It's a Girl!

So contractions started yesterday morning when we got up but didn't really get regular. All the same, we started getting ready for Baby #5. We really wanted the baby to hold of until after Olivia's piano recital (post later on that. :) and he/she did! As with the last two, I'll try to keep a running log of what is going on, so check back often.


3:15am - Rebecca woke me up. contractions are about 10 minutes apart, so we need to start getting ready to go in.

3:30 - called the OB to let them know we were in labor. Packing the car.

3:45 - called Mary, our doula, to let her know we were heading into the hospital. It's our first time using a doula and we're pretty excited about having her help. Woke Olivia and got her in the car. Headed to the hospital

4:00 - checking in.

4:30 - In our room. Mary and I are setting up the birthing tub. Rebecca's doing great. Turns out she is 8cm. yes, in that picture where she is smiling. Olivia's asking tons of questions, but being very good for us. Mary is so helpful! She's handling the tub so I can focus on getting other stuff set up for Rebecca. Need to get things rolling so we can do this waterbirth.

4:45 - Tub is about ready. Contractions are steady.

5:00 - Rebecca is in the tub. She said that she could tell right away that being in the water is taking pressure off her back.

5:15 - Mary is rubbing Rebecca's lower back and neck, helping her relax. We are using some essential oils and music to keep things very calm.

5:45 - contractions are progressing. some are slow, some are fast. Rebecca commented that each child has been so different it's hard to tell where she's at with it.

6:00 - Going for a walk around the unit. Keeping Rebecca moving. she's doing great. contractions increasing in intensity.

6:15 - Back in the tub. She's having contractions closer together. Feeling pretty hot and nauseous. she is still quiet and so internal.

6:23 - Rebecca asked me if we should have Daniela (our midwife) break her water. I told her we should just let things happen as they come.

6:25 - Water broke. She is pushing.
6:27 - Irene Abigail is here! It only took 3 pushes.

Rebecca is such a champ. No drama, no fuss. Irene came out with the cord wrapped around her neck twice as well as her arm, but being in the tub made it much more manageable. Irene is very alert and awake. She has her eyes open and is not afraid to let her presence be known. :)

 

Official Stats: Irene Abigail. 6:27am, 6lbs, 6oz and 17.5 inches long.

It's a Girl!!!

Emma Lee Sarine

1/10/2012 3:11am

7lbs 4.4oz and 19.5in long

It's Baby Time!!!

Ok, we're officially starting the process of bringing Baby 4 into the world! I will be updating this blog every so often, probably once per hour unless something significant happens.

Contractions started at about 3am on the 9th about an hour apart, but they didn't change much until around 3pm. From then on, they got to be more like 30-45 minutes apart. We brought the kids to Nana and Pop-pop's around 6 while Rebecca and Nana went for pedicures. Stayed in Summerfield until around 8:30 and then headed back home. By then, contractions were only 10 minutes apart, but weren't very long. My friend, Jimmy, came over to watch the BCS Championship football game while Rebecca talked on the phone with friends and puttered around on Facebook. After the game, the contractions really started getting more intense and closer together. This is where we'll start the timeline:

1/10/2012 12:30am - Contraction lasted 2 full minutes and was only 5 minutes after the previous. Called Tanya (our midwife) and let her know things were progressing. She said to hang out for a couple hours and see if they subside or progress.

1:30am - Contractions are pretty intense now. Rebecca's having to breath through them. They're varying in spacing between 5 and 10 minutes, but are consistently 1.5 to 2 minutes long.

2:00am - She's nauseous now. Called Tanya and updated her. She said to head on in to the hospital, so we're on our way!

2:30am - at the hospital. checking in.

2:54am - back in triage. 8cm. nurse runs off to call midwife. water just broke. nurse runs back in.

3:05am - wheeling us into the delivery room

3:06am - Rebecca really needs to push! (she is still standing, barely makes it into the bed and sort of sideways) Tanya has not made it to hospital yet.

Ezra's Birth Announcement

Back when Ezra was born, we debated about sending out a traditional birth announcement, like we did with Olivia and Gabriel. Well, I argued that we technically already did when I "live" blogged the delivery and posted all the pertinent info within 10 minutes of his birth. Rebecca still wanted to do a nice picture to show everyone, so we took this one:

(notice the #3 on his arm :)

For anyone who may have missed it, here's Ezra's birth stats

Ezra Joel Sarine

May 22nd, 2010 4:11pm EST

Weight: 7lbs 9oz

Length: 20 3/4 inches

It's a boy!!!

Ezra Joel Sarine

Date: 5/22/10

Time: 4:11pm

Length: 20 3/4 inches

Weight: 7 lbs 9oz

It's Baby Time!

Well, It's baby day! I'm going to try to keep running tabs on what's going on with the birth, so check back often!

5/22 - 8:30am - Rebecca got home from work. Said she'd had a few contractions, but not too strong or long-lasting. Decided to go to bed and see if they subside.

10:15am - heard Rebecca moving around a couple of times over the last hour. Checked on her and she said she was still having contractions about 20 minutes apart, strong enough for her to need to get up and walk around. I decided to pack my stuff and get the kids dressed.

