The Arrival of Eowyn Nola

In true new parent fashion, sleep deprivation and the ensuing fog leaves me a little less than coherent and a little delayed on posting.  In fact it seems to me that it was just moment ago that I gave birth and somehow based on the calendar we are now 21 days into having 2 children.  My hope is to abbreviate the birth story of little Eowyn so it can go down for posterity, though by now who's to say how much I may have forgotten!  Here goes! (feel free to skip to the pictures if the birth story is not of interest! This is also for us to remember it).

Introducing Eowyn Nola Madjzoub Lemmon

I was certainly getting more and more uncomfortable and anxious as days ticked by and there was still no baby, but thankfully 3 days past her due date, she decided to make her grand entrance on February 27th.  I had a dr's appointment in the afternoon, and after a quick check he said I was already 2cm dilated so labor was probably soon to follow.  We came home after the fact and I almost immediately began to feel much more discomfort and had a sense that things were moving along.  Unfortunately it was 4:30pm and we had a dinner guest coming over at 5:30pm, I had to finish cooking, and of course Liam was wide awake.  So, in the way of Amish women, I think I psychologically put off labor to get through the early evening routine.  Somehow, despite some strong-ish contractions here and there and general discomfort, I managed to get through dinner, and bath time with Liam.  James did bed time and when he came out I knew I was heading into labor.  It was 7:55pm and I had him call Iris (our home birth midwife) and Sabine (our doula).

As for the home birth, it was truly exactly the right thing for me.  The labor was about the same length as with Liam (2 hours and 40 mins this time around), and not having to go some place and deal with other people and medical checks etc was perfect.  I felt so supported and the overall sense of the space and experience was quiet calm, despite the turbulence of birth itself.  I was able to labor exactly as I wanted and everything and everyone present was focussed on me and getting me through it.  There were no distractions and nothing jarring to go through.  I feel very lucky to have had this experience, and to be able to look back on both my birth experiences and feel that they both were truly remarkable and precious moments.  I am grateful for the support of Iris and Sabine and their expertise, and ongoing support after the birth as well, and I am so thankful for James and his ability to be calm and supportive in those moments, so that we really entered into this new phase of parenting together.  My mom needs also to be mentioned with all the gratitude as she made sure Liam was sleeping throughout, and beyond that, has spent the last 3 and half weeks making our lives easier in so many ways.

So Eowyn arrived at 10:37pm.  She didn't cry at all when she came out and was just alert and had her eyes open taking everything in.  I was able to hold her for quite a long time before she was weighed and dressed etc.  She came out a healthy 3.760kg, 51cm and 35.5cm head circumference.  She passed her initial tests with flying colors and was a natural at breast-feeding right away.

Just a few minutes after Eowyn was born

The only small glitch in the whole ideal experience was having to go to the hospital after the fact to get stitches.  We had asked my Dr if he would come and he had previously said yes, but at the time the clinic told us he wouldn't come.  So it was slightly unfortunate that we had to get ready and leave the house, but at least we did so at our leisure and after a few hours of just being at home.  It was a long night after all, with not a whole lot of sleep, but with a new tiny one to brighten our time it hardly seemed to matter.

12 hours old

Proud Papa the morning after

Liam and Eowyn - he is already proving to be a caring big brother!

Happy mom and dad with 4 day old

Eowyn's first bath - about as happy as Liam was the first time!

Still not happy after the first bath!

 We had a lovely first week together as a family, with James home from work, my mom around, and Iris and Sabine checking in on us daily.  Eowyn is a real sweety and reminds us so much of how Liam looked when he was born.  We have no rhythm or patterns of sleep and feeding established yet, but give us a little more time and hopefully we'll get there some time soon.  We were sad to say good bye to "grandma Gail", especially knowing how attached Liam has gotten to her, as well as how dependent James and I had gotten on her meals and constant quiet help!  Still, we'll figure it out and meanwhile our hearts are overflowing with more love than we could imagine possible.  Truly there is nothing like the adoring love a parent has for a child.

Grandma Gail and Eowyn

Grandma Gail with Eowyn at our mom and tots get together

Sabine (our doula) comes by a few days after the birth to see how we are all doing

Iris (our midwife) came every day the first week to check on us

Jen comes to visit moments after returning from academic travel