alc316
Early days with love #2
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- Sep 10, 2010
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My baby girl, Annabelle Lynn was born May 19th at 3:06 am, weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and measuring 21 inches long. My due date was May 20th- but she came a day early, lucky me!
Here is my birth story-
Wednesday May 18th
I had a scheduled appointment with my midwife at 10am. She checked me and I was 2 cm dilated which was an improvement from the week before when I was 1 cm. Although I knew that still didn’t mean much, I was happy with the progression- and so was my midwife. My husband said to her- “So it could happen this weekend?” And she replied, in a joking voice “It could happen tonight!” we never actually thought that would happen. I had it set in my head that “first pregnancies usually go overdue” because I had heard that SO MANY TIMES during my pregnancy! So I was convinced that was how it would go. Over the past nine or so months I had formed a great bond with my midwife and before we left she sort of giggled and told us to go home and have sex to get this baby going!
So we did! We got home at about noon and DTD ☺ Then at around 1pm we decided to take a nap. At around 2pm I woke up to a strong pain in my stomach and my legs felt numb for a minute. My first thought of course was- “is this it?” but then I realized it was probably just my body reacting to my midwife checking me earlier, and the sex, so back to sleep I went. We woke up around 2:30pm and my DH went off to work. At around 3pm I started feeling the same feelings and after I had about three of them consecutively I decided to time them. I used the contraction timer on thebump.com- what a help! Right from the start the contractions were coming every 4,5,6 or 7 minutes apart. But none of them longer than 7 minutes apart! I did not let myself get excited at this point though- I did not want to be disappointed. Also I wasn’t really sure what to do. My DH was at work and I didn’t want to call him in case it wasn’t actually real labor, and my Mom was an hour away, where she had been staying in the hospital with my Dad who only two days before had undergone a very serious surgery. Luckily at about 4pm my Mom called me and said she was coming home for a while to get some more things together and to check in at work. I was so relieved that she called and I said “Well it’s a good thing your coming because I am having contractions!” She told me she would be here soon, and she was- she came right away which was a huge relief to me! By the time she got here I had been timing my contractions for a little more than 2 hours. And although they weren’t consistently a certain amount of time apart, none of them went more than 7 minutes, and most were much closer! My mom insisted that I go to the hospital to get checked. But I was not convinced that it was REAL LABOR yet- and I didn’t want to be “that woman” who comes in early just to be sent home. She convinced me to at least call Labor & Delivery and ask what I should do. The nurse told me to eat something and wait as long as I could. So I ate some spicy curry and a bowl of pineapple! After I was done eating I really started thinking that this was really it- so I started collecting all of the things that I wanted with my at the hospital. Luckily I had just packed my bags a few days before- unfortunately my DH had not packed his (surprise, surprise)! Which is actually a pretty funny part of the story- A few days before I still had not had anything packed and DH kept asking me to do it, he kept telling me that he didn’t want to have to run around trying to find the things that I wanted if I went into labor and he had to collect everything, he also wanted me to make a list of all the things I could not pack into the bags ahead of time and leave the list taped to the front door. I did all of those things and then it turns out- I am the one home when I go into labor, he has NOT packed his bag and I ended up having to pack it for him! (He works in the next town over, which is where the hospital is- so I packed his bag so he would just be able to come to the hospital straight away and not have to go home first) . So anyway- I was running around in full on labor tryingt o get things together while my mom was bringing all of the things down to the car. I called L&D and told the nurse that I needed to come in and we were on our way. Called husband at work to let him know I was going in- we decided he would stay at work until absolutely necessary, I would just call him from hospital if “this was it”
Got to the hospital around 8pm. They hooked my up to the monitors and after about 20 minutes told me I was definitely having contractions (no, kidding!) but that I should go home for a while as I would be more comfortable there. We only live about 15 mins from the hospital. So of course, I was disappointed- but later was happy that I did go home. They told me to call and come back when the contractions were consistently 4 minutes apart for an hour or two. They also told me to take a warm bath and drink lots of water and if it wasn’t “real” labor then this would make the contractions stop. Uggh- so I called DH- told him I was heading home and that my mom would stay with me until he was done work.
