Friday, November 24, 2006

Keziah's Birth Story

Wow, I still can't believe our baby is finally here. And I'm still trying to get accustomed to the idea of having a daughter! I thought I'd take the chance to let you know how Keziah made her way into the world!

We went into the hospital on Wednesday morning for the induction. By the time they inserted the cervadil it was about 10:45 am. I slowly started getting more frequent contractions but they were very mild. I did a LOT of walking, sitting on the birthing ball and hanging out in the shower - Erik left a couple of times to run errands or pick up something to eat. It was a bit of a boring afternoon and I kept waiting for the pain to increase. Around supper-time, the contractions started to pick up. They still weren't really that painful, but they came right on top of each other. The nurses decided to hook me up to the monitors and discovered very quickly that my uterus was hardly resting at all and that baby's heartrate was dipping really low. It was a bit scary for a minute - they pulled out the cervadil, hooked me up to oxygen and IV and rolled me into different positions until the heartrate started to pick up. At this point thoughts of emergency c-sections were going through my head, but they were able to stabilize the heartrate and with the cervadil out, my contractions spaced out quite a bit. They checked my cervix and I was still only 1-2 cm dilated! So the whole day of contractions had been pretty much useless! I was pretty discouraged and thought we were in for a much longer haul yet. They decided to call in the doctor to check me out since baby's heartrate was still fluctuating a bit. She came in shortly after and decided to break my water. That was about 8:00 pm and I noticed my contractions were a little more painful right away. The doctor told the nurse she planned to stay which surprised me because I figured we had several hours to go yet. But within half an hour I had to close my eyes and breathe through the contractions and after another 15 minutes or so the contractions became quite unbearable and I started feeling the urge to push. The doctor checked me and I was about 5 cm. I didn't know how I was going to resist the pushing urge when I was only half-way there. But a few more contractions and I was fully dilated! I started pushing shortly after 9:00 pm. Apparently Keziah's heartrate was dipping again at this point and they told me I needed to push really hard - talk about incentive to get that baby out! Erik said once the head came out, the doctor grabbed her by the neck with both hands, put one foot on the edge of the bed and twisted her out like a corkscrew! All together, the pushing was about 8 minutes. The whole thing was pretty fast and furious if you ask me! When she came out, nobody announced whether it was a boy or a girl, so I was trying to peer through all the hands as she was being passed around and dried off and when I got a peek I said, incredulously, "Is it a girl?!?" And she was!

Erik was able to call my parents in Manitoba shortly after, as well as his whole family who came to visit yet that night. Even Micah got to wake up and come to the hospital in his pyjamas.  Here's a few pictures from our first couple of days with Keziah:

Micah gets introduced to his baby sister at the hospital.


Our family of 4!



Proud Aunties, Uncles, Grandpa, Grandma & Big Brother...











Micah's first time holding Keziah all on his own - he liked counting her fingers!

I am LOVING all this pink!



Wet smooches from Micah.


Brother-Sister bonding time.


Our little princess...

Some of you have asked about where we came up with her name. The middle name, Katherine, is after my mom (and was also her mom's name) and the name Keziah comes from the Bible. In the last chapter of Job, when Job's wealth is restored to him, the Lord blesses him with three beautiful daughters - one of which is named Keziah. Erik's dad also looked up the name yesterday and found it to mean "cinnamon". So, I guess our little girl really is made of 'sugar and spice'!

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers along the way. All four of us will be together for the next few days and then Erik will head back to work on Monday - the thought scares me a little bit, but we'll take it one day at a time and hopefully we'll be OK!

21 comments:

kelly ens said...

wow - i'm first again!
What a day you had! it really DID happen fast and furious! I'm glad to hear it went well though and that her heart rate was stabilized. She really is gorgeous, and Micah is so cute holding her! Wow - a family of four...congratulations again. She is so precious! can't wait to meet her!

KDees said...

