The Early Years

After 9 days of mini contractions, I went to see my midwife on February 18th. It turned out she was to leave for vacation the next day and I was determined to have my baby before she left. That afternoon N and I took H to a friend's house then went home where I drank castor oil mixed with orange juice. Within 45 minutes, real labor had begun. We went straight to the hospital as H's birth had been fairly quick for a first baby.


Lou's birth was very fast--after 1 1/2 hours I was ready to deliver and 4 minutes later she was born. She was placed on my chest and we all stared at this sweet girl with bright red hair! It was a beautiful birth. Because it was happening so fast, my midwife curled up in a chair and waited with us. The lights were dim and it was peaceful.

At some point in the night, I woke to find her on oxygen in a crib by my side. And, in reading back through her medical records, I see she was on oxygen for hours. No worries, they said. She just needed to pink up.

There were hints throughout Lou's infancy that something might be wrong. Of course, they only became hints in hindsight.



She was on oxygen at birth. She didn't cry much at all. She nursed frequently, but seemed to tire easily. The sling seemed to be painful and she preferred to not be curled up in it. She slept with us, but didn't seem to manage well if a cover ended up over her head.



At about 10 months she gave up nursing. At 12 months her weight and height percentiles, never high to begin with, began to slip until she was only at the 2nd percentile (her sister was at the 99th). We had been worrying, but now our doctor began to worry too.