Liesl Gale Barlow
Birth Story
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| 39 Weeks |
It’s still amazing to me that this sweet little girl is here on my chest, sleeping soundly & safely home and in our arms and hearts forevermore. She’s utterly and completely adored by the rest of her family. Before life gets busy again and sweeps details from my tired brain, I want to write her birth story for her to see one day, and so that I can look back and remember the little details that made her entrance into the world so incredibly miraculous.
On Wednesday, May 23rd, I realized in the afternoon that my undies felt damp. I put a panty liner in and tried to forget about it, but a while later the liner was quite soaked. I wondered if it was a slow leak from water breaking, but since I wasn’t GBS positive this pregnancy, I decided to wait and see if things progressed. I also knew I had an appointment on Thursday with my OB, so we decided we’d check in and tell them what was going on then.
At my previous appointment, Dr. Amarosa had told me that they are willing to sweep the membranes and usually within 24-48 hours labor begins. Jim and I discussed it and decided that we’d go ahead and try it. After they’d confirmed that the baby was fine and my fluid levels were fine, Dr. Scoones swept my membranes around 4:15 PM.
I went to Trader Joe’s for a few groceries before returning home and, admittedly, was starting to already feel a little achy. We had a normal evening, but Jim and I had it in the back of our minds that this could be the last night as a family of four. Excited and nervous, I tried to rest and go to bed. I texted and called my friend Hannah to confirm for sure that she would be available in the night, should I go into labor. She said her phone would be on and she’d be ready, then eagerly told me to get some rest!
Thursday Photos
Around 1:50 AM I woke up to a contraction. The contractions continued and were anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes apart until about 4 AM. Although slightly painful, I was determined to stay in bed and rest and attempt to get a bit more sleep. With both of my previous labors I’d labored through the night and I was hopeful that perhaps, just perhaps, if I could just get a bit more rest and make it to the morning, I’d be able to have a day birth.
By the time Jim was getting ready for work at 5:30/6ish I realized that I had been able to sleep and that the contractions had completely subsided. I stayed in bed as long as I could. I texted Joi, my good friend and doula from Owen’s birth, asking if I had done the right thing by staying in bed and not getting up to encourage labor to get going. She was so encouraging and affirming:
“No, unless you are facing some kind of intervention
then it’s always best to ignore labor. You did great!
That could happen nightly for several nights.
So you wouldn’t want to wear yourself out while
your body is just warming up. The mantra for early labor is
‘ignore, ignore, ignore.’ ”
I responded, “Phew. I needed to hear that.”
“...Once they really go there is no ignoring it.
When you get to the point where you think
“ignoring this labor is impossible” then you
get to join in the fun!!
...I’m glad you’re GBS negative.
You get to own this labor.
So go about your plans. Do things you enjoy.
Eat and drink wisely. Take a rest time each afternoon.
Hug your boys lots and lots. Read scripture.
Listen to great music. Just be awesome.”
This conversation was a compass for me for the rest of the labor. I’m so thankful for her quick response and intentional words.
Fortunately, the boys have been so awesome at playing together in the morning and Ian gets them both apples, if they get hungry. So, I think I finally crept out of bed around 7:45 AM and into the bathroom. It was there that I discovered that my mucus plug had come out! I’d never experienced this with my two previous births, but it was very clear to me that the bloody discharge was my mucus plug. A great sign!! I texted Jim and he replied “Yay!”
I felt like the baby was very low and my pelvis was quite achy. I decided to stay home for the morning with the boys, not wanting to get stuck out and about herding the lads while in labor. We had a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs with avocado sliced on top and strawberries. And then we moved out into the yard for some play and sunshine.
Ian normally has school on Fridays, but this was a teacher training day, so we had a relaxing morning at home. I texted our friend Rod and asked if he and his son would like to come over and meet our baby chicks, born the weekend before, and play in the yard. He ended up coming over around 11 and the boys played and we chatted. I explained that I’d had a few labor symptoms and that the birth could be coming within 24 hours or so. They were on our call list to help with the boys, if labor began and he said to keep them posted. He said he was surprised by how calm I was and I remember thinking, “I’m not so calm inside.” :)
Around this time I started to feel like the yoga ball felt really good and eased some pain and aches I was feeling. I noticed a few contractions throughout the morning, but nothing too obviously regular. And I was really trying to ignore labor as much as possible, desiring to labor at home and not in the hospital for as long as possible. If I could just make it to rest at the boys’ nap and quiet time, I thought I’d be okay.
