Lily was born today!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT A DAY!!!!!!!!
Stina called me at work yesterday. We've been expecting her to get induced since Monday, but hospital was too full and we've had to wait. When she called me at work yesterday, she told me she felt she was going into labor on her own - basically, she felt come contractions and has some blood (all good signs). I was very happy to hear this as this meant that maybe Stina would get a chance to have a baby the natural way - something she didn't get to do with Lucy.
We spoke a few times during the day - each time I would be getting updates on how many contractions, how often etc. Seemed that things were slowly progresing throughout the day but nothing regular yet.
At about 6 or 7PM Stina told me they had started timing her contractions. I grabbed a bottle of white wine (for Betsy, Stina's mom) and headed over there. Needless to say I was very excited. When I got there, Lucy was hanging out in the living room, Andy was moving around in the house and the ladies (Betsy, Sharon and Stina) were at the dinner table playing cards. I joined in on the card game (I even won, he he!) and it was the most surreal experience.
Stina was having contractions irregularly, but they were definately there. As time went by, and after Stina took a walk up the hill, the contractions started getting more regular. We could definately see a pattern of progress with the contractions:
between 5-6 she had 6 contractions (playing cards)
between 6-7 she had 8 contractions (went for a walk)
between 7-8 had 5 contractions (back at home playing cards)
between 8-9 had 9 contractions
between 9-10 had 13 contractions
Andy took Lucy over to Kat & Robert wher I'm sure she has a blast. Getting Lucy out of the way was good for Stina - one thing less to worry about.
We played cards, pausing ocasionally for Stina to catch her breath and time the contractions, and immediately returning to the game as if nothing unusual were happening: "Is it my turn?"
Stina made a call to the hospital to check on when she should come in (and found out that had she needed the induction she would have had to wait until Thursday so good thing that she did it on her own!).
It was pretty obvious that Stina's contractions were getting stronger and more difficult to manage. At 10:30 we decided it was time to head out to the hospital.
Knowing when to go to the hospital is a tricky thing. You don't want to go to early, because then you're stuck there (or even worse, have to face the disappointment of being sent home) but you obviously don't want to go too late. It's so hard to know when is the right time. The contractions seem really painful, and you can't really know how bad they're going to get yet, so it's unclear if this is the right moment or not.
I really felt for Stina - I wanted to do something to help, to ease the pain, to distract - but I could see this was bigger than me or anyone else. This experience she was going through - I think maybe on some level she needed to do this on her own. She wouldn't let anyone touch her, not even Andy (who wisely chose to hang out in the living room for most of the card playing time). She was getting a bit cranky and tired - this was going to be a looong night.
At the hospital Stina got checked and we were told she was only dialated 1cm. What a disappointment! we were sure it would be at least 3cm, not to mention the fact that this meant she couldn't get an epidural yet (for fear of slowing things down too much). Sharon, Betsy and I went home because we felt we weren't doing anything for Stina. Andy stayed with Stina and they started pacing the hallway hoping to get things moving...
I can imagine it must have been somewhat stressfull to have all these people with her, eventhough she kept saying that she wanted us there. On one hand I can understand her wanting to share this with us - and I said many times how honored I feel that she included me. On the other hand - when you're in so much pain (as I know from my own experience) you need to be with yourself, focus internally, and it may be hard to have other people around each with their 2 cents about what to do. I remember when my mom was here after my surgery, her presence was both wanted and unwanted at the same time. I needed her, but I found it hard to deal with her reaction to me being in pain. She freaked out and got all anxious. Benjy was the one who kept his cool - and that's exactly what i needed at the time. I can imagine Stina felt similar things at various points throughout the night. I admire her for chosing to include everyone, she stuck with it and we are eternally grateful.
So, Sharon, Betsy and I went home, got to Stina's at about 12:30AM, made some food and were getting ready to hit the sack when Sharon called Andy just to make sure he would call us when she got to 4cm. Andy had to go because Stina was in a lot of pain (Sharon said she could hear Stina moaning loudly in the background - yikes!) but that they were about to put an epidural in because she was progressing very rapidly. Good news!
