I'm baaackk! But I'm already stressed out trying to get pictures stored on my computer. Anyway! Our cute baby is here! So I figured I'd start with her story. I wrote most of this three days after she was born.
From about 20 weeks I've been having really noticeable braxton hicks! They've been painful at times and I was just hoping labor would go quick and possibly early. At 36 weeks I was at 1 1.5cm and 50% effaced. By 37 weeks I was feeling like my body was ready. I was already a 2 and 70%! At 38 weeks I went to my doctor and tried to helped me along, at this point I was a three. I felt like that night would be it. I was crampy all day Tuesday Oct 13, 2015. Dayton was still trying to work as much as possible so he could take off work when the baby came. I don't think anyone believed me when I said I could go soon! That night at 10pm I started having contractions but nothing consistent. It was the same scenario with Winnie only this happened at 39 weeks. The contractions were 7-10 minutes apart and pretty varied. When we woke up that morning they started coming at more regular intervals. Dayton had to pick up someone from the airport at 9am and take them to Snowflake. HE definitely was in denial about the baby coming so soon. I tried to discourage him from going but he already committed and really who knew how fast things could progress. Still, I had a feeling he shouldn't go :)
The day/night before I delivered!
He left around 8:45am and that's when the backlabor really came full force. My mom told me to get on all fours and that helped aton!! Winnie thought that meant horsey ride I tried to laugh about that so I didn't cry. Winnie was so concerned about me everytime I had a contraction! Mommy you okay? I kept trying to excited her by telling her baby sister was on her way!! She watched Frozen about 3 times before we left to the hospital and I tried to relax and semi pack. Around noon Dayton text me asking how I was doing. I sent him a screen shot of the 5 minute interval contractions on my app. A little passive aggressive way to say "I told you so". He text back, "uhhhh so do you want me to turn around when I get there?" I just laughed at this point and told him to hurry home and have someone meet him so he could turn around ASAP.
Around that same time my friend, Haleigh, offered to bring me food. She got there at 12:45pm and as she was helping set up food for Winnie and I, I kept having contractions. I was on all fours in my kitchen and living room and she was pushing on my back while I was breathing deep. Good friend huh!! We both kept laughing at how crazy this was. haha She braided my hair and helped with Winnie. Contractions were coming around 3:00 mins apart but then sometimes 4 so I was still thinking I had a little bit more time. Haleigh left and I had an hour of really hard contractions with no one there. I was panicking and waiting for my mom to get off of work. I had to gather and pack things in increments of three minutes in between these horrible contractions. It was ROUGH. My mom finally got there at 2pm and came on a mission. She was running around the house helping me pack getting Winnie in order while all I could do was bark orders, kneel at my bed side, and breathe through contractions. Now contractions were 2.5 mins apart and still I didn't think I was that close to labor. When I told my mom how close they were she was pretty frustrated and in disbelief that I was that close and still not at the hospital! We arranged to meet Rondalee at the hospital to hand Winnie off and Dayton was about 15 minutes away. Oh man I missed my counter. I missed Dayton so much during those hours laboring alone. I was pretty proud of myself recalling all the breathing techniques though and relaxing well! My mom pushed me out the door and we headed to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I tried really hard to be positive. I had been really negative about contractions and really down on myself. Natural birth, for me, is really mental. A negative attitude can make my urge to fight go from 10 to zero, fast. I kept repeating outloud to myself "you can do this, Ali." "you don't have to do this contraction again." "Relax your back, breathe, you can do this." It was helping but I'll be honest I knew it was only going to get harder so I was extremely anxious. I knew I only had a few more minutes until I had Dayton back to help me count. It was a serious miracle we were all going to be meeting at the hospital at the exact same time.
