Sudden rush: The birth of Faye

Faye, oh, Faye, you are the sweetest little girl. All 10 pounds, 3 ounces of you—wow, you are quite the baby! You sure threw me for a few loops during this pregnancy, though! As a third child, I guess that’s what I get, the baby of the family getting her way all the time. We’re so happy you’re finally here. You were well worth the wait!

Forty weeks and four days was my birthday and my son Leo’s birthday! (He was also overdue.) There was so much hype on this day! Were we going to have three birthdays on June 8?! Well, the day came and went, and you decided you wanted your own day. I don’t blame you!

The next day we had an ultrasound. The doctor ordered an ultrasound to determine if fluid levels were safe to continue the pregnancy past 41 weeks. Everything checked out great, so I kept chuggin’ (a very slow chug!) along.

Then I hit 41 weeks. SERIOUSLY?

The next day was our very last day with you. (We decided to be induced at 41 weeks and two days, as Dr. Hermanson was on call and I so wanted to experience a birth with my own OB/GYN.) This day was weird, knowing you would be there soon. Eerie, but exciting. I really didn’t want to be induced because I have had quick natural labors with my other two children, but the farther past 41 weeks I got, the more scared I was that something would go wrong. Safe just to get you out!

That night I tried all the wives tales yet again to try to induce labor. I wish we could have stripped my membranes, but I was Group B Strep Positive, so we couldn’t do that. I attempted some of the other ones to try to get some contractions moving! Including the nipple stimulation—the method that I hadn’t tried yet up to that point.

Finally at 2 a.m. on induction day, I woke up, having some contractions. Yay! I was scheduled to be induced at noon, so I was pumped to finally go into labor naturally. Contractions were a few minutes apart already and getting stronger quickly, so I woke John up. We packed the car, called the grandparents to come over, and headed to the hospital at 3 a.m. I was so excited to finally meet her!

I tend to progress really quickly, and I needed to get at least one dose in of the Group B Strep antibiotic, so we were headed up to our room to get settled into labor and delivery by about 3:15 a.m. I was already at 6 centimeters when we got there. Yay! My contractions were getting closer and stronger—we were so close to meeting her! I kept breathing deeply through the tough contractions.

Around 4:30 a.m. I all of a sudden felt the urge to push. I told John to get the nurse, and sure enough, I was a 9. They started rushing in the equipment to set up for delivery. I would be pushing very soon!

I gave one or two big pushes, and out she came! Well, just her head, and this was scary. Her shoulders were stuck. The doctors and nurses started yelling frantically to push again—quickly and hard—to get her out. I pushed one more big push, and she was out! We waited for that newborn cry … but it wasn’t coming. Finally after a good 5 to 10 seconds, she wailed! WHEW! I guess she was pretty stunned from being stuck that it took her a little bit to come to. But after that little cry  and a quick check over by the nurses, she came to me to snuggle skin-to-skin. It was the best.

All of the staff was saying, “Whoa, big baby!” They all guessed 9 to 9 1/2 pounds. Really?! We found out when we actually weighed her, that she was 10 pounds, 3 ounces! What?! How did I have that baby in me?! And how did I get her out?! And I didn’t tear at all! Wow! Bodies are pretty amazing aren’t they? Thank god she was my third child!

I loved her hair. Ivy and Leo didn’t have anything but a tiny bit of peach fuzz, so this hair is pretty exciting for us. It was so cute!

Whew, another natural labor for the books! From contractions starting at 2 a.m., and birthing her at 4:40 a.m., I am pretty lucky to have quick labors!

And then for her name … man, we struggled this time around! John has been all about Faye for months. (He thought of it because it was a best friend of John’s mom when he was growing up.) But I couldn’t really grasp the name for a long time. We had Ava, Esther and Chloe as our other major front-runners. However, when I came across this blog about the name Faye, I really started to love it. So, finally we were starting to agree! Ha! Then we went with my favorite Lumineers song, “Ophelia,” as her middle name. I’ve loved that name since I heard that song years ago, and it’s getting more and more popular. It was too long for a first name (because we love short names), but I love it for her middle name! Faye Ophelia, our little lady.

Faye Ophelia Koch
June 13, 2017
10 pounds, 3 ounces
21 3/4 inches

Send us your birth story! Whether you had a home birth, hospital birth, 37-hour labor or emergency C-section, we’d love to read the tale of your little one’s grand entrance. Write up your birth story (click here for tips on getting started) and email it, along with a few photos, to birthstory@pnmag.com. We’ll share it on our Birth Day blog and may even print it in an upcoming issue!

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