I'm published!

...in the newspaper, that is! I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago for a great story in the Star Tribune about Blooma, Sarah Longacre's (my lovely doula & friend) yoga studio and center for all things related to birth. The article is fantastic. Hopefully it will bring a ton of exposure to Blooma and help more women become aware of many healthy, natural pregnancy and birthing options that are available to them. Here's my fifteen minutes of fame:

Kerri Rivers used massage, acupuncture, prenatal yoga and education classes at Blooma before her son Eliot was born nine months ago, with Longacre assisting. "It completely prepared me to give birth in the way that I wanted to," the Minneapolis resident said. "My goal was to have a natural, unmedicated birth, and the yoga was a huge help in that."

Check out the whole story in today's Star Tribune. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know how much prenatal yoga helped me in my pregnancy and how much both prenatal yoga and Sarah, my doula, helped me during labor. If you're a first time reader, check out some older posts related to pregnancy and birth for more info about my experiences with Blooma, prenatal yoga and our birth story.

Namaste!

Eliot's Birth Story

FAIR WARNING: This post is pretty long and detailed - you might want to get a drink and a snack and settle in...

Saturday, January 26th: It was 4 days past my due date and I was very uncomfortable and a little bit discouraged. I remember feeling like it just wasn't going to happen. Looking back on it now, it's funny, but at the time some part of me truly felt that I just wasn't going to have a baby. Sarah, my doula, kept reminding that there was no alternative - the baby would have to come eventually but it just didn't feel that way to me. Jason and I ran some errands and tried to keep busy and not focus on "waiting for labor". That afternoon I had an electro-acupuncture session with Jalashree at Blooma to help stimulate labor. Basically, they place the acupuncture needles in specific places on your body (ankles, lower back, hands, etc.) and attach electrodes to the needles which transmit a low electrical current to stimulate the acupoints. Jalashree started the session with a little backrub and then she put oil on my belly. That was heavenly! Just like my previous acupuncture sessions, the baby responded to the placement of the needles and when the electrical stimulation began, I could feel contractions. Acupuncture is very relaxing and I remember almost falling asleep during the session. I was very ready for labor and wanted it begin more than anything. After the session, the contractions continued for an hour or so but then subsided. However, that night they returned and were quite regular for over two hours. We began timing them and they stopped before we went to bed. I was so disappointed when I woke up the next day.

Sunday, January 27th: 5 days past my due date. Nothing much happened this day - no real contractions or activity down below. To try and stimulate labor, we met my parents at the Mall of America and walked around the entire mall 3 times. We looked at baby clothes but didn't buy anything because we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. That was really irritating to me. I REALLY wanted to buy baby clothes! All that walking just made me tired and hungry. No labor.

Monday, January 28th: 6 days past my due date. I slept in as I was really tired from not sleeping well at night and getting up so often to go to the bathroom. My back and hips ached every morning and it was hard to move for the first half hour or so after getting up. After I got up, I tried to get some work done and wrap up any loose strings before my maternity leave started. I had been working from home the past week and was going to continue doing so until the baby came. Everyone was questioning how I was and whether anything was happening. One of my co-workers wrote that they couldn't wait to meet my baby and I responded with, "I can't wait to meet my baby either - hopefully he or she arrives soon!" I had no idea how soon it would be!! After Jason got home from work that night, we had supper and went downstairs to watch a movie which neither of us can remember!! After the movie was over, we were watching T.V. and we saw an Applebee's commercial which featured a huge, juicy cheeseburger. I looked at Jason and only half seriously told him to go get me one. After talking and laughing about it for a couple of minutes, the commercial came on AGAIN! This time, I really did want the burger but we decided to make it at home. We had everything we needed including fries! So at 10:30 pm, we both ate a cheeseburger and fries. Yummy! Afterward, we jumped down the stairs one at a time because Jason had heard that jumping off a curb can cause labor - we figured stairs would work just as well. We went to bed around midnight.

Tuesday, January 29th: At 1:00 am (after 1 hour of sleep), I woke up during a contraction. It was pretty mild and I figured it was just like before and it would go away. I got up and went to the bathroom and climbed back in bed. For the next hour or so, I didn't really sleep as the contractions continued and intensified. At 2:15 am, I woke Jason up and told him that I thought this was IT - the real thing. I was right. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, I sat on the toilet and had contractions with tons of bloody show. The contractions continued to get stronger and I remember yelling at Jason to bring me a stool that I could hold onto as I had contractions. At 3:30 am, Jason called our doula, Sarah. She wanted to talk to me to get a feel for how far along I was. I was still able to talk through contractions at that point. She suggested that I get into tub suggesting that the warm bath would either help my labor to progress or relax me to the point where it would stop. Jason filled the bathtub for me and I remember the relief that the warm water provided. I labored in the tub until 5:30 am. Between contractions, I was very relaxed and slept here and there. I only remember saying one thing this entire time, which Jason confirmed to be true. My only statement was, "I'm scared." I definitely wasn't panicky or anxious but I think that the fear of not knowing what was coming next or how long it would take or how much more painful it would get was something that I need to express outloud. After that I didn't think about it again. My memories of the labor from this point on are pretty fuzzy but Jason remembers it more clearly so he's helping me fill in the blanks.