My mom dropped me off curbside at the hospital and I ran in. Before I went to admitting I leaned over a chair in the waiting room and breathed through a contraction. I did the quick triage admitting and got moved to a room. All while trying to answer questions in those 2-3 minute increments. My mom and Winnie ran into the room and Winnie kept worrying about me. I changed into my gown and asked the nurses for stadol. Stadol was this relaxer I got last pregnancy. I knew it would take the edge off of contractions. It doesn't slow them down but make me a little loopy. The nurses said they could order it but they wanted to check my progression before hand. I wanted it bad but I also knew that if I'm close to giving birth I couldn't get the medicine and honestly wouldn't want it. When I'm on those meds it makes my head really fuzzy and I can't focus on contractions. With Winnie after my first two initial doses I got one more after the first two started to wear off and it was my biggest regret. I couldn't open my eyes during transition and it made it so hard to focus on Dayton while he helped me breathe/count. The nurse agreed with me and after she checked me I was at a 4-5 but more of a 5. Looked like I wouldn't be getting the medicine. Dayton stormed in 10 minutes after my mom and I got there around 3:11pm or so. I was so happy to see him! I can't even describe it. But all the emotions of knowing the baby would be here and knowing what pain was ahead I was emotional. I just wanted to fall into his arms and have him take my pain away. After one of the contractions I complained how lucky he was to be a guy. We all kind of laughed but that negativity was coming back fast. The nurses had to ask some prenatal questions and I tried to answer them but it was so annoying. I was losing all confidence in myself. I didn't think I was capable of doing this again. Dayton and the nurses seemed so impressed that I was doing well with my breathing but I felt super inadequate. We moved to our labor and delivery room and I was dying everytime a contraction came. By now it was around 3:30pm. I was panicking. I couldn't process that I was actually in labor and felt totally out of control.
The breathing techniques we used with Winnie came so naturally. I was immediately relient on Dayton and anytime a nurse would distract him while a contraction came I would interrupt him and whine for him in desperation. My nurse Dana was awesome but almost tough on me? I was in a really bad spot. My back labor was terrible and my pain was intense. She would look at me and say "you are doing this. You are doing awesome, but you need to slow your breathing right now." I was starting to hyperventilate and my hands were getting tingly because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. I was turned on my left side because being on my back was torture. All the sudden I could feel alot of pressure around my bottom. I felt like I wanted to push. The nurse told me I absolutely could not push and so we tried another type of breathing you use in transition. It was crazy how well that worked?! The urge to push was there but instead of trying to push on my exhale I forced myself to breathe deep. Contractions were coming on top of each other and I couldn't catch my breathe. Dana asked another nurse calmly to call my OB. She swiftly checked me and I was a seven. This is maybe 20 minutes later from when I was a 5. She prepped me for my water to break because I was still complaining of pressure. There were alot of nurses in the room and some of them were students observing. I asked about the two in the corner and she looked at me with a smile and said "they're getting the bed ready for your baby!" I started to cry. I really couldn't believe she was coming.
The pressure at my bottom was growing I felt like I needed to push the baby so bad. Again the nurse checked on where my OB was and got ready to deliver the baby. (you could tell she was putting on a calm face but was really wanting to yell, WHERE the heck is he?!) She and Dayton kept urging me to do my new breathing and avoid pushing. Hardest thing to not push when your body is telling you to. I'm guessing it was around 3:55pm now. A couple contractions later, and more of that desperate need to push, my water broke. Everytime something new happens in labor I always repeat what happened. So I kept freaking out saying, "my water just broke, oh my gosh my water just broke. I can't believe my water just broke". I'm telling you, I could not process this entire experience! So I guess saying it outloud helped! This meant that baby was just a few minutes away!! That only made me panic more but now I was getting the sense of relief that it was all about to be over soon! Now, the next time I felt pressure at my bottom it was the baby!! Dayton grabbed a damp cloth for my forehead and turned me on my back. The.worst! I hate being on my back! The turned the labor lights on and prepped my OB's table. Within a few seconds being on my back a contraction came and I couldn't stop from pushing. My OB ran in on that first contraction and told my nurse it's okay that I push. He said Hi and grabbed gloves and his gown. Dayton moved to my right side. As he was switching to the opposite side of the bed I was whining for him to hold my hand as I felt a contraction come on. I can't stand being without him!
