Congrats, mamaroni and cloloradomom...
And add me to the list of babies waiting for spring
Anders Grant was born at 12:36 am on 3-20. He was 9 lbs, 6 oz, and 21 inches long. He's a great nurser, and he's currently resting contentedly in the sling as I make my first journey to the internet. I'm feeling wonderful, we left the hospital 19 hours after he was born. Erik came home today (he was with Gramma and Grampa), and so far everything is going smoothly, but only because I am not sure he's aware of the fact that Anders is staying. We'll see what tomorrow brings!
My labor (feel free to scan this...I may have taken time to type it out, but I'm not taking time to edit it
) I may have posted that I had bloody show and some contractions starting friday morning. I didn't bother timing them most of the day, and we just kept on going. I took Erik to the park in the afternoon, and around 3 I started noticing the contractions more, but still didn't time them (such a PITA to time
) Around 5 I mentioned to DH that we should ask his parents if they'd rather just get Erik and put him to bed at their house, rather than risk a late-night call from us. They got him at 7, and it turned out to be a wise decision. I labored more intensely at home starting at 6, and finally started timing contractions, with DH's help. They were irregular, though...anywhere from 2.5 min to 9 minutes apart, and 45 sec to 60 sec in length. But they were hurting a lot, so finally at 10 we decided to go to the hospital anyway.
I had wanted to wait as long as possible, because my midwife was off call all day on the 19th, through 3pm on the 20th. By this point, I was resigned to not having her at the birth, but since I was just getting random OB at the hospital, I didn't want to put myself at risk for more intervention than I wanted. When we got to the hospital around 10, I was dilated to 5. I was slightly disappointed, because I felt like it had been a LOT of work so far, but I kept going.
I had a hard time at the hospital getting comfortable anywhere...I felt better between contractions standing up, but then I couldn't relax through them. I could relax really well during a contraction if I were lying on the bed, but then I hurt really bad inbetween. I struggled with that for a few hours before finally getting comfortable lying on the bed on my left side, with DH behind me coaching me through.
The OB cam in to check me at about midnight or so. I was 7 to 8, and I told him he could break my water. DH tried to talk me out of it, but I knew I was in transition right then--right after he checked me, I started shaking uncontrollably. The contractions got VERY hard. The funniest part was that DH was SOOO excited--at one point he said "I'm sorry to be so excited about your pain, but the baby is almost here!!" He's a great coach, and really helped me through that period of self-doubt.
And sure enough, 15 minutes later I said in the middle of a contraction--"I HAVE TO PUSH!!" DH didn't realize I meant...NOW, so He tried to calm me through it. LOL! The nurse came running in, checked me quickly, and said...why yes you do.
Thankfully, I had that classic short break. After that first pushing contraction, there was 5-10 minutes where I just rested as they got all ready for the baby. Then, the return, and an immediate ring of fire. The baby was already crowing! The OB was fantastic, did some perineal massage and helped ease me through it. I think I pushed 4 more times...on the last push, he finally just popped out. the doctor held the baby up so that DH could announce "It's a boy!!"
It was a wonderful, and quick birth. I had a first-degree tear, but I feel wonderful now (and managed to take just one motrin at the hospital). It's great to be home with my 2 boys.
Good luck to the mamas still waiting!!!!
:
. Best wishes to you and your family and welcome to your new wee girl.
to you, i hope things pick up soon.
to everyone
Check back in on ya'all later.
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