When I got home I ran a bath and started chugging water. Was in the tub for about 20 minutes or so and the contractions did not stop whatsoever. I had decided not to time them for a while tho- as it was starting to make me very anxious. DH got home at around 9:30 and at about 10:30 we told my mom to go ahead and go home and we would call her with any changes. Once she left DH and I started timing the contractions again- the first 5 or 6 contractions were all 4 minutes apart and we got very excited- thinking maybe it wouldn’t be very long! Then they started getting farther apart again- back up to 5 minutes apart. We laughed and said “This is going to be a LOOOONG night!” I paced around the house trying to find something comfortable. Tried laying in bed- then hubby convinced me to come back out to living room and sit on my birthing ball again. We tried watching GLEE which we had on our DVR but I was too distracted! Bless my DH- everytime I had a contraction he would put lots of pressure on my lower back which helped a lot- and he was timing all of the contractions.
Thursday, May 19th (early morning!)
Hours later we were still waiting for the contractions to come closer- no luck! I was sitting on my birthing ball facing the couch- resting my head on a stack of pillows. Had a contraction at 1am and WOOOSH- “I think my water just broke!” I shouted. “REALLY” my husband shouted back- I laughed a little and said “ I don’t know, maybe I just peed my pants!” I really wasn’t sure because it wasn’t as much as I expected it would be. But sure enough it was- hubby called L&D and told them we were on our way. While he was on the phone- I was still sitting on the toilet at this point and I remember thinking “there is no possible way I am going to be able to get my body up from here, into the car, and into the hospital” I was in so much pain I could not imagine how I was going to move from where I was.
We got to the hospital at 1:30 am and straight away I said- “I NEED MEDICATION!” The nurse checked my cervix and I was at 4cm! She said- “Ok- I’ll be right back to get you hooked up to the IV and we’ll get you some fluids and some medication”. I was in so much pain lying there waiting for her to return. I remember thinking “oh I am being one of those ladies who makes a lot of noise during labor!” But I couldn’t help it! I was in so much pain and the moaning seemed to help. The nurse came back in the with fluids and said “I am going to be very blunt with you- the pain is going to get worse- you need to control yourself!” DH and I were shocked that she said that! I was thinking “WHAT A BITCH!” but in reality she was right! Haha. After she got my IV in (which took a while for her to find a good vein!) before she gave me the pain meds she asked if I was sure I didn’t want to try to get into the Jacuzzi tub for a while. This was originally my “plan” so I decided to go for it. I was in the tub quickly and a few minutes later my mom showed up- it was 2am but this point. Being in the tub was a help but my gosh I was still in so much pain and I was so HOT. Dh sat on a stool next to me and my mom sat on the toilet and both talked me through everything- they kept running a washcloth under cold water for me to put on my head which was a nice relief. The only thing I could say while I was in the tub was “cold” every few minutes when I needed the washcloth “refreshed” trying to use any more words was nearly impossible! About 20 or 30 minutes later I felt my body start pushing and I told my mom and husband and they both shouted “DON’T PUSH!” My Mom ran out to get the nurse- it was SO hard NOT to push- my body really was just doing it on its own! I remember thinking that the nurse was going to tell me I am crazy. It had only been like 45 minutes since she last checked me and I was 4cm. There was NO way I was already at 10cm and ready to push. I thought she would come in a laugh at me! They got me out of the tub and into the bed- the nurse checked me and then started walking way and said “Ok, lets see what Mary (midwife) wants to do” and she walked out of the room. I was thinking “uhh are you going to tell me if I have progressed?” then my midwife comes into the room and says “Ok, hunny, on your next contraction you can push!” I said “WHAT? Arent you going to give me and medication?!?!?” and she giggled a little and said “ No, girl, you’re ready to go!”
Started pushing at about 2:40am and my beautiful baby girl was born at 3:06 am!
It was amazing! Once her head and arms were out- my midwife told me to reach down and pull her out the rest of the way and up onto my chest. I reached down and put my hands under her little arms and tried to pull- but I was increadibly weak- the nurse had to help me bring her up to my chest. What an incredible feeling- to pull her out like than and place her on my chest. I held her for a few minutes and then the nurse took her to check her out and clean her up.
I had to have stitches as I did tear. I was always so afraid of tearing and the pain from it- but to be honest, you don’t have any idea- because you are feeling so much pain as it is, you just don’t know.
