Grandma Bryant
Birthday Girls making a wish
Pepe trying to figure out how the toy works
Morgan taking a little nap
How cute is this?!
All wore out We went camping last weekend up in Williams with my family! But, before I go any furthur, I have to make a confession... we stayed in a hotel. I know, I know, that is not real camping (although, I'll have you know, even of those who really "camped", only Trent and Trevor slept in a tent and Grandpa Dennis under the stars! The rest were in motor homes.). :)
Anyway, the day before we left on the trip, Morgan got a cold, along with a fever. The fever was gone by the next day and we figured he would be just as miserable at home as he would be out in the fresh air, so we decided to go, but to stay in a hotel since it still gets very cold at night. I think he enjoyed camping a lot, actually, with all those grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins to squish on him!
Camping was a blast! We had LOTS of family: Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Vickie, who hosted the event on their property; Uncle Bubba, Trevor and Taylar, up from Phoenix; Uncle Dan and Great-Great Grandma Dea (do you know anyone else who can say they went camping with their great-great grandma?!); Papa John and Grammy Jamie with Darrell and Trent; and Uncle Don and Aunt Pam who brought Chewy, their dog, along for his first camping trip!
Along with Chewy, the other trip mascots were Bud, Rocky, Bocifus, Foxy Lady, and Husso.
It was a big crowd!
The next few posts will be mostly pictures from our trip! I had fun with my new camera, however, I felt a little frustrated. I was more interested in simply capturing the moment and it was frustrating to have to focus so much on simply learning the basics of how to use the camera. Uncle Dan taught me a few tricks, though, so it was fun to get to practice a bit!
Some of the pictures were taken by Darrell, too.
Enjoy!
Darrell had lots of fun getting pictures of the camp fire!
Grandpa and Grandma, the camp hosts
Grandma Vickie and Foxy Lady
Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Vickie, Uncle Dan, G-Grandma Bryant, Darrell around the fire
Malachi loved putting on Trent's helmet!
Beautiful Indian Paintbrush
Trevor caught lots of butterflies!!
Trevor, Taylar and Trent with their butterfly nets
Malachi admiring the kids' catches. I love the dirty face - evidence that he had lots of fun playing!
Trent adding his catch to the collection
On the lookout
Darrell's only catch of the day...
Trevor was the butterfly catching champ, though Darrell has the record for the biggest catch!
Great-Great Grandma Bryant and Foxy
(From from to back) Travis and Malachi, Grammy and Morgan, Trent, and Trevor
Throwing rocks into the water - Malachi, Taylar, Trevor, Husso, Trent, and Darrell
Mo was worn out from all that hiking.
Trevor and Bud
Morgan hugging cousin Taylar
Grammy and Malachi enjoying the warm fire and s'mores
Travis playing with his knife
Putting on the layers as it got colder - I love that little bucket hat!
Malachi - probably doing his little kung fu dance that he made up
Travis taking Malachi for a ride on the quad
Well, I’ve waited long enough to finish this story. I want to get it written before I forget the details! If you haven’t yet read Part I, click HERE to do so. It explains why we decided to have a home birth.
So we left off where I came downstairs thinking my labor may have started. Sure enough, the contractions persisted, and we called the midwife, Jill, to let her know we wouldn’t be coming in to be induced this morning! The next phone call was to Kat, another midwife from whom we rented the birth tub. She came and set it up for us. The tub came with heaters to keep the temp at a little over body temperature. Kat checked dilation; I was at 4 cm. and 75% effaced. She also noticed that my bag of waters was still intact. The gush of water was simply the outer sack. We learned that there are 2 parts to the water sac: the fore-bag and the main-bag. I also learned that the water sac is usually retained when the mother has had a good diet.
Before Kat even got there, however, my mom and Grandma Vickie arrived! We told them not to rush over – it could be a long day – but they were not going to take any chances. Also, we called Jacque Owens, a friend from church. I found out she was interested in becoming a labor and delivery nurse and possibly a midwife. Thinking it would be a great opportunity for her to see a natural birth, I invited her to come to the birth. She was so excited, and I was thrilled to provide such an experience for someone who could one day help others wisely make decisions about their births.
Everyone who was coming to the birth had been notified. Now, I just had to sit back and let my body do its work. We turned on Dennis the Menace, one of our favorite movies. I slowly breathed and focused on relaxing during each contraction; I didn’t want to fight what my body was doing. The contractions began to get more uncomfortable, and I tried to keep in mind that each one was bringing me closer to meeting my baby – and finding out whether he was a boy or girl! I was getting very eager to know if I was carrying a Morgan or a Natalie!