At 5:30 am, I felt like I needed a change and wanted to get out of the tub. Jason helped me get out and during this process I had a contraction. This resulted in me getting on my hands and knees on the bathroom floor for a couples of contractions. I tried using a birth ball but it didn't feel right and I wasn't comfortable. I stayed on the bathroom floor for a while longer but I just couldn't get into a groove. By that time, a couple of our bathroom rugs and some of my nice white towels were quite bloody. At the time, I couldn't care less. If you know me, that will speak volumes because I'm a bit of a clean freak! Eventually, I asked Jason to help me into bed. I remember feeling really tired and out of it - looking back on it now, I know that this was the result of labor hormones (so good!) which were helping me get through the contractions. After getting into bed, the contractions and the pain really intensified. I believe that I was going through transition at this point. I can remember becoming much more vocal and pulling on our mattress as hard as I could during the contractions.

Our doula arrived around 6:30 am. She sat beside the bed and stayed with me until 7:30 am. In my memory, this hour only took around 5 minutes. At 7:30, Sarah asked me if I felt like I needed to push. I did and she asked me if I thought we should go to the hospital. I didn't know how to answer her and after another contraction, she indicated that we needed to go to the hospital. She helped me get up and go to the bathroom. Walking was very hard and slow. I remember looking in the mirror and being disgusted with how I looked. I commented that I looked like a monster. She laughed and told me that I looked like a woman in labor. She helped me get dressed and walk downstairs. I forgot to grab shoes, so Sarah ran upstairs and brought 3 pairs downstairs for me to pick from. I wasn't really in a state of mind to make any decisions and I slipped on a pair of flip-flops. It was around zero degrees Fahrenheit outside. Jason had pulled our Volvo station-wagon around to the front of the house and warmed it up. The back seats were folded down and there were blankets and pillows for me to lay on. If any neighbors were looking, I'm sure they would have thought it was a very strange sight. I was wearing capri gauchos, one of Jason's huge sweatshirts and flip-flops. My hair was plastered to my head in a very unattractive manner and I was walking like a duck, crouched over.

In the car, the only position which was remotely comfortable was on my hands and knees. This isn't the most stable position and Sarah needed to help me keep my balance so I didn't tip over. It felt like Jason was driving 100 miles per hour and swerving to hit every bump and pothole on the road. In reality, he was driving the speed limit or slower and making every attempt NOT to drive over bumps. It was very intense for me - this was the worst part of my entire labor. It felt like the ride to the hospital took hours. I know that I didn't open my eyes the entire time. At this point, I was breathing in a hee, hee, hee manner to avoid pushing. I'm pretty sure that Jason and Sarah were worried that the baby might make its appearance in the back of our Volvo.

When we got to the hospital, we went in the Emergency Room door. The security guard at the door asked us why we were there. Ha! I remember this clearly and I couldn't believe that he wasn't able to tell just by looking at me! I was mooing like a cow for goodness sake! Also, my stomach was the size of a beach ball! Sarah very curtly told him we were there for labor and delivery. An ER nurse brought me a wheelchair and I told her that I couldn't sit down - it was too uncomfortable. She told me there was no other option and that she wouldn't let me walk to the Maternity ward. I complied and both Sarah and Jason were much more irritated with her than I was. I was still very out of it. In retrospect, it was a very good thing that she made me sit down. The walk to the Maternity Ward would have taken me an hour - I had three contractions in the wheelchair as she pushed me there. I remember that I didn't really sit down at all. I held myself up with my arms. I think I was scared that I would crush the baby's head.

When we got to the room, I got undressed and put on a hospital gown. They placed a fetal monitor around my stomach which was very uncomfortable. The nurse checked me and confirmed that I was fully dilated and ready to push whenever I felt like it. I wasn't surprised since I had been feeling like I needed to push for over an hour. I also received a Rhogham shot at that time as I was Rh negative. I vaguely remember making a joke about having a big butt since that's where the shot is administered. Again, neither Jason or I can remember the details of my comment but I do remember that everyone in the room laughed. The nurses were concerned about my hydration so Sarah mixed a yummy concoction of Lemonade Vitamin Water and Emergen-C. It was so sweet and cold - I loved it! This whole time, I was leaning on the bed but still standing. We stayed in the room for about 45 minutes while I had contractions and pushed when I felt the need. At that point, my midwife, Jill, had arrived and the birthing tub across the hall had been filled with warm water and was ready for us.

The Birthing Tub: It felt so good to get into the tub! Being in water while you're in labor is fantastic! Jason sat behind me and held me up. Because of this, I was able to lean back on him and sleep between my contractions and pushing. I know that we were in the tub for about 2 hours, because that's what I was told. To me, it felt like a very short period of time. I remember feeling very calm and peaceful while in the tub. Really the only noise in the room was the noise I made during pushing. Otherwise, it was very quiet. Jill and the nurse, Jeanne, monitored me with a handheld monitor every so often. After a while, the baby's heart rate was dropping a bit while I was pushing and they put a monitor around my stomach for more constant monitoring. I don’t remember hearing any noise from the monitoring. It was like I was blocking out anything I didn’t need to hear. I KNEW the baby was fine. I did hear the sweet and supportive things that Jason whispered in my ear. And I did hear the encouragement and support that I received from Sarah, Jill and Jeanne.

