Cecily's Birth Story

My due date was Wednesday, June 18. Cate was born 3 days after her due date, so I wasn't expecting Baby #2 to come until at least the 20th. I had, however, been extra uncomfortable in pregnancy for the last few weeks.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

3:30 am- I woke up to a contraction that felt distinctly like the labor pains I'd had with Cate. They were pretty mild, but after 2 hours I woke Chris up and asked him to take the day off of work! 

 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant! Around 9 am.

10:00 am- My mom had arrived from Florida the night before and had stayed with my brother John in Salt Lake for the night. We met her at John's house and tried to rest. I was still having mild contractions 5-10 minutes apart.

3:00 pm- My contractions pretty much stopped entirely, so my mom and I went to Target! She bought me some postpartum-friendly pajamas. :)

5:00 pm- After Target we returned to John's house, and I began having back-to-back contractions, but stronger than they had felt previously. By 5:15 I was pretty convinced I was really in labor. I sat on the sofa and closed my eyes through the contractions, which were lasting 1 minute and coming every other minute!

I sent this photo to my sister Erin at 5:30 pm. The contractions were coming quickly and were pretty painful, but I was still able to concentrate on breathing calmly through them.

5:40 pm- I texted my midwife Danielle to give her the heads up that I was in labor. I felt silly texting her only 40 minutes into labor, but I felt it progressing and wanted to keep her in the loop.

6:00 pm- I took a bath, and contractions continued to get stronger. Chris stayed in the bathroom with me, and my mom took care of Cate in the living room. Like my labor with Cate, I began vomiting. At this point, I found vomiting preferable to the contractions by a considerable margin. 

6:40 pm- Chris texted Danielle to say we were ready to head to the birth center. I fell to my knees on the way to the car to get through a rough contraction.

6:57 pm- We called the birth center (located at 3300 S and Highland Dr) from 1300 E and Highland Dr to let them know we were on our way. I had unbuckled my seatbelt and thrown off my robe to try to get comfortable. I was shouting through the contractions and thinking there was no way I'd be able to do this for several more hours. My water hadn't broken, so I was convinced I still had 5+ hours left.

7:02 pm- Chris pulled into the parking lot, and before he even parked the car, I opened the car door. As I kind of fell out of the car onto the pavement, my water broke, and I yelled through the contraction. A woman appeared out of nowhere and said she was a midwife named Harmony. She told me Danielle was on her way and asked if I felt like pushing yet, and I practically screamed, "YES!" She helped me up and walked me into the birth center. The birthing room was upstairs, so we started walking up the stairs. I fell to my hands and knees on the landing on the stairs to get through another contraction. I was overwhelmed with the urge to push. Suddenly, I felt baby's head coming out! Chris ran in at that point, and I told him, "I FEEL HER HEAD!" And I pushed a giant push, and her head came out!! Harmony quickly told me to lean back, and in the same push, the rest of baby's body came out too!! ON THE STAIRS! It was 7:03 pm. One minute after we arrived. We walked into the birthing suite with our baby! I delivered the placenta, and I got to hold baby girl with no interruption at all.

Can you believe it?! Mama and baby on the staircase.

I was ECSTATIC that labor was over. And I think we were both just in shock that baby came so quickly! And on the stairs!

7:10 pm- My mom arrived with my cousin Jill. They said it looked like a homicide scene on the stairs, complete with a trail of blood up the stairs. Chris cut the cord after a little while. 

They covered the scene with what we're calling "puppy pads".

Chris took this photo to show that I really didn't make it very far into the birth center! The birthing suite is right at the top of the stairs.

7:15 pm- Danielle arrived. I apologized for not waiting for her! She did a quick exam and let me know I didn't tear! Bonus! My mom held the baby for a minute, then left to help clean up the stairs. She obviously didn't need to be the one to clean up, but she wanted to make sure my squeamish brother didn't see the same scene she'd seen!

Julie Anne and Cecily Julianne

7:20 pm- Chris and I had a minute alone to kiss our baby and choose her name. We had several names in mind, but we hadn't picked one for sure. I told Chris he should choose this baby's name since when it came down to it with Cate, I was the one to choose her name officially. He chose a name we'd talked about several times since her 20 week ultrasound when we learned we were having a girl: Cecily Julianne Coonradt. My middle name is Julianne, named after my mom, Julie Anne. My mom was named after her grandmother, Julia Cole. We loved the name Cecily- so feminine and timeless, and we loved Cece as a nickname (which is what Cate called our baby in utero for the past several months). 

7:30 pm- John and Liz arrived with Cate. She LOVED "her" baby. She wanted to hold, kiss, pat, and snuggle her. A student midwife did Cecily's baby exam and everything was perfect! She weighed 8lb 13 oz and was 20 inches long. She was 10 days earlier than Cate was but weighed over a pound more than her! Over the next few hours, we FaceTimed and called our family members all over the world! Chris had to track his dad's phone's GPS and look through his mom's email to get ahold of them! They were in Moab and didn't have their cell phones for hours! Luckily Chris was able to track down their friend who was with them! 

Cate holding Cecily's hand during her baby check-up.

Our best attempt at a family of 4 photo :)

We did not even have a diaper or baby onesie with us! 

John and Liz picked up a few baby hats and onesies for us and we used the birth center's diapers!

She was so alert!

Cecily had about as much hair as Cate had at 12 months! We're not sure if she's blonde or brunette.

12:00 am- We went home! Easy as that!

One last photo on the famous staircase.

Daddy and Cece outside the birth center. No fancy check-out process- after Cecily and I were deemed stable, they just told us to head home whenever we were ready! 

Luckily we'd put the infant car seat in the car! We hadn't put the infant padding in, so we improvised with a baby blanket the birth center provided us.

Cecily in her own bed, 6 hours old. 

Our first morning together.

Cecily Julianne Coonradt

June 12, 2014, 7:03 pm

8 lb 13 oz, 20 inches long