The first 5 minutes after delivery

This photo is the very first, taken about 30 seconds after Layla was born. Becky had been pushing for about 45 minutes to no avail. Layla was a "celestial birth." Which meant that she was head down but her head was facing the same way as Becky (both facing upwards). This makes the pregnancy more difficult as Layla's hard parts (skull and back) were pressing on Becky's hard parts (pelvis). This is also called "back labor" which is very painful. Anyway, Becky was only pushing for 45 minutes but both of their heart rates were very high which worried the nurse and doctor. They told Becky that they would try 10 more minutes of pushing and help with the vacuum, before performing a Cesarean. Becky pushed to good effect and Layla rotated around and traveled the rest of the birth canal in under one minute.

So, as Layla rasped and rattled her first breaths I could see a worried look on the pediatrician's face. Because Layla was born so quickly and was celestial, she had a lot of fluid in her lungs. Usually the fluid in a baby's lungs drains exiting the birth canal face down. The pediatrician said that it would probably be fine but they would probably move her out of the room in case. At that moment, Layla coughed and sputtered a fair amount of fluid. I was horrified, but the doctor smiled and said, "She's getting rid of the fluid on her own, she can probably stay here with you." They massaged Layla's stomach to help her get more fluid up which she expressed in a number of delightful ways (coughing, sneezing, spitting).

This second picture is after Layla was cleaned up and her breathing was less raspy. There are other pix of this moment (I was going a little crazy with the camera) but I like the composition and perspective of this one.











This third picture was taken moments after the last one and is basically from Becky's perspective on the hospital bed. Becky's mom, Polley, who was there for the delivery snapped this one.

So, in the end the vital stats are: Layla Catherine Farnham born at 12:45 AM November 21, 2008. She was 8 lbs 2 ounces and was 20 and 3/4 inches.

Happy Birthday, Layla!

Much more news and many more details to come. But Layla was born at 12:45 am on Friday, November 21st. She is awesome and we are in heaven. Stay tuned for more! (having trouble with the pics right now, but wanted to get this up...will be back later to figure it out!)

Doctor has little news

Well...I had an appointment today and going into it I naively thought that it might reveal exciting information about my progress. I was wrong. The doctor did give me a small amount of info regarding the state of my cervix, though I'll spare you all the fun details. Basically, no dilation. Not that I really thought there would be, but it sure would have been exciting. So now we wait till next Wednesday's appointment. She said that at that point we can talk about when we would induce if things don't happen on their own. However, there's still plenty of time for all that to happen. And I've ordered Thanksgiving dinner from Stop and Shop, so really, Layla should feel free to arrive at any point next week (so long as it's not while I'm at school!). If we're in labor during turkey time, we'll eat the leftovers! Can't wait to meet our little turkey!!!

She'll be warm

Tomorrow is 9 days to the due date. It's also new window day! We're having new windows installed upstairs. I feel good knowing that Layla's room (and ours!) won't be drafty, especially as the cold weather sets in.

The neighbor and her 8 year old daughter, Mya, just stopped by with a gift for Layla and a card that Mya drew. If you didn't know, we have the best neighbors ever. We've only been here for 4 months, but everyone is so excited for us and the baby and they've offered more support than I ever would have imagined. Wouldn'ta happened on Albion Street!

She had better wait!

As much as I feel ready for the big show, Layla had better hold off on appearing just yet. Chris is out of town until Friday evening. Plus, I'm not meeting with my work replacement until Friday. So...she has no choice but to wait! Not that I expect to go early, but you never know! Now, if something *does* happen in the next day or so, I have a number of friends who, while scared out of their minds, have offered to help out. Hopefully it won't come to that. But after Friday? Bring it on!

More preparation

The car seat has been installed! Thanks, Daddy!

I spent the day with a good friend who, unlike me, is quite the seamstress. Months ago we had made plans to make a blanket for the baby. Here's the part that may be difficult for some to read...we made it out of my wedding dress. Yes, that means that we cut up my gown. Actually, back when Chris and I got married in 2006 I had the idea to some day make nursery accessories out of the gown. I thought it would be a way to save the dress and pass it down to my children, without expecting them to actually wear it. So the dress has been cut up for 2 years now.

Lori and I started our adventure at Jo-Ann Fabrics. We selected a soft blue fleece and some comfy cotton batting. Back at her house we decided which portions of the dress detail to include. Then the seam-ripping, pinning, and sewing began. Well, I ripped seams and Lori did the rest. We came close to finishing, but ran into dinner time. Lori is going to put the finishing touches on during the week and hopefully will bring it to me next weekend. I can't wait to post a pic. Hopefully Layla will love it! Thanks, Lori!

T-18 days

Only a few weeks to go now. Next Tuesday I'll make what I hope is my final run to Babys R Us. If we had the baby right now, we'd manage ok, but there's still some stuff it'll be nice to have. This weekend's big adventure will be for Daddy to install the car seat. I'm hoping that next week we can have it checked by the local police, just to make sure it's in there properly.

I've included some pics of Layla's room. It's kind of a mishmash of borrowed and Craigslisted stuff, with a little bit of new. The L painting is something I did to add a personal touch to the room. The gorgeous quilt was made by Chris's mom, henceforth known as Mimi. The glider is super comfy and is a gift from Grandpa and Charley. The doll on the left is my Madame Alexander doll from when I was a child. We pretty much just need to add the diaper pail and the room will be complete! And the baby, of course.