Name: Rhiannon Eberly Harvey Sex: Female Weight: 8 lbs, 11 oz. Length: 21 inches Born: Thursday, August 15, 1996 at 9:25 pm, Woodinville, WA Family: Virginia Westcott Eberly Harvey (mom), Michael David Harvey (dad), Vienna Westcott Harvey (big sister, by two years)
Sex: Still Female Weight: 9 lbs Length: 21.5 inches Percentiles: 95th percentiles for weight, length, and head size...she's a big girl! Disposition: Mellow Longest Sleep: Four hours Longest Wake: Two-and-a-half hours Most diapers in one 24 hr period: Eleven Favorite Food: Arch Deluxe, Super-Sized (tm)
Weight: 10 lbs!! Length: 22 inches Disposition: Still mellow, stoic even Loudest burp: 93 db (A-weighted) Favorite Pacifier Brand: EvenFlo
A brief, but exciting story of labor and delivery...
After experiencing mild contractions for most of the prior twenty-four hours, Ginny went into labor in earnest around 7 pm, Thursday evening, August 15, 1996, just as we were sitting down to dinner. The contractions grew fairly serious within a relatively short period of time, as with Ginny's first delivery. Michael spoke to LeAnne Shelley, the midwife from the Puget Sound Birth Center, for the first time and agreed to call again in about two hours' time. Recalling Ginny's lengthy, round-the-clock first labor and delivery, everyone -- Ginny, Michael, LeAnne -- assumed that there would be many hours of labor to go. Since the birth was to take place at home, no preparations for a hospital departure were necessary. As planned, Janelle Lee, a close friend and neighbor, came by to provide assistance and support. Although Vienna was concerned about what was happening to her mother, she went (thankfully) quickly to sleep at her regular bed-time. Just before 9 o'clock, Ginny's contractions suddenly increased in intensity. With hindsight, it was clear that she was already beginning to push out the baby. At the time, however, it was not clear that any sort of transition point had been reached. Michael was so disoriented, he was still applying the humor test; the humor test rests on the assumption that if a woman can be distracted during her contractions by, say, a good joke, her labor is still not very far advanced. Michael incorrectly attributed Ginny's pensive mood to poor material rather than an imminent delivery. Jokes aside, he called the midwife for the second time as scheduled. They agreed it would be prudent for LeAnne to come over and assess progress. Throughout the evening, Ginny was experiencing fairly intense "back labor" in which the muscles of the lower back spasm and contract painfully along with the uterus. In an attempt to make her more comfortable, Janelle and Michael took Ginny to lie down on her side in the bedroom. Shortly thereafter, Ginny called out: "I can feel the baby." Sure enough, the baby's head was already beginning to emerge! At the same time, Ginny's contractions seemed to slow down substantially. Michael called the midwife's office once more and reached the answering service. He asked the operator if she had any experience with this kind of thing. "No," she replied in one of the many memorable moments of the evening, "But I've delivered a few horses." Michael left an urgent message for LeAnne, and then called Dan, Janelle's husband and told him to "sprint" over immediately. The baby's head emerged fully with the next contraction, but again there was a long lull, giving Dan time to arrive. Michael coaxed Ginny onto her hands and knees, the position in which she had given birth to Vienna. Sure enough, the movement jump-started the process and with a sudden "whoosh," the baby's body came barreling out. Michael managed to catch the baby without incident. As is normal, the baby's body was a dark, dusky color, and inert. This state can persist for several minutes, but is stressful nonetheless, especially when nobody with obstetric training is nearby. Michael succesfully fought the urge to call for hot water, but couldn't resist the impulse to suspend the baby upside down. Meanwhile, Dan used a suction bulb to suction out the baby's mouth and nose. (Here is one of those great moments of fate: Dan is a respiratory therapist with training in neonatal resuscitation, had that become necessary.) It was at this point that Michael first noticed the unmistakable evidence that the baby was a girl. "It's Rhiannon," Michael happily informed Ginny. Shortly thereafter, the baby gave a weak cough and spluttered and began breathing by herself. She was swaddled in a receiving blanket and placed on Ginny's chest to stay warm. LeAnne, having received the page, contacted us at this point from her car phone and remained on the line for the ten minutes it took her to reach our house. When she arrived, she took care of the post-delivery procedures such as severing the umbilical cord and delivering the placenta. Despite the ordeal, everyone was in high spirits. In hindsight, it was great good fortune to have planned a home birth; given the precipitous rate of labor, it is almost certain that the delivery would have occurred in a car at the side of the road had we attempted to reach a hospital. As it was, the birth was exciting, completely natural and a communal event shared with friends and family. It is wonderful indeed to be conceived, born, and to begin life all under one roof. Way to go, Rhiannon!
After losing about five ounces during her first week, Rhiannon quickly surpassed her birth weight. As of August 31, she weighed a whopping 9 lbs. More amazing, only a week later, she already weighed 9 lbs 10 oz. At four weeks, she weighs over 10 lbs! Like her big sister, Rhiannon is in the 95th percentile of all size categories for a baby girl. Rhiannon has already met her maternal grandmother, Shirley, who arrived the day after the birth to provide all sorts of assistance to Ginny and Michael. Over Labor Day Weekend, she met her paternal grandparents, Granny and Grampa Harvey. As planned, a planned outing to Bumbershoot, Seattle's annual arts and music festival was cancelled due to rain. Rhiannon has, however, enjoyed outings to Seattle's Fisherman's Terminal and to the county fair. Although "sleepy" and "mellow" were terms used to describe Rhiannon during her first week or two of life, her true personality is finally starting to emerge (though we're not quite sure what it is yet). She is beginnig to pay attention to objects around her and particularly likes a doll named Maggie made by her Grandma, Shirley. She is a big and frequent eater and spends much of her time--both awake and asleep--dealing with the aftereffects of eating: this kid can burp! It's hard to believe four weeks have gone by already!