The greater news is, I'm now a blogger mom!!!!
Wow, what an amazing week and a half I've had. I'm going to use this blog to tell you the story of Baby Leah Marie. I've told this story to all of the visitors that we've had and the ending is such a happy one that I could tell it over and over and over again.
By the way, here I am just a few days before Leah's birthday . . .
By the way, here I am just a few days before Leah's birthday . . .
Ok, here we go!
Friday, May 20th I began to feel just a little "different." I called Marc in the afternoon while he was at work to let him know that I just wasn't feeling right and that I thought my body might be gearing up for baby within the next couple of days. I was really thinking that Sunday the 22nd might be "the day." I spent the day running errands and went out to lunch with my mom, nothing too crazy. I was cramping throughout the day but nothing unbearable by any means. By 4:00PM I realized that I was able to keep track of that cramping feeling as it was coming pretty consistently. Then I did what most pregnant women do when they think labor is coming its way, I walked. I wanted the cramps to turn to contractions and to get this show on the road.
As I was walking, my sister-in-law called me and wanted to do something fun that night. She had been tied up in the house with my nephews for a while and just wanted to get out that night. We decided that my mom and I and my brother and his family would go out to Irvine Spectrum to walk around and eat dinner and just get out of the house. As I drove my mom out to Irvine (just a 20-25 minute drive) I felt the cramps turn to contractions and come on a little stronger. We made it to The Spectrum and just walked around, watched my nephews on the carousel ride and window shopped a bit. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner and that's when things got just a little stronger again. After dinner we took the boys to Golden Spoon for some yogurt and that's when I decided to call Marc.
I wanted to let Marc know that this seemed like it was for real and that he may need to leave work that night and come home so we can have a baby! He spoke with his captain and they decided that it would be best if he came home right away rather than waiting until the middle of the night and that is just what Marc did. He left work and we left the Spectrum and met back at home around 11PM.
If you are truly counting the hours of labor at this point you could have said that I was in labor 7 hours technically.
Marc went to bed and I stayed up and labored throughout the night. I bounced on my yoga ball, I walked around the house a bit, I tried different positions on the couch and by about 3:45AM I decided it was time to tell Marc that we needed to go to the hospital. His response of course was, "ok you just tell me when." I thought to myself, "isn't that what I'm telling you?" So I went back downstairs for another 15 - 20 minutes and then decided that was enough, time to go. We finally got to the hospital and settled in there about 5:00AM. They checked me and I was already at 5-6 centimeters at that point. This was such a relief because I kept telling Marc that I didn't want them to send me home!
I had previously tested for Group B Strep which meant that they had to give me antibiotics before baby came out and it had to be in 4 hour increments. The nurse told me to stay put and try not to progress too much because they had to give me one bag of antibiotics and then wait 4 hours before giving me a second bag.
Now, 15 hours into labor (technically), the nurse checked me again . . . yikes . . . 9 cm already!
They had to give me the second bag of antibiotics early before baby Leah made her way out. They started the second bag and now fully dilated, my water finally broke! Then came pushing time! I pushed for 2 looooooong hours before Leah was born. The pushing, although it felt better because I couldn't feel my contractions, still was very tiring. By the second hour I was completely exhausted.
I don't think I mentioned it yet, but I decided that I wanted to do this whole child birth thing completely natural. So yeah, by the second hour of pushing I was tired to say the least.
They gave me oxygen and also wanted me to push while on my side because baby's blood pressure and heart rate were going wacky. The nurse oh so casually mentioned that the cord must be around the baby's neck. She also oh so casually mentioned that the baby had pooped meconium while still inside also. This meant that the NICU staff had to come in our room and prepare to work on Leah right away.
After 18 hours of a natural labor (which really only felt like 5 hours while I was in the hospital) and two of those hours pushing, our baby girl Leah Marie was born at 10:41am. Weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long with a cone head like you've never seen!
The whole labor and delivery was an experience unlike anything else in this world. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed that 18 hours of labor far more than I did the 9 months of pregnancy. The contractions hurt, but they weren't going to kill me. The pushing was exhausting, but I knew I'd get a baby in the end so it was well worth it. Not only that, I had the best coaches in the room with me, my mom and my husband. They would tell me when my contractions were coming, when they peaked and when they were going down. That was extremely helpful. I had back labor so Marc would push on my lower back, or massage it during my contractions as well. The delivery room was very quiet, very low key, and very much a stress free situation. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Now I'll give you what you have all been waiting for . . . pictures! :)
Please excuse Leah's lady parts here . . . but this is a picture of a very happy and proud daddy, I have to post it!
Now, 15 hours into labor (technically), the nurse checked me again . . . yikes . . . 9 cm already!
They had to give me the second bag of antibiotics early before baby Leah made her way out. They started the second bag and now fully dilated, my water finally broke! Then came pushing time! I pushed for 2 looooooong hours before Leah was born. The pushing, although it felt better because I couldn't feel my contractions, still was very tiring. By the second hour I was completely exhausted.
I don't think I mentioned it yet, but I decided that I wanted to do this whole child birth thing completely natural. So yeah, by the second hour of pushing I was tired to say the least.
They gave me oxygen and also wanted me to push while on my side because baby's blood pressure and heart rate were going wacky. The nurse oh so casually mentioned that the cord must be around the baby's neck. She also oh so casually mentioned that the baby had pooped meconium while still inside also. This meant that the NICU staff had to come in our room and prepare to work on Leah right away.
After 18 hours of a natural labor (which really only felt like 5 hours while I was in the hospital) and two of those hours pushing, our baby girl Leah Marie was born at 10:41am. Weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long with a cone head like you've never seen!
The whole labor and delivery was an experience unlike anything else in this world. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoyed that 18 hours of labor far more than I did the 9 months of pregnancy. The contractions hurt, but they weren't going to kill me. The pushing was exhausting, but I knew I'd get a baby in the end so it was well worth it. Not only that, I had the best coaches in the room with me, my mom and my husband. They would tell me when my contractions were coming, when they peaked and when they were going down. That was extremely helpful. I had back labor so Marc would push on my lower back, or massage it during my contractions as well. The delivery room was very quiet, very low key, and very much a stress free situation. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Now I'll give you what you have all been waiting for . . . pictures! :)
Please excuse Leah's lady parts here . . . but this is a picture of a very happy and proud daddy, I have to post it!
Our very first family picture, about 10 minutes after birth.
Leah's first bath . . . she wasn't a big fan.
Daddy's girl for sure.
Mama loves her little girl.
Leah's first outing to the doctor's office.
Haha, this happened last night . . . I guess Leah ate too much . . .
And then this happened . . . so all is good in the world.
She loves to sleep on chests, this is her typical position before real bedtime.
She also loves to have her arms up when she sleeps, or maybe she just dreams of being a football referee one day, who knows? Touchdown!
As a proud mommy, I could continue to post pictures of her all day long. It goes without saying that Leah is perfect and beautiful and the greatest addition to our life. Nothing in this world can compare to the love that we have for our new daughter. Of course, as uncomfortable as the 9 months were leading up to the big day . . . we all know that I'll do it all over again just like so many of you.
Thanks for reading our baby girls birth story as I change from a full-time preggo to a full-time mom!
Let the fun begin!
Happy Memorial Day!
XOXO
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