Gwendolyn Kate

Gwendolyn Kate Hemming made her debut on April 18th 2012 (which just happened to be her due date) at 4:40 p.m.  She was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long. (Well her crib card says 19 1/2 but when she was measured at her 4 day old check up she was 19 inches and as I don't think she shrunk we're going with 19.)

Her entrance into this world was a little more exciting than that of her siblings (or in the case of Finn exciting in a different way).  So I decided to go ahead and write down her birth story (in the future I'll be putting down what I remember of the other kids birth stories). Before I get to that though, I thought I would include some interesting information about all of the kids.

Birth weight and length of all the children:

Nadia: 6 pounds 8.5 ounces   19 inches

Finn: 5 pounds   19 inches

Maes: 7 pounds 13 ounces   19 1/2 inches

Gwendolyn: 8 pounds 2 ounces   19 inches

All of the children love their little sister. I wasn't ever worried about the older two because they had been so excited looking forward to her birth. I wasn't too sure about how Maes would take it. He loved her from the minute he saw her. I, however, was on the bad list. I have since been forgiven. He will now come and snuggle with me again (not to the level it was before, but that's okay). As to how he treats the baby: he always wants to hold her, rock her bed, give her her pacifier (well or chew on it himself), bring her a blanket, pet her, or steal her headband. Oh, and he refers to either as "baby" or "Gee Gee" (with a g as in grape).

 

Finn also loves his little sister. He ran outside the house to greet us when we first got home from the hospital. I was getting out of the car and said "Hi Finn."  He ignored me and looked around me into the car, "Where's Gwendolyn?" Then on the way in to the house, he kept saying over and over "She's so cute." (Cute being said in a high pitched voice.)

Nadia, of course, is very excited to have a little sister. Gwendolyn has shown up in many of Nadia's recent art work.  I was holding Gwendolyn at dinner and she asked why. Her daddy said, "Because Mom loves Gwendolyn." She replied, "Well I love her too and I don't get to hold her." I guess we haven't given her enough opportunities to hold her yet.

Nadia loves to be helpful and gets super excited when I ask her to do things for me. She even loves to fetch me diapers. The other day she changed Maes's diaper and put him in his pajamas!

As for Gwendolyn herself: she is the sweetest little baby. She eats like a champ, can sleep through the kids running and screaming, and other than the time she had a tummy ache, doesn't cry a whole lot.  Oh, and for those who are wondering what we're going to call her . . . it's Gwendolyn. Sure we'll have little pet names for her, but there is no official nickname.

So now the birth story. 

The morning of Gwendolyn's due date I had an appointment with my doctor. I was really hoping she would check me and send me on over to the hospital. Instead I hadn't changed at all from last week. I was still dilated at a 3. However, her head was right there so she could come at any time, but just in case we set up and induction date for the following Monday (April 23).

So we went home and I went out to run some errands I wanted complete before the baby came. I got home from my shopping trip pretty tired and settled in my rocking chair to just relax. At 3:29 I started having contractions. They hurt, but I'd been having painful contractions all week (never anything regular) so I didn't think much of it. I did, however, keep track of when each contraction came. It was pretty irregular. Sometimes 10 minutes, occasionally 5, then 7 etc.  Then a little before 4 they seemed to stop. Jeff, Lori and Becky were down at the kitchen then, so I decided to go and talk with them. We'd been talking for a little while when a contraction hit, so I leaned forward to brace myself on the table and felt a 'pop'. I remember thinking "that can't be good." So I stood up and headed back up stairs. On the way, I realized my water had broke so I called Jeff up, and while I took care of cleaning up and making sure I wouldn't make a mess in the car, Jeff gathered up the last few items needed to complete the hospital bags. Then with the help of my children and Becky and Lori we got out to the car.

Unfortunately, it was around 4 or just after this time, which is when the middle school we live near by lets out. So we got stuck in a bit of that traffic.  We then proceeded to hit every single red light on our way to the hospital. I was timing my contractions and they were coming every two minutes. In my down time, I'd tell Jeff it was okay, but every time we hit a red light I thought it was going to cry. Not only were the contractions really painful, there was also a lot of painful pressure.

When we finally got to the hospital and found a parking spot it was 4:22. Which I realize now wasn't really that long of a drive but it felt like forever. After a contraction finished I got out of the car and we started walking to the labor and delivery unit. We got half way there when another contraction started and I did my best to walk through the middle of it. We were still a little way from the door when a nurse (I'm not exactly sure what the situation was with her. She either worked in a different unit or was off duty or something) offered to go get us a wheel chair. We agreed and off she went. It seemed to take forever. I know I had several contractions while waiting and I remember thinking we should just start walking because we'd get there faster. She finally came and while I don't know how long it took, I know it took a little while because the nurse explained she had a hard time finding a chair.

So Jeff pushed me in and we went over to labor and delivery and pushed the buzzer so they would let us in. When they answered Jeff explained that his wife was in labor and we needed to go in. They asked him my name so he told them. They replied that there was no one there by that name. Frustrated Jeff explained again, that I was right here with him and I was in labor and needing to get in. I'm not sure what they replied, but I thought (and so did Jeff) that they were going to let us in. We waited and still nothing happened. Seeing us still sitting there a guest in the waiting room came over to explain how to get in. Jeff told them he had already done that and they suggested we try again. So Jeff again pushed the button. Luckily, as he did so a visitor was exciting the unit so we took advantage of the door being opened and went inside. Needless to say we were a little frustrated at this point.

So Jeff pushed me up to the nurses station and told them I was in labor. One of the ladies there told him to follow her and they led us to the triage room. I must admit when he first pushed me in I was confused. There were four beds and I thought "I don't get a private room. I swear I had a private room with Maes." Then the lady explained that they needed me to give a urine sample and then to put on the gown and get on the bed so they could check to see if I was actually in labor. Even though Jeff had just explained that my water and broke and I was having contractions every two minutes or less. I was sort of an emotional mess at this time because I was in so much pain but I do remember thinking "you have got to be kidding me." The thought of getting a urine sample made we want to cry. Just then a really hard contraction with lots and lots of pressure it and I said to Jeff, "I think she's coming." To which the lady said, "Let me go get a nurse."

Two nurses came in and were trying to get me out of the wheel chair, but the contractions were coming on so quickly I was having a hard time standing. The told me I couldn't have a baby in a wheel chair. They pushed me as close to the bed as they could get me and helped me to stand up. Then while I leaned on the bed they helped me get my bottoms off and got me up onto the bed. Luckily, a doctor from the group my doctor is in was near by and was able to come in and deliver me. The nurses said it only took 6 minutes from when I entered the room until Gwendolyn was born. Needless to say it was a natural birth and I must admit I'm not a fan. And while I did scream the worst things I said were "I can't do this," and  "Pull her out."

I must say it was a kind of strange to be giving birth in the shirt I wore in. It was also weird to get the IV after everything was all over. Because I had delivered before I was even admitted we didn't have identification bands. Because of this, Jeff went with Gwendolyn while they got her cleaned up. I of course stayed behind and got admitted and took care of all the 'fun' after stuff. Apparently having a baby as fast as I had Gwendolyn is really hard on the Mom's body, so I ended up staying in triage for quite some time as they got my bleeding and things under control. I ended up having to have to different kinds of medication to stop the bleeding. Let's just say it wasn't a pleasant experience.  

And that is the story of Gwendolyn's birth.