Michael's birth story

I thought Michael was on his way several times before labor actually started for me. Since Aidan was eight days early, I figured this one would be at least that early too. I was going so crazy that last week!! I was uncomfortable, but I was also so anxious to meet the little person.

Around 1:45 AM on Sunday morning (June 12^th, the actual due date!) I started having contractions. They felt just like the ones I had been having for over a week, but finally these were regular. I started timing them and after an hour of continuous contractions about 6-8 minutes apart, I woke Matt up excited that we were finally going to get to meet our baby today!! I called Brande (our midwife) just to let her know that it was going to be today, but that it hadn’t progressed enough for her to come yet.

I stayed in bed for about another hour or so, then made my way downstairs to just get moving around. Matt was already up, showered, and getting all the plumbing ready for the birth pool. He also cleaned the house up a bit. What a great husband and good daddy. J Over the next couple of hours I labored on the birth ball or next to it, on the couch, walking around, etc. The contractions slowly got closer together, were fairly intense, but I kept thinking that I had my wits about me so there was no way I could be far enough to call Brande.

Aidan woke up around 6:00 and we called my mom to come get him whenever she was up and ready. I made him breakfast and found that while I was putzing around in the kitchen, my contractions would be about 2-3 minutes apart. I kept having to lean on the counter during them, and Aidan would walk up to me and hug my leg. He has the biggest heart of any 1 ½ year old I know. J We had a wonderful breakfast together before he had to leave. My mom got here around 7:00 and we got Aidan out the door without any trouble.

Around 8:00 my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, lasting almost two minutes, and strong enough that I couldn’t talk through them. I still didn’t feel certain I could be very far, but I had Matt call Brande anyway. He also called Amanda, our photographer, and my sister was already on her way (she is studying to be a midwife so I invited her to watch the birth).

When Brande got here, she said she could tell that my contractions were good and that I needed to stop using my brain so much to try to tell how far along I was. She thought it would be alright to get in the pool at this point, so I jumped right in. I had been DYING to get into the warm water, but I didn’t want to slow anything down. When I got in, I found it was definitely relaxing between the contractions, but didn’t seem to relieve the intensity during them.

By 9:00 the contractions were definitely getting painful enough that I began my moaning phase. I could still relax through them, but not without all my concentration. I could feel the baby moving throughout this last phase. It was so weird! I could feel him moving his head and hands around. He got the hiccups towards the end. He was working hard to try to find the best way out!

I remember when the contractions got to the (what felt to me) unbearable point, I looked at the clock and it was just after 10:00. I think I had about four or five of these “unbearable” transition contractions and halfway through one of them I had to push. I was surprised it came on so fast. After that first push, I felt something coming out already. I used my hand and felt a little bulge coming out. My water hadn’t broken yet! I tried to break it with my fingernails, but wasn’t sure if I got it or not. The bulge seemed to go away, but it could have been that it just went back inside me. After the next push, I felt his head coming through. It was going super fast! His head went back inside even though I was trying to hold it there to stretch. It was the weirdest feeling. At the next contraction, I pushed and held because the ring of fire made me feel like I was going to tear up the front. It was so hard for me to hold him in, though, soI pushed a little more in the same contraction and his head came out. I had my hand down the whole time holding my perineum and when his head came out, I caressed it and felt his soft head. I tried to reassure him he would be out soon. One or two more contractions (because who can remember these details after the fact?!) and he was completely out. I was on my knees facing the pool edge so I didn’t get to catch him, but Brande quickly brought him to my chest and I was able to turn around and relax. He was so perfect. A little purplish-gray, but he cried pretty quickly. I could already tell he had a dimple in his right cheek and he looked just like Aidan did when he was a newborn. Nobody checked the sex when he came out, so I got to look and announce he was a boy! Someone asked what the name was and I announced Michael Andrew. (He was going to be Owen Shannon if he looked like me, Michael Andrew if he looked like Matt/Aidan) Michael and I sat in the pool for a while with Matt next to us. I couldn’t get over how perfect he was, how quickly he came out, and how he was breathing so well and sticking out his tongue and grabbing at my bra already!

After about 5-10 minutes, I stood up so I could get out to deliver the placenta. It actually came out pretty quickly and effortlessly. Matt cut the cord and we all walked into the bedroom so I could recline with my new bundle. Matt immediately went to work getting the pool cleaned up (it was pretty gross by this point!) and my sister called my mom and dad to have them come over. I told her not to tell them if it was a boy or a girl and my mom was so mad. J

Michael nursed almost immediately. After a bit more bonding time, he was weighed (by Matt!) and had his length measured. Born at 10:34 AM on Sunday, June 12, at 8 lbs 10 oz and 22” long. My long baby was born conveniently during the day on the weekend on his due date! He’s so considerate. ;-)

Aidan and the rest of my family got there about 45 minutes or so after he was born. Aidan wasn’t too sure what to think of the baby at the time, but seemed fairly interested.

