Lilly June 7/19/08 6:34pm 9lbs. 4 oz. 21.5” long
Birth Story:
After what seemed like FOREVER, Lilly June made her way into the world in a fast and furious way.
I awoke from a nap at 3:45pm to an empty house. All day the house had been empty and I kept thinking it’d be such a great time to go into labor – when I could be all alone and focus. My mom had taken Alexander to a cook out at my aunt’s and Pete had gone to a bookstore with a friend. The house was so quiet and peaceful.
I had to go to the bathroom, and as I finished I had a good strong contraction. After months of contractions that led nowhere, I was highly skeptical, so I decided to take a shower at 4:05 and see if they kept coming. In the 20 minutes I was in the shower I had 6 or 7 contractions, and thought that perhaps I should call Pete to come home. While I was on the phone with him, I decided that I should probably call the midwives, just in case.
I called Paige and told her that I thought it might be real this time. We were on the phone and the contractions were coming every 2 minutes and were quite intense, but I was still concerned that it was going to peeter out again. Paige assured me that even if it was a false alarm that it’d be OK. (She later told me that she was nervous that she wasn’t going to make it in time.)
By the time Pete got home around 5:30 I was feeling more confident. The contractions were coming on top of each other and I was having really intense pain in my low back. He immediately set to work on filling the birth pool. The midwives arrived around 5:45 and starting setting up as fast as they could. I vaguely recall asking Paige if this was really it this time, and she smiled and asked me what I thought. I promptly vomited and knew that it was time to have a baby.
I went through transition with sweating, shaking and vomiting as the contractions were coming constantly. Paige suggested I get in the water and I was concerned it’d be too hot. She asked me to give it a shot and reminded me that I could always get right back out if I wanted, so I stepped in around 6:10. I slid into the water and it felt like a shot of morphine. Instant relief. I finally had a break from the contractions for a few minutes. I laid on my side with my head on the tub wall and had a few contractions in the water. At 6:25 I had a powerful contraction and announced that I was pushing. Pushing was not an option at that point and I pushed with more ferocity than I’ve ever known. At 6:34, Lilly June was born into the world, with her long cord looped twice around her neck. She was bright eyed and scanned the room with incredible awareness. It was dark, quiet and beautiful. She just looked and looked at everyone and everything for several minutes until we decided to move into the bedroom to wait for the cord to stop pulsing and to birth the placenta.
She laid on my chest for her first hour of life without interruption, all the while, wide eyed and inquisitive. After all our waiting, her birth was absolutely perfect. I didn’t tear at all and haven’t had a bit of swelling. I feel phenomenal physically and absolutely overjoyed emotionally. While I am not at all good at being pregnant, I remember why I chose to do this again – I LOVE giving birth and I love being a mom.
Birth Story:
After what seemed like FOREVER, Lilly June made her way into the world in a fast and furious way.
I awoke from a nap at 3:45pm to an empty house. All day the house had been empty and I kept thinking it’d be such a great time to go into labor – when I could be all alone and focus. My mom had taken Alexander to a cook out at my aunt’s and Pete had gone to a bookstore with a friend. The house was so quiet and peaceful.
I had to go to the bathroom, and as I finished I had a good strong contraction. After months of contractions that led nowhere, I was highly skeptical, so I decided to take a shower at 4:05 and see if they kept coming. In the 20 minutes I was in the shower I had 6 or 7 contractions, and thought that perhaps I should call Pete to come home. While I was on the phone with him, I decided that I should probably call the midwives, just in case.
I called Paige and told her that I thought it might be real this time. We were on the phone and the contractions were coming every 2 minutes and were quite intense, but I was still concerned that it was going to peeter out again. Paige assured me that even if it was a false alarm that it’d be OK. (She later told me that she was nervous that she wasn’t going to make it in time.)
By the time Pete got home around 5:30 I was feeling more confident. The contractions were coming on top of each other and I was having really intense pain in my low back. He immediately set to work on filling the birth pool. The midwives arrived around 5:45 and starting setting up as fast as they could. I vaguely recall asking Paige if this was really it this time, and she smiled and asked me what I thought. I promptly vomited and knew that it was time to have a baby.
I went through transition with sweating, shaking and vomiting as the contractions were coming constantly. Paige suggested I get in the water and I was concerned it’d be too hot. She asked me to give it a shot and reminded me that I could always get right back out if I wanted, so I stepped in around 6:10. I slid into the water and it felt like a shot of morphine. Instant relief. I finally had a break from the contractions for a few minutes. I laid on my side with my head on the tub wall and had a few contractions in the water. At 6:25 I had a powerful contraction and announced that I was pushing. Pushing was not an option at that point and I pushed with more ferocity than I’ve ever known. At 6:34, Lilly June was born into the world, with her long cord looped twice around her neck. She was bright eyed and scanned the room with incredible awareness. It was dark, quiet and beautiful. She just looked and looked at everyone and everything for several minutes until we decided to move into the bedroom to wait for the cord to stop pulsing and to birth the placenta.
She laid on my chest for her first hour of life without interruption, all the while, wide eyed and inquisitive. After all our waiting, her birth was absolutely perfect. I didn’t tear at all and haven’t had a bit of swelling. I feel phenomenal physically and absolutely overjoyed emotionally. While I am not at all good at being pregnant, I remember why I chose to do this again – I LOVE giving birth and I love being a mom.
:
: Congratulations mama!
