Her Apgar scores were 9 at 1 min & 10 at 5 min, which is great. She was feeding like a champ right after birth too, they placed her on my chest right after she was out and she found the nipple no problem. I was even feeding her as they wheeled me through the hospital doors at 3am for my repair work. I suffered a 4th degree tear that is very unusual for Farm births and homebirths in general.

A surgeon came in and stitched me up good. I specifically asked how many stitches I was receiving, the surgeon laughed and said he’d lost count and that it’s probably better that way. Basically we got there at 3am and didn’t leave till about 6am. I got lots of stitches. N, Pamela and Everly napped while they worked on me.

We also had Everly’s cord blood tested (to get her blood type) and I received my RhoGam shot while we were there since it turns out Everly is not RH negative like me. I was also prescribed some antibiotics for the tear. Basically I tore all the way through (if you know what I mean) so they were worried about anal bacteria and vaginal bacteria combining and infecting my stitches among other things.

I was not given any pain meds though, just taking Tylenol when I am hurting. I am supposed to be staying in bed with baby for 10 days, per Pamela and the surgeons orders. I am also taking arnica 30x for muscle soreness and trauma healing. I don’t feel incapable of carrying on though so staying in bed is hard.

Basically my pushing phase was super slow to start and then went super fast at the end. We tried all sorts of different positions to get her past my bones. I was laying back in bed, then went to the birthing chair, labored in the shower with N, tried squatting, pulling on a door handle, on hands and knees, kneeling face down on the bed and finally tried pushing while collapsed on my knees and elbows with my butt in the air.

Once I got in to my last position things began to go very quickly. From crowning to head out only took 3 min and she practically shot out of me. Nobody expected her to come as quickly as she did. They didn’t even have time to apply counter pressure to the perineum or to show me her head crowning. I am pretty sure I tore because she came out so fast.

Normally in a home birth situation they have you pushing as hard as you can until you begin to crown, once crowing begins they have you pant through the contractions and go real slow so you can avoid tearing. Unfortunately this didn’t happen in my case and I am certain it had to do with the fact that I made so much fast progress in the end.

Anyway I started pushing and was fully dilated at 10:44pm, she crowned at 1:12am and her head was out by 1:15am. One min later her body was out and I was holding her. It all happen super fast and the pushing part was my least favorite part because I felt like I wasn’t making good progress and that I was doing it all wrong. It turns out it was the positions that were working against me and making things seem like they weren’t progressing.

The contractions were much easier for me to deal with as I had found a way to “get in the zone” and relax through them. I listened to my tranquility music and Tibetan singing bowl music on my iPod during this phase, it lasted about 8 hours. N said everyone was amazed that I hardly made a peep until the last half hour of birth when the molding and crowning was taking place.

All in all I am very pleased with my birth experience and would totally do it the same way again. Pamela was great and N was a champ too. He never really left my side. From the moment he arrived back at The Farm until I was back home and stitched up. He even looked down there and got to see her coming out which we had previously discussed and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do.

Oh, and Pamela even wrote a song about Everly that she played for us on her guitar before we headed home. The song was beautiful and made me cry. We planted the placenta on her land under an evergreen tree, it’s the Everly Evergreen tree now. It seemed fitting since we birthed Everly in Pamela’s cabin on The Farm and it will forever be an important place for us.

Everly’s birth was an amazing experience and it truly was a right of passage for us. We are on cloud 9 now and wouldn’t have done it any other way!

Oh, if you want to read N’s version of Everly’s birth story (Pt. 1) & N’s version of Everly’s birth story (Pt. 2) are now up over at his blog! I am still working on my long version of the birth story. Posted my short summary version already, it can be read here.

The post Everly is now 5 days old: A look back on the birth experience. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Calls for tablespoons of sugar, flour (specifically cake flour), cocoa powder, milk, oil and an egg. Seems simple enough but then you microwave it. Sort of strange if you ask me but what the heck?

So I combine my all purpose flour (didn’t have cake flour, is there a difference?) , sugar, cocoa and the egg.

Then I added the milk and oil and mixed the heck out of it as directed.

Popped the mug in to the microwave and stood back. Our microwave makes this strange sound when you nuke stuff, like it’s got a radiation malfunction or something. I never stand near it because of the sound. I am paranoid. LOL. Plus if the cake exploded I didn’t want hot nuked batter all over me.

When 3 min were up I took out my creation and inspected it, looks questionable. It has solidified though, I guess it could be good. Looks strange though, see…

Once it cooled, it came out of the mug and on to a plate. It had all these air bubbles and was a strange consistency from the looks of it. Still to soon to know if it is good though, the darn thing is piping hot!

I slathered some frosting on it, I tasted it and cut it in half for N and I to have after dinner. Upon first taste It wasn’t bad. When I cut it in half though it was pretty brick like.

I think it came out pretty dense and not as fluffy as I would have liked (you know like normal cakes). I bet it was the flour, had I used this flour substitution guide (or the flour they called for in the recipe) I would have been better off.

