Wednesday September 6, 2006
I woke up around 7:30 am as usually and started getting ready for the day. I had been having "warm up" labor for the past day and a half - lots of contractions, but nothing regular or painful - so I wondered if today would be the day. I had a couple of contractions that hurt a little more that the ones I had been having. I went to Target to buy a bathroom scale and a couple other little things. Around 9:30 am I started having more contractions that hurt. I started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. I called Jim at work and we decided he should come home. He got home a little while later and the contractions were still around 10 minutes apart. I called New Life and spoke with Debra to let her know what was going on. She said it sounded like this was the real thing and to keep in touch with her and let her know when the contractions got longer, stronger and closer together. Jim, Abhi, and I just hung out around the house for most of the day. We went for a couple of walks, but the contractions stayed around 10 minutes apart and would slow down even more if I layed down. After lunch, I put Abhi down for a nap. After she was asleep for about an hour, I went and layed down with her to try to get a little nap. I slept for about an hour and had no contractions. When we got up from the nap, the contractions started up again and seemed to be getting more intense and closer together. Around 4:00 pm, things were definately picking up and Jim took Abhi over to our neighbor's apartment. I called Debra and let her know that things were picking up, so she decided to cancel the birth classes and start getting their stuff together. Jim and I started timing the contractions again and they were 4 minutes apart! I called back and talked to MariMikel and let her know and she asked if I wanted Debra to come over. I told her I thought that would be a good idea. Debra got to our place around 6:00 pm and checked me out. I was dilated to 6 cm and the head was getting pretty low. The contractions were getting pretty painful, so I decided to get in the bathtub for a bit. Sheri, MariMikel, and Aleah showed up soon after and started setting everything up. At 7:20, they get me out of the tup and into the bed so they can give me the IV antibiotics for the beta-strep. About the time she gets the IV in my arm, I start pushing. I pushed for about 10 minutes and she was born! It was 7:33 pm. Jim caught her and put her on my belly. I asked him if the baby waa a boy or girl. He was so blown away that I had to ask him 3 times. He finally looked and said girl! He didn't see Abhi born since she was a water birth and he was behind me holding me up, so he was pretty amazed by it all. Jim and I looked at our new baby girl while the midwives got ready to deliver the placenta. They were all impressed by the umbilical cord - it was a perfectly semetrical spiral - really cool. After the placenta was delivered, Jim cut the cord. Jim and I decided to name her Fiona Rose. Fiona was crying, so Debra put her near my nipple and she found it and latched on right away. I had one small tear that needed stitching, so they did that while I was nursing Fiona. After they were done with that, they helped me into a better position on the bed and changed the sheets. Jim went and got Abhi around 9:30 pm and brought her in to meet her little sister. She was a little overwhelmed by all the people and the new baby (plus it was way past her usual bedtime), but she said she liked her sister. We gave her a new babydoll after that so she would have a new baby like Mommy did. After all that I was ready to go to sleep and get Abhi to sleep also, so everyone cleared out of the bedroom and Abhi layed down with me and Fiona at around 10:30 pm. Jim saw the midwives out and decided to stay up for a while to wind down.
This birth went really well and I am glad it went so quickly. Even though I was having contractions all day, the exciting/intense part only lasted about 2 1/2 hours. The midwives said I was in transition for only about 15 minutes and only pushed for about 10 minutes. So, the hardest part lasted less than 30 minutes! With Abhi, transition and pushing lasted a couple hours.
Here are all the details again:
Name - Fiona Rose McKay
Time of Birth - 7:33 pm
Weight - 8 lbs 1 oz
Length - 20 inches
I woke up around 7:30 am as usually and started getting ready for the day. I had been having "warm up" labor for the past day and a half - lots of contractions, but nothing regular or painful - so I wondered if today would be the day. I had a couple of contractions that hurt a little more that the ones I had been having. I went to Target to buy a bathroom scale and a couple other little things. Around 9:30 am I started having more contractions that hurt. I started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart. I called Jim at work and we decided he should come home. He got home a little while later and the contractions were still around 10 minutes apart. I called New Life and spoke with Debra to let her know what was going on. She said it sounded like this was the real thing and to keep in touch with her and let her know when the contractions got longer, stronger and closer together. Jim, Abhi, and I just hung out around the house for most of the day. We went for a couple of walks, but the contractions stayed around 10 minutes apart and would slow down even more if I layed down. After lunch, I put Abhi down for a nap. After she was asleep for about an hour, I went and layed down with her to try to get a little nap. I slept for about an hour and had no contractions. When we got up from the nap, the contractions started up again and seemed to be getting more intense and closer together. Around 4:00 pm, things were definately picking up and Jim took Abhi over to our neighbor's apartment. I called Debra and let her know that things were picking up, so she decided to cancel the birth classes and start getting their stuff together. Jim and I started timing the contractions again and they were 4 minutes apart! I called back and talked to MariMikel and let her know and she asked if I wanted Debra to come over. I told her I thought that would be a good idea. Debra got to our place around 6:00 pm and checked me out. I was dilated to 6 cm and the head was getting pretty low. The contractions were getting pretty painful, so I decided to get in the bathtub for a bit. Sheri, MariMikel, and Aleah showed up soon after and started setting everything up. At 7:20, they get me out of the tup and into the bed so they can give me the IV antibiotics for the beta-strep. About the time she gets the IV in my arm, I start pushing. I pushed for about 10 minutes and she was born! It was 7:33 pm. Jim caught her and put her on my belly. I asked him if the baby waa a boy or girl. He was so blown away that I had to ask him 3 times. He finally looked and said girl! He didn't see Abhi born since she was a water birth and he was behind me holding me up, so he was pretty amazed by it all. Jim and I looked at our new baby girl while the midwives got ready to deliver the placenta. They were all impressed by the umbilical cord - it was a perfectly semetrical spiral - really cool. After the placenta was delivered, Jim cut the cord. Jim and I decided to name her Fiona Rose. Fiona was crying, so Debra put her near my nipple and she found it and latched on right away. I had one small tear that needed stitching, so they did that while I was nursing Fiona. After they were done with that, they helped me into a better position on the bed and changed the sheets. Jim went and got Abhi around 9:30 pm and brought her in to meet her little sister. She was a little overwhelmed by all the people and the new baby (plus it was way past her usual bedtime), but she said she liked her sister. We gave her a new babydoll after that so she would have a new baby like Mommy did. After all that I was ready to go to sleep and get Abhi to sleep also, so everyone cleared out of the bedroom and Abhi layed down with me and Fiona at around 10:30 pm. Jim saw the midwives out and decided to stay up for a while to wind down.
This birth went really well and I am glad it went so quickly. Even though I was having contractions all day, the exciting/intense part only lasted about 2 1/2 hours. The midwives said I was in transition for only about 15 minutes and only pushed for about 10 minutes. So, the hardest part lasted less than 30 minutes! With Abhi, transition and pushing lasted a couple hours.
Here are all the details again:
Name - Fiona Rose McKay
Time of Birth - 7:33 pm
Weight - 8 lbs 1 oz
Length - 20 inches
