A Quick Gwenny Fix

Gwenny asleep in her sleep sack

a kiss from Grandpa Navarrete in the walker that the Cohen's gave her


Gwenny's impersonation of Aunt Beth as a baby


Gwenny waking up happy in her crib


Her latest thing is talking. She is talking up a storm! This morning she almost made her mommy late to work b/c she had so much to say during breakfast. Gwenny needs to learn her manners - she loves to talk with her mouth full!

Mommy's Version

Here was my version of the birth story, written a week or two after Gwenny arrived...

Thursday evening, March 17th, Beth and Bryan were over to watch the basketball game and eat pizza with us. I was having some light menstrual-type cramps, but tried not to get my hopes up, as I'd had them a couple times before. Went to bed that night no problem.

At about 3:30 am on Friday morning, March 18th, I started feeling regular, slightly more intense menstrual type cramps. I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed a tiny bit of bloody show. I woke up Richard and told him that I thought we might be having a baby that day. We timed the contractions for a little while using Becky's Palm Pilot and I think they were about 5 or 6 minutes apart, but not very intense. We decided we should get as much sleep as we could, while we could.

A few hours later, I think around 7 a.m. or so, they started getting more intense, so I woke Richard again and asked him to time them with me. I think they were still about 5 min apart, but they were maybe a little longer, most lasting close to a minute.

We decided to call the doctor's office when they opened at 8 a.m., and to go ahead and start calling family. Rich was staying in a hotel with his aunt (who was in from West Texas visiting), so we had to call them and ask that they bring him back to the house. We called Beth and asked that they come pick him up from the house at 9 a.m. We also needed Bryan to help set out all the things we had packed up to donate to the Paralyzed Vets, b/c we were scheduled for a pickup that day!

We called my parents and Richard's parents, and asked Rob and Delia to come get Grommit when they could. We asked Beth to call Jeff. We called my ob's office, in case they needed to send over my charts, etc, and they were like, "ok, that's nice, we'll let her know when she gets back on Monday." Which is what I figured they would say, but we wanted to call just in case. Then we called the backup dr's office, but he was in surgery, so they said he'd call us back. They wanted us to go in to his office, but Richard said no, b/c the hospital that we will deliver at is 2 minutes away, so why would we drive 15 minutes away during rush hour to his office?

The dr called back an hour or so later and said it was fine to labor at home and just to go in to the hospital when we thought we should. LOL - thanks for the instructions!

Contractions were getting more intense and we both decided to take showers and start getting things ready to go. I had to go to the bathroom a lot throughout the day and had more bloody show. I tried different things to help with the contractions, and we ended up getting through most of them with me rocking on the birth ball and Richard pressing on my lower back with all his might.

Rob came to get the dog during one of my contractions, and he seemed a bit startled by it. I think it was hard for him to believe I would really be in pain when he arrived, so he was joking around, and we were ignoring him, getting through a contraction. Then he was like, "um,well, you seem to be in a lot of pain, so I'll leave." Ha ha.

The dr called again to see how things were progressing. That was nice and unexpected. He told me to get going to the hospital right away if I started to feel a lot of pressure like I had to have a bowel movement.

It was really hard figuring out when to go to the hospital, as we wanted to stay at home as long as possible to avoid interventions. Things were heating up, and when I had two contractions on top of each other, with no break in between, we decided it was time. I was very nervous about having contractions while in the car, but since it was only a 3 minute drive, I only had one.

We got to the hospital ER to check in and it was the same guy at the desk who had checked me in for my non-stress test the week before. He was new and extremely nervous, which made things take longer. He was also extremely chatty. He told me twice to sit down and twice I told him "NO". LOL! He really flipped when I had two contractions while checking in. He totally thought I was going to have the baby right there. The nurse was like, "don't worry, she's not going to have the baby right here!"

We got sent up to labor & delivery and I had to pee in a bowl in the toilet. Then I got to put on the lovely hospital gown and the nurse felt my tummy during a contraction to see how strong they were. She didn't think they were that strong. (I disagreed ;) ) Ricahrd went to get the stuff from the car.

I had to lie down on the bed and they put a couple fetal monitors on me for a looooong time. Ugh. That sucked. It was so hard to get through the contractions without being able to move around. I had to lay there for about 40 minutes I think. The dr had called right after we checked in and we told him we were at the hospital and he said he was on his way over.

