We're back! This long neglected blog is up and running again (I hope) now with the birth of our newest babe- Hannah Reese, born December 3, 2017! So what better way to start than a birth story :) So let's start from the beginning...
So I woke up in the middle of the night/early morning with cramping, which had basically been happening over the last 4 weeks so it wasn't anything too special. Not painful, just annoying. I eventually got up and out of bed and came downstairs to watch TV on the couch. It just so happened that my kids were at my parents' house for a sleepover, so we were kid free! At some point I decided to see if there was any pattern to the cramping, and there sort of was, but nothing super regular or special.
We started watching the Stanford women's soccer team play in the NCAA championship on TV, and at this point when I remembered to time cramping it seemed like maybe they were 4-ish minutes apart? But so hard to tell because it was so mild and not a very clear start/stop, so who knows. But I was under strict instructions to get to the hospital ASAP when in labor so I was conflicted. Didn't feel in labor at all, but also didn't want an unplanned home birth. So around 11am we decided maaaaybe we should get ready to go.
We got in the car and headed out to get sandwiches for lunch. Then we stopped at Starbucks for coffee for Mark. We drove to the hospital and.... sat in the parking lot. I couldn't bring myself to actually go inside! So we ate sandwiches in the parking lot at 11:30-ish, then decided this was silly, so we got out and walked around around the hospital. As we walked down and back up a hill, I realized (1) contractions were actually 2.5 minutes apart and (2) I had one that was actually kind of painful and (3) I was feeling more pressure in my pelvis. NOW we were ready to go in.
So just before 12 we strolled into the hospital to get checked in. The nurses didn't seem to believe that I would actually be admitted, since I was very calm, not in pain, and didn't LOOK like I was in labor. So I went to triage and got checked, and was 5-6cm. Woohoo, baby time! So we headed over to our room right around 12, where I got hooked up to an IV in attempts to get antibiotics for being GBS + (I knew there wouldn't be time, but.... protocol). I then had to be on the monitors for 30 minutes to check baby's heartrate, which meant laying in bed, which was not ideal at all, but fine. After the 30 minutes was up I asked to get unhooked so I could use the bathroom. I had finished one round of the antibiotics so I was allowed to unhook from the IV and use the bathroom. Well, as soon as I stood up I knew there was not long to go- and as soon as I made it to the bathroom I REALLY knew.
Once I came out of the bathroom and back to the bed, my nurse told me she was going to leave us alone and to call her if I needed her. Well about 30 seconds later I pushed the call button to tell her I felt a lot of pressure, so she came right back in and sure enough- 10cm and ready to go. She got the doctor, who happened to be right outside the room. The doctor came in and said just to let her know if I felt the need to push, and she'd come back in. Well I told her that need was NOW, so she got all ready to go. And then one push and she was here, at exactly 1:00pm on Sunday December 3rd!
Below: Me right before I pushed her out, and me about 3 hours later!
So I woke up in the middle of the night/early morning with cramping, which had basically been happening over the last 4 weeks so it wasn't anything too special. Not painful, just annoying. I eventually got up and out of bed and came downstairs to watch TV on the couch. It just so happened that my kids were at my parents' house for a sleepover, so we were kid free! At some point I decided to see if there was any pattern to the cramping, and there sort of was, but nothing super regular or special.
We started watching the Stanford women's soccer team play in the NCAA championship on TV, and at this point when I remembered to time cramping it seemed like maybe they were 4-ish minutes apart? But so hard to tell because it was so mild and not a very clear start/stop, so who knows. But I was under strict instructions to get to the hospital ASAP when in labor so I was conflicted. Didn't feel in labor at all, but also didn't want an unplanned home birth. So around 11am we decided maaaaybe we should get ready to go.
We got in the car and headed out to get sandwiches for lunch. Then we stopped at Starbucks for coffee for Mark. We drove to the hospital and.... sat in the parking lot. I couldn't bring myself to actually go inside! So we ate sandwiches in the parking lot at 11:30-ish, then decided this was silly, so we got out and walked around around the hospital. As we walked down and back up a hill, I realized (1) contractions were actually 2.5 minutes apart and (2) I had one that was actually kind of painful and (3) I was feeling more pressure in my pelvis. NOW we were ready to go in.
So just before 12 we strolled into the hospital to get checked in. The nurses didn't seem to believe that I would actually be admitted, since I was very calm, not in pain, and didn't LOOK like I was in labor. So I went to triage and got checked, and was 5-6cm. Woohoo, baby time! So we headed over to our room right around 12, where I got hooked up to an IV in attempts to get antibiotics for being GBS + (I knew there wouldn't be time, but.... protocol). I then had to be on the monitors for 30 minutes to check baby's heartrate, which meant laying in bed, which was not ideal at all, but fine. After the 30 minutes was up I asked to get unhooked so I could use the bathroom. I had finished one round of the antibiotics so I was allowed to unhook from the IV and use the bathroom. Well, as soon as I stood up I knew there was not long to go- and as soon as I made it to the bathroom I REALLY knew.
Once I came out of the bathroom and back to the bed, my nurse told me she was going to leave us alone and to call her if I needed her. Well about 30 seconds later I pushed the call button to tell her I felt a lot of pressure, so she came right back in and sure enough- 10cm and ready to go. She got the doctor, who happened to be right outside the room. The doctor came in and said just to let her know if I felt the need to push, and she'd come back in. Well I told her that need was NOW, so she got all ready to go. And then one push and she was here, at exactly 1:00pm on Sunday December 3rd!
Below: Me right before I pushed her out, and me about 3 hours later!
She basically nursed right way, and we got a few hours to spend just the three of us before moving over to the recovery room. Because I didn't get the full dose of antibiotics, that guaranteed me a 48 hour stay in the hospital so she could be monitored.
When she was born I was shocked at (1) how gooey she was (my other kids weren't covered in that much vernix! and (2) how much hair she had, definitely the most hair of all the kids at birth!
She weighed in at a whopping 6 pounds 10 ounces, and was 19 inches long. A little peanut :)
I felt really really good after her birth, so I really can't complain much. However, this little peanut was FEISTY. She literally wanted to nurse constantly, and seemed to barely sleep in the first 36 hours of her life. Therefore there was not much sleeping done by me either, and Mark couldn't really stay to help because he had the other kids and he had some work commitments that could not be moved around. So the hospital stay was not as full of peaceful dreamy bonding as I had hoped.
My super feisty wee babe, just 24 hours old, making a stink about being put down and not being able to nurse for a few minutes.
The big kids were pretty excited to meet their baby sister, and were bummed they didn't get to bring her home with them that night :)
I was able to sneak in a photo of her asleep not in my arms :)
My mom brought Jackson and Riley to come and see her on day 2 and Jackson brought me a picture. Our first family portrait!
Finally, after just shy of 48 hours, we were able to get this baby girl dressed and ready to head home!! Ready to start our life as a family of SIX!
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