Caroline Ruth was born very early on Friday morning, at the Puget Sound Birth Center. This wonderful facility is run by two midwives, Chris Thain and LeeAnne Shelley, who we started working with after deciding we didn't like our obstetrician. They were just great to work with. They were supportive of the drug free birth we wanted to have, and far more accessible than a regular doctor. The facilty they have is very comfortable, and almost homelike. There are three separate birthing rooms, each with a queen bed and a large deep tub for labor pain relief, which was key for Gem!
Gem started having real contractions on Wednesday, and we were up most of that night. Contrary to all we'd learned in our classes, Gem never really got contractions 5 minutes apart. Finally, at about 2 PM on Thursday, they started getting stronger, and we went in to have her checked. 6-7 cm and on her way! Things progressed throughout the afternoon, and she started pushing about 7 PM. Even then, her contractions were fairly far apart, so she got a chance to rest between then.
Pushing was complicated a bit by the fact that Caroline decided to scratch her ear during birth, so we had a hand presenting along with the head. This slowed down the pushing stage, so it ended up lasting about 5 1/2 hours. For almost all of this time, however, Gem was in the hot tub, which greatly eased things. We also had Kyndal May, a massage therapist, there as a labor assistant, who did a wonderful job of keeping Gem relaxed between contractions. At the end, I got in the tub as well so I could catch the baby and cut the cord. It was an amazing experience, far better than we could have had at a hospital. The fact that Gem didn't have any drugs meant that Caroline was born alert, and opened her eyes almost immediately after birth. Not surprisingly, her parents fell in love right away!
I've decided to remove a lot of the older shots, so I've put the best of them on: