Birth Story Of Hazel

Here is the birth story from my little sister...

The Birth Story

DISCLAIMER: LONG and detailed and from the best of my memory
Thursday Dec 16th was my last doctors apt and my cervix was completely closed.. my sister arrived on saturday the 18th and we started doing all kinds of crazy things to get my labor started.. jalapenos, hula-hooping, crab walking, hiking, up and down the stairs, scrubbing the floor..i had pretty regular contractions that saturday night but nothing real- she then checked me on monday morning and i was dilated to a 2.5. she strippped my membranes on monday and that started some bad contractions that evening but again nothing regular. so at that point i was over trying to do anything i could- i mean nothing i had tried had worked besides i think people just tell others the very last thing they did before they went into labor and blame it on that! so It all REALLY started on wednesday night december 21st. My mom and I went to go hang out with my sister at her house. I was sitting on her living room floor doing some butterfly stretches when all of a suddden I felt like i wet my pants.. i had not wet my pants the entire pregnancy so i thought this was super weird.. so i ran to the bathroom and kinda was freaking out.. uhhhh britt, ash, someone come here... so they both ran in the bathroom and there was this green fluid all over my underwear... "what is it?!" both britt and ash started screaming and jumping and very excited and then told me it was my water with thin meconium in it. This was at 9:25 PM- we needed to go to the hospital right then. I called Jason (he was at my house with my dad) and told him my water broke and he needed to get my hospital bag and go with my dad and meet us at the hospital. On our drive down to Kaiser in Vallejo, ash called down and they were super busy(but they saved me a room)! we got there and i got all hooked up to the monitors and then they needed to start my IV.. but i was very swollen. It was AWFUL- 3 different people had to try and finally on the 4th try they got an IV in.
my battle wounds
They started antibiotics and let me chose whether i wanted to try to let contractions start on their own or start pitocin right away. we decided to try to let contractions start and maybe get some sleep but start pitocin in the morning. i slept on and off from 12-430 and no contractions were starting so we started pitocin at 5 am. i didn't feel any regular contractions until about 6 am. slowly they started to get more and more painful. i tried and tried to breath through them but by about 7 there was no way and i was in tears through everyone. i called the nurse and she told me to try to wait longer. so i called my dad- he came in and told me there is no point in waiting if i wanted an epidural. so he checked and i was still 2.5 cm dilated but called to get the anesthesiologist. they were on shift change but as soon as they could they would come give me and epidural. in the mean time the nurse gave me some IV fentanyl but right before i got up one last time to go to the bathroom- the fentanyl helped some but made me feel so loopy and out of it. Finally by about 8 am they started to get ready for my epidural- everyone had to leave the room but I had this wonderful nurse who held my hand and talked me through it all. The anesthesiologist was amazing. I did not feel a thing and it she got it in right away. I was expecting this immediate relief from the pain of contractions but then she said she hadn't given me the loading dose yet.... she then gave me the dose but told me it would take about 5 contractions for me to really feel relief. those were the longest 5 contractions ever. finally i was feeling great by about 8:30 and then they placed my catheter and checked me again and i was at a 4. everyone came back in and decided that my dad would head back to work and my sister would go to her apt she had. they left and i was able to fall asleep. Ashley arrived at the hospital at about 9:45 and saw that baby girl was having some decels. I was waking up at this point and she went to find a nurse to check me. the nurse came in and said "well (long pause) you are 100% effaced and about a 8, no a 9. yep a 9." that had happened a lot quicker than anyone had expected. ashley quickly called my dad and sister to get back asap. They hurried and got back to the hospital by about 10:45. by this time i was complete and just waiting. i started slowly pushing about 11:15 then about 11:30 i really started pushing- while i was pushing her heart rate kept dropping- everyone looked worried but whenever i would ask everyone would tell me nothing was wrong (until after when my dad admitted that he was a little nervous) i think about 11:45 my dad had to use the vacuum. he vacuumed her a couple of times and then she was born at 11:57! They had previously warned me that since there was meconium in my water they may have to take her right away if she didn't start crying so they could prevent her from swallowing meconium- well my little girl started squealing right away . They immediately placed her on my chest skin to skin. It was the most amazing experience to have my sweet baby Hazel right there with me on the outside they dried her off and put blankets over us all while she kept pooping so they continued to clean her up while Jason and I enjoyed and cried and cried.. That moment didn't seem to last long enough. I delivered the placenta and got a few stitches. I didn't tear in the front or back but to the side(?) i kept asking what degree of a tear but apparently it is no degree when you tear like that(? i'm still confused about it all haha) and then my umbilical cord was crazy weird. check out THIS post about it- SO crazy! the body is truly AMAZING. Then my sisters helped her latch for a little and then I just got to snuggle and kiss her they did her assessment all while she stayed right on my chest. An hour or two later Ashley was able to give her her first bath and did her footprints! They then gave her vitamin k hep b and aquamephyton eye drops and then she got passed around. Then I was moved to a post partum room about 3. We were discharged the next morning about 11 am. Hazel is now a week old and we are adjusting as well as we can. As much as my breasts have been so sore it is such a fun bonding time to be able to be breast feeding. We have our first pediatrician appointment next thursday and then head back home a few days after that. It is so much fun to see Jason with Hazel. He watches her like a hawk. he always wants to hold her and always wants to make sure he watches everyone who is holding her. It is so sweet

