I've looked at birth from both sides now

[Sofiamomma]

My first was born at home after an uncomplicated pregnancy, labor, and delivery, with an average length of labor, and pushing, a direct-entry midwife attending, and no interventions. My second, born last Tuesday came into this world via emergency C-section after every other possible intervention. She had a true knot in her cord and I am just very happy that she is here, alive and well. She is beautiful and truly amazing. I am trying to recover from surgery and a significant blood loss, but wanted to check in here quickly and share my news. I am still processing this, and will post more later.

Love, Sophia's *and* Eleanor's Momma

[Lucky Charm]

Congratulations! i love the name Eleanor!

I am glad you are both ok. how scary....get well, get strong and get some rest!!

will you post your birthstory?

[mamapenelope]

Sofiamomma!!!!!

:banana :banana :banana :banana

CONGRATULATIONS~~~and WELCOME to little Eleanor!



Sending you healing thoughts and much quiet time to enjoy your two beautiful girls.

Love, Mamapenelope

[simonee]

Welcome Eleanor!!!

:balloons :banana :baby :banana :balloons

Congrats to you :bf and BIG SIS Sophia :fairy

Sometimes all that medical science is just what we need... sometimes it's even used what it was designed for...

:hearts :hearts

[Kelly71]

Congratulations Kara and Sophia and welcome baby Eleanor.

[Quirky]

Congratulations! I am sorry you did not get the birth you wanted but I am so happy everything turned out OK and that your baby is healthy!

Sending lots of strong vibes for a speedy recovery and a wonderful babymoon....and looking forward to reading your birth story!

:hearts :grouphug :heartbeat :hearts :grouphug :heartbeat :hearts :grouphug :heartbeat :hearts :grouphug :heartbeat :hearts :grouphug :heartbeat :hearts

[Viola]

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

[Beth-TX]

Congratulations! So glad you had a safe delivery!

But...how scary! How did they know there was a knot in the cord? I'm planning my second homebirth and it worries me that something like that could go undetected until it was too late...

peace, Beth

[Colorful~Mama]

congrats on your new baby :)

i've had two emergency cesarean births and am hoping for a vbac. am just glad she arrived safely and you're doing well

will look forward to pics :)

[Sofiamomma]

Thanks, everyone! I will post Eleanor's birth story just as soon as I feel up to it. My sister is here for a week to visit and help and she is going to show me how to use my new scanner, so I'll be able to post some pics. (I hope! I am a little technologically challenged!!) I can't wait for you guys to see her. She is sooo beautiful! She nurses like a champ and is very mellow and sweet. Her big sister is just as proud as she can be and loves to just sit and hold her, and stare at her. She's totally enchanted. I love it!

I gave in to an ultimatum that she be induced (I have diabetes, see my thread about needing to be induced) and her monitor strip never looked that great to begin with, and it just went from bad to worse. I made it to 7 cm, but she would just not come down. (Turns out she knew better!) There was pea soup meconium and she was having bad heart decels. It was only after she was born that we knew the reason she was having so much trouble. I guess everything happens for a reason.

Bits and pieces, fragments of the experience keep running through my mind. It's all a jumble and I have a touch of the blues (I started crying today because the cat threw up on the carpet, *again* :rolleyes: ), so it's hard to make sense of it all. There are lots of little things I'm sad about, that I miss, but for the most part I'm just overwhelmingly grateful that she's here, and that she's okay. It's also nice to know that all of the wonderful modern technology and interventions that get so overused were put to good use for my little Ellie.

P.S. Did I mention that she's gorgeous? :D

[Eman'smom]

I'm sorry you had a less than perfect experience.

However congratulations on your new little girl:D
Can't wait to see her.

[fourlittlebirds]

Congratulations on your healthy, beautiful girl! :thumb

I've always thought that I if I had to have an emergency cesarean that the hardest thing to deal with would not be that it was not a vaginal birth, but simply having to recover from surgery and at the same time having huge hormonal changes.

Here's hoping that you recover quickly and well and that you get all the help and support and loving that you need!

[Aurora]

CONGRATULATIONS Mama!!! Welcome baby Eleanor! :love

[wwhippetcrazy]

Congrats and I love the name!!!!:D

My dd was a section too after getting to 5-6 cm...she also had a knot in her cord and knew better despite trying to get things going faster.....it's amazing what these babes know!

Take care of yourself....it's good that you have help there...and not to scare you or anything, but the worse thing for me when recovering was the gas pains that came about a week after babe was born....more so cause I didn't know what they were at the time, until someone else who had a section told me....but it was pretty scaring having that pain and not knowing it was gas (not the kind of gas that escapes...:p )

I can't wait to see pics!!!!

Jen:love

[wwhippetcrazy]

Congrats and I love the name!!!!:D

My dd was a section too after getting to 5-6 cm...she also had a knot in her cord and knew better despite trying to get things going faster.....it's amazing what these babes know!

Take care of yourself....it's good that you have help there...and not to scare you or anything, but the worse thing for me when recovering was the gas pains that came about a week after babe was born....more so cause I didn't know what they were at the time, until someone else who had a section told me....but it was pretty scaring having that pain and not knowing it was gas (not the kind of gas that escapes...:p )

I can't wait to see pics!!!!

Jen:love

[madison]

{{{Sofiamomma}}}

Congratulations on little Eleanor! I'm glad she's here safe and sound! THAT is what technology exists for, exactly your situation. I'm glad it was available to you :)

Welcome to the world, baby Eleanor!!!

[busybusymomma]

Congrats Kara and Sophia! :D

BTW, I have an "Ellie" too. Elana's nn is Ellie. :wink So nice name! :thumb

Get some rest momma! :zzz

[lorijds]

I have been wondering how you are your daughters have been.

Walking on each side is an eye opener, isn't it? You will be a better nurse because of it, I am sure.

Congratulations on your second daughter....having two girls is the BEST! I might be a little biased, as I have two girls myself; but I am sure you will find alot of joy from those two.

Take care of yourself!

[TreeLove]

Yea Sofia and Eleanor's mama!!!!! Congratulations!!!!

[Sofiamomma]

Thanks again! Here is a link to some pictures of my girls! :D

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/indigomomma/lst?.dir=/Eleanor

Beth, babies often come vaginally with a knot in their cord, it all depends on the length of the cord. If you are being monitored and your baby was having trouble, the midwife will most likely be able to tell. And of course there's always momma's intuition. That has saved many a baby. The hard truth is that sometimes babies die, both at home and in the hospital. The good news is that chances are much better that everything will be fine than not.

wwhippetcrazy, thanks for the warning! Ouch, that hurts like a son-of-a-gun!! I will have so much more compassion and empathy for my C/S mommas now!

[Quirky]

SofiaandEleanor'smomma (your new username, right? :LOL) your babies are BEAUTIFUL!! Absolutely gorgeous!

:love :love :love

[Czen:)]

Love the pictures, especially the sisters together. It brought a tear to my eye. I have a similar shot of my then 11 year old with her just freshly birthed sister. It touches my heart.