Thumper has arrived!!

Baby's Name: Thumper/Violet

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: January 17, 2009

Original Due Date: January 19, 2009

Height/Weight: 7lbs. 6.5 oz. / 18.9 inches long

Story/Pictures:
Saturday dad and grandma were supposed to take Bubba to a boy scout function. In our state, it was single digit weather so I kind of advised against going. They were gonna see how I was feeling. Thumper had not dropped into my pelvis yet. When I woke up Saturday morning, I began having contractions that were about 16 minutes apart. They were lasting about 30 seconds. Pain scale rated about 3. Went back to bed until Chicky woke up. When she got up, I got up with her. All morning, they didnt get closer or longer. Dad and grandma did not go to the function (good thing). it was supposed to be from 6am until about 9pm. The girls were bickering all day and the youngest needed a nap. I talked her into going to take a nap with me about noon.

When we got up around 3pm, the contractions were about 4 mintues apart. Very mild. After watching the clock and trying to keep busy, dad decided to make supper and we were gonna call the doctor after supper. I told him we could not stay until after supper and it was almost time to go. He went and started the car while I called the doctor. She thought it was probably early labor and said because we were under a snow advisory I would come in if I really felt necessary or try to weather it out. We waited about 15 minutes for me to decide it was definately time to go.

We got to the hospital about 6pm. They took me to triage to assess if t was really labor about 6:15. When they hooked me up to the monitor, Thumper's heart rate went down with every contraction. They wheeled me into the room and the room was filled with people (probably 6:30 or so). She checked me and I was at 6 cm. After a few minutes, dad was gonna go get something to eat and I told him she would be here within an hour. My mom was not really convinced though (she was watching the other kids at home). My body was trying really hard to push and when they checked me again, I still had cervix and my water had not broken yet (though I was a 9). Once my water broke, they put an internal monitor on her head and her heartrate was still going down fast. The doctor pushed my cervix out of the way and they told me to push.
As I pushed, they were calling out the heart rate and it was going down and not coming back up. As daddy put it, she spit out like a watermelon seed. She was born in literally 70 seconds of pushing. The nurse told me because of her heart tones going so low, they were worried she was "going to the light" and I was 30 seconds away from a c-section.

We are doing well and has a very strong suck reflex.