About 20 minutes before Eliot was born, it was like I woke up and came out of my fog. I remember it distinctly. It was like a veil was lifted and I had more energy and was completely ready to deliver my baby. When his head started to emerge, Jill and Sarah encouraged me to reach down and touch it. But I was grasping the handles on the sides of the tub so tightly during each contraction that I told them, “I can’t let go!" But I did let go during the next contraction and felt his head. It was soft and wrinkly and hairy. Very shortly thereafter, he was born. I remember that it was a lot harder to push out his shoulders than his head. When he was born, they put him on my chest immediately and he used his arms to push off me and lifted his head so he could look at us. It was the most amazing moment. As I hadn’t had any drugs, he was completely alert and awake and was able to bond with us immediately. After a minute or so, Jill and Sarah asked us if we wanted to know whether he was a boy or a girl. I hadn’t even thought about it. He was my baby and I didn’t care, but it was very cool to find out he was a boy. We stayed in the tub for a couple more minutes and Jason was able to cut the cord. Eliot was awake for the next couple of hours during which time he breastfed, pooped all over Jason twice! and we bonded.

I am so thankful that I decided to deliver naturally. It was the most physically and emotionally difficult thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding thing I've ever done. Seeing him look up at us after he was born was worth every bit of pain I felt. I wouldn't change one thing about the experience and I can't wait to have more babies - in a couple of years, of course!

It's a Boy!!!

Eliot Emmanuel arrived on Tuesday, January 29th at 11:49 a.m. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 22 inches long! Eliot was born in the tub just like we had hoped in what ended up being a completely natural, unmedicated birth. He was very alert and attentive immediately when meeting mom and dad. So far, he has been extremely happy and mellow and we are completely in love with him. We just got home from the hospital today and we are a little bit tired, so this post will be short. We will both follow up with more detailed posts over the weekend. Here are a couple of pictures of Eliot!

Today is D Day...Due Date, that is!

Well, today's the due date and no baby as of 4 pm. I'm pretty tired and pretty crabby - sorry Jason! If you could, please send good birthing vibes my way, pray, light a candle, anything that might help this baby decide it's time to enter the world. We're so ready! However, it is possible that I could go another 2 weeks, so I'm trying very hard NOT to be impatient... And don't worry -- we'll definitely call as soon as something happens and try to post pictures out here asap.

Keep warm!

January 14th...

Well, no baby this weekend but on the plus side, our house is really clean! :)

January 11th...

I'm soooooo hoping to have our baby this weekend. We are ready and my body is TIRED! Come on baby! It's time for you to come out and greet the world!

Happy New Year!

It's January 5th - only 17 days until our due date, but who's counting, right? We're doing great. We're slowly getting everything done that was on our "to do" list and we should be ready whenever baby is. We spent a couple of hours last Saturday making almost 20 meals at a place called, "Let's Dish" which are now in our freezer ready to be cooked when we need food and don't want to spend any time making something. My mom also made us borscht and fresh buns, which I can't wait to eat. I think we're set...

Last Sunday, our doula came over and Jason and her did a belly cast on my tummy - super cool! Take a look at the photos - I can't believe how big my belly is! I think you can even tell a difference from Week 34 to Week 37...

Week 34:

Week 37 - Belly Cast:

Then it was back to work on Monday the 31st for Jason and on Wednesday the 2nd for me - so sad. Having a break over the holidays was fantastic. Wednesday night, our good friends & photographers, Russ & Sara took photos of us to capture the last month of our pregnancy. They also did the photos on our Christmas card - I highly recommend them if you ever need pictures! I've included a couple here for you to view.








Other than that, we're just living as normally as possible and waiting for labor to start. We had a date last night (dinner and a movie) to take advantage of this last little bit of time we'll have just on our own. We'll let you know as soon as the baby arrives. Happy New Year everyone!

The Business of Being Born...

Take a look at the trailer for this new documentary coming out...

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/index.htm

We're going to see it on January 24th (as long as I'm not in the hospital) and I'll post more about the movie then, but just based on the trailer, it seems like it will be VERY powerful! I can't wait to see it!

Also, if you're interested in reading something along the same lines, check out this book, which is fantastic!

http://www.amazon.com/Pushed-Painful-Childbirth-Modern-Maternity/dp/0738210730/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198274689&sr=8-1

We still have some time...

I'm not dilated and the baby hasn't dropped yet...whew! Our midwife thought baby would come maybe in the next 2-3 weeks. It's great news!!!! Now we have a bit more time to finish our "To Do" list...

Baby time???

Last night, I had bloody show and lost my mucus plug (it's actually a bit of a continual process). I was also nauseous this morning and thought I may have had a real (not Braxton-Hicks) contraction this afternoon - it hurt a teeny, tiny bit. But it was all by it's lonesome self and nothing more has happened. I have my 35th week appointment tomorrow morning so we'll see what they say.

Baby may be arriving earlier than expected....a couple more weeks or one week, at least, would be better. I'll keep you posted!

Less than 6 weeks...

