Birth Story

I went to bed at ten Sunday night and at 1:30a I woke up wondering if I was really having contractions, because I certainly was in my dream. Sure enough, there they were, pretty mild but about five minutes apart. I am not one to jump in the car at the first signs of labor and rush to the hospital. I like to labor comfortable at home for awhile before being stuck in a hospital bed attached to machines.
At 3:30a I decided I should wake Steven up. I like him to be well rested and even then I wasn't sure if I was waking him too soon. He was all excited. I was glad I woke him, because Labor really picked up. We called Steven's parents and headed to the hospital. This is where this labor fell out of the category of "Ideal Labor". I wish I had the guts to just stay home and enjoy the birth of our baby. Oh well. So from 4:00a on I felt I was in constant movement. Driving, walking, wheelchair (hospital floors are NOT smooth), exam bed, wheelchair, delivery room bed. When we came in Steven says, "My wife is in labor and she went through transition in the car on the way over." They looked at him like he was a dumb dad. Steven is really good at reading my emotional sign posts of labor and of course he was right, but who's going to believe him. They told me to lay down on the examining bed to check how far along I was. That was a joke. I climbed up the Mount Everest of a bed on my hands and knees and got as far as I was going to get. The idea of laying on my back was like asking me to jump in front of traffic. Steven asks, can you check her on her hands and knees and got a blank look in reply. The other comical moment I found was in the delivery room. I asked Steven to hold my calf up in the air in his hands. I needed it to relax and that was the position that called to me. The nurses were telling me to put my leg down. Steven looked to me for some response to their command and got zero action from me, he then looked at the nurse while holding my calf and shook his head no.
It was a wonderful experience to hear Steven say as our baby came into the world, "Wendy, it's a girl!" Rachel Ann Rosenlund was born at 5:31a on Monday February 15, 2010. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. A beautiful baby.