Announcing the arrival of Freya -
September 11, 2008
1:20am
7 lbs 13 oz
She was born into the water and the hands of her mama at home, under the watchful eyes of just her daddy and sister after 1 1/2 hours of labor.
We're all doing wonderfully - Freya has been very sleepy and Sage has been very busy with Grandma Mo.
You can see mostly dressed pictures here.
You can see pictures of right after the birth, here. (Be warned, these are the ones I didn't send to my uncles and grandpa and other people who probably would prefer not to see me naked).
We had an unexpected, although kinda wished for unassisted birth - my mom and the midwife arrived about 1/2 hour after Freya was born - it was just perfect. I'll add a birth story soon!! I couldn't have imagined a better birth - it was awesome!
Birth story:
On Wednesday, the 10th I decided it was time for this little one to come out. I started doing all of the easy, gentle, encouraging things I could think of: ate some pineapple, ate veggies with balsamic vinegar, walked on curbs, put a hot water bottle on my chest, and finally, dh and I had sex right before going to bed. The i-pod wasn't on my nightstand and I was too relaxed to go get it to listen to my hypnobabies script, so I was going to not listen for the first time in months. But I was restless - it felt weird to try to fall asleep without being in hypnosis. And I was having contractions. So I got up to get the i-pod - felt really irritable at my husband's snoring and flopping while listening - stuff that usually doesn't bother me. After just a couple of minutes I needed to get up and walk.
I decided to call my mom. She was going to be coming after the birth to help with Sage and everything else. Also we were planning to just wait and see if we needed her at the birth to be with Sage (depending on the time of day, etc) She lives about 40 minutes away, but I knew she was dropping my cousin off at my sister's house which is about an hour and a half away. Our three houses are in a huge triangle - I wanted to give her a heads-up so she wasn't driving all over the world in the middle of the night. While I didn't really want anyone in my house yet, we decided she should come and lay down with Sage. I was having contractions every two minutes, which I thought was weird - they were short and easy.
Meanwhile, Jon woke up - wondered why the heck I was on the phone in the middle of the night. He was very excited - said it felt like the night before Christmas.
He was busy straightening up the living room and kitchen and jumping out of my way when I'd march past him during a contraction. Walking quickly felt great! I decided to try the tub, so I went downstairs. Jon lit some candles and brought down my flowers that he and Sage had picked for me that afternoon. I wasn't sure how the tub would feel, since I really wanted to move during contractions. We turned on the hypnobabies script and I got in - it felt nice, but as soon as I had a contraction I needed to get on my hands and knees - and that is where I stayed.
It was so peaceful - just Jon and I - he kissed me, and talked to me in between. At one point I needed "something" - and it really helped when Jon put his hand on my shoulder and said "relax" and counted backwards to deepen my hypnosis - we shut the other script off - it was only distracting me. That was when things intensified for me - I'm guessing it was about 1 am at that point (about an hour after ctx started) Jon talked me through a few more contractions - I had him call my mom to tell her to not dilly - dally.
Suddenly I felt like pushing - next ctx, felt a pop - my water broke. Called the midwife (who lives about 45 minutes away). I wondered where the baby was - just to my second knuckle - I kept saying "It is so close! It is almost here!" Jon seemed nonplussed - didn't really seem to believe me. In the next couple of ctx (s)he crowned - I made Jon feel - (finally he understood) I had my hands on my perineum the whole time - amazing how much we can stretch. This was the most intense time for me. I was telling myself, "gentle, gentle, gentle" but I wasn't really being gentle with my pushes - I really wanted her out.
And then she was - her head at least - which is about the best feeling in the whole world. Jon said, "Should I go get Sage??" I said, " If you hurry!" He barreled up the stairs - I yelled to him not to scare her! Meanwhile I had my hand on the baby's head - felt it turn back and forth , which was really cool. They came back down and sat on the ball, right in front of me - I was kneeling, facing them - next ctx came, I pushed, she was born, and I pulled her up to my chest. There she was! We didn’t know she was a she, though - I think sage asked - Jon looked - it is a girl! We did it!!! Only an hour and a half, start to finish. It was so fast, so perfect. My mom got there about 20 minutes later and the midwife 10 minutes after that. I couldn't have imagined a better birth. She nursed right away and has been a sleepy mellow wonderful baby ever since.
