Dear Friends,
We have been thanking God every moment for the blessed labor and birth of our baby Lucy Anne at 4:42 pm Friday December 11, 2009! She was delivered in the birthing tub at Ventura Birth Center, weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and measured 21 inches long.
Our labor went something like this... Friday morning at 12:30 am I was awoken by the first contraction but fell back asleep until 2 am. From then on I had steady but light contractions about every 15-20 minutes and just breathed through them with deep relaxation breathing. Around 4 am I realized that my breathing was keeping Geno awake so I went to the living room and kept breathing while checking e-mails, writing thank you cards and resting as much as possible. At 6 am I took a long hot shower... when I got out I couldn't help singing "This is the day that the LORD has made" knowing that our baby was going to be born that day! Geno woke up and told his boss he wasn't coming to work, and we called the midwife to let her know what was going on. We had an appointment scheduled for 8:30 am so we decided to go anyways and get checked, but we didn't take our bags because we knew we still had a while to go.
At the birth center I was checked and told that my cervix was 4 cm dilated, I was fully efaced ("paper thin") and could be stretched to 5 cm. My bag of waters hadn't broken yet and I had a contraction while being checked so they could feel it bulge out on the left of the baby's head. I was also "loosing" my mucus plug, but there was still a lot in there. We were told that I was doing great, but not to get too excited because it could still be anywhere between hours and weeks 'til delivery. So, we picked up a Blender's and headed home.
At home, I laid down and tried to rest between contractions and drank my Blenders. Then Geno suggested that we go for a "brisk" walk, so we headed down to Santa Claus beach. By this time contractions were definitely getting stronger and I was starting to moan a little through them, sway and bounce side to side, and put my hands on my lower back and massage the small of my back with my thumbs (I did not want Geno to touch me very much at this point). When we got to the beach I had a very strong contraction getting out of the car (transitioning from sitting to standing or vice versa was very uncomfortable at this point) and was hit by a wave of nausea that made me throw up about 1/3 of my Blenders. But I felt good enough to still take our walk, so we walked for about 30-40 minutes with me stopping every 7 minutes or so to work through the contractions.
Once we got home the contractions were beginning to come closer to 5 minutes apart and Geno called the midwives and was told to start timing them. It was getting harder and harder to find comfortable positions, but I ended up on the medicine ball for the next hour or so while we watched the contractions stay 5 minutes apart and last for about one minute or more, sometimes even with a smaller "piggy-back" contraction in between. Geno called the midwives again and we decided it was time to head down to Ventura.
The car ride was difficult because I couldn't move around much to get comfortable, so my moaning and groaning got much longer and louder... but low tones through every contraction really helped my body open up and get through it. When we got to the Birth Center it was about 2:45 pm and I was checked and found out I was 7 cm dilated. I labored in the bedroom for a little while, sitting on the medicine ball, sitting on the toilet or standing leaning against the counter, but it was really hard to get comfortable now so I asked Geno to tell the midwives I was ready to get in the tub.
It took about 15 minutes to get the tub ready, but when I got in at 330 pm I had about 5 minutes of the most comfortable warmth and relaxation I have ever had. But at the end of that 5 minutes I had the strongest contraction I had had yet... I stayed in a seated position with my legs stretched out and head back for a few contractions, but then I felt like I needed to try another position. I tried to get on all fours, and in child's pose, but neither seemed to bring much comfort. The midwives had been checking baby's heartrate all throughout the day and she was always right on track in the 140s to 150s. They asked me to move into a different position so they could check her again and I ended up with my hips open and both legs bent to the left... which actually brought some relief finally so I stayed there for a few more contractions. I was definitely moaning and groaning loudly at this point, and since my bag of waters hadn't broken yet I started feeling a lot of rectal pressure with each contraction.
The midwives checked me and but the bag was bulged in front of my cervix so I had them rupture the sac and I cannot tell you what a relief that was! However, the contractions got stronger and longer and within about 10 minutes I was feeling the urge to push. Since I was fully dilated the midwives said to go ahead and try and although it was scary at first, when I listened to my body and didn't worry about possibly going poop I was able to push hard and start working the baby out. I was grunting deep in my throat with every push and tried pushing on all fours but once her head was down a little further I turned back around, sat against the side of the tub with Geno leaning in and holding me up with his arms under my armpits so that I could pull my knees back, tuck my chin and curl around my belly for the most effective pushing.
The best thing I heard all day was when the midwives told me my baby would be here in the next few pushes... I kept saying aloud between contractions "soon... soon... soon." Her head was soon crowning and I felt the "ring of fire" and told the midwives that I couldn't do it... but they reminded me that the only way to get through that was to get her out and with Geno they told me "you can do it", "you are doing it", "keep doing it." I pushed through that and delivered her head and felt so much relief it was incredible! She was still in the water and it took another two minutes to deliver her shoulders (she had one hand on her shoulder!)... and while her head was out we could see her turning it from side to side!
Once she was delivered the midwives put her straight onto my chest and covered her with a warm towel and let Geno and I spend those first few amazing moments just taking it all in. We left the umbilical cord attached until it stopped pulsing and then had it cut before delivering the placenta. The placenta was still pretty strongly attached, so the midwife had to give my uterus a "massage" (that was as painful as the active labor contractions) until it detached and delivered.
From there, Geno took the baby and sat with her for about 15 minutes while the midwives checked me... they had to remove a little bit of the amniotic sac that was left behind, but I had no tearing that needed stitches... just a few small lacerations that would heal on their own.
Geno brought Lucy in and joined us in the bed where we spent several more minutes just enjoying being a family... Lucy had been very alert since she was first placed on my chest so we wanted to spend as much time as possible bonding with her before her newborn exam. Once she started to get sleepy she was weighed and measured and checked thoroughly, but we declined the eye ointment, vitamin K shot and PKU. She was then handed back to me and nursed for the first time... at first she only latched on to the tip of the nipple but we released and tried again and she latched beautifully and has continued to since.
We stayed at the Birth Center until about 7:15 pm and then loaded up the car, put Lucy in her car seat for the first time, said a prayer with the midwives and headed home with our two and a half hour old baby. Both sets of new grandparents met us at home and visited from 8-10 pm, then Aunt Denise and Uncle Jimmy stopped by for 15 minutes (they had just made it in from San Diego), and we were ready for our first night's sleep in our own bed. Lucy slept soundly between us the whole night and didn't even wake up when I tried to feed her, but Geno and I were very restless, soothing her every little coo and noise and checking to make sure she was breathing all night.
Since then each day has only been better than the one before and we continue praising God for placing His Mighty Hand upon our entire pregnancy, labor, delivery and especially this precious baby we now have! I have chosen just a few of my favorite pictures, but there will be tons more on my facebook and I would love for you to find me there and make me your friend if we're not already!
I pray for each one of you may enjoy this special Christmas season as we all remember the birth of Christ and the miracle of new life both physically and spiritually!