Around 11:45 I decided to start making the boys some lunch and it was painful to be standing and making their food. Rod began reading/singing the boys “Down by the Bay” and it was adorable. They all sang along to each verse. During the book I could feel my contractions get stronger and after they were done reading I quickly ushered my boys to wash their hands and start eating. Around 11:50 I told Rod that I thought things were really picking up and, if need be, would he be willing to stay with our boys for the afternoon? I think he was surprised, but he immediately said, “Yes, whatever you need!”
While the boys were eating I texted Jim and told him that things were really ramping up. Then I decided to call him immediately after. He asked how far apart my contractions were and I responded that I hadn’t been keeping track. He told me to time them and then let him know. I did and texted him back a few minutes later saying that they were three minutes apart!!!! Yikes! Almost immediately he called me and was heading to his car to come home. He encouraged me to call the doctor’s office, but it closes at noon on Fridays. I did and then had to wait for the doctor on call to phone back. It happened to be Dr. Scoones, when the call came back quickly and she told me they’d get ready for me and to come in immediately.
I told Rod he was coming, the doctor wanted me to go to the hospital, and whisked the boys upstairs to get the boys down for naps/quiet time. Rod offered to do it for me, but in the moment I wanted things to be as normal as possible for the boys..... it was the most excruciating nap time routine ever. Ian insisted we had to read a library book, all quite long (!), and I paged through a few before finding a version of “Hickory Dickory Dock” that seemed manageable. I sang through contractions as fast as my lips could go, scooted them into bed and blew kisses because bending down felt near impossible!
When I came downstairs Jim was here and within minutes we were hugging Rod and hitting the road. Rod joked and asked Jim if he had a flashing red light to get us through traffic and BOY DO I WISH WE DID! It was only a 15ish minute drive to the hospital, but sitting in a seat and seatbelt was somewhat unbearable. At one point I remember Jim holding my hand and saying, “Whoa, that was less than two minutes apart.”
We got to the traffic circle near Portsmouth and there was some backup and I remember thinking, “I really hope we make it!”
Jim pulled right up to the Emergency Room drop-off and I got out, while he parked the car.
As I walked through the doors the ER attendant looked at me worriedly and said, “How far along are you?” as he raced for a wheelchair.
I said, “I’m 39 weeks, less than 3 minutes apart.”
“Get in!” he motioned to the wheelchair. As soon as my bottom hit the chair he started running me down the hallway and shouted ahead to someone to cover the desk and for another person to grab the elevator. A man on a hospital bed with a team of nurses was waiting for the elevator, but my attendant told them I needed to take that elevator. The doors immediately opened and we were flying up to the fifth floor in no time.
I was rushed into my room, where two nurses were waiting for me. They helped me undress and get into a hospital gown between contractions and then one quickly stuck the fetal heart rate monitor on me while another told me to lean back so they could check my dilation for a baseline. As soon as the nurse put her hand in to check, someone knocked on the door, which made my nurse scream, “Wait a minute!” Not the best time for me to attempt to relax, as I really wanted an accurate reading and I know that a woman’s cervix can clench up if it senses stress. Thanks, nurse!
Turns out that they were letting Jim into the room, which of course would have been much more relaxing to know and hear ;) Jim later told me that he’d gotten led to the wrong place by an attendant and was so sorry he was so late, but I thought he was there fairly quickly. It’s amazing how time morphs in laborland.
Anyway, she checked and I was 5 or 6 cm, which was awesome.
Jim got the yoga ball for me and I moved to sit on it. By this time, sitting on it was the only position that felt at all comfortable. The contractions were so strong, there was definitely no talking through them other than quick words.
The nurses came in and explained that they needed me to lie down still on the bed for ten minutes in order to put a fetal heart rate monitor on my belly that would allow me to move freely around the room. I told them, amidst a contraction that it would be impossible for me to lie still on my back. Then the one nurse said repeatedly, “We just want the baby to be healthy. We are trying to keep your baby safe.” After Jim and I had both told her that it wasn’t possible and asked them to check with the other monitor, she repeated her words again multiple times. Finally Jim spoke sternly and said, “We want our baby to be healthy too. She can’t do it.”
