A lot has happened in the last 12 hours. My, how it’s flown by.
Steph’s labor progressed very quickly Before we knew it, it was time to push. That started somewhere around 2am. There was a bit of a hold up because the epidural somewhat inhibited Steph’s ability to focus her strength, so it got backed down a bit. And we waited. About 30 minutes later it was time to start pushing again, and Steph was much more able to focus her effort.
Unfortunately at about that same time her contractions started to die off and become very irregular. At that point she was started on Pitosin, which would help her contractions become stronger and more frequent. And we waited.
Finally the contractions returned and the pushing resumed. It didn’t seem to take too long and she was here. Steph was amazing. I couldn’t imagine anyone being more focused and cool under what most people would agree is the most pressure a woman will ever face.
And so, at 4:42am on December 10th, 2007, out came Linnea Ann Nielsen weighing 7 pounds and 10 ounces and measuring 20 inches.
With that I will leave you, and leave this blog to begin a new journey over at www.linneanielsen.com. I hope you’ll join me. To sweeten the pot I have posted her first ever pictures over there. Make sure to check them out.
Holy Cow! They just broke Steph’s water. I can’t go into detail, but wow.
Her labor is already speeding up as a result. Contractions are stronger and more painful. The epidural question is a lot closer to being answered. Strike that, it’s answered. “I’m not going to be a hero” mom says.
Baby’s still doing good. Steph’s up in a chair and feeling better sitting up.
Well, this is it. This evening Steph thought her water broke, but it wasn’t the gush you see in the movies– more like a trickle. About that same time she started having contractions and they were quite close together, at times as close a 2 minutes. After a little while they slowed down to 5 or so minutes apart but got more intense, so we called the hospital and they said it sounded like we ought to call the doctor. We called the doctor and she said it was a good idea to go to the hospital to get checked out.
Once we got here we went to triage and got examined and even though her water hadn’t in fact broke it was about ready to and she was already 4 (nearly 5) centimeters dilated!
So now we’re in a room and just finished answering a bunch of questions (for the second time. We made all our phone calls and sent enough text messages to ensure a good 4th quarter for Verizon.
So far so good. The heartbeat is strong and the contractions are pretty regular. Steph isn’t in much pain as of yet. Will she wind up with an epidural? Stay tuned!!!
What else can you say about week 37 besides “full term”? We’re ready to go, and as of tonight, the nursery is too. The doctor told us today that this is her weekend on-call so if we wanted to we could just go ahead and have her this weekend. As if we have a choice 
Steph is of course nesting, and trying every home remedy known to mankind. But if you have any doubts as to how happy she is, just check out the ear-to-ear smile on her face in the photo below.
So I will leave you all with that. I am hoping to make my last post (on this blog) any day now, but that’s a whole lot of wishful thinking on my part. Until then, enjoy the belly!
