So, at long last---at 12 days past his due date, but after only about 6 hours of labor---little James finally entered the world this morning at 6:49 am. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and measured 20.75" long, has a fine little head of blondish-brown hair, his daddy's dimpled chin, and what we assume to be his mama's bue eyes. (He's slept most of the time so far.)
We're all doing well and trying to rest when we can--the last 24 hours or so have been a reminder that even the best laid plans can and do fall through, but sometimes it's a mercy they do! In spite of all the promising indicators that James was going to arrive on schedule (if not before,) in the end, I've spent the last week and a half past my due date waiting it out to no avail. Finally, on Tuesday it began to feel as though d-day were finally on the horizon. Matt stayed home with me and accompanied me to my 41.5 week prenatal and subsequent acupuncture appointment (hoping that would speed things along.) There were no contractions all day, but the midwife had said I was 3 cm dilated and about 80% effaced, and I did go to bed with quite a bit of a backache.
At 1 am, I couldn't stand the backache any longer, so I got up to google possible fixes....only to discover that I was starting to experience waves of increased backache so that I could only read about a paragraph at a time before needing to get up and change position. It took a while to realize those waves of pain were contractions--(although they fluctuated in intensity, they were pretty much localized to my lower back.) After 20 minutes or so or frustratingly interrupted internet surfing, I realized what was going on and woke up Matt. To our surprise, the contractions were already about a minute long and continued to occur at consistent 3 minute intervals for the next hour. Realizing with dread that sooner or later I was going to have to face a 25 minute ride to the hospital over bumpy Portland roads, we started gathering things together and gave the midwife a call. That's when we learned we weren't the only couple going into labor--in fact, the hospital where we were supposed to deliver was already full, and we would have to be re-routed to another one.
Now, while that may have seemed like a big problem, it was actually the hugest blessing in disguise. The hospital we were re-routed to is actually only a quick 10 minute drive by highway from our apartment, and by the time we got there, I had already dilated to 8 cm! By the time they wheeled me from the examining room to a delivery room, I had fully progressed to 10 cm and was ready to start pushing sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 (not so very long after the midwife had arrived.) A very difficult (and unmedicated) 3 hours later, James was finally born.
So---here's to amazing labor nurses, sunrise babies, and life's little surprises. Welcome to the world, baby James.
So. 
Mama gets out the camera for a little photo shoot...
