New Baby!

My sister had her baby yesterday morning after a very long 6 days past her due date. As with any mother-to-be, the waiting was very challenging but her labor finally began about midnight and I got at call at 1:30am. We just seem to have babies in the middle of the night and that's that. After getting the phone call, I knew I wouldn't sleep anymore so I got up, got ready and did a few things while waiting for mom to arrive. About 2:30, I was just starting to cut up fruit when Matt called and said that she wanted me to come to the apartment now. I walked out the door within a few minutes and drove nice and fast (it was 2:30 in the morning and we must take advantage of having the road to ourselves after all) to their apartment. When I got there, I could see that she was in the thick of it but she was still talking between. I think that every new mother is kind of taken by surprise at the sensation of actual labor. We spend so much time wondering what it will be like. Wondering if that contraction was "it" and we inevitably have people tell us "when it's real, you'll know". It's always true and yet it's baffling every time until that moment when it truly turns real.

I always had back labor. I don't know if my babies truly descended posterier or if it's just the way my pelvis is shaped but their heads and my back were always in full contact creating an excruciating experience unless there was counter pressure. When I walked in, she had a hot pad on her back so I knew she was having the same thing. During her next contraction, I pushed on her back instead of the hot pad and she said "that's much better." Good. We need all the help we can get. She had downloaded a Contraction Tracker onto her ipod and it actually came in really handy. From the time I got there, her contractions were no more than 2 minutes apart and she said that they started at 4 minutes apart. I guess all of those Braxton Hicks contractions had paid off! At about 3:30, we started talking about when to go to the birth center. I said I'd want to go before I'm in transition because at that point, you won't want to go anywhere. It was just a few minutes later that she declared it was time to go. She and Matt took off for the birth center while I waited the last few minutes for mom and then we followed. They arrived about 4:00 and we were there about 4:15. They got settled in their room and the midwife checked her. It took her a long time and I was just praying that she be at least at a 6. After what seemed like ages, she declared that Angella was fully dilated and efaced but the baby was still up a little high so she needed to labor a little more and let her come down. She got into the tub and did just that.

We could tell she was in transition at that point because she was definitely in her own world and they were more intense. All-of-a-sudden, she looked up and said, "I have to push". She was coached by the midwives on how to do that slowly to make the baby come slowly as to not stretch her to quickly. After just a couple more contractions, the baby was crowning and she went from resting on Matt's legs to resting on my legs so that Matt could catch the baby. A couple more contractions and we could see her head out and then with one more push, she was here! She was so beautiful right from the second she was born. A perfectly round face and head and plenty of black hair unlike her momma at her own birth! Those dreams that mom and I had about a baby girl with lots of black hair were true after all. She had a beautiful, lusty cry. It was such a perfect moment in time. We all cried. We were all joyful. And we all felt incredibly blessed to be part of this amazing experience. After several minutes, Matt cut the cord and held his daughter while Angella delivered her placenta. Later, Matt asked if she had done that yet. He was so entralled with his new baby that he hadn't even noticed the thing that he had been very curious about during the whole pregnancy! Welcome to fatherhood.

Angella and baby T got settled into bed along with daddy Matt and they were just a perfect little family. We all left the room for several minutes to let them have some time and mom and I started preparing food. Mom made soup and I cut up fruit as we knew Angella would be starving. When we brought it back in, the baby was nursing like a pro and didn't stop for the next hour. It was a beautiful sight.

Angella had a very bad tear that nearly resulted in her having to transfer to the hospital to be sewn up but luckily, that wasn't necessary. She did require stitches but just a few. They stayed at the birth center for 4 hours after the birth as the law requires and mom and I met them back at their apartment where we had prepared it for their arrival and mom baked the birthday "cake" of Carmelita Bars. We were exhausted but the adrenaline was still going strong and keeping us going too which was good. Angella and Matt arrived home about 10:00 and tucked right into bed. We made sure they were settled, visited awhile, Lee and Scott came to visit and then we all left to let them get some rest.

Mom and I came home to a quiet house as daddy had taken the kids to the zoo for the day for which he earned major points! We crawled into bed and slept. I was surprised that I was only able to sleep for 1 1/2 hours but it felt like enough for the moment. Once mom got up, we started cooking again. We made tacos and a Sundried tomato soup and took all of that over to Angella and Matt's along with the twins who wouldn't let me out of their sight (C especially) after being gone most of the night and day. They were so cute with baby T. It was precious. After a couple of hours, we left again and let them have their night. They were exhausted and having been a new mom a few times myself, I know that they were in for a long night and many more to come.

Yay! I'm an auntie!!