Oh Baby!

Contractions started at around 12:30 on Wednesday, or they became uncomfortable enough that staying in bed was less of an option.  Thom had pulled an all night-er on a work project the previous night, so I was trying to let him get at least 4 hours of sleep.  I became worried that I would move into the transition phase before I woke him up, so at around 3:30 I woke him.  Everything went pretty slowly, I was having not so strong contractions.  Based on my previous births, I assumed that we would be done in a timely manner, as my longest previous birth was 9 hours.  By morning, we decided to allow Ben to stay home from school until the baby was born.  Originally, we were hoping for one of those 1 hour or even 20 minute births.  We'd already exceeded those expectations.

Things continued this way with medium contractions irregularly spaced.  Ben decided to be "second mother" taking  care of Lotta.  Ben instinctively knew that this was a free-for-all day.  He would come upstairs and inquire if he could make an afternoon snack.  To which we responded with a resounding "yes!" When he asked if he could watch more television another affirmative.  At some point, as things started getting more intense, Ben changed Lotta (including her diaper) into her pajamas.  Had we known that this birth were going to take so much longer, we probably would have made other plans for the care of our children.  I did feel guilty over ignoring our children all day long.  On the other hand, the day really allowed Lotta and Ben to bond and truly allowed Ben to rise to a leadership position.  He felt so proud of all the ways he assisted Lotta and in turn our family during birth.

As birth progressed, I became more vocal.  By the time I was near the end, it was getting quite loud (with Ellie the hospital personnel asked me to be quieter).  Lotta kept coming in to check on me, inquiring, "Mommy OK?"  Ben, once again, came to the rescue, making it a game, telling Lotta they would run away from all the noise.  Finally, the two of them ended up watching a movie.  Because Ben had experienced Lotta's birth, he was not at all surprised or scared by my vocalizing. He passed this attitude on to Lotta, allowing her to relax.

Also around this time, Lotta found a pair of Thom's old eye glasses.  She put them on and pretended to be Doctor Lotta.  She came to Thom and I requesting that we say "AAAHH" and open our mouths for her viewing.  I said my "AAAAAAArrrgggggHHHHHH!!!!" as I was having a contraction.

At this point I was around the 20 hour mark of birth/labor.  There were many many moments near the end, when I thought this was incredibly bad idea and wondered if there was any possible way to get out of this IMMENSE pain.

When the baby arrived, a beautiful baby girl, she had the umbilical chord wrapped around her little neck.  She was slightly purplish.  I had read about this happening occasionally during birth.  One family said they simply unwound the chord and the baby was fine.  So I felt confident in doing the same.When the midwife arrived, she confirmed that the umbilical chord around the neck was not cause for concern, that in some ways it was a better place for the chord than others.    The baby quickly started turning pink (instead of purple) as I talked to her and wiped her off.

Ben and Lotta came upstairs to meet their new sister, Madeline Elizabeth (nicknamed Zibbi).  My favorite favorite part of birth was the whole family sitting around me and baby Zibbi, admiring her.  I love how giving birth this way bonds my family in ways that I cannot even describe or imagine beforehand.  I know giving birth in this more native fashion without technology immediately available causes concern for some.  After experiencing birth this way, I however, cannot imagine giving birth any other way.