The Arrival of Our Aynsley

Our little one has finally arrived!

We are so grateful that she is finally here, healthy and happy.  I am posting her birth story so that those who care to read it may do so.

On Sunday, May 27th (one week after my due date), Matt and I went to church and were planning to attend a church picnic in the evening.  After church, Matt went home to get some sleep and I stopped to get groceries.  After I put the groceries away, I relaxed on the couch with lunch.  After lunch, I was planning to clean the house and do some laundry.  Before I got up after finishing lunch, I started having contractions.  This wasn't unusual, so I assumed they would stop once I got up.  I started working on cleaning but the contractions didn't stop.  They were still spaced quite far apart, but it didn't seem possible that I could be anywhere near labor.  I decided to see if I could sleep through any of the contractions, but they were stronger than any of the Braxton-Hicks that I had had previously.

I woke Matt up at about 3:00 and decided to take a shower, get dressed, and start getting our hospital things together.  Matt and I ate dinner and got things done in between contractions.  We took classes on the Bradley method and we utilized the relaxation techniques that we had learned as I labored.  Around 8:30 or 8:45, I took a bath to see if the water would help the contractions, but I wasn't in there long before I realized that we needed to head to the hospital.  Matt had recognized this before I even said anything and he was taking care of our dogs so that we could pack the car and leave.

We left for the hospital around 9:00.  At this point, I had only been laboring for about 6 hours and I couldn't even imagine how far dilated or effaced I might be (we had decided that I wouldn't get "checked" during my appointments, so I had no idea how far along I was at this point).  We arrived at the hospital around 9:30 and checked in.  I changed into my hospital gown and felt the urge to push during the contraction I experienced at that point (the contractions had also been double-peaking for some time).  When I got on the table to get checked, I told the nurse that, although I had only been having contractions since 3:00, I felt like I was supposed to push.  The nurse checked me and confirmed that I was 9cm dilated and that our baby was breech.  While waiting for an ultrasound machine and a doctor, they started to prep me for a c-section.  It was confirmed that the baby was breech and I was quickly moved to have the procedure done.

Aynsley Patricia McDaniel was born that evening at 10:51pm, weighing 6 pounds and 8 ounces and measuring at 21 1/2 inches.  Her name is pronounced like Ein-sley (and we understand if that takes awhile to pronounce correctly; we have been fairly certain that it would be her name for some time now).  Even though things didn't go exactly as we planned, we are so happy that our little one has arrived.  I was completely blown away by how quickly labor progressed and surprised that she had turned.  We have hope to use the Bradley method again through a vaginal delivery next time and we have no reason to think that that won't be possible.

For all the well-wishes and congratulations, thank you!  We are beyond blessed and excited about the beautiful new addition to our family.