Gema Louise

She's here! Our precious little pink bundle of beauty is here at last, and Jay, Jacob and I are just thrilled to pieces to have her. There's lots of photos to follow, so I'll just give a brief birth story, which makes sense because the Gema's birth was quite brief. This is how it all began...

One last sweep of the kitchen floor, an hour of waiting at home with contractions getting stronger, and suddenly I was in labor. By the time we got to the hospital, the contractions were coming 2-3 minutes apart, though not too strong. I could still talk through them and even walked all the way to the Labor and Delivery ward through Emergency from the parking lot. We arrived at the hospital just before midnight. After being assessed and frustratingly (?) told that I was STILL only 1 cm and 50% effaced, we faced the decision of either staying at the hospital for a few hours and waiting it out or going home. DANG IT. We didn't want to stay there for hours, but I felt like baby was going to come faster than we both anticipated. And I was right. After about 45 minutes we didn't have to worry because suddenly I was having to breathe through each contraction and they were coming fast and furious. The doc checked me and VOILA 4 cm dilated! Woo hoo!

They moved us into the delivery room where things really began to speed up. By 3:00am I was 7cm. I couldn't believe how intense the contractions were. But fiercely trying to put my knowledge into practice, I was able to try different positions and breathe through them (without hardly any screaming this time! haha). With Jacob's birth, since they had to partially augment my labor, I was hooked up to an IV and fetal monitoring, so I was on my back for the better part of it. Not so with this one. SO much nicer to be able to move about freely. After about another half hour, it was time to push.

But of course, the doctor was busy so I had to wait. It seemed like I waited forever and having to refrain from pushing is not a pleasant experience. And then he arrived and told me I had an anterior lip on my cervix and that I had to wait through a couple more contractions. Say what?! Ugh. And my water hadn't broken yet, so they still had to use their little crochet hook too. Apparently my membranes must have been really tough, because the doc had a hard time breaking them. And having a crochet hook digging around inside you while you're having contractions? Also not a pleasant experience. But FINALLY I was able to push. After 2 contractions and 5 minutes of pushing, our sweet little Gema Louise came shooting out to meet us.

Born at 3:47 am August 10, 2011. Weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces, 20 3/4 inches long. She came out so fast there was no time for her head to mold, so she has the most perfect little round head. But that meant that I didn't really have time to stretch, if you know what I mean, so I ended up getting 2nd degree tears. Not too bad for 5 minutes of pushing!

Gema has the longest fingers and toes you've ever seen. Maybe she'll be a piano player like her mama, but she'll be able to play with her toes too!

LOOONG fingernails too.

First Daddy-Daughter photo. Can you tell we were up all night? Gema has her Daddy's bum-chin and possibly a dimple in her right cheek, also from Dad. Jay was absolutely amazing through our entire laboring experience. He was the most supportive coach a girl could ask for. He coached me through each contraction and never left my side, brought me water, let me squeeze the life out of him (repeatedly) and was so calm and reassuring that I never would have been able to do it without him.

I think our little Jacob (did I say little? Because he just seems so huge now!) is going to surprise us. We thought since he's such a clingy cuddler and momma's boy that adding a baby to the mix would really shake things up. But already he loves to hold Gema and give her hugs and kisses. He was so excited to meet her at the hospital, it was adorable.

Big yawns

Homeward bound.

AWE! Love these two little babes so so much. They truly are our greatest blessings.

After Gema started to fuss, we took her away and Jacob was so upset. He just loves being a big brother!

We sure love this little lady and can't wait to see what kind of little person she'll be, though we're in no hurry for her to grow up! Welcome to our little family Gema Lou-- we love you so!