a slice of humble pie

As many of you already know, being a parent of an infant humbles you quickly. I am amazed how everyday I have a new hurdle to figure out how to jump over. From figuring out his cries to trying to understand what way he likes to be burped, I am always solving puzzles :) It is such a treat though and I look at everyday as a new chance to learn more about him and about myself as a mom. Babies are wonderful little people, and everyday that I look at my little man I fall more and more in love with him. He is such a wild little man.....always kickin his legs, pumping his arms and staring at whatever is in front of him. Everyone that meets him always points out how 'alert' he is and how 'strong' he is. He lifts his head up already and has since he was two days old. When we lay him down on the couch or the bed, he tries to push off with his little legs and roll over. I am beginning to realize that the newborn stage probably isn't going to last long. He is already trying to grow up too fast!!! It has been so great visiting with everyone and having people drop by to meet the little man. He loves to see new faces and hear the voices that were talking to him for the 40 weeks that he was in the belly :)

the day you were born....

So, since baby is sleeping and I have a few moments, let me tell everyone the story of his birth. I went into labor at 3am on October 3rd. I thought they were more Braxton Hicks contractions at first, but I wasn't able to fall back asleep and they were stronger than any 'false' contraction I had ever had. I walked around the house, drank water, practiced my breathing and waited to wake Levi up. (For those of you that know Levi his least favorite number on the PLANET is three, so I thought that waking him up at 3AM on the 3rd would just about give him the big one...) I waited until 6AM to wake him up and he was really excited. I continued walking around the house, called Tracey and Barbara and Carrie and told them to come over as soon as they would like to. We then left a message for Claudia, one of our midwives, and spoke on the phone with Jen, our other midwife. At this point, my body was getting rid of everything out of every orifice possible. Levi has never seen me blow chunks, so that freaked him out a little....although the body fluids he would later see would far surpass a little vomit.....

Claudia and the assistant midwife, Katie, showed up at the house around 10AM. They set up the house with their supplies and then told me that they would leave for a few hours in order to let me get to the next stage of labor....I guess that saying 'a watched pot never boils' also applies to labor :) My contraction began to get stronger after they left and I went in the shower for some relief. Claudia and Katie came back around noon and Jen arrived around 1PM. We had the birthing tub set up in our room, and I was eager to get into that thing for some more relief. I ended up getting into the tub around 2:30PM or so, and it felt FABULOUS. It was so warm and feeling weightless really helped me get through the contractions. I started pushing....wait, don't get excited yet because there ended up being 4 hours of that said pushing before Lennox came into the world....

I progressed quickly to 10 centimeters in the tub and I began pushing. We found out fairly quickly that my water sac (which had not broken) was actually coming out simultaneously with baby. This happened to be rare, and so I was pushing and it evidently looked like a water balloon that continued to move in and out as if it were inflating. After a few hours of this, I began to get slightly discouraged. I got out of the tub and sat on the toilet and tried to empty my bladder. I then asked Jen what some options were since I felt like pushing wasn't really getting me anywhere. She suggested that I find a different place to push and she would feel how I was progressing during my next contraction. So, I decided to get on the bed, and try pushing while laying on my side, holding my right leg up. Levi asked if I wanted him to hold my leg for me, and I proceeded to tell him 'no' yet dropped my leg.....obviously exhausted and disoriented, my wonderful husband took matters into his own hands and lifted my leg for me. Jen began putting on a glove and was preparing to check to see how my pushing was progressing and I decided that I needed to get this baby out into this world so I didn't have to have another hand feeling around up there :) So after a few more hours, I began pushing and could feel that the pressure had changed to a burning sensation and I knew that he was coming into the world. I began pushing very intensely and the midwives began putting on gloves and preparing to help little man into the world. Evidently, Lennox had his own ideas about that....when they turned around he was instantly out to his waist with one push! They turned back around and assisted him out the rest of the way and it was like he came out on a water slide since my water sac broke with him entering the world! Thank goodness for his umbilical cord, or else that dude would have flown off the bed :)

