Laurel was so excited to get to come see her baby sissy in the "pital." Her Nanny and Papaw bought her a special baby doll so that she could introduce us to her baby and her to our baby.

This is my incredible doula, Angie. She was incredible during the delivery.
Here's the first kiss between sisters. Laurel is crazy about Baby "Geta."
And finally here's a very tired but proud mama with her new baby girl.

Tim and I stayed up until about 1 a.m. early Wednesday morning watching an incredible thunderstorm spread out around our house. Shortly after I fell asleep, I was woken up with my first contraction at 2 a.m. and it was definitely different than anything I'd felt before. It spread into my back and the tops of my legs and was very low in my belly. I got up and went to the computer to use a contraction counter so that I didn't have to wake Tim up and they were very consistently 45 seconds long and 6 minutes apart. The only thing changing was the intensity. By 3:30 I woke Tim up and told him we might want to get packed and ready to go. I called my doula, Angie, shortly after 4 and she agreed that it sounded like this was for real. We decided it would be best to meet at the hospital.

At 4:30 my water broke and almost instantly the intensity and frequency of the contractions went through the roof. I endured a very difficult 30 minute car ride to the hospital (which I later found out must have been my transition phase.) They were coming every 2 to 3 minutes and I really had to moan to deal with them. Poor Laurel was in the backseat, but she was a real trooper. She kept asking, “Mommy, belly hurt?” My parents met us at the hospital and took Laurel home with them. Angie was also waiting for me and helped me get into triage where the nurse exclaimed "I can't find a cervix. Get the doctor here immediately!" I was completely dilated and starting to feel the urge to push.

They rushed me into a room and called in a resident physician from another group who was there for another labor. She and Angie (who is also a certified midwife) were getting a game plan together to deliver me while I stood up beside the bed. (I refused to lie down in the bed because it was just too painful to move anywhere.) I leaned over the bed and tried a few pushing contractions standing up but I could never really find a comfortable place or a way to relax between pushes. At that point I decided the bed looked a whole lot better and I sat down. Luckily our regular OB arrived just in time and jumped into the action.

Tim had gowned and gloved up and the OB was teaching him how to catch the baby! At this point I was scared out of my mind to push for fear of the pain. Angie stood beside my head the whole time and talked to me about why I did, in fact, have to push and push past the point where my mind told my body to quit. I "sat out" several contractions while I worked up the courage to do it and then she said the magical words, "Your baby really needs you to push.” I had heard them mention that there was “light meconium” showing up in my fluid and that the baby’s heart rate was starting to show a little distress so I closed my eyes, drew in my legs to my chest and pushed as hard as I could. Feeling her head move down and then crown was the most intense/painful/incredible feeling. With one more push her head was out I felt relief. The next push to get her shoulders out was just as intense but the fear was gone because I knew I had already done it once.

Tim caught her and put her on my chest. No one had told us that our baby was a girl (and Tim didn’t even think to look) so immediately I moved the cord to see her. I got the privilege of telling everyone that we had a little girl! It was awesome.

I had a 2^nd degree tear that went into the muscle so the repair work was fairly uncomfortable but I was finally holding my little girl so it was all alright. The hospital staff was awesome and I held her on my chest for about 2 hours. They did her Apgar checks, her Vitamin K shot and her eye ointment all while I held her and let her start nursing. There was no pressure to bath her or measure her and they just told me to let them know when I wanted to get those things done.

Greta May was born at 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. She weighed 8 pounds and measured 19.5 inches.

From our frantic 5 a.m. arrival until our discharge, we were only in the hospital for 32 hours. Now we are back home and enjoying seeing our two girls get acquainted.

This morning at 6:20 a.m. Miss Greta May joined our family. The birth story is a whirlwind, but everything went wonderfully and so far both she and myself are doing very well. She's been nursing like a champ so far and I've been feeling pretty good after a completely natural birth. I'll try to get pictures and the full story posted soon.

Well, despite the signs, this baby has decided it needs to cook just a little bit longer. At this point I kind of regret having the cervical exam because I think if I didn't know I was 4 cm dilated I wouldn't be on pins and needles waiting for something to happen. As you can tell from my ticker at the top, I'm still only 37.5 weeks along, so baby really should stay in there another 2.5 weeks for me to be at my due date.

