It's a girl!

Here's the birth story in its un-edited, rambly state. Just want to let everyone know that we are doing great! I'll post some pictures soon. They are all on C's camera, and he's been way too busy to get that taken care of!
Thanks everyone for all your well-wishes.

Birth of baby M

I woke up Tuesday morning to some bloody liquid. I wasn't sure if it was mucus or water leaking. I called my mw and she said to keep an eye on things, take my temp and treat it like broken water and we'd re-evaluate later that day.
I took the boys to the libary, and we went about our usual day. I had a couple of mild contractions, and even told M that if I said we needed to leave the library, I meant NOW. Just so he was a little prepared. I didn't want to tell them what was going on though, since it could be that night, or 2 weeks or more!
By evening, I could tell it was mucus plug and that ctxs were picking up. I called my mw back in the evening and she said to time a couple of the ctxs. They were around 10-20 minutes apart, very irregular. I tried to go to bed, even though I felt kind of antsy. I wanted to do laundry and pick up but I knew I NEEDED sleep. I laid down and got hit with a couple of ctxs--still 20 minutes then 15 minutes apart. Then suddenly, I had 4 that were 3 minutes apart and were lasting longer, with a real peak. I got up to tell C. Apparently there was some sort of change on my face b/c as I came down the stairs, he looked up at me and said, "in labor?"
I called my mw back. Even though I didn't fit the 411 or 311 rule (4 minutes apart, 1 minute duration, lasting for an hour +). She told me to call right away since my labor with M was only 5 hours and her assistants were in Vancouver and Portland. She had already called them aparently, figuring that it was my night so they could get the birth kit stuff from the birth center and to her house.
They were here in about 30/45 minutes. They set up in my bathroom, and then we hung out in the living room and chatted as I contracted. The ctx were around 6 minutes apart now, and still quite bearable, but took a little concentration. I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood, so C and I did that. It was a beatiful night and very peaceful to walk on our little street. Whenever I would stop, he would turn and hold me while I swayed.
We went home after awhile and I think I went upstairs. Ctxs were getting stronger, and I got in the tub after trying different positions around the bed and such. The water felt great, but I was still having a rough time with some of the ctx. Just as I was getting in the tub, I got hit with 3 hard ones right on top of each other. Everyone thought I was hitting transition. But, after several hours in tub, I was getting discouraged, and asked to be checked. 6cm! Man was I peeved. I had already sailed past the 5 hour mark, and was only 6 cm. I got out and went to bed. C and I slept for about an hour, which I think helped a lot. I woke up to another really rough set of ctx. The whole labor I never really had regular ctx. They would come in fits and starts. Then I'd have some milder ones, a break, then really unbearable ones.
I labored around my room and walked through the hall for awhile. I found that if I really danced and swayed deep, that it helped a lot. But after a while I wanted back in the tub. I was really vocalizing (loud!) though them now. It was really hard for me to handle them. I'm not sure if it was because I was so tired or what, but I just had a really tough time letting the each ctx go. I felt such an urge to resist them. I started chanting through them, things like open, down, out, oh baby. That helped a lot. Near the end I had a bunch of them that I was yelling at. Stop, no more, that kind of positive stuff. LOL. C was amazing! Just awesome. He held me through each one, made sure i was staying hydrated, and talked me through every single contraction. Told me I was doing it, talked about the baby and how we would soon meet our baby. I totally would have given up if it wasn't for hiim. I was ready a couple of times to throw in the towel and ask for a transfer. But I reminded myself I would get more than just a pain reliever at the hospital. Most of my birth plan and newborn care requests would be thrown out the window. So I stuck it out.
