Emily Jane Young joined us this morning at 10:50:28 AM weighing 7 lbs. 11.6 ounces and 21″ long. Mother and baby are doing GREAT!
The short version: Early labor woke Elizabeth at 2:00 AM and she couldn’t tell if the pain was pregnancy related or just a sore back. After pondering for a couple hours, and digging a path to the car through 18″ of snow, she called the hospital around 4:00 AM to ask if she was, indeed, in labor. They asked about the contraction intervals and encouraged her to wait a bit more and asked what she was doing to get comfortable…she told them about her path digging and they almost passed out. They thought she was married to the biggest cad in the world! “How dare he have his contacting wife dig out the car!” they snorted. Little did they know I was still sound asleep and she hadn’t even woken me up yet. So she came upstairs, nudged me awake, and said she thought it was time. We got ready and headed to the hospital at 6:00 AM, only to find the maternity ward full. UGH. They put us in ICU for a bit and as we walked around, they “cycled” another family out and prepared a room for us. That was the best $100 bucks I ever slipped to a nurse (but not the only, but that’s another story…).
Elizabeth opted to take a whirlpool bath and as her contractions began to get more intense, she decided to just stay there and have a water birth. For the next almost two hours she pushed and pushed. I will not try to diminish the courage and strength she showed during labor. Elizabeth is an incredibly strong woman and what she did was amazing. I participated as much as I could, but that really was only giving her encouraging words and keeping her cooling cloths fresh. Elizabeth did all the work and I got to cut the cord.
I’m not very good at blogging, and don’t know how to get pictures onto the computer, so you’ll have to wait another day or two for the official unveiling. I just wanted to let everyone know mom and baby are well.
We expect to be back home Wednesday morning. If you want to leave her a message (strongly encouraged!) I’ll be sure to print them off for her/them. Thanks everyone for your support through this journey.
Chris a/k/a Emily’s dad
