Shelah Books It: Maren is here!!!

On the morning of December 22nd, I'd had it with being pregnant. For three of the last four nights I had been up with false labor. I had endured a marathon (six-hour) doctor's appointment two days earlier. I knew that I was 4cm dilated and eager to get things started. But I also knew there wasn't much I could do, so I went grocery shopping, sent Eddie off to work, and tried to work on my attitude. I wanted this Christmas to be fun for the kids, not remembered only because Mommy was so grumpy.

At about 3:45 I was sitting at the computer and I felt a weird tap in my belly. I stood up, and felt a small gush of fluid in my underwear. I had just come from the bathroom, so I didn't think it was urine, but I wasn't sure. So I called Eddie and said, "My water might have broken, but I'm not sure." A second after I hung up the phone, the flood gates let loose and I called him back to come home.

At this point, I was a little bit nervous. I had been induced with all three of my prior deliveries, and I knew that once labor started, it would take off with a bang. So I quickly rounded up the kids, took them to our neighbor's house, finished packing my bag, called the hospital, and was all ready to go by the time Eddie got home from work.

In the car on the way to the hospital I had a few contractions. As we walked from the parking garage to L&D I had a few more. But once we got into our room, they stopped. The resident checked me after we got settled, verified that my waters had broken, and suggested we start pitocin, saying, "You might not have the baby before Christmas if we don't get you started now." I politely declined and decided to walk the halls. After eight hours of walking, rocking, lying in bed, and listening to the hypnobabies cds, I still wasn't having contractions. So I decided to get things started and asked for pitocin at about 11:30pm.

After the pitocin started, the contractions really took off and got hard and strong immediately. At about 2:00 I asked to be checked and was told I was 6cm and still 80% effaced. At this point, I did the math, and decided that if I might be in labor for another 3 or 4 hours, I didn't want to deal with the pain for that long. So I asked for an epidural. I have to say that even though I was hoping for a natural childbirth, I have absolutely no regrets in getting the epidural. The hypnobabies training was awesome, and really helped me through the first two hours of contractions, and I don't regret doing it at all. Eddie was also fantastic-- totally supportive of helping me through the next few hours without drugs if I didn't want them and totally supportive of having me get an epidural if I wanted one. Besides, I felt the need to dispense with the myth that I'm superwoman.

As it turns out, I didn't need the drugs for long. By the time the anesthesiologist was done, it was time to push. My dr, who had been in the Bahamas and came straight from the airport to the hospital to deliver me, came rushing in, and within five or six contractions, Maren Camilla was born, weighing 6lbs, 1oz and measuring 19 inches.

Eddie and I are amazed at how well the whole labor and delivery experience went. All of my deliveries prior to this one were crazy and complicated, and it was so nice to just go in and have a baby without worries. We had the best doctor and support staff (our L&D nurse was awesome-- she stayed in the room with us after starting the pitocin to make sure that things didn't go awry since we'd had problems with pit in the past). We decided to come home a day early so I could be with the kids on Christmas. Besides, the hospital is boring when you're there by yourself. I've felt so good and Maren is absolutely perfect. She looks so much like Annie did as a newborn that I'm not sure I'll be able to tell them apart when looking at pictures.

This Christmas I'm feeling incredibly blessed. I can't stop thinking about how lucky we are to have such a great family and such a wonderful Christmas gift.

Here are some pictures!

A couple of minutes old