Meet Rowyn

It's official:  Shyler and I are smitten.

Here's the low-down:  I had something called Cholestatis when I was pregnant with Dashle. I got it again with lucky #5 around 30 or 31 weeks.  I spent the last 3 or 4 weeks of my pregnancy doing non-stress tests at the hospital twice a week as well as weekly blood tests.  I had all the symptoms of Cholestasis...there just wasn't any proof in the pudding...or blood work.  My awesome OB was just waiting for some proof.  I'm not being sarcastic when I say she was "awesome."  She really was.  When my symptoms for this strange condition first appeared I left a message on her voice mail.   She told her nurse, "Britt is on her fifth pregnancy. I know she knows what she is talking about. Make an appt. for her ASAP and get a lab write-up going."  I really like people who trust my instincts.  Once the babe and I hit 38+ weeks my OB scheduled an induction.  Cholestatis can be harmful to the baby and I had scratches all over my body like I was living in a briar patch.  Enough was enough.  I called my mom and she hopped on a plane in a jiffy. She was in our home ready to help the night before the scheduled induction.

Here's Coy reaping the benefits of a big mom with an even bigger shirt.

And a goodnight kiss to mom and baby sister before the big day.  He looks quite thrilled here. Little did he understand.  The next day he would become "another one of the big kids" and his reign as baby supreme ended.

Early bird check-in and start-up for October 20, 2011...6am. 

The Heavens smiled down upon me this day.  Our sweet baby girl arrived at 12:22pm.  It was a fairly short labor with an epidural that worked on one side of my body.  If you're paying for an epidural than it should really work the way it is supposed to.  Thankfully, two small pushes got this sweetie out.  I'm sure my brothers love reading these details. (This is a shout out picture for my sister, B-Dizzle.  She doesn't think any baby looks cute at birth, especially when still slimy and caked.  I beg to differ.).

During the labor my nurse, Jill, checked to see the status of our babe's descent.  She managed to get a few fingers on the head and said, "I don't feel any hair. I think she's going to be a baldy."  I guess Jill didn't account for the slime covering this fine head of hair. 

Our sweet little Asian...Native American...Polynesian baby.  So, she looked hardly Caucasian.  We didn't care. We were in love.

Rowyn DeMill--7lbs. 4 oz.  19.5 inches

Giving birth to some of my children required tears...of happiness, a bit of pain, a lot of exhaustion, and some frustration that the dang kid wasn't out yet.  On the contrary, this sweet little thing arrived smoothly and safely with eyes wide open.  I could only smile.

And she seemingly smiled back.

Another reason I really sailed so smoothly was thanks to Dr. Molly Ezzie...a fantastic OB who wasn't just my doctor after it was all said and done, but a friend, too.  In the words of Anne Shirley, "She is a kindred spirit." 

I love people!  And part of what makes an experience so delightful are the people one is surrounded by, like Jill, who knew I was coming in and requested to be my nurse.  We had met multiple times during my twice-weekly trips to the hospital for non-stress tests and always found topics upon topics to discuss especially in the realm of good books.  She has a daughter in college and a freshman-high- school son.  We are at such different stages in terms of our family dynamics.  I love as I get older age becomes very relative...well at least when my friends are older than me. 

Here's the poor demoted boy with a bewildered look: "What IS THAT?"  He kept asking me, "Mom, why you in the bed?"

Once Rowyn and I arrived home, the new big brother decided she might be alright...as long as she kept her eyes closed and stayed quiet.  He couldn't quite get a handle on her name at first so he would ask, "I hold hers?"

 

My mom is pretty great.  She wasn't sure she would make it for the impending birth because of obligations at home.  I told her once over the phone it was okay and she could come when it was most convenient for her.  I said, "This isn't my first time around the block.  This is my fifth pregnancy. We'll be okay."  She than replied, "That is exactly why I need to be there before the baby comes because this is your fifth pregnancy."  She stayed with us for 10 days and we loved every moment she was there.  I'm grateful to my dad and little brother, Ammon, for their willingness to share. 

This was a pretty excited crew to welcome home our newest addition.  They wanted to come with Shyler to pick us up at the hospital, but I needed silence in the car before entering the circus at home.  Dashle couldn't remember his new sister's name so he would just ask, "What's her name again?"  The girls couldn't go to bed the first couple of nights unless they felt they had gotten a fair share of holding and loving their new baby doll.  And our Coy-boy tried desperately to find solace and contentment in his new position as "not the baby."  It all takes a bit of adjusting and readjusting yet nothing is better than a new baby in the home.