Once everything in the living room was cleaned up, I got dressed and came out to sit on the couch with Michael. My mom made everyone breakfast (and by everyone, I mean EVERYONE! Brande, her assistant Mallory, both my sisters, my dad, our friend Connie, my mom’s fiancé, Amanda, Matt, and me!) It was such a joyful time and I was so happy I could have it at home with the people I love most.

Since the birth, Michael has proven to be an expert nurser from the start. He gained back all the weight he had lost in less than a week! He is such a calm laid-back baby. He loves to be carried in the Moby and he’ll actually sit content in his bouncy seat if I need to put him down for a minute! We started using cloth diapers from the start this time and I’m loving it. He’s constantly smiling and laughing in his sleep, so I think he’s going to be a happy little guy.

Aidan is so curious about Michael. He likes to try to hold his hand and laughs when Michael grabs it. He’s already shown us multiple times that Michael has eyes, a nose, ears, toes, etc. He’ll rock the bouncy seat when Michael is sleeping in it and tries to give him his cars or binky if the baby is crying. We repeatedly have to remind him to be gentle, but he’s so sweet around him. He was SO thrilled when I let him hold Michael. He’s definitely showing signs of extra neediness, but I expected that. It’s hard to give him the attention he needs/wants, but I try to make him feel special and always tell him he’s such a good big brother.

I was so happy with the way this home birth went. I was absolutely perfect without any issues. I thank God that we had it so good. It was relaxing and laid back, I was able to rest as much as I wanted afterwards without having people bother me every hour on the hour, and I loved having my whole family share the experience after Michael was born. We will definitely do it this way next time as long as everything goes well!

Us in Denver

Aidan is six weeks old!

"I'm gonna punch you!"

It's been almost a month since I posted last. And now you know...I'm TERRIBLE at keeping up with stuff like this. Mostly my reason for it now is because Aidan is either eating or sleeping, and he must do both in my arms.

Life has been good! It was so nice having Matt's parents stay with us the week after Christmas. They helped out SO much and made a ton of food for us to freeze for later. We actually all stayed up on New Year's to watch the ball drop too--even Aidan! It was sad to see them go and I know they're going to miss Aidan like crazy (who wouldn't?!).

I just got through my third week with Aidan on our own. The days actually go by pretty fast! He varies so much on whether or not he has a "good night," but usually he wakes up around 5 or 6 AM to eat and goes back to sleep until 8 or 9, so I sleep with him and take another morning nap with him. I feel like a big slacker sleeping in that late, but boy howdy do I need it. So many people ask me if he's sleeping through the night. Are people crazy?? It's only the very very few lucky parents who have a baby that sleeps through the night at this point, or at any point before the baby is a year old it seems. And I certainly don't expect him to! Right now he sleeps in two hour stretches at night if I'm lucky. He's been having some pretty nasty gas pains that either keep him up crying or wake him/me up briefly with grunting and squirming. Poor guy. But I kind of like the night...it's so peaceful with our nightlight on and it's just him and me nursing. Even after the worst nights, he still has me wrapped around his finger in the morning. He's sooo adorable and I'm absolutely in love.

So what's new: he's getting HUGE!! Since he's eating all the time (almost literally), he's starting to fill out. He's got an awesome double chin, a wonderful round belly, and his thighs are starting to look chunky. I love chubby babies. :-) We weighed him with his diaper and clothes on at my doctor's today and he came in at a cool 12.2 lbs. Holy cow!! He's starting to lose hair, or as Matt says--his head is growing out of his hair. Matt calls it his Benjamin Franklin haircut. His eyes aren't the inky gray-blue anymore. They're a really pretty color of dark blue. He's starting to smile AT me, not just when he has gas or at his toys. It's the most wonderful feeling having him grin at me!

I still say he's the smartest baby. He "talks" to his toys on the playmat (I call them his 'friends') and he's starting to use the consonant sounds of g and n--guuu and naaa. Of course, this is when he's crying, but I still count it. :-) I'm going to post a couple of videos of him talking with his friends. I hope you enjoy! I'll also post his one month "portraits" taken by yours truly. I'm planning on taking a monthly picture next to his toy penguin so you can see just how fast our little guy is growing. There's also a video here of Matt dancing with Aidan. So precious.

