Amy's Birth Story

I know several people love to read birth stories so I thought I'd post Amy's.  I have to admit it was fun for me to poke back thru my blog posts and read Keira & Titus' birth stories.  It's amazing how fast they grow and change.

My official due date with Amy was Sept. 26th.  I had an appointment that day with my midwife; I was showing no signs of going into labor so we scheduled an appointment for Oct. 2nd and an induction date of Oct. 4th.   All thru my pregnancy I kept saying that she would be late as both the other girls came late while our boys came right on their due dates.  Amy Jewel proved me right and was born Oct. 1st at 11:02PM weighing 7lbs 14oz and 20 inches. 

The morning of the 1st I woke up about 5:30AM with contractions.  I had been having a lot of contractions for a few weeks but nothing that was regular enough to time.  This time they were about 8-10 minutes apart and uncomfortable enough to wake me each time.  They continued like this so before Matt left for work I gave him a heads up that I might be in early labor but that they were still pretty far apart.  He decided to go into work and I would just call if anything changed.  About 9AM the contractions pretty much stopped.  I would have contractions off and on throughout the day but nothing that was regular enough to time (several were 1/2hr or more apart).

By the time I picked the kids up from school my contractions were definitely stronger but still not regular.  I ran an errand and then headed home.  As the afternoon went on I had a few contractions that I couldn't sit thru.  The kids were curious so I explained what was going on and that it might mean that their new sister was on her way.  I made dinner and did the normal afterschool/evening routine with the kids.

Matt got home about 6PM and I started timing contractions again just before 7PM.  They were about 5 minutes apart so I figured I'd time them for an hour and then see.  We were debating whether or not to call my mom and have her come down but because my contractions had spread out so much that morning I wanted to wait.  At 8PM we sat down to watch "The Voice".  I was still having contractions that were strong (couldn't sit thru them) but they started to space out again and were closer to 10 minutes apart again.  At 9PM I decided I was going to head to bed since the contractions would probably stop again and I'd see what my midwife said at my appointment the next morning.  Two contractions later my water broke!  Since all the kids came within 1-3hrs of when my water broke I knew we needed to head to the hospital.  We called our friend Diane to come and stay with the kids until my mom could get down here.  I went upstairs to get things together and Matt called my midwife to tell her we were on our way and then called my mom to have her head down.  We left our house about 9:30; the hospital is 1/2hr from our house.  On the way I continued to have strong contractions and Matt was timing them.  He said they were 2-3 minutes apart. 

When we got to the hospital I had another strong contraction in the parking lot and we joked about her being born outside.  The whole time I was thinking that it would probably still be awhile since my previous labors were all long.  We got upstairs and Barbara (my midwife) met us at the desk.  I got into the room and hooked up to the monitors so they could check on Amy.  I couldn't wait to get out of the bed and labor standing since I find it much harder to handle the contractions when I'm sitting or laying down.  Barbara also checked me and said I was 6-7cm and Amy was at -2 (so still pretty high).  I was a bit discouraged by this because my contractions were so strong I didn't know if I could labor like that for hours more.  I was glad to be able to get out of the bed and labor standing. 

After a short time standing the contractions were much more "pushing" contractions.  I was still thinking I was 7cm so still a ways to go.  I started to lose focus at this point thinking I couldn't labor like this for a long time because I was so exhausted.  Barbara quickly got me refocused on breathing/handling each contraction and assured me it wouldn't be long.  She was right.  Not long after Amy was born.  Her apgars were 9 and 10.  She was not happy to be out of her warm, cozy home and made it known.  When we called family to tell them she was here they could hear her screaming.  :) 

Since being home she's done really well.  She's two weeks old now and starting to figure out sleeping in her crib for a few hours at a time which has really helped me to feel a bit more normal.   The other kids love having her here and are a big help. 

Having a 5th child was definitely something we never planned or imagined but we're so thankful for our beautiful, healthy baby girl.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and for all the love that has been shown to our family!