Sheila was in charge of keeping the time on the contractions. Jill had told she’d come over when they were 5 min. apart and 60 sec. long or whenever I felt like I wanted her. Around noon, I made the call. I wanted her there. The contractions were over 60 sec. though not consistently 5 min. apart, but they were getting more intense. I was having back labor and Travis put counter-pressure on my lower back, which I remembered helped a lot in my labor with Malachi (I had back labor with him, too). It felt good, but wasn’t quite as effective as it was during my last labor. I was getting very eager to get in the birth tub, but I wanted to wait till Jill got there and checked dilation – somehow I knew once I got in I wouldn’t want to get out!
She arrived around 1:00 and introductions were made. She had only met my mom before, and she had brought her sister, Gina, along as an assistant. Once everyone had met, we went upstairs. She checked me and I was still at 4 cm., but 90% effaced. And I finally got to jump in the pool. It felt so good! The contractions were getting stronger and I really had to focus on relaxing. In the tub it was so easy to maneuver into a more comfortable position. During each contraction, I got on my knees and hung over the side of the tub with my head resting on my folded arms. Between them, I sat back and rested against the tub wall. I was continually reminded to drink water are eat some food to keep my energy up. Muncle Dylan was downstairs watching Malachi for us during all of this– what a huge help!
The tub felt SOOO good when contractions started getting more serious!
Eventually I felt like I needed a little support, so I asked Travis to get in. I continued to hang over the side while he did counter pressure, but I rested on him between contractions. I was getting nauseated during contractions. After a long time in the tub, Jill said I should get out to go to the bathroom and to maybe speed things up by moving around a bit. I told her that sounded like a terrible idea! But I knew she was right, so I got out. I sat on the exercise ball for a little while. She told me to let her know when I began to feel lots of pressure in the lower front of my abdomen, and I told her I was already feeling it there.
I remember hearing her telling someone around this time that we could have a baby anytime, or we could be here till midnight. I knew I couldn’t keep on like this till midnight! I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t do it, and that was a sure sign that the end was near. You can tell where you’re at in your labor by how you’re doing emotionally – at the beginning, you’re excited because the day has finally arrived; then you get really serious because it’s hard work; and then, when the end is almost there, you feel like you simply can’t do it anymore. And the good news at that point is, you won’t have to do it much longer!
I then lay down on the bed. She checked dilation again and said I was at 8 ½ cm. completely effaced except for a small lip of cervix. I stayed on the bed for a while until I realized if I lay there much longer, I might not make it into the tub for the birth! So back in we went. I asked her to rupture the bag of waters to speed things up, and the pushing stage began soon after. It lasted about 35 minutes. I was so tired, I didn’t want to push, but Jill was so encouraging. I felt the baby’s head with my hand as it descended. They told me he had hair!
I remember thinking I didn’t want to push too hard because I was afraid of tearing. Jill used olive oil to massage the perineum to keep the blood flowing and prevent tears. The warm water in the tub is also great for that. Finally, the head was out – what a huge relief! In the next contraction or two the rest of him was out. Travis announced we had another boy! “Hi, Morgan!” I cried. He was immediately put on my chest and covered with a warm wet blanket and he got a hat. She suctioned him out. I had to be careful to keep his face out of the water! He was so beautiful. I wanted them to go get Malachi to meet his brother. We had just experienced another miracle.
Morgan coming out of the water to take his 1st breath. My hard work finally paid off! What an amazing picture!
Holding Morgan Jackson for the first time.
Travis holding his new son for the first time.
The Grandmas get their chance to hold the baby while mom and dad go take a shower.
We held Morgan in the tub for a while. Jacque cut the cord after it had stopped pulsing. After I delivered the placenta, we handed him over to the grandmas so we could take a shower. After the shower I lay down for the night. Morgan nursed for about 45 minutes. I was having bad afterpains – the contractions that get the uterus back down to its normal size. First-time moms don’t have these pains because the uterus is more elastic and contracts more easily. These contractions were an unexpected, unpleasant surprise! It was then time to measure this little baby. Jill used a sling to weigh him (to see a picture, click HERE) – we were all surprised to find out he was 9 pounds! He was 21 in. long, with a 14 in. chest and head. After a glass of wine and some ibuprofen to help with the bad contractions, we said good-bye to everyone and settled in for some much-needed sleep with little Morgan right by my side! A great ending to an eventful day.
