She's here!!!

After a three hour labor, she is here!
7lbs. 12 oz.
19 inches
Born at home on 4/14 at 6:58 a.m.

We're getting close on a name...stay tuned!

These photos were taken when she was about two hours old.

Neigh

A recent conversation I had...

Neighbor Guy: "Congratulations! He is beautiful. So how long were you in the hospital?"

Me: "Oh, we had him at home."

Neighbor Guy: "Intentionally?!?"

Me: "Yes, he was born in our living room in a birthing tub. It was wonderful!"

Neighbor Guy: "Well I don't know what to say! You're a horse!"

Hmm...any idea on how to respond to THAT? Neigh!

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Here are some photos from breakfast this morning with my mom, Julie Kangas, and Andie Merlino. It was wonderful to see them and introduce them to Ryan!

From Grandpa's Camera - Week One

The envelope I was tracking my contraction on...notice as time goes on how my handwriting changes. The last entry was Rob's - I couldn't do it any longer! They started every 2-3 mins for 1 min! I kept waiting for the 5 mins apart...by the time the midwife got there I was already dilated to a seven. Guess my body got going and kicked into high gear from the start!


Our amazing Midwives - Dawn and Michele.


Many people has asked if Ryan was born in the bathtub. We bought an inflatable birthing tub and had it set up in the family room.


First nail trimming.


So many new facial expressions!


Holding my head up.














There's that pointer finger!

He is here!

Ryan Robert Judge arrived this morning after a 6.5 hour labor. He was born at home, in water, at 8:44 a.m. He weighs 9 pounds and is 20 inches long. We are all doing great!

We feel incredibly blessed. Welcome Ryan!
WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!




















Seconds old...


All of these below are about 2-3 hours old.

Home Birth

Our "birth plan" has changed! We are having a home birth.

Yes, we have done the research and know there will be some friends and family who may think we're nuts. And that's okay, I know it makes some people uncomfortable and worried about the "what if?" But if you do your own research, you will find that statistically we're actually just as safe or safer having a baby at home than we are at the hospital (since I am healthy and have had a very low-risk pregnancy).

So, that's our big news! We are very excited and at peace with this decision and are looking forward to bringing this little person into the world in a peaceful, comfortable, and serene environment.

I will have two midwives and they will come to our home whenever we call them and they will stay after for as long as we feel we need them as well. They come back for follow up visits as well. We are also planning to have a water birth and will rent a heated portable pool that we will set up in our family room. A little hard to imagine?...?...? (Smiles!)

We think it will be incredible! There have been several things that have led us both to this decision...if you're curious read on.

We toured St. Joseph's and saw the facility, the pace, and the bright lights, hustle and bustle, etc... We were disappointed to learn that within the first two hours of having your baby you are then moved to a different floor. We also learned that the midwife we had been using may or may not be the one there when I went into labor. I would get whomever is on call.

Then, it got worse...that midwife would be bouncing between all the other women on in labor that are also with Group Health (insurance/health care provider). They said there are often 4-6 women all laboring at once. So our midwife would be in and out every 20 minutes or so and the nurses would be in and out every 5 minutes or so. Hmm...didn't sound too relaxing to me. And who knows if she or someone else would be there for the actual birth? Depends on who else needs her at the same time. So who would we get if that happened? Someone we've never met?

We left our tour pretty bummed but resigned to, "I guess this is just how it is."

Then my grandma went into the hospital a few days later and my parents were in Europe. Rob and I were the first in line to help her and deal with the ER and all the chaos that a hospital brings. Now I know the maternity ward is much more relaxed than the ER, but what I discovered was how it felt to be a patient in the health care system.

I felt like I had no voice. I was suddenly surrounded by people who "knew best" for someone they didn't even know...MY grandma. When it dawned on me that I knew her best and I knew what was right for her and no one cared about what I wanted for her, it not only left me infuriated me but it left me scared of and for our health care system.

I know that doctors and nurses are doing their best, but they are shackled with policies and laws at every turn. It concerns me that they may agree with me about what is best and yet they have to do something else because of a policy that is in place that should only apply to a portion of the patients they see...not everyone. I wish they were able to give more individualized care. I am thankful for emergency medicine and I know they are doing the best that they can, but the whole experience was pretty awful to watch and not have any control over.

Our dialog began about a home birth. It was something that we had brought up early on but ruled out for fear of the "what if something went wrong?" The more we discussed, researched, read, and digested...the more comfortable we got. I guess that's how anyone feels about a topic that they aren't really educated on. Once you learn about it, you become more comfortable with it.

Anyway, the next week Rob and I spoke to our midwife about our concerns and asked her dozens of questions. We had pretty much made up our minds, but wanted an opinion from someone we trusted, respected, and who knew us...and a professional in the business of having babies.

She said I was a perfect candidate. That she would not discourage us even if I was her own daughter and that we were just as safe at home. She admitted that the OBs, nurses, and midwives on the maternity floor are on a time line to basically turn over the beds and get you out of there. This means that is you don't progress within their time line that they push you to get pitocin to get labor moving more quickly. That almost always makes contractions worse than what nature would be doing and so then you need to have an epidural. Epidurals have been proven to slow labor...so then you can end up slowing labor and "stalling out" - sometimes leaving you with a c-section.

Well...any of the above happening from the pitocin to needing the epidural isn't at all my ideal plan. I would like to go without drugs (and will have no choice since I'll be at home) and I would like to let nature decide my time line.

We would also like to have our little one arrive in a peaceful and reverent way. At home, we can insure that there are no bright lights, no unnecessary voices other than Rob's and my own, no vigorous drying with towels, and no one else holding him but us. And we will give him time to let him gently discover this world -- from feeling gravity to the smell of his parents.

So...we have met with different midwives that come to your home and have found one we love. Her name is Dawn and we are thrilled to have started our care with her and have this really be our journey, our experience, and on our terms.

And, if there is something that looks like a concern, she will call the shots early and we will head to the hospital. It is rare that this happens, but it does and we are prepared that anything can happen...but we are of course, hoping for the best.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

We're off to a ball game tonight and will take a camera and see about an updated belly shot! In the meantime, happy Friday and much love to all of you.

Brooke and Rob