Lucy Adele Sefton has Arrived!

Well, the LONG wait is finally over and we are at home enjoying life with our new baby girl!
Lucy was born on September 17, 2008 at 7:12 a.m. weighing 9 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches tall.
At 7:00 p.m on Tuesday the 16th of September we checked into the hospital to begin our induction. I was 42 weeks and 3 days and ready to meet Lucy, but not looking forward to another very long labor and the whole medical induction process. We talked to our MW at length about what we wanted from the process, he was already well aware of our desire for natural birth and so we laid out a plan and decided to start with Cytotec and move to Pitocin in the morning. The pill was inserted and Tess and Chris went home to sleep for the night. Our grand plan was to have Chris drop Tess off at school on Wednesday morning and join me at the hospital to welcome Lucy. Tess was to join us as close to delivery as possible. Lucy had other plans. Around 10:45 p.m. contractions became very regular and noticeable, every 3-5 minutes. They got progressively stronger and at 1:00 a.m. I paged the nurse to ask for something to help me sleep, as I had a feeling I would need it. I was checked for dilation when they brought in the medication and I was at 4cm, which was good progress from the 1 cm I was when we were admitted. I was then able to sleep in between contractions, which was enough to get me through the next few hours. At about 5:00 a.m. I was having a really hard time dealing with the contractions and asked to be checked and taken off of the monitors so that I could cope a little better. I was dilated to 6 cm and I went and got into the shower to try and relax. Much to my surprise I spent a full hour in the shower under very hot water which helped a lot. Around 6:00 I came out and called for someone to come and check on me. Tom, my Midwife, came in right away and told me that I was 8 cm dilated. We figured that as long as my water stayed intact Chris would be able to get Tess to school and still make it to the hospital on time as planned. At 6:30 I called Chris and told him he better be on his way. He was on his way out the door to take Tess to school when I called. About a minute later I called him back and told him he better skip dropping Tess off and just get to the hospital NOW. While all of this was going on the nurses called Rose, the Midwife who delivered Tess and told her that if she wanted to be here for the delivery of Lucy she had better be on her way. I found out later that they had woken her up and she had rushed to the hospital to make it! Somewhere around 6:45 the contractions changed and I started feeling the urge to bear down. I was so scared! Chris wasn't there and I started to get the feeling he might not make it. I tried not to push during the contractions, when suddenly my water broke. At that point I was screaming through contractions, still trying not to push and every time the door opened my heart would rise, and then fall when it was just another nurse and not Chris. Before I knew it Lucy was crowning. It was a very intense labor, I think made more so by the anxiety over Chris not being there. I have a feeling that the anesthesiologist was a busy person after the other moms in labor heard me! Both of my Midwives were sitting on the bed with me, coaching quietly but letting me take the lead. With another push I delivered Lucy's head and the Midwives asked me if I wanted to reach down and deliver her body. I wasn't sure I really believed that she was almost here so I reached down as the Midwife turned her and I grabbed her and pulled her to my chest at 7:12 a.m. It was an amazing moment. Everyone in the room was crying, Lucy was by far the loudest! I called Chris less than a minute after she was born and he was able to hear Lucy crying as he pulled into the town where the hospital is located. Lucy started nursing within a few minutes and Chris and Tess came through the door around 7:20. We had left the cord intact so that Chris was able to cut it as he met his new daughter! Tess kept scolding me for the mess in the room saying, "Mama, mess!" She got to join me on the bed and loved to be able to sit with us while Lucy nursed away. Lucy stayed with us for over an hour, just getting acquainted before they took her to the nursery to be weighed, measured and washed. 24 hours later we were released from the hospital and we have been home getting going ever since.
We are totally in love, recovering well, and can't wait for the whole family to meet Lucy. Tess is a loving (and a little jealous) big sister and I couldn't be more proud of our little family. Here ore the few photos we have so far!
http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r177/sunpeach1/Lucy%20Adele/