So, using the term relatively, our little girl is getting big! Our babies tend to have weight-gain issues, partly due to my body’s apparent reluctance to lactate, and partly due to Conan’s incredibly fast metabolism being passed on down. While Evangeline initially lost the average 6% in body weight at 1 day old, after 5 days she was still losing rather than gaining, weighing in at 5lbs 11oz. Our pediatrician recommended that we start tube feeding to supplement, and prescribed a hospital grade pump so insurance could help with the rental cost, hoping we could supplement with breast milk rather than formula. Nursing, then tube feeding was taking at least an hour, then I was supposed to pump afterwards, repeated every two to three hours (from the beginning of the routine). Umm… I have three boys at home. I’m lucky if I can make time to pump once a day, and all I get are a few drops. Not much worth the effort, in my opinion!

However, we stuck to it, and just two days later, she’d gained 3 ounces! We then switched to a bottle, as getting the tube perfectly lined up to use simultaneously with breast-feeding was a huge frustration, yet finger-feeding was NOT developing good latch-on habits. We’re still struggling with correcting that. I’m working on locating a lactation consultant we can afford at the moment. The only one who has returned my calls charges $125 for one 2-hour visit! I went ahead and started taking herbal supplements to augment my milk supply, even though my La Leche League contact recommended not doing that for at least 6 weeks– um sorry, but if my baby is obviously still hungry after nursing every single time, there’s something wrong! Anyway, at her two week visit she was a whopping 6lbs 10oz! She gained nearly a pound in a week! Way to go Cheerio!

Conan, tube-feeding our little peanut: 

So, here’s the brief synopsis for the faint of heart… the full details follow under "Continue Reading." The short answer is that everything went well. My 5 hour labor was "easy…" at least for everyone watching. I had no pain medication, and minimal bodily damage. I cannot imagine doing that for twice as long, though I know many women do! There were things we LOVED about having a home birth, and things I think I prefer about a hospital birth… namely the convenience for newborn exams and recovery time. All in all I’m grateful for that experience and I’m glad our little Evangeline is here!

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This post is dedicated to all the amazing people who were here to help me bring this little amazing person into the world.

 First: My Amazing husband and labor coach, Conan

This wonderful man has been taking care of us all since ground zero. He was an amazing labor coach, and has been a superhero Dad for taking care of all of us since I’ve been on bed rest. Conan, you are the Love of my Life. I am so eternally grateful for you.

Next: My Amazing Mother-in-Law

She arrived just as my labor began Wednesday, and jumped right in taking care of the boys, washing laundry, even scrubbing the bathroom floor! Then she went ahead and canned all those bushels of apples I had on hand, took the boys to the park, and cleaned house… we are SO grateful for her help. Thanks Mom!

The Amazing Becky:

My wonderful friend hasn’t been feeling so great herself, yet she made us two large dinners, stayed and played with the boys for hours one day, and helped in the immense applesaucing event! Becky, I don’t know how God made such amazing people! Thank You! 

The Amazing Big Brothers:

 These guys ADORE their little sister, and they’ve been so very good with her. She is certainly surrounded by Love.

There will be more details to follow, I promise! 

Per Grandparental Request, here are more pictures of our newest little love… with eyes open.

Since it’s Conan here writing, you’re going to get the basics.  Melissa will fill in with the whole story later, I’m sure.

Name: Evangeline Elizabeth Heiselt
DOB: 29 Oct 2008
Time of arrival: 10:54 PM EST
Gender: girl
Weight: 6 lbs. 4 oz.
Length: 19 3/4 inches
Cuteness level: High

Be sure to click on the Read More… link below to see more pictures and a video.

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So, with 2 weeks left to go, people are always asking me… "What are you still doing here?" and "Haven’t you popped that baby out yet??!" Um thanks, but I’ve still got some time to go, though I appreciate your crude concern. Their comments are no doubt due to my size, and elevation… er, lack thereof? I carry very low anyway, so when I drop it just looks dangerous, apparently.

In fact, at the last exam, my midwife informed me that our little girl is so engaged that she couldn’t even feel the head. Or the neck. And only a little slope of the shoulders. But does that mean birthing is eminent for us? Not necessarily. Neils was very low 2 weeks before his due date, and I’d started effacing and dilating and my doctor thought I ought to prepare to go early… and he was 2 weeks after that silly due date.

