub I wanted her to check me again to see if I had progressed much. When she did she said I was still 8cm but my cervix was very soft. I then knelt on the bed with my arms over the back of it. Kind of like this.

I was having a hard time with the contractions and was getting really angry at Sean because he was staying so calm and I was in so much pain for heaven’s sake! During one of the contractions I threw the throw-up bag on the ground and yelled “I can’t do this anymore! Just let me have an epidural!” Pretty much begging Sean to give in. The contraction ended and I told Sean I needed that throw-up bag back. He was so kind and just picked it up and gave it back to me. So I guess we know now where my two year old learned how to throw a tantrum. They gave me the paperwork to sign to get the epidural but said it might take a little bit to get the anesthesiologist there to do it. Ahh…I was going to get relief soon!

But at that point the midwife gave me some awesome advice; she said to try to push through the contractions to see if that would help. And oh boy did it! I pushed and it didn’t hurt as much. I got into a zone and couldn’t really hear the conversations going on around me. Maybe after a couple pushes I kind of felt like my baby was coming out. So I said to them, “Uh…I think I feel him coming out!” They just kept saying ok good keep pushing. I had a blanket or a towel over my back and shoulders so they couldn’t really see what was going on down below. So I kept pushing and I kept feeling him get closer and closer to coming out but it hurt. Finally she lifted the blanket and saw that I was pushing my baby out, so that’s when people kicked it into high gear. She said at the next contraction I was going to push my baby out. I wanted to stretch more because I felt like I was going to tear.. But she said we needed to get him out because he was right there and they couldn’t get a good heartbeat reading on him. So I pushed and I pushed hard. I guess I got him out to about his eyeballs and then didn’t want to push anymore because it hurt too much. But I guess I did because two seconds later his head was out and it didn’t hurt as much anymore. They then said I needed to get the rest of him out and to push, but I wasn’t having a contraction and it’s hard to push without the help of a contraction. So I tried and nothing, tried again and nothing. Then the nurse got in my face and said I needed to push harder and get my baby out!! Apparently his poor shoulders were stuck and wouldn’t budge. So the midwife I guess stuck her hand in and grabbed his arm and pulled him out with help from me pushing. Finally he was out and they placed him between my legs on the bed and I just stared at him and couldn’t believe I just did that. They took him away and cleaned him up and checked him out while I lay on my back and delivered the placenta. I did have a small tear which she stitched me up real quick. While she was doing that they weighed him and he was 10lbs 1oz, holy cow!! I really couldn’t believe I just did that. They placed him in my arms while they finished cleaning me up and he was perfect. Just hanging out with mom and couldn’t be in a happier place then right there on my chest.

Rowe Michael Larson

Born August 6^th 2013 at 7:29am

10lbs 1oz, 21 ¼ in long

He’s been a pretty good baby except he doesn’t like to sleep and he has a lot of gas. He likes to eat a lot which is always fun when you’re both trying to get the hang of breast feeding. But he is a sweet baby and I’m glad he’s mine. Cru doesn’t really pay attention to him that much unless he has a pacifier in his mouth then Cru likes to steal it and run away. He does like to hold him though, it’s actually really cute! I can’t wait to see them play together.

Killing our chicken....

A little backstory for you all, we got a few chickens from my sister DaNelle and we loved them. Then one died because it was picked on and bullied by the other chickens. So we went out and bought ourselves another one, her name was Barbara or Barb for short. They were both good laying chickens and we got eggs everyday. Then Sean's sister Hollie didn't want her three chickens that she had at her rental house so she gave them to us. All together we had a total of five chickens. The "original" two and then the pack of three that always stuck together. We had a butt load of eggs we had to start selling them which was fun. Then the Arizona summer hit and it was hot! They started to die like one a week it felt like. We were then down to two again, but I could tell they weren't doing so good with the heat. So we decided to give one to my sister DaNelle and kill the other one and eat it. Funny thing, we later found out that the one we gave to my sister died. I knew it wasn't doing well, poor chicken. I'm going to post a few videos we took of killing it. I don't think the videos show too much blood or anything just a poor chicken getting killed. So if you can't handle watching them it's ok I understand.