10:30am - Rebecca came down and said she was getting in the shower. Told me to call my parents to come get the kids.

11:00am - Finally got everything and the kids in the van. Meeting my parents at the hospital to exchange vehicles. Contractions have been about 5-10 minutes apart.

11:30am - Checked in at the hospital. Rebecca disappeared to the bathroom about 10 minutes ago. Starting to wonder...

11:45am - asked the lady at the desk what was going on and she said they decided to process her in while she was back there. Would have been nice to tell me...

11:50am - Nurse brought me back to her. Rebecca's on a monitor. She's 4-5cm and 80%. Contractions still 5-10 minutes apart.

12:00pm - moved us to a birthing room.

12:10pm - Tanya (our midwife) is here. She said we can break her water to speed things up, but we think we should just progress naturally.

 

12:30pm - Back on the monitor for an assessment. Everything's great.

12:55pm - Things are still good. Contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. Rebecca said she starting to feel a little nauseated. Our prior experiences tell us that she's probably starting into transitional labor.

1:00pm - Assessment is great. Baby E is moving around still, so the nurse is happy. Gonna go take a walk around.

1:30pm - Took a walk around the floor. Had a few contractions. Doing another assessment now. Things are still looking great.

1:45pm - Tanya checked her. 6-7cm, 100%. Head's moving down. Things are definitely progressing. Rebecca's trying to stay relaxed and doing a very good job of it. :) I, on the other hand, am getting anxious. :)

2:00pm - Assessment is still great. Rebecca's still prettyrelaxed. Having some back pain and the baby's definitely lower. We've been doing some stretching and positioning to keep her relaxed and relieve the pain somewhat. Trying to keep her hydrated as well. She's going to try to nap a bit.

2:30pm - Assessment again. I think we're definitely in transition. Rebecca's not sure. She says, "I can still think." :) Contractions are definitely closer together and more intense. She looks flushed and says she feels really nauseous.

3:00pm - Everything's still great. Moving along. Bigger contractions coming now. Took a short walk and came back for the 3:00 assessment. Baby's doing fine.

3:25pm - Tanya checked again. 9cm! She says the baby's facing sideways and seems to be rotating around to the right position, so she thinks it'll all be over in an hour or so. On another topic, it's been raining all day, but seems to have stopped now. This baby might be our first born during the day and when it wasn't raining. Gabe was born during a hurricane and Olivia was during a torrential downpour. :)

3:30pm - It might be time. Tanya's back in and Rebecca's feeling like there's pressure and a need to push.

3:45pm - Oh yeah. It's on like Donkey Kong.

4:00pm - Pushing

The Birth of Gabe Part 2 - The Re-Creation

Since we were so into the moment of that night, we didn't think to bring a camera in the car with us, so we decided to recreate the moment in the driveway, sans the half-naked wife and mess. They forced me to take my shirt off to accurately portray my role in the event, so I apologize in advance...So roomy, so nice with the leather seats and tan interior. It just needs a set of stirrups.

Mom calling the OnStar guy an idiot. Yes, she really did.


Nana wrote up the story in great, funny detail on their blog: http://sherckle.blogspot.com/2008/09/arrival-of-gabriel-josiah-sarine-90508.html and http://sherckle.blogspot.com/2008/09/birthing-shrine-of-gabriel-josiah.html

A funny thing happened on the way to the hospital...

So....

Rebecca started having some random contractions a couple days ago, but they were so far apart, it wasn't anything to worry about. Then she worked last night and had contractions once an hour. Again, no big deal. Today, we had planned on going to Charlotte around noon, but I had a last minute meeting in Danville, VA, so we postponed leaving until 8pm tonight. I called Rebecca at 6:30pm to tell her I was on the way home and she said she's still been having the contractions, sometimes as close as 10 minutes apart, but not lasting more than 10 seconds. I said we should rethink going to Charlotte and she said, "well, I'm going to go get a pedicure and we'll see when I get done."

Well, she got home and we decided not to go. By then it was 8:30 and olivia really needed to go to bed, so, around 9pm, we put her to bed and went to our room. Almost immediately, she started having contractions 5 minutes apart or less. We were supposed to go for two hours like that before going to the hospital, but by 10:30, she was ready to go, so we piled everything into our car and then decided to put Rebecca and I in the back of my mom's Chevy Equinox while she drove and my dad drove our car to the hospital (a neighbor came up to stay with Olivia, who was sleeping through the whole thing).

So we got about 5 minutes down the road and Rebecca started to holler that she had to push. I tried to tell her not to, but she said "his head is already out!" Sure enough, there he was. I called our Doc really quick and she said to get his shoulders out, so I turned his head a little bit to the side and he shot out like a watermelon seed. I'm lucky I caught him! My mom had called 911 and the EMT's were on there way.



So here he is, Gabriel Josiah Sarine born at 10:48pm near the corner of Lake Brandt Road and Plainfield Rd, delivered in the back of my mom's SUV by his dad. It certainly wasn't how we planned things, but it was definitely a memorable experience.

So now here's all the important info: born 9/5/08 at 10:48pm, weighing 7 lbs even, 19 3/4" long. Mom and baby are doing very well and I promise to post some more pictures tomorrow, once we've gotten a little sleep.