Faith 'n Family: July 2013

Welcome to our Family!

Our Beautiful Baby Girl was born June 21st

5 lbs 10 oz

19 inches long

Tanzi Belle Henderson

She has been such a joy to have in our home :)

The girls thoroughly enjoy their new baby sister :)

These next pics are so sweet as they say hello to their new friend.

They got such a kick that the baby was able to hold their finger.

Silver's face sums up how she feels!

Summer loves to sing her baby songs.

River loves to help change diapers and do anything she can to help out!

River loves to hold her and tickle her toesies.

The following is the birth story, so please quit reading here if you don't want details :)

So I mentioned that I love being pregnant - i can sleep when pregnant and 1 feel great. My quote on the quote board:

I LOVE pregnancy! I can sleep and that outweighs ALL other effects. I only have 10 more weeks and wish it could somehow last longer - this pregnancy has gone by WAY too fast!

Well at just over 7 weeks to go it all slowed down. I overdid it on a Saturday planting our grass - we plugged it so we drilled holes in the dirt and then planted the “plug” in the hole…not physically demanding, but sitting and standing all day long in the sun has its effects. Monday I went with River’s class on a field-trip to the Glen Canyon Dam. An hour each way on a bus and a day walking around also doesn’t help. We then went to Daddy’s office to say hello and he bought them a snow cone. We went to the park to eat the snow cones and play. Getting home I sat down with River to do her piano and Colt walks in just then and says “are you ready to go?” I totally spaced our farewell pot-luck at the park with the Barons moving to Missouri. Yikes, long story short it was go go go for over 12 hours.

With my past 3 pregnancies I was always able to be active right until the very end. It was not to be with this one, especially pushing myself the way I did. That night I had about 2 hours of painful contractions and nausea. I went to see my midwife the next morning and I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 2 at 32 weeks of pregnancy.

Every time I would get up it would start again into tightening of my belly, and I felt very strongly that if I didn't lay down this baby would come early. So I stayed down. I also felt really weird, I think it was blood pressure. Pregnancy was not going quickly anymore - I guess in a way I didn't want I got my wish! Stay baby stay in! I was suddenly okay being pregnant as long as I possibly could!

It was very frustrating being down, but GREAT THINGS started happening in our home because I have had to be down.

The first day I focused on what I couldn’t do: House needed cleaned up, laundry needed done, dishes needed done, I had PLANS this Summer: Pool is open again! Swimming lessons, we have a science book we were going to do all sorts of science experiments together…hiking, camping, family adventures…..I couldn't even cry! Crying wasn't an option because that just made tons more contractions.

Colt wisely counseled me to focus on what I could do instead of what I could NOT do.

*Cuddle my kids – the girls just come up to me and cuddle – each one for quite a while at a time. There is no way I would have spent an hour just cuddling with them before.

*Reading – I have always read a lot to my girls – but it has become very special, and cuddled up and reading chapter books and picture books.

*I have read several books that I have been wanting to read and never found the time

*After the dishes piled up for several days River came to me saying that she had a plan. How about we do dishes after every meal and we are in charge of clearing the table, loading and unloading. The girls have been doing the dishes and keeping up with it pretty well.
*We had many angels come into our home to help - Relief Society Sisters from church brought in meals, cleaned our house, took our kids on outings, visited and loved. We felt very loved and watched out for with all the help. It is hard for me to need help, and ask for help, but in everything there is a season - a season to help and a season to be helped!

Summer: while putting her hand on my belly: “This baby taking long time to Pop OUT!”

*Summer would cover my tummy (the baby) with her most favorite hand blankie! This blankie is so special to her and no one can borrow it, but she shared with her baby!

*We learned how to French braid River’s hair. We have a computer set up by the couch and we watch hair tutorials and I can sit and practice them on her.

*Laundry – I will put the laundry on the floor and they will pick out their own and get it into their drawers and bring me the matching socks to fold – when their sock is folded they get to throw it into the hamper to make a basket! Oh what fun that has been!

*But the BEST thing that has come out of it is our bedtime routine. It is hard for me having 3 kids share a room to have them settle down and go to sleep – one (usually Summer) usually keeps the other two awake. I can’t be getting up to help her get back to her crib and settle down again. I have one girl come fall asleep with me and the other two go get into their own beds. They fall asleep so much better this way! It then turns into a very special time where I can talk to each girl. Summer says “read scriptures to me!” so we’ll read scriptures and sing the Primary Songs for 20 minutes each night. This is such a special time, each one feels so loved and knows that their turn will come up again soon. Then Daddy carries them to bed after they are asleep.

We enjoy having our baby with a midwife - I want to give birth naturally without pain medications - she can deliver the baby only after 37 weeks. My goal was to get to at least June 20th - the 37 week mark. June 19th I went to sleep. 1/2 hour into June 20th at 12:30 in the morning my water broke. What a miracle and answer to prayer to make it to the 20th! I was shaking so badly. I usually don't shake unless I'm going through Transition, and my water has never broken before. I called my midwife and she couldn't leave town because she had 2 ladies very close to delivery and several others that could go any day. She asked me to come to her birth clinic an hour and a half away.

At first I was very disappointed, this was not my home birth that I had wanted. But as Colt and I gathered some things to go, I felt very calm about it. As baby is 3 weeks early, we would be very close to a good hospital just in case.

I started having painful contractions that got down to 2 minutes apart. We were debating whether we had time to stop and get gas or not. But about 1/2 hour away contractions started getting father apart and by the time we got to the clinic they had basically stopped.

She told us that once she checks me we have 12 hours to have the baby in because of risk of infection with the water broken like that. 48 hours was the longest that I could go before giving birth again for risk of infection. We decided to get a good nights sleep that night.

The next day we had a lovely time just Colt and I. We usually have so many things to do when in the big city that it is usually rush here and there. We were able to go to breakfast, walk around WalMart, watch a movie in a theatre, take a nap, go to dinner and walk around the temple.

That night my midwife suggested getting me started. She said she still had the 3 ladies that could go at any minute and I was the closest one with my water already broken. I am NOT a night person and things easily overwhelm me in the evening hours. Colt and I felt it best to get another good night's sleep and start me first thing the next morning.

She ended up delivering a baby at 4:00 in the morning and another at 8:00, so it was very good we waited. She was able to come and start me and she was there at the clinic the whole time until the baby came. I felt very good with this as I can go very fast once things get started and I felt very comforted that she was just in the next room.

Colt and I went to a park to have breakfast before everything got started - and we saw this written on the steps there in chalk: I will love you every step of the way.

This was perfect, as Colt has always been with me every step and through everything and all of my weaknesses and trials he has supported me through. It was the perfect saying as we took this step to bring another daughter into our home.

The sweetest picture on the wall where I was having the baby.

Colt and I would talk about baby names inbetween contractions, and he would help me to breathe through them. I do better when it is just Colt and I working through the labor. My midwife came to check on me once and I started crying - which is not good for me as it causes contractions to come harder, and it is harder to breathe through the contraction.

We called her in once I felt we were very close. She checked me - dilated to an 8, and 4 minutes later, our baby was here.

Baby gave a little sqwuak and then went quiet. She wasn't breathing. I was very impressed with the midwife as calm as she was suctioning out the mouth, nose, puffing into her mouth to get her lungs going and massaging her vigorously to get her going. I knew she was in good hands.

It was a very spiritual and very special time for Colt and I to be able to go through that together.

No, it was not my ideal home birth, but it was perfect!