It does, however, mean that Mamma is a wee bit uncomfortable, to say the least. My midwife also said that she is posterior, meaning although she is head-down, she is facing out, rather than towards my spine as she should be. Many women birth babies this way, and most of the time they do turn around during labor at some point, and even if they don’t they can still make their way into the world just fine, but it accounts for that very uncomfortable "back labor" we hear about, and just generally means a longer more painful labor and delivery in general. Since I am going au natural, I would really appreciate prayers that she will turn herself around BEFORE we go into labor. It would make things happier for both of us, I am sure.

I was determined to make it to this special Homeschool Opportunity at Peacock Road Tree Farm of Laingsburg, where we would not only get to do the traditional hayride back to the pumpkin patch and pet some farm animals, but we would get to tour their old one-room schoolhouse and farm cabin, learn about how farmers did the laundry and other household chores 100 years ago, and learn how to make rope. It was a promising excursion I’d been looking forward to for weeks. But being 9 months pregnant makes certain things a little more of a challenge… such as chasing 3 boys all over a farm, and well, walking in general. So we opted to wait until Conan got off work to join the festivities. When we arrived the parking lot was virtually empty and we were so ready to be disappointed. We were informed that the homeschool day was over, and that they had another activity lined up. But if we wanted to, we could be part of their TV spot Comcast would be filming, at no charge, and we’d get to do all the things we’d hoped to do plus watch pig races, and ride the train! Sign me up, yeah!

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Apparently that’s what our little angel is trying to tell us.

"Um, stay put kid." That’s what I’m saying! November is a much better month for your birthday, trust me. I have a tendency towards "false labor," but never like this. Usually it’s early labor intensity contractions that start out maybe 5 minutes apart and last for an hour or so and then stop. With Keane I had contractions 10 minutes apart for about 4 hours then suddenly we were in a panic to get to the hospital on time.

Last night I had fairly intense early labor intensity contractions 13 minutes apart for about 6 hours. Well they ranged from 15 minutes to 7 minutes, they never got consistently closer together however, and they eventually decreased in intensity, so we’re off the hook. We did call our midwife after about 4 hours, however, and she gave me some herbal remedies that would space out the contractions and calm the uterus if it wasn’t real labor. And she checked me, and for all that ruckus there was no progress, so, for sure, it was a false alarm. 

It made me realize 3 things:

1. I am not ready for this baby.

(Read as: I haven’t even washed the newborn stuff and put it in her dresser yet, let alone buy tiny diapers!)

2. I really don’t want another October birthday for our family.

3. I am really glad we found a midwife!

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to meet with all 5 of Conan’s siblings, and most of their spouses and children, to commemorate the life of their beloved Grandma Holben. She was an amazing woman, who even in her last months fought hard to hold on to her very quick mind and memories. As mentioned in the eulogy, she was the most tech-savvy 90 year old you are ever likely to meet, and she often learned new programs and procedures to keep more organized in the Family History department and her own personal writings. Above was our last photo with her from June of this year. Burke and Keane just loved spending time with her. It was definitely time for her to go, and she was more than ready. Her husband had preceded her in death by I believe 4 years, and she was so happy to be off to meet him. We love you Grandma, we’ll miss you, and we’re happy for you. Below are some few photos of the event.

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SO, Neils discovered for himself that Mom isn’t just trying to be bossy when she says "don’t eat too much sugar or you’ll feel sick."

Monday night Neils wanted to do sugar cookies and frosting for a treat, and I promised I would. My body was not cooperating, however, and pretty severe contractions made it harder to accomplish everything (I’m not talking about Braxton Hicks that tighten and end periodically… I’m talking about contractions so hard and constant that I could count the number of times a day I wasn’t contracting on one hand… and by evening they were labor-intensity). But a promise is a promise, and although dinner consisted of steamed fresh green beans courtesy of Burke and Conan, and some leftover hummus and Naan, we mostly frosted and ate sugar cookies. I have no idea how many Neils ate, but he needed to go to the bathroom before dinner ended and came out saying, "I think I ate too much sugar…" He had thrown up everything. Conan was a superstar and took care of the mess, but the quote of the day goes to Neils. As Conan was cleaning up the mess, Neils asked why. Conan replied that mom wasn’t feeling well so he needed to do it, and asked if Neils would rather do it… his response?

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