When I asked Dr. Kotlow to show me exactly how to diagnose these ties and what specifically to be looking for, he quickly grabbed my paperwork…  ”You checked off every symptom on here.  What else could cause all of this?”  This statement so put my mind at ease.  Listen to mom, mom knows her body and her baby best!  If you, or a mom you know, is checking off every symptom that I mention in this post, then chances are your/her baby is tongue tied.  See, what I used to check for is that baby could protrude his/her tongue past his/her bottom gum line.  I also made sure that the frenum didn’t pull on the end of the tongue, causing a heart shaped looking tongue.  As seen in this picture: To easily check the tongue for a tie, put your index finger under your baby’s tongue and sweep across the floor of the mouth from one side to the other.  You should be able to slide the finger under the tongue across the mouth floor from where the molars will eventually come in without running into any tissue.  If you feel a smooth mouth floor, then there’s no problem.  However, if you run into what Dr. Kotlow describes as a “small speed bump”, you may have an issue.  If there’s a large speed bump, then there’s definitely a problem.  If the membrane under the tongue (that attaches it onto the floor of the mouth) feels like a very thin and strong- like a fine wire- then push on it and look to see if the tongue’s tip indents or bows.  This suggests baby has a tie under the mucous membrane in the back.  Remember that most of these ties whether presenting as small, medium or large bumps will usually turn into problems if not addressed.

Ellington has a very long tongue, and she could move it way past her bottom gum; these two factors led me away from diagnosing her as tied.  However, she was unable to move her tongue properly when nursing and never could really press it against her palate.  As she nursed, she’d gum at my breasts, which of course made me sore, caused me to peel, blister and develop and itchy rash with crack on my skin.  Her upper frenum- as the ENT in Dallas has shown me- came down into her gum line.  Therefore, she could not move her upper lip effectively, which also greatly affected our nursing.  Additionally, you could never see her gums when she smiled- something we didn’t really notice until after the surgery.

As we researched and found this to be congenital and genetic, we discovered that JB is pretty severely tongue tied too.  He was adopted and never breastfed, therefore it stands to reason that his issue was never discovered.  Interestingly enough though, his family always talks about what a colicky baby he was and the constant digestive issues he had from that.  It turns out that Harper- our toddler- has a maxillary tie too.  I went through my guilt stage over this; but, in the end, even though we missed it on him I’m so grateful that we’ve walked this journey.  Because of everything we went through with Harper, I really feel I have a whole new level of understanding for families with this, and I look closely for it now.

You see this diagnosis is so important because if a person is tied- baby or not, breastfeeding or not- he/she can not move their tongue and lips properly.  So much is affected by this!  Nutritional problem arise.  Why?  Because food can not be extracted properly (especially in the case of breastmilk), and it can’t be properly placed and digested completely.  Colic can occur because of this improper function more air is swallowed.  Babies tend to drool a lot, again because their mouth/tongue doesn’t work properly.  Gagging may occur.  You might see sleep problems like snoring and apnea.  And, it’s common for teeth/jaw issues to arise later because the teeth are pulled inwards toward the tongue or there might be gaps where the frenum comes between the teeth.  Speech problems have also been noted from this.

Even though Harper is weaned, we are still looking at possibly having his clipped.  We will still choose the laser, but it gets a little more complicated with older children.  The younger you can do this the better!  When a baby is only a few days old, there is very little blood flow to these frenums and hardly- if any- sensation.  Therefore, not only is it less painful- if at all painful- to cut, but it’s easier because newborns are swaddled and don’t fight the procedure as much.  Not to mention their nursing patterns and habits don’t have to be re-trained.

Looking back, we believe Harper wouldn’t have had as many sleep issues had we known about this and had it addressed.  He nursed around the clock, and once he fell asleep, he’d quickly wake up after very little sleep to nurse again.  Also, he was always very small for his age, especially for as much as he ate.  I now wonder if he’d have gained a lot more and faster too.  As his teeth came in, he developed deep notches with brown spots on them on two of his front teeth.  This bothered me so much.  How could a child raised mostly on vegetables and no sugar- outside of fruit- have this problem?  Well, Dr. Kotlow has now educated us on that too.  Even though he is not against co-sleeping and night nursing, he explained to me that when Harper nursed since his upper lip is tied tightly to his front gum line that lip and tongue don’t move normally.  They are unable to clear and clean milk (and now that he eats solid, foods) from his teeth.  You risk high chances of anterior caries (rotting teeth in the front) with this condition.  What’s that saying?  ”Hindsight is 20/20!”  Oh how I wish I’d have known!

Share with me: Have you or anyone in your family dealt with this?  I want to hear your stories!

Stay tuned, I’ll continue the series tomorrow!

Let me start with our second born, Ellington, even though this story really starts with Harper our firstborn.  When Ellington was born- three whole months ago!- I was still nursing her toddler brother.  In fact, he’s only been weaned for a couple of months now.  Therefore, suffice it to say, I didn’t get as sore starting a new nursing relationship as a lot of new moms often do.  In fact, the pain was nothing in comparison to when I started nursing Harper.  Now, it may surprise you since I nursed for such a long time, that nursing is one of my least favorite activities on the planet.  If I didn’t believe in the importance of it for every single aspect of development, I’d quit nursing my children before I even started…  As in, not do it at all!  I hate it!  However, I do it because I know there’s really not a better choice I can make for my children.  Nursing does so much for them; yes, so much that we have discovered about it in research, and so many benefits I believe we don’t even know of.  How could I, knowing all this, rob them of something just because I don’t enjoy it?  I couldn’t, so I press on!  The first two weeks with Ellington’s and my nursing were relatively easy.  I mostly just had her to worry about, we recovered from birth together in bed, slept the days away and ate when we felt like it.  Having 2 kids really wasn’t all that hard!  Then came back to reality with week 3.  What’d reality look like?  Well, lets just say it was feed a newborn around the clock, bounce and wear a newborn to try to keep her happy, and chase a toddler constantly.  Man, it sure was different nursing newborn #2 with big brother to worry about!  The positions you will settle for in order to do this while entertaining a toddler, it takes major talent!  I definitely wasn’t as strict with Ellington’s perfect positioning and latch as I was with Harper’s.  As long as she ate, I was okay.  Over the course of a few days, my happy little girl became this miserable baby. I was shocked when she got a really red diaper rash, especially since we cloth diaper.  Then, my breasts started peeling and they looked weird after a feeding.  Nursing hurt worse and worse, it wasn’t getting better as our relationship progressed.  Certain hours of the day- especially early evening- we could pretty much wager on the fact that Ellington would be screaming her head off.  She would nurse and nurse and nurse, then we’d be so happy when she finally fell asleep, only to have her wake up a few minutes later ready to nurse and nurse and nurse some more.  One day, I noticed that she was getting white patches inside her cheeks.  Oh no!  The dreaded “thrush” I had diagnosed so many babies with.  Could that be why my breasts hurt so badly and looked so weird?  I quickly ran to the health food store for some natural remedies.  I was praying they’d work fast to fix this because I knew the strict diet I’d have to go on if they didn’t remedy it, and I was dreading that!  We tried the remedies we knew of, and when nothing worked I called a lactation consultant.  I set up an appointment for her to come work on latch with me.  The other thing about Ellington is that she would spit up more often than Harper ever did, and it didn’t matter if I changed my diet, it didn’t affect it.  Also, she wouldn’t take a bottle, and we even tried to have her take a pacifier (which we never did with Harper) during one of her screaming periods.  She could never seem to grasp how to do a paci.  JB commented with the bottle that if she didn’t finally latch on to it if he barely moved the bottle she’d slide right off the nipple.  This was nice for me to have him see because I’d been trying to tell him how hard she was to nurse because I couldn’t make the slightest movement without her falling off the breast.  Again, so hard and frustrating to try to feed her while worrying about Harper!

