A daughter...Genesis 30:21

She is here! Baby Girl S arrived on Wednesday, September 29, at 10:49 a.m.

She weighed 7 lbs., 5 ozs. and was 19 1/4" long.


The first visit by brothers and sister. Sister was definitely the most excited. Big brother G was in awe.
Getting ready for first bath. Baby S has more hair than all the other children had put together!
She didn't care for the bath, but she loved having her hair styled afterward!
All ready to go home!
Just details below...

I had been having mild contractions for the past month. None of them were major, but they were annoying. I was hoping that they were doing a good enough job so that I would have an easy labor. I was also hoping that the pushing stage wouldn't be quite as rushed as it was with G. He came a bit too quickly!

I woke up at 1 a.m. on Wednesday with an intermittent backache. Hmmm. There weren't any real contractions, but the baby was squirming and I just couldn't get back to sleep. About 2:30 I got up to take a shower, hoping that would calm things down a bit. I got back in bed about 3:00 and tried to go back to sleep. No, the backaches kept coming. At 4:00 The Man's alarm went off. At that point I told him I was having backaches and I thought I might be starting labor.

At about 5:00 he checked and said I was about 3-3.5 cm dilated, which was a definite change from my appointment the week before when I was only 2.5 cm. He said the baby still seemed pretty high.

I started having a few "real" contractions after that, but they were irregular and 10-15 minutes apart. After 6:00 I got up and started getting ready to go. I had an 8:30 ob appointment scheduled, but I was thinking about going straight to the hospital. The contractions started becoming more irregular after I got up, so I decided we should just go to the doctor's office. The Man checked again and said the baby had come down lower, but I was still less than 4 cm. Rather than leaving The Man at home with the kids (he had the morning off), we decided he should probably go with me, along with my hospital bag.

I had a few contractions on the way over the mountain, but they were still over 10 minutes apart. When we arrived at the doctor's office I told the nurse I thought I might be in labor, but I wasn't sure. I had lost a pound since my appointment the week before (bringing my total weight gain since my first appointment at 30 weeks to 0), but I wasn't surprised since all I ate for breakfast was 1/2 an English muffin and a few ounces of juice with my antibiotic (I started getting a sore throat so we assumed I was getting the same strep throat the rest of the family had).

The doctor came in the room and did all the measurements and listened to the heart beat. Then she did the internal exam. After informing me that I was 6 cm. dilated, 100% effaced, and the baby was at +2 station, she told me to go to the hospital "NOW...and don't stop for breakfast on the way!" Oh, I guess I WAS in labor. By the time I got out of the room, she was on the phone with the hospital telling them to get a room ready. By the time I made it to the parking lot, she was running out to her car.

We got to the hospital and I declined a curbside drop-off. After parking the van I had a contraction while The Man was getting the bags. Did I want a wheelchair? No, I had just had a contractions and it was only take a few minutes to walk to L&D.

When we arrived at L&D I saw my doctor was already there getting the cart ready. The nursing supervisor was also there getting things ready. At that point we found out that the L&D had been closed and they opened it just for ME! It is a small hospital and the department shuts down when there aren't any patients.

Not only was this the first time I had the same doctor & hospital for 2 pregnancies, but I also had the same room and nurse as when G was born. After nearly two years, G's birth is still the talk of the OB department!

My doctor parked herself beside my bed and waited...and waited...she wasn't going to miss the birth!

By the time I got settled there at the hospital, I was stunned when my doctor said I was 8 cm. The two strong contractions weren't that strong. I shrugged. "I'm just not feeling strong contractions." She looked at the monitor and informed me I was having very strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. Hmmm. I was puzzled. I was only feeling about every 3rd contraction. The Man told me not to complain!

A bit later she checked again and said I was 9 cm. I still wasn't feeling like I was ready to give birth. After some (ouch) manipulation to move that last cm., she told me to go ahead and push. She broke my water at that point and had me push through the next few contractions.

Baby S arrived less than 2 hours after we entered the hospital. I was surprised it was so quick, but I think my doctor was surprised I was so slow! At any rate, she is a very healthy little girl. After I held her for a few minutes they decided she wasn't crying well enough, so she got a bit of oxygen while we waited for the placenta.

I sent The Man back home then to have lunch with the kids. He came back with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon so they could all get acquainted. After they left, we had our dinner and Baby S and I went to sleep about 10 p.m. I was tired after being awake since 1:00 a.m., but I still woke up every hour to check on her. At 1:00 a.m. she was wide awake, squirming around. Baby dozed with me in my bed for the rest of the night.

The Man arrived the next morning right after my doctor left. We ate breakfast together and waited for the pediatrician, hearing test (which had to be done twice due to malfunctioning equipment), and paperwork. We finally got to leave after 11 a.m.

Last night Baby S got to snuggle with The Man at 1 a.m. while I slept.