Two sickies
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Welcome Ms. Brianna Ann Oberg
So she was actually born two and a half weeks ago, but this is the first time I've been able to attempt to write her birth story, we are both down with a cold right now, so we've been in bed all day. So let's back track...
Sometime around Christmas (slightly before) I started losing my plug, I'm not going to lie that part is kinda.. gooey. From that point on Alex was very much concerned with every twinge, groan, or funny face I made. I kept telling him that it could be weeks, but I don't think that he believed me. At my appointment before Christmas, and my appointment after I was 3 cm, ,before Christmas I was 50% after Christmas 80%. The after Christmas appointment bummed me out because I'd had some pretty bad contractions on Christmas night with back pain, I honestly thought we were going to wind up in the hospital that night, but when I lied down to get some rest, I fell asleep and they stopped at some point in the middle of the night. Anyways.... after my post Christmas appointment we were talking with the receptionist instead of making our appointment. Finally after she placed 3 calls on hold she said, "Let me just make something up, how about the 4th at 9?" I laughed said sure and we went on our merry way.
Fast forward to January 3
This was one of the few mornings I actually woke up to pee, that was somewhere around 6am. When I got up again later that morning I noticed that I was bleeding. Holy crap. I didn't want to get my hopes up since I was only 38 and 2, and my mom was voluntarily induced with both of us after 40. It did make me realize there were things I needed to get done before we had her. First, I took the car seat out of the box, we decided to figure out installation after we ran errands, Second, we went to Costco for cat ood and rolls for a work party I had the next day. Third, we went to the maternity store for some sleep bras for after she was born. I had some stuff to get at Target too, but we decided we'd go the next day. From there we went out to Ardenwood. We were running Goliath on the train that day and I was looking forward to seeing what he could do. I know Alex was apprehensive of me riding, Goliath broke harness in the past, but in the end he let me ride. (and as a side note, Goliath did really well all things considered).
After the farm we went to my mom's house. Dad had gone up to Oregon that morning (Grandpa had had rotator cuff surgery right before Christmas, also when I found out dad had left, I joked "oh great, so that means I'm going to have the baby tonight) so she'd invited us over to watch Dolphin Tale and have potato soup. Part way through the movie I started to have Braxton Hicks contractions again (a nightly occurence) and tried to let Alex know by squeezing his hand or leg whenever I had one, apparently he missed the hints. I kept an eye on the clock but they were coming sporatic and usually were more than 10 minutes apart so I wasn't really worried about it. The only thing that was causing me any second thought was that they definitely hurt more than they had in the past, but I figured she was just wedged into my spine again.
Part way through the movie Alex had to go feed the horses again. The contractions still hadn't stopped at this point, and were getting a little worse. I didn't want to tell my mom, and get her hopes up, when I was sure that it was just Braxton Hicks, so I did my best to keep my face neutral when I had them. Admittedly there was one where I excused myself and went to the rest room so she wouldn't see my face, the movie was over at this point and I couldn't count on her being distracted. This was when I started texting him
Me: 7:54 "Not going to lie, these contractions are no joke"
Alex: 8:00 "Baby?"
