And here's Julia at almost 4 years old:

As it turns out, even hanging out laundry is really fun with a six-month-old.  She yanked on things, the wind blew the sheet around her, she laughed, we played peek-a-boo....

Good times.  I'm cherishing them.

Meredith turned six months old the day after Christmas.  In the month right before that, she learned to "finger walk," crawl, sit up, and pull up.  The second half of her first year is going to be full of exploration!

Meredith Joy Stilwell

June 26, 2011

7lbs 4oz

It took us 11 days to name her, so she wasn't actually "Meredith" when this picture was taken.

On Sunday, June 26 at 5:30am, Julia climbed into my bed.  She asked to "snuggle with the baby," snuggled up to my belly, and quickly fell back to sleep.  I wasn't able to fall back asleep and laid in bed for an hour, with the baby moving around a ton.
Around 6:30 as I was trying to decide whether to stay in bed or get out of bed and start breakfast, I felt a little "pop" inside my belly.  I thought it was probably my water breaking, but no water came.  I laid there a few more minutes, with the baby moving around, thinking that it was probably the last morning that Julia and I would have our early-morning snuggle in bed (at least without baby interruptions).
Then I got up, and after a few minutes of walking around, a few drops of liquid dripped out.  I called Jennifer, our midwife, and told her that I thought maybe my water had broken.  I felt a little embarrassed - what if she came and checked me, but my water hadn't actually broken?!
Julia got up, and we ate breakfast on the front porch.  While we waited for Jennifer to arrive, I pushed her in her swing and we talked about the mockingbird we could hear.  It was a beautiful morning, and I was enjoying these peaceful "last moments" together.
At 8:00 Jennifer came and checked me and the baby - my water had broken and all seemed well so far!  I hadn't woken Trevor up, because I wanted him to get as much sleep as possible in case we had a long night.  But he woke up then; I told him my water had broken, and he told me he was sick!  Bad timing, eh?
My Mom had driven up late the night before and stayed in a hotel, so we called her and she came over.  Julia and I worked on making the cookies for the baby's birth day party (we had mixed up the dough a couple of days before, knowing the baby would arrive soon since I was a week past my due date.)

My contractions had started about 8:30am, but they were becoming a bit more serious during our cookie work, so I left Nana to finish that with Julia so that I could get things ready for having the baby.  
Trevor took Julia to church for a short time, and I laid down to try to rest in case we had a long night.  I timed contractions for a short while and then got back up to finish getting things ready.
My labor with Julia had started very gradually, with mild contractions starting 38 hours before she was born and slowly becoming stronger.  I knew second labors are usually faster, but I had planned on having some early labor time to get things settled in the house for the birth.  
However, my labor progressed much more quickly this time.  I didn't have time to putter around, and I discovered that I had forgotten to pack Julia's overnight bag.  I also hadn't decided where Julia would go during my labor.  I had various possibilities, depending on when labor started and how fast it went.  The fact that it was Sunday complicated things, though, because people would have church plans.  As I tried to decide where Julia should go and pack her bag, my contractions were getting much stronger.  I wished then that I already had everything ready so that I could settle down and focus on contractions!
After Julia was out of the house and things were a little more settled, I went to take a shower.  I had heard that a lot of women get comfort from the hot water in the shower, and I wanted to try it.  My contractions ramped up as I was getting into the shower, and it was WAY more uncomfortable for me to be standing up for them.  I washed my hair as quickly as I could and got out, since the shower wasn't providing any relief.  Mom came to tell me that Jennifer, the midwife, was on the phone.  She was calling to check on my progress.  Mom asked if I wanted to talk to her or have Mom pass along a message.  I said weakly, "just ask her to come, at least to check on us!"  I was a little afraid that I was having her come too early and there would still be many hours to come.  But I was feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed (Trevor was resting so that hopefully he'd feel a little better when it was time for the hard work of labor and delivery), so I wanted the comfort of her being there.
Jennifer arrived at 1:45.  My contractions were making big jumps in levels of seriousness.  My first labor gradually eased into each new stage, so I had time to adjust to each new level.  But this time, it was a shocking jump every time it happened, and I didn't have time to adjust to it before the next jump happened.  Also, positions and comfort measures that I had read were extremely comforting for some women were the opposite for me.  I was missing Trevor.  
I wanted to try to eat, since I hadn't eaten or drunk much since breakfast and I didn't know how long I would be laboring.  The food and tea I tried to drink tasted sickly sweet, and I could tell that I was probably going to throw up.  
Mom stepped in to be my comforter, and she did well, but we hadn't planned for her to be my coach, so we weren't clicked together quite well enough.   I had planned to decide on relaxation methods while I was pregnant and practice daily, but I never did that, so maybe it would have been easier if I had been more prepared.  During one contraction, while I was sitting on the birth ball, Mom came up behind me and leaned her cheek on mine.  I realized then that I needed to be in physical contact with someone during each contraction; that gave me a lot of comfort!  Trevor woke up about then, so he stepped in and was with me for each contraction.  It's amazing how your ability to communicate disappears during labor.  When Trevor first woke up, he came in and sat behind me (I was on the birth ball).  I wanted him to be in front of me so that I could lean forward onto him and snuggle on him during contractions, but I couldn't say it.  And I was pretty sure that a contraction was about to start, so I was afraid to try to stand up and move.  I was kind of frozen by my inability to communicate (but only until that contraction was over; then we rearranged).  

At some point I asked Jennifer what she thought about my getting into the birth pool.  Since my water had broken that morning, I didn't want to slow down my labor too much, so I didn't want to get in the water too soon.  Jennifer thought I should wait a bit longer.  I knew that I was outwardly keeping my cool much more than I was inwardly, and that she couldn't really tell how far along my labor was because I was quiet and turned inward so much.  I was pretty sure that it wasn't too soon for me to get in the water, but I decided to wait a bit longer anyway.  Almost immediately after that my contractions moved up another level in intensity, and she could see me starting to lose my cool.  At 3:15 I threw up; it actually helped me feel a bit better, and luckily it only happened once.   Jennifer said she thought my contractions were intense and close enough together to go ahead and get in the water.

I got into the water at 3:30, and my labor slowed down only for about 5 minutes.  Then the next contraction was back to super strength again.  At 3:55 I had a contraction that was almost unbearable, and I felt like crawling up the walls.  The bit of calmness I had fell apart during that contraction, but luckily, in the middle of it, I felt my body start to push.  Thank goodness!  I could handle the intensity if it was time to push!  I just tried to breathe evenly through each contraction, and my body would push toward the middle/end of each contraction.  I only actively pushed during one contraction - I forgot that it was even an option, and when I decided to try it (hold my breath and push), it didn't feel right, so I gave it up.  
I had planned to get out of the water for the birth, but because the positions I had planned to use had ended up being excruciatingly uncomfortable (as was moving), I decided to stay put and birth in the water.  I asked Mom if she felt comfortable catching the baby in the water.   The midwife gave Mom a bit of coaching about the difference in catching in the water.
Jennifer coached me to breathe through crowning and not push, as we had planned, but I couldn't hold back the urge to push.  At 4:34 the baby was born!  Mom caught the baby and handed her to me. 

As I got settled on the loveseat, someone asked me if I wanted to check to see if it was a girl or a boy.  I said no; I wanted to be settled and focus on nursing and holding the baby.  So it was ten or fifteen minutes before we found out that we had a girl.  I was glad for another girl.  We have so many girls in our family; it's what I know and am comfortable with.  The baby nursed well, and was alert and looking around while nursing.   
We are so thankful for a safe delivery and so blessed to have our two girls!