Hello Friends.  We’ve had Lynnea around for quite some time now (8 days to be exact) and we’d like to know one question from all of you.  Who does Lynnea look more like?  We’ve provided you with three birth photos to help make this tough decision.  So far the in-person results seem pretty mixed, so we’re taking an official poll on the site! 

Vote to the right when you’re ready!  And don’t worry, more photos are on their way.

So most of you have already heard that Joy and I had our very first little baby Monday night!  Yeah, she’s amazing – pretty cute and been fairly chill so far (keeping fingers crossed).

Now that things have settled down we’ve been getting tons and tons of questions about how the birth went.  Since there are only so many hours in the day, we’re going to give you all the details behind the Twitter play-by-play of the labor everyone was following Monday.

Part 1: Waking Labor

3:20am* – First contractions wake Joy and continue every 8 minutes.

4:25am – Joy wakes Jeremy with a smile, “Honey, guess what? I think we’re in labor!”

5:33am - Jeremy gets some pre-labor video before the going gets tough (stay tuned).  Then we doze to save our energy for the long day ahead.

8:28am – Out of bed, we start actively tracking contractions.  We get some breakfast, call our doula and midwife to get some information about next steps, then give the new grandparents a call to let them know that it looks like today is the day.

10:02am – Meet with the doula and she recommends that we get some fresh air and go on one last ‘date’ before the little on arrives.

11:38am – We share a glass of wine with Joy’s parents who are eager to meet their first grand-daughter.

12:13pm – We begin our last official date before the little one joins us!

Part 2: Tully’s

12:21pm – We drive over to the sight of our very first date (way back on high school), Tully’s in Bridle Trails, for a buy-one-get-one-free late (my wife, the coupon maven).  Luckily it fared pretty well over the years and is still standing.  Cheesy, yes.  But a damn good move!

Part 3: Seeing some of our Family

12:36pm – Our next stop is pretty important.  We take a jaunt over to my dad’s place and Joy’s mom’s to let them know that today is the day they are going to have a new grand-daughter.  We thought it best to tell them in person.

Jeremy's Dad's Place

Joy's Mom's Place

I think they’re pretty stoked.

Part 4: Lunch at Spazzo’s

2:08pm - By now I’m getting hungry (and Joy knows she’d better eat).  We stop off at one of our favorite places to grab a nice meal.  The host gives us a funny look when we ask for “larger table by the bathroom” but he agrees and before too long I spread out a large sheet titled “Contraction List” on the table. I’m filling it in as the waitress walks up to a closed-eyed Joy to take our drink orders. She seems a little more concerned than the host, but takes our picture anyway.

We both order spaghetti and meatballs (no cheese on Joy’s) then Joy looks up and said, “I don’t think I can be out in public any longer.”  (The time has come–cue 2nd stage of labor.)

Part 5: Back Home – More Labor

3:00pm - Headed back home.  If you haven’t guessed by now, we’re doing a natural birth – husband coached via the Bradley Method (be careful, the website’s an eye sore).  Things are getting more serious and, feeling the night might go long, we head up to bed for a quick ‘nap’ (4:14pm).  We talk to the doula, who comes over shortly after (5:26pm) and to start coaching Joy through some of the more intense contractions.

… 3 hours pass where Jeremy gets a little more food to eat, Joy continues moving around to get the baby “just right” and keeps fairly relaxed conversation between contractions, which proves to mislead me and the doula as to the lateness of the hour…

7:39pm – Nausea sets in and her water breaks.  Suddenly, the urge to push takes over and things get really serious. In seconds we’re on the phone with the midwife and heading out.

Part 6: The Birth Center

On the way over, Joy has only three contractions.  God’s hand is over us for sure, as they come lighter and with significantly less intensity than the previous ones.

8:14pm – The midwife and two interns meet us at the center, bustling to get things ready to go.  (This is the point where Jeremy’s cell phone battery starts giving warnings.)

To say that Joy only had four pushes at the birth center is an understatement.  Although, “technically” there were four (maybe five) it wasn’t a 1-2-3-4 you’re done kinda thing.  Unlike the contractions that happened throughout the day and were 4-8 minutes apart and 90 seconds long, her pushing was more like 10 minutes apart and longer in duration.

8:54pm – Joy gives the last push that brings Lynnea Jo into our oxygen-filled world.  The baby is a light purple bluish color with lots of sticky white stuff around her.  And blood. There is definitely blood (the midwife assures us nothing is out of the ordinary).

Jeremy reaches down with one hand (the other hand is held like the dickens by his laboring wife) and catches baby one-handed and slides her onto mom’s tummy.  This move was truly amazing and this blog post doesn’t do it justice.  Dad was a rockstar! 

9:49pm - They are one happy family.

We go home and sleep happily ever after.  The end!

* Note: Times referenced above are only estimates and are not meant to be taken literally.