Introducing Annaka

Introducing Annaka Zayn Bauman

Weighing in at 9lb 1oz she is 21.5 inches long and is already amazing us!
















For those of you who want the story...here you go...the semi-short version...

After passing our estimated due date, the midwives would normally wait until two weeks after before considering the big "I" word...but because of the 4th of July holiday the hospital wanted to schedule an induction for the 1st...Tuesday!

Reeeeally not wanting to go to the hospital, we began talking to the midwives about non medical ways to induce labor. Acupressure, spicy food, etc, etc, etc...we tried everything. The midwives eventually gave me castor oil to try.

(Note to self, when not eating sugar for months because of gestational diabetes, dont take castor oil with a vanilla milkshake! That first time around made me miserable because of the sugar. OJ was much better to mix it with on the second go around.)

I got up Saturday (28th) morning, took a dose of castor oil and expected the world to come crashing down with the natural effects of the castor oil and then with labor beginning. I waited and waited and waited and nothing happened! Second dose was at about 4:15pm.

(4:30pm taking my second dose of Castor oil...waiting)

Nothing again...until dinner time. About 6:30 we sat down for dinner and I started having mild contractions. I did not want to get my hopes up seeing as several times the past two weeks these contractions had started for an hour (or four) and never progressed. After an hour or so I went upstairs to the third floor. As soon as I got to the top of the stairs (the same ones I climb several times each day) something changed and suddenly my contractions were 200x worse! We immediately called the midwife on call and our Doula and headed to the birth center.

The Birth Center is ...on a great day with no traffic at all...45 minutes away yet Clint got us there in 30 minutes flat. As we were going inside I was having contractions that were very close together and had double peaks. I still felt like I could handle them though so I was afraid they would tell me to go home and labor some more or that I was just not far enough to stay...I didnt even want to take off my flip flops until they told me I was ready to stay there. Jamacina (our midwife) commented on how close together the contractions were and wanted to check to see how far along I was. I was shocked when she said I was already 7cm. Within 30 minutes I was pushing. Clint asked Jamacina if she thought Annaka would be born quickly or if it would be early the next morning. She looked at him and said "Are you kidding, she will be here within the next 30 minutes." Little did we know that 'little' Annaka had a hand up against her head which made the whole birthing process a little more difficult.

So, one hour of labor at home, a 30 minute drive to the Birth Center, and then after 4 hours of pushing... Annaka was born!

1:47am Sunday morning (June 29th)
9 pounds 1 ounce
21.5 inches long.

Yes, she was born head and hand first! That "30 minute" estimate Jamacina said would have been great and right on if her little hand was not in the wrong position:)

(Here are the culprit hands:) Sooo cute!)

As soon as she was born, Jamacina put Annaka on my tummy and that little girl used her legs to push her body up in the air and lifted her head up! I was shocked thinking they did not do that for a few weeks! She also started feeding right away which was great! I was pretty much in unbelief that our little girl was actually here!

The policy at The Birth Center is that you have to stay at least 4 hours and can stay up to 12 hours. We were wanting to go home, but the midwife asked us to stay the full 12 being that I lost so much blood. They gave me a shot to stop the bleeding and just wanted to check up on me for the full 12 hours.


I look back and realize how often I said I could feel her fingers moving. In our 2 ultrasounds she was sucking her thumb and had her hands by her face. It is amazing to see how much more comforted she is when her hands are free and by her face now as well. At the other end...she does not like to be scrunched up. She keeps her legs completely strait most of the time. I remember trying to figure out what she was doing in the womb when I could tell her head was nice and low...could feel her back...but did not know why there was a weird shape where her legs should be scrunched up. It was because they were not as scrunched as we thought!

Everything turned our great and we have a beautiful little girl! We are still in awe of her and how the Lord has created her so perfectly!

(P.S. her hands and feet are HUGE! She will have to grow into them like a little puppy!)