Ella Grace was born early Sunday morning (12:58 am) at 40w2d gestation.
She weighed in at 8lbs 4oz, 20.5 in long, which was exactly the same as my son.
Here is our birth story if you are interested:
Well, Ella's birth story is kind of amusing. Essentially, I've been a bit worried for several weeks because she seemed to be hanging out posterior in utero. The last visit or two w/ my midwife she was turned so her head was kind of anterior and the rest of her was in between anterior and posterior. I did chiropractic for Webster stuff to help flip her, and I've been doing the spinning babies stuff all pregnancy. I had been pretty concerned about back labor or having a long labor due positioning, but my midwives were pretty confident that baby girl would flip on her own eventually.
I had a 40 week visit w/ my midwives last Thursday (I was 39w6d then). I had no signs of impending labor other than some stronger BH contractions. No bloody show or mucus plug, but I didn't have either of those until I was well into labor w/ Logan. I caved and had my first cervical check of this pregnancy. I was 2-3 cm and 50 percent effaced. I was 2-3 cm dilated and 75 percent effaced w/ Logan for weeks before he was born so that didn't tell me that much.
Saturday I had some off/on contractions but mostly just BH type stuff. Some of it came regularly for an hour or so but it was nothing substantial, and i've had that happen occasionally for a few weeks. I went to put Logan to bed and had some contractions while he was nursing, but they were all pretty mild.
By 10:15 Saturday night, I had what felt like my first significant contraction. These felt more like actual labor to me. They were coming 2-3 mins apart almost immediately, and things were more intense than my labor w/ Logan. I was kind of surprised to have things kick off like that. I walked around for an hour here, listening to my hypnosis CDs. I told Chris what was going on...he thought he might squeeze in quick nap in case this was it. I told him to let my parents know we might need them (they were going to help w/ Logan at the birth center).
I wasn't sure whether I should call the midwife yet, but since they lasted an hour at that point and were coming 2-3 mins apart, I thought it was about time. So I called at 11:15 pm, and she basically didn't seem that convinced I needed to rush in, but we decided it would be good to go in, get checked and see what was going on. She wasn't sure if she wanted to call a nurse to come in as well, but eventually decided she would. The midwife on call said she'd meet us in a half hour or so.
We packed up some last minute stuff, and loaded Logan (who hadn't napped all day either) into the car. I listened to my CDs in the back of the van, on all 4s with my birthing ball. I told Chris I was surprised at the intensity of my contractions since it was so early on.
We got to the birth center, picked out our room, and the midwife got ready to do an exam. My parents showed up and hung out w/ Logan in the meantime. My contractions seemed to have slowed down a bit. They weren't terribly strong.
The midwife does her exam, and calmly says...well, I'm glad I called the nurse when I did tonight. You are 10cm, fully effaced, 0 station, with a bulging bag of forewaters (!!!!).
I looked at her in total disbelief. I had NOOOO idea. I seriously was hoping that I was like 4 or 5 cm and in acual active labor, because I felt really bad calling her and having her come in if I wasn't in true active labor. She just said...no, I'm not kidding. Once your water goes, things will happen fast. With Logan's birth, transition was the most difficult. I could handle the contractions easily but hated feeling nauseous and hot. I was shakey during transition, etc. This time, I pretty much skipped it entirely, which is bizarre.
When they checked me w/ the doppler, we had a few heart rate decelerations (once while sitting on the toilet to see if anything would happen in that position) but nothing in the danger zone. We were still above 110. I turned to my left side and things went back up, so they just kept an eye on that. It did freak me out but they were pretty confident everything would be fine.
I had no urge to push. I basically hung out for about a half hour, walking around, etc. until I felt "pushy." My water leaked a bit eventually and I started to feel some urge, but not much. I guess around 12:30 I finally started to feel a little more urge.
I think I really only pushed for 4-5 contractions total at most. I tried a few small ones before that but more out of a desire to see if my water would break. I pushed in sidelying which was different but really worked well this time. My body pretty much took over and did its thing. Chris and I were able to catch Ella on her way out. The midwife got Ella's head out, cleared her airway, and then stepped back to let us catch her. I ended up with no tears at all. I had 2-3 stitches w/ Logan and was happy with that, but having no tears has been awesome. I feel sooooo much better recovery wise as a result. I had muscle soreness after Logan's birth but nothing this time.
Ella Grace came into the world at 12:58am Sunday morning, so less than 3 hours after I felt like *maybe* I was in labor LOL. I had a huge amount of fluid that came out w/ her, so she was a tiny bit gurgly at first. The midwife gave here some homeopathic remedy that really helped and her lungs were very clear a few mins later. She didn't want to latch on right away because of her gurgliness (is that a word?) but did about 30 mins later. Logan was totally in awe once he came into the room. He has been so gentle and loving so far, although I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off
We went home 4 1/2 hours after the birth. The minimum stay is 4 hours and I expected to stay longer, but I felt great and we wanted to rest at home. The midwife was totally fine w/ us leaving at 4 hours as a result. The birth center has called every day to check up on us with various questions. Ella had a visit w/ our family practice doc yesterday (Tuesday) and is doing well. The birth center sends out a nurse to the house at 3 days postpartum, and we had our visit today (Wednesday). Ella and I both are doing great
I've loved recovering at home and loved the entire birth center experience.
