It's Easy Being Green

My Homestead Hottie did it: another amazing labor and delivery at  The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. Two and a half weeks of high-anticipation ended at 2am Tuesday morning when baby Adalyn finally decided to show her face to the world! My wife once again did it with the most surreal zen-like confidence and calm.

We’re so excited but exhausted. Talina streamed the birth live over on her blog at Harvest of Daily Life and if you’re interested, you can catch a recording there too. This has been another amazing stay at The Farm, a place where we are considered part of one large but tight-knit community of like-minded people. Special thanks to our midwife Pamela Hunt for her grace and assurance as she brought our second daughter into the world.

Once things calm back down, I’m sure we’ll piece together our birth stories. Three posts back you can find a link to our birth story with Everly from two years ago. It was another amazing experience and one that will forever connect us with these1500 acres in the middle of the Blackjack Oak woods in the middle of southern Tennessee.

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I’ve seen the commercials a million times over the course of my 30 years on this planet.  A parent wakes up in the middle of the night to a coughing, sniffling, horribly sounding baby who is very sick.  It’s not until it is actually your child playing that part that you know how it feels.

That was our night last night.  Cuddled in bed, Homestead Hottie and I were three hours deep into our Dexter marathon.  We’ve all been battling what we dub an upper respiratory “disease” since the day after Christmas.  Tracking back, we think the disease made its way into our normally sickness free house via some items we picked up on Freecycle.  It was a dirty Evansville apartment complex and an undoubtedly dirty family that granted us this thoughtful gift.  We normally disinfect every such item like this before it comes inside but we let our guard down this time and we’ve paid for it.

With the clock sneaking toward the 12:30am mark and our eyelids finally beginning to grow heavy, we heard our Darling Daughter wake up and immediately get very upset; a night terror we thought.  We let her go for a few minutes because we’ve learned not to rush in on the process of self-soothing.  The more upset she got though the more we knew something was wrong.  Clomping down the stairs we both froze in sheer horror at the sound of our daughter barking like a seal, clearly struggling to control her breathing and draw in a deep breath.

Rushing into her room and throwing on a light we could see she was distressed.  Tears the size of water buckets streamed down her face and our poor daughter was shaking like a leaf.  Snatching her into my arms while Talina started taking her forehead temperature, it was almost as if little Everly couldn’t control herself.  I patted her back firmly and this seemed to help clear her lungs and her mind of the panic she awoke too.  With no fever, Talina slid Everly into the rocking chair to breastfeed while I worked up another dose of her natural cough and mucus medicine.  Darling Daughter was calming but her Mommy and Daddy were thinking the worst.

Everly hasn’t been immunized yet.  We believe in completing a delayed schedule of the necessary vaccinations, giving her body and brain more time to develop to proper levels before subjecting her to the dangerous toxins, chemicals and diseases used to produce immunizations.  It’s not something most people understand or support but we’ve done our research, consulted with family physicians and talked at length about it with our midwife.  We have to be super vigilant and super protective when it comes to our Darling Daughter getting sick, this the first time in her 18 months of life that she’s been ill.

As our panic took a firm grip on us, we both agreed it was time for a late night visit to the Emergency Room.  The dark drive down empty, traffic-less streets was nerve racking, thinking about all the things that could be wrong.  I was also secretly hoping the visit would squeeze us in before any New Years Eve madness began to overrun local trauma rooms.

Of course, by the time we arrived at the door to St. Mary’s Emergency Room, Miss Everly was acting as if almost nothing had happened and her breathing had greatly improved.  The giant steaming hulk of a pressure washer machine standing firm at the front door, hissing loudly and belching thick acrid steam cleaner caused her to freak a bit, burying her head in our chests.  Once inside and away from the steam monster, she was clearly interested in the friendly trauma nurse poking, prodding and temperature taking.  Hot on our heels headed into a trauma room, Dr. Sorentino was ready to begin his work before we’d even hit the bed.

Sorentino was cool and calm with a friendly disposition that I wish a majority of doctors could replicate.  He asked the right questions as if he already knew what the end result was going to be and didn’t question or scorn our philosophies and thoughts on vaccinating our child.  That is also unusual within the medical community, even at St. Mary’s Medical Center where we have dealt with an OB/GYN that loves to tell you how it is and why you’re a horrible person for thinking the way you do or questioning her motivations.

