Helena Louise

Yesterday afternoon we welcomed our second beautiful daughter, Helena Louise Anderson, to our family at 2:13 in the afternoon. She weighs 6 lb 8 oz and is 19 inches long. So far, she loves sucking on fingers and being held. Big sister Tempe was skeptical at first (she yelled "No, no, no!" when we first asked if she wanted to hold the baby) but is warming up to Helena. To get all of the details of the birth, keep reading!!

*** DISCLAIMER!!! I'll try not to make this too graphic, but if you're not interested in things like dilation, better stop now. ***

At my 37 and 38 week appointments, I was 4 cm dilated with a bulging bag of waters and having lots of irregular (but painful) contractions. My midwife was concerned that since I was already so dilated and contracting, I would go really fast when I went into labor, so she asked if I wanted to augment my labor by having her break my water. At first I wasn't sure, but after a few more days of an aching back and fruitless 5-minute-long contractions, I agreed, so she scheduled us to come in Sunday morning at 7 am. When we got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitor to see if I was contracting on my own, and I was, but they weren't very strong and they weren't at all regular. Esther (my midwife) checked my cervix around 8, and we were all surprised to see that I was 6 cm already. How could I possibly be 6 cm and not in labor? I don't know! Esther broke my water and we all expected me to go really fast... but 4 hours later, I still wasn't contracting! We decided to use Pitocin to get my labor going, and as soon as the nurse hooked the Pitocin up to my IV, I started having pretty strong contractions. This is what I looked like during my contractions:

Just kidding... that was me goofing off.

After about an hour of pretty painful contractions, I decided that I wanted to get an epidural after all, so they brought the cart in and got it all set up, but the anesthesiologist was tied up in another room and I had to wait for her. I was in a lot of pain, but I just kept thinking about that epidural... until I realized that I felt like I needed to push!!! I admit, I panicked when I realized that the anesthesiologist wasn't going to make it before I delivered. I feel like I was out of control the first few times I pushed, but after a few contractions I realized that it was only when I was actually pushing that I was in a lot of pain, and I started to relax between contractions and get on top of the pain. Jason said it was pretty funny because I was screaming bloody murder while I was pushing, and then as soon as the contraction ended I was perfectly coherent, making jokes and laughing and asking Esther questions... then another contraction would start building and I would start screaming again!

Luckily, I only had to push for about 15 minutes before Helena was born. When they put her on my chest, she was screaming (like mother like daughter) and I was just shaking. I couldn't believe that I had actually delivered a baby without drugs! It was an amazing feeling, especially because when it was over, it was over and I felt 100% better. The very best part about it was I had no tearing or cutting, which means no stitches!! I can't believe how good I feel and how easy it is to get out of bed and walk around. I almost feel like I didn't have a baby at all.

Jason and I are surprised at how different Tempe and Helena already are. Tempe was very quiet and very, very low key as a newborn... Helena voices her displeasure when her diaper is changed or you try to move her when she's comfortable, and she likes to be held constantly. I love that even though my girls are sisters, they already have their own distinct personalities!

Tempe and "Baby Sister"

The whole happy family!