So, Mellanie came over to help me with Ellington.  She agreed that Ellington did indeed have thrush, but was very surprised that everything I was doing wasn’t changing her condition.  When she examined her, she was also very perplexed with all we were dealing with.  ”Normally I just send babies with all of this to you guys.” She told me.  ”I know”, I chuckled and told her we’d already been adjusting her and working on soft tissue and treating me with supplements and diet changes.  Also, we’d taken her to one of our mentors and chiropractic colleagues.  I couldn’t say anything was changing her condition at all.  Mellanie informed me that she was going to a conference with a bunch of lactation experts, and that if I wanted to send her with some video footage of me nursing Ellington, she’d get some opinions for me at the conference.  I was so grateful to her!  I love people who will work hard to seek answers when they don’t know them!  We also agreed that I’d go see an Ear Nose and Throat specialist in Dallas to check Ellington and make sure we weren’t dealing with something we hadn’t caught that he could see.  We both said- because Ellington’s tongue is so long and she moves it well- that we’d be very surprised if she was tongue tied, but agreed he should confirm that for us.

I drove to Dallas with Ellington, and loved the staff, doctor and his office.  But, I was so disappointed in the answers I got from him.  Basically, he told me that we were dealing with a problem that was causing her nursing issues but that he wouldn’t really do anything about it.  What was the problem?  You guessed it, ankyloglossia or tongue tie.  He really didn’t feel that her tongue was tied to the floor of her mouth (the usual, common tie you hear of often), but that her maxillary frenum (band of tissue attaching upper lip to upper gum) was longer that what he would call normal.  However, he said he’d recommend not doing anything until she was older- at which time a dentist would probably be the one to recommend cutting due to possible teeth/speech issues from it.  He explained that he has to use sutures in that area and it’s a lot more involved, therefore he’d just leave it alone at this point.  What was I to do with this information?  I left there just so frustrated because I knew in my gut this band of tissue was causing our issues.  Especially since I could never get Ellington to flare her upper lip out, this explained it if there was tissue keeping that lip from moving properly.

Mellanie called me, exhausted from her conference, but excited to discuss with me what people at the conference had said from watching my video of Ellington nursing.  They were all convinced she was possibly tongue tied.  And, a name of a doctor in New York kept coming up.  Mellanie kind of laughed as she said, “New York”, when we talked about my options, but the other specialist whose name had come up was in Japan.  I told her I’d mention New York to JB and see his response; I honestly didn’t know what JB would say, but I was so ready to have an answer I wanted to go right then.  Why would I fly all the way to New York for something as simple as a tongue tie?  Well, you saw the results I got from the expert we refer to in our area, secondly Dr. Kotlow (New York) uses a laser with no anesthetic or sutures, he’s an expert who has been doing this for over 30 years, he’s written many studies on this condition, and he believes in the mother/child nursing relationship and desires to make that a successful/enjoyable relationship.  I was so happy when I mentioned him to JB that my loving hubby said, “Let’s go!”  No hesitation at all, and that made me feel even more peace about this.  I started researching and scheduling.

Tongue ties occur when embryological tissue does not disappear at birth.  Dr. Kotlow’s site is very helpful in diagnosing these ties.  However, when I questioned him about diagnosing these, I loved his response!  ”Look at your paperwork, you have all the symptoms.  What else could it be?”  It is so nice to have a doctor who listens to the mom!  Check out the list he was talking about on his paperwork:

Infant- no latch, un-sustained latch, slides off nipple, prolonged feeds, unsatisfied after prolonged feeds, falls asleep on the breast, gumming or chewing on the nipple, poor weight gain and/or failure to thrive, unable to hold pacifier

Mom- creased or blanched nipples after feeding, flattened nipples after feeding, cracked/bruised/blistered nipples, bleeding nipples, severe pain with latch, incomplete breast drainage, infected nipples, plugged ducts, mastitis, thrush

Sound like us?  Yep, I checked off all but like one symptom on those papers!  We flew up to New York a few days after talking to Mellanie.  I’ll share our journey up there with you in my post tomorrow.  And, remember how I said the story started with Harper?  Yep, my two year old has it too…  You guessed it, it’s a congenital/genetic condition.  But, like us, you may wonder why we are seeing so many of them lately?  I’ll talk about that in tomorrow’s post too.

Ellington’s birth pictures are so surreal to me because her birth was so fast and intense.  I really had to zone out and completely focus on birth.  In parts of Harper’s birth video and pictures, I identified many of the images with how I felt.  However, I can’t say the same for Ellington’s.  I look so calm and collected to myself when I watch Ellington’s birth; however, it’s very strange to me to see myself looking like a normal laboring mom because that isn’t how I felt on the inside during the process.  The intensity made me ask my birth team a lot, “Am I relaxing well?”  They’d reply, “Yes, you are doing great.”  Now I see why they said that, from the outside I looked normal.  Like I told Lynsey the other day, “It is so weird to see what it looks like versus how it feels.”  That’s the best way I can describe it…

This is a slideshow of my birth, so consider that your warning that there are birth pictures in it (which are the most incredible shots I’ve ever seen, by the way)!  I think it’s PG rated, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you watch it and don’t agree with my rating .  Without further ado, here is Miss Ellington’s incredible slideshow.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lynsey, for taking time out of your Christmas morning for us!