It was pushing time!!! Everyone always says pushing feels good and I don't remember this strong of a desire to push with Winnie but I will say it didn't feel great like people say. :) I didn't have time to think about bearing down and pushing as I got a contraction it was just a natural instinct. Dayton grabbed one foot and the nurse grabbed my other and I grabbed my thighs. I screamed with everything in me and tried to get it overwith. Doctor stopped me after one of my pushes asking to get the ok to help me not tear and I was impatient having to wait to push again that I told him just to hurry and do it. I pushed 3 times, waking up the whole labor and delivery unit I'm sure, felt the head come out then her shoulders were out and baby was here. I immediately started crying. They wiped her down quick, Dayton cut her cord, and they put her on my chest.
This is one of my favorite pictures ever. A little cheeky but it perfectly depicts the relief from pain and love I felt just seconds after she was here.
There are no words. I can't describe what it was like to see her. I was sobbing and in disbelief. It was 4:12pm! The doctor finished getting me all put together, the nurses took her to the bin to clean her up, and weigh her. 6.6lbs and 20in long! Dayton watched over her and then asked me what we were naming her. We had already decided on a name and I'm like, "wait so are we not doing that name!? haha I thought we picked it!" We have been the worst about picking a name this whole pregnancy. It's felt so unsettled! He seemed unsure and felt like that didn't seem like her name. My mom and Dayton sat on the couch texting our family/ friends with the updates. I sat on the bed shivering, smiling, and could not stop saying how weird it was that our baby girl was in the bed across the room. We sat there replaying the whole afternoon. Dayton had just barely arrived at the hospital it seemed like and confessed how driving home from Heber he drove by a cop going 90 and pushed 110mph at one point. Thank goodness he was safe, geez! I looked back at my pictures on my phone and the first picture we took in triage was a 3:06pm and now I was holding the baby in my arms at 4:12pm. IS THAT NOT SO INSANE. She nursed right away and it was funny how much you forget about holding a baby that tiny. I forgot how to situate and nurse her. Luckily she knew what she was doing! The cramping while you nurse I guess gets worse the second and third baby and man, I felt it!
Oh that dark peach fuzz on her ears and back is my favorite thing in the world. Those little tar poops and babies sleeping on your chest! Truly heaven.
The next hours we cuddled with her and then moved rooms. It was pretty early in the afternoon and all our family was there in the waiting room. We wanted to introduce Winnie alone. Full disclosure: I 100% cleaned up my face and hair a little. I sweat so much during labor and I had a wash cloth on my face so don't be fooled thinking my hair was smooth after that even though it was a quick labor. I could hear Winnie down the hall and she was so excited to meet her sister! She just kept saying, "awhhh" over and over and "she's so cute!". We always say "do you love her?!?" So she always asks us that when we see the baby. Over the next couple hours we talked about names and hung out with Daytons side of the family. We all continutued to talk about how insane it was Dayton made it on time and how crazy it was she was here and two weeks early!
Dayton was scouring the baby name websites trying to figure out what to name her since our first name didn't sit well with either of us. We finally settled on Capri after going back and forth. And Grandma Voilie (Grandpa Lamb's moms name) was a name we always wanted to incorporate! So there were were. Our nameless baby had a name! Capri Valoise Jones. It's amazing how all of a sudden a name just fits?!
I've been feeling pretty good other than my bottom haha. Birth puts a number on your body. I think without the weight of the extra digits that Winnie have I've felt like this experience has been lighter in a sense. I was so worried, hormonal, and stressed last time and this time although labor felt alot more difficult we don't have the same stresses as we did last time. Both girls are absolute angels and we really couln't be more grateful. I've missed nursing in the car and snuggling soft baby cheeks. Winnie is obsessed with her! She'll be having the biggest tantrum and all I have to say is Oh my gosh! Look at Capri! She's smiling at you! and she totally forgets what she was mad at! haha I was so worried about the stress of having two babies but it hasn't been that bad and Winnie is so patient and helpful.
We have two kids. It's unreal. I tell Dayton at least once a week that I can't believe this is our life now.
No comments:
Post a Comment