*WARNING: Incredibly long post. If you feel like skipping the text and just looking at the pictures, I will not take offense.*
In the past 6 years, 2 months, and 2 days of our marriage, we have never had a month quite like this one. It started off pretty normal. We were waiting for our second daughter to be born. Went to a rodeo with Grandma and Grandpa Wright. Waited some more. Went to soccer practice. Waited some more…..and then…FINALLY THE DAY ARRIVED! I went into labor in the middle of the night. I let Jonathan sleep until 5 AM before I woke him to let him know that June 4th would be the day our third child was to be born.
Since this was the third of our children to be born, I expected the labor to be so short that I would be having her on the side of I-5 with Monday morning commuters as our witnesses. I unwisely thought that this would be a great time to experience the joys of labor without any medication. The labor was longer than expected. It wasn't too bad until I was dilated about 8 or 9 cm. By then, I was really missing my completely safe and comforting epidural that I had had with my previous 2 children. WOW, the pain! What we women endure to have children!!
Olivia Ann Wright is a perfect addition to our family. The first feature that I noticed in our new little girl was the first feature most people notice - her beautiful thick and dark hair. She is perfect and wonderful. She really is a great baby and we love her like crazy. The kids are crazy about her, though they don't know quite what to do with her. There are a lot of awkward pats on the head. I keep reminding them that she is not a dog.
Unfortunately, my first labor experience without medication, turned into more than just a painful experience. First, my labor was prolonged with a placenta that didn't want to be delivered. After finally delivering it, my wonderful doctor - Dr. Alan Binette, proceeded to stick his entire hand up and into my Uterus - TWICE - to make sure that every piece of placenta was out. Did I mention there were no drugs involved?
It got much worse after that. About an hour and a half after delivery my uterus relaxed. This is called Uterine Atony. Because my uterus relaxed, the blood vessels that were pumping blood into my placenta had opened back up again and began to pump blood into my uterus. Blood was pooling in my uterus as my happy family visited with me to celebrate in the birth of Olivia. I suddenly started to feel extremely light headed and nauseous. I told the nurse how I was feeling and then passed out in my bed. Everything after that was a little surreal. The nurse had Jonathan push a red button behind my bed, and within a couple of minutes a cavalry of hospital staff arrived (maybe 10 or so) and began to work on me. Binette was there shortly after. I woke up to bright lights, an oxygen mask on, and a team of people all attending to me. There was a feeling of urgency as I focused on what they were saying. I had 2 people focused on my breathing, 3 nurses massaging my uterus, a couple of nurses poking me with needles full of medication, another nurse putting an emergency IV in my hand, and I am not too sure what everyone else was doing. I was impressed. Everyone worked so well together. I never felt a sense of chaos. They knew what to do to stabililze me and they did. It was perhaps one of the most terrifying moments of my life. My children were just outside the door. How would Jonathan tell them if something happened to me? How would they understand? My husband is about to start medical school and he is here in the room holding our new baby in his arms. I understood in a very personal sense how fragile life is. How grateful I am to continue in this role as their mother and wife. Perhaps this is a good jumping off point for medical school, to have more appreciation for motherhood, when it gets challenging.
I ended up losing a third of my blood and continued doses of Cytotec after I was discharged. To say that recovery has been hard is an understatement. The next week, we had Jacob's 5th birthday party with some buddies, we moved the next day to Lebanon, Oregon, and a few days later, Jonathan started medical school. In the meantime, Jonathan's parents left to Santiago, Chile, where his dad will serve as mission president for the next three years. On the 19th, I was off to Redding with my 3 kids to attend my brother's wedding. THANK YOU FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!! It has been one whirlwind of a month but full of miracles and great joy. If I could do it all over again, I would - minus the labor without medication…oh, and I would have held onto those 2 units of blood too.
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| Jacob the soccer player |
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| Olivia (Emma was her name at the time). One hour old. |
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Olivia at 2 1/2 weeks old
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| Claire thinks she is part of Jacob's soccer team |
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| Jacob's favorite part of soccer practice was when practice was over and Jonathan and Jacob had some one on one time |
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| Jacob riding a pony before the rodeo |
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| Claire riding a pony before the rodeo |
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| Olivia meets are Uncle Todd and Aunt Olivia. They drove up from Redding after work to meet her and drove back that night |
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| Jacob is such a good big brother |
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| Jacob enjoys an early birthday party with some friends in Central Point the day before we move |
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| Classic |
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| Just before the wedding |
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| Jacob is one handsome ring bearer |
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| Our beautiful flower girl played the part well |
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| Yeah!!!! We are so happy to have Ericka a part of our family now |
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| Jacob has added so much to our family these past 5 years. We love him so much and can't imagine our world without him. Yes, a blueberry chocolate cake. That is what the birthday boy requested. |
