Aussie Party of Six

I have had so many people ask me

"What was it like to have a baby in Australia?"

While so many things were the same

So many things were different

Come along I will show you!

Just a side note

I am an American (duh) therefore I didn't 

go through the public health care system 

I went through the private health care system

This is my story and my point of view

You can correct me if you want but I won't really

care because it's over now ha ha

When I found out I was pregnant I called into my OB (same as USA)

~most Australians go to midwives not OBGYNS

~they also do NOT pay one penny to have Bub

~which reminds me...they call baby Bub and not 'the' Bub....just BUB!

~don't worry it will grow on you :)

I went into her office and got a blood test (same as USA)

Yep, positive

She wanted to see me at 12 weeks 

I went to my 12 week appointment 

~blood tests

~Drs note to go get a scan a.k.a ultrasound at 12 wks

~Drs note to go get an scan at 20 wks

~I was told to book into whichever hospital suited me

We chose Knox Private Hospital

You ring them and tell them your due date and "book in"

for that date

That doesn't mean that you can't come earlier but that

gives them an idea of what to expect

After I booked in they called me and set up

a phone interview to talk to a mid wife and admin

so on the day of delivery you don't have to go

to the front desk! Score!

Also, at this time you could set up an appt to 

go have a tour of the maternity ward 

Between 12 weeks and 20 weeks I didn't go to the doctor

They have heaps of little places here where

you take the doctors note into to get the scan

All they do at these places are x-rays, blood tests, and ultrasounds

At the 12 week scan they are pretty much 

just measuring Bub to get an exact due date

Since everything looked good with Bub 

we just waited for our 20 week scan

At our 20 week scan we found out we 

were having a ........ BOY!

(Poor Lilie cried but the rest of us were excited)

They then checked head, heart, lungs, etc.

I went to my doctor the next day to go

over the scans with her and everything 

looked good with Bub once again so 

she told me to come back at 28 weeks

I know that is only 8 weeks but it felt

like eternity.  Especially since I had only

been to the doctor twice before that.

Where in the states we go every 4 weeks

Around 25 weeks Jared went to Utah for

some business meetings.  When he came back

he told me that they had asked for us to 

extend our contract for a year more 

Now, I love Melbourne with my WHOLE HEART

but I just wasn't sure if I could have a baby

so far away from home.

I get the baby blues after my kids and I cry

a lot some days and super happy other days

I planned this pregnancy with the end result

being that I knew I would be going home a 

month or so after he was born

So it took a lot of prayer and really just putting

my faith in my husband to sign the papers and

stay a little longer

At my 28 week check up my doctor told me

that Bub was breech.  Which has never happened

to me before

I was quite in shock

She told me to plan on a c-section (or Aussies say a caesar)

AHHHHHH! 

I, of course, went into a little...no, big panic attack

How was I going to do this?

My poor mum got the call of my uncontrollable sobs

She said she would come out when I had the baby 

and stay with me and my family

I went to my 32 week check up and Bub was still

breech and so I told Jared that I thought I should

go home to have this baby.

He said he would support me 100% of whatever

I decided to do.  

I had to decide quick because my doctor would only 

give me permission to fly up to 34 weeks

It was really tempting to go home but in the end

i felt like i was cheating Jared out of being in the 

last stages of my pregnancy (I bet he wouldn't have minded

that too much) and even though he would have been

in Utah for the birth he would have to come back

quite quickly to Melbourne for work reasons.

After a lot of prayer and crying and face timing

I decided to stick it out here and rely on my

"Melbourne family" for support when Bub arrived

When I went into my 36 week check up my 

doctor informed me that Bub had flipped!

What!

I was so excited -- no "caesar" for me!

I truly believe that Heavenly Father 

heard every single one of my prayers

Most definitely a tender mercy

At that appointment we decided that my doctor would 

induce me on June 5th at 8 a.m.

