Ava's Arrival

Miss Ava made her arrival into the world on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 8:06 AM, weighing in at 8 lbs, 2oz, and measuring 21 inches in length.

I woke up to a contraction at 5:50 AM that morning. The next one came at about 5:58 AM, and the one after that was at about 6:03 AM. By 6:15, I knew these were real contractions and that they were getting closer together QUICKLY. I woke Matt up, and then called Katie and Blythe and had the midwife on call paged. By the time the midwife, Susan, called me back (about a half hour later, which is unusual, but she was at a delivery when I called), the contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart and very strong. We let her know we'd be coming in soon.

For a few minutes, I thought we might have to wake up Jonah and bring him with us, and have Katie and Blythe meet us at the hospital, but fortunately, they arrived shortly after the midwife called. Also, Jonah woke up right around 7, so I went in to let him know that we were going to the hospital to have his baby sister, and that we'd see him soon.

From then on, I'm not too sure about the timing of things. We pulled up to the emergency entrance and I was wheeled up to the maternity floor. They took me to a triage room, but I was only in there for about five minutes when Susan came in and decided we should go right to a labor room. I didn't have time to take advantage of a whirlpool tub, so it wasn't a big deal that I didn't get one! But I did take about five minutes in the shower before we decided it was time to push. I'm not sure how long I pushed, but Matt thinks it was only ten or fifteen minutes, and then she was here!

I can't say enough good things about Susan! She wasn't the midwife I saw for my care, but she was just amazing. I switched to a different practice for this pregnancy, and I'm so happy with the care I received. We also went to a different hospital this time, and overall, had a much better experience than Jonah's birth.

We went home Thursday, and so far, so good. Ava's eating well, gaining weight, and gives us three or even four hours stretches of sleep. Jonah's struggling just a little bit with having to share his Mommy, but he's also been easy to distract when I've been busy with Ava. And best of all, he still naps every day, so we always get a little rest in the afternoon.

Thanks for all the well-wishes!