The birth story: (if you don't care you are allowed to scroll down!)
At 39 weeks and 3 days I went into the hospital to have my water broken. They opened the flood gates at 10am and I had my first contraction 5 minutes later. Pat and I went and walked for about an hour and a half and I was then dilated to a 4. My mom and sister got there shortly after that and about 45 minutes after that I was to a 6. I thought it would be this great thing to have my mom and Joslin in the room for the delivery...and it was...what was not such a good idea was having them with Pat in the room for my labor! They were obnoxious, sarcastic, annoying, and hilarious-but they're hilarity was not what I could see at the time!
This is my "yes, you're so funny to be saying that you think I'll be in labor until 7 pm tonight!" "I'm laughing so hard" face. aka "shoot me now I'm dying" face.
Yes I did the whole birth natural which wouldn't have been a huge deal, considering I've done two other natural births, except.....
About an hour later I was to an 8 (per my sweet, obviously optimistic nurse) and a few minutes after I was checked I knew I NEEDED to push!!! No getting around it, no relaxing through it, I NEEDED TO PUSH!!! My nurse went and got my Midwife who promptly came in, checked me, and notified me that not only was I not fully dilated but that I was only to a 7 and could not push or I would tear my cervix! Yeah right! Since I was doing it natural and that urge to push was so strong the only other option was for her to stretch me to a 10. Yes ladies-that means exactly what you think it does. Pleasant...I think not! Needless to say I was not the model of strength, endurance, and control for those next 25 minutes! Yes there was yelling, and maybe some screaming but I can't be sure. All I know is that I've NEVER felt pain like that before and just about blacked out because it was just too much for me to handle. Wimpy I know. Finally I was to a 10 and life was good again! I was back to having contractions I knew, was prepared for, and could handle and the baby was ready to be born. Because the baby was right there for so long and was waiting for my body to catch up I was reassured that pushing would be quick.
My wonderful paramedic husband got all "dolled up" in his "catching" attire and prepared to deliver his third child, whatever it was going to be! I began to push and the baby was born after 2 pushes! Well I'm used to midwives who immediately hand the baby to me after it's born, but Pat apparently missed that memo and delivered the baby and just held it! I quickly, in the nicest way possible I'm sure, said "give it to me!" Which he quickly did. In all the excitement neither of us remembered to check under the hood to see what the new addition to our family was! Joslin (who took a fabulous discrete video of the whole thing for anyone who's interested) said "well, what is it!" I'm incredibly impressed by her because she'd already seen what "it" was and still had the self control not to blurt it out! I quickly lifted the legs to reveal....It was a GIRL!!! Wait.....What?!?!?! Ok, not what I was expecting. I thought I was prepared for either, until it came out a girl! Then I realized just how much I had been expecting a boy. I was in total shock! On top of that, this little baby looked nothing like our other kids! This was going to take some getting used too!
Ok not that much getting used to!Maisley Nichole Berry was born at 2:35pm August 23, 2010. She weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19 7/8" long!
Well the kids, especially Merik, had been calling the baby inside me a boy since the beginning. When we told him he had a sister, he just stared at me and finally said "what?"They quickly became bonded and in love! They absolutely adore their little sister and are such big helpers! :)
When I got home from the hospital Merik looked at me and said "mom what's that?" I explained that I was wearing a belly band and what it was. He quickly shot back "no not that, why is that so big?" Thanks kid! Not only did you just call me fat, but you referred to my entire mid-section as "that!" Gotta love 'em!
We've been home for a couple of weeks now and everyone seems to be adjusting to the ever so demanding, but ever so cute munchkin in our house. She's a very good baby, very happy and very patient, and she will be an even better baby when we get her on a schedule so she sleeps longer than 45 min through out the night.
We've already had some Priceless experiences ! 2 year old Karma is ALWAYS carrying around her accessories! She has several purses, a pumpkin(usually full of things), ponies, bracelets, phones, and babies and ALL must be with her at ALL times! One day Mais was crying so I went to hunt down a bink. I came back to find that selfless Karma had carefully tried to comfort her with her treasures.
Another night Merik wanted to hold Mais so I put them together on the rocker and quickly Karma climbed right up next to them. I hurriedly ran into the other room searching for the camera hoping to catch this precious moment and when I returned I found Merik and Karma singing "I am a child of God" to their new little sister. Yes, tears flowed!Maisley has already truly blessed our family and her sweet little spirit fills our home with joy! We are so lucky to have been given her and are so excited to get to know her and her little personality better! It's a girl, and we wouldn't have it any other way!