EEEEEEEEEK

I think that is when it truly sunk in that

we were going to be a party of 6

{you can skip this part if you want - for my own record}

We got to the hospital at 8 a.m. sharp

We were rearing to go

My doctor got called into an emergency ceaser

and didn't come to see me until 10

I was dilated to a big fat ZERO

She rubbed the gel stuff on me and told me

to wait an hour and she would check me again

At 11 she came back and I was a 2 

She told me to wait a little longer to see if

I would dilate more without breaking my water

At 1 I was still a 2 and so she decided she would

break my water

This is the part where Jared decided to get a 

tad bit woozy

When she broke my water he nearly

fainted to the ground

So my doctor left my side and went

and started to help him lay down and 

to help him get his feet elevated

He felt so bad and kept telling

her to go back and assist me

He was white as a ghost so they 

made him drink orange juice and eat something

This has never happened with the other

three kids and so we were not prepared

for him to be so faint - poor guy 

Right after this happened it was shift change

I was kinda bummed because I really liked

my midwife and was nervous about who

the next one might be

My new midwife came in and she was

like 24 or something and super happy

and beyond bubbly

She came in and said that she would be 

with me for the next 10 hours and

that her name was, Ashlee

I looked at my mom and we both started

to cry (another tender mercy)

With all my other births it is a party

My sisters are with me and once my

niece was there

Once my poor brother got stuck in

the room because he came to give me

a blessing and then I went to a 10

so fast that he was stuck in the corner

So when the midwife had the same

name as one of my sisters I felt

like that was a sign from my Heavenly

Father that he knew that as much

I wished my sisters were with me

they wished they could be with me

as well and it seriously was perfect

So this time we had a selfie sesh

About an hour after she broke my water

she came back to check me and I 

had gone to a 5 - Yippeeeeeee

She finally decided to start me on the 

pitocin - all my other kids they started

me on the pit first thing and so 

I was ready for it to start the labor

My contractions started to get harder and longer

but I still was not dilating

Now, 9 out of 10 Aussies don't get

epidurals and so I had debated in my 

mind if I would get one but in the

end I thought I better do what I had always

done because for Pete's Sakes I wouldn't

go to the dentist and fill a cavity without

the laughing gas and shot to get numb

So at 5 o'clock I broke down and get the

epidural.  Which the whole time

my midwife kept telling me that I could

do it and that she would walk me through

it and keep me focused

But since I had never taken classes and

didn't quite know what I was doing

I decided not to

Oh and the best part...right before I got 

my epidural my mom and Auntie came

in.  They had arrived earlier that morning

and my dear friends had picked them up

from the airport and taken them home to

my house to freshen up and have some 

lunch.  After about 20 minutes of us 

chatting the nurse came in and said you

have another visitor do you want me to

send them in

I looked at Jared and thought who

else could it be

Jared looked super worried and so 

he said I will walk out and see who it

is - and you will never guess

ok...you probably can guess if

you have Facebook ;)

It was my DAD!  That little

trickster totally had me tricked

I of course started to cry 

Once a daddy's girl always a daddy's girl

Once my epidural kicked in I felt like

a new woman! It was so nice

and comfortable. I was one relaxed chica

Well as relaxed as one can be while

having a baby 

At about 6:30 my epidural was only working

on my left leg and so I told my midwife

She told me to turn onto my right side

because it might help the drug to go into 

that leg. Well to my dismay it went out of

my left leg and nothing was going 

into my right leg.  My contractions were

super hard and my midwife and Jared

were trying to make me more comfortable

Nothing was helping so after 30 minutes she

told me she would get the anesthesiologist 

to come back to the hospital to help me

Right about now it is a little after 7 and

I am in some serious pain 

My contractions are getting super

painful and hard and long and 

did I mention painful and all of the

sudden I have heaps of pressure

I'm talking heaps and heaps of pressure

I asked for my doctor to come in and check me

She hurried into check me and guess what

I was a big fat 5

I had not even changed one cm

She did say the head had descended further down

As soon as she started to walk away I had the hardest

contraction EVER!  

It was in that moment that i realized i was going to 

be doing this without the sweetness of an epidural

My face must have said a lot because she came 

back over to me and checked me and i was a 9

within 5 seconds my body was like, 'lets do this thing'

While all that was going down my midwife rubbed

my back the whole time

She was A-MA-ZING

She stayed into the next shift with me to make

sure all went well. I loved her!

