Along Came Baby.....

My pregnancy was awesome.  I was worried that it would catch up with me and I'd be miserable by the end, but it never did.  I'll admit getting around was a little more difficult than normal, but I felt great.  I wasn't tired or achy or bloated....just anxious!

My due date was March 22, 2013.  I had weekly check ups the last month.  There was never any real progress leading up, so those appointments were always a bit disappointing.  I was 1cm dilated on my due date...that was the most progress.  One week later, they did another sonogram and a NST (non-stress test) to make sure everything was good.  This sonogram was really cool..we could see her chubby cheeks and that she had hair!  They estimated her to weigh 9lbs 7oz!!  Dr. Owens said that everything looked good and they could induce me the next day or I could ride it out another week if I wanted to let nature take its course.  Even though my pregnancy was fine & I wasn't uncomfortable, I decided to be induced, because I was so anxious to meet her!!

This is the last "belly shot" that I took.

So, the next day, Good Friday, March 29th, I got up bright & early. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes for breakfast & left for the hospital. We waited for my in-laws at a gas station so that they could follow us. My mom and SIL drove separate and were ahead of us. :)

 We got to the hospital at about 6:30am. After checking in, getting weighed and changing into a hospital gown, Dr. Montgomery came in. I was expecting Dr. Arnold to induce and deliver, but was pleasantly surprised to see Dr. Montgomery (he's my favorite doctor). He came in and checked me (still only 1cm) and gave me Cytotec (Misoprostol) by 8am to induce my labor. Contractions started, although I couldn't feel them. I still hadn't dilated much by lunchtime, so after I "ate" (chicken broth, apple juice, orange jello, sweet tea) Dr. Montgomery broke my water to get things going. That was gross....apparently, I had A LOT of water. I was very uncomfortable after that because it would not stop leaking! Every time I felt a "gush" I would waddle to the bathroom and clean up.  Needless to say, I did a lot of waddling back and forth.  :/  Also, there was meconium (baby poop) in my water.

Anyways... The contractions were very weak and I still wasn't dilated much, so I was given Oxytocin. Once that kicked in, I started feeling the contractions. Once they became painful, they gave me fentanyl, which was awesome. The nurse said I would feel like I just drank two margaritas really fast..boy was she right! I hadn't been drunk in more than 9 months (obviously!), so that was fun. :) I got in the Jacuzzi for a bit, but the water wasn't hot enough for me, so it didn't help as much as I thought it would.  I guess I should have told the nurse to use all hot water, but I wasn't really thinking about that at the time. :)

Around bedtime the fentanyl didn't help with the pain very much anymore and I decided that I wasn't going to go through the pain if I didn't have to (there was nothing natural about my labor so far anyways!). The nurse said, "You don't get a trophy when it's all over for not getting an epidural." I took her advice and asked for an epidural. Dr. Montgomery must have known I was going to ask for one, because the anesthesiologist was ready.  I think people hype that up a lot more than it should be.  Getting the epidural didn't hurt AT ALL.  Getting the IV on my arm was a lot worse than the epidural (I have bad veins, apparently).  They would only let one person be in the room when getting the epidural, so my mom stayed with me.  After I got the epidural, I told them to crank up the Oxytocin so we could get the show on the road!  They cranked it up and I didn't feel ANYTHING. It was fantastic!  I was having contractions lasting 90 seconds every 2 minutes basically all night.

I slept through the night.  I had a whole posse of family waiting and everyone stayed the night too.  My husband, mom, MIL and SIL were in the actual labor and delivery room with me for support and my dad, FIL, BIL, BIL's girlfriend, BIL's friend and husband's cousin were all in the waiting room.  They probably didn't sleep as well as I did. :)

Even with the contractions being really strong and regular, I still wasn't dilating.  By morning I think I was 7cm, 90% effaced and the baby was at -2 (if I remember correctly).  Dr. Montgomery left and Dr. Arnold took over.  I thought that my epidural had stopped working because I started to feel a LOT of pressure.  It felt like I needed to potty REALLY bad.  I kept saying "I need to poo." haha.. The nurse kept saying that was a good sign.  Eventually, I was fully dilated and 100% effaced, but the baby was still at a -1 position.  The pressure was so intense that it became painful... VERY painful.. WAAAAAAY worse than any of the contractions I had felt previously.  They increased my epidural dosage and that helped for a little while, then they increased it again and that helped for a little while more.  At least with the contractions, there was SOME relief in between them.  The pain caused by the pressure was constant and seemed to only get worse and worse.  Also, sometime either the night before or that morning I had developed an infection and I had a fever of 102F.  Between the pain and fever, I was shaking uncontrollably.

I don't really remember a lot of what was going on that entire morning.. I was focusing on not biting my tongue in half, because my teeth were chattering so bad.  I was just holding on the bed rail and thinking that this had to end soon... it can't go on forever.  I do remember my SIL playing with my hair and that felt good.. I was so grateful for it!  I think my husband may played with my hair too.

