Amelia Grace Rigsby is here!

It has been a long journey, but Amelia Grace was born on February 12th at 4:48 pm in Bangkok Thailand. She is 19 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. She has brown hair. Her eye color is TBD. She is so beautiful. Many features remind us of Spencer as a baby but some are different.

Many of you know that I had a c-section with Spencer and was trying everything to have a natural birth this time. We found a hospital that is very friendly toward natural birth, found a doctor willing to do it, hired a birth coach, etc. We were careful not to have me do too much walkng so my water wouldn't break. I did some natural things to help my cervix dialate on its own, etc.

I started having contractions around noon on Thursday, but they were pretty light so I didn't think too much of them until around 2 when they were definitely regular and lasting 45 seconds to a minute. David was out shopping and I told him I thought I was in labor but he didn't really believe me. By 5 pm I knew it was for real and I called my birth coach. My contractions continued to be about 5 minutes apart, about 60 seconds long for several more hours. I went swimming, ate dinner, baked a cake, watched a movie and put Spencer to bed. Around 2 am I decided to lay down. By this point my contractions were increasing with intensity and they were about 3 or 4 minutes apart. I did get rest between them as I was getting very tired. By 7:30 we decided to go to the hospital. I only had about 4 contractions in the taxi.

When we got there the nurses hooked me up to a contraction tracker and baby heartbeat monitor. They saw that my contractions were strong, regular and that I was handling them well. After all that work I was hoping to be at 5 cm (out of 10) but I was only a finger tip's worth. That was very disappointing. They said that Mia's head was still very high.

We got to the labor room and got to work. My birth coach encouraged me to do squats, lounges, dancing, etc to help get Mia's head down. The contractions were regular and really were getting stronger and closer during the lounges. Around 2 pm my water broke and then my contractions really increased. They were so intense and so close together. I was really doubting if I could make it. Then they decided to check my progress again. I was devasted when they told me I was only 1 cm. I knew I couldn't go on. My blood pressure had been high and by this point my water was a little yellowish brown, indicating that Mia had a bowel movement. I knew I couldn't handle 12 more hours of contractions like that. My doctor suggested doing the c-section and it was the easiest decision. I was ready.

I hate getting epidurals so I was not looking forward to that but ready for teh contractions to be over. They prepared me and David for surgery. It was a little different from my c-section in Beijing. I couldn't feel anything this time which was a huge improvement. David took some good pictures. The doctor showed David how high Mia was when he cut me open. He could see that she just wasn't moving down. David got to hold her shortly after she was born and sat with her in a room while I was recovering. I had a few common side effects from the drugs but over all it was a very good expereince.

Mia was very alert all that evening. She didn't nurse very well, but now after nearly 48 hours she is doing pretty good. I got to get out of bed today and take a shower. I am in pain obviously but doing well. I am disappointed the natural birth didn't work out but I know I tried everything I could do. I am at peace with what happened and not as upset as I thought I would be. The Father gves such peace and assurance.

Spencer LOVES Mia and wants to hold her and touch her all the time. My Mom and sister Lisa are here now which has been a great help. I'll post pictures soon. Thanks for your prayers.