Me: 8:01 "You might have picked the right day" (as soon as we found out our due date, he said that she was going to be born on the 4th)
Me: 8:03 "But I really don't want to be here right now. Getting hard to keep them from mom"
Alex: 8:17 "Almost there"
Me: 8:19 "Ok. I need to get out of here"
He got to my parents house shortly after that and I want to say we were home no later than 8:30. From here the order of things gets pretty fuzzy. My stomach was very upset, so I know I was in the restroom a lot, I hadn't eaten much that day just the soup and some Cinnabon, but I figured it was something I had eaten the day before coming back to haunt me. I do remember that my back was hurting, a lot, so I thought that a nice hot bath would help since it had helped in the past when she was lodged in my spine. I do know that at this point Alex had my phone and was timing my contractions because they just hurt so much more than they had in the past. I do remember that the tub was filling during one of the contractions, when the contraction started the water that was running was hot, when it was finished the water was barely warm. I thought that it had only been 30 seconds (the washing machine was going as well and I figured we'd just over taxed the hot water heater), but in actuality it was a little over 2 minutes. So I layed back in the water and tried to relax, hoping that the back pain would calm down and I could go to sleep, but then out of no where during a contraction I was hit with a hot flash so bad I jumped up on my knees and leaned over the toilet trying to get as much of my body out of the hot water as possible, it felt like I was being burned. So much for the tub! So I climbed into bed and tried to get in a comfortable position but my back just was not letting me get comfy. Finally after a while I told Alex we should call the hospital. My contractions were still anywhere from 5-9 minutes apart, but they were lasting anywhere from 45 seconds to 2 minutes, and I was completely incapacitated when they hit. Of course the nurse wanted to talk to me instead of him, I can't remember much of that conversation but I do know that when a contraction hit I just threw the phone down on the bed and Alex had to let her know what was going on. It was also during this time on the bed that I had him get a wash cloth, wet it, and place it on me during the contractions, those hot flashes were no joke! At first I thought I wanted it on the back of my neck, but after a few I realized it felt so much better if he laid it across the small of my back and leaned on it, counter pressure to the pain. So the hospital told us to come in. I threw on a pair of work out pants and an old white tank top and we were on our way. While we were in the car I called my mom and let her know that we were going in, but told her, "Don't get your hopes up, they might not even keep me, I'm probably just being a baby." It was also on the way to the hospital that I started throwing up, thankfully we had thought ahead and brought a bucket (later on I was VERY glad I had my own bucket, they tried to give me one of those little emesis basins, and I know I would have missed. My bucket was big enough for my whole face, no missing). So we got to the ER, but I didn't want anyone staring at me in the waiting room, so I waited outside until the contraction passed. I then went to the window and started filling out the admissions paper work. I'm honestly curious what that looked like, I'm sure it's just chicken scratch. Half way through I had another contraction and Alex just stuck his head through the window and yelled, "I have a woman who needs to go to LD Now!" They took me back REAL quick. At this point we had none of our stuff, I made him leave it in the car, and only my mom knew we were at the hospital. I also was convinced we were going home as well. I mean what first time mom goes into labor almost 2 full weeks early? So they got us to our room and we waited for the nurse to come check me. This was 10:30 pm.
I refused to put the hospital gown on, so was just waiting in my tank top. When the nurse checked me I was 5. No going home for me! I was in shock. Alex wanted to go get our stuff, but I didn't want to be alone during the contractions so I didn't let him (we wound up not getting out stuff until 6am. By then I was wore out and beaten down, and so we didn't use any of it. In hindsight I wish I had tried the music, but by then I was just defeated and exhausted). So I had him text everyone we were supposed to let know I was in labor, and I did my best to keep comfortable.
