So without further ado here is Miss M :)
And for those curious here is the birth story:
I had an appt on Wednesday April 9th, the day after my due date. I had been having some contractions that morning but wasn't thinking they were doing anything as I had been having them for weeks. I had my doctor check me and I had finally dilated, to a 2. Which meant I could continue on with my vbac plans and just had to schedule an induction instead of a csection (Praise The Lord) for the following week. Being at a 2 I wasn't too hopefully that I would be in labor anytime soon so hubby and I headed to juice stop to hang out and then headed home. Once we got home I continued my daily routine of bouncing on my birthing ball. Figured it at least helped keep my mind off things if nothing else. So I bounced and bounced then I started to feel nauseous but figured it was from the extra large chocolate filled smoothie I consumed before bouncing. So I sent the rest of the family to the store to stock our fridge and pantry again *just in case* while I napped.
When they returned an hour later I finally felt better so I got dinner ready. We ate then decided to take the kids on a walk to the park. Well, I was moving quite slow on the walk as I began having regular contractions so the family made their way to the park and I arrived a little while later just in time to turn around and head home. We got home and my contractions continued to intensify but I wasn't hopefully as I had had quite a few false alarms this pregnancy. So we continued our nightly routine and got the kids to bed, as I was reading to LB I could tell that these contractions were becoming the real deal so after W came in to take over I sent a text to our dear friends who were on call for kid duty giving them the heads up (for the 3rd time in a week) that this may finally be the real deal. I returned to ball bouncing and that relieved the intensity of contractions a bit but they were still coming, so I decided to take a shower and repack my hospital bag. By then my contractions were 3.5-4 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. So I sent the go time text and our friend headed this way.
She arrived around 11pm and by then my contractions had slowed in intensity but were still coming at regular intervals. W wasn't sure we were really in labor so I started questioning myself but we decided to head toward the hospital anyways as we knew if I wasn't dilated much they would induce me so no matter what baby would be coming home with us.
On our way to the hospital we both continued to doubt if it was really time so we did what any lady in labor would do and headed to the only open place near the hospital walmart ;) We picked up some random things that we needed, mostly cleaning supplies and browsed the baby section so I could pause between contractions without drawing too much attention. I'm glad no one snapped a picture or else you may see me on people of Walmart as I'm sure I looked hilarious hunched over car seats trying to breath thru the contraction without showing any pain. We finished up shopping and then still not being convinced drove around and around and around. My contractions continued to get closer together and more intense so I finally decided it was time to head to the hospital.
We got checked in around 1am. I got settled into a room and checked, woohoo I was at 6cm! Both W and the nurse were surprised I was that far along bc apparently I looked calm and collected. Once we got the paperwork done and they measured my contractions for a bit we got up and walked the halls, cracked jokes, ate a bunch of ice chips and got on the birth ball. By this point it was 4am and I was tired from being up forever so decided to get checked again to see the progress, still at a 6 and -2 station. Wah wah. So I gave in and asked for the epidural.
For those of you who have read my previous birth stories the epidural and I have a strong love hate relationship and this time it was heavy on the hate. My blood pressure could not handle it this time and kept plummeting to 53/37 and no matter what they did to raise it without 10 minutes it would plummet again so after an hour or so of this non-sense and the anesthesiologist and nurse not knowing what was going on or how to fix it I decided to just turn off the epidural. Within an hour my blood pressure evened out and I felt normal again.
Then the sun came out and I gave up all hope of sleep. At this point a new anesthesiologist came on shift and talked with me. We decided to turn the drip on again but at half strength this time just to take the edge off. Figured since I was stuck in bed at this point I should give myself some relief . And some hope at rest. I didn't sleep but I was able to recoup a bit. A new staff came in and this time I recognized the nurse as one who was there to catch AB being born. It was wonderful to see a familiar face and knowing she would birth this girl too. The new nurse checked me and I was at an 8 so we decided to break my water. They came in to break it and I was a 9 but still -2 station. (My babies like to stay up high until it's go time).
Things started moving along quickly after that and of course my epidural was out by that point. (although I'm sure there was a tiny bit of medicine left in my body it sure didn't feel like that) it was finally time to push and I couldn't have been more ready. I had the mirror brought in because I just love to watch the miracle of life happen along with everyone else in the room. I pushed for about 20 minutes and had a rough push for those dang shoulders then out came my beautiful girl at 11:44am measuring in at 9lbs 0.4 oz and 21.5 inches long. She was just the sweetest little thing (but aren't all newborns) and we cuddled for an hour before getting ready to move into a more permanent room.
So far she has been an awesome baby and her siblings adore her. We are so blessed!
a few pictures from her first week of life:
Congratulations on your precious new addition! And such a beautiful birth story...I just love hearing/reading birth stories. Each is so unique and wonderful. :)
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