It wasn’t long after that that the OB came in and said it would be fine for me to be monitored the other way and all of the nurses left with her. Jim and I imagine that Dr. Scoones had a little pow wow with the nurses because when they returned to the room, it was a much different vibe and they were much less pushy with me. Dr. Scoones had explained that it would be good for me to have an IV port in case of bleeding, but after we pressed that and asked if there would be another way she said that they could do the pitocin shot in my leg, should I have any bleeding. We are very grateful to Dr. Scoones for her understanding and support and I think Jim and I felt comfortable, this third time around, advocating for the birth and labor we needed amidst the push back.
I was having horrible back labor and asked for some hot pads and the nurses brought us a few. Jim held it on my lower back until a contraction came and then I’d hold it while he squeezed my hips together. Then he’d take it back until the next wave hit.
Jim sat on the couch and I sat on the yoga ball directly in front of him. In the break between contractions I’d lean back into him and then when the rush came he’d squeeze my hips until I fell back into his arms. He was absolutely amazing. I felt like he knew what I needed before I even said it and, after two other births, he knew my preferences. I don’t want to know anything about the times, want the room as dark as possible, want as much privacy as possible, and he was always right there with me, whispering encouraging words and ready to ease whatever pain he could. Throughout the time he gave me four honey sticks, which definitely gave me some sustenance & bursts of energy that I needed.
I considered attempting to cross the room and enjoy some water therapy in the shower, but decided against it because the rushes were so close together and I wasn’t sure if I could manage walking that far. Instead Jim got me a cold washcloth to put on my forehead and that felt so good. I was sweating and knew that it was a sign that I was in transition.
Around this time Dr. Scoones came in, sat with us for a while, and watched me through a few contractions. By this point I felt like the head was very low and that I had to lean back into Jim’s chest while he was also squeezing my hips. Later he said it would have been helpful if he could have had eight hands! Haha! Dr. Scoones commented that she liked how I was opening my legs up and allowing the contractions to happen. She encouraged us to keep up the good work and let them know when my water broke.
She decided to check how many centimeters dilated I was and found that I was 7 cm, but very ready since the baby’s head was right there.
I was slightly surprised that my water hadn’t already broken because of how low the baby was and the pressure I felt, I asked if she would be willing to break my water. She said that she would because I was so soft and that she thought the baby would arrive pretty much as soon as my water had broken.
We moved onto the bed and I lay on my back. She waited for the next contraction and then broke my water with a crochet hook-looking device. Water gushed out immediately and continued to come out. She said the water looked great and that I would need to wait for a couple of contractions and heart monitoring before pushing the baby out.
The next contraction was the longest one EVER in the history of man!! It rushed in wave upon wave. At one point the nurse said, “Is this a second contraction?” I stammered out a “No, I wish it was!!” It was during this contraction, too, that I really felt the urge to start pushing, so the nurse attempted to press the call button to call the doctor back in. Unfortunately, she pressed the light on and it was the brightest spotlight in the middle of my dark cave of a room, and it was pointed directly at me. In this extremely strong contraction I didn’t have much composure and the light put me over the edge I shouted, “TURN THAT OFF, TURN THAT OFF!!” And Jim said that the nurse was terrified of me from then on. Eek.
The next rush was much more mild, but it marked the end of monitoring and the beginning of being able to push. Dr. Scoones appeared and checked again and I was 10 cm. That one contraction, I’m sure, took me the last 3 cm all at once.
She told me that whenever I felt the urge, I could start pushing in the next contraction. I tried moving up onto my knees and facing the back of the bed to push and go through the next rushes, but my legs shook and I could barely hold myself up. The baby went FAR lower, I could tell. Jim helped to flip me back over.
Jim already held one of my legs bent and supported and I asked if another nurse could grab my other leg. They were both shaking so much.
In the next contraction I started pushing and felt her head crest and then push out, they told me to hold my breath and push and make low sounds (all things I tried to do during both boys’ labors) and he/she would be right here. Not in my right mind I screamed forever, sometimes low and sometimes high. Dr. Scoones coached me to lower my voice, concentrate my breath, hold it to help efficiently push. Before the next wave in the contraction came, it was unbearable to have her head out, but not her body, but quickly that rush arrived and she came sliding right out!
That feeling of a baby sliding out of your body is just the most miraculous and incredible experience. Still so close to the date, I can feel the slide, but not the pain. It’s an astounding phenomenon, that a woman’s body can carry and sustain a baby, then open up 10 cm to bring it into the world.