Everly was very interested in all the excitement of her ER visit but just couldn't seem to get comfortable on those horrible beds.

Dr. Sorentino laid out his plan of action for us quickly and even asked us what we thought about his thinking, including us in the decision making process of our child’s care.  A couple chest x-rays and tests later, the good doc determined our Darling Daughter had a bout of croup.  Sorentino kept joking that Everly certainly wasn’t acting sick and was one of the most animated sick children he had ever seen.  She was bouncing on the bed, greeting nurses and doctors as they came and went and even mimicking the sounds of the woman puking her guts out in the next trauma room over from us.  What a delightful night!

Since she was doing so well, Dr. Sorentino determined meds were not necessary nor was an injection of steroids before our trip back home.  Everly was requesting night-nights by this point and so we set out just under an hour after arriving to land back in our comfy beds.  The staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center were so quick and efficient we could hardly believe it.  From our admitting nurses at the front door to Dr. Sorentino, we couldn’t have found a nicer, more caring and non-judgmental medical team.  We now know the next time croup crops up, to just step out into the cold air or throw open the freezer door to help calm the breathing down and reduce the swelling of the windpipe.

Everly cuddling with her Momma while waiting to go home for night-nights

Now to some much needed rest as we head into the new year here at the half-acre homestead, with much thoughts on peace and prosperity headed into 2011.  This has been a banner year and one I can’t wait to finally see in the rear-view mirror.

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Literally oh my! I can’t believe it’s almost mid-May, making it nearly a month since I’ve written last. I figured I should write a quick update from the Hoosier Half-Acre Homestead and get you caught up on all the happenings around here.

Little E, my now toddling daughter, has quickly picked up the pace when it comes to moving around the house. Her speed crawling has gotten out of control this past two weeks so we’ve been furiously baby proofing the homestead house and trying to keep the little one occupied. She’s coming up on 11 months old and we just can’t believe she will be a year old soon. Little E loves the garden and has spent many mornings outside with T and I planting away.

While gardening, Little E has discovered earth worms (also tried to eat them too) and the taste of fresh-picked lettuce. Strangely, she loves munching on the salad greens and everything else that’s plucked fresh from our garden beds. We both think it’s great that she has so much fun with us out in the veggie garden.

Speaking of the veggie garden, things are going great guns out there. We’ve had storm after storm of rain over the past three weeks so things are growing like weeds out there. All of the greens and salad veggies have been harvest ready about once a week, if not more these days. Our summer veggies are now in the garden. A couple weekends ago the Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association held their yearly fundraiser plant sale and we picked up a lot of great heirloom tomatoes. I’ll save that for another post!

We also took a Saturday to go out and enjoy WNIN’s Urban Seeds Garden Party. It was an awesome event here in Evansville, Indiana with dozens of like-minded people hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. There were several food booths offering up natural or locally grown foods and now I think we’re even convinced to join an organic meat CSA. That’s another post too, just a preview of what’s to come in the next few days.

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The changing of the seasons is definitely on the march here in southwest Indiana and with it comes a stark quandary about where time disappears to.  This time of year for my little family is often a busy one.  My wife’s teaching work picks up a ferocious amount of speed as she nears the end of marching season.  For me, the year end proves time to make another big push at work before we fall into the end of the holiday season and vacation city.

There is so much truth in the words spoken to me by my parents and every other parent.  When you have kids, you just don’t know where time goes.  Before you know it, when you reflect on time, so much has passed and you feel like you haven’t gotten anything done.  It’s hard to change that line of thinking as a new parent.  It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve posted a new blog and my to-do list, while it shrinks on a free weekend day, expands exponentially throughout the week.

What I need to force myself to reflect on though are the same words I speak to my wife.  Look at what we’ve done with our beautiful baby girl over the last couple of weeks.  Look at everything that has changed with her and what are her newest, most awe-inspiring accomplishments.  Look at the time that we have been able to spend together as a little family and what will that create for us in the future.