I will admit, I was not a pleasant patient. First there was the refusing to put on a gown. Then I told the nurse that I would only let her start an IV if she could promise me that she would put it somewhere that wouldn't hurt when I moved my arm. I insisted on water and ice, even though I was puking. And I told the Dr I wanted to be put on intermittent monitoring. Thankfully I had a very nice nurse and she went with it. Now the next several hours are a blur. I would look up at the clock and realize how much time had gone by, and I kept thinking, "This has got to be over soon." I do remember that at midnight ish I was at 6. Awesome, still making progress. At 2am I was still at 6. Well damn. Ok. At 330 my mom texted Alex asking if we wanted her to come. I really didn't want anyone around except Alex at this point, she told him to please let her know when I hit 8, and she went to bed. At 6am they checked me again (I was feeling a lot of pressure, we have since figured out it was her being stuck) I was STILL at 6. We had been up approximately 22 hours. I had been in labor for 13 hours. We had been at the hospital for almost 8 hours. I couldn't move. Moving hurt more than the contractions. With the intermittent monitoring it was supposed to be 20 minutes on, 30 minutes off. But the toco wasn't catching my contractions, so they couldn't get a good reading, so I wound up with it on a lot longer. Also the straps of the monitors were crossing my back right where it hurt the most, so I was about ready to throw them across the room. And poor Alex was still putting that wash cloth on my back with every contraction. I had the AC on as high as it would go, everyone else was freezing and I just kept saying how hot I was. I was feeling pretty defeated at this point. Mom texted Alex and asked if it was time to come down yet, he said that I was still at 6, but could she please come anyways. I tried getting up out of bed, hoping that gravity would help pull her down, but when those contractions hit I all but crumpled to the floor from the back pain. I also hadnt been able to keep anything down, and was pretty dizzy ,so I asked if I could please be hooked up to fluids (before this point my IV was in, but not hooked up to anything). Shortly before my mom showed up I asked for IV meds (I had been very adament about wanting to go natural, and Alex was keeping me honest, but he knew me well enough to know that this time I was serious. It wasn't me whining, it was me genuinely needing a break from the constant back pain just to pull myself together). Mom came, got our stuff for us out of the car, and tagged Alex out so that he could rest for a little bit. She took over wash cloth duties and he took an hour nap. Thanks to the fentanyl I was able to take little 5 minute cat naps in between contractions as well. This is where things get fuzzy again.
The Dr. checked me at some point (maybe the 6am check?) I was 6 cm. I was considered "stalled" at this point. They weren't /that/ worried about me being stalled, except they that her heart rate was dropping from 160 to 106, but since the toco wasn't picking up contractions (at this point I wasn't wearing it at all, just the fetal heart rate monitor) they weren't sure when her rate was dropping, so they wanted to put in an internal contraction monitor. This would require breaking my water, which would hopefully jumpstart dilation as well. I was on board, so we did that. Since her heart rate was dropping so drastically, they didn't want my labor taking too terribly much longer, so they did forewarn me that if breaking my water didn't work we'd have to try pitocin, and that if it dropped any worse than it was then I'd be on the short list for an emergency C-section. At the time I was too tired to really process any of this. I remember thinking. "C-section? sure bring it on! Extra two weeks of leave, and this will all be over with" but I didn't say any of that. I did tell them that if I had to have pitocin, I wanted an epidural. I know that pitocin can make contractions worse, and I was barely holding my own through the natural ones, the back pain was no joke!
After my water was broken things started progressing really quickly. I was at 13 or 14 hours, and I was done. I asked for the epidural. Alex asked if I was sure, and I told him that I just couldn't keep hurting, and it felt like my spine was going to snap in two. I promised I wouldn't be mad at him, but I just couldn't do it anymore. So we called the nurse. She came with the Dr, I told her I wanted the epidural, but could I please have my last dose of fentanyl to tide me over until he made it. She gave me half of the dose, then the other half a few minutes later (they were making sure it didn't drop her heart rate), but it didn't touch the pain. The Dr. checked me, I think I was at 7 maybe 8, I can't remember, but at this point the contractions got BAD. They would come in waves of 3. The first one was the worst, it eventually got to the point where I was screaming whenever it hit. Mom tried to remind me that groaning was ok, but screaming was just going to make me tired, but groaning just wasn't cutting it. Alex has since told me that when those first ones would hit, the contraction monitor would go off the chart. The second contraction would hit, and while it would be really bad, compared to the first it was ok, then the third would hit and it was nothing at all (this third one would eventually dissappear altogether)
The anesthesiologist as in an emergency c-section. Dammit!