At 8:35AM, Donnellyn informed me, “There is no cervix there, you are complete!”  My response:  “Oh thank you, Jesus!”  Then I turned to Donnellyn and said, “You better be right!”  She giggled and said, “The Lord wouldn’t let me be wrong, not on this one.”  I quickly hoisted myself onto my knees and leaned against the edge of the tub as another strong contraction began.  This time, knowing I was complete, I let myself push with all my might.  It felt horrible, I always hate the pushing sensation and pressure I feel coupled with the intense work it takes; but, I pushed through the feeling knowing that the stronger I made the pushes the faster I could see who you were and the sooner my labor and work would be over!  I would utter prayers in between the pushing contractions asking the Lord to let it be over fast (I’d pushed for 3 1/2 hours with your brother), asking Him to let me enjoy pushing, praising Him that I was almost done and He was faithful, and begging Him to let you come out soon.  Then, I started crying uncontrollably.  I didn’t know what time it was exactly, but I knew the morning was still early, and I couldn’t believe my labor was over and we were working on your birth.  I remember Lindsy Morton singing, “It is well with my soul.”, and all I could do was lift my hands up and praise the Lord.  No one but Him could receive credit for what was happening.  I felt everyone around me just hush and leave me alone to worship.  I couldn’t control what was happening, and I have never felt so close to the Lord in my life.  I wish I could describe the moment to you, but it’s a feeling of awe trapped in my head.  How could I thank the Lord for proving Himself to me in that moment?  I was so undeserving of what He was doing; He is so good to me!  He’d brought us through all my fears in your first trimester, and I hadn’t miscarried and you were healthy.  He carried me through all the exhausting days and nausea of pregnancy with a toddler, the days I thought I’d never see the end of, much less survive.  And, when everyone else told me He’s show up and give me a miraculous labor, I couldn’t let myself believe it even though I tried; and, here I was after just a few hours, and I was feeling myself push you down after being told I was completely dilated (something that just a couple of years ago had taken many more extremely painful contractions, long exhausting hours and tons more work to finally arrive at).  As the song played through the room all I could say through tears, with hands lifted high in praise, was, “Thank you, Lord.  You are so faithful and true.  Thank you, you did it.  Thank you!”

I changed positions a few times, pushing as hard as I could stand with each contraction.   I remember from your brother’s birth stopping short when the pushing got intense, and this time I would remind myself in my head as I pushed, “Push past what your feeling!  All the incredible pressure and awful sensations will be over once the baby’s out…  Remember, it feels so much better once the baby is out!”  At some point, I can’t remember when, daddy got in the tub with me to help support me better.  I asked him if he wanted to catch you, and he just replied that he’d rather stay at my head and help support my weight because he felt that more helpful.  It was really helpful, I was so tired I couldn’t really hold myself up and push.  During an intense push, I felt the pressure change and my water break (8:52AM).  Your brother was so funny, I could hear him walking around the room talking to everyone.  “Daddy has a belly bunt (belly button), dada has hair!  Where is Dadaw (Chris, Donnellyn’s husband)?”  I answered him between a contraction, “Dadaw is at Bebe’s (Donnellyn) house with Chewy (their dog that Harper loves).”  And he answered me like it was a normal day, “Chewy has a hat, Bebe needs to take his hat off.  Kate, where’s Cot (Scott- Kate’s husband)?”  And on and on he continued to chatter.  I finally looked up at Christy, who was holding my underwater camera and asked if they were seeing any head.  I sure hoped so because I was pushing really hard.  She assured me that I was opening with each push and head was being seen.  Thank goodness!  Mom came around and massaged my feet, she kept telling me how incredible I was doing.  Harper kept talking, and then I heard GB (mom) tell him to go help her find Papi.  I knew dad was at their house fixing lunch, so I thought to myself- even though I couldn’t express it out loud- “No, please don’t leave, I want you and Harper here for the birth.”  As I thought that, I heard dad coughing in the living room.  Thank goodness, he was here, and they weren’t going anywhere.  “Come in here, Bob.”  I heard mom holler.  “Yes, dad, come in here!”  I yelled back.  I wanted everyone to join us for the miraculous moment.  My friend, Danielle, walked in and I felt so relieved that she’d made it before the birth.  She was unable to be at Harper’s birth because she’d just had her second baby a few days before.  She really wanted to see a birth (other than her own), and I’m so glad she made yours!  Finally I was told to reach down and feel your head.  Again, another sensation I wish I could describe, it’s so incredible to have confirmation of what everyone is telling you is happening…  It’s when you can finally truthfully confirm, “I am doing this!  Our baby really is almost here!”  When daddy saw my reaction, he reached down to touch your head too.  Again, what an awesome moment and privilege that the Lord allowed us both to have our hands on you at the same time as you were emerging.  We uttered quick blessings over you and rejoiced together, but things were happening so fast and a few seconds later it was time for me to push again.  That time your whole head came out.  Donnellynwent to check for a cord, confirmed it was wrapped around you, and encouraged me not to push too fast or hard.  The pressure was so intense!  I yelled at her to stop and move her hand.  She looked at me and said she wasn’t touching me.  I yelled back at her, “Ahhh!  Stop!”  And, then, I realized what was happening.  With your head out of my body, you were moving on the inside of me.  I don’t know why you were doing it, but it hurt and felt so weird.  I just wanted you out already!  Finally, at 8:56AM, you were born into my arms.  You had to be born through your cord which was wrapped around your neck and your body, and then daddy and I lifted you onto my chest together.  Everyone kept screaming with joy and asking what you were.  Your brother was standing next to GB in awe and smiling, he loved watching you join our family.  I turned to your daddy and told him, “Merry Christmas!  Open your birthday present and tell me what you got.”  He looked at you and replied, “She’s a girl!”  Everyone cheered around us. 

