A New Perspective

Every day for the past month I have woken up and checked my phone to make sure that I didn't miss a call from my cousin, Ginger, during the night. I've been waiting for the day that she calls and says, "It's time! I'm in labor!" The call came Sunday morning. She said, "They can induce me today. I'm about to head to the hospital!"

I had spent the night at Daddy Steve & Namaw's house (after the infamous Cowboys game) and Mike was at his hunting lease this past weekend, so I left the boys in the loving arms of Daddy Steve and Namaw and headed for Temple.

When I arrived around 11 am, Ginger was at a 3 and was having some contractions...but they weren't painful yet.

She had arrived at the hospital at 8 am hoping for an induction that would lead to a fast L&D. This was not to be. Family came to visit....and family went home to sleep for the night.

Around 11:30 she finally asked for an epidural and then just before midnight the doctor broke her water. She was finally at 4/5 cm! Yes...after an entire day of labor she had progressed from 3 to 4.5 cm. The good thing was that she was almost totally effaced whereas she had been far from it when she arrived that morning. After breaking her water, the doctor told us all (me, Jesse, and Ginger) to try to get some rest. Jesse made a pallet on the floor using the cushions off the back of the couch, I laid down on the couch, and (of course) Ginger was in her hospital bed.

I slept off and on from 12:30 to 2:30 (more off than on because of the numerous times that the nurses came to check on her...and because her blood pressure cuff seemed to go off every 15 minutes). Around 2:30 I got up to check the monitor to see how her contractions were coming along. Ginger was getting very discouraged and saying, "I'm never gonna have this baby! I'll be pregnant forever!" I was trying to encourage her by telling her that she couldn't feel anything because of the epidural, so for all we knew she could be at an 8 or 9 already. Her contractions were coming ever 2 minutes, so that was a good sign.

Just after I took a picture of me and the clock (to prove she was still in labor at 3 am), the doctor came in to check her.

The doctor had to step over Jesse (sleeping at the foot of the bed) to check her. When she announced that Ginger was at a 7-8, Jesse put his head back down (as if to go back to sleep). Ginger had a contraction while the dr was checking her and dilated to a 9 with that contraction. When Jesse heard this, he got up and began to try to wake himself up for the big push. With her next contraction she dilated to a 10 and the dr announced that it was time to get ready to push!!!

I stood at Ginger's right leg and held her leg/foot while she pushed thru 3 contractions. She had a total of 8 or 9 pushes (and a laugh...one time she laughed and it actually pushed Jayma's head closer down) and then Jamya Diane was born! As the dr was holding her head during the final push she commented, "Ouch! Your baby just bit me!" lol Guess she's gonna be a little feisty!

As soon as she was born Jesse grabbed the video camera and I grabbed the still camera. We asked the dr if it was ok to take pictures now (you can't take any pictures during the actual delivery). She chastised Jesse for thinking about pictures and told him to get over there to cut the cord. I took the video camera from him and held it high in my left hand while snapping stills with my right hand!

After things calmed down (nurses and doctors left the room and Ginger and Jesse had been holding Jayma for awhile), Ginger asked me to get her some food. She hadn't eaten all day and was starving. She was craving Whataburger...so off I went. I'm sure there's some rule about not eating greasy food right after delivery...but we just pretended like we hadn't heard that rule before.

Everyone was shocked at how much hair Jayma had. It is so thick and long! The nurse was actually able to lather it up when she gave Jayma a bath (at Scott & White they give the baby her bath in the same room as the parents. The only time Jayma left the room was for her hearing test.) Ginger asked Cindy to bring a bow up to the hospital when she came on Monday morning. She never thought that her little girl would have so much hair that she could put a bow in it at the hospital!

I loved holding the precious, newborn Jayma.

On Monday morning family and friends began arriving to see the new addition to the family. Cindy was going to pick up Grandmommy...but Grandmommy didn't want to wait on her and just came up on her own. She was so happy to hold her new great-grandbaby!

When Cindy and McKenna arrived, the room was filled with excitement. McKenna was soooooo excited to see her "sissy". She had a grin from ear to ear. She kept asking to hold the baby and wanted to be within arms reach at all times. Here's a picture of the new family of four...Jesse, Ginger, McKenna, and Jayma.

It was such an amazing experience to be there for the birth of this precious little girl. I was (obviously) there for the birth of my boys, but I had never seen a birth (besides on tv) from the other side of the bed. I think I missed my calling. I should've been a midwife. I loved everything about it. I loved encouraging Ginger during her 18+ hour labor, rubbing her sore back, suggesting various position to try to make her as comfortable as possible, holding her leg as she pushed, and watching the miracle of life as a tiny (well...at 8 lbs 12 oz maybe not so tiny) head emerged from Ginger's body. I was dog tired and very sleep deprived...but I was on such a high that when I left there a little after 11 am on Monday morning, I made it the two hours home without having to stop for sleep or even a coke. I'm kinda sad to think that this will probably be the only time in my life that I'll get to experience a birth from this perspective...however, I feel so blessed to have been a part of such a special day in Ginger & Jesse's life.