It’s been three weeks since our precious daughter came into
this world. Time to share how that
happened!
January 23rd 2014
7:30 p.m.
I started having pretty frequent Braxton Hicks (you know,
those fake contractions). I didn’t want
to get my hopes up though. I had had a
couple days when I’d have Braxton Hicks for an hour, and then they’d go away. I was
pretty uncomfortable (due date was only three days away) and I just wanted my
baby out. I wanted to feel normal again,
and most of all I wanted to meet our little son or daughter.
January 24th 2014
2:30 a.m.
I woke up to a contraction hurting. It wasn’t too bad and I fell back to sleep.
7:30 a.m.
Every contraction hurt.
Though I could still get up and do things like normal. Did I though?
No. I sat in bed and worked on a
blog post for my book blog and ate a cinnamon roll my husband brought me.
10ish a.m.
I started keeping track of how frequent the contractions were. They were consistently 5-8 minutes apart. At this point I was thinking and hoping our
baby was coming sometime that weekend.
4:00 p.m.
I had a doctor appointment at 4. I told them I was having frequent contractions
but they weren’t hurting really bad. The
doctor checked my dilation and said I was at a 2.4. Don’t ask about the .4. Chris and I thought that was weird and so did
the nurses at the hospital later that night.
The doctor said I would probably have our baby that
weekend. The lady at the front desk said
we should go home, get some pizza and watch a movie. Pizza sounded yuk, but a movie didn’t sound
too bad.
By the time Chris and I arrived back at our apartment my
contractions had gotten a little worse, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
Chris had a chemistry test to take by Saturday (the next
day). I told him to go take it. I was only at a 2, my contractions weren’t
bad, and this was my first baby, which meant a long labor. “Plus,” I said jokingly, “If anything does
happen in the two hours you’re gone I’ll just get someone to go into the
testing center to get you.” We both knew
once he was in the testing center he would be unreachable. We weren’t worried.
He turned on Madagascar
2 for me and left.
5:00 p.m.
My contractions started getting worse. Where was Chris? “It’s okay,” I told myself, “Just concentrate
on the movie.” My contractions were
about 4-6 minutes apart at this point and lasted for 20 seconds. I could no longer concentrate on the movie
and was really tired of being alone for this whole labor experience. Chris had been gone all day, first to school
then work. Before, it wasn’t anything I
couldn’t handle, but at this point I would have really liked some support, even
if it was just a silent hand to squeeze.
A little after 5:30 p.m.
I stood up during a contraction to relieve some of the pain
and it felt like I had peed my pants a little (you know when you laugh so hard
a little urine comes out? I know at
least some of you have had that happen to them). Hmmm…had my water just broken? If it had I didn’t want to be standing over
the living room carpet. Into the bathroom
I ran.
Oh yeah, that contraction hurt really bad and the pain wasn’t
going completely away, and I was
missing my favorite part of the movie! (“If I only had a day to live I would
invade a neighboring country and impose my own ideologies on them.” “Well that’s easy for you to do, you’re a
king”).
By this time I was crying. I was in a ton of pain, and I had no one—I was
all alone. Chris was unreachable. We had
a plan of how I would get a hold of him in case I went into labor while he was
in class or at work, but we didn’t have a plan if he happened to be in the
testing center.
I texted my mom to tell her that I thought my water had
broken. She called me immediately and
asked me some questions. By this time it
was hard for me to talk during contractions.
She told me to call my midwife, which is what I was about to do before
she called me.
Because I had tested positive for Strep B Group, Rachel, my
midwife, told me to come to the hospital ASAP so I could get on the antibiotic
right away if my water had really broken.
What to do now? I
didn’t have a car or a husband.
5:50 p.m.
I called our neighbors/home teachers and asked if they could
take me to the hospital. They went out
and warmed up the car right away. I
grabbed the hospital bag and went out the door; thankful it wasn’t too cold
that night, and especially grateful for wonderful friends. On the way to the hospital I texted Chris and
called my mom to let her know what was going on (she jumped in her car and
headed to Rexburg).
Chris called while we still on our way to the hospital. The conversation went something like this:
Chris: “Hey, so what’s going on?”
