40 Weeks - Our Birth Story

I have said this a lot on the blog, but, you read that right! Adelle June is here and she arrived right on her due date! Brian kept teasing me that if ANYONE were to have a child on their due date it would be me. I am not sure I agree with that but I am glad he gets a kick out of it! This is also why I have been MIA for a while.

Our Birth Story
On Friday, January 1st, I got up, ate, and checked my email as usual. I was waiting for Brian to get up as I sent out my last email - to my sister-in-law telling her I wasn't feeling anything. As soon as I hit the send button I got a pain in my back. Not a big deal because I'd had those before. I dinked around a little more and decided to brush my teeth. As I was getting to the bathroom my back started hurting again. I went to lay down with Brian instead and told him about it. We talked for a little bit and I got another pain. We both checked the clock and realized the pains were 10 minutes apart and that this is the same spot I get my cramps in during my period. OMG - I am having BACK LABOR?! Yikes!!


So we kept track of them for the next couple of hours and from 9:30a - 10:30a they were consistently 10 minutes apart. From 10:30a - 11:30a they were consistently 6 minutes apart!! I hadn't had contractions like this ever so I was surprised they were that consistent that early. I tried to get ready for the day as much as possible, telling Brian about the contractions the entire time. We called the doctor and he told us to come in and get checked.


After getting ready - and eating a bit - we got to Labor & Delivery around 12:30p (on Friday the 1st). They checked my cervix and I was still only 1.5cm dilated, high, and almost completely effaced! They kept me there to monitor me. They monitored me for a while and my contractions weren't too strong so I walked around with Brian and Maria, my little sister, for an hour or so and they checked me again. 2cm. Really? That's it? So after monitoring me again for a bit they told me to walk again. I did for another hour or so and they checked me again. Still 2cm. They called the doctor and then sent me home! I wasn't making progress. UGH!


As soon as we were going out of the driveway at the hospital I wanted to kick someone in the throat my contraction was so bad! How could they send me home in pain like this?! We got home, I took the sleeping aid my doctor gave me and for the next few hours Brian and I were giants in a Swiss chalet aka our bedroom. The sleeping pill my doc gave me made me hallucinate - great! The contractions remained 6 minutes apart and were considerably worse than before. Apparently, I went from snoring to writhing in pain then back to snoring all while Brian timed everything and stayed alert! Aww!


Around 9 or 9:30p on Friday the 1st we called the doctor again, described what was happening and that I couldn't stand the pain any more - my back felt like it was going to rip in two! He told us to come back in. We got there and they checked me right away - 4cm! They put the monitors back on and asked what I wanted for the pain. A little while later I got my epidural, along with something else, and was out of it for the rest of the time! No joke. I was sleeping through some REALLY bad contractions! I was also shaking pretty violently. I had to really concentrate on NOT shaking and needed the room pretty quiet in order to do so.


Around 12a or 1a on the 2nd they checked me again and I was about 7cm. We - Brian and Maria - called/texted our families. Within an hour everyone was at the hospital! Around 3:30a I was checked again and was 10cm and the nurse said, "Oh my. Your little Adelle is right there and has a beautiful head of hair!" WHAT! Oh my goodness! There was a part of me that was super excited and a part of me that was kind of scared for the next part.


I started to push around 4a. Since I was shaking so much, I was SUPER nauseous. So I had to stop a couple of times because I thought I was going to throw up. Thank goodness that was between contractions! After what felt like an eternity, my doctor came in around 5a. Adelle was having trouble getting past my tail bone so we decided to use a vacuum. They also informed me that while I had been pushing, she had pooped in the amniotic fluid. It wasn't there when my water broke so that was good, but she would still need to be checked out right away. This made me feel awful! I felt like it was my fault she pooped - because I couldn't push her out right away. Thank goodness that feeling went away with the next contraction.


At 5:21a Adelle came into the world!! Though they put her on my chest right away to clamp the cord, she was taken to the other side of the room and checked. Her APGARS were 8 and 9! Her lungs were clear! She weighed 7lbs 6oz. 21.5inches long and her head circumference was 13.5 even with a full head of brown hair! She was PERFECT!!




She was placed on my belly/chest while the doctor was finishing up whatever he needed to do with me - stitches and making sure everything was under control - and it was the most amazing feeling in the world! My little girl was here!


Euphoria!!


Brian was amazing! He was up almost a complete 24 hours making sure I was ok, timing contractions, keeping people informed, he was my everything - I couldn't have done it without him. Maria was great and made sure Brian was ok. Getting things for us/him, keeping him company since I was sleeping. I don't think he could have done it without her.


What a blessed way to start out the new year!!

Nervous and a trip to L&D

So Saturday was great. I got things done around the house, ran errands, and even started having some contractions. Granted, they weren't regular and most weren't painful so I didn't think I was in labor, but I was having them.

We were running around so much that when we got home I had to lay down. I put my feet up on Brian and even snoozed for a bit. A little while later I realized that I hadn't felt Adelle move for a little bit. I shrugged it off as, I just haven't NOTICED her moving but then started paying attention to any movements. Well, I didn't feel any - not even hiccups. I drank a glass of cold water, some pop, and even ate something and nothing happened. No movement. I was starting to get really freaked out so Brian called the nurse who called the on-call doctor, who happened to be OUR doctor. We talked and he said that he wanted us to go in to Labor and Delivery to get monitored. With this news I started crying, but told him it was ok. He said that it was just a precaution and most times it is to help ease the mothers' nerves/mind.

We got to the hospital around 8:55pm (after a 5-8 minute drive) and I was hooked up to the monitor by 9:03pm. Right away I noticed that Adelle's heartbeat was slower than it has been, then it would jump up, then drop low, and I got nervous again. The awesome nurse, Tracy, told us that is what they look for. That means she is just being active. I told her that I wasn't able to feel anything yet and she said that that was ok too, but she wanted me to tell her when I could. 7 minutes - 7 really LONG minutes later I felt a couple of kicks and at 9:15pm I felt another. Tracy came back in and said that things looked just fine for both of us and that she was going to call Dr. H and see what he wanted to do. I was able to go home a little after 9:30pm and told to follow up with Dr. H on Monday at our appointment.

Even though I wasn't there for very long it was surreal. That was my very first time in an actual hospital bed, aside from when Brian was in the hospital a few years back and I cuddled with him for a few minutes. It was only the second time I had ever been in a hospital gown, and the third time I had been hooked up to machines. What was surreal though, was walking to Labor and Delivery, checking in at the front desk, filling out a few papers (and by filling out I really mean checking to make sure things are correct), and getting my little bracelet. I kept wondering if that is what it would feel like when I HAD to go to the hospital.

One thing I realized was that as I was laying on my side, my hip started hurting. I think I was laying right in one of the creases/cracks of the bed. I'll have to remember to avoid that when I do go back to the hospital.

Another thing I realized - though NOT for the first time - was that Brian and I are so amazing together. I don't think I could do this - or that - without him. He was comforting, strong and level headed the entire time. In fact, he was putting in Transformers 2 to see if Adelle would move to that since she went crazy when we watched it before. How sweet was that?

He is going to make an incredible Daddy!