As soon as you were out with us, I wanted your brother to join us in the pool.  GB stripped his shirt and diaper off and he excitedly hoped in.  He started gently touching you, daddy and I told him he could kiss you.  All of a sudden he exclaimed, “I like her!”  We all laughed.  I started to bleed a little bit more than I, or your midwives for that matter, liked.  Probably due to your labor being so fast and my uterus working so hard.  I downed some juice to help with my blood sugar, and encouraged you and your brother to nurse to help my placenta deliver.  It came at 9:05AM, and the bleeding stopped.  Your GB called Aunt Marcy and daddy called Nana (his mom).  It was so surreal to get in bed with you and wait on our herbal bath.  You looked so petite to me, whereas your brother had looked huge to me at birth.  I asked them to weigh you before we took our herbal bath.  We went around the room guessing your weight, and most agreed you were probably around 7lbs. 2oz.  Boy were we shocked when daddy and Donnellyn announced, “8lbs. 4oz.”  I couldn’t believe it!

We got comfortable in our herbal bath and Harper wanted to join us, so he got in too.  He kept massaging you and checking you out.  He looked at your belly button with your umbilical cord and told me, “Baby has a noodle on her peepee.”  We laughed so hard at all his reactions to you.  When we were done enjoying our bath, we came back to the bed for your newborn exam and more breastfeeding.  It still hadn’t hit me that you were really here with us!  Your exam revealed you were 21 inches long and just perfect.  Papi and GB were rushing to take care of your brother and get back to their house to finish up our Christmas lunch.  Before they left, we all gathered around the bed and prayed over you and our new family unit.  Everyone else cleaned up and cleared out the house; daddy and I were left to cuddle up with you in bed and relish in the Lord’s faithfulness and our best Christmas morning ever, celebrating two family birthdays. 

I know the Lord has great things destined for you.  Your pregnancy and birth have already been such powerful testimonies of His goodness in our lives and how much He loves us.  I couldn’t be more grateful that He chose me to walk out this journey as your mom.

Love,

Mom

“‘Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride! I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.’  ~Grandma~ from the movie ‘Parenthood’.  We, like a long list of others, eagerly await with you for the roller coaster ride to begin. I pray, that after the wait in line for your turn, the birth experience is as exciting and as a quick ride on the roller coaster and you will say that was incredible, can’t wait to do it again!!! Interceding for you, Jim Bob, and Harper and the others God has ordained to be part of this experience.  Keep your mind on things above because Isaiah 26:3 says that is where perfect peace is and the promise that comes by trusting and keeping your mind stayed on Him.  Your wonderfully, fearfully made body will deliver this sweet baby as you worship and relax in His peace.”

Kim spoke such incredible confidence and peace into my life through those words, I teared up, read them to Jim Bob and clung to them every time that pit of fear welled up in my stomach.  However, the reason why I will never forget them is because looking back on those words, she foretold exactly how our birth would go.  How awesome to read them afterwards!

Dear Ellington,

Here is the story, as mommy experienced it, of how you made your grand entrance into our home.  Mommy was due with you on December 21st, and she knew if you came 4 days over- like your big brother had- that you would end up sharing your birthday with daddy on Christmas.  This was something your daddy really hoped for, so mommy really felt this is when you’d make your appearance.  Unlike your brother’s pregnancy though, your pregnancy always left mommy wondering if “today would be the day”.  Weeks before it was safe for you to be born, mommy felt a lot of early contractions.  Therefore, every morning that I woke up with you still in my belly, I was pretty surprised to still be pregnant.  It could be that we just stayed extra busy during the last months of your pregnancy.

On Christmas Eve, I knew we were getting extra close to having you.  I really didn’t want to brave the crowds at the grocery store, but our slim pickings at the house coupled with the fact that I knew I’d have to be at home with you for a couple of weeks, forced me to plan one last trip out.  The funnier part about that, two friends who were anxiously waiting on your arrival had been texting and calling me that morning that I should go to Whole Foods because it would surely put me into labor if nothing else had.  So, Aunt Christy came over, and we decided to go to Whole Foods, shop and then go look at Christmas lights.  We got to Whole Foods around 4:30 in the afternoon, and on the way there, I started having some pretty strong uncomfortable Braxton-Hicks.  The cramping, pressure and BHs got worse when we were walking through the store.  I had to pause a couple of times, and the shopping trip that I usually really enjoy was quite miserable because all the food and smells were really making me nauseous.  We managed to get what we needed, loaded up and were off to see lights.  Had I been on my own, I would have skipped the lights and come home to go to bed because I really wasn’t feeling very well.

When we got home, I invited Christy in to hang out- like we usually do- but she told me she was going to go ahead and head home in case I was in early labor.  She said she wanted to give us plenty of family time and allow me privacy to take a warm bath.  She gave me a big hug and encouraged me that she’d be praying and she was excited for me.  She left, and I continued to work on the house- making sure everything was in order.  Although I always love the end of pregnancy, keeping the house in order with your older brother was really hard every night.  I looked forward to having you so that I could rest and not have to worry constantly about what state of order the house was or was not in.  Christy text periodically to check in on me, and when she asked if I’d had my bath yet, I had to laugh because of how busy I had kept myself since she left.  At times the contractions were there, and at others I sensed no activity.  Once the house was to my likings, I settled down to finish some last minute Christmas gifts.  Donnellyn text me that she was going to come by and drop off gifts if it was not too late.  Your brother and daddy were wrestling and being loud, and Harper was glad we’d kept him up later than usual because he was so happy to see Donnellyn and Chris (Bebe and Dadaw).  We exchanged gifts with them, hung out and chatted for a while, and then they all laid hands on and prayed for me and over your birth before they left for the night.  It was  a really sweet evening!  Daddy put Harper to bed once they left, and another friend- Ashley- text to see if it was too late to come by and drop off a gift.  I told her we were up, so she came by.  She stayed and talked for a while too, leaving around midnight.  Then, I came in to watch some television in bed, while daddy went across the house to shave in the guest bathroom.

