Jessica Rachel Garan finally made her arrival Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 8:24 AM weighing 9 lbs. 8 oz.

I can’t believe she weighed that much, we thought she was going to be a small 7 lb. baby. Go figure.

She was 2 weeks over due and we didn’t think she would ever come. Everyday that she wasn’t born didn’t feel like a day closer to the big event instead it seemed to solidify what we already knew… she never was going to come and I was doomed to be pregnant forever. I had been having contractions for 2 weeks but as soon as we would start thinking it was the real thing they would stop. I had my 42-week-checkup with Michelle, my midwife, on Tuesday June, 26 and nothing was going on. Then finally late that night at 1:30 AM when I had just laid in bed contractions started again. I got up and went to the bathroom and noticed a bloody show. I then knew this was the real thing. I was finally in labor with contractions 10 minutes apart. I just wish I had got some sleep that night. I called Michelle and she was at the birthing center, another mom was in labor. We were planning a home birth and now this meant we had to change plans and go to the birthing center. This was very disappointing at the time but worked out for the best as you will learn later. The other mom was also in the tub, another glitch in our plans. She was almost complete and I was hoping she would have the baby before we needed to go to the center. So figuring we would be laboring at home for a long time I got back in bed and tried to sleep. Sarah woke up and came in our bed. We told her we were having the baby and every time I had a contraction she would rub my back. She is so sweet. Unable to sleep I called my mom and she called my sister and they made their way to our house. My dad stayed with Michael and Sarah who were sound asleep. I took a shower and when I was done contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. It was all happening a lot faster than we thought it would. I was in labor with Sarah for 5 days so going from 10 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart in 20 minutes was new for us.. Since we were planning a home birth we didn’t have anything packed for the birth center. We literally threw things in grocery bags and jumped in the car. The ride was very painfully, every bump and turn made each contraction 10x more intense as my belly was jiggled all over the place.

When we got to the birth center I went right to the upstairs birthing room. The other mom had just started pushing in the tub. I was still hopeful that she would have her baby and that the tub would be cleaned out before I was ready to deliver. I had been building up for a water birth from the beginning. It was around 3:00 am at this point. I was checked and found to be 7-8 cm. This was great news because so far labor was very manageable.. I labored upstairs for the next 5 hours alternating between the toilet and the bed. The baby’s head was still high so it made getting rid of the little cervix I had left difficult. Contractions got unbearable at about 6:30 and I was angry because it was so easy to get to 8 cm but so hard to get to 10. Around 8:00 am the other lady finally pushed her baby out. No chance of my water birth now. At this point the pain was so unbearable that I was alternating between crying and screaming, which is why it really worked out that we didn’t have the baby at home, Michael and Sarah would have freaked out and the neighbors would have called the police. I started to kind of feel the urge to push and Michelle had me lay flat on my back. Which normally is not the best way to push, but worked for me since the baby was still high. Michelle wanted the baby to ease into my pelvis instead of shooting out which would causing me to tear. I started to really push but had to stop; the pain was so completely intense when I pushed that I couldn’t handle it. This is when the real screaming started. So I did these little grunting pushes instead with a couple big pushes at the end. It all worked out because after only 15 minutes of pushing Jessica was born. The bonus is that I didn’t rip or tear or anything. And just a word about the so called “ring of fire” what a joke, it should be called the “erupting volcano of molten lava” It literally felt like someone was ripping me open. All in all, it was the single most painful experience in my life and not the peaceful water birth I had wanted, but I did succeed with a natural vaginal delivery and very healthy baby which is what counts.

Besides being exhausted I felt so good afterwards. The next couple of days my hips, tail bone, and pubic bone were achy, but because I didn’t tear it didn’t even feel like I had just given birth. It was great. The horrible pain was worth the easy recovery. And I am so glad I will never have to do that again. God blessed us with a great midwife, a short labor, and a very healthy baby. We are so thankful.

Jessica is doing great and her big brother and sister adore her. I will post pictures on our website and blog. This links are below.

Our love to all,

Daniel, Dawn, Michael, Sarah, and Jessica