Who's Baby is This?!

We've been doing a lot of staring. There have been a few milk man jokes...but, really, I think we're all excited and awestruck by the creativity of Creation. I mean, the same gene pool has turned out a very different baby. Our first 2 girls looked so much like their dad that I had given up the notion that strangers could pair my kids with me. They're dark, I'm fair. They're brown eyed, I'm blue.

drew

me

This new one, well, she's still a bit old-manish looking, as all newborns are. She's growing into something though. Blue eyes, and maybe light hair coming in?!

Having children and watching them feels a little like looking at trees on a nature walk. First you have a Maple, the mighty maple tree with leaves anyone would recognize, it's characteristics are magnificent and dependable and we know them. Then, you have a spruce. Sure, the maple and the spruce both grow tall, they have bark branches and roots--but the differences are numerous and the 2 are VERY different trees. Continue down the trail just a bit and you'll meet a red bud or a dogwood or maybe even an apple...

When you're pregnant you don't know what to expect, and a little bit of me always expects more of the same, another Naomi, another Leviah. I have no real idea what Eliza's personality will be. Looking back at the infancy of the other two their personalities were so obviously present, but it will take months and years for me to really know her and it's SO tremendously exciting. The girls I have are such individuals, it seems like the ultimate privilege to be a part of their growth and having experienced that unveiling twice I think I'm appreciating it more this time around. I can't wait to see who Eliza is going to be, what her interests and talents will be. Her unique look in one small way shows me how I have no idea what to expect...

naomi 

leviah

eliza (photo courtesy of Gina Schultz Photography)

Here are family baby pics to compare. Looking through all the baby pics reminds me that it's about time to share the birth story. It'll come...

Fine, call me a hippie

When it comes to birthing, I AM a hippie, not just a naturalist--I'm too emotional about it. I believe that every woman is entitled to the birth of her choice AND that she's powerful enough to do it the old-fashioned way (if she so chooses). You rarely find an OB that agrees in the heat of the moment. Don't take my word for it, see the statistics below.

Someone posted this link in a forum & I cried a bit & became enraged because it's a whole other facet I haven't yet come to terms with.



The Other Side of the Glass

I can just imagine how difficult it is for a man to come to terms with the notion that he cannot protect a woman from the pains of childbirth, then add the powers he does have--of supporting her, defending her wishes, caring for the infant--are stripped from him, tragic. How does he recover from that?

Before all that there's the years of entrenched fears to deal with. Mis-education is nearly impossible to penetrate when it's foundation is fear. Across the board. Here is what that mis-education & fear is achieving locally:

The numbers below show the Maternity Care Statistics for North Carolina for 2007:

Category	Number	Percentage of Total Births
Total Births	130,886
Cesarean Births
Primary Cesareans	24,221	18.5%
Repeat Cesareans	16,579	12.7%
Overall Cesarean Rate	40,800	31.2%
Vaginal Births
Vaginal Births	88,794	67.8%
VBAC Births	1,253	1.0%
Other Births	39	0.0%
Interventions
Labor Inductions	26,346	20.1%
Labor Augmentations	21,480	16.4%
Non-Induced or Augmented Births	83,060	63.5%

The World Health Organization recommends cesarean rates for any region not exceed 10 to 15 percent and induction rates not to exceed 10 percent. It is the expectation that when the 2008 numbers are released later this year that the cesarean and intervention rates will both increase in North Carolina hospitals.

this information is from the current NC Friends of Midwives newsletter. To read more, or join, go here.

I just had to post this. It is very important to me & I don't want families to not make educated decisions. I don't know a mother who doesn't remember the day her child was born--no matter how old. It's one of those things worth the research since no one wants to be upfront about it.

Snow Monkeys & beyond!

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

First, enter this contest if you like to hold your baby while doing other things ;)

Second...It snowed in Greensboro a few weeks ago & Naomi was obsessed. For a girl like me--who knows what real snow looks like--it was highly entertaining watching her make the best of this very thin blanket!

