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| Due date baby. |
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| "Holy crap, I did it with no drugs!" |
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| Proud big sister. |
On Saturday afternoon October 25th at 2:34pm, we welcomed little miss Emma Takara into the world. She is 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches of sweet baby squish and we love her to pieces! Our little Emi Tako.
Baby's name: Emma Takara
Due date: October 25th
Birth date: October 25th
Weight: 7 pounds, 11 ounces
Length: 20 inches
Saturday morning around 4:30am, I woke up with contractions. Considering this was the 3rd or 4th time I had woken up at that same hour with contractions that petered out, I didn't really think much of it. After a while, I couldn't sleep, so I got out of bed to make a cup of coffee and eat a good breakfast - just in case. I started timing them - you know, just in case. I bounced on the ball, just in case. It was my due date, for goodness sake! Babies don't actually arrive on their due date. But as the morning wore on, the contractions were consistently five to six minutes apart. When Mike wandered out to the kitchen around 6am, I told him I was pretty sure his baby was going to be prompt and arrive on his/her due date.
Around 7am when the sun was starting to come up, Mike and I started walking the neighborhood with the dogs. Lily, Nana, and Papa (Sharon and Jerry) were still sleeping. It was so peaceful! The sunrise was amazing - it was fire red, then orange with purple streaks, and finally a pretty pastel pink; Montana at her finest. Some contractions I could walk through, but for most I had to stop and let them pass. The contractions were still hanging around five to six minutes apart though. I would randomly have one less than five minutes, then it would space out to eight, then back to five or six. Classic posterior baby. So we would walk, then come home and I would bounce on the ball, then we would walk again. After the rest of the house woke up, we walked the neighborhood again. What a wonderful final morning as a family of 3! It was so relaxing. The contractions were completely manageable, and I was able to spend some quality time with Lily before leaving for the hospital. Although, at that point, I had no idea when I should even go to the hospital!
Around 11:30am, my contractions still weren't budging from hovering around that five-minute mark, but they were getting a little more painful. I told Mike that I was obviously having a baby today so we might as well head to the hospital. I could tell that the baby was posterior, and at least if we were at the hospital, the nurses could give me some tips on how to get him/her to flip around. I was also worried that once the baby did flip, he/she would come fast! Little did I know how right I was.
We arrived at the hospital a little before noon. A nurse was leaving the OB unit when we walked up, so she walked us in and said, "What brings you guys in?" Me: "Oh, I'm in labor." She said that they would take me in and get me checked to see how things were going. After getting my hospital gown on, she checked my cervix and her eyebrows popped up. "Wow. You're at an 8 with a bulging bag, so we're going to go ahead and keep you!" An 8? Really? All that walking worked!
Dr. Lavin was the doctor on call, so he came in to go over our birth plan and explain which antibiotic I would receive (I was strep B positive, and am allergic to penicillin, which is the normal course of treatment.) He agreed to let me continue laboring naturally as I saw fit - after the antibiotics were administered, I was put on remote monitoring and continued walking. Mike and I walked up and down the halls, chit-chatting while he read me interesting things from the paper. With each contraction, I would stop and he would squeeze my lower back. The pressure felt amazing! It literally took the pain away. If he wasn't applying the pressure, the contractions were much more difficult, but that little bit of pressure made all the difference. We would periodically check in with my nurse and ask for advice on flipping baby; I leaned over the bed, I did cat/cow position on the bed with my tush in the air, we waddled slowly down the halls. We alternated different ideas every few contractions. Finally around 1:30, the nurse suggested I lie on my side on the bed with my upper leg hanging off the bed, then to alternate every 4-5 contractions. Around 2pm, Dr. Lavin came in to check on my progress and to request permission for a med student to attend our birth, as he had never seen a natural birth. We agreed, and he said that if I felt the urge to push or my water broke, to let them know and we would check progress again.
Within two minutes of Dr. Lavin leaving the room, my water bag burst. I suddenly really needed to go to the bathroom - legitimately, it wasn't just the baby! So after a quick bathroom break, I got resettled on my side in bed and the doctor came back in. He went to check me and said, "And there's your baby's head. Let's do this." He quickly got dressed for the delivery while quietly telling me to go with my urge to push, and that I could deliver in any position that felt comfortable to me. That was what I had wanted, but I was still shocked to hear it! All the while, I could feel the baby descending. I wasn't really pushing, but I could feel the contraction working the baby down. Then it was time to push!
Mike continued to put pressure on my back throughout each contraction, and the doctor and Mike coached me through how long and how hard to push. As baby's head was descending, her heart rate was decelerating. They kept telling me I had to get her out NOW. But then, because I couldn't push her out fast enough, they made me keep her in for a contraction to administer oxygen! I kept saying I couldn't do it, I had to push, I had to push. Suddenly a nurse chimed in, "Lamaze breathe!" That was the trick. I was able to get enough oxygen to bring her heart rate back up and with the next contraction, her head was born - with the cord was wrapped tight around her neck. Dr. Lavin asked Mike if he could cut it ("Of course! Get it off!") and then with the next contraction, it was time for baby's shoulders and body.
She got stuck. I'm not sure how many contractions it took, maybe three? But with a rush, little baby Dotter arrived at 2:34pm, blue and not breathing. She was quickly whisked to the warmer to be suctioned and whacked on the back a few times. I kept asking, "Is the baby okay? Is it okay? Is the baby okay?" They were rubbing her (I didn't even know she was a her yet) pretty vigorously and suctioning over and over again, when suddenly she cried. Mike said, "It's a girl!" I leaned back, relieved, and said, "See? She's fine. She's okay. She's fine." Then they handed her to me and we had our first skin-to-skin. You nuzzled in and kept looking at me. You were so purple, but so awake. You nursed after a few minutes but mostly just wanted to snuggle. You, miss Emma, still just want to snuggle.
It took Mike and I a full day to decide on a name. He told me he was leaning toward Claire, but I kept looking at you and you weren't a Claire. I kept telling Mike that Claire sounded too harsh to me, you were too sweet and needed something softer. "Em, Em... Emily? She looks like an Emily. Too close to Lily." That night, he texted me our name list (which we had left at home - oops.) We had Emi, Emiko, Amelia, and Emily on the list. None were quite right. Then he said, "What about Emma Takara?" I said I had to think on it, and all night long, I kept asking you if that was your name. By the next morning, we had decided it fit. Our little miss Emma - Emi Tako for short.
Dr. Graham was called to the birth due to the shoulder dystocia and he noticed right away that you were tongue-tied. He said to give it a day, it might not be an issue, but to let me know how breastfeeding was going when he came to do rounds the next day. That next morning, the first thing I told him was that he needed to fix it. And what a difference! You are a champion nurser and quite the boob-monster. While you are willing to take a bottle from your dad and sister (and she loves to give you bottles), if I come anywhere near you with on, you clamp your mouth shut and furrow your brow. You know better! And I can't help but laugh.
Oh, Emi baby. Welcome to our world! I am so grateful you are here. The whole time I was pregnant, I secretly wanted sisters, and cannot wait to see you and Lily grow up together. You are so sweet and we love you so much already. Thank you for joining our family.
