Ellett o'rama: May 2012

My heart is like a fountain true,

That flows and flows with love to you.

As chirps the lark unto the tree

So chirps my pretty babe to me.

There’s not a rose where’er I seek,

As comely as my baby’s cheek.

There’s not a star that shines on high

Is brighter than my baby’s eye.

There’s not a boat upon the sea,

Can dance as baby does to me.

No silk was ever spun so fine,

As is the hair of baby mine.

My baby smells more sweet to me,

Than smells in spring the elder tree.

A little fish swims in the well,

So in my heart does baby dwell.

A little flower blows on the tree,

My baby is the flower to me.

The Queen has scepter, crown and ball,

You are my scepter, crown and all.

For all her robes of royal silk,

More fair your skin, as white as milk.

Ten thousand parks where deer do run,

Ten thousand roses in the sun,

Ten thousand pearls beneath the sea,

My babe more precious is to me.

We love you Grayson!

(Photos taken at 2 weeks of age)

***Warning!!! It’s the real birth story! Those who don’t want to know….just skip to the pics!***

It’s been 3 weeks since Grayson was born. I can’t believe it has been that long. The days have slipped by with alarming quickness. I love being a Mommy. I love having two little guys to fill our house with love. Grayson’s birth was nothing like Liam’s. Liam was induced for post dates. With Liam I went in at midnight, had Pitocin and then a magic epidural and by the next afternoon Little Liam came into the world without much pain at all. With Grayson, we went in for induction at 5pm. Had a slow, slow start but was finally contracting regularly without having to start the Pitocin. After hours of contractions I finally asked for an epidural, expecting that it would be like last time. Epidurals are not a particularly fun procedure. First they make you contort into strange, curled positions then they poke around in your back for a while, but the relief is amazing. The anesthesiologist that ATTEMPTED mine was a gruff older guy who chatted the whole time. Things did not go well. In fact, things could not have gone much worse. After 3 painful attempts, an artery that was stuck by a epidural needle, and a doctor that used several surprised expletives, the epidural option was off the table. I was told that due to the complications I had, I would have to have this baby without the aid of an epidural. Unthinkable!!! I was in tears. So labor continued, I hurt, time passed and my cervix remained unchanged. So frustrating. By that afternoon I could no longer stand the pain. IV pain meds (which I only tried once) did nothing for the pain and made me so sick. So the day shift anesthesiologist was called in. I was officially a mess at this point. I have never had that kind of pain before, and I honestly was not handling it well. After much discussion of risks/benefits the new doctor agreed to give it one more shot. If he was unable to get it with one stick, then I would be out of luck. I prayed, pleaded “Please, please, please, please…” over and over again in my head. I needed this. Thank goodness, he got the epidural in and I got some relief. The rest of the labor was much more bearable. This epidural was not as good as the one I had with Liam, so I still felt more than I would have liked but I could tolerate the pain. By 11pm, on April 19th, we were making good progress. The delivery happed so quickly it was laughable. As happened with Liam I became really hot, really, really hot. I told my wonderful nurse that when that happened before it was because I was fully dilated. After a quick check we found out that we were ready. My nurse was great, so sweet and spunky. She had me do one “practice push” which brought the baby right down, then quickly called my Doctor. It was funny. She told him we were ready and he said “see ya in 10” to which she replied “Nope. See ya in 5!” She was right! While the nurse and delivery tech got the delivery table ready, I continued to contract. While having one really big contraction I could feel A LOT of pressure, then I felt that little head turn as he prepared to enter the world! I told my nurse, ‘I’m feeling a lot of pressure and I just felt the baby move. I’m NOT pushing!” She quickly peeked and realized that Grayson’s little head was out about to his ears. WHAT?!?! REALLY???? She laughed and quickly put her gloves on. With the next contraction his head was fully out and I had yet to push! Finally my nurse said to give a push and about half a push later Grayson entered the world without waiting for the doctor. He did great. Cried right away and Frank got to cut the cord. It was a wonderful delivery after all the hard hours that had come before. I feel truly blessed that we are all healthy and doing well.