September 11, 2008
1:20am
7 lbs 13 oz
She was born into the water and the hands of her mama at home, under the watchful eyes of just her daddy and sister after 1 1/2 hours of labor.
We're all doing wonderfully - Freya has been very sleepy and Sage has been very busy with Grandma Mo.
You can see mostly dressed pictures here.
You can see pictures of right after the birth, here. (Be warned, these are the ones I didn't send to my uncles and grandpa and other people who probably would prefer not to see me naked).
We had an unexpected, although kinda wished for unassisted birth - my mom and the midwife arrived about 1/2 hour after Freya was born - it was just perfect. I'll add a birth story soon!! I couldn't have imagined a better birth - it was awesome!
Birth story:
On Wednesday, the 10th I decided it was time for this little one to come out. I started doing all of the easy, gentle, encouraging things I could think of: ate some pineapple, ate veggies with balsamic vinegar, walked on curbs, put a hot water bottle on my chest, and finally, dh and I had sex right before going to bed. The i-pod wasn't on my nightstand and I was too relaxed to go get it to listen to my hypnobabies script, so I was going to not listen for the first time in months. But I was restless - it felt weird to try to fall asleep without being in hypnosis. And I was having contractions. So I got up to get the i-pod - felt really irritable at my husband's snoring and flopping while listening - stuff that usually doesn't bother me. After just a couple of minutes I needed to get up and walk.
I decided to call my mom. She was going to be coming after the birth to help with Sage and everything else. Also we were planning to just wait and see if we needed her at the birth to be with Sage (depending on the time of day, etc) She lives about 40 minutes away, but I knew she was dropping my cousin off at my sister's house which is about an hour and a half away. Our three houses are in a huge triangle - I wanted to give her a heads-up so she wasn't driving all over the world in the middle of the night. While I didn't really want anyone in my house yet, we decided she should come and lay down with Sage. I was having contractions every two minutes, which I thought was weird - they were short and easy.
Meanwhile, Jon woke up - wondered why the heck I was on the phone in the middle of the night. He was very excited - said it felt like the night before Christmas.
He was busy straightening up the living room and kitchen and jumping out of my way when I'd march past him during a contraction. Walking quickly felt great! I decided to try the tub, so I went downstairs. Jon lit some candles and brought down my flowers that he and Sage had picked for me that afternoon. I wasn't sure how the tub would feel, since I really wanted to move during contractions. We turned on the hypnobabies script and I got in - it felt nice, but as soon as I had a contraction I needed to get on my hands and knees - and that is where I stayed.It was so peaceful - just Jon and I - he kissed me, and talked to me in between. At one point I needed "something" - and it really helped when Jon put his hand on my shoulder and said "relax" and counted backwards to deepen my hypnosis - we shut the other script off - it was only distracting me. That was when things intensified for me - I'm guessing it was about 1 am at that point (about an hour after ctx started) Jon talked me through a few more contractions - I had him call my mom to tell her to not dilly - dally.
Suddenly I felt like pushing - next ctx, felt a pop - my water broke. Called the midwife (who lives about 45 minutes away). I wondered where the baby was - just to my second knuckle - I kept saying "It is so close! It is almost here!" Jon seemed nonplussed - didn't really seem to believe me. In the next couple of ctx (s)he crowned - I made Jon feel - (finally he understood) I had my hands on my perineum the whole time - amazing how much we can stretch. This was the most intense time for me. I was telling myself, "gentle, gentle, gentle" but I wasn't really being gentle with my pushes - I really wanted her out.
And then she was - her head at least - which is about the best feeling in the whole world. Jon said, "Should I go get Sage??" I said, " If you hurry!" He barreled up the stairs - I yelled to him not to scare her! Meanwhile I had my hand on the baby's head - felt it turn back and forth , which was really cool. They came back down and sat on the ball, right in front of me - I was kneeling, facing them - next ctx came, I pushed, she was born, and I pulled her up to my chest. There she was! We didn’t know she was a she, though - I think sage asked - Jon looked - it is a girl! We did it!!! Only an hour and a half, start to finish. It was so fast, so perfect. My mom got there about 20 minutes later and the midwife 10 minutes after that. I couldn't have imagined a better birth. She nursed right away and has been a sleepy mellow wonderful baby ever since.
:
Follow Mothering