Finally, here's a link to a lot of pictures we took this month.

Aidan and Daddy dance to the White Stripes

Aidan makes you a present!

Aidan in the morning

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Stefanicks!!
What a great Christmas it was. We're SO thankful to have our little boy celebrate it with us. We finally took him out into the world (other than doctors' appointments) on Christmas Eve. We'd been cooped up long enough, so I put on my Moby wrap and we ventured out to Target. It wasn't nearly as crazy as I thought it would be and Aidan seemed to like the carrier--he slept through most of our wanderings through the aisles. We went to my grandma's house for the annual crazy Donahue Christmas gathering. There were at least 35 people there, all of them talking as loud as they can to each other. Aidan slept through all of that as well. He's a true Donahue! I think he'll do well. :-) It's good to know that he can sleep through just about anything.
We were a bit slow going on Christmas morning. Aidan hasn't figured out nights and days yet (and I'm assuming he won't for a little bit). He finally went to sleep around 4 AM on Christmas morning. Sadly we missed church because of that, but I think God understands babies' schedules. :-) We hung out with my family most of the day and again Aidan slept most of the day.

It's been snowing pretty steadily since yesterday so Matt go to try out his new snow thrower!! I got it for him for Christmas because the driveway at our new house is probably twice as long as our old one. I hated the idea of him spending hours clearing it so we could get out. He's very giddy about getting to use it. :-) I think this made snow removal 100x more fun. It's still snowing now and it's sooo pretty. Sadly it's too cold to be good for making snowmen. Aidan will have to learn that another day.

He really has such a great personality. I told Matt that we need to bring the camcorder up and record him waking up some morning soon. He takes a while to actually fully wake up and all the while he coos and squeaks and sighs. When he opens his eyes and I greet him, a lot of times he'll give me the most wonderful toothless smile. I'm pretty sure he has a dimple on his right cheek too! I don't care what other people have told me, these smiles can't be just gas. He smiles ALL the time it seems. A lot of it seems to be in response to us talking or playing with him. Pretty sure I have a child genius. :-) The other day I was reading Goodnight Moon to him, holding up the book so that he could see my face and the book. His eyes went back and forth between the two as if he was really listening to me read the story and looking at the pictures. So smart!!

We're looking forward to the next week because Matt is still off work and his parents are coming to stay for the week. I'm so glad they get to meet Aidan! Originally they weren't going to be able to come out until the week of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, which would put our little bambino at 1 month old. They would have completely missed out on the super tiny baby phase. They'll be arriving tomorrow so right now we're trying to clean up the house a bit. It looks like baby and Christmas exploded everywhere. Mittens, booties, blankets, gift bags...EVERYTHING is EVERYWHERE! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

- Corey

Gushing about my son

Reasons why Aidan is AMAZING:

- From day one, he can already lift his head and look around when he's on his tummy. So strong!!
- He's a champ at nursing (a few bumps along the way, but I think we've got it!)
- He's smiling and giggling and there's NO WAY it's just gas
- He has a football-shaped face (think Stewie from Family Guy or Cartman)
- He followed daddy out of the room (at least three feet away!!) with his eyes and face
- He's pretty much the softest thing we've ever touched. And we're not exaggerating

I'll post more as I discover them. :-)

So today is day six in the life of Aidan and day four of being back home. Matt and I have camped on the main floor of the house for now because I shouldn't be walking stairs too much in my healing condition. The place is a MESS, but whatever. :-) Matt is being the best husband and father--letting me nap when I need it, cooking and cleaning, getting Aidan to settle down when we had some nursing issues and I needed to stop for a minute, ...the list goes on and on. I couldn't be anymore blessed with my husband and son!

Yesterday we had our first major outting--we went to the Breastfeeding Resource Center and then to the pediatrician. Two things in one day is almost too much! Having a baby really does slow things down. I need to start seriously getting ready to go at least 20 minutes earlier than I would have otherwise. The BF resource center helped us out a lot with nursing and the pediatrician said that he has very mild jaundice--nothing to worry about. No billi lights for us! Everyone was impressed with how well he's eating and...excreting what he's eating. :-)

We're starting to really understand what it means to be up at night with a baby. Actually Sunday night Aidan did amazing--he only got up twice in the night and slept until 8:00. I don't expect that to become a norm yet though. Last night it was back to being up every 1-2 hours. He's totally worth it though. It's so peaceful going into the empty living room with nothing but our Christmas lights on, talking to him while he nurses, watching him grin at the breast when he's had enough to eat and his tummy is happy, burping him on my shoulder while feeling his fuzzy down-soft hair on my cheek. Motherhood is pretty much THE best thing ever. :-)

Well, he's sleeping now and I'd like to spend some quality time with my superman of a husband. I hope all is well! Christmas is only three days away!!!

