She is finally here! Cheyne Malu Anne Taumaoe, born at 4:58 pm, weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces, and measuring 19 inches long. A whole half a pound heavier than her big sister! I may have gone a little crazy with the chocolate this pregnancy... not going to lie... But the chocolate was good... because our little Cheyne is sweet as can be.
What's with all of these names you ask? We were pretty torn on the name all the way up until the very end. I wanted another "boy/girl" name and Tyson wanted something more girly and possibly Samoan. He never brought anything to the table so I told him one day "her name is Cheyne" and I never looked back. PS. it's pronounced "Shane". Malu satisfied Ty's need to put a Samoan name in there. Malu is the word for a "female-specific" tattoo in the Samoan culture. We loved the name Malu and thought it was kind of cool that it fit into the tattoo world. Her second middle name, Anne, is for a very special Aunt. My Auntie Anne is one of the best women I know.... sweet, giving, patient, creative, beautiful... If my Cheyne has even a little bit of my Aunt in her... she will be a wonderful person.
So here she is... Cheyne Malu Anne... isn't she lovely?
Ok, lets go back to the beginning!
Tuesday the 13th Tyson and I had a date day without Charlea. We did dinner and a movie and then I did a little shopping while Tyson was at rugby. My parents were staying at a timeshare in town and had an extra room so Tyson and I took advantage of the huge bed and Jacuzzi tub. I had been having contractions for over a week, but when the contractions woke me up at 2:30 in the morning I started to think that maybe something else might be going on. I think I officially got Tyson out of bed at three and told him that I wanted to go home. I had a plan. I wanted to take my time, do some last minute "picking up" of the house, take a shower, get pancakes and then go to the hospital. And that is just what we did. Yes... at 4 am, a couple hours into my labor, I made Tyson take me to get pancakes, and they were delicious. Our waitress said that, in her 19 years of being a waitress, I was the third woman to come and get pancakes in the beginning of labor. Ha! I wasn't sure if she was trying to tell me that I was crazy, but she gave us a very sweet gift as we were leaving, a little crocheted santa that smelled like musk, eggs and syrup. As we were walking out of the restaurant, I held Tyson's hand tight and realized that these were our last few hours as the Taumaoe Trio. We were really going to meet our baby girl and it was exhilarating.
We arrived at the hospital a little before 5 where we were admitted into triage. They determined that I was dilated to a 4 and wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't too uncomfortable at this point, but I was in a little bit of pain and was relieved to learn that I was dilating. With Charlea, I still hadn't dilated after hours of painful labor and I eventually got an epidural to relax my body. I suppose if my labor and delivery of Charlea hadn't been what it was... she wouldn't be my same Charlea, but I have to say that I had a few regrets looking back at my labor and delivery. Mostly about having to get pitocin and pain medication. Anyways, I wasn't going to let the regrets happen again. I didn't want pitocin and I didn't want an epidural... I was going to breath and trust that my body would know what to do... and it did! My doctor actually ordered pitocin but I refused it. I was able to birth my little baby without pitocin and pain medication and am so very grateful for the whole experience! I won't pretend that I am a superwoman and leave out the pain... yes there was pain. A lot. At one point, around 9 cm, I took a page from the movies and yelled at a nurse to "stop telling me to SHHH!!". Apparently she was just trying to teach me proper lamaze. really lady? at 9 cm??? I was just out of my mind in pain. There was some ugly, ugly pain... but it produced something so very beautiful. An event that I am endlessly proud of.
My mom and Charlea were in the room with Tyson and I through a lot of my labor. Charlea stepped out when things got rough. I was a little apprehensive to have my mom in the room during the delivery. I am a tad modest and just felt like it was a special moment just for husband and wife. I have to say that I am glad that my mom was there. There was one moment in the very end of my labor when I opened my eyes between painful contractions and saw her. I thought to myself that it was so special it was that the woman who gave birth to me was there to hold my hand while I was giving birth to my own daughter. I kept looking at her face to try to remind myself that if I was going to get through this... I needed to be like her. Strong. My mother birthed two babies without pain medication. I have always admired how strong and in control my mom is and have always viewed myself as a polar opposite. Emotional to the max. But I got through this... so maybe I have a little more of my mom in me than I thought. A sweet realization.
Tyson was amazing through it all. I will never be able to express how grateful I am to have a partner in him. He was exhausted from no sleep and still got up and rushed to hold my hand through every contraction. I could not have gotten through the past 9 months and 12 hours without you, my love. Cheyne is so sweet because I love you so much and she is so beautiful because you love me in return. We done good!
We had to stay in the hospital a little longer than expected because Cheyne's jaundice was at a critical level. She had to lay on a billiruben bed and have blood taken from her foot every 4 to 8 hours. I cried everytime she cried laying on that blue bed with cuts all over both heals. It damn near broke my heart to pieces not being able to pick her up and kiss her to health. Cheyne was released after two days and we headed home on day three.
Charlea is a brilliant big sister. She loves her some baby Cheyne! She is extremely protective of her... yelling at anyone who gets near her. "Don't touch my baby Cheyne!!!". All day. She constantly wants to hold her, touch her hands, and give her kisses. The bond is there and it is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! I still have some work to do as far as balancing goes. Charlea has been a little defiant the past few days and I can't help but feel like it is my fault. I need to give her more of myself, which is very hard to do when I have to be nursing Cheyne half the day. I know that it is a learning process for all of us, and we will rock it out... we always do.
So for now I am taking it one day at a time and enjoying our new family dynamic. I say this a lot... life is good.
beautiful :-) congratulations again!
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