The Birth and life since...

Well, it's been a little over two weeks since Henry arrived. Life has changed quickly. I'm now waking up to feed him every 2 hours at night, and learning first hand that breastfeeding is not for sissies. With Olive I mostly just pumped for four months, so I didn't have experience breastfeeding. The first week it was hard to distinguish the difference between him latching on and having someone scraping my nipples with razorblades. Thankfully that has gotten much better with help from a lactation consultant and my sister-in-law Shawna's tips over desperate midnight skype conversations.

My labor with Henry was SUPER fast and therefore SUPER intense. I was dilated to 3 cm, and after my doctor broke my water I delivered 45 minutes later. Before my contractions picked up I had told my mom she should go and get herself breakfast, thinking I would have at least 6 hours of labor in front of me. Mom left the room to go find breakfast and suddenly my contractions started getting really intense and about a minute apart. I was in a big tub at that point and asked Rusty to start timing my contractions. Soon they were 30 seconds apart so I told him to go and let the nurses know and to run and find mom. I hollered for him to be back in 5 minutes if he didn't want to miss the birth. Rusty ran out of the room about the same time I had the urge to push.

The nurse kept asking me not to push while I was in the water and to wait until the doctor comes. Impossible. I was trying not to push at first because I didn't want both mom and Rusty to miss the birth. The nurse called the doctor and told him to run and that I was in the water. I had been pushing for about 5 minutes by the time the doctor, Rusty, and mom came into the room hollering to the nurse that she can deliver this baby herself, and telling her I trusted her.

After the doctor arrived he made me get out of the water. I yelled about 3 times I wanted to deliver in the water and that I didn't think I could get out (my contractions were about 20 seconds apart). I finally got myself out worried that he thought maybe there was shoulder dystocia (the shoulder gets stuck under the pelvic bone). He kept asking me to lay on my back in the bed and as soon as I got on the bed I was on my hands and knees and felt like it would be impossible to move. So we argued more and more until I just ignored him and pushed the baby out. I apologized later for being such a non-compliant patient and he was very forgiving.

It was a dream to have a healthy, full term baby to take home with us. Two weeks out,  I'm feeling MUCH better physically enjoying this little guy so much.

We've had a constant stream of visitors since arriving back home in Chiang Rai on the 7th. Everyone (over 40 people) looks at my stomach and says,  "you have another little one in there" and laugh to themselves. I like to imagine the response you would get in America for saying that to a mother post-partum.

I have also gotten repeated lectures that I need to wear a hat at all times, socks, a sweatshirt, drink only hot or warm liquids, and wrap my stomach with a long piece of cloth. Many hands have been squeezing my boobs giving me breastfeeding tips. Also no matter how hot Henry is, he is always to be wrapped in a blanket and wearing a hat.  I'm not supposed to leave the house with the baby for one month. All of our Akha visitors come to visit and give Henry a hard-boiled egg and some money and tell him to get strong and grow quickly. I have had people holding him almost all day which has actually been nice for getting the house cleaned up and getting caught up on laundry. Another friend has been making me breakfast every morning. People have been so kind, and I have been learning the balance between taking other's advice and telling them that in my culture we do things differently.

We are loving being back home in Chiang Rai. Loving this new stage of life, and telling Henry stories of his older sister. :>)