Me: “I think my water broke, and Rachel told me to come in
so they could check for sure. Meet me up
at the hospital ASAP.”
Chris: “Okay. So I
got an 90 on my Chem test.”
Me: “That’s great.
Are you on your way to the hospital?”
Like really that’s great, but
honestly that’s the last thing on my mind right now.
Chris: “Uh yeah. Did
you want me to bring you anything from home?”
Me: “You’re not home are you?”
Chris: “No, but I could run home if you forgot
anything.” Really kid? Really? I’m most likely IN LABOR! I understand you want to make sure I have
everything, but PLEASE come to the hospital right now.
Me: “No I have everything. I want you to come to the hospital right now.”
Chris: “Oh yeah, okay.
I’m on my way.” I could tell a light
bulb had clicked in his head at that moment and was thankful he wasn’t going to
be one of those husbands who thought of the sandwich he really wanted to be
eating or the basketball game he was missing while his wife was pushing out
their kid.
5:55 p.m.
I arrived at the hospital.
They took forever checking me in. Hello, I’m in labor. I’m in pain. Let me go into the hospital so they can check
me out here! I don’t care about any
forms I have to sign! (This is why the
husband should always be there).
They finally put me in an examination room and told me to
change into a hospital “gown.” More like
a sheet with a hole in it for your arms and head. Did I mention it has no back?
6:00 p.m.
Chris walked into the room.
I’ve never been so thankful to see him!
6:05 p.m.
Okay, the pain is only getting worse. Where is that doctor who’s supposed to check
to see if my water broke?! “They don’t have to come in and check,” I told
Chris. “I’m sitting in a puddle of water
and I know I just didn’t pee my pants.”
A nurse finally came in.
She didn’t even test the puddle I was sitting in to see if it was
amniotic fluid. She just helped me up
and took me to a delivery room.
This was it! We were
going to meet our baby soon. Little did
we know how soon.
6:10 p.m.
The nurse sat me on a bed, and another nurse came in and
started to ask me a whole bunch of questions I can’t even remember. I’m grateful Chris was there to answer most
of them. They put monitors on my belly
to monitor baby’s heartbeat.
Rachel came in to check my dilation. I was at a 3.
7:00 p.m.
The nurse tried getting an IV in me, but my veins weren’t
showing. It took about 15 minutes for
her to put the IV in. Thankfully she
only had to poke me once. I was hooked
up to my antibiotics. I needed them in
my system four hours prior to delivery.
The nurse and Rachel weren’t concerned that I would have the baby before
four hours.
Contractions were starting to get worse. I keep telling myself I can handle it because
it was only going to get worse. At one
point though I told Chris I couldn’t do it anymore. He was such a good cheerleader, telling me I
could.
8:00 p.m.
I’m surprised I didn’t rip Chris’s clothes off. My contractions were getting steadily
worse. The only relief (if you want to
call it relief) was standing up. I
couldn’t stand up on my own so hung onto Chris’s neck with my right arm while
pulling at his shirt with my left. He
later told me I was putting him in a chokehold.
Sorry Honey!
Since I was giving birth naturally Rachel was supposed to be
with me the whole time. Well there was
another lady in labor at the same time I was.
This was her fourth pregnancy and she was dilated to a 6, so naturally
Rachel would be with her.
8:45ish p.m. (ask Chris for sure. My sense of time was pain).
I had noticed that my contractions were getting steadily
worse every half hour or so. I thought
that it had to be over soon. The nurse
didn’t think so. She was honest and said
she’d give me another dose of antibiotics at 11 p.m. “This will take that long?” I nearly
cried.
“I don’t want to sugar coat it,” she said, “But this is your
first baby, and so I won’t be surprised if it does take that long.”
At that point I honestly didn’t know if I could survive that
long. If my contractions were getting
steadily worse with each half hour, I didn’t even want to think about how they
would feel at 11 p.m.
Epidural passed
through my mind briefly. I couldn’t get past the image of a huge needle
being stuck in my back, and not being able to move, and getting hooked up to
oxygen though. I would cross that bridge if my pain got worse.
The nurse checked my dilation since my pain level had
increased significantly.
