The Last 3 Weeks- Part 2

Nanue and Big Papa came on Mera's one week b-day to meet her.
Big Papa left on Sunday and Nanue stayed for a week to help out.

She looks concerned.

G had some pretty late nights while Nanue was here.

It is amazing how kids can fall asleep anywhere.

Sleeping beauty.


Nanue brought the girls matching shirts that indicate their order in the family.

I already have an idea of how impossible a group picture will be.

Big sister and little sister.

Counting toes.

And she is already smiling on cue. I guess they do the early stuff earlier when they are almost 2 weeks late.

This was this morning so you can call it her 3-week picture.

The Last 3 Weeks- Part 1

Debo came over the morning after I had Mera to meet her for the first time.
Darby has a hard time keeping her mouth off her sister.

They both want to hold her all the time.

These are the cupcakes the girls made with my mom to celebrate the baby's birthday.

We have had lots of visitors which means lots of attention for G and D. Here is Uncle Matt playing with some sort of balloon contraption he made.

Vivian holding her cousin.

When people do come over it always brings out the wild in my children.

Vivian as the tube worm.

This is Mera the Monday after she was born getting strapped in for her first car ride to the Dr.

Ruth came over Tues. after the birth for the postnatal visit.

Mera was not happy about this feet thing.

And here is Ruth with her other Gleason delivery.

Daddy trying to rest.

This baby does not look like her daddy. If so, I don't see it.

Labor Pics

Below this post is the birth story to go along with the pic. Warning: there are some pictures with a little blood.
This is before things got too heavy.

In the pool finally.

Letting my sister know how much her presence is appreciated.

Getting ready to push a baby out.

There she is.



Cord cutting.

Still in pain.

With Daddy.



Me, a little happier to see her.

Mera's Birth Story

So I know Matt has a version of the birth, and he told it so well, but now it is my turn. I will start by saying that I had no idea how emotionally draining it was going over my due date by 11 days. Really it was no big deal, and I was still in the realm of "normal" gestation those 11 days, but it took a mental, and physical, toll on me.

Thursday night, when I went to bed, I had a conversation with my uterus that was mostly one-sided. I pleaded with it and implored it to start contracting. I visualized. I tried to force contractions. I think I might have even tried to push the baby out. I was overjoyed when I realized at about 3 am that I was having fairly regular contractions. Ruth's policy is to call her as soon as you think you are in labor, but I wanted to let her sleep as I knew she had been up at a birth recently.

I dozed off and on, then at 5 a.m. I realized Matt was rolling around, so I figured he was not sleeping too well, so I told him I was in labor. He was excited and we laid there until 6 when he got up and took a shower and ate. When I called Ruth, it was like Deja Vu. She was on another delivery, just like when Darby was born, and it didn't sound like she was too close to being finished. I said "no big deal" and told her I would check in with her in a couple of hours. That was all it took. No more contractions for me.

We sent the kids to school, so we could have the day to have the baby, but I had very few, to no, contractions throughout the morning. We decided to meet Ruth at her house after her previous delivery to have her check me out. We got there around 3. I was at about 4 cm and 85 percent effaced. She stretched my cervix and sent me on my way. I was supposed to call her when things picked up.

In all of this, my mom had picked up the kids from school, and my sister had made her arrival in town from Stillwater. So it is 3 p.m., and I have been thinking for 12 hours that I am in labor and going to finally have this baby. We get home from Ruth's and nothing really happens. Well, I start to get a little discouraged. I am tired and I haven't eaten much, so I am starving and I think, " I am not having this baby today, because I am so drained I don't think I will make it." So, of course, about this time I start having contractions 3 minutes apart that are pretty strong, but not very long.

I call Ruth and she decided to send her apprentice Brandi over to check me. Brandi gets to my house around 6pm, checks me and says I am 5cm dilated and to start walking. So I do some laundry and clean up a little bit. The contractions stay strong and regular and I have to start focusing on relaxing through them. From 6 to 8 it is just Brandi and me (Matt was at my mom's house spending time with the girls). At 8, Brandi checks me again and I am only 5.5cm, so Brandi decided to do some hateful cervix stretching that causes me to immediately run to the bathroom and puke. To quote Brandi, "Throwing up is actually a good thing. It can really help dilate you." I was not happy.