Such a cute bunch of kids you've got, guys! Enjoy the weekend together as a family! Can't wait to keep up to date with your family of four! And, I forgot to tell you what a beautiful name Keziah Katherine is. Such a significant meaning-that is so cool!

Lindsay said...

I love all the pink! And I love her name! :)

Cheri said...

You guys all look great together!!! She is a beautiful little girl and cool name idea. You will be just fine on Monday too. After I had Riley I felt invincible for the first two weeks and then the tiredness hit me. Hopefully you all adjust really well. Keep us posted!!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Erik and Jamie, she looks so adorable, I can't wait to meet her!!!

Love Laura

Drea said...

Shes a cutie!

andrew + camille said...

awwwwwwwwww love the pics of micah and keziah... so beautiful. i am so glad things went well....
love her name!!

Trev and Rebekah said...

Great story and great pictures. I still can't believe that you came home from the hospital so quick. Did they rush you out or were you ready to leave?
How does Micah like his new sister?

patti said...

those pics of micah and keziah together just pull at a persons heartstrings. you probably can't stop smiling looking at the two together.

suzspeaks said...

She is beautiful! I'm so excited for you & happy that all is well. She was worth the wait, I'm sure! Congratulations! Now we'll be praying for your transition to being a mommy of 2!

Nathan & Rosanna Toews said...

Perfect! Absolutely perfect!

Amber said...

Your CHILDREN are beautiful! Your pictures are all wonderful (thank goodness for digital! think about how many films you would be going through!!) Enjoy the weekend!

Anonymous said...

thank you for the beautiful pictures. I am so glaadyour feeling good, and enjoying her. I am praying she will be a very content baby, and that her and Micah would grow very close. She is blessed to have a big brother. Granny and Grandpa are getting very anxious to meet her. love mom

Kirsten said...

So great! Thanks for all the details Jamie. The pictures of Micah and Keziah together are precious. How special to have your whole family together right away. I can't wait to see you and meet your beautiful little daughter.

The Keowns said...

we are very anxious to meet her and glad to see some pics. As well, you will find how much they grow into there 'name meaning' For instance, Cassidy means clever one, Liam is determained and Aidan is firey one. and really, there are no other words to describe there personalities.
So hopefully this means she will be sweet and spicey (hmm.. . that could be interesting!!)

Janelle said...

Once again Jamie, God was watching over you guys! SO awesome! I'm so excited for you & i just love seeing all of the pictures of Micah & Keziah. Could he BE any prouder??
love you!

Amber said...

Hi Jamie - I know you are busy and probably don't have a lot of time to answer some questions from little ol' me, but I'll ask anyway. Feel free to take months to answer them, that's ok...I don't want to take you away from your little family for too long!

First of all, after Keziah was born I was showing Erik (my Erik, hee hee) pictures on your blog and he thinks your Erik might have stayed at his parents house for night one time when a group from Bethany was in Rosenort. Hmmmm, true? or dreaming? He said he was pretty sure one of the guys names was Erik, with a "k" ha ha.

Ok, second, I have been browsing some of your links and am really confused. Who are your sibblings on that list, so far I think I am correct to say that Erin & Nichole are your sisters? Like I mentioned above, no big deal, just curious ;)

Ej said...

She's beautiful - we hope you guys are all doing well. Micah looks like he enjoys being a big brother already. I can't believe how fast it went for you this time - glad she is safe and healthy.

Blessings

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS to all of you.She's just as cute as a button. It's been great following your whole journey. Love the pics!! God bless and enjoy your new bundle of joy!!!!Love Auntie Hilda

derek salmon said...

hi jamie

i just read your birth story, it really is similar to mine with the very quick pushing stage! thats the way it should be ;P

anyway, i really do love her name and she looks very cute. i hope you have a great trip with your family :)

take care & God bless
amanda salmon

Renee Shaw said...

Congrats on your baby! I don't have internet anymore, but I try and check your site whenever I can! She is adorable, and I can't wait for me to be able to hold another little one again! I haven't done any work on my blog lately, but I'll try to do a post soon!
God bless!