And now...for the long awaited birth story of my new little girl. She is already 13 days old, and it has taken me this long to find the time to sit down to write it all out. When I have downtime now it is spent with her, and I am loving her to pieces!!
Okay, so it all started on November 7th about 7PM. I had been having contractions all day, but they started to get more intense. Daddy had promised to take the kids swimming at the YMCA, and the pool was not open/free until 7:30, so they packed up to go. I told him to be prepared for me to call because I just knew this was th real thing, but figured we had plenty of time before we HAD to get to the hospital. Plus, we have a kids bedtime of 9:00, so I knew they would be home around then at the latest. So, by the time they got home, I had packed everything & told him to call his parents ~ we were going to the hospital tonight!!
We get there about 10 PM, and I am still at 4 cm (same as the day before at the Dr) and my contractions are coming every 2-3 minutes & are off the charts! I am dying for relief from them, but am still in triage and waiting to be admitted. The Dr comes in a little before 11PM & says since I am not making any progress that I can go home, or stay and he will come back in the AM and give me pitocin. I say there is NO WAY that I am going home (I am extreme pain!!) so they admit me. By the time I get over to my room & am checked again, I am already at 6cm. I get nubane, and let them know that I will be getting the epidural, so they can call the anaesthesiologist anytime now.
So, I get the epidural & I continue to labor until about 1-2AM when I am complete, but have a small lip of cervix on one side (I forget which one, LOL). So I roll from side to side for a while with no luck, and they finally decide to see if I can gently push past it. I try a few pushes & am complete now, and they call the Dr about 3AM. I try a few more pushes, but I am not having the urge to push at all, so I ask if I can stop & just relax because I am comfortable from the epidural. As I relax, I could feel her moving down, and every once in a while I would get the urge to push. I did not tell the nurse, I just would bear down slighty as I laid there. I did NOT want to get in those darn stirrups! Finally I felt the pressure in my behind, and knew I had to tell her. So she checks me & can see Ava's head, and gets the Dr in (who went to sleep in his car, LOL!). He comes in & gets me all set up and I only have to push through about 4 contractions & she arrived at 5:42 AM! The easiest yet, as I usually push for 1.5 HOURS!
She was GORGEOUS, and looked just like her big sister Ellie when she was born. She weighed 8 lbs 7oz & was 21 inches long ~ a big girl :) Her apgar scores were 9 & 9, she was perfect, and I just cried and thanked God for answering all of my prayers. I had worried SO much about her & she was finally here. A few hours later, when I got a new nurse, she was shocked when I stood up (I am only 5'0 tall), and said she bets that I was HUGE carrying such a BIG baby. I assure her....I WAS! Very big & very uncomfortable to say the least. Of course, now it seems like nothing compared to the joy of holding my little girl (I knew it would feel that way)!
The first day home was TOUGH adjusting to the needs of my other kiddos with a baby in tow, because (of course) I just can't put her down!! But now, (she will be 2 weeks tomorrow) things are going smoothly (except for that whole lack of sleep thing) & I even told my hubby that I could honestly do this again!! He said that he was thinking the same thing, it just seems so natural for us to bring a new baby home. I also LOVE being a new Momma. I get very "Martha Stewart like" and my home must be spotless & the dinners home-cooked, and I have baked & made homemade treats for the kids....nothing like what the last few months have been like around here! I am going to get my tubes tied though, I feel like we need to stop somewhere, and because we both enjoy babies so much...we will never feel "done" and I think FIVE kids just sounds CRAZY. Heck, most people thought we were crazy going for four! I know when that 2 year mark hits, I will feel sad, but we have four healthy, wonderful kids so I will count my blessings, and move onto the next stage of life. I know it will be filled with love & laughs with our silly kiddos :)
Oh, Angi.. thanks for sharing! Loved hearing her story, and hearing how you are all doing. I'll start praying for 3-4 hour breaks at night for ya... I got a little nervous knot in my tummy (in anticipation for March) when I read your last couple of entries. :-)
But, I'm going to keep telling myself, if you can do it with FOUR, I can do it with three! :-)
Hugs!
Posted by: Char | November 21, 2006 at 12:20 PM
What a wonderful story Angi, thanks for sharing!!!!
Posted by: thescrapmommy | November 21, 2006 at 02:51 PM
Aww Angi!! What a wonderful heartfelt birth story of Ava! You are such a loving mommy -- your children are so lucky to have a wonderful mommy like you :) Thanks so much for sharing. You are truly an inspiration to me. :)
Posted by: Anna | November 21, 2006 at 06:56 PM
Nothing sweeter than being a new mama! We stopped at three (doctor's orders, bedrest and all that), so I'm going to live vicariously through you! And like you, nesting takes over with the new baby and we have freshly baked cookies a few times a week. Course it's the laundry that's fallen behind... Congratulations again!
Posted by: Suzanne | November 22, 2006 at 10:03 AM
What a great birth story! Sounds like it went wonderfully. Children truly are a blessing and there's nothing better than a precious, snuggly little newborn!
Posted by: ginaegg | November 22, 2006 at 03:51 PM