Taya Jo is Born!

Yesterday Tracy started feeling contractions before lunch, but under her mid-wife's instruction, she ignored them until they were overwhelming. She reached that point about the time of her scheduled mid-wife visit on yesterday afternoon around 1:30. Her mid-wife checked Tracy and found her to be 100 % effaced and between 4-5 cm dilated. We returned home with the knowledge that we would most likely return that evening. After about 2 hours of increasingly-intense contractions, we checked into the hospital and Tracy continued to labor. She was able to use several positions including a jacuzzi tub and exercise ball to relieve the pressure. She was able to relax between contractions once returning to the classical bed position, until she had some severe leg cramps. Then she got out of bed and stood, and as a result, stronger, productive pushing contractions ensued. Then after about 1 1/2 hours of total pushing, Taya was born. Bridgett delivered Taya and I caught her as well. The apgar scores were 9 and 9. Taya was 7 lbs. 3 oz. and 18.5 in long. She was very alert and wanted to look around. She is sleeping well and breastfeeding even better. She and her mom are a real team. Tracy performed tremendously in labor and we are extremely blessed.

We will be posting some pictures later today!