Birthday Story Part 2

I guess with a new baby when I say I'll write more tomorrow it means next week!!! :) My Mom was here for the last two weeks so today's my first day "on my own." So far God has been very very good to me!!! Both are currently sleeping and I thought I'd try to finish the story of our daughter's birth and share a few cute pictures.

"God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31 (NIV)

I woke up at 4am having contractions and I laid in bed resting to see if they'd continue even with me relaxing and drinking water. For about 3 or 4 days before I'd been having some pretty strong contractions but if I laid down and relaxed they'd get further apart and then I'd fall asleep or they'd just go away completely. This time I wanted to make sure they were real before calling. After the 5th one about 10 or 11 minutes apart I grabbed my hubby awake thinking "this is the last one you get to sleep through honey!" When the contraction subsided I asked him to bring me the phone and number.

He proceeds to do a couple things and then get out his clothes and begin to get dressed before I say "I'd like to call before my next contraction comes so can you get the phone first." He groggily replies and smiles at me, telling me I'm beautiful. I call at about 5am and since we are all packed I get dressed, put my hair back in braids and we let my Mom know we were leaving.

We arrived at the birthing center at about 5:40am and start to settle into our room. The same room where my son was born, it has a twin bed, a comfy chair, and a large birthing tub - along with it's own bath room. The lights could be dimmed and we just tried to relax and laugh between contractions. Occasionally I'd ask my hubby if he could at least wake up when I was having a contraction and we'd giggle. I was way more aware during this labor than I remember being with my son.

After we were settled in a bit my wonderful nurse (really my best friends Mom - we go to the same church- who so wonderfully said she'd be on call just for us!) checked me and I was 5 cm. She showed me on the little diagram how big that was compared to 10cm and I was convinced we had a long way to go.

After awhile my back began to really hurt so Adam laid behind me on the bed and would push on my lower back during the contractions, I then said I was ready for the tub. I'm not sure what time it was but as soon as they started getting the tub ready for me I had 3 or 4 contractions right on top of each other which was well, eventful. Before I got in the tub I was already at 8cm and it was time to call my Dr. By the time the Dr. got there I was complete and ready to push!

The first contraction I pushed through I was thinking in my head "I'm not sure I can do this, this hurts way more than I remember!" After that contraction I looked at my hubby who was telling me how awesome I was doing and I said out loud "We can do this!" (He asked me later if I remembered saying this and I told him that I felt like I had to say it out loud since my thoughts during the pushing weren't helping me.) After the second contraction that I pushed through I said something to the effect of "Oh my goodness!" and everyone laughed at me that I was so mild manored in the throws of it all!

The third contraction was the last out she came to join us at 8:07am and they plopped her on my belly in all her chubby beauty. Adam and I oogled and googled for maybe a minute or two and then he cut the cord and they wrapped her in a warm towel. I felt like I had to use all my strength with two people helping me get out of the tub but I made it over to the bed. Adam got a chance to snuggle her for awhile and then I did. They never had to take her away from us, a scale was wheeled in and she was weighed (9lbs 4oz). Then we nursed for a good long while and called family and asked my Mom to bring our son out to meet his baby sis.

It wasn't until after lunch that we gave her a bath and got her dressed and measured and foot printed and all that stuff. It was so nice to have all that time to bond and for my son and Mom to be able to hang out until after lunch. We did more cuddling and nursing while my best friend came for a short visit. After which our family Dr. came and checked her out and we were discharged. I think we arrived home at about 5:30 pm and another friend was over just for a quick peek before work. I'm pretty sure we all were in bed by 8pm.

"I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26 (NIV)