At this point, things get a little fuzzy. My sister, sister-in-law and husband are all out in the living room chatting it up. I go out there and Brandi tells me to either walk or go lie down and rest. I choose the laying down, because my contractions have gotten so strong I probably couldn't stand through them. For some reason my body goes into super-labor mode when I lay down, which is not the case for most women. I start having some long and strong contractions. I have no idea how long I laid there before calling Brandi back and saying that I needed Ruth to get here. Now, I know Ruth got to my house around 10:20, and I know Brandi checked me before Ruth got there, and I was a seven, but the 2 hours before Ruth's arrival are a blur.

So anyway, my sister, sister-in-law and husband come to my room and get ready for the show. Christy (sister in law) is going to video tape the whole thing, my sister is taking still pictures and my husband just wanted to watch. Once I am sure Ruth is almost to the house, I get in the tub to hang out. That was such a relief and felt so good. I knew that from here things would go very fast, or at least I hoped. Once Ruth got to the house she took her spot next to the tub and coached me through the contractions. She is very good at what she does, but I knew what was coming and was so reluctant to actually push the baby out that I think it worked against me. I finally decided the only way I was going to get through this was to do it, so I relaxed and let the urge to push take over and started pushing. Once I starting pushing, Mera came out very quickly.

Just to slow it down here, because it actually happens in slow motion when you are experiencing that kind of pain, I felt her head start to come out and thought it hurt so bad. Then I heard Ruth say, "Here comes her head." I thought I was going to die, because her head was not even out yet. I can't really describe the pain of the head coming out, so let's skip ahead to the moment that her head is out, yet her body is not. I gear up for one big push, and let it rip. Then I realized her body is not coming out with just my push, but I feel Ruth reach in and grab her. Oh. My. God. Here I am in a place where I don't think anything can hurt worse. Then it does.

So, needless to say, she was born at 11:03 pm, after one of the longest days of my life at a whopping 9lbs 6oz and I survived. I had to get 2 stitches, which was great considering and I recovered far more quickly than with either of the other children. I can honestly say I feel a little something for this baby I didn't feel with the others, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It is a positive feeling, and it might just be knowing she is my last.

Brave Girl

This one wanted to see what it was like to put both ears in the water tonight. She put her head in so far she got water in her mouth and eyes. Pretty brave!

Another Pinky Baby

Being the breastfeeding fanatic that I am, I don't really do pacifiers the first 6 weeks. G and D took to sucking on my pinky finger over a pacifier and looks like little Mera is no different.

Born Friends

This is my friend Eva's baby who was due 4 weeks before Mera and was delivered 2 weeks early. They are almost 8 weeks apart and about the same size.

Baby's Ruth

Here's our midwife Ruth Cobb weighing Mera Jane. THANKS RUTH!

MJ Day as Daddy Remembers It

Virginia is asleep with Mera Jane right now, so I thought I'd relate yesterday's events before they get lost among all the thoughts of home runs and ERA.

Around 5 a.m. Friday morning, I wasn't able to sleep, so Virginia rolled over in bed and said, "You know I'm in labor, right?" No, at least at that point, labor was akin to waking with a full head of hair. But there it was, proof that Mera Jane wouldn't actually go through puberty in her mama's belly.

Charged by the news, I took a shower and waited to welcome my baby girl to the world after the midwife, Ruth Cobb, pulled her from the home birthing pool. Trouble was, contractions stalled around 7 a.m. Ugh. Still, we didn't lose hope.

Aunt Bob arrived from Stillwater around 8:30 a.m., just in time to help me take the girls to school. God bless Boston Avenue for letting Georgia and Darby go on a day they'd ordinarily stay home. And thanks to Mary Byrne for picking up the kids, then keeping them for the rest of the day and into the night.

Around 2:30 p.m., Virginia and I headed to Ruth's house in west Tulsa to see if she could strip Virginia's membranes. Sounds gross, and it is, but it basically kick-started contractions.

By 8 p.m., I finished putting Darby to bed, then waited with the midwife's assistant, Brandi, Aunt Kiki and Bob in the living room. Along the way, I had an enlightening talk with Brandi, a mother of five, about the wonders of home birth and just parenthood in general. Great lady.

Finally, around 9:30 p.m., concerns of Virginia not deliving the baby until the next day, quickly scooted on by. I've seen Virginia in the midst of childbirth, so I could tell that the aggression in her voice meant Mera Jane would soon get her eviction notice.