*Umbilical Cord Variation*

I didn't really know how to title this post. I try to usually keep my posts light and fun as in the Laborlooks fashion, but occasionally I let my Certified Nurse Midwife side slip out.


Here is a picture I took with my cell phone of my sister's umbilical cord and placenta (with her permission).

A normal umbilical cord has 2 arteries and 1 vein. It is then covered in a substance called Wharton's Jelly. This jelly is like a cushion, it protects the vein and arteries from being compressed and stopping the blood to and from the baby. This is one of the biggest protective mechanism for these babies who have their cords around their neck, knots in their cords, or even if the cord pulls really tight when the babies are delivering. This jelly saves lives.

With that being said I hope there isn't ever a substance named "brittani's jelly," cause then you would all just think people were talking about my butt or my arm fat or something like that.

Back to the umbilical cord... This segment that is being held up by my dad is about a 2 inch section where one of the umbilical arteries merged off of the cord and created a small amount of Wharton's Jelly to protect it. After about 2 inches it merged its way back to the main section of the cord and the rest of the cord looked perfect. During my sister's labor there was meconium in the amniotic fluid (often a sign of stress on the baby) and her baby had some decelerations of the heart rate (also a sign of stress on the baby). Both of these things may have been caused by her umbilical cord and the artery not having all of the protection it needed from the Wharton's Jelly.

Is this a picture for a text book? Have you ever heard or seen this? I hadn't seen it until now.

I texted this picture to a few of my midwife friends and colleages (with permission of course!!) and I had an overwhelming response that they hadn't ever seen this either.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Laborlooks and my silly candy-cane sticky faced girls.

Baby Hazel

Pictures soon to come, but we would like to welcome our newest niece.

Hazel Cathleen was born this morning at 11:57am.

7lbs 5oz

20 inches long

Congratulations to Devyn and Jason. We are so over the moon for you!

Work, work, work and then play!

So I often forget that my sister has a full time job, a per diem job, the business to run, and is a mom. Whew. So this week she is working her first 3 shifts and then starting tomorrow evening we can finally sit down and work on Laborlooks stuff.

In the meantime I have spent a lot of time working on family pictures with the grandkids, baking Christmas goodies, building sand castles, and savoring every moment with my pregnant baby sister who is due to give birth any time now.

Enjoy the moments!

Working Week

Next week I will be at "home base" of laborlooks. Spending time with my sister for some major planning sessions on how to bring you all the best products at the best prices. Trust me, we are constantly in motion, but things flow so much better when we are together in the same location.


Next week I will also be watching and waiting patiently to meet my soon to be born niece. I am not sure how she will do with so many aunties and grandmas around for the holidays. She will probably never be set down.

I Can't Help It....

We have been getting so many gorgeous pictures of our Laborlooks moms that I can't help but share them!!Baby Hope is so lucky to have you as her Mama!

Congratulations Kacie, your girls are every bit as beautiful as you are.

Welcome Isla

My little sister is days away from being a perfectly content mother, just like this sweet mom and her new little one, Isla.

