Gwen Marie Van Tassell is here!

Wow, what a day! There are few feelings in the world that trump spirit that is felt at the birth of a new child. It has been emotional for both Kierstin and I, but all is well in our corner of the hospital. We called into the Birth Center this morning a little before 6:00 am to see if they had any room for an induction. Being 5 days over her due date, Kierstin was anxious to get it all over. Luckily, there was room and we were told to come on in. After arriving and filling out some paper work, we found out that the nurse helping us would be the same nurse that helped us with Blake, whom we love! After getting some vitals, the doc got the party started with cytotec. After 4 ½ hours, Kierstin was having contractions about every 3-4 minutes apart. The Dr. checked her status and she was dilated to a “good” 3 (apparently he doesn’t like to use decimal points) and was 80% effaced. The doctor broke her water at 12:34 pm and labor contractions came hard and fast.
Kierstin wanted to walk around a little bit before getting an epidural. At around 1:00 pm she decided it was time to get an epidural. We told the nurse and the anesthesiologist was called, but both had recently gone into surgeries and were going to be occupied for at least another hour. Kierstin was NOT happy, obviously, due to the increasing pain of the contractions. She was given a shot of nubain to take the edge of the contractions. It worked for about a half hour, but that was it. With each contraction, she was getting more vocal and more abusive (ie fingernails in the flesh, biting, etc). Kierstin was progressing very quickly and was feeling more pressure and she was giving up hope of an epidural. At around 3:10 pm, the nurses checked her and she was dilated to an 8-9. They decided to call Dr. Ting over from the clinic. A few moments later in a whirlwind of events, several nurses were running around, Dr. Ting showed up and out in the hall way I heard a women say “Which room is it…I’m guessing it is this one.” Apparently, the load screams and grunts gave it away to the anesthesiologist where her next patient was. The nurses put Kierstin on her side and the anesthesiologist went to work. Within 8 minutes, Kierstin had an interthecal shot. They quickly got Kierstin on her back and her feet in the stirrups. At 3:22 she began to push. Gwen’s head came out pretty quickly, causing some bruising on the face, but once the head came out, she wasn’t moving. Gwen had shoulder dystocia , but quick thinking on the part of the doctor and nurses, they got her shoulder past the pubic bone. But, in dramatic fashion, she got stuck again. Apparently her chest is larger than her head. After a few hard pushes and tugs by the doctor, Gwen came out at 3:25 pm with a healthy cry. She weighed 8 lbs, 2 oz and was 21.5 inches and has a full head of black hair.
Gwen has been named after her Great Grandmother Gwen Van Tassell who was born on February 20, 1933. I was not emotional after the birth of the two boys, but with Gwen it has been hard to keep the emotions at bay. A combination of the meaning of her name and it being our first girl really made it difficult.
Kierstin is doing great and is bouncing back quickly. She and Gwen are bonding VERY well. Hopefully this is a foreshadow of their relationship to come.