The nurse checked me and I was only 2.5 cm!!!!! She said I was paper-thin (90% effaced) and that you spend the first half of labor getting to 3 cm, and the second half getting the rest of the way. That was nice and encouraging. Then the dr comes in to talk to me while I was hooked up and said that I was pretty much off the normal labor progress chart, and that if I continued to progress at that rate, it could be another 12 or 24 hours, and offered me drugs. :/ My birth plan specifically said,"Offer pain medication only at mother's request." This was not
encouraging. He also wanted to break my water, but knew that I wanted to rupture naturally.

Richard and I discussed what to do and decided we would try walking around for an hour and see how that went, and if there was little or no progress, we would consider breaking my water.

All the laying down during the contractions was too much for me and I began to feel really sick. I started shaking uncontrollably. I threw up, and luckily Richard was not in the path! I felt soooo sick. The nurse had coached me on things to do during the contractions, but I was suddenly so tired I couldn't stand during them. After I threw up, they had to change the sheets, and I had to throw pillows on the floor to collapse on b/c I couldn't hold myself up during the contraction. Apparently I labored in the room like that for about 40 minutes.

I started telling Richard that I didn't think I was going to be able to do it without medication after all, that I felt too sick. He was trying all the things we had rehearsed for coaching me and helping me not give in. I said, "I know what I said, and I was wrong. I need you to tell the nurse I want an epidural." He tried one more time and I said, "I need you to tell her *now*." Poor thing, he didn't know what to do!

He told her and I held my breath waiting for it. I was back to lying in the bed by now, feeling very weak. Well, as we all know, when you ask for the epi is not when you get the epi. So, much time passes and I am having some killer contractions. Poor Richard can't eat the food his parents brought him b/c he has to push on my back through every contraction. He was so great. I really could not have done it without him.

Finally the anesthesiologist comes in and I ask when I will be checked again. I hadn't been checked since I first got there. They say the dr wants to check me after the epi is in place, and then he will break my water. Well, surprise, my water breaks! Things went from 0 to 60 in no time once that happened.

They told me I would have to sit up through maybe 3 contractions while the epi was put in. Richard and I both had our doubts about my ability to do that!I had a contraction while the anes. was prepping and I said, "I'm sorry but I have to lie down!!" and I did - LOL! I had another one right away and I said, "how can I be having another one already?!?!?" Of course, looking back, I was in transition, which lasted all of about 10 minutes!

So then I sat up, he put in the epi, and was done before my next contrax!!! Can you believe that?!? They were 2 minutes apart! I have never heard of such a thing! So I have another one and the epi isn't working at all yet. I tell them that the baby is moving down. I have a second one, and it helps maybe just the tenniest bit. I have a third, and it helps like halfway. Then the dr checks me, and guess what? Yup, I'm complete. 10 cm and ready to push.

I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I got an epi for one contraction?!? BUT, I'm sure it did help me in that the dr was able to do some serious perinial massage as I got numb, and I didn't have to feel the contractions during pushing. Which I guess was good and bad.

As I got into position to push (on my back b/c of the epi ) I could still move pretty well. By the time she was born, I was totally numb and immobile from the waist down. Perfect timing. *roll eyes* Richard was on one side and I guess a nurse was on the other side. They put a mirror in front of me which I was very happy about.

They told me to push when I felt pressure, and I pushed three times during each contraction. After the first one, they had to convince me that I was doing anything, b/c I couldn't feel it. That was very frustrating for me. That's why the mirror was so important - they showed me her head, and said, "of course you're doing something! Look - there's her head!" So I reached down and felt her hair.

Two more contractions (9 pushes in all) and she was born! Richard got to cut the cord. I had a 2nd degree tear and he stitched me up. They put some pitocin in my IV to help with the birth of the placenta. BTW, they had to stick me twice for the IV, and my entire left forearm is one big bruise. It hurts to hold her in that arm!

When she came out she had her hand at her mouth, just like in her last sonogram! At first she didn't move and Richard and I were so nervous, but that was only for a split second and then she moved and we couldn't believe it was a real person! They dried her off and her Apgar scores were 8 and 9.

Afterwards I immediately tried nursing, which she did for 45 minutes! I was very happy, and our families came in while I was doing that. Then they weighed her and all that stuff and gave her a bath. Once her temperature was stable and whatnot, we got to pass her around. I was still shaking really bad and it was getting worse. I felt so cold, sick,and tired. (but happy)

Then everyone went out to eat and I told Richard to go with them b/c he was starving (the hospital only brings food for the mom b/c they don't
have a cafeteria) and I wanted to rest.

Total labor time 15 hours. Labored at home from 3:30 a.m. until about 12:30 or 1 p.m.