I don't know how much later it was, but I made them call the nurse again. She said that he would be in just as soon as he was out. I think this was when I yelled out, "How do you only have one anesthesiologist???" Ah well. The nurse checked me and told me that I was at 9 and a half, and an epidural was no longer an option, it was time to push. I said no. There was no way I could. I'd been up for 24 hours, I'd been in labor for 14. I was running on empty, I was in too much pain, and there was no way I had anything left in me to push out a human through my vagina. She basically said, tough and that I was going to do it because my baby needed me to. (Come to think of it I was on O2 at this point as well for her heart rate)
Well what can you say to that? So I got in position and we started pushing. After a bit she told me to stop so they could get the Dr in the room. I said hell no and just kept pushing through the contractions. I finally felt like I had some control, and it hurt way less to push than not to push. The Dr made it with plenty of time, Little Miss got hung up on my pelvic bone (I wish I could have used gravity to help but my back just wasn't having it. Several times they said, "Just a few more, she's almost out" the second time they said that my reply was, "That's what you said last time!!" This was when they had me reach down and touch her head to prove to me she really was RIGHT there. I don't know how much longer I pushed. I was still having my odd contractions where I'd have one big one (could get 4 pushes) followed by a smaller one (two pushes) and then a 5 minute break. It definitely was odd, but that initial push after the break was always a really good one. At the end of one of those contractions her head was out, they weren't expecting me to push anymore, but I was getting that baby OUT so I pushed without a contraction and on January 4th at 10:06am, my beautiful daughter entered the world.
They immediately put her skin to skin on me, and I was in absolute shock that I had helped make, and I brought into the world, something so absolutely perfect. I remember being worried because it felt like a long time before she cried, but I've been told it was just seconds. It just felt like forever to me. I was completely focused on her, but apparently at this point I started to hemorrhage. One nurse had my left arm down trying to get fluids and pitocin in me quickly so my uterus would firm up, one nurse was taking my bp, the Dr was looking for clots, and Alex got in my face and told me to keep talking to him, apparently I'd gone VERY white. They got me back to normal pretty quickly, did some stitches (10) and they were all done. I had my wonderful little 7lb 6 oz, 20 in long daughter, and I'd brought her into the world.
The rest of my stay was pretty uneventful, I was up and taking care of the two of us almost immediately and Alex and I went to discharge class that same night. My wonderful family brought us Olive Garden, and the next day helped Alex install the car seat (and jump our battery, mom had moved our car and left something on). Her bili was a little high but they let us take her home on the 5th (I could have stayed an extra day, but just wanted to go home). We had to go back for 3 more blood tests, but she is right as rain now.
I know she's only been in our lives for 2 weeks, but she is absolutely everything I could hope for in a baby. She is engaged with the world around her, has a sweet disposition, is mild tempered (this does not mean doesn't cry. Babies are SUPPOSED to cry, it's how they communicate, but she doesn't cry for no reason). This week we're dealing with our first cold, and even with that she's just such a happy baby. Some extra snuggles when shes a bit over tired, and she's good to go!
Fast forward to January 3
This was one of the few mornings I actually woke up to pee, that was somewhere around 6am. When I got up again later that morning I noticed that I was bleeding. Holy crap. I didn't want to get my hopes up since I was only 38 and 2, and my mom was voluntarily induced with both of us after 40. It did make me realize there were things I needed to get done before we had her. First, I took the car seat out of the box, we decided to figure out installation after we ran errands, Second, we went to Costco for cat ood and rolls for a work party I had the next day. Third, we went to the maternity store for some sleep bras for after she was born. I had some stuff to get at Target too, but we decided we'd go the next day. From there we went out to Ardenwood. We were running Goliath on the train that day and I was looking forward to seeing what he could do. I know Alex was apprehensive of me riding, Goliath broke harness in the past, but in the end he let me ride. (and as a side note, Goliath did really well all things considered).
After the farm we went to my mom's house. Dad had gone up to Oregon that morning (Grandpa had had rotator cuff surgery right before Christmas, also when I found out dad had left, I joked "oh great, so that means I'm going to have the baby tonight) so she'd invited us over to watch Dolphin Tale and have potato soup. Part way through the movie I started to have Braxton Hicks contractions again (a nightly occurence) and tried to let Alex know by squeezing his hand or leg whenever I had one, apparently he missed the hints. I kept an eye on the clock but they were coming sporatic and usually were more than 10 minutes apart so I wasn't really worried about it. The only thing that was causing me any second thought was that they definitely hurt more than they had in the past, but I figured she was just wedged into my spine again.
