Monkey Hugz: February 26, 2013 "Oh Happy Day!" (warning: birth story and pics)

Today we welcomed our precious little girl, Adalynn Faith, into the world. She was born at 6:08 pm and weighed 7 lb 14 oz and measure 20.1 inches long! This birth was soooo different than Lucas' in so many ways.
My contractions started at 5:00 am in the morning..not very painful at all but there. When I got up with Lucas around 8:00 they were still sporadic but would increase in intensity if I sat down and relaxes on the couch. However I couldn't exactly sit on the couch all day because we had to meet with the builder who is building our house at 1:00pm...so I made breakfast and got ready. The contractions by that point started to peter out and I thought that this just might be something that could go on for days as they were not coming on very strong and were fairly spaced out. We headed to Airdrie around 11:30 so that we could eat lunch before we were to meet with the builder. Once in the car and driving the contractions started to come every 3-4 mins or so but were still bearable.
We ate lunch (rather uncomfortably for me) and headed over to the house. We did the walk through with the builder and once again the contractions died down a bit. By this point I was a little discouraged that there wasn't any rhyme or reason to them so made Reuben stop at a health food store on the way home so I could buy Raspberry leaf tea (and yes I know that you really have to be drinking the stuff a few weeks before for it to do anything..) cause I wanted to feel like I was doing something if this was going to go on for a couple days.
We got home around 2:30 and put Lucas down for a nap..it was at this time that the contractions started to come more regular. We started time them and they were definately closer and more intense but I was still able to talk to through them and laugh so we hummed and hawed about calling the midwife. After timing them for 30 mins they were 2 mins apart and lasting for 1 min...we called the midwife. I tried to make myself sound a little worse than I felt at the time cause I was worried that she wouldn't think I was very far along in labour, but she said that she would come and check me out and was 15 mins away. It was a good thing that we called when we did because in those 15 mins the contractions started coming more intense and closer together. I told Reuben that if she wasn't there in 5 mins to page her again!
By the time that she arrived it was 4:00..(Reuben had already taken Lucas to our neighbors) and she checked me right away. I was already 6-7 cm and progressing quickly. She called her partner right away and than Reuben and her were scrambling to get everything set up quickly. I was hoping for a waterbirth so we got the bathtub ready and I climbed in. I was suppose to have an iv for group B strep but the midwife could not find a vein for the iv because I was clenching my hands too tight so I decided against it (very loudly by that point..haha) My waterbroke in the bathtub thank goodness and I started pushing shortly after that. The 2nd midwife showed up and they kept checking baby. Her heart rate wasn't liking the bathtub so much, so they pulled me out onto the bed which worked better for her heart rate! 20 mins or so (felt like an eternity) she was born!
I had an epidural with Lucas so going drug free this time was a huge difference, but I would not change a thing. Adalynn was so much more alert after the birth without any drugs in her system and I was able to get up and shower and move right away! (gingerly of course) Allowing your body to do what it was meant to do without interference was an amazing thing! (don't get me wrong..I thought I was going to die!) Mind you 2.5 hours of active labour opposed to 10 hours or more makes a huge difference! Having her at home was an experience all in itself. To be able to snuggle into my own bed that night and have Lucas come home right away and see his baby sister was such an amazing feeling. The midwives cleaned everything up and left around 8:00. They came back the next morning to check on us, so no nurses coming in and waking us up every hour was another perk! Adjusting to our new little addition has been a journey in itself but seeing Lucas' love for his little sister just melts my heart!