Welcome Baby Paige!

Baby Paige was due on March 20th, however, she started trying to make an appearance very early at only 32 weeks gestation. So her doctor put Mommy Avie on medicine to keep her in. It worked so well, that when Avie got off the medication, Paige didn't want to come out anymore! :) Mommy Avie and Daddy Tim were so excited when Avie started having contractions every 4-5 minutes on a Sunday, the first day of her 37th week. (This is a litttttle mama, and her babies are ready to come out around 37 weeks usually!) I went to Avie & Tim's house that Sunday night around 7, excited to be a part of this family's birth! Avie was handling the contractions perfectly; walking around, standing, and leaning against the kitchen counter, swaying and moaning through her contractions. She also used her birth ball to sit and lean on when she got tired of standing. She did not need much help through the contractions, though she did like to lean against Tim's back and have her back scratched lightly. The grandparents got there to watch big sister Jamie, and we all left for the hospital around 8.

We got to the hospital, and Avie was hooked up to the electronic fetal monitors so the nurses could see her contraction pattern. They were about every 5-7 minutes but not in an "effective" pattern according to the nurses. All three of us played poker and then went for a walk around the hospital for 2 more hours before returning to the room to be monitored again. The nurses decided to send Avie & Tim home as she was still in early labor.

The next morning, the contractions had slowed and Avie was determined to relax and not think about labor. She went a few more days before her water broke at home on the next Tuesday night, March 1st. She called her doctor, who told her to go to the hospital. She wanted to take her time though as she wasn't having contractions in a strong pattern, so she took a shower, straightened her hair and went to get some food with Tim. I met them at the hospital around 9pm and we waited to be checked into a room.

It was a popular baby night that night so we waited for a while before being checked in to an overflow room. We decided to play travel scrabble and they were both kicking my butt and making fun of my words! (haha) Avie was still not having contractions in a pattern, though they did start to pick up throughout the night. The doctor was talking about starting pitocin so Avie decided she wanted to try nipple stimulation. She had brought her breast pump so she started pumping. As soon as she did, her contractions picked up. She would close her eyes and breathe through them slowly, and then open her eyes and smile when they were over. This went on throughout the night, and at about 4am they moved us to a regular L&D room. What a relief! :)

At this point, Avie's contractions were strong, but the doctor wanted to see her progress faster, so they asked and Avie & Tim agreed to try pitocin. After discussing it, we asked the nurse to start a low dose of pitocin and increase it only by 1 or 2 ml at a time to give Avie's body a chance to catch up on it's own. She started to go into that primal labor state and had her eyes closed most of the time as she was going through contractions. She wanted to labor on her own so Tim and I stayed close by but not touching her. She was able to doze and relax in between contractions, and the only way we knew she was contracting was when she would start to take slow, deep breaths. She would then settle back in to rest. Once she got to 5-6 cm, her labor was progressing quickly. About an hour and a half later, she was 8cm and there was a feeling of excitement in the air. She was starting to need more support through her contractions. Her husband stayed by her side, stroking her hair and talking to her, while I was scratching her arms and back lightly.

Transition came around 9am and she started to make more noise and needed more encouragement to breathe and stay as relaxed as possible. She was so great at trying every suggestion that I and Tim and the nurse gave to her. She was able to stay very relaxed and breathe through each contraction. At 10am, she started to feel like she had to push. The nurse came in and helped her push through several contractions, for about 45 minutes. Baby Paige's head started to descend past the cervix and near the perineum so the doctor was called in. Once the doctor came in the room, Avie HAD to push and gently birthed her baby girl!!

Baby Paige was welcomed into the loving arms of her mommy and daddy at 11:04am on March 2, 2011. Daddy cut her umbilical cord, and they held and admired their new baby as I was taking pictures. Mommy did not tear and released the placenta within 10 minutes. When it came out she exclaimed "oh my gosh that felt SO GOOD!" :) Baby Paige was taken to be cleaned, weighed, and apgar scored. She got an 8 and 9 on her apgars, and weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. and was 19 1/2" long.

Within 5 minutes of being taken to be cleaned, Paige was brought back to mommy and daddy for some skin to skin. Mommy and baby gazed into each others eyes while daddy was right there with them, smiling and crying a little (as was I!!) About 10 minutes later, Paige was showing hunger cues, so Mommy and I got her in a good position to latch and latch she did!!! She was a champion nurser right from the get go.

A few minutes later, grandpa brought big sister Jamie to come and meet her new baby sister.

It was such an honor and pleasure to be part of this birth. Avie remarked that this was the exact birth she envisioned and hoped for! Thank you Avie & Tim for having me there and congratulations on your precious baby girl!!!!

*All names and pictures were used with permission of the family :)