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Sleep Loss.

Posted by on September 21, 2010 2 Comments

Most babies=Sleep loss.  There is no way around it.  And, the number one question you will be asked during the first six months is “Has he/she slept through the night yet?”.  Which after getting 3 continuous hours of sleep for a week straight, you may not be the right person to ask that question.  I am here to put a new spin on sleep deprivation.  Embrace it!

There are many reasons why babies can’t sleep for long stretches.  Their stomachs are small, they may have a strong moro reflex, they pee and poop constantly, and they may be overstimulated.  Just to name a few.  As a new parent you may or may not know what is keeping your baby up. If you are one of the many parents that are at their wit’s end trying to sleep more than four hours in a row, do not give in to the dark side.  What I mean is, you can get downright negative when you are lacking the proper amount of sleep.  Which for me pre babies was 8 hours.   After three kids, and years of disrupted sleep, I can easily get away with four hours, especially if I can squeeze in a nap the next day while my son is taking his nap.  Don’t ask me to do brain surgery the next day, but I can at least do most  of the important tasks that need tending to.

During the first three years with my twins, I did not sleep more than 4 hours at a time. They just could not make it any longer.  If one started to sleep longer, the other one would wake  up her sister for no reason at all.    So if you have troubled sleepers, I can relate.  And my advice is to sleep when your baby sleeps.  Even if it is only for fifteen minuets.  And don’t let what everyone says get to you.  Keep it positive.  You will get the sleep you need.  Some day.

Good Night,

Jessica

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Birth Perception.

Posted by on June 30, 2010 1 Comment

When I tell my birth story to some people they just can’t believe that I carried twins for 37 weeks thinking there was only one baby in there.  They ask “weren’t you really big?”  No.  ”Couldn’t you feel a lot of movement?” Kind of.  But I had nothing to relate it to.

I just think I had a very healthy outlook on my pregnancy.  What I did not know, only helped me.  I trusted that my body would tell me if something were wrong.  My midwives would pick up the signals of  anything going bad.  Choosing not to have ultrasound or any excessive interventions was a choice I made.  All of the prenatal testing in the world would not change the fact that I was pregnant.  Negative results would only add stress to my pregnancy.  As long as there was a heartbeat and I was feeling healthy that was all that mattered to me.  My pregnancy would continue and if there was a road block then we would deal with it when it came up.

Looking back, had I read any of the books about twin pregnancy, I probably would have been on bed rest at 32 weeks like most of them suggest.  Instead, I was swimming and walking everyday up until my 37th week.  My perception was that I was carrying a singleton, and that is what my pregnancy presented itself as.  My mind did not fear anything twin related because it had no idea that was even a possibility.  Was I scared to give birth for the first time?  Certainly.  But I addressed my fears and ackowledged them all.

The two weeks from when we discovered the twins to when I had the cesarean, were stressful.  I will not deny that.  I was just waiting for labor.  Full term for twins is 35 weeks.  Why was my body not going into labor?  I will never know the answer to that question.  All I can think is that my visualizations and birth affirmations worked.  They kept my fearful mind at bay and my body went along with perception that all was good and healthy.  I just happened to get two for one that time.

Affirmations can be so empowering.

My body knows how to birth my baby.

My baby knows how to be born.

I relax and fully turn my birthing over to nature.

I am safe even though I may be scared.

I put all fear aside and welcome my baby with happiness and joy.

Bless,

Jess

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Change in Plans.

Posted by on May 24, 2010 1 Comment

My birth plan was thrown out the window as soon as we were risked out of home birth at 39 weeks.  I thought we had everything in place.  Even though we found out we were having twins when I was 37 weeks, our midwife assisted  home water birth was still the plan.  Until……I just never went into labor and the second ultrasound revealed twin b was breech and cord wrapped.  At 39 weeks and no signs of labor plus a heatwave we were having, we needed to make some decisions.

We were offered two choices.  The first was to go home and wait for labor to start(it was 106 degrees that day), go to the emergency room and get doctor dujour.  Whoever was working that day may or may not let me labor and attempt vaginal delivery.  Most likley twin b was going to be a cesarean delivery.   The second choice was to go strait to the hospital and have a cesarean with the on call doctor who my midwife was familiar with.

Not having to recover from a vaginal and a cesarean delivery with twins to nurse and care for won out. We called our families and headed over to the air conditioned hospital.  I just knew I was making the right choice for everyone involved babies included.  I was dissapointed that my birth plan was not fulfilled, but no matter the circumstances I was overjoyed the moment my babies were out.  There is no better moment in life.

The lesson learned was that you can have the most comprehensive birth plan on the books, but you need to be willing to go with the flow.  I am appalled at the high cesarean rate in this country and never in my wildest dreams imagined I would head down that road, but when life happened and I hopped in that car I was glad that the mechanics were ready at the shop.

Three years later I had the opportunity to have a pregnancy that ended the way I envisioned.  I had the midwife assisted water home birth.  Only this time it was a HBAC.  Home birth after cesarean.  This experience was so empowering, but no more special than the first.

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