Baby Sophia's Spine-Tingling Show!

 On the way to Villa de Leyva - Bathroom Break                                  The fossil     

Davey at the museum
Less than a day later-breathing thru contractions



Newbie
Not happy with the blue outfit daddy bought her


Decided blue is not so bad
The umbilical cord cutting scissors




















Lydia holding Sophia
Julia holding Sophia


Sleeping peacefully
The three girls from the US, Liz, Ellen and Lydia, got here safe and sound Wednesday night. They carried down sound equipment and some personal things for us, and were not charged anything for extra bags, which is amazing since most airlines are now only allowing one bag. We praise the Lord for their safe arrival.

Thursday morning, we left for Villa de Leyva around 11am with the 3 girls and Lucho, who was going to help put up some playground equipment at the camp. Our thought was "What are the chances that the baby will come during these 2 days" as we were only planning on being gone 48 hours. I asked David "Should I bring my bags?", which were all packed and ready for the hospital. We agreed it wasn't worth the space, what are the chances? So on the way to camp, we stopped in a tourist town called Raquirá and let the girls do their trinket shopping. Then we stopped to see a fossil in Villa de Leyva. We got to the camp around 5 or 6, in a downpour of rain. We unloaded all the clothes and food. The kids instantly got all muddy and we had several slips on the wet tile. We decided to skip a bonfire in the downpour. The kids all fell asleep pretty quickly around 9:30, except Georgie. He finally fell asleep after 10, and I fell sound asleep at 10:30. At 11:00, I woke up with a jolt. Either it was a strong kick or a contraction. Neither quite describes it, so I'm not sure. If it was a contraction, it was my last strong one for about 16 hours, so that would be strange. And if it were a kick, it was unlike any kick I ever had. But I jumped out of bed, and instantly had diarrhea and my whole body was shaking and really cold. So I sat on the bed, trying to decide if I should wake up David or not. I was having contractions, but really really mild and not across my whole stomach, down very low. Around midnight, I thought given our history of fast arrivals, I better wake him up. Around 12:30, we told the girls we were going to go in to the hospital and at least be checked. Nothing like trial by fire, these poor girls had been in the country just over 24 hours, and we left them with five kids and no instructions other than how to make the pancakes, which they didn't find out until after they had made them anyways! Anyways, my thought was if I were dilated to a 3 or below, maybe we could make a run for Bogotá, 3 hours away. If I were 4 or above, we'd have the baby in Villa de Leyva. Well, they hooked me up to a monitor, and the baby's heart rate was 113, and 120 is the low end of the range. They kept me on the monitor about 1/2 hour, I think, and the heart rate stayed about the same. With the contractions, mild though they were, it would increase, then drop back down. The doctor there said they were a small hospital, not equipped to handle the kind of care we might need, and so recommended that I go by ambulance to a bigger town called Tunja, (population 160,000) about an hour away. We debated just going in the car, but they convinced David he didn't want to deliver a baby on the side of the mountain by himself. So off I went, with him following. The driver obviously did not want to deliver a baby in his ambulance, as he drove like a madman, careening down this mountain road. He did slow down for major potholes, thankfully. I actually drifted off a few times, between still very mild contractions. We checked in to Clinica Especializada de los Andes around 4am. They hooked me up to a monitor again, and the baby's heartbeat was normal, I don't remember exactly what it was, but if I remember right it was in the 130's. But because I was having contractions and was dilated to like a 3, they went ahead and admitted me. We debated all through the day whether to leave and make a dash for Bogotá, and in hindsight we would have had plenty of time, but not knowing then what we know now, it seemed safer just to stay put. They hooked me up to an iv, and started a drip of oxytocin, a drug to start contractions. Unfortunately, they hooked it up wrong, and the drip kept stopping and starting. My contractions varied between every 2 minutes to every 5 minutes, but nothing consistent. Around 1 in the afternoon, they swapped out the iv thing for an automated one that regulated the drip better, and that one worked. My contractions continued irregularly, but around 4, they got much stronger. I had asked several times for an epidural, and they said they did them there, no problem, etc. Around 5, I came to the sinking realization that they just weren't set up for it. They had no intention all along of giving me an epidural. What an awful feeling! But the Lord gave grace, and my verse "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might", really strengthened me to face what was ahead. Around 7 the contractions were pretty intense, it was very strong back labor, and Baby Sophia was born "sunny side up" at 9:05 according to my watch, although they registered 9:15. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, but they quickly disentangled her, praise the Lord. When she decided to come, she came so fast she surprised us all, and they hadn't had time to transfer me to the birthing suite, so the doctor ran off to find some scissors to cut the umbilical cord with. She came back with these blunt-ended kids' scissors, which David grabbed out of her hand and began the lengthy process of cutting the cord. I think it took 5 or 6 cuts! Anyways, she weighed 3,430 grams and was 53 centimeters long (7 lbs 9 oz, 20 3/4"). I had had a nightmare about our baby being stolen, so when they whisked her away, I asked David to please...follow the baby. He went with them down to the birthing room where they weighed her and sort of cleaned her up a bit, and I followed shortly after. The strange thing was, there wasn't really warm or hot water at the hospital, and no little tub to bathe her in, so I had to bathe poor little Sophia with a cold wet cloth. She did NOT appreciate it, but at least we gave her lungs a good workout. Sophia was a great baby that first night, and slept from 11pm until 8am the next morning. I got up at 6, hoping for a warm shower, and at times the water was almost warm! I crawled back into bed afterwards and slept until 7:30, I think.