It's 10:00 clock on Wednesday night, December 12th and I'm....very, very, very crabby. Hormones, maybe? My stomach is HUGE - I can't take a picture of it tonight because our extremely stupid, idiotic camera which eats batteries faster than we can replace them is dead again. But trust me, it's huge. At about 35 weeks, it's far bigger than week 31 (see below) and I'm a little uncomfortable. I know that it's far bigger because my button down shirts no longer button. I feel decent most of time except at night when sleeping is really difficult.

Actually, I take it back - just let me rant a little bit... My hips hurt and my back feels like someone has been pounding on it with a sledgehammer. I can't breathe very well or bend over easily and I'm constantly scared of peeing my pants. My feet hurt and I have lots of pimples that I've never had before (everywhere). My previously smooth stomach has numerous red, red stretch marks and I walk like a duck. I'm tired now almost all the time, which is interesting since I can't sleep for more than an hour at a time. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, in less than six weeks I get to push a watermelon out my hoo hoo (which I still on plan on doing unmedicated except for my body's normal birth hormones which I'm trusting to pull me through. Come on, oxytocin!). Ok, I'm done. Thank you for your patience and understanding - I feel a little better, now.

Our baby shower was this past Sunday and we had a great turnout. I would say there were about 50 people here. It was a little bit of a madhouse but it was fantastic to see everyone. I hope that it wasn't too crazy for everyone who came...we felt bad that we didn't get to spend more time catching up with people. If we missed you, we're very sorry! We were a little overwhelmed by everything and very grateful for all the wonderful gifts we received. The best gift of the day was being reminded of how much we love all our friends & family and they love us! A special "Thank you!!" goes out to my mom, Tammy (J's sister) and Jen Kinneman for planning and organizing the shower. You guys did a ton of work and we couldn't ever thank you enough!! I didn't get any shower pictures on my camera, but I'm hoping that my sister-in-law, Aymee, did and if so I'll post them later. We probably look a bit like deer in the headlights, anyway.

The nursery is coming along. We only have a few things left to do before it's finished. The changing table, which was my great-grandmother's dresser, needs to be painted and we need to hang pictures, a closet organizer and some other little, miscellaneous things. Here are pictures of the nursery as it is today. My friend Jen, from Seattle, sewed all the crib bedding, the quilt, pillows and curtains as well as the lamp shade. She did an amazing job and we absolutely love how everything turned out! Thank you, Jen! :)





We also redid the spare bathroom for the baby - not that they'll care for the first year or so, but I wanted to do it. We stuck with the same color theme and hung some nursery rhyme inspired pictures on the walls. It's simple but cute.





Other than that, we're still attending some birth classes. Tonight we went to one entitled, "Riding the Natural Wave of Birth" which focused on birth hormones and the physiologic process of a natural, unmedicated birth. It was fantastic and really enforced our desire to birth naturally. I'm still taking yoga when I can and working at Blooma. Jason's keeping busy with work and school and is on his third class already - Research Methodology - sounds like loads of fun, doesn't it? I'll have about 2 weeks starting on December 21st so I'm REALLY looking forward to that. I plan on sleeping excessive amounts, if I can.

If we don't have the opportunity to talk to you before the holidays, we hope you have a fantastic Christmas and New Year! We wish you peace, love, joy and any other good things which you may need in your life at this time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since it was just Thanksgiving, I'd first like to say that we have so much to be thankful for!! We both have good jobs, we have a nice house with enough space, a truly happy marriage, a healthy baby on the way, good friendships that enrich our lives, great families and so much more that we couldn't ever mention it all. We are truly blessed!

So a month has passed and we're four weeks closer to baby - just about 8 weeks to go... Now that the holidays are here, time is absolutely flying and I'm just hoping and praying that we'll be ready when baby is! We need to finish the nursery which involves painting a bookshelf and the changing table, installing a closet system and accessorizing the room (which is what I'm most looking forward to!). We have 2 baby showers coming up on December 9th and December 13th - maybe that will help with the accessorizing?

My parents have officially moved out and are in their new home. It's a big change and our house feels a little quiet and empty but that will change soon enough. Their new house is great and lots of remodeling has been completed - we've tried to help them out whenever possible over the last month, but time has been something we haven't had a lot of. We had to buy a new couch and completely reorganize our house after they left - we had really been taking advantage of their nice furniture! :)

We had our last birthing class on Monday night and I'm a little sad they're done - we really loved everyone in the class with us and I'd love to continue seeing them once a week. The classes were great and we feel both that we're much more prepared than we would have been without them. I'm still doing yoga at least once a week and I've started working at Blooma on Thursday nights, also. We'll continue to attend Childbirth Collective meetings until January and I'm hoping to make it to some La Leche League meetings, also.