- Corey

Birth story from Corey's perspective

We did it! We had our bundle of joy on Wednesday at 12:47AM. Aidan Christopher was born at 8 lbs 7 oz, 19.5". We're still not too sure of his hair color. When he gets himself all worked up and red-faced, his hair is a slightly dark color. When he's in the sunlight, it's got some reddish undertones and looks a little blonde-brown. He's got a VERY round face and cute chubby cheeks. He's perfect and perfectly cute! Here is a link for the hospital pictures.
I know I love hearing other people's birth stories, so I'm going to put mine up here! I've asked Matt to put his perspective on here too because I'm sure it was a little different for him.
Tuesday morning I begrudgingly woke up for work, but my water broke at 6AM. I'm not going to lie, I might have been a little relieved that I didn't have to go in! But besides that selfish little tidbit, I was disappointed that it broke before we were well into labor because Matt and I were hoping to do much of the laboring at home. However, I was still extremely excited to know for sure that our baby would be born within the next day or two. Since I had been having contractions for a few weeks, I had been going through a rollercoaster of hope that he would be born early. I told Matt that he wouldn't be going into work either, and I'm not sure he entirely believed me. I took a shower just to bide time and be sure, but the water was definitely not stopping. Matt believed me when I showed him. :-) We called the doctor's office around 7. I tested positive for Group B Strep (google it if you don't know what I'm talking about!) and knew that they'd tell me to get my butt in the hospital. First thing the doctor asked me when I told him my water broke was "are you sure?" Come on people. Pretty sure I know when I'm not just peeing my pants (because that happens SO often, right?). We piddled around and got all of our stuff together and got to the hospital about 8. They had to do a test to be sure my water broke...because they wouldn't believe the wet pants for whatever reason. :-) I got moved into a birthing room and got settled in. The birthing rooms at OSF are FABULOUS. They have a private shower, rocking chair, TV and DVD player, a LOT of room to walk around. The lights and heat/air are controllable and I'm pretty sure they're sound-proof. For good reason!
So three hours after my water broke, I still hadn't had a contraction yet. We walked the halls of labor and delivery trying to get something started. I kind of sort of had contractions then, but they weren't any different from the ones I'd had in the weeks before. My midwife Sherry came to see us and recommended that we use the breast pump (sorry for the faint of heart, but this IS a birth story). Nipple stimulation releases the hormone that triggers contractions of the uterus. We took her advice and got some contractions started, but they weren't that powerful nor were they consistent. We pumped for almost 8 hours without too much luck. Believe it or not, that time went fast!
Sherry had to go back to the office for patients' visits during the afternoon, but she came back around 6ish. My contractions at that point were starting to get uncomfortable, but I could still walk during them and they weren't much quicker than 6 or 7 minutes apart. Sherry recommended that we go on a little bit of pitocin to get things kick started. Pitocin is the artificial version of the hormone that causes contractions and is usually given to induce or speed up labor. When given enough, it can make the contractions a lot more powerful than what they are naturally and a lot closer together. It was in our birth plan to not use this drug because it can cause distress on the baby--not giving him enough of a break between contractions could potentially make his heartrate slow down leading to even more interventions blah blah blah. However, the amount that Sherry recommended we start with--2 mL/hour--was an order of magnitude less than what doctors "normally" start women off on. Matt and I decided to give our pumping another 30 minutes or so and talk about our options. We both trust Sherry and knew that she wouldn't recommend anything that would go against what we wanted for our labor unless it was necessary. So around 7:00 PM on Tuesday, I started the pitocin and my labor officially started.
The contractions after that were still a little far apart, but I could feel that they were a lot more productive. I had to practice my relaxing methods and concentrate through them. I found that the pain was concentrated in my back, and Sherry wasn't too happy about that. Back labor means that the baby is facing the front of me. Delivery with a baby in that position is harder because the angle is all off. She had me get in the yoga position Child's Pose and move my hips around to encourage him to get up off my cervix and move around. About 30-45 minutes of this and the pain was now concentrated in the front.
The fabulous thing about labor without an epidural is that you get to move around into positions that are more “comfortable.” As comfortable as one can be during that kind of pain.. I was on the birthing ball for a while, tried standing and a supported squat, side-lying in bed, even had a few contractions on the toilet (what?! it helps open your pelvis naturally!) Around 10:00 my contractions got to the point where they were really intense and I had to moan and really concentrate on relaxing to get through them. Matt was SUCH a good coach, helping me relax my whole body, moaning through them with me, whispering encouraging and loving words. He, Sherry, and my mom gave me soft back rubs and were wonderful at getting me through the really hard ones.
I’d say about 11:00 PM I hit the transition phase between active labor and pushing. The HARDEST part of the labor. The intensity got to the point where I kept thinking I was crazy that I actually wanted a labor without drugs, but I kept mentally convincing myself that it was good for the baby and me, and I was sticking to my guns. While thinking about/planning the birth, I figured I’d lose my mind and ask for an epidural, but I never did! I’m pretty sure I lost my mind at the peaks of those contractions, but I was too worried about how on earth to relax through them and moan my way out of them to ask for anything. My mantra while moaning was “DOWN!” “OPEN!” and “BABY GET OUT!” I’m sure I sounded pretty funny. Good thing for those sound-proofed walls. I was positive I’d hit transition because my body, especially my legs, started shaking uncontrollably. I was on the bed on my side so I didn’t have to worry about falling over or Matt having to support me. I also knew it was transition because just as I was saying “I think I’m going to get sick,” I threw up all over Matt. Poor guy! It wasn’t long after that that I started pushing. It’s really weird when it’s your body that starts the pushing and not you. I thought pushing would involve me holding my breath and bearing down…not so much the grunting and almost-yelling that I was doing! But I’ll tell you what, pushing was SO MUCH less painful than the contractions of transition. I was happy they were finally there! Mostly because it hurt so much less, but also because I knew it would be over soon and baby would be with us. While I was pushing and concentrating on what it felt like on the inside, I was sure that the baby would never fit through. After 45 minutes though, he did! He came out with his right hand over his eye, so it gave me a slight 2nd degree tear, but nothing too bad. I actually delivered him on my hands and knees on the bed because it was easier for me to push that way. Sherry and Matt helped pass the baby between my legs and flip me over so I could hold him. I couldn’t believe he was a boy! I thought for sure since everyone thought baby was going to be a boy that he’d come out a girl. I guess I was emitting serious boy vibes for a reason! He was purple and gooey (though not as gooey as I thought he’d be) and crying a little, and absolutely perfect.
Sherry and the nurse let me hold him while they got ready for the placenta to be delivered. Matt cut the cord after it stopped pulsating (so Aidan could get all those wonderful stem cells for himself!). Aidan started nursing about half an hour after he was delivered and was a natural at it.
So there you have it! The nurses were phenomenal (except one of the nurses on the day we left…she was a big meany-head but we won’t go into that), Sherry was a savior (in a non-blasphemous way!), my mom was a comfort and great help, and Matt was my hero. I couldn’t have done any of it and kept my head without them. I am SO thankful that I had each of them there on my birth team. Even though it was soooo hard and sooo painful, I wouldn’t do it any other way.

