Baby's Story

-walking through a contraction down our hallway-

-kinda looks like we are getting ready for a fight with me in my robe
and my husband wearing his rocky t-shirt!-

Well, February 15th started out just like any other day. I woke up to another day of heartburn, schooling, and daily chores. I had agreed to make a meal for two different families and since it was choir day for Miss M, Daisy, and Foley I was alone in getting these done. I just remember the overwhelming feeling of tiredness. I had, at one point, thought of canceling those meals but I was just so frustrated with being so tired that I pushed on.
We headed to the chiropractor that afternoon and delivered the meals. I had a couple of good contractions by then but nothing regular so I was hesitant in getting excited.
It wasn't until about nine that night that I had Phil set up the birthing tub and get things in order. But, I was still skeptical...the contractions were not coming at regular intervals and I could totally work right through them. I did contact my midwife, Dawn, mainly because, as I had told her throughout this pregnancy, I just don't "read" my body that well.

With Daisy I walked all day long and thought maybe something was going to happen. We went to the hospital at 6:00 pm where I expected them to tell me to head back home because I was not far enough along...instead she was born at 6:20pm!

But, back to Cora's story...my midwife told me to enjoy a glass of wine while sitting in the tub. Ah, the contractions didn't stop in the warm water and so I figured that this was the real thing.
It was! Around a quarter to eleven we called the midwife and I told her that I believed that this was it but was preparing myself for a long night. I figured that I would have baby some time the next day.
Dawn decided to make the trek to our home...she lives about forty minutes away. Another friend, Jacquie also planned on helping in the delivery. She lived closer and showed up a bit before my midwife.
Later, both would say that they were a bit concerned that I had waited too long...
my contractions were now between four and five minutes a part but they were only about 30 to 40 seconds long and so I figured that I wasn't going to have the baby any time soon. For those who might not know or remember, the contractions leading up to and during transition should be around a minute long or longer.
Dawn encouraged us all to get some sleep and so I went upstairs to lay down. This was between 12:30 and 1:00am. As soon as I laid down I could tell that the contractions were getting longer and harder. I got up to go to the bathroom and told Phil that I thought it was time to go tell the midwife that there was some action going on here.
Phil filled up the tub with some warm water and I got in. Oh, the feeling of that warm water was nice but I can't say that it dulled any of the pain.
I immediately went into transition...I even said "What was I thinking?"
Yep, everyone knew that we were going to have a baby soon!
In fact, at about midnight I remember thinking "I bet I have this baby around two."

The work was hard and I remember every moment like it was yesterday. I remember my midwife telling me to breathe lower into my diaphragm. I remember Jacquie encouraging me to go lower in my moaning. I remember my midwife walking around the pool and saying "You are doing so great, Heather!".
I remember just knowing that Phil was right behind me.
I tried to get into a different position thinking that it would help but it caused an incredible amount of pain through one contraction.
After that contraction I quickly moved back into the previous position.
And then, I felt something I had never felt before...I had the feeling of complete dilation. The cool thing is that my midwife never checked me. It was so awesome to just feel it and know.
I just knew that, even though I did not have the urge to push, that I could. And I did!
In four pushes little baby's head crowned and I started breathing instead of pushing.
She slipped out and then the fun began.
She was wrapped up in her umbilical cord. It was around her neck (not unusual) and then wrapped around both her shoulders...it made it look like she was wearing a backpack.
it was a little crazy there for a few moments as we tried to untangle her and get her to respond.
In some of the pictures she is a bit grey but I promise you that she was fine...just needed a few moments to adapt to her new world.

Miss M was helping by holding a flashlight. It was rather dark in the room which, by the way, was one of the things I liked most about having this one at home. No glaring lights or tons of people walking around. No hard bed to lay on. No time restraints or people asking me all kinds of questions.
So, Miss M was there holding the flashlight and taking pictures for us. She wants to be a midwife so whenever my midwife could find something for her to learn she would show Miss M.
Daisy was a bit reluctant to watch Cora being born. She said she didn't want to be there but she ended up hanging out by the door catching a little bit of the process. Sadly, she ended up being the go-to girl and when I asked for ice water she went to get it at the same time that Cora was born. But, what a big help she was...she ended up making me scrambled eggs for an after-birth-pick-me-up-meal. Let me tell you those scrambled eggs were the best I have ever tasted!

After I was cleaned up, Dawn and Jacquie helped me get into bed. It was about 3;30am when we brought in Foley and Brown Sugar to meet their new sister.

Miss M holding her little sister. Miss M ended up going to bed for a few hours right after this photo was taken. That morning she was headed down to Southern California for a debate tournament.

Love this picture.

Daisy holding her baby sister.

Big Brother holding his little sis.

Dawn getting ready to measure and weigh Miss Cora.

While Phil was putting his hands under our little bundle he was asked to tell us how much she weighed. He said "9" and all of us gals promptly said "no way". In fact, none of us believed him. Dawn had to check it out for herself but Phil was right...Cora was 9 lbs and 20 3/4 inches long.

We decided to change Cora's name. She is now Cora Verity meaning "maiden of truth" or if you are Scottish it would be "seething pool of truth"?!? Although I am Scottish I think we will stick with the maiden one!

Cora was ten days early which was such a blessing and a nice answer to my prayers. She was born twenty days before Nathan and Carrie's wedding day. Those twenty days were so needed for me to bounce back a bit before the big day. Having a baby at 43 is much different than at 28 which was when I had Daisy. I was rather exhausted and it takes a lot of time to adjust to having a little one around again. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who has doted on me and helped me through the past five weeks. My parents were here for three weeks which was also an amazing help to my family. We would have not eaten as well if it hadn't been for my mom being here to help.
So, there you go...I had hoped to get this out earlier but my time has been spent feeding and adoring my little one and trying to get sleep!
~Heather