Introducing....

WILLOW CADENCE

8/22/09

8 lbs. 1 oz.

21 inches long

She's absolutely perfect and so far, looks more like Aspen to me.

Wow, officially a family of five!

She's got his heart already...

I can already tell you that Aspen is going to be a great big brother to his two sisters. He is very proud of Willow. But in the hospital, he seemed more concerned with me and how I was doing. Isn't he sweet?

That is, of course, before we told him about the presents the baby brought him...


Journey is already loving to give her sister lots of kisses. Here she's wearing the sunglasses and bracelet the baby got her :)

A couple of proud grandmas!

We are so blessed to have such loving and involved families. I love that our kids are close to both sets of grandparents.



WARNING: This is Willow's birth story (and it's long). For those of you not interested or TMI, this is the time to stop reading :)

My due date was August 18th, Mark's birthday. At my 38 week doctor's appointment, the midwife that I saw estimated the babies weight at between 8.5 and 9lbs. Knowing that I had two weeks until my due date and my history of being overdue, I was pretty freaked out at how big this baby was going to be.

I have delivered a 9 lb. baby and have not forgotten the pain! I had also worked hard this pregnancy to keep in shape and not gain so much weight, hoping that that would lead to a smaller baby.

At the 39 week appointment they suggested acupuncture to try to get labor going. By my 40 week appointment (actually 40 weeks + 2 days) I had gone to acupuncture 3 times, tried Castor oil (which they had suggested doing), and was pretty discouraged. Mark actually came with me to the appointment to try to talk them into inducing me.

After checking to see how dilated I was, the midwife said she was not comfortable breaking my water to try to induce labor because the babies head was still high enough that the cord could come in front of the head and cause a medical emergency. She did say that if I was to go into light labor, to come in and they would break my water to keep things moving along.

The next day one of our good friends who was due two weeks past me went into labor, and I couldn't help but cry (yes, I'm happy for her, but everyone I know due around or after me had already delivered their babies, and being overdue is emotionally draining!) That's when Mark came up with our 'induction plan'. He thought that if I tried taking Castor oil one more time to get some contractions started, we could go into the hospital and convince them that it was labor enough for them to break my water.

I really didn't want to do Castor oil again, but decided to try one last time. I choked down the oil, took a 30 minute walk, and prayed that this would work. The contractions seemed to start coming more often around 3:30pm so I began to time them. They were not painful, but more than just braxton hicks. I called my mom around 5pm while I was making dinner to let her know our plan just in case it worked so that she would be ready to pick the kids up. At that time the contractions were about every 3-5 minutes. She felt like this was going to work and be the real thing and came right over.

I was still very doubtful since the contractions still were not ones I would call painful, but I could feel them enough to know that they would register on the monitors. On our way to the hospital, we called to let them know we were coming in and found out that all the maternity beds were full! They diverted us to another local hospital which wasn't a big deal except that I had planned a water birth and would not be able to do that at the new hospital.

We got to the hospital around 7pm on Friday, 8/21. When the midwife checked me out, I hadn't changed from the day prior. Still 3 cm dilated and the babies head was still high. She also noted that I didn't seem to be in much pain! I didn't want them to send me home and quickly started to show some discomfort with the contractions :)

She recommended that I start walking and would come back at 9:30pm to see if there was any change. Each time she would pop in to check on me, I felt like I had to act like the contractions were getting more painful. Really, I was praying like mad that the babies head would come down enough for them to be able to break my water.

At 9:30pm, she came to check me. I was 4 cm. and the babies head had moved down enough to break my water. After she did that, I felt an immediate difference in the strength of the contractions. We were both so relieved that this was it, we wouldn't be sent home, and I didn't have to 'act' anymore! Haha :) Our plan had worked.

I began walking around the room and using the birthing ball to deal with the pain. I was planning on laboring in the jacuzzi tub, but didn't want to get in too soon and stall labor. Around 10:30 or 11pm, I asked the nurse to fill the tub up so that I wouldn't miss the chance to use it.

Around 11:30-11:45pm, before getting in, she wanted to check to see how I was progressing. I was 5-6 cm. dilated and the baby was still pretty high. I felt a little discouraged when she said that because judging by the strength and pain level of the contractions, I had guessed I was more like 7-8 cm. dilated.

A few contractions later, I faintly heard Mark say that judging the way my labor seemed to be going he wasn't sure if I would be able to use the tub, to which she agreed. She felt like I may go from 6-10 cm very quickly. I was disappointed, but didn't have much time to dwell on the fact as the intensity of the contractions quickly escalated.

Between contractions I could hear the nurse quickly getting the supplies ready for the birth. All of a sudden, the uncontrollable urge to push came and she was in my face, telling me to breathe and not push. She pressed and emergency button and chaos ensued with huge rush of nurses and midwifes. Two pushes later at 12:01am 8/22, Willow was born crying. Two and a half hours of real labor left me exhausted and in shock that it was over already.

After all the predictions and stress over having large baby, we were amazed that Willow was only 8 lbs. 1 oz. - our smallest baby! We are so thankful she is here and healthy.