- Corey

Welcome!

Matt and I want to start a blog to update out-of-towners on our bundle of joy (and maybe even ourselves). We'll try to update this as much as possible, but bear with us in the first month or two after baby is born!

Update on the pregnancy: We actually switched to a midwife about a month ago and are VERY happy. We may get any one of three midwives in the practice for our delivery, but all of them seem very open to our wishes of an intervention-free labor and they're all so sweet. Neither one of us were comfortable with the doctor I was seeing for the first seven months of the pregnancy, but it took us a while to get up the courage to find someone else.

My stomach is HUGE and getting bigger by the minute. Baby doesn't do nearly as much kicking and aerobics as he/she used to, but the feet and hands are still moving around a lot. We both love to just sit and feel the baby move and watch my belly roll. Baby has been head-down for a couple of months now. Ready to go! At our appointment yesterday, the midwife said that I'm about 75% effaced and 1 cm dilated. The dilation doesn't matter much because a woman can be several centimeters dilated for a while before labor and it won't affect much. However, I've heard it's harder for a first-time mom to become fully effaced, so I'm glad we've got a head start! The baby dropped on Monday the 23rd. I woke up tuesday morning and my belly was several inches lower! It's only three more weeks until my due date and Matt and I are getting more and more excited (and anxious) as the date approaches. The nursery is ready, all the cloth diapers (I know, you probably think I'm crazy) are washed, the hospital bag is packed and in the car--we're ready to go! Now all we need is our bundle of joy.