 

This first one is us cutting the throat. We watched a YouTube video so we were professionals. We got a milk carton and cut the botton off and stuck the chicken in head first so we had access to the throat and the wings were secure and wouldn't flap around too much. In the beginning Sean is holding it and I was going to cut and then I realized I didn't want to so we switched. Sean had a pocket knife and thought it was sharp enough but we figured out the hard way that it wasn't. That chicken skin is tough. So I had Sean go get the box cutter which worked a little better. It took a couple cuts to get the job done. Then I stood there and let the thing bleed out. FUN for me!

 

 

 

This next one is of me dipping it in hot water to help get the feathers off easier. It was really hot outside and when I dipped it it smelled really bad.

 

The last one is of me plucking the chicken clean. It was rough work! First of all it was hot from being in the water and those feathers are stuck good in that tough chicken skin. If you look closley you can see I have my tongue out, it takes a lot of concentration too I guess.

We didn't get a video of me cleaning it out which is probably best because that was probably the nastiest part EVER! I got really light headed and felt like I was going to faint. I think it was because I found the stomach or something and found grass and grain and bugs it just made it all real, UGH! I had a hard time with that part. After it was all cleaned and oiled up we stuck it in the oven. It started to smell really good in our house. An hour and a half later we were ready to have our chicken sandwiches. I cut it up and took a big bite of my sandwich and noticed I couldn't bite through the chicken it was SO tough. I was done after that one bite and gave the rest of my sanwich to Sean and let him have the rest on the bird as well.  

I'm glad I was able to have this experience and I hope I don't have to do it again for awhile. But if I ever have to, at least I can say I know what I'm doing!



Long time no see!

So it's been awhile, eh? Having a child does take up all your time and energy doesn't it? Whew! Cru is now 7 1/2 months old now and growing fast. He's the cutest boy, I just love him so much. So I never really posted about the birth story and I know I like to read those stories so I guess I'll indulge you all. It might be a little TMI for some people and kind of long, just to warn you.

It was a dark and stormy night.....well not really but it was in the middle of the night. It was about 3am on Sunday morning on August 7th, I got up to go to the bathroom when I sat down on the toilet I felt him kick me but it felt weird like he kicked my bladder because I felt more pee come out (tmi?). I didn't think anything of it and went back into bed, but when I laid down I noticed I was all wet. I thought that was strange, I thought I had accidentally peed all over myself with out me noticing. So I went back in to the bathroom and noticed water dripping from me and that's when I finally realized that maybe my water broke. Right then I got excited but nervous! OUR BABY WAS COMING!! So I grabbed a hand towel and stuck it in between my legs and went and sat on our bed. I was thinking should I wake up Sean? I don't know what I was thinking, of course wake up my husband, I would like him to be at his baby's birth. So I nudged him awake and this is how our conversation went....
Sean: "What?"
Me: "I think my water broke!"
Sean: "You think? or You know?"
Me: "I'm pretty sure! Okay, yeah I know!"
Sean: "Do I have time to shower?"
Me: "Haha...yeah!"

Apparently he cared more about the shower then to ask how I was feeling. At that point I wasn't having any contractions so I was feeling fine. I just sat on the bed for awhile and thought about what was about to happen that day. Sean got out of the shower and made breakfast for the both of us. I couldn't really eat because, like I said I was so nervous but excited. I kind of wanted to wait because I didn't want to go if I wasn't having strong contractions. Then have the hospital start me on pitocin and have everything snowball effect from there into an emergency c-section. (You have to watch "The Business of Being Born", awesome!) So I called my doula, at 3am mind you, and she said that I should go to the hospital because it's my first and we don't know how long my labor might be. So we took a few last pictures just the two of us before we would have a little one and then headed off to the hospital. On our way we called the family to let them know we were headed to the hospital.

