After a challenging 19-hour labor, Ivy (no middle name yet) was born at 1:15 Sunday, March 19, at home. She is 9lbs, 21.5 inches long, with curly red hair and a very calm demeanor. She's been nursing like a champ and even spit up already. 
She can hold up her head and find her thumb to suck!
I went into labor on Saturday around dinnertime with mild contractions 7 minutes apart. We went to the movies to distract ourselves (V for Vendetta was great!). My mom went to her place for some sleep. I called our midwife around 2:30am needing support, and she and Tom's mom came out while Tom got some sleep. I used our TENS unit for most of the night, then labored in the pool for a while, and finally got out and walked around -- I had lots of back labor, and back pressure wasn't helping.
Tom supported me while I moaned through contractions. I got nauseated a few times, but this actually helped move things along and wasn't so bad. I wasn't at all interested in food for the whole labor, though I did have a ton of water and some sips of juice and milk.
We checked my cervix around 10am: I was 7 cm with a big, swollen lip. After some consultation, we decided to break my bag of waters; there was some meconium but we just kept checking heart tones to make sure she was doing OK. One of my midwives, Lee, suggested I labor in a side-lying position to reduce the lip. This was awful and was so painful! But apparently it worked, because by 12:15 I was having a bit of an urge to push. Stacia suggested I come upstairs and labor in the pool to help me progress. She checked me again and gave a big smile, saying, "Push away!" I was fully dilated. (No wonder those 2 hours were so painful.) I pushed in the tub for a while, then got out onto the toilet and pushed her the rest of the way out standing up. She was born after only 40 minutes of pushing!!
I was thrilled and immediately felt SO good, even though I had some tears (minor 1* ones, no stitching needed). Labor amnesia works!
The placenta came out easily after about 15 minutes.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning up, making phone calls and generally being dazed with exhaustion and amazement at what we'd done. Her first night was long and lovely. Tom, my mom and I took turns caring for her. She is learning to negotiate the world of breathing, crying and pooping.
We are all doing great. I am sore and not allowed to climb stairs for about a week, but feeling good otherwise. Tom is home for about a week; I am off work until September.
Pictures soon!
She can hold up her head and find her thumb to suck!I went into labor on Saturday around dinnertime with mild contractions 7 minutes apart. We went to the movies to distract ourselves (V for Vendetta was great!). My mom went to her place for some sleep. I called our midwife around 2:30am needing support, and she and Tom's mom came out while Tom got some sleep. I used our TENS unit for most of the night, then labored in the pool for a while, and finally got out and walked around -- I had lots of back labor, and back pressure wasn't helping.
Tom supported me while I moaned through contractions. I got nauseated a few times, but this actually helped move things along and wasn't so bad. I wasn't at all interested in food for the whole labor, though I did have a ton of water and some sips of juice and milk.We checked my cervix around 10am: I was 7 cm with a big, swollen lip. After some consultation, we decided to break my bag of waters; there was some meconium but we just kept checking heart tones to make sure she was doing OK. One of my midwives, Lee, suggested I labor in a side-lying position to reduce the lip. This was awful and was so painful! But apparently it worked, because by 12:15 I was having a bit of an urge to push. Stacia suggested I come upstairs and labor in the pool to help me progress. She checked me again and gave a big smile, saying, "Push away!" I was fully dilated. (No wonder those 2 hours were so painful.) I pushed in the tub for a while, then got out onto the toilet and pushed her the rest of the way out standing up. She was born after only 40 minutes of pushing!!
I was thrilled and immediately felt SO good, even though I had some tears (minor 1* ones, no stitching needed). Labor amnesia works!
The placenta came out easily after about 15 minutes.We spent the rest of the day cleaning up, making phone calls and generally being dazed with exhaustion and amazement at what we'd done. Her first night was long and lovely. Tom, my mom and I took turns caring for her. She is learning to negotiate the world of breathing, crying and pooping.
We are all doing great. I am sore and not allowed to climb stairs for about a week, but feeling good otherwise. Tom is home for about a week; I am off work until September.
Pictures soon!
Congrats Maggi!! So glad she was able to come on her own schedule.