My doctor then said to the midwife

"lets get this room ready for theatre"

(theatre = lights haha)

For a second I thought I was going to

be able to watch a cool movie

They don't use stirrups in Oz

My doctor held one leg and

my midwife held the other leg

and poor Jared got to hold my hand

I am not going to lie -- it hurt like hell

Every time I pushed, which was like 4 times

i seriously thought i was going to die

It was the hardest thing i have ever done

BUT, yes there is a but

After I had him it was the best feeling to 

just get up and walk. No numb legs!

After about 10 minutes of pushing

the most beautiful baby boy was placed

on my chest

Giving birth is probably the most 

amazing thing on this planet

Four times I have been blessed with this miracle

Four times I have fallen in love at first sight

Four times I have kissed someone with in seconds of meeting them

Four times I have looked into a set of eyes and felt that feeling of unconditional love

Knox Terry Auger

Knox- The council (or county as we would say in Utah)

we live in here in Australia.  We really 

wanted to name Knox something that would

resemble where this little Bub came from

Terry- My dad has always been one of my

biggest heroes.  I have always had an amazing

relationship with my Dad.  He taught me to 

fall in love with old movies, pushed me harder

in my dancing/cheer years, but most importantly

he helped me to gain a testimony of my Savior.

I am grateful that Knox has a great person to look up to.

Auger- I only know Jared's dad and his grandpa with this

last name.  They are two amazing men who Knox

like my other boys have some tough shoes to fill.

Both extremely hard workers

Amazing husbands and if possible

even more outstanding dads

Here is the stats on our little Aussie Bub

Knox Terry Auger

8:14 pm ~ 7 lbs 12 oz ~ 20.5 in long 

June 5, 2014

Meeting little brother for the first time was absolutely precious

And here are some pictures of Knox's 1st visitors

This is my Doctor - Dr. Ehsani

Here is my favourite midwife, Ashlee

However most of our visitors got to meet Knox this way

I am FOREVER indebted to my mom, dad

and Aunt Vina for sacrificing three whole

weeks in the middle of summer to come

and help me and family adjust to our new 

normal -- my kids were in heaven

the adult to child ratio was perfect

They did all the laundry, cooking, reading,

hair, entertaining, and so forth

I felt beyond selfish taking my Aunt Vina

from her husband who has been ill

But it was so fun to see her in Australia

enjoying herself.  Watching her listening

to music and dancing around my kitchen

will forever be memories that I hold dear

to my heart -- FOREVER

I am happy that my kids got to see the amazing

aunt that helped raise me to the woman I am 

today.  She is truly a little piece of heaven!

My poor dad took Pax on three walks to the park

and EVERY single time he pooped his pants

Which he has not had an accident for a year

I loved watching my busy mom who is always 

on the go just take the time to chill with

Knox and my other kids and watch her be

an amazing grandma to my kids

And nothing beats watching my dad wrestle

with the grand kids and spoil them rotten

We love grandpa

Wipeout will always hold a special place in my heart

p.s. a big shout out to my hubby for putting

up with 3 stubborn Icelanders and a fox news

watching father in law

The day after my family left we were lucky

enough to get Grandma JoAnn

once again every meal, laundry, and entertaining 

of the kids was all done by her

She let the kids pick 4 crafts to make for 

Independence Day 

The kids took a turn each night sleeping 

with grandma and reading stories with her

They all felt so special to be able to 

sleep with grandma

I believe she made three batches of

chocolate chop cookies in 7 days

My kids sure have her wrapped around

their fingers. I am so lucky that my kids

were able to make such fun memories with grandma

We were so sad to see Grandma leave

After nearly 5 weeks of visitors our house

sure seemed super de duper de quiet

I was so nervous to have a baby far away from home

this time was supposed to be easy

it was my fourth baby

it wasn't my first rodeo

I had the same doctor with my first 3 kids

I delivered at the same hospital with all 3 kids

I had so many fears going into this delivery

Anxiety attacks that were hard to swallow

I am not an anxious person

But at at the end of the day all went smoothly

and even though it was different and hard and crazy

in the end the result was perfect

and all my anxieties withered away

and i fell madly in love

And now we are a party of 6