Little Jahan came into the world at 6:40 on March 6, 2008. I started feeling back pains at about 8:00 that morning, but I wasn't sure if I was really in labor or not. After about 45 minutes, though, there was no mistaking that it was real. When I called Dan to tell him, his students cheered :) By the time he came home an hour or so later, the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart. We have a nice (and funny) record of the timing and intensity because Dan documented the time of every contraction I had all morning - and the duration of each!
I wasn't anxious to get to the hospital because I was afraid we'd be sent home if we got there too early. Catherine, our wonderful Hypnobirthing instructor/doula, arrived at 1:00. As soon as she walked through the door, she came over to me, massaged my back, and talked me through a contraction. For the first time all day, I was able to relax a bit and refocus.
We left for St. Peter's Hospital at 2:00 - about an 8 minute trip, but a very rough 8 minutes! When the doctor came in an hour later, I was already 6-7 centimeters dilated - very welcome news. For the next few hours, Dan and Catherine took turns massaging me, giving me water, and getting cold compresses. At about 4:00 or so, we had a very nice surprise when Jen walked through the door. She was immediately put to work helping out, and we couldn't be more thankful to have her there. We also knew immediately that we wanted her to be there when the baby came, and we were very happy when she agreed to stay.
At about 6:00, the doctor came in and said I was fully dilated and could start pushing. The pain was still intense, but I was so happy to be at that point that it didn't matter. I remember actually looking forward to the next contraction so that I could help move the baby along. Only 40 minutes later, our little girl was born. She entered the world with a full head of hair, a loud scream, and open eyes. We were elated to find out that we had a girl, but we weren't too surprised because the doctor had slipped and accidentally revealed the sex the night before!
I wasn't anxious to get to the hospital because I was afraid we'd be sent home if we got there too early. Catherine, our wonderful Hypnobirthing instructor/doula, arrived at 1:00. As soon as she walked through the door, she came over to me, massaged my back, and talked me through a contraction. For the first time all day, I was able to relax a bit and refocus.
We left for St. Peter's Hospital at 2:00 - about an 8 minute trip, but a very rough 8 minutes! When the doctor came in an hour later, I was already 6-7 centimeters dilated - very welcome news. For the next few hours, Dan and Catherine took turns massaging me, giving me water, and getting cold compresses. At about 4:00 or so, we had a very nice surprise when Jen walked through the door. She was immediately put to work helping out, and we couldn't be more thankful to have her there. We also knew immediately that we wanted her to be there when the baby came, and we were very happy when she agreed to stay.
At about 6:00, the doctor came in and said I was fully dilated and could start pushing. The pain was still intense, but I was so happy to be at that point that it didn't matter. I remember actually looking forward to the next contraction so that I could help move the baby along. Only 40 minutes later, our little girl was born. She entered the world with a full head of hair, a loud scream, and open eyes. We were elated to find out that we had a girl, but we weren't too surprised because the doctor had slipped and accidentally revealed the sex the night before!
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