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belles mamans Birth Announcements
Kathleen (Katie) Houston
Jennifer & Neil announce the birth of their daughter
born on Friday, June 6th 2008 at 12:41 am
8 pounds, 11 ounces 19 1/2 inches
I am so happy to tell you that our baby girl, Katie, was born on Friday, June 6th, 2008. She is just amazing!
The labour was very different than I ever could have imagined. In my last trimester, my husband Neil and I participated in the Birthing From Within childbirth preparation course. We had worked very hard on dealing with fears and letting go of expectations. The most important lesson we learned was that whatever happens, this is her birth - enjoy it.
My doctor, the wonderful Dr. Buckett at the Royal Victoria Hospital, had decided to induce me at 38 weeks because it looked like Katie was going to be a big baby. I had been having contractions since about 34 weeks and we were hoping I would go into labour naturally. However, no luck, so early on Tuesday June 3rd we went into the Vic for the induction. But Katie had no intention of heeding her eviction notice! They did one round of cervadil, then another, and then a third...and at the end of the third (36 hours later) I had finally dilated to 1cm. It was a big victory! The next step was to try with a balloon to get the cervix to dilate further and, then by Thursday morning, I made it to an amazing 2 cm. Then came the breaking of the waters with a few contractions here and there. Katie was still high and the team really wanted me to stay in bed becuase of a risk of a prolapsed cord - what a challenge that was! I had always imagined that I would walk and move during labour and I was restricted to the bed! When they started the oxytocin the contractions came quickly and were stronger than I could have imagined. There were times when it felt like there were no breaks between. Thank goodness for Neil and and the vocal toning I had practiced during yoga - they helped get me to 7cm. About dinner time I started to wear down and lose focus on the pain management and, in the end, asked for an epidural. It all but stopped the contractions and gave us both a much appreciated break. That's when we met the amazing nurse Chantal, who took such good care of us for those last hours. She came in, turned the lights down and set the most beautiful atmosphere for Katie's arrival. During the pushing the hospital was so quiet and was so calm and it was just perfect when Katie came out. We were unbelieveably lucky to have Dr. Buckett there for her delivery, he was ever calm and patient and encouraging!
We stayed 36 hours after her birth and were so grateful when we took our beautiful Katie home. She is a wonderful baby and I never could have imagined falling in love so quickly. I'm looking forward to having everyone meet her soon!