Our New Baby Bear

Yes! She finally came! One day after her due date, our new baby bear made her grand appearance! 8 lb. 6 oz. (the biggest of our babies yet), 20 inches long, and with a full head of hair, Baby got here a few minutes before the stroke of midnight. Maybe we should nickname her Cinderella.

Baby Bear obligingly waited for Grandma and Papa Bear to come for a visit. Papa got stuck somewhere in Spain on the way home due to a detour around that Icelandic volcano ash. He had quite a trip. He also had a couple of nights to get over the jet lag before staying up with Mama while Baby exploded into the world.

Now for the gory details...If you don't like birth stories, don't read any further!

We're not really sure when the labor started. After two 4-hour labors, we thought this one would go the same way, but that wasn't the case at all. Friday morning, Papa and Mama went to the doctor's for her weekly appointment. The doctor said she was in labor and to head to maternity.

After a few hours of observation, Mama hadn't progressed enough (only dilated 3 cm.), so they sent us home. Contractions continued throughout the day, 20-30 minutes apart. The next morning, Mama woke up with contractions 10-15 minutes apart. The contractions pretty much stayed 10 minutes apart through the rest of the day, but they got more painful. Finally, Mama and Papa headed to the hospital around 3 PM.

At the hospital, the doctor on call was the same one who sent Mama to the hospital the day before. He was so surprised to see her still pregnant! Things progressed slowly. By late evening, the nurse suggested Stadol to help Mama with her pain. Unfortunately, she couldn't have an epidural because the anesthesiologist was busy in another area. The Stadol put Mama out until about 10:45 when the nurse came to check Mama's progress. She was dilated to 5 cm.

A little while later, Mama got up to go potty. Her IV cord was tangled up with a bunch of other cords, and she couldn't get it loose. Of course, while she was standing there, she had another big contraction and her water broke. Her VERY attentive nurse ran in and checked her and yelled for the doctor STAT. (Good thing the tangled cord kept Mama from the bathroom or Baby would have been born in the toilet.) It was just about time to push. 5 to 10 cm and pushing within 45 minutes. The doctor came in and everything was set up, and then Mama could finally push. Two pushes, and Baby Bear was out. Thank goodness!!

Recovery went well, and there were no complications with Baby or Mama (although Baby had some funny spit-ups because she came out of the womb so fast). We are so happy to have our new little Baby Bear here now!