A week 'behind', and in a hurry
>> Monday, March 15, 2010
She's here! Quinn Skinner made her way and took her first, quiet, wide eyed, sleepy breath at 1:55am Saturday morning. Weighing in at 7lbs 1oz and 21 inches long.
I had been feeling reeeally minor contractions Wednesday evening and then again Friday night, really irregular, pretty much painless. Those little episodes would last for around 4 hours, then fizzle out, getting Joe and I all excited only to go to bed kinda bummed.
But....lo and behold.....
After getting ready for bed and relaxing a bit, the clock struck 11:45pm and I felt a pretty substantial 'pop' down in the nether regions. I had no idea what the pop was, but boy howdy, the rodeo was now in full swing. Contractions lasting a minute/minute and a half, 2 minutes apart.....1 minute apart.... 2 minutes apart.... 45 seconds apart....
*Internal thought* "This is my first birth.....labor for first births average a length of anywhere between 12-18 hours. How in the freaking world do people do THIS for 18 hours?!?!?!"
Joe gave our midwives a ring, giving them a heads up.
About an hour later, *ding!* time to push! Joe later said he could SEE my belly pushing down. Having been in labor for an hour, the reality of it being time to push didn't even cross my mind, but Joe called the midwives again to let them know the change in action. They were on their way.
I can't even begin to tell you how amazing Joe was. His instincts kicked in and he knew exactly the things he needed to do. Within the blur of our 2 hour marathon, Joe took care of everything, making sure we were 200% prepared to have the baby without the midwives.....just in case.
I climbed into the birthing pool, pushed for about 45 minutes, Joe delivered Quinn.
It was just the three of us.
Just three.
No one else.
It was amazing.
The midwives arrived just 7 minutes after Quinn was born, all smiles.
6 comments:
What an absolutely amazing story! Is it wrong that I'm a teensy bit jealous that you had such a unique birth experience? I'm so glad that baby Quinn made it here happy and healthy. Many congratulations to the Skinner family!
I second your friend above-- I'm a teensy bit jealous, too! Could it have gone any more perfectly?
Your thought about 12-18 hour labors for first births made me chuckle-- I remember getting past that mark when I was in labor, thinking that typically first births ONLY lasted that long! Little did I know the roller coaster ride I was in for physically and emotionally in the DAYS to come. In the end though, all was perfect.
I am so stoked for all of you and can't wait to see Quinn! Isn't being a mom AMAZING?!
Holy shmokes...
YESSSS!! Makes me want to have another baby...which is good, because the next one's due in about 6 months. We should definitely have the kid at home, and I think Julie's just about on board with that too.
Many congratulations! Now go wear your baby in a sling or wrap, and parenting will flow naturally from there.
Jesse Heetland
What an incredible story! I'm so happy for the three of you! Quinn is beautiful, and she has such a cool name! Congratulations!
Awesome guys! Congrats!
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