And now presenting...
Matilda Jane Wilcoxson
born April 9th, 2010 at 1:19am
weighing in at 7 pounds 2 ounces
spanning 20.5 inches
I wish I could say that little Maltida Jane waltzed her way into this big, bright world but the waltz is a little too subdued to describe our lovely lady's entrance into life. I think the 100 meter dash would be a more appropriate analogy...
Rivka had been having periodic contractions for about a week or so. These contractions were nothing more than a "tightening" of her stomach that would come and go with little to no pain or discomfort. Thursday afternoon these contractions started to become a little more substantial but still nowhere near what most women or books describe as active labor.
At 11:20 pm somebody threw a switch and things got serious. I had been asleep for about 10 minutes when Rivka called to me and said she was feeling "different" and would be drawing herself a bath. Although incredulous that things could be close, we decided to go ahead and time the spread and duration.
From the start her contractions were lasting about 50 seconds and spread nearly 2 minutes apart start to start. That's pretty close but we thought we would have plenty of time before the big moment. It was then around 12:20 am and we call Karen, Rivka's midwife, who was surprised how quickly things had changed and asked how Rivka was doing emotionally.
For those who aren't as familiar with the child bearing experience, apparently in most "normal" cases women go through emotional sign-posts which can tell you where they are in the process. They go through an excited stage, a serious stage and then a self-doubting stage. Most people will say that if you are looking for a natural birth experience you should labor at home until well established in the serious stage. Although none of those emotional stages seemed to apply, Karen told us we should probably get to the hospital sooner than later. Her reasoning, however, was that earlier meant a more comfortable car ride to the hospital which is 20 minutes away. We hung up with her and started to get things ready. I began gathering food items, packing clothes etc. with no rush really; surely there was plenty of time. I've heard this can take 10+ hours if you're lucky...
Rivka's contractions picked up a little and when she wasn't in position on the floor working through one, she was up packing or putting on mascara. We both felt like there really wasn't any hurry... Boy were we wrong!
I was taking my sweet time making a nice little bed for Rivka in the back of Sheila (our Subaru Outback) when Rivka started to make comments about us needing to hurry it up a little bit. I questioned the whole idea of going to the hospital, pointing out that she wasn't really in the "serious stage" yet. Even when she had started to feel the urge to push and became more urgent that we hurry things up, I thought "no way, this can't be happening this fast."
In between her now "pushing" contractions, Rivka ran down the stairs and jumped in the back of Sheila. I went to lock the door and noticed I was wearing slippers. I sat there for 30 seconds debating what shoes I should wear. Dress for success, right? I decided to go for comfort and put on my running shoes, locked the front door, strolled calmly to the car, sat down, slowly put on my seatbelt and started her up.
About 5 mins from home I realized that my relaxed approach to the situation might need changing with Rivka's exclamation: "Umm... I think my water bro... Oh yeah, my water broke! And I am having a major urge to push! I don't want to have this baby in the car. Floor it! And please call Karen and ask her what we should do!"
So what did I do? Well, first I told Rivka to relax, pant out the push and hold on. I then slammed the gas and accelerated to 85mph down Route 30 passing on double yellows (luckily hitting green lights the whole way). Then I called Karen. As I gave her the status she said that I would probably have to pull over and call for an ambulance, which I was certain to
not tell Rivka. I told Karen that we were only 10 mins away and that we would make it. In the meantime, Rivka was preparing mentally to have to deliver in the back of old Sheila, not sure
she could make it another 10 minutes.
A little after 1:00am we pulled up to the ER entrance at the hospital. Karen and a group of nurses met us at our make-shift ambulance (Sheila) and put Rivka in a wheelchair as I went to park the car. As they calmly rolled her away she said "I wouldn't mind if you ran." They laughed and picked up the pace, getting her into a room just inside the ER. Inside, Karen checked Rivka who was fully dilated and crowning. She said that they might have time to get upstairs to a delivery room if they hurried. As I entered the hospital I saw a flash of gurnee and scrubs go by and realized that it was my wife, congratulated myself on my choice in footwear and followed. I could hardly keep up.
We got into the delivery room just as Rivka was finishing a pushing contraction, still lying on the gurnee. When Karen suggested she try to move over onto the delivery bed, Rivka asked if she could rest for just a second to which Karen replied "You may want to move over before your next contraction." Good thing she listened because as soon as she scooted over onto the bed she hit a major contraction. She had two more contractions, pushed 2 maybe 3 times and little Matilda Jane made her way into the cruel, harsh world at 1:19am.
"Wait!" you may be exclaiming. "Didn't you say that the major shift happened at 11:20pm? That's only 2 hours!" to which I will respond with a little poem:
Matilda Jane, Matilda Jane
Comin' to earth like a racin' train
A speeding bullet, a jet airplane
No refrain, you did not wane
We love this beautiful little girl. Her cries are sweet and kitten-like. She loves looking around at everything and she is getting very proficient at yawning, sneezing, feeding and sleeping... Call me a boastful father if you will, but I'd put her feeding and sleeping abilities up there with the best of them, real talent I say. (she gets it from me you know.)
It's only the beginning, but we can already tell that she is a special girl. I just hope our little Waltzing Matilda slows down a bit; I guess I'll have to keep my running shoes nearby...
We're so in love with this little lady. Can you blame us?
Better pictures of the little pinky mouse next time--the lighting (among other things!) in that bathroom is atrocious, and I'm still figuring out how to use this camera...
I picked up an old favorite the other day while feeding Tilly: Judith Martin's Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior (I don't think I'll mind this nursing every three hours business a bit! More time to read!) If you have never read this gem of a book, do. It's a delightful and edifying read, and you'll be better for it! In fact, I think it will merit a regular quoting-from in future posts. For now, here's an excerpt I particularly enjoyed:
Week Two of Matilda's little life brought a visit from her Auntie Mimi and cousin Sam, who is 5 1/2 months her senior. All Miriam wanted to do during her visit was remodel Tilly's room.
All Sam wanted to do was eat Tilly.
It's been a week since Miss Tilly came to us and we've never been happier. We just have no complaints about this girl! She is a champion eater, sleeper, squeaker and snuggler. For the past four nights she has only woken up her mama to eat twice, at about 12 and 4, and during the day she sleeps, eats, plays, sleeps, eats, plays, only meowing like a little kitten when she needs to burp or be changed! She gets more darling by the minute, and her only flaw is that she's so cute that when her mama should be sleeping, she can't bring herself to do it! All Rivka wants to do is sit there and watch her eyebrows grow and smell her sweet milky breath! This is the honeymoon, right? Here she is at 3 days old. 
She loves her Papa. They just understand each other.
Yes Pa (Grandpa Mikkelsen), her index toe is longer than her big toe--the toes of a genius.
When she's not eating or sleeping, she can usually be found stretching out her loooooong arms and legs. Many words have been used to describe this girl: 
This is Miss Matilda at one week old.
Till next time...