David left around 10:30 to go back to Villa de Leyva and pick up the girls and Lucho and the kids, then he got back to Tunja around 3:00. I had a restful morning, caught up on some much needed sleep. They brought me a hard-boiled egg and a roll for breakfast. They only allowed liquids while I was in labor, so when I was done with that, I was ready for breakfast! David ran out and got me a donut. At lunch, I thought I wasn't going to get any. I heard all the plates clanging around, and they never came. I was starving. I thought of my sister Rita, who somehow they missed when serving breakfast, and she had to wait until lunch after delivering my niece Kyle. But lunch finally did come at 12:50, to the minute :-), and I gobbled up some really good squash soup, squash, rice and piece of typical Colombian fatty meat. We made it back to Bogotá around 5:00, the girls helped me make supper and we went to bed pretty normal time. I was feeling really good, not sore at all and with good energy. That was to change quickly as Sophia kept me up until 3:00 that night. I finally woke David up, and he came up with Meleah, who sang to Sophia until 3:30, when she fell asleep. The next night was slightly better, 1am, and last night wasn't so great again. But David took a shift until 10:30, so I got an hours sleep, then again, took over at 5:30, and I slept another 2 hours. I also got an hour nap this afternoon while the girls babysat.

Anyways, overall, things are going really good. She's a little yellow. The sun seems to be helping. We praise the Lord for her safe arrival and although it maybe wasn't my preferred length of labor, we know it was His perfect timing. None of that matters in light of a healthy baby!

(Women who want to may keep reading for more details on the birth).






Around 4, I lost my mucous plug and the contractions got noticeably harder. About 7, I was in some intense pain with contractions every 2 minutes lasting 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. It was all in my lower back, very excruciating. Around 8, they brought in a group, as they had done all day. I'm still not sure if it was a class or just the staff on duty, keeping track of status and staff changes. At any rate, they periodically came in and read my stats 'This is Renee Ellen Easter, she is 42, this is her 5th birth, blah blah blah'. At 8, when they came, I asked the doctor what happened next and he said when you feel the urge to push, just let us know and we transfer you down to the birthing room. So at 8:30, when I felt the urge to push, I rang the bell. The whole group came in again and read my stats 'This is Renee Ellen Easter, she is 42, this is her 5th birth, blah blah blah', and then they all left. Someone came back in and stripped my membranes and broke the bag of waters, then left to get a bed to transfer me to the birthing suite. Instantly the pain was incredibly intense. So with David in the room, I climbed up on the bed (I had been having my contractions just standing up), screamed "I'm ready to PUSH", and pushed with an absolutely blood-curdling animal scream. Someone came in right then I think and she and David saw the baby crown. The next minute they came in with a team and a bed, and asked me to move. "I'm NOT moving", I said, and with an incredible scream again that left my throat sore, I pushed and she was out. The horrible thing with the 2 pushes was, I had no stirrups and nothing to grab onto to help me push. Here are five women, I think, (doctor's and nurses) and David standing there, but I had no time or words to ask for help to push back on my feet or legs to help with the push. This left me with horrible leg cramps for about 2 days. That's when the doctor went running off to find the scissors and David cut the cord. They ran off with the baby with David in pursuit, and then they transferred me to the birthing room, which as it turns out is where the baby and David were. After I birthed the placenta, they doused me with cold water, and then decided not to stitch me up. I had the shakes so bad, I was absolutely freezing in this basement cement-ish room doused in cold water! Then they did something they've never done in the states, which is they had one nurse push really hard on my stomach and another kind of reach up and clean me out with her hand, I think, although I'm not sure. It was really painful for about 10 seconds or probably less, and I've had so much less bleeding this time. Interesting the similarities and differences between the US and here. They couldn't believe she was out in 2 pushes, and as I don't think I could've handled many more of those screams, I was just glad she was! As far as after effects, my hand is probably the most annoying, where they put the iv and then kept wriggling it trying to get the drip to work. There is about an inch and a half stretch of vein that is really sore. I never realized how often the kids grab my hand to show me something or to get my attention, but let me tell you it gets my attention now! I am also having the usual cramps, but at times it's more like a cramp that stays for 15-30 minutes, painful enough I want to breathe through it like a contraction. Has anyone else experienced this? And in a small, small way I'm glad I didn't get the epidural after all, because I'm having lower back pain, sort of stabbing shooting pain that jumps from one place to another, like fireworks in the back. I know if I had the epidural I'd be blaming it all on that, but at least I can rule that out. Thankfully, this isn't all the time, just when I switch positions, like squatting or bending. Hopefully this is all temporary, surely we can't blame this on my age?? And extra weight???