My blog may be lacking.  My to-do list may be growing.  Time speeds along and leaves change from their seemingly everlasting green to timeless hues of gold, orange, red and maroon.  The farmers near our home are scurrying down the two-lanes like field mice, reaping the harvests before Winter’s grip takes hold.  But here I sit, taking a moment to reflect and share this little stitch in time and really I just couldn’t have it any other way.

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Picking up where I left off on my last post:

Pamela checked in about every hour to see how things were going and to give support about what was going on at that time.  Around 6:15 my wife said she was feeling like she should start pushing.

With that announcement, Pamela began to assemble her birth kit in the living room and kitchen of the cabin and called two other midwives to witness and help out with the birthing process.  I helped T labor in the shower on about 5 separate occasions throughout the night.  The hot water helped relax her muscles and a change of position kept her limber and active.  She seemed to be handling the contractions flawlessly and gave no indication of pain.  The hours seemed to drag on and even though I knew how long birth can last, it didn’t seem like we were ever going to get to the end.

Around 10:15pm, the contractions had picked up in length and intensity and T was beginning to feel like she couldn’t hold back from pushing at that point.  Two other midwives had gathered to join Pamela in our cabin.  Stacey, Pamela’s daughter in-law, was a new midwife and was enjoying getting her feet wet with us.  Jenn, a doula and midwife in training was also present and was learning the ropes from one of the best, most seasoned teachers.  The three worked in partnership with each other, never stepping on another’s toes.  They constantly lent encouragement and suggestions to my wife while constantly monitoring the position, activity and heartbeat of our baby.

Around 11pm, the midwives suggested that I sit behind T and let her lean back on my chest while I gave her a bit of a break by pulling her knees up while she pushed.  This gave her an opportunity to relax her muscles a bit and conserve some energy for later.  Just before midnight we took a break from laboring in the bed and I helped her labor a bit in the shower.  That was when things noticeably started moving along much quicker.  Just around that time, our hot and sticky summer night turned into a cool refreshing one as a thunderstorm rolled into the area.

The lightning, rumbles of thunder and rain pattering the canopy of forest around us was undeniably the perfect background for our natural birth.  At 12:15am, the push was really on.  My wife was pushing every two to three minutes and the midwives led her through several different birthing positions during this time.  She tried a birthing stool, squatting while hanging her arms from a doorknob, bent over the end of the bed and finally crouched on all fours on the floor, grabbing the foot of a bed.  This was the position that seemed to work the most amazingly!

Around 12:45am, T got hungry.  She had a light snack of yogurt, a handful of protein-rich cashews and soy nuts and a glass of apple juice.  This nourishment gave her the little added boost she needed to complete pushing our daughter down the birth canal.  She experienced about three insanely intense contractions and made a lot of headway pushing the baby out.  In fact, it only took three minutes from the moment her head crowned until her head was completely out.  That was a record time according to the midwives!

Seeing my daughter’s head appear from my wife’s vagina was the most amazing and awe-inspiring thing ever.  I didn’t think it would be worth seeing and would probably do more to horrify me than anything else but once again, I was so wrong.  Seeing that little smooshed face, for the very first time after 9 long months of waiting and anticipation was just the moment I hoped it would be and yes, it was love at first sight.  One more push and she was completely out and on my wife’s chest at 1:16am!  We were parents!

It was about 45 minutes before the placenta appeared and everyone could be cleaned up, measured and weighed.  Because our little girl crowned so quickly, my wife experienced a fourth-degree tear which the midwives insisted be repaired at the local hospital.  They didn’t want her to be scarred or damaged.  At 4am, very tired and exhausted, we packed up Mom, baby and Pamela and headed off to the labor and delivery ward at the local hospital.  Three hours later, my wife was stitched back together and we headed back to the cabin for some much needed rest just about 24 hours after the whole process began.

The care we received from Pamela, Stacey and Jenn was incredible.  There’s no doubt we made the right choice about birthing at The Farm and would encourage anyone interested in natural childbirth to look to The Farm as a possibility.  You’ll be glad you did!

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After several weeks I’m trying to climb back in the saddle when it comes to the blog bandwagon.  I’ve been out of commission for the last several weeks because my wife and I were getting ready to welcome our first child into the world.  She arrived on June 23rd at The Farm Midwifery Center in Summertown, Tennessee.