While lying on my left side in bed- this had been the most comfortable position for mommy during your pregnancy- and watching “House Hunters”, I all of a sudden got an extremely sharp pain in my left side.  I shut the TV off immediately, it was too much to handle with the pain and drove me crazy to hear, and I jumped onto all fours in bed.  I was moaning, got hot and sweaty from the pain, and wanted to do whatever I could to make the sensation go away.  Where was your daddy?  I needed him to help me, but I couldn’t vocalize.  All I could manage to do was try my best to deal with the pain and not pass out from it.  It let up for a few seconds, so I jumped out of bed and leaned on the lingerie chest.  Then, I moved into the living room and threw myself on the couch.  I couldn’t see your daddy anywhere.  Finally, I felt him walk up as I was moaning and rolling around on the couch in pain.  He asked with concern, “What’s going on?”  But, it hurt too bad to explain.  When he figured out I couldn’t talk, he started gently massaging my leg and encouraging me to just breathe.  As soon as the pain subsided, I tried to explain to him what had been going on.  Our chat was short lived because I had to rush to the bathroom and throw up.  It was 1:07 in the morning.  I started crying and confessing how scared I was.  Not only was I terrified of having to experience labor and birth again, but I was really wanting to crawl in bed and get some good rest before the work that lie ahead.  I just kept telling your daddy, “I need sleep!”  He would pray short prayers over me, and then he helped me get in a hot bath.

I texts several people- mostly moms who I knew were probably up nursing their babies- and asked them for prayer, it was 1:56AM.  Kate text back at 2:38AM that she was praying.  I didn’t hear back from a lot of people, but would later find out that the Lord woke people up in the middle of the night to pray for us; so many people who didn’t know what was going on shared how they had prayed.  God is so faithful, I have never seen or felt that more than during your pregnancy, and especially during your labor and birth.  I kept explaining to your daddy how scared the side pain had me.  I felt nothing in my stomach, and wasn’t really sure this was labor.  However, when I felt the pain, he felt my stomach and said I was tight all over; I couldn’t see any concern in him (which is always so reassuring), and he kept telling me he really felt I was in labor.  I had him put our worship playlist on in the bedroom, and this began a really sweet time for us.  God is so good!  Lindsy Morton- who I had heard at another labor- played through the room and bathroom.  I could totally surrender and focus on these calm, old familiar hymns.  Anytime the pain or fear hit, I would just tune into the words of the songs.  We would often just sing the phrases aloud in worship together, taking our minds off of what was going on and focusing on Jesus and His faithfulness.  Daddy slept in the bedroom, and I managed to doze a bit in the tub.  Again, this was such a miracle because during your brother’s birth I couldn’t allow your daddy to walk away from me.  The Lord was my provision and comfort before your daddy during this birth though, and I knew I had to let him rest in case we had a long day ahead of us or if he needed to take care of Harper when he awoke in the morning.  If a song wasn’t playing immediately when I needed something to concentrate on, I would hear over and over- and sometimes sing aloud by myself- in my head, “Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know…  Feels my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.”

Eventually I got out of the tub, I think it was after 2AM at this point, and was able to position myself with tons of pillows in the bed lying on my right side.  As long as I didn’t move and nothing touched my left side where all the pain was, I could doze in and out of sleep.  The worship music kept playing, and when it shut off, I’d wake up to have your daddy turn it back on.  At 3:13AM, I contacted Donnellyn to ask her about my side pain.  Later, I’d find out that she woke up and prayed and did research to make sure I wasn’t having appendicitis.  Daddy later said he’d wondered at some points if it wasn’t a kidney stone.  Again, I am so grateful that it was labor and nothing more; I couldn’t have handled anything else on top of the labor and no sleep!  Between that phone call and 6AM, I don’t think much happened.  I mostly slept, and was occasionally awoken by the side pain or mild low front contractions.  Around 6AM, your daddy and I both woke up.  I remember moving back into the bathroom, and this time I felt strong, low contractions.  I would move around the bathroom- sometimes sitting on the toilet, sometimes leaning over the counter and other times resting in the tub again.

At 6:16AM, daddy called GB to come over in case Harper woke up.  She was so anxious for me to finally have you, so this was a phone call she answered with much excitement.  She was at the front door of our house shortly!  Again, the Lord was so good to us because Harper stayed asleep until she got here.  At 6:52AM, daddy called Donnellyn again to give her an update.  She talked to me, but I had to hang up on her because I couldn’t handle the phone and a contraction.  She encouraged daddy to go ahead and call Lynsey because she thought I was pretty far along based on what she heard in the background.  I knew Christmas morning was really important to Lynsey, and was thinking in my head that I would be content if I could wait until 8AM to call her.  I thought that her kids probably would have woken up early and she could have at least enjoyed a little time with them before she had to leave for our house if I could hold off until 8AM.  Good thing daddy didn’t listen to my reasoning and followed Donnellyn’s advice to go ahead and have her come!  He called Lynsey at 6:59AM to tell her what was going on.  He then hung up with her and they text messaged back and forth deciding that she’d be on her way soon (7:10AM).  By 7:25AM, Christy was on her way, and 7:26AM Donnellyn was on her way and arrived at 7:40AM.

I didn’t want to think your birth was near because I was so worried about being discouraged if I really wasn’t far along.  Daddy would whisper the times he noted of how far apart they were and how long they were lasting.  We both assumed at one point he was timing wrong because they were on top of each other.  When I would hear him tell me how long the contractions were, I would think to myself that he wasn’t watching me correctly because although they were really strong, they felt really short to me (way shorter than he was saying they lasted).  However, I remember looking down at one point when I was standing in the bathroom and realizing that I was jogging in place.  This is the exact same motion I had done with your brother when I was 8-9cm along.  But, I thought to myself that surely I wasn’t that far along because even though the contractions hurt really badly, I didn’t feel a lot of pressure yet.  The peak of the contractions would almost overtake me because the front muscle pulling above my pubic bone was so intense.  To handle them, I would either moan loudly, move my legs in the jogging motion, have your daddy apply pressure to my back, sing my worship music and/or remind the Lord that I needed Him and He had promised these contractions and sensations would not overtake me.

Once all the phone calls were made and GB was here to take care of Harper, your daddy told me he was going to start filling the birth tub in our bedroom, while I sat and labored in the bathroom tub.  With your brother’s birth, jets drove me crazy while I was contracting.  The sound of the water from the shower filling the birth tub drove me crazy during your contractions.  So, your poor dad would turn on the shower water, and have to rush to shut it off when I started a contraction.  He was running all over the house taking care of everything and coming back to help me work through each contraction…  Again, good thing he’d managed to sleep through the night off and on.  I sipped on water and apple juice and chewed on Sonic ice.  I hadn’t eaten (except for a couple of blackberries in the middle of the night) and knew I needed to, even though I felt so nauseous and continued to throw up ever so often.  The throwing up was horrible, but I just kept visualizing the pressure from it helping me to make progress and dilate.  “Each time you get sick, it’s worth at least 1cm.”  That’s what I tell other moms during their labors, and it has to be true, right?  That mental image is how I kept myself from fighting not to throw up; I knew if I just let my body do what it needed to that you would come faster, and I’d feel so much better once it was all over.  I had daddy bring me some salty almonds, which I managed to get half of an almond down.  I laughed when your labor was over because the other half stayed on the side of the tub.

