Babies!

So we have 2 more babies at Solace Farm, as of Tuesday.  To start with, Annie had a beautiful little white alpaca boy already out at 6 am as usual.  And just like little Tammy last year, he's got two blue eyes, so there's a 90% chance he's deaf like she was.  We'll have to watch him and see for sure, but logically we should assume he is.  We also need to weigh him, now and at least once a week for a while.  Little Tammy died at about 5 weeks for no obvious reason, and I wonder if she was nursing enough, so I'd really like to monitor them this time.  

And, in more important news, the other baby is mine, finally!   Ewan Nickinson Rae was born last night at about 9:45, weighing 9 lbs 10 oz and 21" long.  

(On my phone in the hospital I cannot get this both small and right side up!). 

Unfortunately, Ewan was not born on the farm as planned.  I was in light labor  most of Tuesday, then my water broke at 3:00 (the midwives were already there) and I worked on things until around 7:30.  It was a much easier labor than the others, although when it passed the previous record of 4 hours, I started wanting things to be winding up.  Unfortunately, they seemed to be regressing rather than progressing, and eventually my midwife went exploring.  When she wasn't sure what she was feeling, but the options were knee or elbow, we decided it was time to go to the hospital.  Once there, an ultrasound showed that Ewan was not head-down as he's been for at least the last week, and in fact that afternoon (both my midwife and I are sure he was correct before my water broke), but he was diagonally transverse.  His head was up under my right ribs, his bottom and feet down over my left hip, and then somehow, he had jammed his elbow into my pelvis instead of a head!  That obviously meant a C-section, so I was whisked off for that.  

The C-section was not routine either - the OB repeatedly said she'd never seen a presentation like this (sometimes unique is not so great), and they had a lot of trouble getting Ewan out.  Caleb said he'd never seen a C-section where they kept shoving parts back in, but again, Ewan just kept sticking his arm out, and they had trouble getting to his head.  Even though the incision was a standard size, the necessary rough handling and Ewan's size and stubbornness caused additional tearing inside, more blood loss than expected, and Ewan had to be resuscitated a bit with oxygen.  I was relatively awake for the birth, but apparently I did not deal well with the painkiller, because they ended up putting me to sleep for the last part.

Ewan has some bruising to his chest from the extraction, and his whole left arm is still purple a day later from the laboring with it corking things up, but otherwise he's doing great.  He's nursing like an old pro, he's already figured out that he can both nurse and sleep simultaneously, so I don't know that he'll lose any of the standard baby weight drop in those first days :).  

I am pretty sore, both from the usual deflation of removing a large baby, and a large volume of amniotic fluids - they broke while I was standing in the dining room, and we all agreed it had to be at least 2 quarts - as well as from the rough C-section.  Also, I had no idea there are sharp stabbing pains in your shoulder for at least a day after getting put under with gas, but there are, and they're awful!  

Overall, though, we are of course just overjoyed to have a fat, healthy, beautiful boy - that's really the only thing that matters!  

Caleb is going to take off work for the 6 week recovery time that I'm facing, by piecing together paid time off and some unpaid Family Medical Leave Act time. 

In the meantime, in going to try to get a bit of sleep - I haven't done more than doze for at least the last two days and nights, and I'm reaching a state of non- functionality.  I will, of course, post any updates on things, as they come up.  We are very thankful for any good thoughts and prayers for speedy recoveries - thanks so much!

Lastly, I should mention that Sunday was a big day for Liam, he is now a 6-year-old!  And he didn't get a little brother for his birthday like he was dreading :).  He did get a real baseball bat (no more wooden stick), a caving helmet, and lots of books for his new-found love of reading.  He also got sweet rolls for breakfast, and sausages over a campfire for supper - no s'mores, since there was also homemade chocolate cake with homemade chocolate ganache icing, and double chocolate ice cream!  All in all, it was a pretty good day :).