School is keeping Jason very busy but he's doing great and really getting into the swing of things. I feel like I'm bragging about my kid, "He got an A on his last paper! Isn't that great?" :)

I came down with a very nasty bug on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I won't gross you out with the details, but it was pretty horrible and the worst part of it lasted about 2 days. I was extremely dehydrated and my midwife wanted to put me on an IV but they agreed to let me drink my fluids instead. I would say it took another 2-3 days before I was rehydrated. Baby Rumphead was fine the whole time and just kept taking whatever she needed, which I was very thankful for. I'm hoping that will be my last illness of this pregnancy! I got a flu shot, so I better not get the flu! (fingers crossed)

My aunt and uncle (Barb & Jake) came down for a visit last week and it was great to see them. Also over the weekend, we got a call that Chad (my cousin Elisa's husband) and two of his friends had hit a deer in Wisconsin while driving back to Ontario from a week long hunting trip. Their truck wasn't drivable and they were stuck in Spooner, Wisconsin. My mom drove out there to pick them up and we transported them to the Minneapolis airport, where they had rented a car to get back home. Although it was under yucky circumstances, it was nice to see Chad and catch up a bit!

I think that's about it for now - we have some new pictures that I'll add as soon as I get a chance. Before I go, I should mention that I REALLY feel like we're having a girl (you may have noticed I called the baby "she" earlier). I'm so very curious to find out if I'm right! I can hardly wait!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

27 weeks and only 13 to go (hopefully!)

Well, I'm one week away from being officially done with the second trimester... and we'll be having a baby in approximately three months! I can't believe it. Time is flying by and I keep having this feeling that I'm not getting everything done. Get used to it, right? My stomach is getting noticeably bigger. It gets harder to do my yoga class every time.

Last Saturday, we attended the opening of my doula's yoga studio/wellness center, Blooma. I got a very cool henna on my belly which I wish would last the whole pregnancy! It's very fun to have something beautiful on your stomach when it's the size of a watermelon. Here's a picture of it:

We started our Birthing from Within classes last Monday and I think they'll be really good for us. I like the group of people who are in the class and the atmosphere is very calm and soothing. We got to practice pain management techniques using ice, which actually hurts if you hold it in your hands for a little while. Try it once!

Other than that, not too much new going on in the past few weeks. Jason's keeping up with school and he got to write his first real paper today after going to the Van Halen concert last night. Hmm, it almost feels like we're back in college.

Last weekend, Sandy & Miah and Danny & Charlie came to visit. Aymee had to work so she couldn't make it and we missed her. It was a really fun weekend. We all got to see my parents new house in Wisconsin and we got homemade waffles and white sauce for brunch on Sunday morning. Mmmmm. Danny, Jason & Miah had their usual Monopoly game, although Danny didn't win for once.

That's all for now - have a great weekend everyone!

Marathon Weekend ~ Kerri's perspective

What a busy, fun and exhausting weekend!

On Friday night, I attended a Faith and Friendship event at my good friend Jen's church in Chaska. We had a fantastic buffet, heard some great music and were treated to a fun and insightful discussion of the different types of friends and how friendship affects and enhances our faith. I had a great time and loved getting to connect more with Jen, her sister, Sara and Jen's neighbor. Thanks for the invite, Jen!

Saturday morning we got our pumpkins for carving - a dad, a mom and a baby pumpkin. How perfect! We'll post a picture of our carved pumpkins once they're done. We then had a frantic trip to the grocery store and barely made it to our seminar in the afternoon. The seminar was titled, Celebrations & Rituals During the Childbearing Years and was led by Pam England, author of the book, Birthing from Within, which is the childbirth class we'll be taking.

Here's a synopsis of the seminar from the website:
Deep in our bones we know that birth is a rite of passage. We feel that truth quicken our heartbeat; we seek ritual, we feel our feet want to dance, but we never learned the steps. This afternoon will bring joy, dance, color, tears and laughter as we look at celebrating the thresholds from conception to cronehood. Bringing our experiences, dreams and visions together, we will begin to piece together a “quilt” of ritual and ceremony in which to wrap ourselves and the next generation.

Like Jason mentioned, the environment was very soothing and womb-like. A warm, dim room with candles and incense burning and quiet music playing. I could have fallen asleep! The seminar was very good and definitely pushed us out of our comfort zone, which I appreciate. We live in such a sanitized, robotic (Western) culture devoid of true celebrations of motherhood. Expression of our deepest emotions is very rare in a group setting and tends to make us really uncomfortable. It's much easier to exist at a surface level, but not always the best way to live. As Jason mentioned, I got to participate in a ceremony which was meant to celebrate the passage into motherhood and to help me focus on what it means to me to become a mother. The ceremony involved drums, scarves, dancing, music, etc. It was at the same time very unfamiliar and very cool! I was struck with the awesome realization that the baby we are going to deliver in January will FOREVER be our child and we will be the only parents it will ever have. I know it sounds obvious but the absolute permanence of having a baby is amazing to me. It was a great experience.

Saturday night, I made supper for Jason, Tammy & Alysa which turned out great. And Sunday morning, we got up very early for the marathon. Jason and Dan (his friend and running partner) did fantastic especially considering that the day was excruciatingly hot and humid. It was about 74 degrees and 75% humidity at the start of the race and it only got warmer as the day continued. It was clear that lots of runners were struggling with the heat, but they pushed through and finished. It was a huge accomplishment for Jason and I'm very proud of him! Dan was a great running partner and supporter for Jason. Thanks Dan!

The Twin Cities Marathon is known as the most beautiful urban marathon in the US and I believe it. Here's a couple of pictures from the marathon. The first is a picture of the runners at Mile 22, just to the right of them is the Mississippi - that's the next picture. The last is a picture of the Capitol Building where the marathon ended.