When Donnellyn arrived, I could tell she was so excited to finally be at my birth.  I remember her encouraging me, rubbing my arm as I sit in the tub and worked through contractions, praying for us and singing with my worship music as she took my vitals.  Your heart tones were so much higher than I remembered your brother’s being during his labor, and each time they were monitored I would smile knowing that how fast your heart was beating meant you were doing great.  Then, when Christy got here, I remember her getting a fan for me because I was so hot (even though the hot water helped the contraction pain so much), she encouraged me too, worked really hard to help daddy get your room ready, and charted everything Donnellyn said.  I felt such relief when I briefly opened my eyes between contractions to see Lynsey walking in the room with her camera.  Daddy came in and asked if I wanted my sports bra, which he had ready in hand.  “Yes.”  I answered as I snatched it and put it on quickly before starting another contraction.  I was so happy to be decently modest for my pictures this time.  Ever so often, I would hear her camera snap softly or see her flash go off through closed eyes and it gave me so much joy to know your labor was being captured.  I told everyone that they’d have to decide when to call Danielle and Kate because I didn’t know what was going on.  I kept asking if I was relaxing okay because at times it did feel like the contractions were overtaking me.  I would often yell out as a contraction was starting that everyone needed to be quiet.  Noise drove me crazy!  Donnellyn and Christy would encourage me that I was doing great and it wasn’t going to be much longer; I remember Christy telling daddy he should go ahead and get Danielle here because I seemed to be getting close.  He text messaged Kate at 8AM that I was contracting every 2 minutes, and called Danielle to come at 8:16AM.  I liked what she was saying, but I reminded myself that I felt this way at your brother’s birth and I still had a lot more work ahead of me.  I didn’t want to think I’d have to endure this much longer, but I couldn’t let myself think I was anywhere close to being done.  Finally the birth tub was ready, and I was able to move into our bedroom to get into it.  I was so scared to get out of the water because the contractions were already so intense in the water.  But, I moved quickly and made it in.  I remember thinking the soft floor felt so nice on my knees, but the water was too cold.  I quickly told them to please warm the water up, right as a contraction started.  I can vividly remember the sensation of the warm water coming out of the hose onto my back as I focused to make it through a strong contraction.

Daddy would lean over the outside of the tub and put pressure on my back during contractions, whisper encouragement to me, hold a cold rag on my forehead and rub my shoulders.  I kept moving in different positions- hands and knees, on my knees leaning over edge of tub, resting on my side, and sitting with my legs extended out.  After one strong contraction and a lot of intense muscle pulling low in front again, I quickly decided to check myself.  I felt a big piece of cervix in the front.  Donnellyn saw me and asked, “What did you feel?”  To which I replied with discouragement, “A huge lip!”  After a couple more contractions, I saw her put on a glove, so I asked, “Are you wanting to check me?”  She answered, “Yes, if that’s ok, I’d really like to.”  I was so reluctant to have her do so.  I was feeling a lot more pressure, but it still didn’t feel good or like I was close to the end.  The last thing I wanted to hear was a number of dilation because I didn’t want to know I had more work ahead of me.  But, if I didn’t let her check me and I was far along, I wouldn’t know the encouragement of all the work that I’d already accomplished.  I agreed to be checked.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room as she quickly examined me.  I know everyone was praying I was dilated!

But, without further ado, the winners of the contest are Renae Warren and Sheila Mitchell.  Way to go, ladies !  Even though both of your guess weights were under what Miss Ellington surprised us by weighing (an ounce short of being an entire pound heavier than her brother) at 8lbs.4oz.; you were both right that she was a girl born on her daddy’s Christmas birthday.  Please contact me via email at drshaggerton@gmail.com to claim your prize…  Which is a $35 gift card to the HEB Wellness Center & Spa.  And, I love a lot of the names that you all suggested; you may even see us use them on future children .  Again, thank you ALL for participating!  Hope your New Year is off to a wonderful start !

What all, besides Harper, has been keeping us busy around here in prep to become a family of 4?  Well, it’s a good thing I have a precious husband, who even though I know he thinks it, has not yet openly accused me of loosing my mind…  That is unless you count this blog post…  Ha!  In my defense, let me say, his account is very one sided…  But, getting into my version and story will have to be saved for yet a whole other post of its own.  And, he managed to get back on my good list by postingthis tear-jerker.  With all I feel like I manage to cram into the days and nights, besides chasing a toddler and finishing up housing a new life, I am amazed there is anything left on the “to do list”, but there always is.  We remodeled the bathroom, rearranged our room to accommodate the birth pool, organized the garage (my husband and mother-in-law are wizards), organized Harper’s room, I cleaned and re-organized the whole kitchen- which included alphabetizing spices (I’m not loosing my mind), worked on handling my grandparents’ estate, pulled out all the newborn stuff (memory lane), took maternity/toddler pics w/ the incredible Marquette, tried to wrap up Christmas shopping, and the list goes on and on…

Anyhow, onto the true reason for this post: I am really curious as to who you think Baby Haggerton will be!  The surprise of not knowing who Harper would be was so much fun, but this time around, I feel like the surprise element is so much more fun.  We are planning on using the same girl name we had picked out when pregnant with Harper, but the boy name choices have been a lot harder. 

Tell me your guess, and if you are the closest to the facts, you’ll win a yet to be determined prize .  Comment on this post 1)What day you think this baby will actually arrive, 2) Is this a girl or boy (give us your name suggestions, just because I’m curious as to what you like), and 3) How much this baby weighs.  Just to help you out a little, I had two guess dates w/ Harper of the 16th and the 26th.  He came on the 20th of October.  Pretty much everyone but my mom guessed he’d be a boy.  He weighed 7lbs. 5oz., and I gained 20lbs during the pregnancy.  My guess date now is December the 19th, a lot more people think this baby is a girl than those who guess it’ll be another boy, I’ve gained 17lbs so far, and Jim Bob’s birthday is Christmas day and he’d love to share it with this baby. 

Which will it be?  Will this baby wear Harper’s receiving outfit or get placed in this precious, pink, new one?! 

