Violet Emily Chick

Violet Emily Chick

March 9, 2010 - 5:27pm

7 lbs. 8 oz.

19 3/4 in.

Our little Violet finally decided to make her debut in the world this last Tuesday and we are all SO EXCITED!!! She is beautiful and healthy and LOVED. She's got a fuzzy head of dark blonde hair and fuzz just about everywhere else too! :) On her back, her ears, her cheeks . . . so cute and soft.

I'd been having contractions -- for weeks :) -- but all weekend particularly. When I went in to my midwife appointment on Monday, I was dilated to 3 cm -- a huge improvement over the week before -- and my midwife asked if I wanted to have my membranes stripped -- to see if that helped move things along. Of course I did and then had nice, hard, regular contractions throughout the remainder of the day. However, as the night wore on and we were getting the girls to bed and preparing to mobilize the troops and go to the hospital, they slowed down considerably. By about 10, they were about 7-10 minutes apart and not nearly as hard as they'd been earlier. Exhausted and frustrated I finally went to bed, with contractions remaining at about that consistency throughout the night.

Needless to say, the next morning, I was TIRED and . . . irritable (read Sleep-Deprived Maniac). I called my sweet mother to cry for a while and then got on with the day, continuing to have less than promising contractions. Finally around 11:30 I called my midwife again to ask her what she would be willing to do for me. :) I'd wanted to go natural with this baby, but was afraid that if I continued along the road I was presently on, by the time I actually went into "real" labor I would be so exhausted I'd not be able to go through with it. Sweet woman that she is, she told me that if I had dilated to at least a 4 in the last 24 hours (which was very likely), she'd break my water for me and admit me to the hospital. She said to bring Nels and my bag and just plan on staying. HALLELUJAH! My mom arrived to stay with my girls and we were off.

We arrived at Helene's office around 2:30, she broke my water at about 3:00, and we were admitted and in a room at the hospital by 4:00 with instructions to call her as soon as I felt like I needed her help. Contractions were hurting quite a bit by this point, but I didn't want to jump the gun, so I decided to go sit in the hospital's jacuzzi tub for a while before calling. :) It felt wonderful, but I still spent the next hour or so trying to "be in the zone" - or something. :) Mostly trying to listen to my body, zone Nels out, and trying to not want to kill the nurse every time she'd peek her head in to ask me another question or want to check the baby's heart rate again, right in the middle of another contraction. All the while, wondering if I was making the right decision and could I really do this. Nels assured me (when I wasn't telling him to be quiet :) that I could, that I already was doing it, and that if I decided not to, he was absolutely fine with that. **He's such a wonderful husband.** 

After about an hour, I came to a point where I felt like every time I twitched a muscle, I was having another unbearable contraction, with no breathing room in between. I was exhausted. I concluded that I, in fact, could NOT continue to do this and I didn't need to. I was going to get an epidural and go to sleep --- if only I could get out of that darn tub without ripping into a million little pieces in the process. LOL! After what felt like one long, unbearable contraction all the way from the jacuzzi to my room, we made it. We were followed in by my midwives, who'd just gotten there. After another contraction, I turned around to greet them and told them that I didn't want to do this anymore -- I didn't think I could. Helene smiled sweetly and said, "That just fine. Let's see how far along you are." In the time that it took us to have this two sentence conversation, I started having another contraction and realized that I knew EXACTLY how far along I was! Just kidding about the epidural, I think she's coming RIGHT NOW! Three or four pushed later, our little Violet was welcomed into this world by a STUNNED mother and a SHOCKED father. LOL! Thank goodness Helene and Karen hadn't waited until I called them!!

I just couldn't believe that I did it! And the midwives told my dear friend who had an appointment with them the following day, that the look on Nels's face was priceless. :) It was just SO FAST! None of my labors have been long ones, but this one was definitely a very different experience. :) Nels asked me about half an hour after she'd been born if I'd do it this way again. I told him that my opinion at the moment was more than a little jaded and to not ask such questions for about six months. :) However I can say, even three days later, that I would absolutely do it this way again. It was such an incredible, empowering experience. Intense and painful and like nothing else on the planet - but one that I will never, ever forget. The only thing that I would have done differently is to have had the sense to call my midwife earlier, so that she could help me understand better what exactly my body was doing. That during that period of "every muscle twitch is causing me to have another contraction" - it actually meant that I was pretty much done. :) She told me afterward that generally by the time women (who have had more than one baby) get to the point that they think they can't do it and want drugs, they are already done and ready to push. :)

I am so thankful for my sweet Nels. He was there for me just as I needed him to be - even when I was telling him to be quiet or to stop touching me or to stop making me laugh. :) He is my best friend and confidant in every way. I'm so thankful to have been blessed to bring another child into this world with him at my side. FOUR KIDS!!! Holy cow. We are not a "little" family anymore!

Isn't she so beautiful?! We love our little Violet!