10 minutes later Andy calls - "Get over here now". So off we go, with Betsy driving we made record speed and got to the hospital in 7 minutes. As we got there Stina was getting an epidural. She went from sounding miserable to chipper in 1 minute. As soon as the epidural was in (and she got some stuff for the contractions before the epidural) - everything was OK. The switch from one extreme to another was really amazing, and we were all relieved to see that she was back to herself.
So from about 1AM-5:30AM we all took turns trying to doze off in various chairs while Stina tried to rest a bit. She was dialated 6cm and later progressed to 9cm, but things seemed to slow down very noticabely after the epidural.
The nurse offered to have a Dr. burst her water for her and that would progress the labor faster, but Stina just wanted to chill out for a bit and relax from everything. I guess her body needed to slow down and I'm glad she listened to it and didn't give in to any pressure to have the baby immediately.
At this point, Stina was in no discomfort at all. Her legs were quite numb, and she had wierd senstations (she said she felt like she was wearing silk pants) but she wasn't in any pain. Occasionally she could feel some pressure, but nothing bad. We kept track of the contractions via monitor and it seemed that she was having them but they weren't too crazy.
At around 4AM she got petonium (sp?) which is supposed to help induce some contractions.
Throughout the night I wanted to tell Stina that I loved her, that I thought she was handling this amazingly well, that she was super brave and was taking this all so gracefully, making it seem like the best thing a woman could experience (thanks Stina for not traumatizing me for future kids!). But there was no time or place for such talks. This will have to wait until things calm down and get back into routine and I have my quality Stina time again (2-3 years tops).
I could clearly see that eventhough she was tired, and awake on an off all night, she was happy. Something good was happening to her body.
At 5:30 the nurse checked her again and said what we were longing to hear: fully dialated and ephased! woo hoo, baby is coming!
The nurse (Carla, really sweet girl) told Stina to push down on her next contraction to see whether the water would break. Stina gave a healthy push and the water just burst all over the room (and poor Carla). Definately baby time!
5:45AM Stina starts to push. Andy holds Stina's right leg, Betsy holds her left, Sharon and I hold hands :)
After about 4 pushes, Carla announces that the baby is about to crown. Sharon says she can see it coming, but to be honest I can't really make anything out yet.
Carla asks Stina for a few more pushes - by this time you can clearly see something is coming out - you can see part of the head and the hair - jet black and wet. One more push and it seems as if the head is about to pop out of Stina. Carla calls the Dr. who barely made it before the baby was out.
At first, the top of the head starts coming out. Then the nose pops out, the mouth and before you know it the whole head is out. At this point the Dr. swirls the baby around so she's face up and starts pulling her out of Stina. I was so overwhelmed and crying at the same time. Stina was crying too I think.
Lily was crying even before she had her whole body out - what a set of lungs on that girl!
I can't explain that moment when the baby comes out. Relief, joy, happiness are so shallow and inappropriate to describe this intense emotion. I'm getting all teary just thinking about it now. It's such a beautiful thing, and I know this sounds cliche but it's true. I can understand why this is a defining moment in your life as a woman. so much build up for this very moment.
I've been sitting her for several minutes trying to put this into words - but words fail me now.
Lily cried and cried (so did everyone else), Stina and Andy calmed her down in a few minutes, and in no time she was already nursing. Stina said she nursed like a pro (way to go Lily!). Stina sat there in bed, holding Lily, nursing her, looking beautiful, having been awake for more than 24 hours, yawning and tired, but so happy and at peace. It really shows!
And have I mentioned that she weighed 9 pounds!!??!?!
From here on the morning is a blur - we cooed around Lily for a bit (she looks exactly like Lu but with black hair!), then Sharon, Betsy and I went to have a huge breakfast (all that waiting made us hungry!) and off to bed. I was out like a light for most of the morning.
I am dying to see Lily and Stina, but I think I'll let them have some quality time with Betsy and Sharon and I'll visit them tomorrow.
Stina, if you ever read this, thank you for sharing Lily's most memorable moment in life with me!
It's 9:30PM, I'm going to bed again, I hope someone posts pics of Lily online soon....