Overall, we had a very busy and fulfilling weekend. I need some sleep...

Marathon Weekend - In Review

Well, what can I say??

This last weekend was one like I have never had before, and one that I will not likely ever see again, given the combinations of activities, people, places and things. Let's start with Saturday, shall we?

It started as a very relaxed weekend. Kerri & I slept in on Saturday morning - for me that means around 8:30 a.m. & for Kerri a little later. We both got ready (read: put on clothes and baseball caps) and went to get pumpkins for carving sometime soon. It was a rather sticky and warm morning, and we both talked about how we hoped the same weather would not spill over into Sunday. We found our way home a short time after pumpkins and a Byerly's shopping trip to really get ready (read: shower) for an afternoon workshop being offered by Birthing from Within author, Pam England.

We traveled to Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury and were greeted by a few friendly faces that we recognized - and promptly sat for the workshop. The smell of burning incense, dimmed lighting and sound of soothing music welcomed us into the conference room where the workshop would take place. The workshop was very interesting - many of the topics and activities were outside of our normal comfort zone. We listened to discussion about rediscovering rituals and took part in a couple of native rituals ourselves. We will be starting a Birthing from Within class in the coming weeks. I am really looking forward to exploring the ideas and practices that were touched on in this workshop - I'm sure we'll have more to share!

After the workshop was over (at about 4:30 p.m.) we headed home to prepare my pre-marathon meal. Not long after we got home, we were joined by my sister (Tammy) and niece (Alysa). At the time of their arrival, Kerri was frantically hustling about the kitchen tending to four things at once - eat your heart out, Rachel Ray.

The smells of garlic and fresh tomato sauce began filling the house, and before long we were all treated to a fantastic dinner. The pasta sauce was incredible - and spicy! Coupled with the bread, which had freshly roasted garlic and melted cheese, the pasta was just the carb load that I needed to power me through 26.2 miles in the morning. Take note of Kerri's last post and make this one at home, even if you're not running a marathon. The shrimp in the pasta and red pepper flakes in the sauce were a tasty flavor combination. Cheesecake and plenty of glasses of water were the perfect dessert!

Fast-forward to Sunday, 6:30 a.m. After a decent sleep, I awoke, got dressed and started to mentally prepare myself for the run of my life. My running partner, Dan, showed promptly at 7:00 a.m. and we discussed our approach to the race coming up. Kerri dropped us off at the marathon start (Metrodome) and promised to see us at mile 7 (Lyndale Rose Gardens).

I'd take you through a mile-by-mile account of the race, but that would likely feel like the 5 hour and 42 minute torture that it was. In hindsight, it could've been worse. Sure, it was one of the hottest Twin Cities Marathons on record and my training "taper" turned into a "stop", but I didn't pass out from dehydration or burst into tears from the pain. With Kerri, Tammy and Alysa cheering (and with food and water) at miles 7, 17, 20 and 26 and with the constant pushing and encouragement from Dan, I finished my first marathon.

Here I am at mile 17 (still smiling for the camera!):


And here we are at the finish line:


By and large, the marathon was the most physically grueling activity I have ever been through in my life. A day later, I am struggling to walk down stairs and rise from a seated position. But, other than a sore back and tired legs, I am feeling pretty good.

Some tips for any of you would-be marathoners:

1. Train properly. Don't let your taper turn into a stop. Do as many miles as you can throughout the training period.
2. Hope that you are lucky enough to have a wife like Kerri to take care of you before and after the race. Thanks for the dinner, cheering, food/water, and loving at mile 17, babe. I'm glad you didn't leave - I was looking forward to a little sugar!
3. Have a friend like Dan to power you through the rough spots. Dan could've finished the marathon at least an hour ahead of our recorded finish, but he stayed with me the entire time. He helped me push through. I'd like to think that I would've been able to push myself through had he not been there - but my thanks go out to him for sticking with me.

Thanks to Tammy and Alysa for coming to cheer me on through the run. I really appreciate you guys coming down to see me and help me make it through. Your words of encouragement meant a lot! I look forward to running the marathon with you in 2010, Alys. Let's start with some 5k's next summer!

Thanks to everyone else who also had my back but couldn't make it out on race day, for whatever reason. I appreciate the support you gave leading up to the race! I hope this post wasn't too long, drawn out and boring for you all to read. After all, it was my weekend to remember. And remember it, I will...

Natural Childbirth

Immediately upon finding out that I was pregnant, I decided that it was important to me to have as natural a pregnancy and delivery as possible, while knowing that there may be issues that are out of my control and being ready to accept whatever childbirth experience we are given. Personally, since it's my body and my baby that will be affected, I feel very strongly about being able to make choices without outside pressure from others, such as doctors, nurses, concerned friends, etc. (even though their intentions are usually good).

It's interesting to me how people react when they find out this is my choice. Some people think it's great but most people make a comment something similar this, "Oh, just you wait until you see how much it hurts - you'll want drugs for sure!" And then they tell me how horribly painful childbirth is and how I can't understand this since I've never experienced it before. While I appreciate and respect the fact that this may have been their experience, I truly resent being told that I don't have the ability to make the correct choice about my body, my baby's body and drugs, simply because I've never experienced childbirth.

