Listening to Myself

Saturday, December 17, 2005

We are proud to announce...

The birth of our son, Gregory Alan! He was born at 5:25 am this morning, at home with our midwife and her assistant present. It was absolutely wonderful, I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience.

Gregory is doing very well, and I am feeling tired, but well and healthy. It was a pretty fast labor, really - I started having contractions at about 7 pm, but they weren't really that strong or that close together (maybe about 10 min). They continued through the evening, and when we went to bed at about 10 they were closer together, but I could still easily doze between them. I'm glad I took the opportunity to get a few hours sleep, I think that was very helpful!

At about 1:30 or 2 they got a lot stronger and I couldn't stay in bed anymore, so we called my Mom to pick up Emma and called the midwife so she could come over. She checked me at about 2:30 and I was at about 4 cm, then again in about another 30 min and I was at 5 cm, so things were moving right along. It was so wonderfully peaceful - we all chatted between contractions, Matt helped me by giving me pressure on my back during contractions, then we would chat a bit more and rest. My water broke (with a little pop sound, which I thought was funny) and things got a bit more intense at that point, but still everything was so much easier and more manageable than last time. Not being stuck in bed with IVs and a catheter (not to mention w/o the pitocin!) makes everything so much better!!! The pushing even was very peaceful - we had a fire in the fireplace, the Christmas lights turned on the tree, and my midwife was knitting away (I love the sound of knitting needles clacking together!) while her assistant kept an eye out for the baby's head. Matt was absolutely wonderful through everything - a firm, steady hand and a loving presence. I couldn't have asked for more! With my last birth, I felt like I had been hit by a truck afterwards, but this time I just feel like I was out running for a long time... muscles sore and tired, but nothing that won't be back to normal within a day or two.

Gregory's already nursing well and his alert periods seem more alert and longer than I remember with Emma. Right now he is sleeping in the cradle in the middle of the family room, making cute little newborn noises. Emma is still with my parents, but they are bringing over dinner shortly and then Emma will stay home after that. My family dropped by this morning after Matt, Gregory and I took a nap and Emma got to see him and hold him. She is completely enthralled with her new baby brother!

My mom took some photos, but now I can't get the site up to grab one to post here. I'll try to do that at some point today or tomorrow.

2 Comments:

  • Congrats, Amber and Matt (and Emma, and Gregory too). We're looking forward to seeing lots of photos.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:53 PM  

  • Oh, JOY! I am so happy and thrilled. Thank you for leaving me a heads up about his arrival so I could come and savor it. It sounds simply WONDERFUL. Congratulations to you and Matt, and to Big Sister Emma. Welcome to the world, precious Gregory Alan! (I love the photo you posted above, too. He's beautiful.)

    Hugs and happiness this Christmas.
    Dy

    By Blogger Dy, at 12:18 PM  

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