I got admitted and hooked up to the machines. They then told me if I wanted labor to start it might be a good idea to walk the halls. So walk the halls I did. By the way, they totally need to get better things to look at in those halls, boring. Around and around I went. I kept seeing the same nurses at the nurses station and they would just look up and smile at first then after about my 50th time passing they didn't look up at all. When I walked my contractions would start going and progress and would be about every two minutes or so. But once I got back to the room to sit and relax they would stop almost completely. Bummer! More walking I guess. I did that pretty much all day until about 5:30pm. I was exhausted and feeling pressure from the doctor to start pitocin. (Side note: I didn't have my regular OB doctor because it was the weekend and she wasn't the one on call. She said she would have come in anyway but it was her son's birthday. NBD) At that point I broke out in tears for many different reasons 1.) I felt like the baby was never going to come out unless I walked it out in those boring halls 2.) It was actually pretty painful 3.) I was so tired from being up since 3am 4.) I didn't want to give in and get pitocin and an epidural. My doula and my friend got in my face and told me some harsh realities about what was still ahead. So I caved and got the epidural and they put me on pitocin. I was finally able to rest a little, YAY! At 11:15pm the nurse came in to check and and she said I was about ready to push. She was going to go call the doctor. At 11:30pm I started pushing and he was out at 12:05pm. When he was finally out and crying all I could say was "Oh, my baby!". They placed him on my chest and he stopped crying like he already knew who I was and was fine. The nurses wanted him to cry to get all the gunk out of his lungs so we rubbed his back. He was perfect! He was 8lbs 7oz and I think 21inches long. Whew, it was finally over and we had a beautiful baby boy!

I enjoyed the hospital stay because there were people all around at my beckoning call to help me with anything. Plus I got to call and order food for breakfast, lunch and dinner....who wouldn't like that!

These past 7 1/2 months have been fun having him around. I have lost a lot of sleep but it's well worth the smiles and giggles I get everyday. He's learning to army crawl around and I'm getting a taste of what's it's going to be like when he's full on crawling. He gets into everything!! And he doesn't understand the word NO! Oh the fun!

Post# 2

So last week we had the Larson FHE at our house. Lots of family, lots of fun and lots of noise. Later in the week, Becky had another doctor's appointment. Everything is looking great and Becky is feeling well. Sean survived his second week of summer school and is wishing he was already finished. The garden is still producing and our chickens are as healthy as ever.

We did have one major hiccup with our roofing company. They mailed us a check and a letter letting us know that they have cancelled our service. So, Sean made some nasty phone calls and starting sorting things out. Apparently there have been several misunderstandings and miscommunications going on in their office. Hopefully everything will be set back into place early next week and we can have our roof redone sometime this year. We'll keep you posted.

Also, Becky's been super buys doing all kinds of stuff around the house. She's been baking zucchini bread and cookies and all kinds of stuff. She even finished painting the baby's room. And of course, it looks awesome.

Other than that, we're looking forward to Father's day coming up. We've got our gifts already and can't wait until next Sunday to celebrate with our Dads.

The weekend update with Sean & Becky

So we are going to try something new. We are going to try to put a new post up every weekend. We are not going to try to be witty or funny or anything we are just going to spit it up on the screen.

Post #1
Becky just quit work this week and is loving her new life as being a homemaker. She is now 30 weeks along and doing great. We are both getting anxious to see our but little baby. So much so we went and bought a stroller and car seat. Whoa! It's one of those awesome ones with only one bike wheel in front, I think it is called a jogger stroller. We'll see if I actually end up jogging with it. We are getting his room put together, we are going to go buy the paint so look for that update soon.

Sean just started summer school at ASU taking a mechanical engineering class. He is loving it and wishing that all his classes were only seven weeks long. The professor actually specializes in windmill energy, and might help Sean get a spot doing research and help him gain experience in that field. In his spare time Sean has been tending to the garden. We are now eating fresh tomatoes, zucchini and carrots.

In other news our chickens are doing ok. We named them Lucy and Barbara. Lucy is the only one laying eggs right now but she seems to be taking days off here and there. Barb is the younger one and loves when we come outside to give her out table scrapes.

That's it for now, we will see you in a week....

Pregnant Bellies are SEXY!

I always thought that when I got pregnant I would take pictures every week to see how big I was getting.....Yeah that hasn't happened so far. But I have taken a few so here they are.

About 17 weeks.

About 19 weeks.

And the latest one at about 21 weeks.

Baby...Baby...Baby

So we are having a baby! Woo hoo!! We've been trying for two years for this to happen and it finally did. I still can't believe that I have something growing inside of me. I'm getting to the point where I feel a lot better and I can also start to feel it move a little. We still don't know if it's a boy or girl but we are hoping it's a boy. We find out on March 17th and it's taking forever to get here. Anyway....YAY for us:)