Our baby has arrived! Little Miss Gemma Ann Rogers was born on Saturday, June 18 at 6:14pm. She measured in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long. She is so precious! We are having a wonderful time getting to know her and learning how to be parents. We were surprised to welcome a baby GIRL into the world since 99% of everyone who had an opinion said we were having a boy. Also, her hair is very fair!
My water broke at 1am and after some fumbling around, packing last minute hospital stuff, and arranging for Riley to be left and picked up later, we headed into San Francisco to the hospital. My contractions were about 6-8 minutes apart at this point. Once checked in at OB Triage, the nurses confirmed I was indeed in labor and there was meconium in my fluid (meconium = baby poop). So, I was admitted up to Labor & Delivery where I was told my doctor wanted to start me on pitocin in the morning since I was only dilated to 1.5cm and my contractions were not coming as often as they would have liked given there was meconium in my fluid. Let me tell you, those suckers (contractions) HURT! I was such a wimp. I guess my tolerance to pain is not as great as I'd thought. In the morning, I was only dilated to between 2 and 3cm and I knew the pitocin would intensify the already killer contractions AND I had a long way to go to get to 10cm so I asked for my epidural. I thought I could wait it out until 4 to 6cm but alas, this wimp wanted her pain meds. The anesthesiologist came and gave me my epidural but it didn't take! After an hour of trying different dosages and positions, they offered to redo it - I said "yes, please!". Finally, I was feeling some relief. My right side was completely numb and my left had some sensation left - enough to feel contractions, sensations and pressure. I was able to get collectively 2 hours of sleep over the next several hours - I was tired and STARVING since I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before and after the epidural, I wasn't allowed to eat anything but chicken broth and jello. By 2pm or so I was dilated to 8cm and we were getting closer to getting the show on the road. We had a group of anxious family members standing by waiting for "go time" - my parents, my brothers, my brother's girlfriend, Brian's mom and her fiance, Brian's dad and eventually Brian's brother - my aunt and my grandpa arrived within minutes of Gemma's birth, too. Stefania came for most of my labor, but had to leave before Gemma decided to make her grand entrance. Here we all are (except my mom, the photog) before everyone was ushered out (not my favorite photo, but it does capture the scene).
By 5pm or so, I was dilated to 10cm and it was time to push. Brian, my mom, and Debbie were in the delivery room with me. I pushed for about an hour or so - and the whole ordeal/situation was VERY calm and un-chaotic - not like you see on TV and in the movies. Out came baby - with the cord wrapped around her neck four times - all the while never going into distress! As soon as she was out, I asked, "what is it? what is it?" and the doctor flipped her genitals in our direction and I said, "it's a girl!" (I was a little bit confused at this point because I was so convinced the baby was a boy, I was looking for a big, red baby scrotum). The grandmas went crazy, screeching, "it's a girl! it's a girl!" and emotions were flowing. Everyone in the waiting room could hear the grandmas so there was no need to make the big announcement to them! Brian and I were over the moon for our healthy baby - she was immediately laid on my chest and we were in awe of our little miracle. Because of the meconium in my fluid, the nurse and doctor had said the baby would have to go to the warming table immediately and be examined by the pediatric specialists, however she was clearly so healthy right off the bat, they sent peds away and gave her right to us.
We could not be more thrilled and in love with our sweet baby girl. She was a nameless little one for a good 18 hours or so, but we locked her name in by Sunday afternoon. We had lots of visitors in the hospital, too - Stefania, Dave, my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, Grandma Debbie, Dorothy, Great Grandma Althea, Amy, Donna, Travis and his girlfriend, and Tracey.
We are still in disbelief that we grew her from scratch and she's half me and half Brian. We love her so much and she's still so new! She is so precious and sweet and we can't get enough of her.
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