Catherine's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 1/17/04 -------------------- 12/29/03 12/4/03 11/21/03 10/30/03 10/10/03 10/1/03 9/16/03 9/5/03 8/28/03 7/30/03 7/6/03 5/2/03 4/21/03 3/28/03 3/17/03 3/11/03 3/6/03 2/26/03 2/22/02 -------------------- Catherine's Introduction

Introduction

Actually,I may be a new "grandmarm" because Carrie calls me Marmee a lot(as in Little Women?). Well,lets see,back to the birthstory.Carries December 10th due date came and everything seemed in order.Rusty had finished with both of his finals that week. I got up on Thursday Dec 12th and felt like a nesting woman myself.I felt compelled to get the rest of our things packed to go down and be with Carrie when she had the baby.Since I homeschool and Jacob & Susannah would be going with me,I also had to get a bag of school stuff together,as well as some toys & books for each of them.At 8:30 am the phone rang.It was Carrie and she spoke the words I had been waiting to hear:Im calling to give you a heads up,Ive been having regular contractions since they woke me up at 4am this morning.She was very calm and I hung up and called my husband Charles' office and left a message for them to tell him to come home when he came back in(he was out training bus drivers and I knew he would be back into the office between 10 & 10:30.I then scurried around getting everything packed and called Caitlin and Will on their cell phones to let them know their sister was in labor.I also called my mom & step-dad so that they could leave Tampa and head to Carrie & Rustys in their RV.They stayed there to help with Jacob & Susannah.charles came home and we loaded the SUV & I called Carrie again before we left to make sure she would still be at home and not over at the birthcenter.She said she thought she still would be but that in case she had to leave before we got there,she would leave a key for us and a note.When we got to Carries,Rustys car wasnt there and right away I thought they had gone,but Carrie came to the door and said that Rusty was at the office finishing up with some things and that he was on his way home.Carrie went in to take a nap(or try anyway)and Charles went and picked us up some food for lunch.my parents arrived shortly thereafter and I left jammies and a change of clothes for J & S with them.Carrie came out about 3pm and said that the contractions were getting more intense and she thought she wanted to go to the birthcenter.They were coming about 5 minutes apart.We began the 45 minute drive to the birthcenter and Rusty said that his parents and younest sister were right behind us.On the way,Carrie called on her cell phone and had them start filling up the labor tub.I prayed that God would help me in a special way to be able to BE of real help to her and would help me know what would help her.He did that in some special ways.We arrived at about 4:00 and brought their pillows and bag and stuff in and got settled into one of the rooms.Carrie was checked and found to be about 40% effaced & 2 cm dilated.She & Rusty went out for a walk along a pretty lake directly across from the birthcenter.The rest of us sat in the comfy family room and watched tv and chatted withthe midwife,Marianne & her assistant,a midwife in training,Mirene.Carrie came back and ate some supper and Rustys parents and sister went out and got some dinner.I was still too full of pizza! The contractions became more intense and closer together and Carrie did some while sitting on a birth ball and resting her upper body on the bed.At about 8pm,the midwife checked her again and much to her disappointment,she was still 2 cm dilated but more effaced - about 90%.The midwife said that she could try and work with her cervix some during the next contraction and was able to "stretch" her cervix to a 4-5.This also caused the contractions to really intensify and Carrie decided she wanted to go into the labor tub.She really loved that and even tho she was having hard contractions,she was able to keep her body relaxed.after a couple of hours the exhaustion set in and in between the strong contractions Carrie would rest her head on the side of the labor tub and fall asleep.I began holding her head;she was so tired that I was concerned she might slip into the water! At about midnight,the midwife came and checked her again - still 5 cm.I suggested maybe a change of position for awhile and Carrie decided she might just want to lie down on the bed.She did and Rusty got behind her,supporting her and wiping her head with a cool cloth and encouraging her.At about 2:30am she began to show signs of possible transition,including,for the 1st time - "I dont think I can do this".I told her "you are doing it" and suggested another change of position and asked if she might want to try standing up and "slow-dancing" for awhile.I really meant that Rusty would get up and dance with her but when I assisted her into a standing position so that he could get up,she just collapsed into my arms and flung her arms tightly around me.The years melted away and it was as tho she was a little girl again and little girls need their mamas!! She just cried out:Oh,Mama!!! and I held her and kissed her brow and told her that she was going to be ok.After about a 1/2 dozen contractions like this she said she needed to go to the bathroom.I went with her and sat on the edge of the tub while she sat on the toilet and she still held on tight.I didnt want to get her hopes up again but it sure LOOKED like transition to me and I gently suggested she might want to have the midwife check her again.She said"Oh,mama,I couldnt stand it if I am still 5" and then a few minutes later,"Ok,go get her,but can she check me on the toilet?" I was thinking,hmmm,shes liking that toilet too much for someone who ISNT in transition.The midwife declared that she was 9cm with a lip and we all cheered and Carrie cried with relief.It gave her courage to go on.The midwife wanted to get her off the toilet and they brought a birthing chair into the room.As she was coming from the bathroom back to the chair,pop,her water broke and we all knew it would be soon.At 3:57 the midwife said that that last bit of cervix was gone and sure enough,she began to have contractions that were turning into pushes.After 4 of these the midwife checked the heart tones and they were low and she told Carrie that she needed to push until the baby came out with all of her might.I never thought I would be doing this but was soon near her head remiding her push,push,push honey.We could see some of the head and her little ears and with the next push she started crying before her head was all of the way out and then swoosh,out she came at 4:17 am.Rusty cried out:Its a baby,baby! and started crying and then we all started crying.They moved Carrie to the bed and delivered the placenta.This was followed by some large clots and bleeding.Evidently the placenta had started to detach there at the end.It took some time and medication to get the bleeding stabilised.In spite of all of the vigorous pushing Carrie needed no stitches.And Amelia was a healthy 7lb 14 oz and 21 inches long.I lloked out a bit later and saw the most glorious sunrise over the lake.It was as if God was welcoming her to the world.May God bless us & keep us till next time,Catherine