Part way through the movie Alex had to go feed the horses again. The contractions still hadn't stopped at this point, and were getting a little worse. I didn't want to tell my mom, and get her hopes up, when I was sure that it was just Braxton Hicks, so I did my best to keep my face neutral when I had them. Admittedly there was one where I excused myself and went to the rest room so she wouldn't see my face, the movie was over at this point and I couldn't count on her being distracted. This was when I started texting him
Me: 7:54 "Not going to lie, these contractions are no joke"
Alex: 8:00 "Baby?"
Me: 8:01 "You might have picked the right day" (as soon as we found out our due date, he said that she was going to be born on the 4th)
Me: 8:03 "But I really don't want to be here right now. Getting hard to keep them from mom"
Alex: 8:17 "Almost there"
Me: 8:19 "Ok. I need to get out of here"
He got to my parents house shortly after that and I want to say we were home no later than 8:30. From here the order of things gets pretty fuzzy. My stomach was very upset, so I know I was in the restroom a lot, I hadn't eaten much that day just the soup and some Cinnabon, but I figured it was something I had eaten the day before coming back to haunt me. I do remember that my back was hurting, a lot, so I thought that a nice hot bath would help since it had helped in the past when she was lodged in my spine. I do know that at this point Alex had my phone and was timing my contractions because they just hurt so much more than they had in the past. I do remember that the tub was filling during one of the contractions, when the contraction started the water that was running was hot, when it was finished the water was barely warm. I thought that it had only been 30 seconds (the washing machine was going as well and I figured we'd just over taxed the hot water heater), but in actuality it was a little over 2 minutes. So I layed back in the water and tried to relax, hoping that the back pain would calm down and I could go to sleep, but then out of no where during a contraction I was hit with a hot flash so bad I jumped up on my knees and leaned over the toilet trying to get as much of my body out of the hot water as possible, it felt like I was being burned. So much for the tub! So I climbed into bed and tried to get in a comfortable position but my back just was not letting me get comfy. Finally after a while I told Alex we should call the hospital. My contractions were still anywhere from 5-9 minutes apart, but they were lasting anywhere from 45 seconds to 2 minutes, and I was completely incapacitated when they hit. Of course the nurse wanted to talk to me instead of him, I can't remember much of that conversation but I do know that when a contraction hit I just threw the phone down on the bed and Alex had to let her know what was going on. It was also during this time on the bed that I had him get a wash cloth, wet it, and place it on me during the contractions, those hot flashes were no joke! At first I thought I wanted it on the back of my neck, but after a few I realized it felt so much better if he laid it across the small of my back and leaned on it, counter pressure to the pain. So the hospital told us to come in. I threw on a pair of work out pants and an old white tank top and we were on our way. While we were in the car I called my mom and let her know that we were going in, but told her, "Don't get your hopes up, they might not even keep me, I'm probably just being a baby." It was also on the way to the hospital that I started throwing up, thankfully we had thought ahead and brought a bucket (later on I was VERY glad I had my own bucket, they tried to give me one of those little emesis basins, and I know I would have missed. My bucket was big enough for my whole face, no missing). So we got to the ER, but I didn't want anyone staring at me in the waiting room, so I waited outside until the contraction passed. I then went to the window and started filling out the admissions paper work. I'm honestly curious what that looked like, I'm sure it's just chicken scratch. Half way through I had another contraction and Alex just stuck his head through the window and yelled, "I have a woman who needs to go to LD Now!" They took me back REAL quick. At this point we had none of our stuff, I made him leave it in the car, and only my mom knew we were at the hospital. I also was convinced we were going home as well. I mean what first time mom goes into labor almost 2 full weeks early? So they got us to our room and we waited for the nurse to come check me. This was 10:30 pm.