The midwives put him on my chest and cannot even describe the sensation of seeing him for the first time. It was like every thing around me was quiet except for him and I and the room felt like it was spinning. I was crying and kissing him, and the midwives were working on getting every thing settled with him. His little arms were like 'linguine' arms at first, but he started to pink right up and move his arms on his own. His lungs were working quite fine, let me tell you, but he had some mucus in his lungs. They got the mucus out and then gave him a little oxygen to make sure all was well. Levi in the mean time, was ankle deep in 'fluids' and was about ready to lose his mind. He was also convinced that our son's 'cone head' was going to stay like that for all of eternity....these are the differences between mom's and dad's :)

We all sat around with him and then my father in law arrived with pizza and champagne for everyone. It was phenomenal. I was on cloud nine and felt as though I was floating. I wasn't even tired!!! Levi cut the umbilical cord after about 45 minutes and I was able to see the placenta and find out the information on which side was near the baby and which side was attached to me. The midwives then cleaned little man up, and weighed and measured him. He was 8lbs, 12oz, 21 3/4 inches long, blue/grey eyes, brown hair, long legs, and a cute little dimple on his butt :)

That night I could not sleep because I was just staring at him all night. I was in awe of this little human that Levi and I created--this little person that is fully reliant on us, and is looking to us to learn how to exist. Such responsibility. I was amazed by the experience. I am so thankful that I was able to have my sweet little baby at home, with the people that I love and admire surrounding me. My mother in law, my sister in law, my best friend, my husband and our midwives were all amazing in their support and encouragement. I couldn't have planned it any better......I am smitten :)

Some of the 400 pictures (yea, that is not a typo, seriously, she took 400 pictures) that Carrie took will be posted soon.....keep checking back!!

Lennox Carlyle Paul Henson

As manof you know, our son was born on October 3, at 7:04PM. He weighed 8lbs 12 oz and is 21 3/4 inches long. I went into labor at 3am on Friday and ended up pushing for 4 1/2 long hours!! It was all well worth it, because once I saw his face and kissed him I was smitten. I will write more details soon, with photos. I mean, Carrie only took 400 photos.....

Thank you for all the phone calls, gifts, visits and love. We are so blessed :)

october 2, 2008....the DUE date

Soooooo, here it is October 2 already and no baby. I read that only 5% of babies are born on their due date. That means odds are he will not be here today! Due dates are pretty ridiculous anyway, these babies don't really work on schedules no matter who makes them.... :)

Yesterday I went to the first monthly Born at Home Community Potluck. My midwives put the whole event on and it is going to fall on the first Wednesday of every month. The potluck is held at Javalounge on 16th street and it is a way for all of us to keep in touch, talk with other mothers that had home births and stay in contact with our midwives after our babies pass the 6 week mark :) It was sooooo much fun. It started at 11am and allegedly ended at 3pm, but I didn't get home until after 4. I loved talking with all the other mothers since I don't know anyone personally who has had a home birth. It was wonderful hearing all of their stories and their pointers of how to relax through contractions and labor in general. Everyone gave the birthing tub high marks for aiding with relaxation and helping labor progress. I was really excited to hear that since the 'birthing tub fairies' came and dropped off my tub on the front porch a few days ago!!! I have already sat in it and am so happy to have found out that I actually feel SMALL in it, which is quite a task these days....I even feel HUGE in our king sized bed for heaven's sake....
So, all the mothers and their little ones were walking around, eating yummy snacks and just enjoying each other's company. It was a very fun and festive event and a lot more women showed up than I had originally thought. There were only two other pregnant women there, and one of them is due this Friday. It was funny how many women were asking when I was due and the look on their faces when I responded with 'tomorrow.' I got the best compliment while I was there as well (which is so uplifting when you are 40 weeks pregnant), a mother told me that she never really believed or had seen the 'pregnancy glow' until she met me today. She said that I literally was glowing. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was because I decided to order HOT tea, and I was already sweating bullets from walking across the street from the parking lot to the coffee house......either way, she is my favorite human for weeks at this point.

So, I am still waiting, still in limbo, and still preggo. Thanks to everyone for all the phone calls and the funny stories about how 'ready' everyone is for this little man to arrive. Carrie told me that she already has her bag packed and will jump in her car as soon as I call her. I guess everyone is on 'high alert!'