Many people have asked me how this labor compared to my last. It was definitely more difficult. This may have been partly due to the baby being so much bigger (Malachi was 7 lb. 4 oz., Morgan 9 lb. 1 oz.), but the main reason, I believe, is because I was in terrible shape. The last couple weeks were very difficult – I couldn’t even walk around the grocery store without pain in my legs and groin. I don’t remember being as sore or exhausted when I was pregnant with Malachi. The last 2 days of this pregnancy were miserable. Labor is a major physical challenge – so going into labor in such bad shape obviously was going to make things more difficult. At this point, I am almost completely recovered from the birth, but I’m still feeling the effects of the pregnancy!
I would definitely consider doing a home birth again. It would be very difficult to consider ever delivering in a hospital again!
As I look at our new son and at the amazing adventure of bringing him into this world, I can’t help but say with the psalmist David, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
We were so excited when we found out last March that we were going to be blessed with another baby! Malachi has brought so much joy into our lives, and we were thrilled to be adding another little one to our family.
I had a decent birth experience with Malachi. I used a CNM (certified nurse midwife – for an explanation of the different types of midwives, click HERE) and delivered at a hospital. We had a little trouble convincing the nurse that the manager of the maternity floor as well as my midwife had given permission for me to eat and to not be hooked up to the IV. I felt rushed when I was informed that if I didn’t dilate another 2 cm. soon, the midwife would break my water. She also did not attempt to help me stretch, but instead just cut me. Overall, we were so thankful for a safe and relatively good experience with my first birth, but I knew it could be better.
When we moved to back to AZ, I found out that there were no midwives who delivered at the local hospital. Yikes! I have no doubt that there are good
We found a CPM (certified professional midwife) from Vegas. We were so pleased with the personal care we received from her and her partners. We saw her monthly, then every 2 weeks, then weekly, just as you would with a normal
I also appreciated her prevention-based care. She was very concerned with my diet, making sure I ate plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and drank LOTS of water. Cranberry pro-biotic and colloidal silver were used to treat a bad UTI – it was gone the next week. No antibiotics were needed. This was great since during my last pregnancy I had a horrible reaction to an antibiotic that was prescribed to me.
We decided to deliver the baby at Marty and Sheila’s (Travis’s parents) for legal reasons – my midwife is not licensed in AZ – and also because my midwife had back surgery and her recovery was much slower than anticipated. The ride to AZ would be very difficult. So on Nov. 12, Malachi and I headed to Vegas. We had no idea how long our stay would be. A day? A week? A couple weeks? No one guessed we’d be there a MONTH! Every day for the whole month, we thought, “This could be the day.” And another day would pass. Travis had to work, so he drove back and forth during his weekends. Finally, we decided if the baby wasn’t born by Sunday, Dec. 6th (2 weeks past his due date, Nov. 22nd), we would induce. Travis had to work the Saturday before, and was going to drive up wither that night or Sunday morning. He surprised me by getting off work early and showing up Friday night! I was so shocked and relieved!
Saturday came and went… still no baby. I went to bed, intent on getting lots of rest. I was going to have my baby the next day – finally, after a month of anticipation! Sunday morning we had an appointment to be at the midwife’s house at 10:00. I got up and as I got ready to shower, I felt a small gush of water. “Could it be?” I wondered. Not wanting to get everyone excited over nothing, I just took my shower and waited to see what happened. A contraction here, a contraction there. I’d been having contractions on and off all month, so this wasn’t too exciting. But they kept coming, and they seemed to be coming pretty regularly. As I went downstairs, I must’ve had a certain look on my face because Travis said, “Are you in labor?” My response shocked him: I think I may be! How perfect! I wouldn’t have to be induced!
I will try to write the rest of the story soon! Check back soon!
A warm, watery welcome to Morgan Jackson Gillespie!
Our first family photo!
Midwife Jill weighing our big boy - 9 lbs. 1 oz.
More posts to come!
My cousin Tijera came to town from Vegas for my birthday and we took a trip to the Hualapai Mountains. The clouds were gorgeous. We had a great day!
Mountain Man!
What a view!
Sand Angels!
He was filthy by the time we left - what fun! 
Later that night, Tijera watched Malachi for us while we went to a really nice restaurant in town for dinner. Thanks Tijera!
