Baby T is here

Tess arrived Sunday, as expected. :o)

After spending Saturday evening at a luau party of a friend's, I got one last decent night of sleep. Okay, not that decent since I didn't go to bed until 2 am and I was up several times to use the bathroom. I awoke about 7:30 am to contractions every 5 minutes. I thought I would try lying in bed for an hour to see if they would continue. By 8:15, my moaning woke up Bobby. He got up, got the kids ready, fed them breakfast and got things packed into the car. I thought things got alot stronger fairly quickly, so we headed right in and made it to the hospital around 9:15.

My midwife was already there waiting for me. I asked her to check my cervix, on the condition that she wouldn't tell me I was only 3 cm dilated. She didn't. I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. I sat in the bed through a few contractions while they monitored baby, then spent some time on the birth ball. They had already filled the tub before I got there. Hmm, anticipating a speedy delivery? I'm not sure when I got in but it did feel alot better in the water, at least for a little bit. The contractions seemed to get alot more intense though and I just couldn't find a comfortable position. Between the contractions in the front and the pain in my low back, I couldn't decide which was worse. Kim( my CNM) talked me into getting out of the tub and sitting on the toilet for a couple contractions thinking that maybe baby's position was contributing to the back pain. Man, that was bad. I had her check me again while I was on the toilet because, even though I felt pressure in my butt, I just wasn't sure it was time yet. I tried pushing with a contraction and it didn't seem to feel any better. I was completely dilated though, just didn't have that strong urge to push yet.

So, back to the tub we went. Man, were those contractions intense. It hurt so much in my lower stomach and in my butt and trying to push just made the pain worse. Kim asked if I wanted her to break my water since I was really fighting the whole pushing idea. I agreed that it might help because I just didn't feel the pressure from her head telling me I needed to push. So, she broke my water, and even underwater, it still hurt. I was a little scared to push, one because it made the contractions hurt more, and two, because I had taken some Colace the night before and was afraid I might poop in the water. Gross.

I don't think I ever screamed, but I did whine, alot, and complain that "I can't do it, I changed my mind, I don't want to do it, it really hurts." I think the last thing I said before I gave up and decided to push was "I can't do it, I'm not that tough." I kept thinking that I was really wimping out and giving up. I started pushing and immediately felt things stretching "down there". I reached down and could feel the top of her head crowning, then her whole head seemed to squeeze right out into my hand. I remembered thinking that I didn't want to push anymore and all of a sudden she was floating out into the water. I had to sit up and reach out for her as she "swam" under my leg. Everyone said I only pushed once. It seemed longer, but I think, once she started coming, she just didn't stop. I really hope we got it on video. I'm afraid the DVD might have screwed up.

While I always said Teagan's birth was the most intense, I think this one was, in a different way. His was quick, but there was no denying when he was ready to come out, and even though it hurt, I felt like I was more in control. This time, the pain just seemed unbearable. And the fear of pushing was so intense, I thought labor might never end just because I would never want to push.

I was amazed, as I pulled her up out of the water and onto my chest, to discover that she has a head full of BROWN hair. Where did that come from? All the other kids were born with red hair. And even though the rest of them looked like clones as infants, this little girl looks like none of them.

So anyway, after almost 4 hours of labor, Tess made her appearance at 11:15 am on 8/10/08. The day I picked for her. :o) She weighs 7 pounds and 7 ounces, the biggest of them all, and is 20 inches long. (Teagan was born at 11:15 pm)

She is asleep here at my feet, and I am drifting off as a I type this. You'll have to wait for pictures because I forgot to bring the cord to upload the camera. :op We'll be going home tomorrow though. I think Krista will have a pic up over on her blog if you can't wait.

Night, night.