Callie Analise Moody

Our baby GIRL has arrived!! 

Callie Analise Moody was born on 11/7/12 at 4:41am. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19.5 in long.

She is nursing like a champ (much better than either of the other two at this age), and Mommy, Daddy, Cayman and Charis are very excited that she has finally arrived!

Here is the story of her birth:

I awoke in the night around 1, having contractions, and asked Ian to go downstairs and get me a cup of water. At 1:15, the contractions were so intense that I told him I thought it was time to go. We called sweet Mrs. June (the woman from our church who also lives right down the street from us) and told her it was time for us to go, and she was there by 1:30. We were in the car, heading to the hospital a little after 1:45. I had some contractions, but thankfully our car trip to the hospital this time was a lot less eventful than our car trip to the hospital when I was in labor with Charis. 

We got to the hospital around 2, and after I was checked in and signed a few papers, they checked my cervix. 3 cm. Only 3 cm! When on Monday at my appointment, I was still at 2 cm. After all the pain and contractions I had Monday night and all day Tuesday, I just knew we'd show up at the hospital and they'd say I was 5-6cm! I remember apologizing to Ian for making him take me to the hospital so early during labor. (haha!) The nurse told me she'd check me again in an hour to see if I had progressed at all to determine whether we'd be staying at the hospital to have a baby or going home to wait it out a bit longer. 

At 3:10am, she checked me again, and I was already to 4 cm! Things were actually moving along. My midwife was called at home so that she'd know I was there and in labor. I told the nurse that I was pretty sure I wanted an epidural this time, so she ordered the bloodwork for it. I was very excited, but I was definitely getting a little nervous thinking of the pain and everything else that was to come. The nurse checked me again at 3:45, and I had quickly progressed to 6 cm. My nurse called the midwife again and suggested she start heading to the hospital because I was progressing so quickly. This was also when I was informed that my bloodwork would not be processed quickly enough for me to receive an epidural. :( I was quite disappointed. But thankfully, I knew that God would provide me with the strength to make it through childbirth naturally, just as He did with Charis. Since I wouldn't be receiving an epidural, the nurse said she did have some pain meds she could give me. She inserted them in my IV (which I received at 4cm because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. The antibiotic is supposed to be in your system for 4 hours prior to delivery to ensure the antibiotic is passed on to the baby. The nurse was pretty sure I wouldn't be in the labor and delivery room for 4 hours...) So at 3:50, I received the pain medication, and at 3:51 (literally, I'm not joking), I all of a sudden started to feel very dizzy and lightheaded...I could not keep my eyes opened for anything. I began to get very nervous because I had no clue that the nurse had given me any medications! She quickly told me to just close my eyes, and she explained to Ian that it was just the pain medicine. It was supposed to make me very sleepy. Boy, did it! I went from 6 cm to 10 cm and didn't even realize it. Ian said I would fall asleep between contractions, and when I'd start having a contraction, I'd reach out for his hand to hold and reach out to hold on to the bar of the bed with the other hand. I'd breathe through the contractions and moan a tiny bit at the very end. (I remember it...sort of...in a dreamy sort of way!) I remember one time telling Ian that I felt like I could push. He called the nurse over the intercom to let her know, and my midwife came in and checked me (apparently), and said that I was fully dilated and it was time to push! 

Then the real fun began. :/

It must not have taken me very long to go from 6cm to 10cm...if I received the meds at 3:50am, and she was born at 4:41am, because I know I pushed for a good 20-30mins! 

With Cayman and Charis, I pushed through maybe 2-3 contractions, and poof! There was a baby. 

Maybe it was my state of exhaustion (no sleep that night or the night before) or maybe it was the pain medication I had received, but I just couldn't get the whole pushing thing down this time. It was extremely painful, and towards the end, I was getting very tired. I would push, she would crown, but I would run out of breath/energy, and she would retreat. This probably happened at least 12 times Ian just told me. The worst part was that the cord was wrapped around Callie's neck (loosely), so every time I pushed, her heart rate would drop. I would have to let her recuperate and wait until the next contraction to try to push again. 

Praise the Lord, at 4:41am, I finally pushed long and hard enough, that she was able to come right out! Needless to say, I was a little exhausted, she was a little blue, but making crying noises! And "it" was a girl!! The funny thing was that the whole time I was in labor, the nurses and midwife were telling me to "push her out" and using the pronoun "she" all the time...even though nobody knew the gender. And let me tell you. *Boys, turn your heads so you don't read this line...* Recovery is SO MUCH BETTER when you don't tear and you don't need an episiotomy!!! Of course you're still a little sore, your muscles hurt, and of course the uterus contractions hurt like crazy. But there is such a big difference in other aspects of the recovery! Yet again - praise God! 

Enjoy our pictures!!