Between the cervical dilation and effacement, the periodic Braxton Hicks contractions, losing my mucus plug (gross, I know) and hearing that second babies come earlier than first babies, I had convinced myself that the baby would be born this past weekend. I even ran home from work Thursday night to pack my hospital bag and get it in the car.

On a related note, I realized today at 1:17 p.m. that this is the most pregnant I've ever been - so there's that...

This could be my last evening as a mother of one child! Isn't that exciting?? I had my 37 week appointment today and was dilated 4 centimeters! That's where I was in terms of dilation after labor started with Laurel, so I'm thinking things could start at any moment. I'm so excitednervousanxious for little one's arrival. I can't wait to find out if I'm going to be the mommy of a little boy or of two girls. My doula is on call and has already been hard at work today in the birthing world (her goat had two babies this afternoon). If labor doesn't start soon it's going to be hard to relax enough to go to sleep, but I know I need to save all of my strength for labor.

That's my mantra right now. I met with my doula, Angie, last night. She is a certified midwife and offered to check my cervix to see if any dilation/effacement had started and to see if baby had dropped. With all the contractions I've been having and the low pelvic pressure I've been feeling I decided it would be a good idea to see exactly where I stand.

Well, it seems like I've got another impatient little one on my hands. Angie palpated my abdomen and commented that it seemed like baby was in a ROA position, which means baby is head down with his back on my right side. She said that is typically a position which will translate into a fast and problem-free labor. She then checked the position of baby's head in my pelvis and was a little surprised at how low it already was. With the cervical exam she walked Tim and I through each step to explain exactly what she was looking for and feeling of.

Obviously with Laurel I had some internal exams but I never really knew what they were doing and how they were coming up with X number of centimeters. Angie explained that she first checks the feel of the cervix to see if it is hard or soft to see how much effacement has taken place. The cervix has to be completely soft and pliable before significant dilation can occur. She said my cervix was very "mushy." (I believe that's a technical term.) She then felt to see if actual dilation had started. Sure enough, I'm already at 2 centimeters. She said I wasn't dilated all the way through my cervix but that she didn't want to push too much and risk causing more dilation at this early stage.

After gathering all that information she suggested I continue to take things easy and stay very hydrated. She said my body was definitely in a position where labor could begin at any time and progress fairly quickly. My goal right now is to make until April 23rd. That will put me at 37 weeks and in a much safer place to ensure baby is ready to be out in the real world. Obviously I'd love to make it until May, but I'm not sure how realistic that is at this point.

So everyone say it with me, "Stay in there, stay in there, stay in there..."

This pregnancy has been very different than my first. I experienced nausea this time, I'm getting bruised ribs from all the kicks and, unfortunately, have been experiencing lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. With Laurel I never had a single contraction until my water broke and I went into labor. I've not been so lucky this time... Until a couple days ago they had been completely pain-free and sporadic so I hadn't worried too much. I did mention it to my doctor and she reassured me that most second time moms experience contractions even if they didn't with their first.

However, night before last I was woken up by pretty strong contractions several different times. They were very irregular so I tried not to worry too much. I got up, ate some cereal and read a book for a little while. They calmed down and I went back to bed. Within an hour and a half I was woken up again and this time the contractions were starting low and making their way up to the top of my uterus. They were accompanied by a menstrual-type cramping low in my abdomen. Needless to say this really freaked me out. I watched the clock and tried to time them but they were very irregular and thankfully fizzled out within about 45 minutes.

Last night I slept well and didn't experience any contractions so I'm hoping it was a one-time thing and won't be happening again for at least two more weeks. But to be on the safe side, I'm going to have my doula check to see if I've had an cervical change when I meet with her tomorrow night. That way I can know if these contractions are actually doing anything or just annoying me.

Laurel was born at 37 weeks and while she was completely healthy, I was really hoping to keep this little one in just a bit longer, and I really don't want to have a 35 or 36 weeker. Tim has stepped up with house work and is trying to let me relax in the evenings so we can keep these contractions under control. I'm hoping that will delay things for at least a little while.