One thing that I do have to say about labor and delivery- when I was pregnant and reading about labor and delivery I read/heard so many people say “Once your baby is in your arms you forget about the pain” and I just have to say that in my experience- that is a bunch of s**t. Yes, I was immediately IN LOVE with my baby girl. But the pain did NOT go away. It took hours for the pain to lessen- and DAYS for it to GO AWAY! Yes, it was all very very worth it, and I would do it all over again- but I am not going to say that the pain goes away!
From my very first contraction my labor was only 12 hours. From when my water broke to the delivery was only 2 hours! And I only pushed for 20 minutes! I was so lucky! I can’t believe it! It all happened so fast. So fast in fact, that once she was born I kept saying “I don’t understand whats happening” my mom and nurse kept saying “you had the baby/she’s perfect/you did great” etc. But I kept repeating myself. It was all so surreal I could not wrap my head around what had just happened. I could not believe what my body just did. I could not believe that I was a MOM (still can’t)!
My experience was wonderful! My husband and I are closer than ever- I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing him as a Daddy. He was so supportive through the whole labor and delivery and is a perfect Daddy to our little girl.
I wish all of you ladies wonderful pregnancies and wonderful deliveries. And HAPPY, HEALTHY babies! Thank you so much for your support through the last nine months- B&B made things so much easier for me! I will be over on the Baby Club forum for sure!
Wow, thank you for reading that! Didn’t mean for it to be so long!
Here are a few pictures of my beautiful baby girl! (Ok, maybe more than a few!)
One of our first photos!
[IMG]https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/244337_692579618015_28403863_36035697_1575540_o.jpg[/IMG]
Mommy and Baby
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/DSC_0006.jpg
Beautiful baby girl!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/IMG_9738-1.jpg
First Family photo
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/240480_692590461285_28403863_36035905_829599_o.jpg
Going Home Day
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/241437_692594064065_28403863_36035936_5634354_o.jpg
Love this gorgeous little face!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/248569_692597856465_28403863_36035990_1062967_n.jpg
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/244334_692727302055_28403863_36037894_3285493_o.jpg
Kisses for my little love!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/259226_694482414795_28403863_36072075_3376717_o.jpg
2 weeks 5 days old!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/DSC_0205.jpg
Here is my birth story-
Wednesday May 18th
I had a scheduled appointment with my midwife at 10am. She checked me and I was 2 cm dilated which was an improvement from the week before when I was 1 cm. Although I knew that still didn’t mean much, I was happy with the progression- and so was my midwife. My husband said to her- “So it could happen this weekend?” And she replied, in a joking voice “It could happen tonight!” we never actually thought that would happen. I had it set in my head that “first pregnancies usually go overdue” because I had heard that SO MANY TIMES during my pregnancy! So I was convinced that was how it would go. Over the past nine or so months I had formed a great bond with my midwife and before we left she sort of giggled and told us to go home and have sex to get this baby going!
So we did! We got home at about noon and DTD ☺ Then at around 1pm we decided to take a nap. At around 2pm I woke up to a strong pain in my stomach and my legs felt numb for a minute. My first thought of course was- “is this it?” but then I realized it was probably just my body reacting to my midwife checking me earlier, and the sex, so back to sleep I went. We woke up around 2:30pm and my DH went off to work. At around 3pm I started feeling the same feelings and after I had about three of them consecutively I decided to time them. I used the contraction timer on thebump.com- what a help! Right from the start the contractions were coming every 4,5,6 or 7 minutes apart. But none of them longer than 7 minutes apart! I did not let myself get excited at this point though- I did not want to be disappointed. Also I wasn’t really sure what to do. My DH was at work and I didn’t want to call him in case it wasn’t actually real labor, and my Mom was an hour away, where she had been staying in the hospital with my Dad who only two days before had undergone a very serious surgery. Luckily at about 4pm my Mom called me and said she was coming home for a while to get some more things together and to check in at work. I was so relieved that