“You’re probably going to be at a 4,” she said. I was at a 6 or 7! Wow!
Okay, I could do this. Just 3-4
more centimeters to go.
“I can’t do this.” I told Chris as my pain increased again.
“Yes you can, you’re doing awesome.”
9:00 p.m.
“You’re going to start feeling like you’re going to have a bowel
movement,” the nurse said, “and you’ll want to bear down.”
“Um…I’ve been feeling that for a little bit now.”
“Let’s lay you down then.”
“No!” The last time I
tried to lay down = pain beyond pain.
The nurse assured me that I had lain down during a contraction, which had caused the
pain. So I stood by the bed waiting for
the contraction to pass. It didn’t. It lessened, but never passed.
“At this point,” the nurse said, “the contractions probably
won’t permanently go away.”
Awesome! Chris and
the nurse gently laid me down on my side.
I think I almost broke the rail to the bed.
The nurse checked me again.
“You’re at a 9 ½.”
That must mean I’m getting close.
Oh goodness, did I really just push?
The nurse told me to push the next time I had the urge. So I did.
It scared me to death, but it did lessen the pain of the contraction and
gave me something to do.
Rachel came in to check me.
I was at a 10!!!
I was a horrible pusher.
They had to teach me how to push while I was pushing. It’s
not exactly something they can teach you at a birthing class.
I’m grateful I didn’t have the epidural (not that I had time
to get one). If I had gotten one I would
have no idea when to push and labor would have been longer.
My mom told me when she gave birth to me she screamed. I really didn’t want to scream, nor did I
think I would. I had no choice. After each push I screamed. I had no control over it.
Rachel stayed in the room and scrubbed up once I was at a
10. Chris encouraged me throughout the
20 or so minutes of pushing.
I couldn’t believe I was actually giving birth. It’s something I always knew I would do
someday. It was amazing to think I was
actually doing it. There was no turning
back at this point.
9:29 p.m.
I saw the baby’s head for the first time. The first thought that ran through my head
was, “It’s out!”
Chris placed the baby on my chest.
“Well, what is it?” I think I said (Chris was supposed to
tell me the gender).
Turns out Chris was balling like our little baby.
“It’s a girl,” he finally said.
“A girl? Really?” I
said in disbelief.
It was true. The
little baby on my chest was our sweet little girl. Perhaps because Chris had three brothers and
I had five, and we (well Chris
mostly) had been calling our baby “Little guy” for the past 9 months, it was
hard to believe I had given birth to a girl.
They are so rare in our families.
So many emotions were going through my mind at this
point. The two main ones were relief and
disbelief. I was holding my daughter in
my arms. I was a mom. I had just given birth!
We named her Lilly.
Lilly stayed on my chest for about 30 minutes while
after-birth stuff happened. I remember
Chris looking at my stomach and saying something like, “Whoa! It’s flat again!”
When they took Lilly off me she had pooped all over my
stomach. Seriously? You were supposed to save that first squirt
of meconium for Dad!
She weighed in at 7lb 9 oz and was 20 ½ inches long.
Mom got a nice warm shower (thankful it was a fast labor).
Dad got a big sandwich (he hadn’t eaten since breakfast).
Lilly got some loves from Mom and Dad.
Because I didn’t get the antibiotic four hours prior to
giving birth, Lilly and I had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours to make sure
she didn’t have the virus. She
didn’t. She never even got a hint of
jaundice! I’m so grateful she is a
healthy baby.
These past three weeks.
How do I describe it?
I never thought I could love someone so much. I would do anything for her. And I pretty much do, including fighting my
pain pill drowsiness so I can stay up with her at night. She is so worth it. I can look at Lilly for hours and not get
bored. I love laying next to her and
smelling her sweet breath and skin. Cuddling with her is my favorite thing to
do.
It’s a wonder to look into her eyes and think she just came
from our Heavenly Father. She is so
perfect and pure (even if she poops all over the bed sheets). Chris and I love our sweet little girl.
Parenthood is the best lemonade you could ask for in
life.
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| Cuddle time with Mom |
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| Daddy's girl. He picked out her outfit |
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| The little angel God blessed us with |
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