Progress Reports

Note: I'm planning on posting updates within this blog post, so that folks with readers are not overwhelmed in case I post lots of updates today. I'll just add the latest at the top of the post with the time, so things will be nice and backwards. Sweet.

Sunday 5/2 - 7.45pm
I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. I've been busy with a precious bundle of boy who was born last night at 10.40! One of his names is Andrew... we're still pondering names. More info in another post.

Saturday 5/1 - 8.20pm
The castor oil seems to be working (but with only one of *those* trips to the bathroom so far). I'm having contrax one on top of the other right now, which is typical for the beginnings of the CO effect. Need to stop to breathe through them. Just had a yummy supper of high protein waffles with blueberries and yogurt on top. SO glad to be at home.

Saturday 5/1 - 4pm
Stalled. Cervix is still in a good position, but contrax have slowed way down. We're going to do something we normally wouldn't and try castor oil. As far as our normal philosophical hesitation with pushing labor along, my body obviously tried to go into labor and my cervix made those efforts ineffective. So it isn't as if we're trying to jump start things from scratch. Logistically, there are many reasons to see if the castor oil will work, so we're going to give it a shot. Our prayer is that if the time is right, it will work, and if the time is not right, it won't work. We'd love it if you'd pray that with us.

Saturday 5/1 - 11am (anatomical details)
I've definitely never had a labor quite like this before. Last night around 10, MW checked me internally and found that I had dilated very little over the course of the day, and that my cervix was in an awkward, extremely far forward (almost tucked up under the pubic bone) position. That meant that Baby's head was not able to apply pressure properly to the cervix, hence the lack of dilation. As we discussed this dilemma, B got a call that a mom was in labor, so she headed out for her house.

Our wonderful chiropractor (Dr. Mary) was here last night and she and MW came up with a belt-like contraption to try to get things in a better position. We decided that it would be best for everyone to try to get a decent night's sleep. So Sue and Dr. Mary headed for home, I went to bed, and MW and sis Liz settled down for the night in the living room. When Jonathan came to bed shortly thereafter, I mentioned, "Well, we made it to May Day... we'll see what happens."

I had lots of contractions through the night and in my sleepiness, it seemed that they felt different somehow, so I was hopeful the belt was helping. My 7.30'ish potty break showed signs of progress, so after a while, MW checked and found that it seemed my cervix had moved enough that contrax were indeed able to be more productive and I had made some progress (all the way to 3cm... better, but not was I was hoping for).

Things are progressing and contrax are continuing, though I must admit I'm struggling with being patient and fighting frustration/discouragement. I just need to remember that the Lord will bring this little forth in His time and in His way. MW and Liz are out running some errands right now, so J and I are going to try to relax and hope we make some more progress.

Please pray for our friends Eric and Jen. Their precious daughter Elisabeth was born around midnight last night... with spina bifida. She's in NICU and it sounds like she and they have a rough road ahead. May God give comfort and grace.

Friday 4/30 - 7.30pm
Still waiting for MW to arrive, but she's getting close. Contrax getting more intense. Played scrabble with J and B, ate sandwhiches for supper. Dear Sue is on her way over as well. There's a storm coming in, so we'll likely lose connection soon.

Friday 4/30 - about 2.30pm
Last night as midnight approached, I was having pretty steady contractions. Still ~20 minutes apart, but feeling a bit more serious. So I had a snack and headed for bed to see if things stopped, if I could sleep, etc. I snoozed between contrx, but was starting to wonder about my primary MW's 3+ hour drive. I finally called her around 2am and reached her on the way to another client's house! I called again at 2.30 after 3 more contrx that were 10 minutes apart and feeling more demanding. This other precious mom was at 6cm, so there was no way MW was leaving her for a while. We decided I'd go ahead and call B, MW's assistant and a dear friend of mine, who got on the road shortly after I called. Then we called Dad and Mom Smith, who came to pick up the Blessings.

B drove in about the time that the Blessings pulled out of the drive, and I felt relieved to have her here. She found I hadn't really started to dilate yet, but that baby was very low and everything was soft and ready to go. We decided to get some sleep if possible, both for the sake of rest and to give MW an opportunity to finish up and make the drive over.

Today has been spent mostly relaxing, because things really intensify whenever I'm up and around and I'd really like to give MW plenty of time to get here. The "other" baby was born around 10.30 this morning, and we're guessing MW is on her way.