Annika Ida, born at home 2:07 pm, 12/15. 10lb 12oz, 21 1/4in.
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I had a midwife appointment scheduled for 2:30, and when we made the appointment two weeks ago, I commented that maybe we wouldn't make it.
My due date was 12/13, and I'd been having regular contractions on and off for weeks, which always ended up petering out, so I didn't want to get my hopes up yesterday morning. I woke up several times during the night because of contractions, and in the morning I timed them at 6 min apart. I also found a light reddish stain on the sheet when I made the bed, but I still kept expecting the contractions to fade away, which they didn't. I called my MW at 9 just to give her a heads-up, and my mom to let her know she might need to watch my 3 older girls after school, but I didn't really believe it would go anywhere.
Went for a walk with DF around the block, and that made the contractions stronger and closer - about 2 minutes apart. When we got home and I sat down, they spaced out to 5 min, but stayed moderately strong, and I decided to ask the MW to come over. When she arrived an hour later (1pm), I was apologetic, thinking I might have called her too early, but she & her assistant assured me they didn't think so. I just thought they were overestimating my strength (I was leaning on DF and breathing through contractions, but they didn't seem that strong to me).
A few minutes later, after they checked my blood pressure and such, my water broke. I was shocked, because I didn't think I was necessarily even in real labor, and started saying "oh no, what if the baby isn't born fast enough" etc. Apparently there was light mec., but I didn't notice at the time.
At about 1:50, I felt like I had to pee, went into the bathroom and sat down, was hit by a huge contraction and immediately jumped up and stood in the doorway. At this point everything was kind of a blur - I felt like transition and pushing all at once, had a lip of cervix the midwife held back (while I was standing, which was far more bearable than lying on my back for the same thing, like I did during my first birth). I felt like I couldn't stand up any longer, and got on all fours - I had just a few more contractions, and they still felt like transition, even though they pushed the baby out at the same time. It was so fast and intense that I panicked and started yelling "help me!" and "stop pulling on me!" and so on, which I hadn't done since dd #1's birth. Faster is not always better! It was really terrifying for a few minutes there. I was so relieved when she was out, but too shaken/exhausted to hold her for a little while.
When I did hold her, I just looked at her face and talked to her for a little while ("I thought you'd never get here! Here you are!") before checking to see if she was a boy or a girl. It didn't seem to matter much then (although DF thought I checked really quickly!
When the MW checked the placenta, she thought it looked as though a piece was missing, and also thought I was bleeding too much. After some discussion, I agreed to let her check for it manually, but I was terrified (I had tears in my eyes - I had thought I was done with the painful part!) Turns out there was another piece left in there, so I suppose it was worth it (although I remember thinking "there's no reason I shouldn't have pain meds now, the birth is over!")
Annika is doing great. She latched on like a much older baby, slept for a quite long time (half the night), and seems to like being carried in the hotsling. She's her father's first child, and yet he seems to know instinctively just how to soothe her and what she wants. I'm so proud of him. 
She looks just like his baby photos, too (only bigger and chubbier!) Her big sisters came to see her yesterday evening, but spent the night at their grandma's. They all brought her cards they made, and wanted to give her their toys - it was so cute!
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I'll add a photo soon.
:I had a midwife appointment scheduled for 2:30, and when we made the appointment two weeks ago, I commented that maybe we wouldn't make it.
My due date was 12/13, and I'd been having regular contractions on and off for weeks, which always ended up petering out, so I didn't want to get my hopes up yesterday morning. I woke up several times during the night because of contractions, and in the morning I timed them at 6 min apart. I also found a light reddish stain on the sheet when I made the bed, but I still kept expecting the contractions to fade away, which they didn't. I called my MW at 9 just to give her a heads-up, and my mom to let her know she might need to watch my 3 older girls after school, but I didn't really believe it would go anywhere.
Went for a walk with DF around the block, and that made the contractions stronger and closer - about 2 minutes apart. When we got home and I sat down, they spaced out to 5 min, but stayed moderately strong, and I decided to ask the MW to come over. When she arrived an hour later (1pm), I was apologetic, thinking I might have called her too early, but she & her assistant assured me they didn't think so. I just thought they were overestimating my strength (I was leaning on DF and breathing through contractions, but they didn't seem that strong to me).
A few minutes later, after they checked my blood pressure and such, my water broke. I was shocked, because I didn't think I was necessarily even in real labor, and started saying "oh no, what if the baby isn't born fast enough" etc. Apparently there was light mec., but I didn't notice at the time.
At about 1:50, I felt like I had to pee, went into the bathroom and sat down, was hit by a huge contraction and immediately jumped up and stood in the doorway. At this point everything was kind of a blur - I felt like transition and pushing all at once, had a lip of cervix the midwife held back (while I was standing, which was far more bearable than lying on my back for the same thing, like I did during my first birth). I felt like I couldn't stand up any longer, and got on all fours - I had just a few more contractions, and they still felt like transition, even though they pushed the baby out at the same time. It was so fast and intense that I panicked and started yelling "help me!" and "stop pulling on me!" and so on, which I hadn't done since dd #1's birth. Faster is not always better! It was really terrifying for a few minutes there. I was so relieved when she was out, but too shaken/exhausted to hold her for a little while.
When I did hold her, I just looked at her face and talked to her for a little while ("I thought you'd never get here! Here you are!") before checking to see if she was a boy or a girl. It didn't seem to matter much then (although DF thought I checked really quickly!
When the MW checked the placenta, she thought it looked as though a piece was missing, and also thought I was bleeding too much. After some discussion, I agreed to let her check for it manually, but I was terrified (I had tears in my eyes - I had thought I was done with the painful part!) Turns out there was another piece left in there, so I suppose it was worth it (although I remember thinking "there's no reason I shouldn't have pain meds now, the birth is over!")
Annika is doing great. She latched on like a much older baby, slept for a quite long time (half the night), and seems to like being carried in the hotsling.
She's her father's first child, and yet he seems to know instinctively just how to soothe her and what she wants. I'm so proud of him. She looks just like his baby photos, too (only bigger and chubbier!) Her big sisters came to see her yesterday evening, but spent the night at their grandma's. They all brought her cards they made, and wanted to give her their toys - it was so cute!:::I'll add a photo soon.