We had to gather all the snow out of the garden & off the tops of yard toys to build our snow monkey, but at least we had authentic home-grown carrots fresh out of the garden for a Frosty-esque nose. Oh wait, or was that a button?

Thirdly! My sister had her baby! Eden Mara, which is adorable in my opinion. We were all worried for a bit as the hospital was far from supportive of my sister's desire to keep things natural, but she did it. I'm very proud & excited! I went from having no one to call me Auntie at the beginning of the summer to 2 nieces & another daughter in just 5 months!
If there's one thing the Reitmeyer sisters can do it's reproduce--girls...

Leviah Ethel Comes to Town

In case you want to know...

So, I'd had contractions for weeks & pretended that they were "doing" something, when really I think they were preparing me for a HARD fast labor with REALLY intense contracting.

It's hard to start anywhere, so I'll begin with DH getting home on Tuesday afternoon from work & suggesting that we go early vote, which I thought was a good idea. I was having fairly regular & hard contractions every 45 minutes, but I knew they could go away & that sitting around was the worst thing I could do. So, we voted which actually was very quick--we were expecting to stand in line for some time.

Anyway, after voting we went to the mall to walk a bit hoping that would get things moving a bit more. We did this when I was in labor with Naomi as well, I remember feeling my first contraction with her while drinking a cherry Icee, so of course we had Icees (which apparently were just the trick!). On the way home contractions were quite hard, and after reading a story posted on here about a lady who was having contractions nearly an hour apart and still delivered I thought to call our Midwife. She thought that story was insane, but conveniently she was passing by our house on the way to somewhere else & stopped in to check things out. Baby's heartbeat was good & I was 1.5-2cm. (I was hoping for a bit more...). This was 7pm.
After she left things heated up. We went through the normal routine--Naomi to bed, watch a little telly, and I rolled around on the birth ball & called my mom & told her that she may want to come in from Raleigh now, instead of waiting until the middle of the night. (good thing she took that advice).

SO. At this point Drew starts looking at the internet for some "view points" on my status & asking me questions like, "are the contractions coming from the front or the back?" to which I respond with a glare and he proceeds to note that from the front would indicate pro-dromal labor--not TRUE labor. I pretended not to understand what he was implying.

Hobbling back & forth to the bathroom with contractions I don't think I can accurately describe I began to realize the progression of this labor and tried to "focus" on things I'd planned ahead to focus on--mainly prayer and the idea that the Lord wouldn't give me more than I could handle. He pushed me farther than before...

Anyway, because I was so focused Drew didn't realize & when my mother arrived she was also unaware of how far along I was. I sat in our tub for a good bit while Drew interrogated me with every question that popped into his head. Contractions were coming on top of each other & his idea to start blowing up the pool seemed silly as I could sense that he should prepare more for catching this baby without our midwife. Just as this thought came to my head the MW assistant arrived. After about 40 mins. more in the tub they managed to get me on the bathroom floor for a check & I was a "stretchy" 5, although those words were not good to hear because, as they moved me into our bedroom where we thought laying might help me to rest, I knew it was time for more than just contractions. So, upon reaching the end of my bed & leaning against it & Drew I started to push & make whale noises. Leviah was on her way! I pushed for about 20 minutes (at some point I heard my MW arrive who just came from a birth in Charlotte (after having checked me in GSO at 7pm)) and there she was!

Naomi & my mother watched from our bedroom doorway cheering me along (Naomi was amazing & knew, as we'd warned, that the baby would come from my "buh-buht" and then I would feel better). She watched her sister born--but more importantly to me she watched something that may stick with & empower her for the rest of her life. She won't be tortured with the fear I had until she was born. Perhaps this is knowledge she'll spread.

ANYWAY. all said & done, my mother was a skeptic of Homebirth when we told her that was the route we were taking. She is now a convert & wishes she could go back & do it the "natural" way. Her version of the story is great, and also makes me proud of our Homebirth story! 3 generations of ladies bonding over something that was stolen for a few--the beauty of birth...

(not to say it didn't hurt--it most def. did!!)