Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A New Little Girl!

She's here! Quinn Alaina Easton arrived at 2:00pm on April 13, 2007! She was 8 lbs, 7 oz. and 21 3/4 inches long. She has light brown hair and blue eyes.





She is a quiet little baby so far and likes to sleep with her mouth open. Squeaky and Button like her. Squeaky likes to give her lots of kisses and "helps" Mommy cover her with blankets. She excitedly exclaims, "The new baby came! I have two sisters!!!" Button is a little more reserved. She mainly just watches her with the occasional comment, "Baby! Oh!" She did have a moment of jealousy yesterday when I was nursing the baby and couldn't pick Button up.

For those who want the whole labor story, here it is. If you don't really want to know all the details, just skip it, ok?

We went in to the hospital at 7:30am. I was still 3 cm, but I could be stretched to 5. They hooked me up for a non-stress test on the baby. After awhile my doctor came to see me and said that she had to help out with a c-section and didn't want to break my water before then just in case things progressed too rapidly (she delievered Button so she knew I had her rather quickly). At 10am they finally broke my water. Dennis and I walked the boring hallways for an hour an a half before I finally started having a few contractions consistently. At 11:30am they were moderate and about 2-3 minutes apart.

Around noon I was on my bed taking a break from the walking when a nurse (not my nurse) came in and matter-of-factly told me that she was there to set up my oxytocin IV. I really didn't want that to happen- but she didn't seem to care too much what I wanted. She scurried around getting things ready while I told her that my contractions had increased to 2-3 minutes apart. She said, "Well, that's good, but it doesn't really matter to me." And she continued getting the IV ready. I silently fumed and wondered what to do. Just then someone called her out of my room for a minute. Dennis and I talked and decided we would ask her to please get our nurse to check me. I had not been examined since 10am, and I really didn't want the IV if I could avoid it. While we were wondering, my own nurse came in and I was able to tell her about my contractions. She timed them and could see that they were growing in intensity. The mean IV nurse came back in and said, "Ok, let's get your IV in." My nurse kindly replied, "Linda, why don't you go to lunch? She doesn't need an IV." :D I felt like it had been a narrow escape.

My nurse told me to go ahead and walk some more. As soon as I sat up in bed the contractions intensified 100% instantly. I could barely stand up, let alone walk around. This was around 12:30pm. I managed to walk from the bed to the window, to the rocking chair and back to the bed again. I was pale, weak, shaky, nauseous and thought I was going to die- all sure signs that transition (7-10cm) was close. But when they checked me around 1:10pm I was only at 5-6 cm.

"Only half-way!?!? I'm not going to make it," I thought. So I asked for a bit of pain medication. Around 1:15pm they gave me a small dose in my hip to "take the edge off". To be honest, I don't think it did much of anything until it was all over and then I could barely open my eyes.

Anyway, from 1:15 to 1:45 I was in a world of pain and pretty oblivious to anything going on. I kept praying through each contraction, "Help me, help me, help me, Lord..." The nurses basically had to holler at me to get me to hear anything past the roar in my ears. But in that half hour time I went from 5 to 10cm. When it was time to push I grabbed poor Dennis' collar and twisted it in my hand. I held on to that shirt for dear life. One time he tried to stand up and I wouldn't let him. He told me the next day that his back hurt from leaning over the bed. Sorry! :)

A few pushes later and sweet little Quinn entered the world- 2:00pm! My intense pain instantly turned into joy! We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made...

15 comments:

aliann said...

Congratulations! She's beautiful. Glad you're labor wasn't too long and that you were able to get that mean nurse to leave you alone!
I'll be praying for you to get some sleep in the coming weeks.

Anonymous said...

Sweetheart, those pictures are so good. God is so good. I am glad that you didn't have to have the IV. The Lord was really looking out for you. I am also glad you did not strangle Dennis when you were holding on for "dear life". I hope that you are getting some rest today. Love you all, Mom

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your third little sweetheart! She is so cute!!! God was so faithful to you during your delivery, and he will be faithful during the next few months!

Kate said...

Congratulations! What a beautiful girl! It looks like I was wrong on the "it must be a boy" comment! :) I'll be praying for you over the next few weeks as you all adjust to your wonderful new addition! Love, KT

mearybeary said...

Congrats val and thanks for the labour details. gives me something to "look forward too" on may 1st when I go to be induced. ;) But Quinn is very sweet girl. Wishing you all the Lord's blessings :)

mary

Anonymous said...

I came in from taking out the garbage and Dad a few lines of a song going through his head. They are not necessarily joined but here they are, as told by Dad.

"Come within,
You'll not see nothin'
Like the mighty Quinn."

"When Quinn the Eskimo gets here,
Everybody's going to jump for joy."

I'll never know all he has stored up in his head! Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Three girls! I can relate. :) I just happened on your blog address and LOVED reading through it. I can't believe you're up to blogging so soon! :P Esther Irish

Anonymous said...

Congrats Val. I am glad all went well. I am also glad you were able to forgo "THE DRIP". Man I will fight getting that again!! I can't imagine what the drip would have done if they had put it on you... it sounds like your labour was fast as it was!

I am sure you are going to be busy for the next while ( next 3 months :) ) getting your family into new routines :). I will be praying for you as you adjust to a new member of your family and also to the sleepless nights, and the nursing.

we love you all .
Sarah

David and Amy Campsall said...

Yay! Congratulations Dennis and Val what a sweet little girl! Sounds like Linia will be a big help to mommy. I pray that nursing will be a smooth transition for both you and the little one too. Thanks for the labour details..(I think that's mostly a woman thing.. hehe want to know how other people cope with such a thing!!)
God Bless and thanks for the pictures:)

Jean said...

Great pictures of the girls. Button is so sweet just looking at her little sister who so quickly and neatly pushed her out of what she thought was her place in the family.Squeaky is just at the right stage to be a "little mother' and will likely want to try many "helpful" activities.

There is a verse-I'll have to look it up- about joy coming when a man- child is born. I think it can be equally applied to the woman-child.I"ll let you know when I find it.

Love, A. Jean

nicole said...

aww so sweet! ahem so...baby comming out does not seem pleasent:S semms worth it though...your girls are all so beautiful! how exciting for you guys!! love you beautiful!

Anonymous said...

You really can't say this about every baby but...yours really is a cutie :) I couldn't believe how strong she seemed. Love you all,
Patti

The Mom said...

I agree: you can't say this about every baby but yours is CUTE! As for Dennis's back ache, poor guy but really, that was a small trade for what you had to go through to get your child here. But still, I feel bad for him too.

Glad your labor went well, all things considered. I avoid "the drip" as much as I can too and I'm so glad you escaped, narrow though it was. God was definitely looking out for you.

That verse in Isaiah comes to mind..."He will gently lead those who have their young..." probably not the correct wording but I like the concept of God leading us gently while we have small children.

So happy for you! Your little family is so sweet and I love how you have 3 girls. :) "Are they triplets?" you'll probably hear in a few years. :)

Congrats and take care!

HopiQ said...

Congratulations! Your children are just darling. I loved reading your labor story. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm glad you didn't need (or forced to have!) more intervention than necessary!

Anonymous said...

So happy for you...she looks so sweet. GLad it all went well.
What a blessing to have three close sisters in one family...what fun!

Congartulations!!!
Love T L and L