Amber - 3 days to 6 weeks

Amber in a Bunny Basket

four days old

We had an interesting time when Amber went for her neonatal screening at two weeks of age, in part because Rhianon went out without ID. Time was getting away from us and Amber was getting a nice cozy layer of fat on her skinny little body, so we figured we would brave the clinic waiting room to get her neonatal screening done. I mentioned to the receptionist that we didn't want to sit in the waiting room for too long and she told us that we would go right in when we arrived for our 2pm appointment. That was good, the last thing the little poppet needed was too many germs. When we arrived they asked all the usual details... insurance etc. When Rhi said that she didn't have insurance, they asked about income and she mentioned that Ben's unemployment [his work is seasonal and he is off in winter] ran out and he has to reapply, so they sent us to Social Security to apply for Medicaid for Amber so her screening would be free. We went there and filled in all the paperwork and was told that the card could take a while, but they wrote a letter to the clinic to see if they could do the screening and wait for the medicaid payment. So back to the clinic. We were called in and we noticed police, but thought nothing of it. Amber was checked out and found to be in great health [as we already knew] but smaller than we thought, she was only 5.45 pound on an accurate scale even though my scale showed her to be 6 pound, so she must have only weighed around 5 pounds at birth. I am glad that I didn't know that because even I might have been tempted to take her to get medical attention, which Jen [the midwife] informed me would have almost certainly included tube feeding, IV antibiotics, shots and being in an incubator for a few days. I believe that she would be a completely different baby to who she is, having such a gentle non-violent birth with no-one hurting her until her heel prick at 15 days she almost never cries, when she is awake she has such a calm happy air about her. Also she is nearly always in someone's arms, the only time she is put down is for changing and when Rhianon wants to eat hot food and there's nobody else to hold Amber.

cute premmie outfit, still a little too big

Christmas day

Back to the clinic... next thing we know the nurse asks if we want to talk to a state cop who may be able to help us with details on how to register the birth, since it was unattended. She ushered in two uniformed city police and the plain clothes state cop, who started asking questions about Amber's birth, Rhianon's lack of ID etc. He went on to explain that there has been an increase in newborn babies being stolen and that he had been the investigating officer of the case a year or so ago where a pregnant woman was attacked in her own home and had her baby cut from her and abducted as she bled to death... so to clarify things I suggested that Rhi could be examined and that should show that she had delivered a couple of weeks ago, so that was done. The nurse practitioner came back and told Roger [the cop] that her uterus was a size indicating that she had birthed over a month ago, her cervix was fully closed, also indicating birth was longer than two weeks earlier and that "she hadn't torn" [in a shocked voice]. I mentioned that the only time I tore was when I delivered my sixth child who happened to have his elbow presenting along with his head and that it was the elbow that tore me... the examination did not confirm that Amber was hers, so Rhianon suggested that they just take DNA samples from Amber and her, and Roger said that they might do that, but not right now. We were asked a thousand questions and finally at about 8pm were able to leave after Roger congratulated us on the new family member.

Maddi babysitting sleeping Amber

2 weeks old

Because the pathology person had already left the clinic we were told that we would have to come back the next day, so I had made an appointment for 10AM for the blood test. We arrived a few minutes early and were told that by law the screening would have to be done at the hospital in St Joe, but then the nurse realized that we might have the same problems there so she called and arranged for it to be done without Amber having a social security number or proof of who she was. We went straight to the hospital about 14 miles away and waited almost two hours for the test. When we were called in we realized why we had to wait, there was a female police officer there to take DNA samples from Rhi and Amber. This had me a little concerned since I read about this case where a Mother almost lost her children due to the suspicion cast upon her when her DNA didn't match theirs. After Rhianon was born and her placenta had been delivered I passed another placenta, about half the size of hers. There was no fetus attached to this placenta and the midwife told me that I or Rhianon must have absorbed the other twin, in that the placenta was intact it seems that I was not the one, as when a mother reabsorbs embryos it is generally placenta first. So the logical conclusion is that Rhianon could be a chimera and if so there is a chance that her DNA may not match Amber's. So I informed the police woman of this possibility, she did give me a strange look, but the patient advocate in the room recalled seeing the news article about the woman with three children not matching her DNA.

three weeks "I'm putting a spell on you"

snuggling with Stephanie

I spoke to Roger later that second day and he said that as far as they are concerned the case is closed and that the DNA taken will probably not even be tested. He informed me that we had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law and that we could just get on with our lives [sigh of relief]. I took that opportunity to thank Roger for his handling of the case, telling him that in all the hours that we were "detained" he never once made us feel as though we were being interrogated.

For Rhianon's next home birth experience she has decided that if the midwife doesn't make it in time that she would call the clinic the next morning and see if they could send a nurse practitioner out to do the baby's neonatal examination and also examine her to determine that she had in fact delivered the baby, then when it's a couple of weeks old we will take it to the hospital at St Joseph for the heel prick tests. After her experience and knowing what it might have been in a hospital or even with a midwife "controlling" the birth Rhianon wants to deliver her own again, she would prefer to have a midwife standing by in case, but needs to find one who is willing to let her work alone if she wants to. My girl has always been an independent little miss, starting at about 20 months of age she would say in a frustrated tone "Don't help me!" when someone tried to help her with dressing etc. When I tried to teach her how to tie her shoe laces she came up with her own method, a lot easier than the normal way and has had lots of comments from people when they see her tie shoes. There is a new book by Daniel Quinn entitled "If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways" that I bought for Rhianon to celebrate Amber's birth, because in my mind that book title sums Rhianon up wonderfully.

Life is slowly getting back to what we here on the homestead consider normal, so I am going to get back to the home renovations etc that I was going to be doing before Miss Amber Marguerite made her early debut...

communicating with Gran

four weeks

bath time

posing for the camera

Amber at five weeks is still a very contented baby.

Hi Mom

"Are you talking again Gran?"

Amber at 5 weeks
At seven weeks Amber weighed 9lb 8oz almost twice her birth weight. She is still very content and now only seems to cry when she gets over tired and is fighting sleep. She is a relaxed baby and rarely clenches her fists the way most newborns do. She has started reaching out to touch people's faces and now kisses people back when they kiss her, she actually making kissing sounds and purses her little lips.

Amber in her "crib" in the kitchen

She feels so secure in the small space.

Daddy's girl!
Amber's birth story
Amber - six weeks to six months