My wife really wanted a natural child birth for her first birthing experience.  When we figured out we were expecting she did a lot of reserach on local hospital birthing options and that’s when we realized that she wasn’t going to get the natural experience she wanted in a hospital.  Intervention rates in our area are high and both hospitals we considered wouldn’t allow us to avoid fetal monitoring, alternative birthing positions, etc.  That’s when we started looked for a midwife in southwestern Indiana.

We didn’t have much luck there either.  We found a midwife in the area but she has a history of lawsuits and told us that 90% of her first time Moms end up being transported to the hospital.  She didn’t have any emergency backup options and since Midwifery is unfortunatley illegal in the state of Indiana, we weren’t real comfortable with local options.  That’s when my wife discovered The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee.

The Farm started off in the early 70’s as a spiritual community leading the way in communal living.  One of the most successful components of The Farm community was their Midwifery Center, led by world-reknowned midwife Ina May Gaskin.  Gaskin has written several books on the subject of Midwifery and natural childbirth and her writing helped to direct my wife to go in that direction as opposed to a medicated, un-natural child birth in a local hospital with high intervention rates.

The beauty of The Farm is that just about everyone who lives there also maintains a cabin that is available for rent on their property.  A few of these cabins are primarily used as birthing cabins, where women can give birth in a quiet and relaxing home-like experience.  To be quite honest, in the beginning I still wasn’t convinced that a birth experience at The Farm was the way to.  I was urging my wife to just go “the easy way” by having a birth at the local hospital, using insurance so we didn’t have to lay out a bunch of money to have a birth.  I’m sorry that’s the attitude I carried.  We scheduled our first visit to The Farm to see if this was what we really wanted to do.

Driving onto The Farm the first time was like stepping into a time capsule.  This experiment in communal living certainly felt and looked like a hippie paradise.  Stepping into the Midwifery Center was like walking into a clinic located in some small, third world country at the far reaches of our globe.  As soon as our midwife greeted us at the front door though, it was all over for me.

The first thing I noticed about our midwife, Pamela Hunt, was her calm and warm demeanor.  As soon as we were in her presence, I felt every worry about a natural birth experience melt away and knew this was the place where we were going to introduce our little one into the world.  In addition to our monthly, insurance covered visits to a local OB/GYN in Indiana, we made a visit to see Pamela at The Farm during at least every trimester and kept in touch with her via email and telephone after every prenatal checkup back home.

Since we live more than 200 miles from Summertown, Tennessee, we knew we weren’t going to be able to hop in the car when my wife’s water broke and head to The Farm.  A rushed, frantic three and a half hour car ride while my wife is in labor just wasn’t going to be option.  That’s where the rental cabins at The Farm came into play.  Just about everyone who lives there also has a cabin available for rental.  Several of the cabins are designated as birthing cabins, giving women and their families a place to relax and enjoy a natural homebirth experience.  We opted to rent Pamela’s cabin which was right next door to her house.  It doesn’t get much more comforting than that!

We headed to The Farm two weeks before my wife’s due date and got her all setup in the cabin.  I stayed weekends and drove back to Evansville during the week to go to work, since I wasn’t going to be allowed to take very much time off.  I had just returned home very late after the second weekend at The Farm when I awoke to the home phone ringing at 7:30 in the morning.  I knew right away what the call was about.  My wife had awoken to her water breaking and was getting ready to sit and have breakfast with her Mom who was staying at the cabin in my absence.  I immediately got our zoo of animals resituated at the house and made my excited trek back down to Tennessee to help welcome my first child into the world.  In the meantime she took a morning stroll to The Farm Store down the road from the cabin and visited with Pamela about the day ahead.

When I arrived at 2pm my wife was obviously excited to see me.  We hung out for a bit and then she laid down to take a nap and rest up for the birth.  It was hot and extremely humid that afternoon but the stickiness seemed to have a certain energy about it.   Early in the evening, she woke up and was beginning to get some strong contractions about every 2 to 3 minutes.  Knowing that the birth process was starting was both daunting and exciting.

To read the rest of our birth story, check in tomorrow!

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