She slid out into Dr. Scoones’ hands and they quickly lifted her up onto my chest. I remember it being a few seconds before I was able to open my eyes and even breathe. When I did look down, I saw the most beautiful head of hair, her head facing down and to the right. She was screaming that beautiful, healthy newborn scream, and everyone commented on how beautiful and healthy the baby was. Dr. Scoones said, “I’ll let you discover the gender!”
When she said that, I had totally forgotten to ask! I was so relieved the baby was on me and healthily crying. Quickly I asked Jim and as he looked his face broke into a huge smile and he beamed out, “It’s a girl!!”
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| First Photo |
Oh, how thrilling!!! And quickly we realized how we just are not used to the girl pronouns “her” and “she” were hard for us to say at first, but boy do we LOVE it. We still smile when we say them.
Soon the placenta was delivered and I had a bit of bleeding, so they gave me the shot of pitocin. They said it was normal for such a quick birth. And I was totally shocked to hear that I didn’t have any tearing! After a fast labor, I was expecting to have some.
Everyone commented on how fast the labor was and I asked what time it was.... she had been born at 2:38 PM, less than two hours after we had checked into the hospital!!
Our sweet darling started rooting and so we put her to my breast, and there she stayed for over and hour. My heart and chest burned immediately with love for this darling little girl. Jim and I couldn’t get over how beautiful she was and we were both certainly in shock that she was already in our arms!!
Every time I looked at Jim he just beamed and glowed with love for me and this little one. Such a gift to be loved so much and I’m glad that this baby girl has such a doting, devoted father.
We savored time, just the two of us, with her and debriefed the birth and spoke of her beauty. We had two names we were discussing and we talked about those a little, but just really savored her and decided we’d wait a day to make a decision.
And then we started calling all of our immediate family members to tell them the news. Everyone was THRILLED and very excited about the baby GIRL!
At some point maybe an hour and a half after birth, the nurses came in and asked if we’d like to weigh her and I was ready to eat some lunch! I was so hungry. The pediatrician arrived while they were checking her, which was amazing timing. She found everything to be perfect.
They weighed her and she was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 inches long! A perfect weight and size. Dainty, compared to her brothers: Ian (8 lbs. 14 oz. & 21.5 inches long) & Owen (8 lbs. 12.8 oz. & 21.75 inches long).
She has a small birthmark on her right eyelid, though it’s quite faint and almost impossible to tell. The pediatrician said it would be gone by the time she turns one year old.
After lunch, and more nursing, Jim held her while I got cleaned up, took a shower, and put on a new gown. They moved us to another room for the rest of our stay, but on the way they encouraged us to press a button that would play music to the entire hospital and parking lot announcing the birth of a baby. Jim joked later that the whole hospital already knew of her birth because of my lung power during that last push. I would have to agree with him... I’m sure the announcement was already made! I’m a multi-tasker.
Around dinnertime Jim headed home to check-in with the boys, and tell them that a baby sister was born, then put them to bed for the night. Kate made a video for us-- eternally grateful to get to see/hear how this went down again and again!
Video 1: Jim Tells the Boys the Baby is Born
Jim asked the boys, “Do you know what happened today?”
To which Ian replied, “What? THE BABY CAME OUT OF MAMA’S TUMMY!”
“That’s right, do you know what it is?”
“Uh, um... A GIRL!”
“That’s right!”
Ian skips around the kitchen table, grinning from ear to ear, “I was right! I WAS RIGHT!!!”
Rod asked, “How did you know, Ian?”
“Because I thought it in my head,” Ian responded matter-of-factly.
In the video Owen is sitting in his high chair filling his mouth with watermelon :)
Some photos Kate sent me of the boys. I missed them so much, but they were so happy and in GREAT hands!!
She nursed most of the night, giving me about 2.5 hours of total sleep. I was too enamored by her and energized by her birth to rest. And my mind was spinning about her name. Before we’d gone to bed, Jim had mentioned that he really liked the name Liesl.
Around 5 PM I decided to research and consider the names, because it felt like the best use of my time while she was nursing and sleeping on me. I LOVE thinking about baby names, especially one for my own darling baby.
After Jim’s interest in the name the night before, I used it a few times in my head through the night and by the morning it just seemed to feel right and fit this sweet girl. I researched and considered different spellings for Liesl and was deciding between Liesel Gale or Liesl Gale.
