| I am thrilled to announce the arrival of our newest
addition, Soren
Judith, who arrived at our home on Friday, November 20th at 12:34pm. She was 6 lb, 6 oz. and 19-1/2 inches long. Her Apgars were 10/10! Briefly, I woke up with contractions at 6am, but dozed on and off until 8am. I then woke my husband and let him know. I don't think he believed me because he went back to sleep! LOL! I got up and showered and ate breakfast - dh wanted me to come back to bed for awhile, but that was the LAST place I wanted to be! I walked around the house until around 10am, when it became pretty hard work to keep moving around. I squatted during most of the contractions. We had called the midwife by this time, but couldn't get ahold of our support people for me and for our daughter Emma. At 10:30am I decided to get in the bathtub to deal with contractions. That helped a lot! Dh did an admirable job of helping me through contractions as well as keeping Emma occupied! The midwife arrived at 11:45am as I decided I needed to get out of the tub and move around. Things were getting very intense at that point, with contractions around 2 min. apart. The midwife looked at me and proclaimed me to be in transition. I truly did not believe her! She examined me and I was 8cm and VERY stretchy already. Again, I could not believe I was that close. I stayed on the bed for a few contractions, but hated it. Then, the midwife told me that I could push whenever I felt like it, so I got off the bed and walked to the end of the bed. Emma was reading books on our bed and just hanging out. I tried to sit on the birthing stool, but didn't like it at all. I was feeling enormous pressure during the whole labor, and the stool didn't seem to help at all. I ended up half squatting, half kneeling with my arms around dh's neck and him holding me up. The midwife was telling me to hold my breath and push, but I couldn't coordinate myself - I just listened to my body and when I felt the urge, I worked with it. It only took me 3 or 4 pushes before the head came out. My water broke only 10 minutes before this. The midwife told Emma when the head crowned and she got down off the bed and came to watch. I remember when the head came out, I let out this HUGE sigh of relief, and then was thinking that I was anxious for the next contraction so I could finally know the gender of the baby! LOL! The midwife did massage while I was pushing, but I felt myself tear near the urethra. I did have another small tear on my perineum, but I didn't need stitches. I'm barely even sore! I think I only pushed for about 15 minutes. I remember dh saying that it was a girl, and he was all choked up, then Emma said "I'm a big sister now!!!". I sat up on the birthing stool and put her to my breast, and then dh and Emma cut the cord. Then I pushed the placenta out, and things got a little sketchy, as I bled a LOT. I did need to have a shot of pitocin to get the uterus contracting and the bleeding stopped, and I had some oxygen and an IV, as I lost so much blood. I feel that I was able to recover so well though, because Soren was right there with me the whole time, and I nursed her which helped to contract the uterus. It was so peaceful! I just can't believe how calm it was w/ just us! Emma's support person arrived moments after Soren was born, which was great timing. It took me a couple of hours to get really stabilized, but I am feeling much better today :) The midwife came yesterday and brought herbs for a bath for Soren and I, which really rejuvenated me last evening. Soren is nursing well, and my milk came in last night - anybody need some? Yikes! I am so grateful that Emma didn't wean, so she can help with this! Anyway, we are thrilled with our birth - 6-1/2 hours of working together and it is already a peaceful memory of hard work. I am in love with my new daughter, and am glad to be able to share this with all of you :) ~Kelly |