Saturday, 5 July 2008

Ariana Renee arrives!

We have been enjoying the past few months hanging out as a family and getting ready for the next member to arrive. Christina was feeling like she was ready to have the baby anytime at about 2 weeks from her due date, the 4th, so we put it into high gear and got Isabella's new room and the baby room all set up, and just in time!

On the eve of the 1st Christina started feeling some contractions, and by about 2am on the 2nd she knew it was time. So we called over a friend to watch Isabella for the day and headed on in to the hospital around 6am. We got into the "pool" room, which was great because it not only had this huge pool for water births but also this huge bed for going through the labor.

After getting there Christina and I went for a walk to try and keep her contractions going on schedule, as they were only going at about one every five minutes. They didn't speed up any, but did start getting a lot more intense. So after Christina urged the midwife to check her multiple times, she finally did and found Christina to be at 9 cm. Since there was no time to fill the tub, Christina got to see what a landlocked delivery was like.
She did great, and got Ariana out at around 2:45 on the 2nd of July weighing 7 pounds and 5 ounces. Ariana had the cord around her neck, so she had a little trouble breathing at first.
She was doing well within minutes of delivery, but the doctors wanted to be safe so they kept her there overnight.

I was unable to stay, so I went home to be with Isabella while mom stayed with Ariana. The next day Isabella went to the hospital to pick up Mom and her new sister! After a little run around we were finally able to leave the hospital that night. Now everyone is back home and doing well.
Thanks to all for their thoughts and prayers.