Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers sent our way for a safe and happy delivery. Caterina's was a beautiful birth and we're enjoying her immensely!
Beginnings of Labor. After grocery shopping I enjoyed a late morning nap on Wednesday the tenth and I awoke to contractions every twenty minutes around 12:30pm. They were consistent but weren't terribly intense so I went about my day as usual. At 6pm I called into the birth center to let them know this was likely to be the night and asked who I should call when it becomes time.
A Dark and Stormy Night. Shortly after speaking with the folks at the birth center contractions went from 20 minutes apart to 15 minutes apart and . . . the weather took a nasty turn. A tornado warning and nasty thunderstorms ensued. Nothing ever came of the tornado warning but thunder, lightning and torrential rain were a constant throughout the night.
Bedtime. After a late supper I hung out on the sofa and distracted myself with The Thomas Crown Affair while the kids settled into bed. I figured being interrupted every 10 minutes wasn't the end of the world as I had seen the movie several times.
Active Labor. By the time Joseph and Michael came out to report that Bernie, Cinta, Cross and Nunzio were all asleep at 9:30 I had lost the ability to concentrate on the movie. Contractions were getting to be 5 minutes apart and quite a bit more intense than earlier in the day. I turned off the movie and asked Justin to help me out. We had decided ahead of time that I would walk through contractions for as long as I could handle it to move things along. With Justin's support we did just that. I complained constantly about walking during contractions but truth be told the contractions were easier to manage that way. (Don't tell Justin I said that!) By 10:30 contractions were now 3 minutes apart and I called my midwife, Kathleen, and asked her to come on over. Kathleen lives close by and walked through my door before 11 despite reports of flash flooding in the area.
A Blur. I can't remember a whole lot of detail at this point. I think it was somewhere around midnight that I couldn't handle walking through contractions anymore or even standing. I remember trying a variety of positions but nothing was remotely comfortable anymore. Somewhere around 1:15 to 1:30 Kathleen broke my water at my request.
1:39AM. I don't know how much of this I voiced but my mindset at this point was that my body was not going to push this baby out. I knew the baby had to come out somehow but clearly not by my efforts. I flopped over on my side in despair and . . .
1:43AM. The final contraction set in and I began to push again, I thought it would be in vain. Then the all familiar burning sensation of birth set in and Caterina made her appearance. #7 was born at 7 pounds even, 19 inches long and infinitely beautiful!
Kids' Reactions. Bernie, who was asleep in the bed that Caterina was born in, woke up at the onset of the final contraction, sat up, and watched the birth live. She yelled "BABY!!!!!" when Caterina was out and wasted no time getting to know her baby sister. Jacinta, also asleep in the same bed, woke up right after the birth, looked up at Caterina with a big smile on her face and then pretended to go back to sleep. When I invited her over to see her new sister she popped right up and chatted Kathleen and her assistant's ears off--she was terribly excited. Later, Joseph, Michael and Cross would say they awoke to, "Mom screaming followed by a crying baby followed by someone yelling 'Girl!'". A few minutes after the birth Justin had them come in and meet their new sister. Nunzio woke up a little while later and met her. Mom and Papa and all her brothers and sisters love Caterina (aka Tuppaneena in Bernie-speak) dearly. She certainly is not starving for attention!
Getting the Word Out. Shortly after birth, while Kathleen and her assistant were attending to Caterina and me, Justin snuck out to the computer, filled in the blanks in the birth announcement, called up the 'We have a girl!' blog entry, uploaded the picture and sent the link out.
The First Days. I'm hearing a lot of "Can I hold her now, Mom?" these days. Justin and the boys are spoiling me. I've done little more than rest and enjoy my family. Soon I'll be fully recovered.
Jen
