well, she's a true stinkbug

After half a night and half a day of nausea (and a lot of puking) and diarrhea and no sleep, baby Cheyenne decided it was high time I was in labor!



Cheyenne Kaia born 8/31/03 @ 4:39pm

9lb 2oz, 20.5in, 14in head



I was generally feeling ill today, but was feeling better around 1 or so. I called my mom around 2:30pm and was asking her about a recipe dh wanted to use, and I started having regular contractions. They were immediately bad enough that I had to put my son on the phone cuz I just couldn't talk. I finally threw the phone at dh and said "I'm getting in the bathtub!" and I told my mom, "I think I'm in labor!"



now, my first vbac (hospital) was 22 hours long. I thought this one would be shorter, but I had *no* clue how much shorter! By 3, we called the midwife to let her know the contrax were about 4 minutes apart and 30 seconds long. She told us to keep her updated. I figured it'd be a while, and she later told us she was expecting we'd call her again around 7pm. Well, by 3:45, I was yelling to dh that the contrax were so much closer together and they HURT!! I didn't remember them hurting so bad so early on before! we booted the kids off to the neighbors, and dh was going to go get something for me from the store. By this time it was 4, and I yelled to him that he better not leave, the baby was coming out NOW! I could feel so much pressure I couldn't sit anymore, and I felt like the baby was poking out. dh kept looking and saying "I don't see her!" and I told him to call the midwife, she needed to be there NOW, the baby was COMING. So he called, and she headed out. She got there around 4:15, and I was by this time in the bedroom, with my head on the bed and on my knees. I managed to say something like "if i'm only @ 2cm, kill me now, because this HURTS!!" and she checked and said "nope, you're complete! Push whenever you want" as she was setting stuff up.



Pushing HURT so badly!! It only took about 20 minutes, but I think I only pushed about half of that. I let a bunch of contrax go by without pushing because the pain was just too much for me. Yeah, it hurt not to push, but it hurt so much worse to push! Although I didn't feel the "ring of fire" with dallas (by that time, I hurt so bad all over since I was stuck @9cm for over 4 hours), I sure did this time. OUCH! I kept yelling inane things like "just pull her out now!! can't you pull her out? I can't push anymore!" Gotta love the things we say in labor.



baby came out, healthy and pink. I only tore a tiny bit along my old episiotomy line (no stitches necessary). I was so exhausted and dizzy (no sleep from being ill the night before, and no food all day except a few cheerios and a half a bowl of chicken noodle soup). We waited til the cord stopped pulsing to cut it (dh did that) and waited for the placenta to deliver. I didn't nurse her right away, so it took a bit longer. Within 20m, I started nursing, and she is a *great* nurser with a strong suck and grip-- and she never wants to stop! LOL!



I have had three such incredibly different birthing experiences now, and I feel so lucky to have experienced what I've experienced. My first was a c/s for fetal distress after feeling *no* contractions and being on pit for 8 hours. My second was an unmedicated hospital vbac-- 22 hours, including 4 hours stuck @ 9cm because of his position. My third was a homebirth that was super quick (2 hours from time I knew I was in labor to birth). And I felt a million times better after each birth than I did the birth before! After #1, it hurt to do anything, after #2, it hurt to sit (so much stitching/tearing), now I feel great, except those cramping after birth pains are killing me!



I will say this-- having a very fast labor this time was really overwhelming. From my experience, I am not really sure which is harder- long and drawn out or short and to the point! The 22 hour labor gave me some time to build up between contractions, but it was so exhausting to be in labor for so long (it was 22 hr from the first HARD contrax to the birth- no stopping and starting). This labor was kind of scary-- I was almost immediately frightened because the intensity of the contractions was so intense, but it was wonderful to be done so quickly...



I may have more thoughts later, but right now I'm just so excited to share my story and the birth of my sweet baby girl (it *is* a girl, btw-- now I can wash the girl clothes-lol! I did have a moment of panic when I peeked in her diaper several hours after birth and didn't see a penis-- something just didn't "look" right! LOL)

kris, chip, big brothers dakotah and dallas, and baby cheyenne!

Here's a few pics! the first was taken about 20m after birth, the second was a few hours after birth, after dakotah and dallas met cheyenne :) http://www.kiwolf.com/Cheyenne_Kaia.htm