Stina called me at work yesterday. We've been expecting her to get induced since Monday, but hospital was too full and we've had to wait. When she called me at work yesterday, she told me she felt she was going into labor on her own - basically, she felt come contractions and has some blood (all good signs). I was very happy to hear this as this meant that maybe Stina would get a chance to have a baby the natural way - something she didn't get to do with Lucy.
We spoke a few times during the day - each time I would be getting updates on how many contractions, how often etc. Seemed that things were slowly progresing throughout the day but nothing regular yet.
At about 6 or 7PM Stina told me they had started timing her contractions. I grabbed a bottle of white wine (for Betsy, Stina's mom) and headed over there. Needless to say I was very excited. When I got there, Lucy was hanging out in the living room, Andy was moving around in the house and the ladies (Betsy, Sharon and Stina) were at the dinner table playing cards. I joined in on the card game (I even won, he he!) and it was the most surreal experience.
Stina was having contractions irregularly, but they were definately there. As time went by, and after Stina took a walk up the hill, the contractions started getting more regular. We could definately see a pattern of progress with the contractions:
between 5-6 she had 6 contractions (playing cards)
between 6-7 she had 8 contractions (went for a walk)
between 7-8 had 5 contractions (back at home playing cards)
between 8-9 had 9 contractions
between 9-10 had 13 contractions
Andy took Lucy over to Kat & Robert wher I'm sure she has a blast. Getting Lucy out of the way was good for Stina - one thing less to worry about.
We played cards, pausing ocasionally for Stina to catch her breath and time the contractions, and immediately returning to the game as if nothing unusual were happening: "Is it my turn?"
Stina made a call to the hospital to check on when she should come in (and found out that had she needed the induction she would have had to wait until Thursday so good thing that she did it on her own!).
It was pretty obvious that Stina's contractions were getting stronger and more difficult to manage. At 10:30 we decided it was time to head out to the hospital.
Knowing when to go to the hospital is a tricky thing. You don't want to go to early, because then you're stuck there (or even worse, have to face the disappointment of being sent home) but you obviously don't want to go too late. It's so hard to know when is the right time. The contractions seem really painful, and you can't really know how bad they're going to get yet, so it's unclear if this is the right moment or not.
I really felt for Stina - I wanted to do something to help, to ease the pain, to distract - but I could see this was bigger than me or anyone else. This experience she was going through - I think maybe on some level she needed to do this on her own. She wouldn't let anyone touch her, not even Andy (who wisely chose to hang out in the living room for most of the card playing time). She was getting a bit cranky and tired - this was going to be a looong night.
At the hospital Stina got checked and we were told she was only dialated 1cm. What a disappointment! we were sure it would be at least 3cm, not to mention the fact that this meant she couldn't get an epidural yet (for fear of slowing things down too much). Sharon, Betsy and I went home because we felt we weren't doing anything for Stina. Andy stayed with Stina and they started pacing the hallway hoping to get things moving...
I can imagine it must have been somewhat stressfull to have all these people with her, eventhough she kept saying that she wanted us there. On one hand I can understand her wanting to share this with us - and I said many times how honored I feel that she included me. On the other hand - when you're in so much pain (as I know from my own experience) you need to be with yourself, focus internally, and it may be hard to have other people around each with their 2 cents about what to do. I remember when my mom was here after my surgery, her presence was both wanted and unwanted at the same time. I needed her, but I found it hard to deal with her reaction to me being in pain. She freaked out and got all anxious. Benjy was the one who kept his cool - and that's exactly what i needed at the time. I can imagine Stina felt similar things at various points throughout the night. I admire her for chosing to include everyone, she stuck with it and we are eternally grateful.
So, Sharon, Betsy and I went home, got to Stina's at about 12:30AM, made some food and were getting ready to hit the sack when Sharon called Andy just to make sure he would call us when she got to 4cm. Andy had to go because Stina was in a lot of pain (Sharon said she could hear Stina moaning loudly in the background - yikes!) but that they were about to put an epidural in because she was progressing very rapidly. Good news!