When Jim woke up, I shared with him the two different spellings and he liked Liesl. We agreed and started calling her Liesl only to ourselves for the morning and the beginning of the afternoon. We decided to wait to officially announce her name until the boys came to visit her after naptime.
The boys spent the day with our friends John & Katy Lilly, and their daughter Maggie. They brought the boys over after naptimes and a quick trip to the beach (lucky boys!). Katy videoed their entrance into the hospital room and first interactions with Liesl. I am forever grateful.
Video 2: Boys Meet Liesl
When they came into the room they boys climbed up onto the bed and I offered that they could touch her back because she was sleeping. They did. Then I asked if they wanted to know what her name was.
Ian responded, “Umm. I-I-I already named her.”
Me: “Oh you did?”
Ian: “Um, Daisy.”
Me: “Oh, I remember that you liked the name Daisy.”
Jim: “Ian, we had another suggestion. You want to hear Mama tell you?”
Me: “What do you think of the name Liesl? Like the oldest daughter from the sound of music.”
Ian: Shakes his head. “No, I don’t want that one.”
Me: “Okay. Well, we’ll talk about it.”
Later, after the video, we agreed that Daisy would be a great nickname for Liesl. Ian, having recently learned about and discussed nicknames with me was very content with this solution. Ever since he’s referred to her as Daisy and we think it’s just the sweetest thing.
Ian took a turn holding her (included in the above video) and then Owen (there are a couple videos of this). Very interested in finding all of her parts, Owen pointed out each facial feature, her belly button, her toes and fingers. Ian helped him count each one. Both boys amazed me by their complete and utter fascination and fondness for her from the very beginning.
After two nights in the hospital, we had a special visit from Aunt Phoebe, who just happened to be in Portland, Maine for a wedding this weekend. She came by train, the boys picked her up, and she got to meet Liesl in the hospital, before we all checked out and came home together. It was such a precious time and Liesl was her first experience of visiting us in the hospital with a new baby. It made my heart so happy to see her and for her to hold our little angel. She had lunch with us at home and then caught her train again!
Liesl's first night at home she put on a beautiful show of her alertness before bed. Check out this beauty!! All the heart eyes.
Our first, slow family morning at home was lovely. The boys are smitten which makes this transition so much sweeter and Jim is off for two weeks, which is such a gift of time. One we've never had before. He's rocking it.
Today marks Liesl’s due date, six days later. The transition to a family of four has been quite smooth and we are all completely smitten with her.
Sweet Liesl, you fit so beautifully into our family fabric and melt each member of the family just by being here. Today marks your due date, which seems unfathomable now. Thank you for entering the world six days early so we could love you just that much longer. It took you being placed in our arms to know an ache was in us that only you could fill. We feel complete with you in our home and forevermore a part of our lives.
Name Meaning
‘Liesl’
Liesl means “God is my oath,” “God is bountiful,” and “God of plenty.”
It’s a German version of Elizabeth.
We chose the name because we wanted to honor my Swiss/German heritage and name her after my great Aunt Lizzy (‘Elizabeth’) in Switzerland, who’s a phenomenally strong, beautiful, talented, extremely passionate and intelligent woman. We have two of her paintings that are some of my most prized possessions hanging in our living room. My aunt Beth has always been an influential part of my life, and she shares the name Elizabeth. She, too, is an incredibly woman for all of the same reasons.
Both of us really love the name and it seems to really fit her.
‘Gale’
Gale means “Wind Storm,” and “Lively,” “Light,” “Pleasant,” “Merry” and is an English nickname for a cheerful or boisterous person. Gale is a family surname on my mom’s maternal side of the family and it was the first name of one of my mom’s favorite cousins, who we spent some time with growing up and whom I remember quite fondly. She shares this middle name with my brother.
Jim and I have always liked this name and have considered using it as a first name.
We think it pairs beautifully with Liesl.
So, without further ado, we introduce our sweet love,
Liesl Gale Barlow
Born Friday, May 25, 2018 at 2:38 PM
8 lbs. 1 oz. & 21 inches long
Sweet Liesl Gale, we adore you.
Welcome to this world and to our little family!
*I'm sure I will edit this and add pictures in the future. These are all phone photos, so far.
*I'm sure I will edit this and add pictures in the future. These are all phone photos, so far.
