Well, after passing my due date of March 12th & not having had a baby yet, going into the birth center on March 18th only to be sent home with false labor, and making it to 9 days overdue (all the while wondering: "Are we ever going to see this baby?!"), we finally welcomed our new little baby girl to our family on Sunday, March 21st at 1:45pm.
She has already surprised us in many respects, and she showed us some of her tendencies for surprise even before she came out of the womb! For one thing, Hannah was 8 days early, so I (like a silly mama) assumed that this one would be early as well--or at least right on time! When my due date passed and we were still waiting, I started to think "Hmmm...maybe this baby is not going to come when I think it will." I had a lot of help passing the waiting time with Senia being home for spring break, and various friends offering to bring food, take me out to pedicures, and coming over to just hang out! All of it was greatly appreciated, and I will definitely return that favor to someone else at some point. :)
I won't go into the whole false labor experience, as that was fairly frustrating, and I'd rather focus on the joy of the situation right now. :) Let's just say that when Sunday, March 21st rolled around and I started having contractions after midnight, I was REALLY holding off on getting excited or calling my midwife because I just didn't want to deal with that disappointment again.
My contractions started the previous evening around 10pm, but I was able to sleep through them, so I did what my midwife suggested: sleep through them! :) At about 12:15, I woke up because of an intense contraction, and I still waited for about an hour before even waking Keith up or calling Tracy (our midwife.) At that point, Tracy recommended trying to rest a little & call back if the contractions got closer or more intense (they were about 6 minutes apart at that point.) By 1:45, I was feeling anxious because I couldn't talk through the contractions, so we called my parents & Tracy and got stuff ready to go. The advantage of having had the previous false labor experience was that we had our "departure" down to an art--even Mom & Dad were more practiced and got here quicker! :)
I think we were at the birth center by 2:30ish, and I got in the tub almost immediately. The room was all candlelit and the tub was filled with nice, warm water. Keith set up the laptop so we could do our important status updates on Facebook, and then we decided to watch "The Office" Baby Episode. We also played a couple games of Othello, which, if you know anything about, you should be somewhat impressed at my mental ability to play that game even during contractions. :) (Granted, I didn't win either time, but I still had some of my little disks on the board!) At one point during those first few hours, I said to Keith "This is kind of fun!" The birth center is so relaxing & refreshing--Jessica, the midwife's apprentice, came in every half hour or so to check on baby's heart rate & ask if we needed any food or water (yes, that's right--I said FOOD. It IS okay to eat while you are in labor.) Besides that, it was just Keith & I in the quiet, peaceful room. Here is a picture of me in the tub early on:
Love that tub!! (Doesn't it look like a spa?!)
By 5:30 or so, I was feeling like I wanted to lay down & try to sleep a little bit, since my contractions were still intense while I had them, but kind of spread out by a few minutes. We slept for a couple hours (off & on, but still...not bad!) and then when the sun came up I got back in the tub because the contractions were getting more intense. The weird thing was that they were spreading apart, which Ztaphora, our other apprentice, attributed to the fact that the sun was coming up. Apparently our bodies tend to slow down with contractions when daylight hits, and not TOO many babies are born in the daylight hours...At any rate, my midwife checked me a little later (maybe 9:30 or 10:00), and I was only at 3cm. This was discouraging, but mostly because the contractions were spreading apart--I did NOT want to go back home again, and that was one possible outcome if we continued to see the pattern of "non-progression." (If that is even a term...)
Well, Keith and I decided to pray about that progression happening, since we know that God is bigger than the daylight hours! He could make my labor speed up, so we asked Him to do just that. I tell you: within the next few minutes (maybe a half hour at most), my contractions started coming closer together & they were getting more intense than before. For the next few hours, I started to experience a different kind of pain than I'd experienced before. I would describe it, but due to the miracle of birth memories, I really can't. :) At any rate, I used that tub to its fullest! I was moving all over during my contractions, which helped to distract me, as well as keep my joints active so that I didn't "feel" the intensity quite as much. I know I was moaning & groaning a lot more than with Hannah, and from Keith's perspective he thinks it was more intense, so we'll just say it was. Again, because of the labor memory that basically disappears after you are done, I can't really tell you for sure. All I knew was that I was not getting out of that tub (except to use the bathroom, which is a feat in & of itself while you are contracting.)