10 minutes later Andy calls - "Get over here now". So off we go, with Betsy driving we made record speed and got to the hospital in 7 minutes. As we got there Stina was getting an epidural. She went from sounding miserable to chipper in 1 minute. As soon as the epidural was in (and she got some stuff for the contractions before the epidural) - everything was OK. The switch from one extreme to another was really amazing, and we were all relieved to see that she was back to herself.
So from about 1AM-5:30AM we all took turns trying to doze off in various chairs while Stina tried to rest a bit. She was dialated 6cm and later progressed to 9cm, but things seemed to slow down very noticabely after the epidural.
The nurse offered to have a Dr. burst her water for her and that would progress the labor faster, but Stina just wanted to chill out for a bit and relax from everything. I guess her body needed to slow down and I'm glad she listened to it and didn't give in to any pressure to have the baby immediately.
At this point, Stina was in no discomfort at all. Her legs were quite numb, and she had wierd senstations (she said she felt like she was wearing silk pants) but she wasn't in any pain. Occasionally she could feel some pressure, but nothing bad. We kept track of the contractions via monitor and it seemed that she was having them but they weren't too crazy.
At around 4AM she got petonium (sp?) which is supposed to help induce some contractions.
Throughout the night I wanted to tell Stina that I loved her, that I thought she was handling this amazingly well, that she was super brave and was taking this all so gracefully, making it seem like the best thing a woman could experience (thanks Stina for not traumatizing me for future kids!). But there was no time or place for such talks. This will have to wait until things calm down and get back into routine and I have my quality Stina time again (2-3 years tops).
I could clearly see that eventhough she was tired, and awake on an off all night, she was happy. Something good was happening to her body.
At 5:30 the nurse checked her again and said what we were longing to hear: fully dialated and ephased! woo hoo, baby is coming!
The nurse (Carla, really sweet girl) told Stina to push down on her next contraction to see whether the water would break. Stina gave a healthy push and the water just burst all over the room (and poor Carla). Definately baby time!
5:45AM Stina starts to push. Andy holds Stina's right leg, Betsy holds her left, Sharon and I hold hands :)
After about 4 pushes, Carla announces that the baby is about to crown. Sharon says she can see it coming, but to be honest I can't really make anything out yet.
Carla asks Stina for a few more pushes - by this time you can clearly see something is coming out - you can see part of the head and the hair - jet black and wet. One more push and it seems as if the head is about to pop out of Stina. Carla calls the Dr. who barely made it before the baby was out.
At first, the top of the head starts coming out. Then the nose pops out, the mouth and before you know it the whole head is out. At this point the Dr. swirls the baby around so she's face up and starts pulling her out of Stina. I was so overwhelmed and crying at the same time. Stina was crying too I think.
Lily was crying even before she had her whole body out - what a set of lungs on that girl!
I can't explain that moment when the baby comes out. Relief, joy, happiness are so shallow and inappropriate to describe this intense emotion. I'm getting all teary just thinking about it now. It's such a beautiful thing, and I know this sounds cliche but it's true. I can understand why this is a defining moment in your life as a woman. so much build up for this very moment.
I've been sitting her for several minutes trying to put this into words - but words fail me now.
Lily cried and cried (so did everyone else), Stina and Andy calmed her down in a few minutes, and in no time she was already nursing. Stina said she nursed like a pro (way to go Lily!). Stina sat there in bed, holding Lily, nursing her, looking beautiful, having been awake for more than 24 hours, yawning and tired, but so happy and at peace. It really shows!
And have I mentioned that she weighed 9 pounds!!??!?!
From here on the morning is a blur - we cooed around Lily for a bit (she looks exactly like Lu but with black hair!), then Sharon, Betsy and I went to have a huge breakfast (all that waiting made us hungry!) and off to bed. I was out like a light for most of the morning.
I am dying to see Lily and Stina, but I think I'll let them have some quality time with Betsy and Sharon and I'll visit them tomorrow.
Stina, if you ever read this, thank you for sharing Lily's most memorable moment in life with me!
It's 9:30PM, I'm going to bed again, I hope someone posts pics of Lily online soon....