Send us your photos to ashley@laborlooks.com

Mommy Monday: Poop

I thought by the time I had 2 preschool age GIRLS I wouldn't have to worry about potty talk and poop conversations.

I thought that was only for boys.

I haven't had someone pooping in diapers for a year.

So why is my 31 month old daughter so obsessed with poop?

Here is what I deal with on a daily basis:

"Mom, can I talk about poop?" "Not right now Cara."

"Mom, can I talk about poop in my room?" "Sure Cara, go into your room and talk about poop." She then proceeds to run to her room giggling and sings "poop poop poop" to the tune of Jingle bells. Laughing and smiling the entire time.

"Mom, can I talk about poop in the car?" and before I answer she starts saying, "poopy poopy poop-y" and my almost 5 year old says, "STOP IT CARA, you are hurting my feelings by talking about poop." so when does talking about poop hurt feelings?

She constantly singsongs about going poop. When she goes to the bathroom she is giddy with excitement, saying "here comes the poop" and "buh bye poopy!" and "oh there is so much poopy!" She reads books while she is sitting on the toilet and she babbles and pretends the read them and they all have the dominant theme of poop when she "reads" her books.

She is learning knock knock jokes and every joke she tells she ends with the word poop. If I reprimand her she says, "mom, it is just a poop joke."

can you believe this scrunchie face child is obsessed with poop?

So my husband and I have tried to sit down and talk with her about her poop obsession. We are trying to give it time and trying to ignore her when she talks about poop, but it is hard to ignore when her older sister is around.

So, all you parenting experts and psychologists out there. What is the deal?

This was our child who we potty trained at 19 months because she had some poop not staying in her diaper issues and she never had a poop accident after that.

Is she stuck in some Freudian stage?

Or do I just need to laugh and know that it will eventually pass??

Special Guest Sunday: Push Packs Giveaway!

SMALL BATCH STUDIO

Small Batch Studios was founded by Laura Magu, a mother of three small girls who loves to create and sell things that other people love as much as she does. Laura created the Push Pack after the birth of her first daughter when she realized there wasn't a complete list of things that moms really wanted with them in the hospital for the time surrounding the birth of their babies. After giving the Push Pack as baby shower gifts, and using it twice herself, Laura realized new moms and busy moms need the Push Pack and began her business.

Included in your push pack: EO lavender scented shampoo, conditioner, bath gel. Lotion. Bath sponge. Make up / eye make up remover. Razor & shaving cream. Deodorant. Comb & Hair bands. Toothbrush & toothpaste. A & D ointment & breast pads. Lip balm. Disposable underwear. Do-Good reflexology socks. Maxi pads. Playing cards. Hand-made (by me) thank you cards - assorted "baby" designs. Notepad & pen. Lollipop & gum, Assorted snacks.

So here is the giveaway!!

Small Batch Studio

Ok fans!! Like, share & win!! Small Batch Studio & Labor Looks - what a great pair!!

LaborLooks has teamed up with Small Batch Studio and is giving away a LaborLooks Gown & Push Pack (the perfect gift combo for an expecting mom) … since it is the season of giving, this is how it works…

“Like” LaborLooks
“Like” Small Batch Studio
Write a short wall post (on either LL or SMS fb page) telling us the name of the expectant mom you are nominating for the gift set.

For every 10 likes on your post you will be given one entry into the giveaway… Winner will be randomly selected on Monday, Dec 12th at 6:00 pm.
The expectant Mom will win a LaborLooks Gown & Push Pack and YOU will win a $25 Target Gift Card… HAVE FUN! Thanks for sharing with your friends. We love how much our fans have helped us grow! Happy Holidays.

Enter HERE

http://www.facebook.com/laborlooks

Spokesmoms Giveaway

Remember when we auditioned for the reality TV show produced in part by Spokesmoms?

You do? We do too!

Even though we didn't make it we had such an amazing experience with them.

Check them out and win yourself a free Laborlooks gown!!

Handmade Holidays

Are you working on any handmade holiday gifts this year?

My husband is making a stable for my daughter. I will post pictures and update throughout the process.

What are you doing?

Post a comment and send us a link.