At 10: 20 p.m., Virginia stepped into the 100-degree birth pool set on getting the job done in a hurry, even if that meant Brandi had to deliver Mera Jane instead of Ruth. But, around 10:35 p.m., Ruth made it through the thunder storm in time to hear Virginia rattle off some of her choice cuss words, and her expected, but not too serious, pleas for an epidural and c-section. We got many of Virginia's hilarious comments, along with two raised middle fingers, on video. Can't wait to watch the video with her.

Ruth, who is a blessing to our family, is something of a pregnant-lady-whisperer. She put us all at ease, even Virginia, as Mera Jane made her way towards the vertical exit. As Virginia often said in the hours after the birth, it all hurt really, really bad, but Viriginia once again proved she is the bravest, strongest, grittiest gal this side of the Byrne Ranch. After all, at 11:03 p.m., Mera came out 9 pounds, 6 ounces. A very big baby with darling cheeks a good cry.

The birth, just like Darby's, went by in a hurry. I remember a ribbon of blood, followed by a gurgle of bubbles, then Mera Jane's head was in Ruth's hands. Then mine.

Welcome to the family, baby girl.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped make the birth such a beautiful event, especially Bob, who was with me for the birth of all three of my amazing girls. She is comic relief in a time when nerves tear me up and throw me down. My mother prayed many a "Hail Mary" for baby Mera. God smiled. Thanks Mom. Mary Byrne, thanks for being there for all of us. I can only hope Mera Jane has the superpowers of both her grandmothers. Dad, you showed me how it's done. Debo, please help me teach Mera the difference between a slider and a cut fastball. Matt Byrne, I can't wait til you feel what I felt last night. Kiki, I'm so glad you got to see my baby girl come into the world. Thanks for catching it all on video, even the gross parts. Vivian, Mera's blessed to have a cousin like you, but that doesn't mean you can buy her beer some day. To my own brother and sister, I can't wait to show off my baby girl. And, finally, Virginia, I love you. It'd break my arms to show you how much. Now stop laughing at how cheesy I'm being.

Sisters Unite!

The Sisters Gleason. Look out, world!

Mera Jane Alice Gleason is Here!

Welcome to the family, baby girl. She arrived at 11:03 Friday night. She weighs 9 pounds, 6 ounces. She was 11 days late, but we'll forgive her ... some day. Virginia's doing great. She's amazing. She really is.

ENT Appointment

We had our appt. with Dr. Hamilton, the most recommended ENT in town for what we are doing. We waited 2 months for this appt. and can you believe I was worried about having the baby and missing the appt. on June 30th. Ha Ha. The main goal was to see about having a CT Scan done of G's ears to determine if there is a cause for her hearing loss. We learned two basic things:
#1 The CT Scan is mostly used to diagnose Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome.
If she has this, it would be important for us to know and mean her loss is progressive.
#2 Only about 5% of kids with a hearing loss scanned have this.
So our plan right now is to have her hearing retested this month and if there is no change again in 3 months. At that point we can decide if we want to spend the money and more importantly, have her sedated, to do the CT Scan. The Dr. said you don't normally have to sedate for a CT Scan but then he tried to examine her and saw what he was dealing with. She is not a good patient, needless to say.

I was happy with the appt. and feel confident we are on the right path for her. Now if I could just give birth...

Readers

I love that I am raising readers. While I don't love to read to the girls, I make a real effort to do it.

They both love to look at books and Darby will actually "read" by memory a lot of her board books.

Georgia spends alone time at night in her bed with her books. I went in to check on her the other night and found her asleep like this.

Dancing Queens

These girls love to dance and wrestle. It's bad when you have to worry about your 2-year0old hurting your 4-year-old.

Her new favorite thing to do is say, "watch this," and then do something outrageous and twisted with her little body.

41 w 1 d

So for all those not my FB friends I am still pregnant. I had an appt. with my MW today but she was on a birth and I stupidly failed to check my messages before I headed to her house. I don't know if I get to be more disgruntled about driving all the way out there or about someone else getting to have her baby. It's a toss up. As soon as my MW gets done I am sure she will call me and reschedule.

For the record, I feel fine, the baby is staying active, and I have no ill effects of going past my due date besides impatience. Also, everyone should keep in mind that a normal gestation is 37 to 42 weeks so I am still in the normal range. Thanks for all the thoughts and I will be sure and let everyone know when I go into labor!

July 4th 2010