I can’t wait to read your comments, and stay tuned here as we will post all the details soon as they become available.

I was scheduled for another seminar on Saturday October the 18^th, so I was happy to make it to that, still being pregnant.  Two of the midwives, Christy and Sarah, from our birth center attended with me.  The seminar was wonderful, and uneventful for me and the baby- other than my stomach feeling tight.  However, Christy and Sarah kept getting calls and texts from Ann, the midwife we owned the birth center with.  She was asking them to be on call for her because she had three moms who were “making noise” (contractions here and there, possible water broken and so forth).  We laughed that this could be a busy weekend for everyone, as we tried to coordinate schedules in our head for who would go with which moms should they all start laboring at once.  I just remember thinking to myself how glad I was to be on maternity leave and so close to having a baby so that there was not an option for me to go in on one of these births.  As you can imagine, it can get pretty insane when the schedule starts panning out this way, and it never includes much sleep!

Saturday night when I went to bed, I did not have a great night’s sleep.  I kept being woken up with what felt like menstrual cramps ever so often.   This sure was a bizarre feeling, after ten months of feeling nothing of the sort.  However, I did not dare share any of this w/ Jim Bob.  Why?  You ask.  Well, for several weeks leading up to my guess date, Jim Bob had been complaining about how much he was ready for the baby’s arrival.  He was so anxious to go through labor and birth with me, to meet our precious baby and to have some time off from work.  So, in case this was starting only to stop, I was not planning on saying anything to my sweet husband until I was sure these changes were here to stay until a baby was born.  What I still laugh about, looking back on all of this, is that normally it is the woman who is so ready to have her baby.  I was ready to experience labor and birth and to see what we were having and meet my precious baby, but I was not to the point of begging for an induction because I loved every single day of my pregnancy and would not have minded being pregnant at least a month past my guess date.   I knew I would miss my pregnancy because it was such a wonderful time in my life.  Jim Bob, on the other hand, talked to my belly everyday and begged his baby to come out already and meet him.  He kept complaining that even though our guess date was near he knew it meant nothing and we could really have weeks to go still.

Well, Sunday morning came and I was still feeling pretty crampy.  At 8:23AM, I text Christy, who was awake at one of Ann’s clients’ births with Angela (my friend and my midwife’s, Susan’s, apprentice) that I was crampy and needed prayer because this was possibly the start.  I gave her specific instructions to just pray but not to tell anyone, especially Angela.  Angela had been really excited about my birth, and the last thing I wanted was for her to stress about me being in labor while she was with another client.  Later at 9:30AM, when the cramps were getting stronger, I decided to text my friend and Ann’s apprentice, Abby, to pray for me.  She and Ann were also at a birth, and I also asked her to just pray and not say anything.  The last thing I wanted was for news to spread throughout my friends and the birth community and for everyone to be calling and checking on me ever so often.  That would have stressed me out, and I knew everyone was very busy with all the births that were going on so I wanted them to be able to concentrate.  Shortly after texting with Abby, as we got ready to go to the 10:45AM service at church, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable.  So, I confessed to Jim Bob that I did not feel really good, and if things did not let up, I would probably skip church.  To which he excitedly responded, “Really, something is going on?!  Well, we can totally skip church if we need to!”  Fortunately though, the closer it came to time for us to leave, the crampiness let up.  Off to church we went.  God is so good!  He had already walked the path ahead of me, as He always does, and He knew I needed to be in church that morning.  Worship was a particularly moving and emotional time for me this particular morning.  I think I felt in my spirit that my life really was about to drastically change in the next few hours.  It was such a sweet time with the Lord and Jim Bob worshipping at my side.  Then, before Pastor Robert gave the message, Pastor Marcus stood up to say a few words after worship.  Lately, what he has been spoken during and after worship has touched me more than the actual message.  On this particular morning, Pastor Marcus quoted Psalms 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord our God.”  He then asked us who we had been placing our trust in, and reminded us that the Lord “does not need the help of created things to finish what He has started.”  Wow!  That short blurb hit me hard!  I needed to hear that, especially for my journey ahead.

We came home and decided to eat lunch in the backyard because the weather was so beautiful.  One of our friends from Bible study on Wednesday had left us some leftover turkey chili, I warmed that up with some leftover enchiladas.  I laughed to myself that these were probably not good food choices should I go into labor later on, but they sounded so good at the time.  We got through lunch and sat outside with the dogs just hanging out.  I would have a few cramps every now and then but nothing major was going on.   We did not have any plans for the rest of the day; after cleaning up from lunch, we decided to just hang out and relax- reading and watching movies.  I was having to use the bathroom more frequently than normal.  At around 2PM, I went to use our bathroom, and as I was sitting I got a major cramp- stronger than the rest.  I hollered for Jim Bob, and started to cry.  This was scary!  It had come on so fast, and it hurt really badly!  I had seen women go through this many times, and honestly I was terrified of what lay ahead.  Jim Bob came into the bathroom asking if I was okay, and I made him stand close so I could lean on him for support until it was over.  Holding myself up on the toilet while feeling my muscles tighten and ache was too much to ask of my body, so I really relied on Jim Bob’s help.  After it had passed, Jim Bob just held and hugged me.  I confessed my fear to him- it is already hurting this badly!  He reminded me that my body was created for the task at hand, and that I was probably making faster progress than I anticipated because for an entire ten months, using the Hypnobabies method, I had been training my mind and body that labor would feel like nothing more than a really tight hug.

At 2:36PM, I text Lynsey, my birth photographer, to tell her that I was contracting about every 9 to 10 minutes and that they were getting stronger and not letting up.  Lynsey, along with the rest of our birth team, knew that Jim Bob and I wanted to do most of the laboring on our own before calling anyone to be with us.  However, I had agreed with Lynsey that no matter what was going on or how we felt, I would let her know as soon as things started happening so she could line up childcare for her kids.  I then decided I would get in a warm bath in our bathtub, to try to relax and make sure this was not false labor that would let up.  And, of course, since I was not feeling great I called my mom; it was 3:12PM at this point.  Moms are the best to have around when you do not feel good!  Little did I know, she was planning to go to a church service in Dallas with my dad; it was a very good thing I called her and changed those plans.  When I calmly (making it out to be less than what it really was) told her what was going on, she excitedly yelled to my dad, “Cindy is having contractions, I am not going!”  I could hear my dad in the background, “What does that mean?”  Mom excitedly again, “It means my grandbaby is coming!!  I’ll be right over, Cindy.”  And she hung up.  I have to admit, although I was trying to stay really calm, it was fun to hear everyone getting excited that our special day seemed to finally be here. 

