Happy Birthday, Ginny Kay!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the birth. It was a whirlwind of a labor, but I am feeling so thankful and blessed that it was so fast! We are so happy to have our beautiful daughter, and grateful for her health. I wanted to write my birth story while it's still fresh, so here it is for those of you interested...

On Friday, October 7th, I woke up at 7 AM like usual and noticed I was having mild contractions. I was kind of excited and told Kevin about it, since I hadn't had more than 2-5 Braxton Hicks in a whole day before that time. Friday morning I was having them about 10-30 minutes apart for 5 hours. I went into the dental office with Kevin and he watched Mikey while I got caught up on work. I do part-time bookkeeping, and I was able to work 3 hours while having sporadic mild contractions. We called Kevin's parents to tell them we might be in early labor and they should plan to come into town Friday night or Saturday. My parents are in Brazil, so we didn't bother calling them yet... We didn't want to cry wolf. :)

After I finished at work, I was REALLY hungry since I missed "first lunch", which I usually eat at 10:30. We drove to Subway and got some lunch and then we all went home for a nice family afternoon nap. After sleeping for 1.5-2 hours, we were all refreshed and ready to go out and enjoy a Friday afternoon hike.

We went up to the Colorado National Monument around 3:30 PM and did the short hike to Devil's Kitchen. Mikey is quite the hiker and walked/jogged along side us at least half the time! I was a little disappointed because ever since I woke up from my nap, and all through the hike, I only had about three contractions. They seemed to be going away. I told Kevin we might not have her this weekend after all.

The next sign of labor was 9pm that night when my contractions started to pick up again. They were still mild, but were coming fairly regularly at 10-15 minute intervals. Kevin's parents arrived around 9:30, and we told them that the contractions were regular, but mild. I decided to try to get some sleep and decided to lie down in bed at around 10:00pm. In the next hour the contractions become stronger, and increased to 7-10 minutes apart. I realized I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I stayed in bed and relaxed as much as I could. By 1:00 am they were 5-7 minutes apart and strengthening, at which time I called the midwife and his assistant to come. I decided to get in the bath at that time to help relax, pass the time and relieve discomfort. I was listening to my hypnobirthing music while breathing through my surges. At 1:53 am I decided to check my own cervix, and was pleasantly surprised that I could reach it so easily. I was 3-4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I also stripped my own membranes (Don't try this at home unless you have a degree and have practiced on many other delivering moms), since I had hoped my labor was further along.

Little did I realize stripping my membranes would be so effective! Holy mama! A few minutes later (2:00 am) the midwife's assistant, Andrea, arrived and helped me out of the tub. One thing led to another, and Ginny was breastfeeding like a champ. Just kidding, I'll give you the details on the events that transpired. Between 2:00 and 3:00 the surges intensified A LOT, and started to increase in duration. They were 3-5 minutes apart and I was still using my hypnobirthing to stay relaxed and maintain even breathing. At 3:00 am (6:00 am their time) I called my parents in Brazil to tell them I was in labor. 10 minutes later Bill my midwife arrived in his cheerful splendor. I was laboring on our bathroom floor because the cold linoleum felt good on my legs. The surges kept getting stronger, 3 minutes apart and lasting 60 seconds. I tried toilet seat, a birthball and side-lying in bed but none of these positions were helping me deal with the intense labor. Back to the linoleum floor. At 4:32 am I got sick and vomited a couple of times (first vomit from my mouth in 14 years). I HATE throwing up, but I new it was a good sign that my cervix was opening. I asked Bill to check me, which he did at 4:40, and to my utter delight I was 9.5 cm, 100% effaced with just a small anterior lip remaining. Ginny's head was still high enough that Bill's entire middle finger reached inside before touching her. He suggested I switch to my hands and knees to help her descend (good move). The surges were so overwhelmingly powerful I couldn't help but become vocal and bear down, which woke up Mikey. Kevin went in to put him down, thinking we still had some time. 3 Surges followed. At 4:45 am my water broke and was clear. On the next surge she descended all the way to crowning with two pushes. I reached my hand down to hold her head in and told Bill and Andrea to go get Kevin so he didn't miss the birth. At 4:53 am, Kevin hustled into the bathroom with a very confused Mikey to watch me deliver Ginny. I supported her head with my right hand while panting and letting her head inch slowly out. Bill helped deliver the shoulders and we brought her on top of my tummy. Kevin cried a little in a tender way, but not in the freaked out bawling father way he did with Mikey.

At 5:06 am my placenta came out cleanly with one push, and I lost only one cup of blood. It was an incredibly clean birth. Ginny Kay weighed 7lb 6.5oz and was 20 inches. As soon as I was cleaned up and back in bed, she was nursing with a strong latch. At 5:25 am Kevin was able to cut the umbilical cord and we've been living happily ever after.

Thanks to Kevin for being my scribe for this post while I nurse Ginny.