Emmy's Birth Story

Emersyn Paige was born on June 5, 2012 at 1:03 in the morning.

I wrote out both of the boys' birth stories, to share with mom friends who are interested (yes, us moms like to hear these things!) and to help me remember them more clearly.
So - for those who are interested in birth stories - keep reading. If not, you might want to skip to the next post!

I had my routine check up at 1pm on June 4th. It was my due date and I figured Emmy was going to make a late arrival, just like her brother had. (Mason was nearly a week late.) I mentioned to the nurse that I felt a bit leaky and I was having contractions, but nothing really regular or impressive. The doctor checked to see if I was leaking fluid. Man, was I surprised when he told me that my water broke! I think he was just as surprised as I was. I never would have guessed, because my "leaking" was not that bad. I have delivered three kids now and I never got my dream of having my water break in a big dramatic way, like while I was standing in the produce section of the grocery store. Maybe next time!

Anyway, he asked if I had to make arrangements at home before heading to the hospital, and I did, so I headed home to finish packing my bag and get the boys settled with my mom and sister. I called Jordan on my way home and told him that it was GO TIME! When I got home, I kind of went overboard with getting things ready for the boys. I pulled out their pajamas and clothes for the next day. Made sure they had a snack. Left them money (because 2 year olds and 4 year olds spend money). My mom and sister know where all of their things are and are more than capable of caring for them, but I was just so panicked - I wasn't ready for this! I was supposed to have more time! (I think. It was my due date after all.)

Jordan came home and got his things and we headed out. We stopped for a late lunch and got to the hospital around 4:30. Still, nothing exciting happened! I was having contractions every 7 or 8 minutes, but they were managable. The midwife came in around 5:30 and "finished" breaking my water, hoping that would jumpstart my labor. I walked around for a bit. Probably around 7 or 8 I was getting more uncomfortable, so I took a shower, and spent some time walking and sitting on the birthing ball, watching TV with Jordan. My contractions never got closer than 2 to 3 minutes apart, but they were effective. Around 12:45 the midwife checked me and I was at a 6. I was so tired and hoping to get some rest (Jordan had laid down at this point) but I had one big contraction and that was it - I paged the nurse and yelled to Jordan that I had to push.

The midwife rushed in and jokingly asked if he had time to get his scrubs on this time! (He is the same midwife who delivered Mason, in his sweater, because Mason arrived so quickly.)

Emmy was born after 3 pushes at 1:03 am.

Our sweet girl was 7lbs 1.6oz and 20.5 inches long. She is as healthy as can be. And - she is FEISTY! She screamed for the first hour after she was born. We spent the first few hours after birth nursing and napping together skin-to-skin. I did not get to do that with either of the boys (they were bathed, dressed and swaddled really quickly after they were born) and I highly recommend it to any new moms! It was such a relaxing, soothing time.