During my first appointment with my physician (who is no longer my physician), she callously advised me that I would not truly want a waterbirth as the only thing I'm going to want to do during labor is lay flat on my back in bed and accept the pain relief they provide. I'd like to think that as a smart, educated, independent women, I CAN make that decision for myself - thank you very much!

In her book, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May Gaskin writes:

So many horror stories circulate about birth - especially in the United States - that it can be difficult for women to believe that labor and birth can be a beneficial experience. If you have been pregnant for a while, it's probable that you've already heard some scary birth stories from friends or relatives. This is especially true if you live in the United States, where telling pregnant women gory stories has been a national pastime for at least a century. Now that birth has become a favorite subject of television dramas and situation comedies, this trend has been even
more pronounced. No one has explained the situation more succinctly than Steven King in his novella "The Breathing Method." Commenting on the fear many women have of birth, his fictional character observes, "Believe me: if you are told that some experience is going to hurt, it will hurt. Most pain is in the mind, and when a woman absorbs the idea that the act of giving birth is excruciatingly painful - when she gets this information from her mother, her sisters, her married friends, and her physician - that woman has been mentally prepared to feel great agony." King, you may not know, is the father of several children born at home. The best way I know to counter the effects of frightening stories is to hear or read empowering ones. I mean stores that change you because you read or heard them, because the teller of the story taught you something you didn't know before or helped you look at things from a different angle than you ever had before.

My beautiful doula, Sarah, has been the best in reassuring me that I am strong and I have the ability to have a baby. Now don't get me wrong... I don't believe that I can control every aspect of my labor and delivery and if something happens which requires intervention OR if I decide at some point that I do want drugs, then I'll be ok with whatever happens.

What I'm focusing on is believing that the birth of our child will be an amazing, beautiful, life changing experience (no matter how it occurs) and that I am truly strong enough to birth a baby without drugs. Millions of women, all over the world have done this and continue to do this everyday. I am choosing to trust my body and my instincts and to believe in the strength that ALL WOMEN possess, including me.

I hope that everyone who knows me, can both accept this choice and support me in this effort.

Rumphead's Nursery

Since we don't know what we're having (I know it's a girl, but shhh... don't tell Jason!) we had to have a gender neutral nursery. Here's a picture of the fabrics we'll be using. The theme of the nursery is a vintage Dick & Jane fabric with muted red, blue, green and yellow colors. The walls of the room are a light green and the crib is cream. The yellow and blue paint chips are what the changing table and bookshelf will be painted. All of the fabrics will be used to make a quilt, bedskirt, crib bumper, curtains and pillows (by my most awesome friend and seamstress, Jen - I love you!!)

Also, here's what I look like today - almost 24 weeks pregnant ... big mummy tummy! So yummy!

Name Game

I want to thank Kerri for taking the first step in setting up our blog and catching everyone (is that anyone?) up on the last 23 weeks. She did a fantastic job in recounting the highlights and some of the finer points of our foray into the world of parenthood.

It's funny how the little things in our every day take up so much time and thought. Take for example, this blog. Kerri started the new blog process early this week - she signed up on the google (on the internets) and we spent the longest time between the sign-up and the first blog in the 'naming' step. The naming step is something that we've gone through in the past. Kerri and I both spent a considerable amount of time trying to come up with a name for a band that I play(?) and sing in. That one ended up at 'Spinal Cracker', not 'Rubber Lucky' like someone would have chosen...

Roundabout - we've come to the name game to end all name games. We hit the baby name books pretty hard early on, spending evenings and weekends with the "what do you think about...?" conversation. Thanks (again) go out to Kerri for charging down this road. And, she came up with some pretty good names -some others, not so good...

Regardless, it's been fun thinking of names, so far. And, with 16 weeks left before our due date arrives, there is plenty of fun to be had. Kerri feels pretty strongly that she's carrying a girl, so the names that have taken the majority of conversation have been of the female persuasion. We've got a good number of boy's names, too. You'll all find out in January!!

We're online...finally!

As of today, we're officially 23 weeks pregnant! I can't express how excited we are for the arrival of our little one and it's amazing how fast the first 23 weeks have gone. Since we're more than a little late in the game in documenting our pregnancy, I'll give you a quick run down of our first five months.

May 2007 ~ Our positive pregnancy test on May 17th came as a huge surprise to me as I thought I had my period and we were in for another month of trying. Jason was in Dallas, Texas on a business trip when I found out and it took every ounce of willpower in my body not to call him immediately! But I wanted to surprise him when he came home, so I exercised this rare control over myself. I had promised Jason that me and my dad would redo our closet while he was gone. My dad was awesome and took down all our old shelves and installed the new system that we bought. I found a gender neutral baby onesie and hung it prominently in our new closet with the positive pregnancy test attached. When Jason got home, I told him there was a surprise in our closet ...he thought it was new shelving! It took him a couple of seconds to realize what the onesie meant, but he was very happy and we had a little cry together.





