Anna London

She's here!

Born August 26 at 2:34 am

6 lbs 8 oz, 20.5 inches long

I honestly feel bad telling my birthing stories. I know a lot of women will hate me after reading this but here goes:

It's Saturday night and we got a babysitter to watch Macy so we could attend the adult session of stake conference. I was feeling rather uncomfortable sitting in the pews. I leaned over to Ja and whispered, "wouldn't it be funny if I went into labor tonight like Tiffany did with Lily?"(Exactly two years ago Tiffany was also sitting very uncomfortably in the August adult session of stake conference and get water broke later that night. Lily was born later that morning.) We laughed but didn't think much of it. I still had 2 weeks to go.

After conference we went on a double date with friends to Nielsen's custard and I got a strawberry cone. We went home and I dropped the babysitter off at about 10:15. At home I eat my nightly bowl of cereal and go to bed around 11 excited that we don't have 8:30 church the next morning.

At 12:20 I shoot out of bed because I had a dream my water broke and I was really scared. I realize it may not be a dream after all as I walk very slowly to the bathroom. I was so shaky from being scared I could hardly walk. Since my water didn't break with Macy my next stop was to the computer to confirm that my water did indeed break. I found an article that said if I lie down or sit for a few minutes and fluid comes out again after standing then my water broke. After standing lots of fluid was running down my leg. I cleaned up, called my doctor, then woke up Ja. He said that was not news he wanted to hear at 12:30 in the morning. My doctor finally called back at 12:40 and she told me to go to the hospital. She was there finishing up a c-section. Trevor came over around 1 am and then we were off to the hospital. I felt a little bad that I didn't put Macy to bed since now I wouldn't see her the next morning either, but she was fine.

My contractions were pretty painful this time around since my water already broke. I was so glad there wasn't any traffic on the way because I was in pain. At least I didn't have any contractions before my water breaking.

We finally got to the hospital around 1:20 am. It's really hard trying to fill out paperwork and answer questions while trying to get through labor contractions. I eventually get into a gown, in bed, and an IV hooked up I ask the nurse about an epidural because no one has asked yet. She said she's getting to it, there are other questions she has to ask first. I told her my first labor went really quickly, only 20 mins of pushing. She was startled and went to find a pressure back to get the IV fluid in me faster. She couldn't locate one so she ended up squeezing the IV bag to push the fluid out faster. My doctor measured me at a 6 and said there was time for the epidural so the anesthesiologist was called in. It's difficult to hold completely still in a C shape when bad contractions come. But I did it and the medicine was flowing. The nurse had to remind me a lot to breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth during contractions.

Only 6 minutes later I tell the nurse this baby is coming. I can't hold it in any more. Dr. Anderson comes in and confirms that it's time to push. I gave a good 10 second push, then another 10 second push and her whole body was out. I did scream when her shoulders came through. It felt so good to get that baby out! The doctor said that I pretty much had a natural child birth. Technically I had the epidural but 6 minutes is not enough time for the medicine to take effect. I couldn't believe I did it! I survived a child birth without an epidural! I'm actually quite proud of myself. They turned the medicine off after Anna was born but I did feel the effects of it after she was born but only very slightly. I feel like it was much easier to push this time around because I had more strength to do so because I wasn't medicated. It's a hard decision- do I get the epidural next time to not have the pain? Or do I forgo it because the labor (and recovery) went faster?

Anna did have the umbilical cord around her neck but just once. The doctor was not concerned about it. She said she could deliver babies all day every day if every labor was like mine. She said she enjoyed it. (Probably because it only lasted 5 minutes.)

After her birth we looked at her and tried out a couple of the names we picked for her and Anna London was the only one to fit. So Anna London it is! Both Ja and I loved her instantly and are so happy to have her in our family! She is such a blessing!