Our Baby is Here

Silas David Jens arrived on Saturday! I began having some stronger contractions on Christmas Eve and had some other signs of labor and stronger contractions on Christmas morning. I tried to lay low and things died down by mid-day on Christmas. The next morning, I began having irregular, mostly mild contractions at 8 am. This continued throughout the morning. I was confused, since I have always gone straight into full-on labor in the past. Finally, at 1 pm, the contractions began to get a little stronger. Within the hour I wanted the kids to be gone, so Craig took them over to my friend S's house. (Thank you, thank you, thank you again, S!) When he got home, I was shaking, sweating, and feeling worried about when to go to the hospital, but within a few more contractions I decided it was time. Once I got up and tried to get ready to go, the activity put my labor into major high gear--the contractions were nearly constant and very painful. We called our midwife, who could hear me moaning in the background, and we set off for the hospital.

Once we got there, I walked myself in as quickly as I could between contractions, leaning against whatever I could find when one would strike. At the front desk, we found they had lost my preregistration, and the woman tried to get us to register, but I began leaning on her desk, cussing and dripping sweat, so she sent us back to a room. There, they told me I was totally dilated, and the doctor who was there (since my midwife had not yet arrived) told me that whenever I wanted to push I could flip over from my hands and knees and put my feet in the stirrups. I said something like, "Why? I'm not doing that." His response? "Well, I've never delivered a baby like that. I'm not sure what to do if the shoulders get stuck." I said, "It will be fine," and started to push. My midwife arrived a few minutes later, much to the doctor's relief, and I began to push in earnest. I eventually did have to flip to my back since Silas's big head was turned a bit funny and his shoulder got a little stuck, but he came out just fine after some big pushes. He weighed 9 lb. 6 oz. and his head measured 14.5 inches. It was a little chaotic, but it all turned out fine in the end. We are at home resting and recovering.