Here's the timeline of events...
All day Feb 9th: Adrienne felt terrible. I've had a stomach bug for a few days and Adrienne thought she caught it too. Several times throughout the day she said, "I really hope I don't go into labor tonight."
11:45pm: Adrienne woke up from a contraction. She was having contractions for days, and being woken up by one had not been out of the ordinary.
Midnight: After 15 minutes of consistent contractions spaced three minutes apart, she woke me up.
12:15am: The contractions continued so Adrienne called the on-call midwife at the birth center. After a brief discussion, the midwife agreed it was time to head over to the birth center.
12:20am: We called our friends Mike and Jenny and told them Junie would be coming over to spend the night.
12:20-1:00am: We got our things together, woke Junie up, and then got ourselves loaded into the car.
1:05am: dropped Junie off at Mike and Jenny's. June didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by the turn of events. I took her upstairs, sang her two songs, put her in the pack-n-play, and she was soon off to dreamland.
1:20am: We arrived at the birth center. The on-call midwife, Sarit, had arrived just before us. Our nurse, Caitlin, arrived soon thereafter. We were the only ones there that night so we had our choice of the three rooms available. We quickly settled into our room and Adrienne was able to concentrate on the task at hand. Everything was looking great. Adrienne's blood pressure and the baby's heart rate were perfect.
2:00-3:15am: Adrienne spent a good amount of time in the tub. We hadn't planned on a water birth, but I thought we might end up with one because Adrienne looked so comfortable. After the intensity of the contractions really started to increase, A decided it was time to get out of the tub. She then spent several minutes laboring while leaning on the mini-fridge. Whatever works, right? She thought about moving to the birthing stool, but as soon as she sat on it, she knew it wasn't what she wanted.
3:15am: Adrienne asked about returning to the tub, but by this point the contractions were super intense. She ended up leaning on the side of the bed for the duration of labor.
3:18am: Adrienne started to push.
3:21am: Jolee Lyn was born. (yes, that was less than three minutes of pushing) 8lbs 2.5oz and 21 inches long. Adrienne proclaimed, "That was really frickin' hard", and "I'm so glad I'm not pregnant anymore."
~4:00am: I cut the cord.
7:25am: We headed home. We would have left sooner, but the birth center has a four hour post-delivery minimum.
about 15 seconds old...
first face to face meeting...
peas in a pod...
big smooch...
cute?...
slacking...
related?...
June coming home Jolee coming home
first time Junie held her little sister...
an old pro...
celebration...
Adrienne was amazing. Truly amazing. Seeing the birth of a child is a miraculous event, but seeing someone handle such an intense event with such control is equally awe-inspiring. She made it look easy. Throughout the entire labor, she was in full-control of her breathing. She never became flustered in the least. And her post delivery recovery has been mind blowing. You would never be able to guess she gave birth just 24 hours ago.
Our birth center experience could not have been better. Our midwife, Sarit, and our nurse, Caitlin, were wonderful. They just melted into the background and let Adrienne (and Jolee) lead the way. Nothing was rushed; it was perfect.
We were home by 7:40am, and we all snuggled in for a nap. I picked up Junie at 11 from Mike and Jenny's, and then we went back home so she could meet her little sister. So far, so good. Junie's already fulfilling her role as the loving big sister. I can't say I'm surprised.
In case you're wondering, Jolee is Adrienne's paternal grandmother's name (we just learned Jolie [sic] means beautiful in French), and Lyn is from my mom's name, Lynora, which is a combination of her mom's name, Nora Lynn.
I know we'll have plenty more to report, but this is a good start. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.
