The birth story

We're home now with the newest member of the family. Here's the fun (and somewhat gory) details.

Thursday was like any other day, everyone up and Chris headed off to work. I decided to try a walk before the day became too hot, so Xander and I trotted (and by trot I mean that I waddled and Xander enjoyed a ride in the stroller) down the street and back. It was already way too hot.

We hung out most of the day, but I became increasingly irritable with Xander's knack for getting into everything. I noticed some contractions late in the morning, but didn't think much of it since I've had that on and off for a while.

I talked to Dandysue for a while. I talked to my brother's fiance too (she later told me she thought I'd have the baby within 24 hours but didn't want to say anything and jinx it).

Sometime in the afternoon I noticed that the contractions were somewhat regular, like 15 minutes apart. But I know there is false labor and my directions said to wait until contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasted a minute. But at 4:30 I was incredibly cranky and actually having to breath through some of the contractions. I called Chris at work and politely asked that he come home at 5 (he's been working late to get ahead at work in anticipation of the birth).

Chris gets home and makes dinner for himself and Xander. It was burritos and it made me incredibly nauseous. So instead of eating, I just walked laps around the house. The contractions were definitely closer together so I began measuring them - 5 minutes apart but only lasting 30 seconds. And they definitely hurt more. I would stop and breath and Chris would get all excited and cheer. I told him that I knew he was excited about the baby, but it felt like he was happy about me being in pain.

At 6:20 or so I gave in and said lets just go. We handed off Xander to one neighbor and made arrangements for him to spend the night with another neighbor. I finished packing my bag and we were off speeding down the highway. And when I started timing it, my contractions were suddenly 3 minutes apart. And then I became all panicky that I had waited too long and wouldn't be able to get an epidural.

During the ride, Chris asked what we were going to name the baby. I simply said "Amanda" and he busted up laughing.

We arrived at the hospital by 7 and went to get admitted. Everything seemed to take forever to us, but I know that procedures had to be followed, blah, blah, blah. It didn't help that the contractions made me feel like I had to go to the bathroom. And so I ran off to the bathroom a couple of times and delayed the whole process. Finally, a nurse checked me and I was definitely having regular contractions and I was already dilated 6 cm and fully effaced. So I at least felt better that I wasn't going to be sent home.

We were sent to a labor and delivery room and it felt like more hurry up and wait. They took blood to make sure I was ok for the epidural. Meanwhile my contractions were getting pretty nasty. Chris called and texted a few people to let them know what was going on. One brother texted back with a friendly "remember to push." My reply was that I was going to "push him in the face."

Another highlight included when the nurse left the room and I just shouted "Owowowowowow!" through a contraction. Chris, meaning to be soothing, leans over and says "shhh, shhh." When it was over I told him (in a rather nasty tone) not to shush me. I think that might be when Chris called the nurse to check on the epidural.

Chris could not stop grinning this entire process. I told him that he needed to stop hovering over me and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Here's where it gets a little gross. I had to vomit after a contraction (bless Chris for being there for me) and then my water broke. I came extremely close to crying and just felt humiliated. You know, emotional roller coaster of birth. I know the nurses go through this all of the time and my nurse was really great, but it was still embarassing.

Then, finally, the anestesiologist arrives to give me the epidural. It's about 8 pm, so it's not like a lot of time has passed but it feels like forever. As it kicks in and I can relax a little, the nurse checks and I am at 8 cm. To pass the time, Chris proves he is awesome and reads Finger Lickin' Fifteen to me (I bought it when it came out earlier in the week and had packed it in my hospital bag).

At 9 pm the nurse declares me ready to go, but they have to call the doctor in. Well, a big storm was just flying through and caused problems so the doctor didn't arrive until 9:30. He dressed and was ready and within five minutes and less than two contractions we had a daughter.

Josephine Alice
June 25, 2009 9:43 pm
8 lbs, 10 oz
19 3/4 inches

When Josie arrived the doctor and nurse said she was a big girl, which was a surprise to me. I did tear a little, but that is not a surprise since it went so quickly. I mean, we were at the hospital for less than 3 hours! I expected to have been up all night, so it was a pleasant surprise. Also, the doctor and nurse kept complimenting me pushing skills. I found it amusing, but it was nice to get the compliment.

