*girl* borrman

born september 18, 2012, 1603, 8lbs 3oz, 20.5 inches

she is strong.  the baby nurse thought V was actually a week over what they had calculated. i delivered at 39w5d, but she said, i was probably around 41wks based on V's skin, development, etc.  oh, and could baby cry.

well, since we kinda thought we were having a boy...we had not settled on a girl's name, really.  i had tossed around harper a bit, but dennis wasn't digging it.  if we had a boy - we were going to name him liam misael.

so, we left the hospital with *baby* borrman.

the night we came home from the hospital around 2230, we finally agreed on vivienne ann. a couple days later, aunty emmy helped us with her hawaiian name, kaleihāla'i, which means the lei of the calming breath of life.  so beautiful and perfect.  i hope she lives up to her name, because right now, she's more of a lively (vivienne) girl with a cry that will damage some eardrums.  ;)

pictures, i need to get some pictures up in here.  to get pictures, i need to download them to my computer.  i'm experiencing some technical difficulties, so i hope to get some up soon, later.

so now, V eats, sleeps, poops, pees.  she has recently started cooing...she's mostly grumpy though.  hehe...she's always scrunching her eyebrows like she's angry.  we get at most, 4-5 hour stretches of sleep through the night, but mostly, we're still between the 3-4 hour point.

a new borrman is born

try #3...this is it.  if this blog doesn't work out, it just wasn't ever meant to be.  i am desperately trying to keep our loved ones informed.  ;)

this was supposed to be an email that went out over a month ago, but unfortunately, the recovery from giving birth has been a little harder than i would have liked, so now i'm finally sitting down to compose and relive september 18, 2012.  baby is sleeping soundly...

17 sep 12
0900: chiropractor appointment, let's get this baby moving...
1030: i'm at work and start feeling some contractions, a little stronger than the braxton hicks i had been having.  i close out as much as i can at work and head home.
all evening: contractions are starting to come on a bit stronger, but not on any time interval.

18 sep 12 - it's cloudy and rainy...my favorite kind of weather - it keeps the temperature down and is so relaxing!
0300: i wake up from the increasing intensity of the contractions.  starting to focus on my breathing and get dennis up to help me time them.  they are anywhere between 5 - 8 minutes apart.
0930: after some rest and a nice long bath, it's time to go...off to tampa general hospital.  contractions are about 4-6 minutes apart.
1000: check in at 6cm dilated, -2 station, 90% effaced
1130ish: our doula, michelle, arrives as i'm resting.  thankfully, i was able to stay ahead of the contractions with breathing and was able to rest for over an hour.  this proved key to the rest of the afternoon!
1230: off the bed and onto the birthing ball.  michelle was amazing at apply pressure and massaging me through each contraction.  i cannot tell you how helpful it was in getting me through them.  dennis had tried, but i couldn't explain exactly what to do...it was the oddest feeling.  he was ever so great at encouraging me and talking me through the contractions, which also made labor that much more bearable.
1330: nurse/midwife, jessica brumley does an exam - still 6cm, 0 station, fully effaced...6cm, still is not ideal - they were looking for progress.  how do we get some oxytocin going?  3 suggestions: do what got me here in the first place, nipple stimulation, or break the bag of waters.  well, option 1 was out of the question at this point.  option 3 definitely puts a clock on this birthing process, so we kicked everyone out and worked on option 2.
1530: dr. shelly holmstrom (my ob during the last trimester of pregnancy, awesome doctor, and huge vbac supporter!) was on staff that day - how perfectly amazing?  what are the chances that the doctor you are working with and so comfortable with is working the day you come in to give birth?  she had a bunch of c-sections that morning so we didn't get to see her until this point.  she came in and said, how about we have this baby before i get off shift at 5.  haha, how much i wanted her to deliver our baby!  dr. holmstrom accomplished another exam - 9.5cm dilated...then she asked if i was ready to push.  woah...i pushed, screamed, hollered, blew everyone's ear drums out...
1603: baby borrman #2 is born.  she is a girl.  she surprised us all!  with a beautiful head of hair and an intense cry, she was put right on my chest.  a serious miracle and a successful vbac!

ahhh...or so it seems.

background: after the first c-section with analise, i was hoping and praying for a vbac.  in tampa, the only local hospital that would do vbacs was tampa general.  overall, i wasn't impressed with their prenatal care, but was so lucky to be randomly scheduled with dr. holmstrom.  up until about the 30-ish week point, i was seeing a different doctor or midwife...those that i did not have any particular connection with.  dr. holmstrom laid it out straight, and also wasn't so hard lined about how my delivery would be.  gestational diabetes was a huge limfac in how far they wanted me to go, but she was willing to do more monitoring to let me go as long as she felt comfortable with.  at the 38 week point, i was a little over 1 cm dilated and at the 39 week point, i was between 2-3 cm.  she was so excited for me and very positive about me having a successful vbac (mind you, i had to see another doctor around 34 weeks and she kept talking about scheduling c-section because she had little confidence that i would have a vbac - i decided to ignore her instead of stressing about what little she knew...thank goodness i didn't have her to begin with!).

everything that happened on the day of vivienne's birth were many blessings that God had showered us with.  the weather was incredibly relaxing, we were put in a corner room (they called it the vip room) with huge windows to enjoy the rain, my ob was on staff that day, labor was incredibly bearable and my support system was amazing, and we were put in a double recovery room (story behind this - during our tour, we found the recovery rooms to be like little match boxes...TINY!  for some reason, we were admitted into a room twice the size that had an extra bed - not uncomfy couch or seat, but bed for dennis), everything was great and we are so thankful!

about labor and delivery:  unfortunately, during the labor process, since i was a gestational diabetic and it was a vbac, i had to be monitored constantly, i.e., fetal monitoring.  this hindered my movement quite a bit.  i so wanted to be in the shower, or even walk around, and i was able to walk, but not very far (i.e. around my bed).  i was nervous about this process and how i might not be able to go the natural/without drugs route.  it was bearable...breathing was what got me through the contractions (and my support buddies).  i was also able to draw back on our birthing classes we took (when we were preparing for analise) for positions.  before i knew it, it was time to push...now, this is the crazy part.  i'm not sure i want to ever go through that pushing stage again...holy smokes - that was intense.  that's all i'm going to say about that.  all in all, this experience was incredibly empowering, and the euphoria after the fact was so fun!  crying, laughing, awe...a bunch of emotions.

recovery: 3 degree tear - ouch.  vivienne had a small mouth - hard time nursing (gazillion ouches).  random fever for a mystery infection and 12 hours in the er - more ouch. uti - annoying.  allergies - can we stop with this now?

now, at 5 weeks post partum, i am starting to feel like myself again.  whew!