I had a few bites and was done, N ate his whole half. See, he always eats my bad food because he doesn’t want to make me feel bad. LOL.

It was a fun thing to test out but it did not cure my preggo cake craving. I guess I am a cake snob or something. Today I’ll make brownies to try satisfying that chocolate urge of mine since I seem to be bursting with energy.

I used that energy burst to get my bags packed and am just about ready to leave for The Farm this weekend. I am going to an Evansville BirthNetwork Meeting on Thursday to meet with some fellow mama’s, get some support for my upcoming delivery and to meet the local La Leche League leader.

Only base we haven’t covered is finding a pediatrician in the area for when we are home from The Farm and ready to think about vaccinations (oy). Oh and Gabby is finally out of heat and done with the pissing (I think), woot. We’ve gotta get her fixed after Tater arrives, her and Boner!

The post Really, 5 min cake in a mug? You becha! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I never imagined I would receive so much helpful information as a result of that post and I am now very glad I choose to share my vulnerable moment with the internet. There really is so much knowledge and support out there!

Basically after reading all the comments you left and after chatting with many people about it I’ve got some direction and resolution. I found out that my mother also failed her GD tests with each of her 3 pregnancies. After failing the tests all they did was advise her of ways to eat a better diet. Essentially they did nothing more to treat the issue, my brothers and I we were all born fine…

Also, my midwife is not concerned about my failing the gestational diabetes screen by 1 point. When I talked to her she said her major concern for me was to watch my blood pressure and any potential swelling (you know preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension).

She also suggested that I get my hands on a blood glucose meter so I could monitor my own blood sugar levels at home (for peace of mind). She said I didn’t need to follow up with the second 3 hour blood glucose test like my OBGYN wants. Nothing wrong with saving myself the stress and the insurance company money.

She did say we should keep an eye on my sugar levels with a meter for a few weeks just to be sure nothing funny really is going on. If I do show blood sugar problems with day to day testing then we’ll dive right in to diet modification.

Even if I was officially diagnosed with GD after the 3 hour blood glucose test I would only be advised to change my diet. In rare cases when a woman’s blood glucose level is super high insulin can be given as a treatment method but with my test coming back at 140 (which is normally the highest normal result with other physicians) all this is a bit funny to be getting worked up over.

For most women GD is something that can be managed and even avoided with the proper diet and nutrition. It’s not a world shattering thing for the average woman like the doctors make it out to be.

We’ve decided to decline the 3 hour blood glucose test along with the RhoGam shot the OBGYN is pushing. Either they will respect our decisions about it all and back off or they will continue pushing and we’ll just cancel our appointments and discontinue care with them.

We are definitely planning to get a blood glucose meter to keep tabs on by blood sugar here at home just to be sure we aren’t ignoring any potential issues. Plus, the glucose meter will help me to see what foods (if any) are impacting me.

We are pretty sure there is no blood sugar problem, I just need to focus on eating more good stuff like I was trying to do back in the first trimester before the bad advice from the OBGYN.

Eating well is always something I’ve had to conciously focus on, if I let my cravings dictate my eating I’ll eat nothing but crap, I knew that when I discovered I was pregnant. Then I let the OBGYN make me feel bad for not eating what I was craving, now I need to just go back to my initial way of thinking. I can do that!

The post Gestational diabetes screening in pregnant woman, how my situation unfolds. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

For those of you who didn’t already know we planned to spend my birthday weekend in Tennessee. It was our last appointment with our midwife out at The Farm until we come to stay and deliver Tater in early June.

We figured it would also be kind of nice to plan a mini vacation for that weekend since it will be basically the last time we travel for leisure as just the two of us before Tater arrives.

N did have a nice dinner planned for me at The Melting Pot in downtown Nashville on Saturday night. We saw Pamela for our prenatal appointment Saturday afternoon then we stayed at the very unique Hotel Preston that evening.

On Sunday we headed out to the Cheekwood Botanical Garden in Nashville, we also stopped by The Mall at Green Hills to buy me a nice maternity top since the one I brought wouldn’t button around my boobs anymore.

I found 2 at Macy’s for $16.00 that weren’t even maternity tops but fit great, they were my birthday splurge. We also went by the Whole Foods near the mall to pick up a few grocery items and some calcium supplements per Pamela’s suggestion.

Like I said we had a blast together and we captured so many great belly shots for the scrapbook and our baby announcements (that I am not allowed to share with you just yet because they are a surprise!).

The photos I am allowed to share are of The Farm and I figured I would tell you more about the appointment too. First here is a slide show of the photos:

We were late to our appointment again which was a bummer, being late is also a big anxiety trigger for me so that wasn’t pleasant for us. Plus poor Pamela was waiting for us. We got lost on the way there once again thanks to GPS and internet directions.

I think we’ve finally figured out the correct directions there so N will be able to navigate his way there confidently once my labor has begun. It would really suck for him to be lost while I am in labor!