She weighed in at 8lbs 4oz, 20.5 in long, which was exactly the same as my son.
Here is our birth story if you are interested:
Well, Ella's birth story is kind of amusing. Essentially, I've been a bit worried for several weeks because she seemed to be hanging out posterior in utero. The last visit or two w/ my midwife she was turned so her head was kind of anterior and the rest of her was in between anterior and posterior. I did chiropractic for Webster stuff to help flip her, and I've been doing the spinning babies stuff all pregnancy. I had been pretty concerned about back labor or having a long labor due positioning, but my midwives were pretty confident that baby girl would flip on her own eventually.
I had a 40 week visit w/ my midwives last Thursday (I was 39w6d then). I had no signs of impending labor other than some stronger BH contractions. No bloody show or mucus plug, but I didn't have either of those until I was well into labor w/ Logan. I caved and had my first cervical check of this pregnancy. I was 2-3 cm and 50 percent effaced. I was 2-3 cm dilated and 75 percent effaced w/ Logan for weeks before he was born so that didn't tell me that much.
Saturday I had some off/on contractions but mostly just BH type stuff. Some of it came regularly for an hour or so but it was nothing substantial, and i've had that happen occasionally for a few weeks. I went to put Logan to bed and had some contractions while he was nursing, but they were all pretty mild.
By 10:15 Saturday night, I had what felt like my first significant contraction. These felt more like actual labor to me. They were coming 2-3 mins apart almost immediately, and things were more intense than my labor w/ Logan. I was kind of surprised to have things kick off like that. I walked around for an hour here, listening to my hypnosis CDs. I told Chris what was going on...he thought he might squeeze in quick nap in case this was it. I told him to let my parents know we might need them (they were going to help w/ Logan at the birth center).
I wasn't sure whether I should call the midwife yet, but since they lasted an hour at that point and were coming 2-3 mins apart, I thought it was about time. So I called at 11:15 pm, and she basically didn't seem that convinced I needed to rush in, but we decided it would be good to go in, get checked and see what was going on. She wasn't sure if she wanted to call a nurse to come in as well, but eventually decided she would. The midwife on call said she'd meet us in a half hour or so.
We packed up some last minute stuff, and loaded Logan (who hadn't napped all day either) into the car. I listened to my CDs in the back of the van, on all 4s with my birthing ball. I told Chris I was surprised at the intensity of my contractions since it was so early on.
We got to the birth center, picked out our room, and the midwife got ready to do an exam. My parents showed up and hung out w/ Logan in the meantime. My contractions seemed to have slowed down a bit. They weren't terribly strong.
The midwife does her exam, and calmly says...well, I'm glad I called the nurse when I did tonight. You are 10cm, fully effaced, 0 station, with a bulging bag of forewaters (!!!!).
I looked at her in total disbelief. I had NOOOO idea. I seriously was hoping that I was like 4 or 5 cm and in acual active labor, because I felt really bad calling her and having her come in if I wasn't in true active labor. She just said...no, I'm not kidding. Once your water goes, things will happen fast. With Logan's birth, transition was the most difficult. I could handle the contractions easily but hated feeling nauseous and hot. I was shakey during transition, etc. This time, I pretty much skipped it entirely, which is bizarre.
When they checked me w/ the doppler, we had a few heart rate decelerations (once while sitting on the toilet to see if anything would happen in that position) but nothing in the danger zone. We were still above 110. I turned to my left side and things went back up, so they just kept an eye on that. It did freak me out but they were pretty confident everything would be fine.
I had no urge to push. I basically hung out for about a half hour, walking around, etc. until I felt "pushy." My water leaked a bit eventually and I started to feel some urge, but not much. I guess around 12:30 I finally started to feel a little more urge.
I think I really only pushed for 4-5 contractions total at most. I tried a few small ones before that but more out of a desire to see if my water would break. I pushed in sidelying which was different but really worked well this time. My body pretty much took over and did its thing. Chris and I were able to catch Ella on her way out. The midwife got Ella's head out, cleared her airway, and then stepped back to let us catch her. I ended up with no tears at all. I had 2-3 stitches w/ Logan and was happy with that, but having no tears has been awesome. I feel sooooo much better recovery wise as a result. I had muscle soreness after Logan's birth but nothing this time.
Ella Grace came into the world at 12:58am Sunday morning, so less than 3 hours after I felt like *maybe* I was in labor LOL. I had a huge amount of fluid that came out w/ her, so she was a tiny bit gurgly at first. The midwife gave here some homeopathic remedy that really helped and her lungs were very clear a few mins later. She didn't want to latch on right away because of her gurgliness (is that a word?) but did about 30 mins later. Logan was totally in awe once he came into the room. He has been so gentle and loving so far, although I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off
We went home 4 1/2 hours after the birth. The minimum stay is 4 hours and I expected to stay longer, but I felt great and we wanted to rest at home. The midwife was totally fine w/ us leaving at 4 hours as a result. The birth center has called every day to check up on us with various questions. Ella had a visit w/ our family practice doc yesterday (Tuesday) and is doing well. The birth center sends out a nurse to the house at 3 days postpartum, and we had our visit today (Wednesday). Ella and I both are doing great
I've loved recovering at home and loved the entire birth center experience.
Congratulations!!! Great story! 
: And congratulations Lilcrunchie and family. Another thanks for sharing your great birth story.