June 2007 ~ While the first few weeks of pregnancy were good, I got very sick at the beginning of June. For about 4 days straight, I threw up constantly and couldn't keep any food or liquid down. I wasn't able to work and was really worried about getting through the next three months in such a state. After two doctor's appointments and the threat of being hospitalized to get an IV, I finally was prescribed an anti-nausea medication which was like a miracle! The first time I took it, I felt better within an hour and was able to eat and drink like a normal person. This resulted in Jason making a frantic run to McDonalds for a cheeseburger and fries...not the best food for my growing baby but I NEEDED it! Of course, need is relative...

I've been taking the medication since although I'm down to about 1/2 a pill every 2-3 days, which is fantastic! I would really like to be off the medication completely but throwing up incessantly is not manageable when I'm at work.

Also during the first week of June, I started bleeding which was extremely scary! This resulted in several doctor's appointments in which my hormone levels were checked and our first ultrasound on June 11th to check the baby and my uterus. The ultrasound experience was amazing even though the baby was only about the size of a peanut. Jason nicknamed the baby "Rugby Rumphead" as the ultrasound tech was considerate enough to label the baby's rump and head on the pictures. On a more serious note, we were very happy that the results were normal. However, it was unsettling that they couldn't identify a reason for the bleeding, which continued until the beginning of August. I was not able to exercise this entire time, which was disappointing as I really wanted to do prenatal yoga. Regardless, we were and we continue to be very thankful that it ended up being nothing and our baby is healthy today!

As a result of these complications, we quickly learned that my doctor wasn't a good fit for us and we immediately began looking for a new care provider. As it's very important to us to have as natural a pregnancy and delivery as possible, it made sense that we would be happier with the midwifery model of care, rather than a regular ob/gyn. We found a fantastic clinic with three midwives (who we love!) and they have been absolutely amazing.

Books I read in May and June:
The Complete Organic Pregnancy, Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May Gaskin
The Whole Pregnancy Handbook, Joel M. Evans, M.D., Ob/Gyn
The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy

July 2007 ~ On July 18th, we had our 2nd ultrasound. Again, it's absolutely amazing to see a baby in your body! Everything was normal and we were very reassured as I was still bleeding at this time. On July 19th, we had our first meeting with our Doula, Sarah Longacre. We hit it off immediately and I could instantly see her as the person that I would feel completely comfortable relying on during my labor. Sarah is extremely friendly and open, she's very knowledgeable and giving and I'm so excited that we have the privilege of having her at our birth! She's also my prenatal yoga instructor as an added bonus! Take a look at her website if you're interested: http://sarahthedoula.com/sarah.asp

What is a Doula?
Derived from ancient Greek, Doula originally meant "women who help other women," or "highest household servant." Today, Doulas not only provide laboring mothers with physical and emotional support, but also hands-on education that can't be found in any book. Doulas offer support to the pregnant couple prior, during and after the baby is born. A Doula mothers the mother. They assist the couple with breathing and relaxation techniques and non-medical technical labor-coping strategies.

Books I read in July:
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth, Henci Goer
Gentle Birth Choices, Barbara Harper, R.N.

August 2007 ~ August was a great month because we got to spend a week in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico with our friends, Jen & Tom and Erin & Tim. The weather was hot and perfect for spending all day, every day baking in the sun and swimming. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. One day, we took the ferry from Playa to Cozumel and rented scooters and snorkel equipment for the day. Of course, this ended up being the only rainy day of our trip but driving scooters in the pouring rain (it hurts!) is a memory we'll never forget. We had a blast and got a nice tan in the process!

Here we are, tan and happy, on 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen:


We had our third and most detailed ultrasound on August 30th. We got to see the baby scratch its head and put it's finger in its mouth and move around like crazy. It was great. We fall more in love with the baby every day, but actually seeing it makes the experience feel so much more real. The ultrasound tech could tell what the baby is...but we're waiting to find out!

Books I read in August:
Adventures in Natural Childbirth: Tales from Women on the Joys, Fears, Pleasures and Pains of Giving Birth Naturally, Pam England, CNM & MA and Janet Schwegel
Birthing From Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation, Pam England, CNM & MA and Rob Horowitz, Ph.D.

September 2007 ~ On August 31st, we drove to Canada with Danny, Aymee & Charlie to spend Labor Day weekend with our family. We spent the first night at my aunt & uncle's house. The boys all went fishing on Saturday and the girls hung out and relaxed. On Saturday night, we drove to Morden and spent the rest of the weekend visiting with everyone else. It was great to see everyone but me, Aymee and Charlie were all sick and we left our sickness there, unfortunately. Sorry to all who got sick! Thanks to Val & Larry, Barb & Jake and Ray & Pat for letting us crash at your places even though we were sick and probably not the best house guests!
Here's Charlie Bucket, (our niece and Danny & Aymee's baby girl):



I turned 29 on the 6th and I'm feeling a little old since I'm almost 30 and having a baby. I guess it's time to grow up, finally. It's weird how you start thinking about things differently when you're having a baby - I think I'm driving more carefully, which is good. Jason started school this month, also. He's going to be getting a degree in Organizational Management and Leadership from Concordia College. Very exciting!

That pretty much brings us to today, September 27th. We had a doctor's appointment today and everything was fine. The baby was as active as usual, flipping and turning all over the place, making things difficult for my midwife. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come - will the baby be like me? :) Now that we're caught up, we hope to keep this blog updated regularly, so check back soon.

Lots of love!