Stay Tuned For The Rest of the Story… And, see more birth stories at Mommypotamus.

Birth Center News:

As you know, pregnancy and birth are major passions of mine.  And, they definitely keep me busy!  Well, in the midst of growing our family with baby #2 on the way, we’ve also been very occupied helping open a birth center.  All About Babies Birth Center is in the north of the metroplex, in Argyle.  Please become a fan on Facebook.  There, we will post updates on the latest events- Movie Nights, Sip’n'Sees and MaterniTEAs- and classes- Out of Hospital Birth Orientation, Organic Cooking Classes, Birth Classes, Cloth Diapering/Babywearing- (including our Open House!).  We are also in the midst of updating our website, and will post that as soon as it is available.

Win Your Own Blog:

My friend and patient, Heather aka “The Mommypotamus“, has the coolest contest going on on her blog right now…  And, you should definitely go check it out!  Do you love my blog?  I’m not talking just content here, I’m talking the layout and look?  Well, you could have a blog of your own, for FREE!  Heather’s husband, Daniel, is the talent behind my blog.  He designed the whole thing for me, tutored me on how to use it, and still deals w/ my nagging questions.  And, I love, love, love my blog…  Even when I am too busy puking to give it the attention it needs .  I just think it’s so cool that Heather is offering you the chance to win yours!  Go check it out, here.

Cooking Demo & Free Meal-Mommypotamus LIVE:

Many of you already follow the Mommypotamus on her blog and Facebook page.  But, have you met her in person?!  Well, now is your chance, and there may not be more for a while…  Mommypotamus has agreed to kick off our organic cooking classes before she has Babypotamus (very soon).  She’ll do a cooking demo, serve a light meal and talk about “Nourishing Meals for the Busy Mom”.  You will NOT want to miss this!  It will be in Argyle, THIS Thursday the 30th at 6:30PM.  Check out Mommypotamus’ post for more info.

Birth on Labor Day:

The Tarrant County Birth Network is a fabulous organization!  If you are a mom, plan on becoming a mom, or are in any field that deals with pregnancy and birth, you should DEFINITELY support this amazing group…  Join the TCBN!  The memberships start as low as $25 per year, and include a ton of great perks!  On September 25th, they are hosting a wonderful event, BOLD.  BOLD stands for “Birth on Labor Day”.  It is a play about several women’s different birth stories.  There will also be a free birth and parenting fair, in conjunction with the play, on that day.  Lifetime Family Wellness Center and All About Babies will both have booths at the fair, and we’d love it if you would stop by and say hi.  We have tickets for the event on sale at all office locations (Hurst and Argyle).  Please, contact me at drshaggerton@gmail.com for more details. 

First of all, allow me to open this post by thanking you for being so patient with me.  I know I haven’t been around much.  Growing baby number two has definitely kept me in bed and in the bathroom a lot more than I would like.  But, hopefully I am soon to be over the hump; and, at least I can look at precious Harper and know that what I am enduring is so worth it!  All that to say, I hope to be posting a lot more often here pretty soon. 

These past couple of weeks have been pretty interesting, and I’ve heard some conversations I wanted to bring up for discussion.  People’s choices, especially in this country, are so interesting to me!  The things we allow and the things we outright choose can be quite perplexing to my little brain.  I wonder, do you see something wrong with this picture?

“What picture?” you ask.  Well, allow me to share what I am talking about.  At a party this weekend, I stood listening to a labor and delivery nurse at a new, local hospital and another lady who works at an OB/GYN practice discussing some changes that were about to take place.  The lady from the OB/GYN office was telling the hospital nurse that a bunch of their OBs were about to come on staff at her new hospital.  To which the nurse replied, she already knew this information plus the fact that they were getting even more doctors from some other practices.  Then, the nurse went on to share that the talk at the hospital had been all about how they were going to handle all of the new births (business) that these OBs would bring their way when they came on staff.  After all, this hospital doesn’t have that many birth rooms.  Her solution?  They better get triage and the operating rooms ready for the overflow they were bound to have!  Admittedly, though, they both confessed that this probably wouldn’t be the perfect solution because the operating room would already be full with surgeries. 

So let me get this straight?  Women are going to choose to pay thousands of dollars to birth in a hospital.  During their pregnancy, they will tour the hospital and see these nice birth-rooms, planning out their perfect hospital birth in their heads.  Then, on the big day, they show up to be told, “Whoops, we hired more doctors and right now we are filled to capacity.  Would you like to deliver in a large room where the beds are separated by curtains?  Or, would you like to be taken into the OR with big lights, where you won’t be having surgery, but the feeling will be much the same?”  What?  Doesn’t that sound to you like a perfectly legitimate option and two great choices?  Maybe if you’ve never experienced these rooms in a hospital. 

Ironically enough, after overhearing this conversation, I was called to doula a hospital birth.  When I got there, guess where the mom was?  In triage.  Sitting on her twin bed because as the nurse informed her, “This is triage, we have different rules that birth rooms, and no, you may not use your birth ball.  You will be in this bed.”  Why was she in triage?  Well, even though her water had broken, the staff was trying to decide if they were going to admit her.  Anyone ever heard of a hospital sending a mom home and not admitting them when they have ruptured membranes?  Nope?  Me neither!  So, do I think it is a big possibility that this hospital didn’t have a room available for this mom and was stalling?  Absolutely!  Did the fact that she was forced to lay on her back in that triage bed until she was complete and pushing convince me of my opinion more?  Absolutely!  I am just so thankful that this particular mom did an amazing job and was able to endure what most women could have never done.  She had her baby beautifully and naturally- even under the stress of a rude nurse in a little triage room- without medication as she desired. 

Yet another reason that choices in this country not only amaze but sadden me!  I am all for- and grateful for- hospitals, when they are necessary.  The problem is, most in this country are uneducated and misinformed when it comes to their options.  Therefore, we crowd our hospital rooms with births that shouldn’t be taken there at all, and we are now forced to use hospitals rooms to have births in that weren’t meant to have women birthing in them.  Why choose to go to a place that is designated to save sick and dying people to birth a healthy baby?  And, now- in this country- most are choosing to pay a high dollar to do so and  forfeit the comfort they were promised on their tour they would have.