I refused to put the hospital gown on, so was just waiting in my tank top. When the nurse checked me I was 5. No going home for me! I was in shock. Alex wanted to go get our stuff, but I didn't want to be alone during the contractions so I didn't let him (we wound up not getting out stuff until 6am. By then I was wore out and beaten down, and so we didn't use any of it. In hindsight I wish I had tried the music, but by then I was just defeated and exhausted). So I had him text everyone we were supposed to let know I was in labor, and I did my best to keep comfortable.
I will admit, I was not a pleasant patient. First there was the refusing to put on a gown. Then I told the nurse that I would only let her start an IV if she could promise me that she would put it somewhere that wouldn't hurt when I moved my arm. I insisted on water and ice, even though I was puking. And I told the Dr I wanted to be put on intermittent monitoring. Thankfully I had a very nice nurse and she went with it. Now the next several hours are a blur. I would look up at the clock and realize how much time had gone by, and I kept thinking, "This has got to be over soon." I do remember that at midnight ish I was at 6. Awesome, still making progress. At 2am I was still at 6. Well damn. Ok. At 330 my mom texted Alex asking if we wanted her to come. I really didn't want anyone around except Alex at this point, she told him to please let her know when I hit 8, and she went to bed. At 6am they checked me again (I was feeling a lot of pressure, we have since figured out it was her being stuck) I was STILL at 6. We had been up approximately 22 hours. I had been in labor for 13 hours. We had been at the hospital for almost 8 hours. I couldn't move. Moving hurt more than the contractions. With the intermittent monitoring it was supposed to be 20 minutes on, 30 minutes off. But the toco wasn't catching my contractions, so they couldn't get a good reading, so I wound up with it on a lot longer. Also the straps of the monitors were crossing my back right where it hurt the most, so I was about ready to throw them across the room. And poor Alex was still putting that wash cloth on my back with every contraction. I had the AC on as high as it would go, everyone else was freezing and I just kept saying how hot I was. I was feeling pretty defeated at this point. Mom texted Alex and asked if it was time to come down yet, he said that I was still at 6, but could she please come anyways. I tried getting up out of bed, hoping that gravity would help pull her down, but when those contractions hit I all but crumpled to the floor from the back pain. I also hadnt been able to keep anything down, and was pretty dizzy ,so I asked if I could please be hooked up to fluids (before this point my IV was in, but not hooked up to anything). Shortly before my mom showed up I asked for IV meds (I had been very adament about wanting to go natural, and Alex was keeping me honest, but he knew me well enough to know that this time I was serious. It wasn't me whining, it was me genuinely needing a break from the constant back pain just to pull myself together). Mom came, got our stuff for us out of the car, and tagged Alex out so that he could rest for a little bit. She took over wash cloth duties and he took an hour nap. Thanks to the fentanyl I was able to take little 5 minute cat naps in between contractions as well. This is where things get fuzzy again.
The Dr. checked me at some point (maybe the 6am check?) I was 6 cm. I was considered "stalled" at this point. They weren't /that/ worried about me being stalled, except they that her heart rate was dropping from 160 to 106, but since the toco wasn't picking up contractions (at this point I wasn't wearing it at all, just the fetal heart rate monitor) they weren't sure when her rate was dropping, so they wanted to put in an internal contraction monitor. This would require breaking my water, which would hopefully jumpstart dilation as well. I was on board, so we did that. Since her heart rate was dropping so drastically, they didn't want my labor taking too terribly much longer, so they did forewarn me that if breaking my water didn't work we'd have to try pitocin, and that if it dropped any worse than it was then I'd be on the short list for an emergency C-section. At the time I was too tired to really process any of this. I remember thinking. "C-section? sure bring it on! Extra two weeks of leave, and this will all be over with" but I didn't say any of that. I did tell them that if I had to have pitocin, I wanted an epidural. I know that pitocin can make contractions worse, and I was barely holding my own through the natural ones, the back pain was no joke!