Those last few hours passed in kind of a blur, and after a while I got up on my knees to lean over the tub. I knew in my mind that I was getting into the transition phase, but at the same time, while I was experiencing it, it was all I could do to not scream at the top of my lungs (because maybe THAT would get the baby out sooner...) Shortly after that I started having that natural "urge" to push, and if you've had a baby, you know what I mean. I asked my midwife "Is this okay?" and thankfully she said to just go with it! :) I wasn't bearing down or anything, but I was definitely pushing. The amazing thing is that that brings this sense of relief to my body--partly because then I KNEW I was close, and partly because it released the pressure off the rest of my back & pelvis. By the time I was actually feeling like pushing hard, I was on my hands & knees, in what I'd say would be "modified child's pose" for anyone who does yoga. :) This worked really well, actually, because I could still move my body back & forth, but I could use my hands & knees for support. Keith & Ztaphora say I pushed for a good hour, but it felt like a couple minutes. :) At this point, I started feeling the "ring of fire", and then I could definitely tell the baby's head was coming out--no question about it! I reached down, and yup--there was the head! After a couple more pushes, & being gently & calmly guided by Tracy's instructions, I finished pushing her out. Tracy told me to watch for her coming towards me so that I could grab her. I think I will always remember those words: "Heather, you can pull your baby out!" That was the most amazing & rewarding part of the experience--actually being the one to pull her out of the water and for my arms to be the first that held her! She just stared at me then with open eyes--so alert! I checked her "area" then to see what we had and I was shocked to say: "It's a girl!" (Both Keith & I and most everyone we know thought she Because she hadn't really screamed yet, Tracy suctioned a little gunk out & then our little girl really wailed! She pinked right up and wanted to nurse, so we did that a little bit. She latched on pretty quickly and then I just got to stare at her. :) None of those pictures are really web-appropriate, so if you want to see them you can ask. :)
After a few more minutes, Keith cut the cord, which by that point was thin & kind of papery because she had re-absorbed that good stuff into her system. I got out of the tub then while Daddy Keith held his second daughter for the first time.
As I got situated in the bed and Gemma was put in my arms, Keith got to settle in next to me because of the wonderful queen-size bed in our room. We both got to enjoy watching & getting to know our little girl together, while Tracy, Jessica & Ztaphora left to give us some time alone. (They let the parents & baby get acquainted before weighing & measuring, so we got to just sit in the quiet stillness and be thankful for our new little "jewel," Gemma Violet.)
It worked out that my parents were headed in our direction right at that time, so they were able to get there with Hannah within an hour or so of my having Gemma! The only down side of that is that they were in our area because they had just dropped Senia off at the airport to head back to school. :( I was so bummed that Senia couldn't meet Gemma before she left, but she at least heard the news just before heading through to security.
When Hannah got there, she came right up to the bed and wanted to meet and kiss Gemma. She started using her name as soon as we told it to her, and since then, she has been the perfect doting big sister to Gemma--just loving on her & being so sweet with her! It is a joy to watch. Now that we know she is a girl, I am really getting excited about all that that entails for Hannah & Gemma both. :)
Throughout the rest of our stay, we were blessed by all the visitors that came, and we thoroughly enjoyed being pampered and cared for by Andaluz! The food was abundant & delicious, the quiet atmosphere was relaxing, and the supportive nature of the staff helped us feel refreshed & ready to face the next step ahead of us--heading home to parent our two little girls! And of course there was the lovely massage I had just before leaving that really made me feel like a million bucks!
Throughout the whole process, I have felt so protected and loved by the Lord--from the first steps into the birth center to my body healing after giving birth. Last night, Jessica came for a home visit, and when she felt my stomach to check on my uterus, she was amazed that she was having trouble finding it because it had already shrunk so much! She said--"Are you sure you had a baby 3 days ago?" I know that is the hand of the Lord working in me because He knows I'm going to need my strength & endurance back very quickly to be a patient, loving & encouraging mom for my daughters.
On that note, I need to go change Gemma and play with Hannah a little bit before we get to enjoy a meal from my friend Angela. :)
Here's our first family picture during Hannah's first visit with Gemma.