We were all cleaned up and moved to another room and were able to relax and hang out and get (a little) sleep.

It's a girl

Here is Josie! She arrived at 9:43pm on June 25.

Rocket Boy!

It's amazing how something goes from an okay toy to temper-tantrum-if-you-take-it-away. That's especially true now that Xander is learning to make gravity work for him instead of always against him. Behold the Retro Rocket!



Xander used to sit and push with his feet for a couple of steps, get up and push it for a couple of steps and then just take off without the rocket. Now that he's figured out that the driveway is sloped, he is having much more fun. I didn't get any great videos, but he sits down and pushes until he rolls. Then he gets his little feet kicked up in the air. Chris or I wait on the sidewalk to stop him before he flies into the street and Xander has a little giggle fit. Then he gets off and pushes the rocket up into the garage to start over. He used to stop on the driveway but the rocket would roll away before he could sit down and there would be crying involved. I'm glad he figured out how to fix that himself.

And don't worry, he doesn't usually run into the truck and he was fine.

38 Weeks

Well, the doctor says that I am 3 cm and Enchilada could come along at any time. Or Enchilada might wait two more weeks.

In the meantime I am the lucky recipient of pregnancy rash. It's all below my belly button, so I can't actually see it, but it itches horribly. I've tried a couple different rash creams, but a thick lotion I have seems to help the best. Nonetheless at least once a day I will brush past something that causes a flare up and itches again. I guess it goes away after birth.

I've given up on a lot of chores, especially any that involve bending over. Chris brings the laundry down for me, I've informed him that he is helping me with grocery shopping from now on, our shower is disgusting. Even getting Xander to clean up at night has become too difficult because it involves getting on the floor and chasing him around to keep him on task.

Chris is totally ready for the birth now. He has repeatedly threatened me with eating Chinese every night since I had Chinese food the night before Xander was born. We're going out this Friday for some fancy Chinese, but we have plans on Saturday and Sunday. I figure if Chinese doesn't work, we'll try Indian food next week.

We should have named him Harry

We were given this hat when I was thinking of decorating Xander's room with a fantasy theme. The pinwheel he was given this past Easter (it's actually for the movie Cars). For some reason if Xander finds one, he has to find the other and then spend 20 minutes making me blow on the pinwheel to make it turn.

He also is into capes. I'm not sure if it's a super hero cape or a cloak or what, but he'll grab his duck blanket and come up to me and whine until I get the hint. I'll wrap it around him and make sure he's holding the corners. He wraps it tightly around himself and walks around and occasionally holds his arms up for it to fly around. That's usually when he drops it and has to come back to me to get re-caped.

we are in real trouble

The instructions for the dresser we bought off of craigslist said it would take 1 person an hour to assemble; I've been working on it for about a week now. I've put about 4 hours into it. However, my actual work time needs a divisor based on the age in months of my help.

Actual work = (1/age in months) X total man hours
Actual work = (1/19) X 4
Actual work = 0.21 hours, or 12.63 minutes

That can't be right - 35 weeks?!

So the little ticker says I'm 35 weeks pregnant. E-gads! We fully intended to have more belly pictures up, but it's hard for me to take pictures by myself and Chris had gone away on so many business trips. So here's one for you! There are more from this 'photo shoot' but Xander insisted on being in all of them and I'm chasing him and it's not pretty having a big belly and chasing a toddler.


Chris and I are really feeling the crunch of getting ready for the baby. Chris is putting together the dresser/changing table, which is a beast. We had drama ordering cribs, but that is all my fault for changing the color of the crib. We moved Xander to the previous guest room so Enchilada will be in his old room.

There is just so much to get ready still. My mom helped me go through the baby clothes and pick out gender neutral clothing, but it all needs washed. All of the baby supplies such as swing and bouncy seat are still in the attic.

All of this plus all of the movement I keep complaining about has convinced Chris that the baby will be here in about 2 weeks. We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow. Anyone want to start placing bets?