Coralie was born at Dec. 1st. She weighed 8lbs1oz and was 19.75" long. Here is a quickly written version of her birth story and some photos.
Around 3:00am on Dec. 1st I woke up to some light, but crampy contractions. They were ranging anywhere from 5-30 minutes apart and I was managing to doze off here and there between. Around 7:00am I got up with my kids, told my MIL and DH that I thought today was the day! My MIL's job was to take the kids out of the house when I was in labor, so we fed them and got them both ready to go. I allowed my DS to have the day off of school to go do something fun with Nana. They headed out just after 9:00am, which is when I called my midwives to also let them know that things were progressing. By this point my contractions were 5-10 minutes apart and totally manageable. My midwives suggested that we go ahead and fill the pool, since it could take an hour or two and have it ready. My dh started getting everything set up from the pool to the video camera. I decided to download a contraction timer on my iPad and start timing the contractions. By 11:00am things had picked up and they were 4-5 minutes apart and over 1 minute long so I decided to call my midwives and have them come. Everything was still totally easy and manageable at this point. I was relaxing into the contractions and crocheting in between.
By noon I felt like I needed to get into the tub and moments later my midwives arrived and started setting up. My contractions quickly started to pick up in timing and intensity and I quickly found myself in labor-land using all of my focus to relax through them. Around 12:30 I ask my dh to get into the tub and rub my back. Roughly an hour later I make one trip out of the tub to go pee and I suddenly feel myself go into transition, I get stuck on the toilet for a few contractions before I manage to force myself back into the tub. I started thinking that I didn't want to do this anymore, that it sucked and then I realized that I must be getting close! Yay! I got back in the water, had a few more contractions and then I felt my water break. I announced this to my midwives, they checked the water and everything looked clean (no meconium). A few very intense contractions later and I feel her head come past my cervix and down into my vaginal canal (I didn't have any cervical checks, so I simply started pushing when I needed to). With each passing contraction I could feel her coming down and everything stretching apart. This part sucks, but you just have to get it over with. I push because it feels like I'm supposed to, in it's own way it feels good. Just 11 minutes after I start pushing she's born into my arms, under water, just as we had planned. I brought her up and she started to scream and pink up right away. She's perfect and looks just like her older sister.
My placenta separates easily and we quickly get out of the tub because it's filling up with blood and yuckiness. Coralie is bright-eyed and nurses right away. She continues to nurse for nearly 2 hours before sleeping soundly for the next 5-6 hours. As expected Coralie is very tongue-tied. I have an appointment today to get her tongue clipped to try to prevent any breastfeeding issues. We're only 1 day in and my nipples are already sore, so I'm in prevention mode!
Everything went beautifully, just as we had hoped (only 11 days later over-due). I was really anticipating her to be on the small side, but she turned out to be my largest baby yet! Funny how they each hold their own surprises. My midwives counted that I had 7 hours of early labor and roughly 4 hours of active labor. Today I'm feeling good, I think that I'm going to heal quickly, which is nice. I couldn't have asked for a better labor! 
A few hours later my MIL brought my DS and DD1 back home to meet the baby. They are both totally in love and so far the transition is going well. FX that it keeps up!





















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