I started to feel the ctx most intensely in my hips. Then started to feel my body bearing down. I didn't want to push with them though, as I had no idea how dialated I was and didn't want to make things harder for myself if I wasn't dialated. I labored like that for awhile longer, but then I distinctly felt her head coming down. I think I said "head" or something like that, and I was vaguely aware of some movement in the room, but I think mw and her assistants were already there. I was really fuzzy about anything outside a certain radius of me. I do remember C saying something about getting M, and I saw M standing there. I was laying kind of on my side in the water and was checking baby's progress. I suddenly started pushing and felt the head. It was the most incredible sensation! I kept my hand there and had this overwhelming internal conflict over my body pushing, the baby pushing, and my mental struggles over it wanting to just be over, but wanting to go slow so it didn't hurt! The shift from regular ctx to pushing was a complete and total about-face. It was a physical as well as mental shift. I can see that women were meant to be able to deliver with minimal assistance. I know that I was aware enough to have been able to handle quite a bit if I needed to. Though it was nice to have professionals around too!
Anyway, as I felt her head coming down, I could really feel the ring of fire. I didn't get that with M, since the doc cut a huge old episiotomy. Though, I was even tempted to ask for that cuz it burned so bad! Not, really, and I never did, but I the thought crossed my mind! I also felt the bulge of the bag of waters. So when I would push and she would descend more, I could feel her head, but when I would rest, I could feel the water. Very cool. When her head was completely in the birth canal, I finally got a rest and that was nice. But then it started up again. It was a huge relief to have her head out. Then I was able to feel her slowly do her little turning dance as she got her shoulders situated. Another truly weird sensation! Anouther couple of pushes and she was all out! I reached down with my other hand and pulled her up to my chest where Jennifer, my mw and I both reached for the sack at the same time to pull it off her face. As soon as Jennifer saw what I was doing, I think she pulled back and let me.
I just held her for awhile, in awe that my baby was now on my chest! So overwhelmed. It took me awhile to pull her up and check gender. A girl! I think I nearly lost it at that point. I was shaking, but not sobbing--which is a little unusual for me! LOL She was just beautiful. Perfect color, tone, whimpers, grimaces, everything. And completely covered in the thickest vernix! A very cheesy baby. With a perfect head. I was thinking that she was farther down in my hips for longer, but I guess not.
I delivered the placenta just a few minutes later, and it was in great shape--and big. C cut the cord after the placenta had been checked and I was ready to get out of the tub. Oh, I was also vaguely aware just after delivery that my SIL brought in G and E so they could see the baby too. So everyone got to meet her right away, which is just what I wanted. I got out, dried off a bit and layed down on the bed. I took baby back from C, who was holding her so I could get out of the tub, and she latched right on. She is a great nurser. She always wants to nurse, but we are just now starting to have a bit of a challenge with her not wanting to open her mouth wider and get that tongue out. After I nursed her, the mw checked me and her. Everything looked great. Baby M was 6lb, 4oz (daddy weighed her :P) and 19.5 inches long. I have some skid marks up top, but nothing too bad. No stitches! Yay! Oh, and thanks to being able to eat and drink, and no drugs to mess with my system, my blood pressure was 108/80. Just grand compared to the 40/30 it tanked at with M!
I did have some dizzyness and fainted later that day when I tried to get up for the first time without help. Not so smart of me, but I'm much better now. Staying in bed and, resting, and feeding my little girl! I still can't believe I actually have a daughter. It's funny too that if I'm not paying attention and I refer to her, I'll say "him" sometimes. Just so used to having boys. I can't wait to dress her in some of the girl clothes a friend gave us. She is still so tiny she just swims in everything I have, so I'll wait a bit.
Baby M is so peaceful. She is a little perturbed by gas bubbles, but settles down pretty quick. She is also super alert. She opens both eyes wide and just looooks around. Soo sweet. Big brother M (gotta figure out how I'm gonna differentiate the 2 on the blog!) says she looks old. She is a bit of an old soul it seems. The boys are all completely smitten with their sister. E even touches her softly. He just says "baby" over and over. G and M can't stop looking at her and talking about her. C and I are tired, but good. We are blessed to have lots of help from friends and family.