Lamb 2's birth story

In honor of Lamb 2's birthday tomorrow, I am posting his birth story today.

During the pregnancy, the blood tests came back positive for Down Syndrome. We went to the Twin Cities for a level 2 ultrasound that didn't tell us any more. At this ultrasound we found out we were having a boy and we told people that wanted to know, but we didn't tell everyone.

My water broke about 3 am and we headed to the hospital 45 minutes away. Lamb 1 came just one hour after we arrived at the hospital so I wanted to go immediately for Lamb 2. We waited and waited and walked the halls until about 11:30am when they finally said I was far enough along to get in the tub for a water birth. I wasn't prepared for this long in labor after Lamb 1 came so soon. I was bored just walking the halls and waiting. Ram read a book most of that time. For Lamb 2 I had tested positive for strep B so I needed IV antibiotics when I first got to the hospital and then every 6 hours. The midwife had told me with my first birth being so quick that I would probably just need one dose. Wrong. The first dose was easy. By the second dose the last thing I wanted to do was to lay still on my back until the whole IV bag was in me! I now know why we want to labor any way besides on our backs. The only drugs I took for Lamb 2's birth were these antibiotics.

I got in the tub about 11:30am. They were in the middle of beginning a total renovation of the hospital. So I was in the tub with lots of banging and drilling and knocking down walls. The birth room with a tub was very small. The midwife laughed and said that all this noise would be worth it for future babies and their mamas to have better birth rooms. I didn't know at the time that she was right and I would have Lamb 3 in one of those beautiful new birth rooms.

I really felt like Lamb 2 was stuck the entire time I was in the tub. Finally the midwife told me to try a different position. I was in the middle of getting up on my knees when Lamb 2 decided to come out. The midwife caught him from behind. She says she will always remember his birth because he was the only baby that she caught in that position. (Maybe since he was born she has caught another one like that, but I doubt it.) He was born at 1pm. (I know I shouldn't complain because my labor was only 3am-1pm, but this was my longest even if it was uneventful!)

He was healthy- 7 lbs 7 1/2 oz; 19 1/2 inches. He was born one day before his due date. He was both my heaviest and shortest lamb.

I had a really hard time adjusting to two lambs. Lamb 1 then- dairy problems (MSPI), not potty trained at all, not talking at all (soon after Lamb 2 was born we had him evaluated by the school system), still had a pacifier at night, and still slept in our room. There are 2 years and almost 3 months between the first two lambs. I remember sitting in the house crying most of the day on the 4th of July, because I just couldn't get myself together and get everyone dressed by noon to go to the town potluck. Plus Lamb 2 did not sleep well at night (during the day he did ok) until we got the bright idea at 2 months old to take him to the chiropractor. He slept great after his adjustment at the chiropractor. We had taken Lamb 1 to the chiropractor from the beginning so I don't know why we didn't think of it for Lamb 2. So the first 2 months with 2 Lambs was terrible, but we survived.

Lamb 2 had a very easy-go with the flow-attitude that he still has today. I was thankful for this because Lamb 1 demanded so much from me.

Lamb 2 was born Memorial Day weekend so the hospital had different staff than normal. My midwife still was there for me and the small town hospital took good care of me, but it wasn't as much attention as normal. In some ways this was good. At night, the nurses took turns holding Lamb 2 and let me sleep from 10pm-4am (which was really nice after getting up at 3am the night before). And Lamb 2 got a lot of attention from the nurses. Ram was supposed to have Ascension Day service in the evening after Lamb 2 was born, but he canceled.

Lamb 2 was born with red hair that has lightened up quite a bit now to blond. Lamb 1 was a great brother and Lamb 1 and 2 are very close. We would have been happy with either sex, but I was very glad to have two boys in a row to be brothers and play together.