Monday, March 29, 2010

Baby Russell is HERE!!!

My sister had her baby this morning! Russell Alan Stark was born at 7:04 am on Monday March 29, 2010. He weighs 8 lbs 8 oz and is 21 inches long.

Russell was kinda sad to be getting poked and prodded and squeezed and to be away from his mommy (she was across the room), hence his frowny little face in these pictures, but Raelin held his little hands and made him feel better. He would startle any time she let go of him.
Gina's labor was loooooong and hard, but she made it without any drugs of any kind! She's amazing! She started having pressure waves (Hypnobabies lingo for contractions) days ago, but her Hypnobabies hypnosis made them painless. Until they started to go into her back. She had back pressure/labor for TWO DAYS before Russell was born! Toby had to put LOTS of pressure on her lower back during pressure waves to help ease the pain, and now her back is swollen and bruised from all that pushing and rubbing. She went in to the hospital this morning at about 1:00 with really close and long contractions and was only 3 cm dilated (she said, "Are you kidding me!!" I'd have said the same thing!). At about 6:40, her water broke and after that things moved FAST! She was only dilated to 3 cm still, but less than a half hour later she was complete and ready to push, before the doctor even got there! The doctor did get there in time to catch, though.I'm so impressed with her that she was able to go natural when her labor was so long! After laboring for so long and then getting to the hospital only 3 cm dilated, I would have gotten an epidural. But Gina did it! She's awesome! Her Hypnobabies hypnosis helped a lot through early labor, but she hadn't anticipated back labor and hadn't practiced her hypnosis with that scenario in mind. It was hard for her to direct her endorphins to her back when she'd been practicing sending them to her tummy. But Mommy, Daddy, and baby are all feeling great! Healthy and happy and TIRED!

Back where he belongs: on Mommy's tummy. Much happier now!

2 comments:

Karly said...

YAY!!! I'm so glad she made it through, especially with back labor! Wow she's my hero! He is so beautiful and I'm so excited for her! And it's so great to hear that she did it naturally and that the hypnobabies helped her out a lot. Helps keep me motivated. :) Congrats Gina!! I can't wait to see the little cutie!

Vanessa said...

How exciting! Congrats to Gina, she looks like a natural with him on her tummy all bundled! Such a sweet picture! He is perfect and so beautiful! Gina is absolutely amazing, I would have got the epidural for sure! :0 However that is not saying much since I got epidurals with both of my babies! :)