I thought I would write this story to not only document our recent experiences (for keepsake purposes) but to share the experience we’ve had since our precious little girl was born 12 days ago.
So, let me begin with the day before our baby was born! I wrote an email after my doctor's appointment late Friday afternoon.
Friday, March 20th, 2009
"Hey guys!
I had a doctor's appt today at 37 weeks and she said that the baby has dropped and I am 1 cm dilated and could have the baby any day!!! My doctor said she would be surprised if I last till my due date- which is still 19 days away.
I agree with her, she or he feels ready to come out. I was having some mild contractions last night.
Carmen is in charge of keeping you in the loop when I go into labor.
Whenever that may be?!!!?!!
Could be another few weeks.... or not!
Love Alana"
We spent Friday evening with our friends Shannon and Vaughan and Camila & Josh. We ate pizza (because I was too tired to cook) and ended up chatting and hanging out way too late. For some reason I didn't feel tired and we didn't end up going to bed until
Saturday, March 21st:
Imants woke up early to golf (the usual), while I slept in (again- pretty typical). I had plans to spend the day with my best friend Vicky, her daughter, Ava, my mom, and Carmen. The 4 of us had pedicures out near my M & D's house in Issaquah followed by a walk around the neighborhood with Molly, my parents lab. Later we lounged around, watched the Husky basketball game and noticed Molly was acting rather strange - unsettled, groaning and pacing. She was especially strange with me. It's hard to explain! It was like she knew something big was about to happen.
When the game was over, around
I was standing in the kitchen and seconds into our conversation, I felt a gush of fluid in my underwear which felt a lot like I peed my pants! I dropped the phone with Imants still on the line and ran to the bathroom, where more water came out.
Water just kept flowing! I really didn't believe that this was my water breaking because I was 3 weeks early. My mom helped me confirm that it was indeed amniotic fluid and not urine!
This news sent Carmen and my Mom into a tizzy! If Molly could talk, I am sure she would say "I told you so!” Vicky was the only calm one in the house, so she called my doctor who told us to come in to the hospital.
I finally got back on the phone where Imants was waiting patiently, to let him know to start packing our bags!
Carmen drove Mom and I to our house where Imants was totally calm and composed (no joke), having everything packed for the hospital. I expected him to be nervous or anxious but it was though he were packing for a vacation- last minute of course!
We arrived at the hospital a little after 6:30 pm, went straight to Triage where I was hooked up to monitors to observe the baby’s heart rate and my contractions. I was just starting to feel what felt like minor menstrual cramping, when we were told that my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. Being that the contractions were so light and really not noticeable at all, they expected that it could be a while until I went into active labor. Imants took this time to let me know that this could be a while and that it is a marathon, not a sprint! Note- I have always been a much better sprinter than long distance runner.
They admitted me a short while later, I believe a little after
The nurse was right in telling me to walk, because as we were rounding the first curve in the hallway, the contractions intensified and I had to lean on Imants for support through each contraction, and do the breathing we had learned in birth class. Taage (my brother in law) showed up at this point with tapes for our video camera. Of course the guys were doing a good job of distracting me through the pain!
I was definitely feeling the pain escalate with each contraction and decided I wanted to be back in the privacy of my hospital room. Shortly after, the doctor came in to check on me for the first time. He didn’t feel like he needed to check my cervix at this point because I didn’t seem to be in a terrible amount of pain yet. I corrected him and said that I think he should check me and to all of our surprise, I was already 4cm dilated! This was about
Up until this point, we thought the labor could be 12 or more hours, but after hearing that I was already 4 cm, we were told that once you reach 4cm, the average length of time is about 1 hour per cm until pushing (easy math= 6 hours).
We then tried a few more positions to get me through each contraction. This part is a little blurry, but I remember Mom and Carmen coming back in the room with my honeydew bubble tea - which I didn’t feel like drinking anymore.
Sometime later, I would say around
The nurse then suggested I try the Jacuzzi tub in our bathroom to help me through the last bit of labor before I was to start pushing. She was right again; it felt wonderful and helped me to relax between contractions. I think I stayed in the tub for about 20 minutes when I felt like I had the urge to push.
Between contractions, I was helped out of the tub and back into bed. The doctor checked me one more time and I was ready to push. Pushing was tough!!! It was definitely the most painful part. I managed to push the baby out in 5 contractions. It was surreal seeing the head come out and then the body. Imants announced “IT’S A GIRL!” and dutifully cut the umbilical cord. She was placed onto my chest and quickly changed from blue to pink as her lungs started to take in oxygen. She cried and squirmed a bit and was then cleaned and checked out by the baby nurse. She had great Apgar scores of 8 and 9 and looked absolutely perfect!
She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz, measured 18 inches and looked just like her daddy, with maybe Mommy’s lips! Her head was round and her lips were strawberry red.
She was born at
I think he was in a state of shock while I was lying there relieved that she was healthy and that the pain was over. My doctor did some work on me, and when he was finished, I was able to feed our baby girl for the first time.
We named her “Linnea Hazel Holmquist” (we pronounce it “Lin-nay-a”).
Linnea is of Scandinavian (Swedish) origin, and it’s meaning is "lime or linden tree". Also the name of a small pink mountain flower that was named after the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, inventor of the universally recognized system of classifying plants and animals.
Meanwhile, Carmen has been almost hiding in the corner of the room throughout the labor and birth, while my mom was helping me. Imants never left my side- although I seem to remember him leaving for a few minutes to wolf down a burger and fries with Taage. My mother in law (who will now be referred as “Omi”) Carina arrived after the birth as well.
Looking back, the labor was amazingly fast and the experience could not have been better. I was transferred to the postpartum unit after the birth, where we said our goodbyes to the family and were able to have time just the 3 of us.
Imants, Linnea and I were able to bond for the first time. It was after
Sunday March 22nd:
I had just managed to fall asleep, when the Pediatrician awakened us around
Our friends, Shannon and Vaughan, as well as Vicky and Mardi and their daughter, Ava, came to see us in the morning along with a few hospital co-workers of mine later in the day (Dawn, Peggy, Cathy & Angelita).
We were really anxious to get home so as soon as Linnea pooped and passed all her tests. After packing up our things, we got to test out the new car seat and drove the 8 blocks home!
March 23rd to
Life has been a little bit of a blur since bringing Linnea home. We have had many visitors, and have had several short outings including a trip to her Pediatrician’s office and a visit to Great Omi’s house in
We drove down to meet Daddy for lunch on Monday since it was his first day back to work. Tuesday we walked up to Swedish hospital (with Linnea in the handy Ergo carrier) to see work friends. Wednesday was a very cold rainy/sleety day so we spent the day inside, but did manage to get to the grocery store with help from Maria and the Ergo carrier!
That brings us to today. We are expecting Grandma to come over any minute now!
In closing, we just feel so blessed to have our beautiful healthy daughter. She is feeding and sleeping well and already seems to be growing so fast. I really can’t get enough of her and could hold her all day long- I almost do!
Thank you all for your love and support. If you haven’t met Linnea yet, we really look forward to sharing her with you soon.
We love you Linnea, more than words can express!
