It's A Girl!

Melinda and I are proud to announce the birth of our daughter! Emily Louise Mark was born on Labor Day - 9/7/2009 at 3:51pm weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces, 19.5 inches, 9 days late, and 1 day before her scheduled induction!

Labor Timeline

• Sat 9/5 at 10pm - Melinda started labor, contractions 10 - 20 min apart.
• Sun 9/6 - we stayed home from church, thinking we would need to go to the hospital any time now. Contractions stayed at 10 - 20 min apart throughout the day.
• Mon 9/7 at 12am - Melinda woke me up, we timed the contractions, they were 5 - 6 min apart so we started packing up.
• 2:00am - we arrived at the hospital, Dr was already there checking on another patient
• 2:15am - dilated to 3cm, Dr broke Melinda's water
• 3:00am - Pitocin started
• 11:00am - dilated at 9cm
• 12:00pm - started pushing even though not quite at 10cm, was close enough.
• 2:30pm - Dr arrived, consulted with other Doctors to determine birth strategy.
• 3:51pm - birth of Emily Louise Mark.

For a more detailed version, please continue reading.

Emily's Birth Story

Melinda did an amazing job during her nearly 42 hours of laboring. She started having regular contractions about 20 min apart on Saturday night at 10pm. She was having contractions for a few weeks prior, but these were noticeably different. Melinda told me labor had started so we timed the contractions for a while and found they were 10 - 20 min apart. They were not yet close enough to go to the hospital so we tried to get some rest. We thought the baby was coming Sunday morning.

Melinda didn't get much sleep Saturday night. Sunday came and then went. The contractions were about the same - uncomfortable and fairly regular at 10 - 20 min apart. Near the end of the day they were closer at 5 - 10 min apart. Things were moving along. I went to sleep at 10pm, while Melinda continued to try to sleep (without much success).

Monday morning - labor day - Melinda woke me up at midnight and we timed the contractions again. They were now at 5 min apart, pretty consistent, and more intense than before. At this point they were close enough that we decided it was time to get the car ready and head to the hospital.

We arrived at the ER just before 2:00am. The waiting room was suprisingly empty. We immediately got our pre registration papers and were sent up to the labor and delivery floor. We were in the delivery room at 2:00am. Our Dr had the Labor Day weekend off, but her partner (and her Dad) was on call for the weekend. We had seen him a couple times before in the office during the pregnancy so we were happy the on call Dr was someone we knew. He just happened to already be at the hospital checking on another patient when we arrived, so he came in and checked on us at 2:15am.

The Dr checked and Melinda was 2-3cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby had moved down to -1 station. Compared to Melinda's Fri appointment (1-2cm, 50%, and -3 station) the contractions were working and moving things along, although not as quickly as the Dr wanted. After seeing we were 9 days late and already scheduled for an induction at 8pm that night, he said we should get things moving along. He suggested breaking her water to see if that would help intensify contractions and make further progress. We were a little reluctant, but agreed to the procedure.

After the Dr broke Melinda's water he went back to write up his notes. He came back after noticing Melinda was allergic to several antibiotics and other medications. He then recommended we start pitocin to avoid any infection caused by the broken water and a prolonged labor. We didn't want to start pitocin right away as we were hoping to have a natural birth and had heard about how pitocin made the contractions stronger, more intense, and more painful. As a compromise, we walked around for 30-40 min to see if that would be enough to help move the labor along.

At 3:00am the contractions were not progressing as the Dr wanted so we started on the lowest dose of pitocin (1 micro-unit/min). The pitocin was gradually increased to 4 (still a very low dose). Close to 11am the Dr came back to check on our progress. He was pretty amazed we only needed this low dose of pitocin and were already at 9cm. He gave the nursing staff his cell phone to reach him when things got closer.

By noon Melinda was not quite fully dilated, but close enough to start pushing. Melinda tried a variety of positions to help the baby come down with each contraction - the squat bar, a birthing ball, laying on each side, and on her back with the stirrups.

Around 2:30pm the Dr came back to check on our progress. He had limited options due to Melinda's allergies and the fact that we did not have an epidural. After discussing with anesthesia and consulting with our primary OB (his daughter), he wanted to avoid a c-section.

At this point Melinda had already been pushing for nearly 3 hours. With each push the head would briefly be visible, then disappear. The Dr determined it would be necessary to help the baby along and decided on using the vacuum extractor. With each push, the Dr would assist and pull the baby as Melinda was pushing. An episiotomy was required in order to attach the vacuum extractor to the baby's head.

After 4 pushes and pulls, Emily Louise Mark was born at 3:51pm. Emily had a few complications at birth, mostly due to being 9 days late - meconium in the amniotic fluid, the cord was wrapped around her neck, and had dry peeling skin. However, even with these complication, Emily did great on her APGAR score receiving a 7 out of 10 at 1 min, and 9 out of 10 at 10 min.

All in all, the birthing process, although not exactly as we planned, ended up working out perfectly. Our prayers were answered, and God's timing was perfect. Melinda is recovering nicely after the long labor and episiotomy. She is happy that she was able to avoid the anesthesia and c-section as these would likely have resulted in allergic reactions similar to her previous surgeries.

Emily is doing very well and is a breast-feeding champ. She passed her hearing test at the hospital and did well with her first visit to the pediatrician after we were released.

Thanks again for all your prayers and well wishes. We appreciate it!

Jeff, Melinda, and Emily