Teya's Story

First: a warning. If you've never read a birth story (or seen one), it's lots of information. I'm just saying.

So, here's the story of Teya's birth. Like Teya, it's short and sweet. I'd been having contractions on and off for almost two weeks but nothing progressive. On the 14th (Wednesday), my mom flew into town. She was a little nervous about showing up before the birth and didn't want to "waste" time here with no baby. But Sierra had a concert, so she came and played with my kids, which was great. The morning of the 15th (Thursday), I had my 39 week appt. A little ticked that I'd even made it that far, I was ready to do whatever necessary to get this baby here (Can you tell I'm a little impatient?). My doctor said I was still about 80% effaced and Teya was head down and I was dilated to a 3. She then stripped my membranes, which is not really a pleasant experience but not as bad as labor. Almost immediately I noticed a difference in my contractions. I started having more back labor, which wasn't fun. I think that was because I was carrying Teya more in my back than I had with the other two.

So, I went home and went about my day. Palmer had a soccer game, we went to dinner at Brick Oven, and just played with Nona. All the while, my contractions were progressively getting closer together, but not any more painful. We put the kids down for bed, my mom went home and Ronell and I just relaxed on the couch for a bit (relaxed is a loose term for having contractions and trying to be calm and relaxed). I went to bed around 10 and Ronell went to Oliver's to play the Wii (it's been their "thing" this last semester of MBA school). I woke up around midnight with serious contractions. I called Ronell and told him to come home. Then I ran next door and grabbed my neighbor, Miriam, so she could hang out at the house (thanks again for that, Mir). My contractions were virtually on top of each other but I could still talk through them and walk around. But I learned my lesson with Portia and thought it would be safer to go to the hospital (I had a little doubt at this point whether I was really in labor or just wishful thinking).

We got to the hospital at 12:40 and they checked me. I was dilated to a 5 and my contractions were right on top of each other. They called my doctor and asked if I wanted my water broken. I figured I might as well just do this and get it done faster, so I said yes. She came in and broke my water at 1:10am and immediately my contractions were seriously intense. I had a moment of doubt about going natural and said, "Maybe I should have gotten that epidural".  My doctor said, "Too late. Sorry." She didn't sound very sorry. :-) Within about a minute of breaking my water, I felt the need to push. I'd dilated to about 9 1/2. My doctor asked me to do a few more contractions and then we'd be ready. That was the longest 15 minutes of my life. I pushed twice and Teya's head came out (with the cord wrapped around her neck), one more push and her body came out. And our little shrimp was born at exactly 1:30am, weighing in at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 18 inches long. It  took her a minute to come around so they wisked her away, but she finally started crying and moving and was fine. From start to finish was 50 minutes and I pushed for about 10 minutes. It was perfect.

Teya weighing in.

 

From the first second she was born, Teya was sticking her tongue out. So far, she's easily "pacified" and is totally content with a binky and lots of noise around her. She is, by far, the calmest baby we've had. All our kids have been pretty easy, but she's the calmest. 

Our not so little family. Not sure why I'm so squinty-eyed and what the kids are looking at, but you get the idea. 

I'm so grateful for this little girl in our lives. Her influence is already calming and I desperately need something calm in my life. She seems pretty easy-going and willing to take Portia's smothering and everyone's kisses. I'm always amazed by the birthing process and what a miracle it is. I'm grateful that Teya, though small and short, is perfectly healthy and has brought such peace to my life in the last couple weeks. I'm glad she's a part of our family.