The doctor/nurse were trying to get her to get in position, so they kept positioning me different ways to coax her down.  Nothing worked.  I changed positions three or four times for about an hour each.  After laying on each side in a "scissor" position, they wanted me to sit straight up.  Well, when the raised the head of my bed it must have been too quick or something, because as soon as I sat up I knew I was going to faint.  I told them I was going to and then my heart rate dropped, as did the baby's.  I had a vasovagal reaction.  They lowered me back down and put me on oxygen.  There seemed to be a lot of hands working on me, but I can't remember who they all were or where they came from.  After I was stabilized and the baby's heart rate was good again, I asked the doctor for a cesarean section.  He said he wanted to try one more position to get the baby to drop.

So, an hour later he came back and there still had been no change.  They got the anesthesiologist to come in and get me ready, I guess (I'm not really sure why he was in my room).  He gave me something to stop the shaking and that made me vomit.  I think he gave me something for nausea after that, though I can't really remember.  I remember seeing my husband all gowned up (he looked so cute!!) and I remember everyone telling me bye.  My mom was crying and holding my hand and I felt bad for her.  I think all my supporters cried for me at one point or another (not those in the waiting room, just the four that were in the L&D room with me).

My husband all gowned up!

Once they took me to the operating room (which was FREEZING), they strapped me down and put up the sheet so that I wouldn't see what was going on.  I could see what was going on though...I saw it in the reflection of the lights.  My husband came in and I told him I could see it.  He told me not to look, but I couldn't NOT look.  When they were marking me up with the pen I could feel it and I remember thinking, "I hope they don't cut me before I'm numb!"... What did they do?? Oh, yeah.. they cut before I was numb.  I said "I can feel that."  They asked it felt like a pinch or something else that I can't remember now (a sting, maybe?) and I thought.. "What difference does it make?? If I can feel it, I can feel it!!!".  Pinch sounded worse than the other option, so I said that.  Apparently that was the wrong answer, because they continued.  When they started pulling me open I screamed!!!  It hurt so bad!  The anesthesiologist hollered for the to stop, cover me up and not to touch me (he's my favorite!!).  That's the last thing I remember.  My husband later told me that he gave me a shot of something in my IV and before he could ask me how I felt, I was snoring.  They made my husband leave.

When I woke up I asked what was going on.  The nurse said they were just finishing up.  I said "Did you get her out?" and she said "Yes, she's beautiful!  She has your eyes!".  I was so happy that it was all over!  I asked the doctor to do a tummy tuck while he was down there and he said I didn't need it (pppffft).  They took me to recovery and fed me ice chips, gave me a bird bath, and checked my vitals and whatnot.  I asked so many questions!!! "Did she have hair?  Did she cry?  How much did she weigh? What time was she born? WHEN CAN I SEE HER?"  FINALLY, my husband brought her from the nursery (where EVERYONE else had already met her!).

Little Bird as soon as she was born!

Look at all that hair!!!

Everyone meeting Little Bird before she was brought to me.  

She was wearing a white t-shirt, diaper and a white bonnet with lace around the edge.  She was gorgeous!  I couldn't take my eyes off her.  I just couldn't believe I was finally holding my baby.  The nurse helped me breastfeed (on the left, which is still her "favorite" side).  She latched on like a pro.  They took us to the mother-baby unit room and I got to see my family and my baby some more.  I got to see pictures of her first bath and of everyone meeting her.  She was born at 12:04pm on March 30, 2013.  She weighed 7 lbs exactly and was 20.5 inches long.

This is how she looked the first time I saw her!

 Dr. Arnold with my husband and my Little Bird.

My Little Bird nursing. I was high on love. :)  (still am, actually)

Aww.... the hat I made for her fit perfectly!

Recovery was amazing.  I got up and moved around a little that night and was up and in the shower by 8:30 the next morning.  I was dressed and ready to go.  It was Easter and we had lots of visitors.  I felt so good.  I asked if I could go home early (they like for you to stay three days for C-sections) and they said yeah.  They removed my IV and I was set to leave the next morning (Monday).  Later that afternoon, I started to not feel so good.  I started shivering and was really hot.  I told the nurse that I thought I had a fever.  She checked my temperature and it was 100F...borderline.  A little while later it was 102F again and I had to get another IV put in (which was a HUGE task) and was put on three antibiotics that I had to have every four hours.  The worst part was that the nurse gave me a Tylenol until she heard back from the doctor on what antibiotics to start and when she came to give me my first round of antibiotics she took my temperature and my fever had already broke.  You have to be fever-free for 24hrs before you can leave, so I ended up having to stay until Tuesday, which was the day I was originally supposed to leave.  Those days in the hospital were really nice.  We just played with the baby and I nursed a lot.  I stayed up REALLY late Easter night watching The Walking Dead season finale.

After it was all said and done, I was glad I had a C-section.  There are some perks for having had a C-section... 1. my lady parts are still good as ever  2.  extra two weeks of maternity leave 3.  from now on I can schedule my babies births (yes, there will DEFINITELY be more).

It's been 1 month and 4 days and sometimes I still can't believe I'm a mom.  She is amazing.  I am truly blessed.  Now I have everything I've ever wanted in life (well, I also want a son).  ;)  

I'm not sure how I feel about using her name on my blog, so I'll be referring to her as my Little Bird. :)