After my water was broken things started progressing really quickly. I was at 13 or 14 hours, and I was done. I asked for the epidural. Alex asked if I was sure, and I told him that I just couldn't keep hurting, and it felt like my spine was going to snap in two. I promised I wouldn't be mad at him, but I just couldn't do it anymore. So we called the nurse. She came with the Dr, I told her I wanted the epidural, but could I please have my last dose of fentanyl to tide me over until he made it. She gave me half of the dose, then the other half a few minutes later (they were making sure it didn't drop her heart rate), but it didn't touch the pain. The Dr. checked me, I think I was at 7 maybe 8, I can't remember, but at this point the contractions got BAD. They would come in waves of 3. The first one was the worst, it eventually got to the point where I was screaming whenever it hit. Mom tried to remind me that groaning was ok, but screaming was just going to make me tired, but groaning just wasn't cutting it. Alex has since told me that when those first ones would hit, the contraction monitor would go off the chart. The second contraction would hit, and while it would be really bad, compared to the first it was ok, then the third would hit and it was nothing at all (this third one would eventually dissappear altogether)
The anesthesiologist as in an emergency c-section. Dammit!
I don't know how much later it was, but I made them call the nurse again. She said that he would be in just as soon as he was out. I think this was when I yelled out, "How do you only have one anesthesiologist???" Ah well. The nurse checked me and told me that I was at 9 and a half, and an epidural was no longer an option, it was time to push. I said no. There was no way I could. I'd been up for 24 hours, I'd been in labor for 14. I was running on empty, I was in too much pain, and there was no way I had anything left in me to push out a human through my vagina. She basically said, tough and that I was going to do it because my baby needed me to. (Come to think of it I was on O2 at this point as well for her heart rate)
Well what can you say to that? So I got in position and we started pushing. After a bit she told me to stop so they could get the Dr in the room. I said hell no and just kept pushing through the contractions. I finally felt like I had some control, and it hurt way less to push than not to push. The Dr made it with plenty of time, Little Miss got hung up on my pelvic bone (I wish I could have used gravity to help but my back just wasn't having it. Several times they said, "Just a few more, she's almost out" the second time they said that my reply was, "That's what you said last time!!" This was when they had me reach down and touch her head to prove to me she really was RIGHT there. I don't know how much longer I pushed. I was still having my odd contractions where I'd have one big one (could get 4 pushes) followed by a smaller one (two pushes) and then a 5 minute break. It definitely was odd, but that initial push after the break was always a really good one. At the end of one of those contractions her head was out, they weren't expecting me to push anymore, but I was getting that baby OUT so I pushed without a contraction and on January 4th at 10:06am, my beautiful daughter entered the world.
They immediately put her skin to skin on me, and I was in absolute shock that I had helped make, and I brought into the world, something so absolutely perfect. I remember being worried because it felt like a long time before she cried, but I've been told it was just seconds. It just felt like forever to me. I was completely focused on her, but apparently at this point I started to hemorrhage. One nurse had my left arm down trying to get fluids and pitocin in me quickly so my uterus would firm up, one nurse was taking my bp, the Dr was looking for clots, and Alex got in my face and told me to keep talking to him, apparently I'd gone VERY white. They got me back to normal pretty quickly, did some stitches (10) and they were all done. I had my wonderful little 7lb 6 oz, 20 in long daughter, and I'd brought her into the world.
The rest of my stay was pretty uneventful, I was up and taking care of the two of us almost immediately and Alex and I went to discharge class that same night. My wonderful family brought us Olive Garden, and the next day helped Alex install the car seat (and jump our battery, mom had moved our car and left something on). Her bili was a little high but they let us take her home on the 5th (I could have stayed an extra day, but just wanted to go home). We had to go back for 3 more blood tests, but she is right as rain now.
I know she's only been in our lives for 2 weeks, but she is absolutely everything I could hope for in a baby. She is engaged with the world around her, has a sweet disposition, is mild tempered (this does not mean doesn't cry. Babies are SUPPOSED to cry, it's how they communicate, but she doesn't cry for no reason). This week we're dealing with our first cold, and even with that she's just such a happy baby. Some extra snuggles when shes a bit over tired, and she's good to go!
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