Kellah Mae Sylvia Jones

On Friday I went in to see my midwife at about 2pm. She did a stretch and sweep to see if we could get things going but we scheduled me to come back in at 7pm that night to break my water since I was 5 days overdue and the baby was low enough. I went back home and Mahayla and I walked around our neighborhood about 5 times to see if we could get things going. I was starting to feel a little crampy but nothing crazy was going on so we went in to pack Mahayla's bag so she would be ready for her stay at Auntie and Shaya's house for the weekend. I did a bunch of last minute cleaning and chores and then my Mom got to my house so she could stay with Mahayla until my sister arrived. Greg got home around 6:15 so he got ready, ate some dinner and we took off.

When we got to the birth center they were lighting candles and getting the room ready. At about 7:20 they broke my water and things started moving along. I was able to work through the first part of the contractions pretty well by sitting on the exercise ball and using one of the candles as a focal point. I had put together good playlist and Greg made me some CD's so listening to the music really helped me to concentrate as well as Greg applying counter pressure on my lower back. My Mom arrived at about 8:30 and did whatever she could to help me feel comfortable. I went through those managable contractions until about 9pm then they got more intense and it was a little harder to remain calm. I stayed in that position until about 10 o'clock when I got into the jacuzzi tub. The tub felt great but I was still in some major pain. Greg was awesome coaching me through each contraction and my Mom was applying cold wash cloths to my face, neck and back depending on what position I was in. By around 10:30 I was not a happy camper and began begging for an epidural My midwife informed me that my statement probably meant that I was ready to push so I tried to do so through my next contraction but I just couldn't get into the right position so I decided to get out and got on the birthing stool.

I cannot begin to describe the kind of pain I was in at this point. I was caught between being in so much pain that I just wanted the baby out and being afraid to push because of the pain. I pushed through about 3 contractions and felt like I wasn't getting anywhere (Again, fellow mothers will understand this) but I was finally able to push her to crown and then I entered my own personal hell called "The Ring of Fire" I literally felt like the lower half of my body had spontaneously combusted...NOT fun! I promptly pushed her head out and felt a sense of relief until I was told that I still had to push her shoulders out. At this point I started yelling at everyone around me to just take her out because I could not do it. Greg kept trying to encourage me and let me know that she was right there and that she was so pretty. He was so cute....already in love with her before she was fully born! Obviously, I made it past that point and pushed her out with the next contraction. She was born at 11:16 so that was about 4 hours of labor....MUCH better than the 19 hours I had with Mahayla.

Once I delivered her they handed her right to me and she didn't make a peep as I held her. She just hung out and got used to being in a new place. I think that my midwife was a bit concerned that she wasn't making any noise but as soon as Greg cut the cord and I handed her off she let out a huge wail. I delivered the placenta then somehow made it over to the bed where I just sat absolutely zoned out for about 30 minutes. When I finally had the strength to speak and actually hold her Greg brought her over to me and she began nursing like a champ! We hung out at the birth center for about 3 hours while they checked out the baby and watched me and my Mom went and got Greg and I some food. At about 2:30 am we left and headed home. It was so great to spend our first night in our own bed with no one to bother us!

Here is our sweet girl:

Kellah Mae Sylvia Jones

Born: September 19 at 11:16 pm

Weight: 7 lbs 12.5 oz

Height: 21 inches