Anyway, once we arrived at The Farm Clinic I got to pee (finally) while N and Pamela talked. N ratted me out about my anxiety and stress levels these days then the appointment got underway.

All checked out normal. I am still weighing in at about 123.5 and my blood pressure is good but I’ve been warned to start laying more and to stop feeling bad about it. Apparently, laying down (preferably on the left side) means better overall circulation which has a major impact on kidney function while pregnant.

Blood pressure and kidney function go hand in hand so if my blood pressure is to stay at a good level my kidneys need to have adequate blood flow which means I need to lay down more… Like I’ve got time to lay! I am making a big effort to lay my ass down more now so don’t worry.

I am also working to drink more water and I’ve added a calcium supplement because calcium and magnesium also go hand in hand with lowering blood pressure. Blood pressure is basically the only potential concern for us right now. We are trying to be proactive so that we don’t have problems later.

We heard Tater’s heartbeat again and she checked out fine, N was having a great time taking video and snapping photos the whole time. We all got to chat about what is going on with life. We told Pamela about the move and all the stuff that is going on for us right now.

My OBGYN said I could lift stuff and not worry about a weight limit on lifting as long as it didn’t hurt. Pamela advised me not to lift stuff during the move at all. She said major lifting could lead to premature labor and that it is better to be safe than sorry, which we totally agree with.

We also talked and have ultimately decided to hold off on getting the RhoGam shot until after Tater is born (if her blood type warrants it). Having the injection while pregnant is just something we are not comfortable doing. We are more concerned with safeguarding Tater now as opposed to safeguarding my future fertility.

Oh and we did talk about the game plan for possible early labor and when to call Pamela or head to The Farm. Right now I am having some of my first practice contractions, fun!

All in all we are feeling good about the pregnancy progress, confident and ready for the last leg of pregnancy! It was a great weekend for us and now we are looking ahead to next weekend with anticipation. We get the keys to our new place, yay!

The post Summertown & Nashville Tennessee weekend recap, fun times! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I got my dreaded Glucola drink for the next appointment in two weeks. They are doing my blood glucose test and will also be running my blood work to check for any antibodies that may have been developed during pregnancy. I hate having blood drawn, remember how I passed out at our first prenatal appointment? I hope there is no repeat of that incident at the next appointment!

I am now on 2 week visits as opposed to once a month visits which means the fun with our useless OBGYN is about to get even better! She’ll be out of the area for the next appointment though, thankfully I’ll get to deal with another doc instead. But she’ll be back for the following visit…

The frequency of theses visits it just a bit overkill for me. I mean seeing her once a month is already pointless and now we will get to see her every two weeks for a while… We are firing her right before my once a week visits begin since we’ll be down in Tennessee with The Farm midwives watching over me at that point (only 13 weeks to go till we are at The Farm waiting for Tater to come!).

N and I are revisiting whether or not we’ll consent to the RhoGam shot. They usually administer it at 28 weeks but since my blood/ glucose test hasn’t been run yet I’ll be due for the shot at 29 weeks if we opt for it. We are going back and fourth weighing the issues, it is quite a hard decision and finding the complete information on the pros and cons has been difficult.

When we asked our useless OBGYN to explain the reasoning behind giving the shot during pregnancy as opposed to just having it after delivery her response was “we give it to everyone that is rh negative as a precaution”… That was the end of the discussion. Helpful huh?

I am leaning towards not having it while pregnant, all the information I’ve found makes it seem like it is an unnecessary intervention done “just in case” but it actually carries more risk than benefit in my eyes. When I deliver I’ll totally get the shot if Tater’s blood is Rh positive I am just not convinced of the safety and necessity of getting the shot while she is still inside me…

We met with the slumlord “slumstress” this morning to turn over a rent check and to take the next step in officially getting out of our lease. Nothing is officially signed yet as her signature is invalid since it’s not on the original lease. Her husband has to sign the release, then we will and it will be done. So we are still waiting to seal the deal on that one.

We’ve made good progress on packing and cleaning. I’ve done tons of budget figuring and basically we’ve spent our income tax return on buying this new house. We haven’t stretched ourselves too thin but we also wont have any extra money for things like Tater’s nursery furniture or our Nissan repair. We are still saving for our out of pocket costs to birth at The Farm. Once the birth is done and paid for we’ll just shift our saving focus to the other stuff.

Eventually we’ll save enough to pay for all the stuff we need, it is just going to take tons of time. It would be nice to have it all immediately, you know instant gratification and all but that is not the way life goes.

So don’t ask me about photos of Tater’s nursery okay? It wont be set up or complete until about 6 months after she arrives. She’ll be sleeping in our room at first anyway.

Well I think that is it for the latest news… I am tired/ fatigued and have been over the last few days. I think it is because Tater is having a growth spurt so I am off to nap some. Happy friday the 13th everyone, have a great weekend!

The post 25th week prenatal appointment updates and brain dump. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.