Here is the story of Macy's birth... As a disclaimer: it is long, and I ramble. But I found it so hard to put in to words my experience with out OVER sharing or omitting the deets. Anyway, this what I took away from it all...
So as I said on my last post, Wednesday morning I went to the doctor and go my membranes stripped. I had a little bit of bleeding that morning, maybe for 2 hours, and nothing major. Otherwise I felt normal, ran some errands, went to see "What to Expect When You're Expecting" with my best friend Cassy, and when my husband got home that night I decided I really wanted to take a walk around downtown. So we walked to Subway to get dinner, and by the time we got back I was having a decent amount of lower back pain. I just figured it was from the walking. We went to bed around 10 and at 1230 that night I woke up from the pain of abdominal cramps. It was pretty intense, but it didn't have a beginning or an end, so I didn't immediately think of the pain being contractions. It wouldn't go away and eventually Kyle woke up, due to my restlessness. He suggested that I try to time the pain, so I would keep my hand over my belly and note when it got hard, then soften. Once I could start to define the pain, I noted it was coming 3 minutes apart. I got up and went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding, so Kyle suggested that I go ahead a call the doctor. He called me back right away and said I should come on in, because it sounded like I was in labor. Whhhhatt?? I think was in denial because I was moving so slowly, but Kyle was up and out of bed, loading the car and looking at me impatiently like... LETS GO! I wanted to fix my hair a little bit, make sure I had everything I needed (yes, we were packed), make the bed, load dishes that were in the sink, etc. We finally headed to the hospital around 1:30am. Once I got in the car the contractions were INTENSE, very painful, and had a definite beginning and end. I did not like that experience! We got to the hospital around 2am and were checked in to triage. At this point my contractions were coming every 2 minutes so I was surprised when she told me that I was only 1.5cm dilated, but I was 80% effaced, so they would keep me and check me again in 2 hours. My nurse started an IV and gave me glorious pain meds(!) and I tried to get some sleep. I rested well in between contractions and luckily the 2 hours went quickly. She checked me again at 5am and I was at 3cm... she said "Looks like you earned yourself a bed"- yay!
By the time I got checked in to my room and settled, it was around 6:30am and I was ready for my epidural -STAT! Although I was only dilated to a 3, the contractions were KILLING ME and I was ready to relax and enjoy the labor process. I did ask my nurse if she thought it was too early, and she said "if you're in pain you should get it. If it slows you down, we can always start you on Pitocin" -That was enough reassurance for me.. Bring on the juice! The epidural went in smoothly and at 7:30 I told Kyle it was time we start notifying friends and family that we were having a baby today! I didn't want to let anyone know until I knew we were FOR SURE staying, and then I wanted to wait until I got my epidural because I didn't want to start gasping in pain in the middle of a conversation. After the calls and texts all I wanted was a NAP. -As a nurse i should have known this was a joke, because nurses are notorious for walking in to the room at all the wrong times. As my eyes drifted off to sleep my day nurse walked in to do an assessment and check me again. This time I was at 5cm and she was confident I would have my baby that afternoon around "3" -Boy was she good at her job! Finally my eyes drifted to sleep and when I woke up Cassy was sitting at my bedside. The rest of the morning/early afternoon was spent hanging out, watching TV, drifting in and out of sleep, and doing everything I could to keep my mind off of my insatiable hunger. I will tell you, not being able to eat was probably the hardest thing I had to go through during the whole labor process. No one told me that it would be so hard! Besides being hungry I remember sitting there thinking "this is what labor is?" I was actually bored! And the anticipation was killing me. I was ready to meet this baby girl! Finally my doctor came by around noon and checked me again. Little did I know my water had actually broken already (I didn't feel it) and I was at 7cm, 100% effaced and at a +2 station. Wahoo! She told my nurse to check me in an hour, and let me tell you- that was the longest hour ever! Finally around 1:15p my nurse came, checked me, and said, "Let's have this baby!"
Kyle took one leg, Cass the other, and I started pushing around 1:40. The first couple contractions that came I didn't know what I was doing and it felt like I wasn't making much progress. It is not easy to push, especially when you can't really feel anything. But the lower the baby got, the more I could feel what I was doing. After a few pushes my nurse told me she could see the baby's head and that she had JET BLACK HAIR... Umm what? My baby has black hair? I had them bring the mirror over so I could see for myself. Once the mirror was there, I decided I liked it, and that it was actually helping me focus when I was pushing. What seems like a push or 2 later my doctor arrived, I pushed one more time and there she was! She was born at 2:48pm, weighed 7lbs15oz and 21 1/4in long.
First meeting my our precious slimey baby girl
The next hour was a blur of meeting my precious Macy Jane, a million people in the room, me getting cleaned up, her getting cleaned up, and people in and out. I honestly thought it would be more of an emotional moment, but it was more overwhelming than anything.
So cute even minutes old
Getting sweet time in with my baby girl (please notice the menu on my lap, I did not waste any time!)
I have to say, I had a great labor process, no hiccups, and a healthy baby. SUCH answered prayers! All the anxiety, sleepless nights leading up to this moment were all worth it. The next 2 days at the hospital were spent enjoying all the visitors and learning how to be parents! I will say that it wasn't until I got home and sat in the nursery with my baby girl in my arms while Kyle unloaded the car that I let out that "wow I'm a mommy" sigh moment. It was amazing!
I can't wait to share more about my adventures in being a new mom to Macy Jane!
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