she called and I said “Well it’s a good thing your coming because I am having contractions!” She told me she would be here soon, and she was- she came right away which was a huge relief to me! By the time she got here I had been timing my contractions for a little more than 2 hours. And although they weren’t consistently a certain amount of time apart, none of them went more than 7 minutes, and most were much closer! My mom insisted that I go to the hospital to get checked. But I was not convinced that it was REAL LABOR yet- and I didn’t want to be “that woman” who comes in early just to be sent home. She convinced me to at least call Labor & Delivery and ask what I should do. The nurse told me to eat something and wait as long as I could. So I ate some spicy curry and a bowl of pineapple! After I was done eating I really started thinking that this was really it- so I started collecting all of the things that I wanted with my at the hospital. Luckily I had just packed my bags a few days before- unfortunately my DH had not packed his (surprise, surprise)! Which is actually a pretty funny part of the story- A few days before I still had not had anything packed and DH kept asking me to do it, he kept telling me that he didn’t want to have to run around trying to find the things that I wanted if I went into labor and he had to collect everything, he also wanted me to make a list of all the things I could not pack into the bags ahead of time and leave the list taped to the front door. I did all of those things and then it turns out- I am the one home when I go into labor, he has NOT packed his bag and I ended up having to pack it for him! (He works in the next town over, which is where the hospital is- so I packed his bag so he would just be able to come to the hospital straight away and not have to go home first) . So anyway- I was running around in full on labor tryingt o get things together while my mom was bringing all of the things down to the car. I called L&D and told the nurse that I needed to come in and we were on our way. Called husband at work to let him know I was going in- we decided he would stay at work until absolutely necessary, I would just call him from hospital if “this was it”
Got to the hospital around 8pm. They hooked my up to the monitors and after about 20 minutes told me I was definitely having contractions (no, kidding!) but that I should go home for a while as I would be more comfortable there. We only live about 15 mins from the hospital. So of course, I was disappointed- but later was happy that I did go home. They told me to call and come back when the contractions were consistently 4 minutes apart for an hour or two. They also told me to take a warm bath and drink lots of water and if it wasn’t “real” labor then this would make the contractions stop. Uggh- so I called DH- told him I was heading home and that my mom would stay with me until he was done work.
When I got home I ran a bath and started chugging water. Was in the tub for about 20 minutes or so and the contractions did not stop whatsoever. I had decided not to time them for a while tho- as it was starting to make me very anxious. DH got home at around 9:30 and at about 10:30 we told my mom to go ahead and go home and we would call her with any changes. Once she left DH and I started timing the contractions again- the first 5 or 6 contractions were all 4 minutes apart and we got very excited- thinking maybe it wouldn’t be very long! Then they started getting farther apart again- back up to 5 minutes apart. We laughed and said “This is going to be a LOOOONG night!” I paced around the house trying to find something comfortable. Tried laying in bed- then hubby convinced me to come back out to living room and sit on my birthing ball again. We tried watching GLEE which we had on our DVR but I was too distracted! Bless my DH- everytime I had a contraction he would put lots of pressure on my lower back which helped a lot- and he was timing all of the contractions.
Thursday, May 19th (early morning!)
Hours later we were still waiting for the contractions to come closer- no luck! I was sitting on my birthing ball facing the couch- resting my head on a stack of pillows. Had a contraction at 1am and WOOOSH- “I think my water just broke!” I shouted. “REALLY” my husband shouted back- I laughed a little and said “ I don’t know, maybe I just peed my pants!” I really wasn’t sure because it wasn’t as much as I expected it would be. But sure enough it was- hubby called L&D and told them we were on our way. While he was on the phone- I was still sitting on the toilet at this point and I remember thinking “there is no possible way I am going to be able to get my body up from here, into the car, and into the hospital” I was in so much pain I could not imagine how I was going to move from where I was.
