Gwendolyn

In May we found out we were finally expecting our 4th child. I had a rough first trimester and slept my way through to July. Addy was great and took naps with me and Dilly didn't get into too much trouble when I slept. Summer came and in late July we pulled both Elnorra and Cordelia out of school after 1 day for a week long trip to a family reunion in the Bay area. Anni, Ben's sister, and I were pregnant at the same time and got to compare swollen feet and the trials of traveling while pregnant. In late October I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and had to be very careful what I ate and remained diet controlled. In November we traveled to Anni's house in Anaheim, CA and I came home with a slight cold that turned into 4 weeks of disability (I even got a temp handicap permit initially meant for the lousy parking lot at CPAC (Center for Performing Arts), where both my bands rehearse) and more than 6 weeks total illness. I don't think I have ever been that sick for that long, I was so sick being 7 and 8 months pregnant were the least of my worries. I recovered in time to watch my diet carefully and only cheated on 2 parties during the holiday season and the start of Birthday season in our house. 3 days before my due date when I was still hopeful of a natural birth at the birth center (I had been driving nearly and hour for each prenatal appointment on hopes of delivering there, I had a 3rd ultra sound to check the baby's growth, the tummy was measuring 41 weeks and the head 39 weeks and some days so a doctor I have never meet and has only seen my limited medical record tells me not only can I not deliver at the birth center that if I am a week overdue they will simply do a C-section and that my kids defiantly couldn’t be there due to hospital policy. I had spent 8 months of preparing my older children what to expect at the birth. I was devastated, I had worked so hard to stay healthy and keep my blood sugars under control (1800 calories a day? couldn't even break 1000 when on a strict under 100 carb per day diet} I stared my pregnancy chubbier than I wanted at 192 but ended at 198 after making it to 208 at one point. My in-laws drove down from Provo, UT to Sahuarita, AZ for the birth. They arrived the night before my due date. Monday morning the 7th of January 2013 I puttered around, finished up a tuba chem clean, decided to go out and play tourist with the in-laws and walked all around the Biosphere2 with them, nothing doing. Tuesday had a normal check up, meanwhile my van stopped starting and I had to jump-start it to get to my Thursday appointment where my blood pressure was high so they sent me to the hospital. The midwife of the day asked me if I had my bag in the car since I lived so far away, I said, “yes, it’s been there for two weeks” and she gave me a hug and said “good girl.” The Tucson Medical Center (TMC) security guy came and jumped the van to get us from the birth center to the hospital (via Burger King). After finding the maternity ward and being assigned a room I told the midwife how sad I was that my kids couldn’t be there and she said of course they can come. My mom was so excited that instead of waiting 20 minutes for school to get out she picked up my big girls early. At 1:30 pm the midwife, Maya Adams, (my favorite) broke my water, in 2 hours I was in true labor and for all the worry about shoulder distortia Gwendolyn Marie Shaffer came at 5:41pm in a single push. Elnorra was a wonderful doula and I was happy to have my husband, daughters, mom and in-laws present at the birth. My sister pulled into the parking lot the same moment baby came. After the in-laws took the tired and happy girls with new baby dolls of their own home I lost a lot of blood and was hemorrhaging so badly they give me a lot of coagulants and kept me in the delivery room a long time. I was given medicine to numb while the doctor checked for pieces of placenta. Because of the blood loss I stayed in delivery room longer than normal with actually meant I had baby with me the whole time and she was not sent off to the nursery until 24 hours later. I had massive bruising from the first attempt at an IV port, which then had the blood pressure cuff automatically going off causing the bruising to become horrendous. The second IV location didn’t allow me to bend my wrist and the 3rd was good until day 3 and the second dose of Iron (I didn’t accept the offer of a transfusion because I really felt stable and much better on day 2). 3 months later I still have a small mark where the IV iron left it’s entrance mark. The security guy jumped the van again to get us home, several days later I just bought a new battery, who would have thought that the battery would just die suddenly and just when I was having my baby when we bought the van expecting it to be reliable just for that occasion! Murphy’s law. The hospital kept giving my high carb foods with ice tea and dairy. I even waited to be discharged for the lunch that came very late and was macaroni and cheese, even though I had told them every time that I had gestational diabetes and was lactose intolerant. The good news is that the turkey sandwiches they always had on hand in the ward fridge were fabulous and I was hungry! The midwife said once I delivered it should be over so the system did not list me as a diabetic patient, but I was loopy and my blood sugars through the roof, and my body took a few weeks to even out again. After having such a disappointment about thinking worst case scenario 3 days before my due date I was very happy with the birth experience and it was worth the long drives to have a midwife in the hospital where we were all given the natural healthy experience with needed medical intervention. With the exception of the blood loss it really was an ideal birth.