The Stephenson Family: Finn has arrived!

If you haven't caught on yet, Griffin Dieter Stephenson has arrived! Finn was born on October 3, 2012 at 1:32am. He weighed 7lbs 13oz, was 19.5 inches long, and a head of 13 3/4 inches around. This is his birth story (PS- LONG post ahead). I had been having contractions for literally months! In fact, the day of John's wedding I was in the hospital having contractions every three minutes. They put me on a calcium channel blocker to stop them and that definitely helped. This all made me nervous because Wes was scheduled to go deer hunting one weekend in September and go to the paintball national championship in Washington another weekend in September, both near the end of the month. My midwife was also in Hawaii for 10 days at that time, so between Wes and her I was really hoping Finn would stay put! My mom graciously came to stay with me during those weekends in case anything happened. Although, I was fairly certain that after all of those contractions and such, he'd get nice and comfy and stay in 12 days after his due date. :) However, he was a sweet boy and didn't do that to me.

The week before he was born I worked 2 back to back shifts and then went to the Genoa candy dance the day after those shifts. I was CERTAIN he would be born on Sept 29, which was the day of the candy dance. I just had a baby feeling about that day. I soon discovered that the feelings were for my dear friend Michelle from nursing school who was due one week before me. She delivered a 9lb 5oz baby boy named Ian that day. So, I was super happy for her, if not a little jealous! That night I felt really terrible and had a lot of contractions, but true to my form, they stopped.

On Tuesday, October 2, I went in to see my midwife for my weekly appt. I was about 4.5 cm and definitely ready to go at any point. She stripped my membranes thinking that may help my contractions make something REALLY happen, especially with me being so far dilated. However, I had already been almost a 4 for about a week, so I wasn't certain it would work. The week before Addy had been sick with double ear infections and had started running a little temp that morning. So right after I went to the midwife I took her in and thankfully her ears were good, but she was definitely starting a cold, so I wasn't sure I wanted to go into labor because she was getting sick. Lucky for me, it really wasn't up to me. Actually, after she did the membrane sweep, all of my contractions stopped and I was feeling pretty good!

Later that evening, the contractions started up but were nothing to write home about. We went on a long walk, put the kids to bed, took a shower, and layed down to relax. The contractions were definitely the strongest I had ever had this pregnancy, but they were about 8 minutes apart and I could still talk through them. I called my midwife and she advised me to go to the hospital. I didn't want her or my mom to come in yet because I wasn't actually sure I was in labor. When I got to the hospital I was still about 4.5, but as they monitored me my contractions were about 2-4 minutes apart. They had me walk around for an hour and re-checked me and I was still 4.5, but contracting every 2 minutes. My midwife decided that she wanted to admit me because I was having such regular contractions and I have a history of fast labors. We decided together that she would come in and break my water.

She got there about midnight, just right after my mom got to town. When she went to check me I had dilated to a 5-6, so I was in active labor. I was still just chilling out, nothing was intense at all, so I don't really feel like my labor started until she broke my water at 12:15am. At that point we all took guesses on when he'd be born and how big he'd be. I guessed 7lbs 14oz and Wes guessed 1:30am(we were pretty good guessers and I am grateful Wes was right!). Everyone told him that was a very optimistic guess. Holding true with previous children, when my water broke, things definitely got more intense. At this point, all I cared about was getting in the bathtub. I labored in there for the rest of my labor with some music playing and with Wes rubbing my back. I was really tired and just so ready for it to be over. Thankfully I found my 'happy place' to think about during my contractions so I thought about the German Christmas Markets. I thought about the sights, smells, and happy memories and it really helped me stay nice and relaxed and in control. It sounds funny, but it's true!

Around 1:25am, I had my midwife check me because things were getting intense and I was only a 6! I was a little discouraged, but she told me the head was RIGHT there so things had definitely progressed. At this point, my mom left to go to the bathroom and my nurse left for a minute knowing we had a ways to go still. I had one contraction and then my body just started pushing and I had no control to stop it. Finn was READY NOW to be born. I remember my midwife running to the hall yelling for help. I actually have a little bruise under my arm from Wes lifting me out of the tub. The tub was a little too small to deliver a baby in. I somehow made it to the bed. My mom came back to my room a little confused why there were suddenly 23243 people in the room!

Pushing was so intense, but he was born after 3 or so pushes. He was born at 1:32 am- pretty close to Wes's estimate (and 5-7 minutes after I had been a 6)! I felt like I had maybe lost a little control when I was pushing, but everyone told me that I did a great job. My nurse has been an L&D nurse for 15 years and she said it was one of the neatest, most controlled births she'd ever seen and that she wished she had a video of it. I definitely took that as a compliment. I definitrly attribute my amazing birth experience to my amazing midwife who is the ultimate care provider, my awesome supportive hubby, and my calm mom. She also said she was really concerned when I said I had a birth plan because that means outrageous unrealistic expectations of deliveries sometimes, but she said she wanted me to laminate it and she could hand it out because it was so great. Again, she was a really nice nurse and ended up being so supportive and helpful to help me have the delivery that I wanted.

Really, it couldn't have been more perfect. I remember feeling just SO GLAD that he was finally here and that he was so healthy. I nursed him and he did perfectly. He had the cord around his neck and his nose and ear were pretty smashed because he came out so quickly, but he was just perfect. I held him all night long just listening to music and soaking him in. Those first few hours after delivery are pretty much just perfect-- really some of my most cherished memories ever of each of my children. I remember always feeling so incredibly blessed that I was entrusted with such a precious gift to raise here on this earth and wondering how I got so incredibly lucky...

When he was born Wes commented how he looked like Grandpa-Great. I thought he was joking, but we've all decided that he really does look like my grandpa! I was CERTAIN he was going to look just like Liam for some reason, but when he came out I realized that he really doesn't look like either one of my big kids- he just looks like Finn. :)