We got to the hospital at 1:30 am and straight away I said- “I NEED MEDICATION!” The nurse checked my cervix and I was at 4cm! She said- “Ok- I’ll be right back to get you hooked up to the IV and we’ll get you some fluids and some medication”. I was in so much pain lying there waiting for her to return. I remember thinking “oh I am being one of those ladies who makes a lot of noise during labor!” But I couldn’t help it! I was in so much pain and the moaning seemed to help. The nurse came back in the with fluids and said “I am going to be very blunt with you- the pain is going to get worse- you need to control yourself!” DH and I were shocked that she said that! I was thinking “WHAT A BITCH!” but in reality she was right! Haha. After she got my IV in (which took a while for her to find a good vein!) before she gave me the pain meds she asked if I was sure I didn’t want to try to get into the Jacuzzi tub for a while. This was originally my “plan” so I decided to go for it. I was in the tub quickly and a few minutes later my mom showed up- it was 2am but this point. Being in the tub was a help but my gosh I was still in so much pain and I was so HOT. Dh sat on a stool next to me and my mom sat on the toilet and both talked me through everything- they kept running a washcloth under cold water for me to put on my head which was a nice relief. The only thing I could say while I was in the tub was “cold” every few minutes when I needed the washcloth “refreshed” trying to use any more words was nearly impossible! About 20 or 30 minutes later I felt my body start pushing and I told my mom and husband and they both shouted “DON’T PUSH!” My Mom ran out to get the nurse- it was SO hard NOT to push- my body really was just doing it on its own! I remember thinking that the nurse was going to tell me I am crazy. It had only been like 45 minutes since she last checked me and I was 4cm. There was NO way I was already at 10cm and ready to push. I thought she would come in a laugh at me! They got me out of the tub and into the bed- the nurse checked me and then started walking way and said “Ok, lets see what Mary (midwife) wants to do” and she walked out of the room. I was thinking “uhh are you going to tell me if I have progressed?” then my midwife comes into the room and says “Ok, hunny, on your next contraction you can push!” I said “WHAT? Arent you going to give me and medication?!?!?” and she giggled a little and said “ No, girl, you’re ready to go!”
Started pushing at about 2:40am and my beautiful baby girl was born at 3:06 am!
It was amazing! Once her head and arms were out- my midwife told me to reach down and pull her out the rest of the way and up onto my chest. I reached down and put my hands under her little arms and tried to pull- but I was increadibly weak- the nurse had to help me bring her up to my chest. What an incredible feeling- to pull her out like than and place her on my chest. I held her for a few minutes and then the nurse took her to check her out and clean her up.
I had to have stitches as I did tear. I was always so afraid of tearing and the pain from it- but to be honest, you don’t have any idea- because you are feeling so much pain as it is, you just don’t know.
One thing that I do have to say about labor and delivery- when I was pregnant and reading about labor and delivery I read/heard so many people say “Once your baby is in your arms you forget about the pain” and I just have to say that in my experience- that is a bunch of s**t. Yes, I was immediately IN LOVE with my baby girl. But the pain did NOT go away. It took hours for the pain to lessen- and DAYS for it to GO AWAY! Yes, it was all very very worth it, and I would do it all over again- but I am not going to say that the pain goes away!
From my very first contraction my labor was only 12 hours. From when my water broke to the delivery was only 2 hours! And I only pushed for 20 minutes! I was so lucky! I can’t believe it! It all happened so fast. So fast in fact, that once she was born I kept saying “I don’t understand whats happening” my mom and nurse kept saying “you had the baby/she’s perfect/you did great” etc. But I kept repeating myself. It was all so surreal I could not wrap my head around what had just happened. I could not believe what my body just did. I could not believe that I was a MOM (still can’t)!
My experience was wonderful! My husband and I are closer than ever- I LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing him as a Daddy. He was so supportive through the whole labor and delivery and is a perfect Daddy to our little girl.
I wish all of you ladies wonderful pregnancies and wonderful deliveries. And HAPPY, HEALTHY babies! Thank you so much for your support through the last nine months- B&B made things so much easier for me! I will be over on the Baby Club forum for sure!
Wow, thank you for reading that! Didn’t mean for it to be so long!
Here are a few pictures of my beautiful baby girl! (Ok, maybe more than a few!)
One of our first photos!
[IMG]https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/244337_692579618015_28403863_36035697_1575540_o.jpg[/IMG]
Mommy and Baby
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/DSC_0006.jpg
Beautiful baby girl!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/IMG_9738-1.jpg
First Family photo
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/240480_692590461285_28403863_36035905_829599_o.jpg
Going Home Day
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/241437_692594064065_28403863_36035936_5634354_o.jpg
Love this gorgeous little face!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/248569_692597856465_28403863_36035990_1062967_n.jpg
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/244334_692727302055_28403863_36037894_3285493_o.jpg
Kisses for my little love!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/259226_694482414795_28403863_36072075_3376717_o.jpg
2 weeks 5 days old!
https://i1087.photobucket.com/albums/j468/alc316/DSC_0205.jpg
you look stunning too congrats xx
x
