Life As It Is: July 2010

We are delighted to announce the arrival of our son Emmett Logan, born June 28th @ 5:16pm, weighing 8lbs. 7 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Even though it has been a couple of years since Jonas was born, we are re-learning what it takes to care for a newborn! It definitely is a different kind of adjustment with the 2nd one! Cory is home for 2 weeks which has been a blessing but I'm dreading the day he goes back to work and then I have to take care of 2 kids all by myself!

The birth of Emmett didn't go exactly how I imagined it but I guess they never really do. It all started on Monday (June 28th), Cory and I went to the Grey Nuns at 8am so I could be induced. I had mixed feelings about being induced, for one, I was never induced with Jonas so I thought why should I be induced with this baby, and also, I heard that when you are induced the contractions are way more intense! But this baby wanted his own unique birth story and so I was induced! I was induced with Cervidil (so no drip, thank goodness) and had to stay in the hospital for about 3 hours so they could monitor the baby and myself.
At about 11:30 am, I was allowed to leave the hospital (no progress of labour, though the Cervidil takes a few hours or so to kick in). I was feeling good so we decided to run some errands. First Cory and I went out for breakfast/lunch at Cora's, then we went shopping and Walmart and Costco. Mild contractions started in Walmart and then while in Costco, the contractions started to get a bit stronger and were probably 5 minutes apart. I told Cory that we should hurry home to unload (since we had some frozen items) and then go back to the hospital. Oh, before we went home, we stopped at A&W for lunch (I had a craving and I was worried that if I didn't eat now, who knows when I would be able to eat). At home, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart, consistently for about 1 hour so onward to the hospital we went!
It was about 3:30pm when we made it to the hospital. I first had to wait and get checked out in the assessment area. At this point the nurse told me that I was only 1cm dilated! Then they monitored the baby and myself for about an hour, baby's heartbeat looked good. Against the advise of the other nurses, my nurse decided that instead of sending me home (since I was only 1 cm), she told me to walk around for an hour and then she would assess me again (this was at 4:30pm). I walked around the labour ward for about 30 minutes and with the help of my wonderful husband, I was able to cope through the contractions. The contractions started to get more intense and I kept thinking - 'I'm only 1 cm and these contractions are brutal, how I am going to do this - damn Cervidil!' Then my water broke and another nurse had to check me (our original nurse went on break because she thought she had some time before she had to check me again). So just after 5pm, I was at 9 cm and the nurses rushed me into the labour/delivery room and at 5:16 pm (4 minutes of pushing), baby Emmett came into this world! It happened so fast that both my doctor and my doula missed the delivery! A resident doctor actually delivered Emmett! So there you have it - Emmett's arrival into this world! We are so blessed!