Maylee's Labor

I did not feel well during Open House on Wednesday evening (9-9-09).  That night I slept only 15-20 minutes at a time due to discomfort.  By 4:00 am I had already decided I was not going to teach that day.  At 6:00 am I asked Kev to stay home with me so he could drive me to the doctor's office because I was too uncomfortable to drive.  I had not felt the baby move on Wednesday and wanted to make sure everything was okay. 

We got in for an appointment at 11:30 and by noon I was put on a stress test.  The test showed normal heart rate and no contractions.  We returned home where I tried everything to get comfortable and Kev worked around the house.  I laid down and took a mini nap around 6pm and shortly after went to the bathroom only to have my water break!  I still didn't believe I was really in labor so I laid back down until Kev came upstairs.  Then we decided to go to the hospital.  It wasn't until we were going over the pass and I started watching the clock in the car that I realized my waves of discomfort were coming regularly every five minutes.

We got to the hospital at 7:45pm and the nurse said that "You will be pleased to know that you are already dilated to a 5.5!"  After one round of antibiotics, the IV was capped and I labored in a warm bath from 9:30-11:00pm.  During contractions, Kev would apply pressure to the pressure points in my hands, our doula applied pressure on my legs, and I focused on my breathing and vocalization.  After every contraction, Kev offered water and our doula massaged me.  At 11:00 I was fully dilated and moved to the bed for pushing. 

Maylee was born at 11:30pm on the dot!  I remember looking at the clock when pushing, thinking the baby's birthday can not be 9/11.  She was placed on my chest and Kev got to announce if our baby was a boy or girl!  He thought she was a girl all along, but I had no intuition of what the baby would be.  Maylee was 8lbs and 20.75" long.  I can not believe I delivered an 8lb baby with no drugs or screaming, however I did tear.  She was born with beautiful skin and latched on right away.

Before going to a Pampered Chef party with all our extended family members, my mom called at 6pm that night when I was napping at home to see how we were doing.  She was a little surprised to receive a call from Kev at 8pm that we were at the hospital and dilated to a 5.5!  Wendy's parents made it up to the hospital an hour before Maylee was born.  Kev's parents came up the next morning.

Maylee Annika is the first grandchild on both sides so I'm sure she will be very spoiled!