My adventures in pregnancy, motherhood and beyond

Please enjoy the musings and updates and leave me a comment if you'd like!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Ainsley's Birth Story

I put the start of labour at 9 am, since that's when I started to think that these contractions might not be just Braxton-Hicks. At 10 am, I was 4 cm dilated and by the time I got into labour and delivery, I was at 5 cm. This was when I realized that my hospital bag was nicely packed in my closet at home. And that since James and I both had our keys with us, there was no way for my parents to get to the hospital. Luckily, we have an amazing contractor, and Dan came to pick up keys, twice, since James gave him the wrong keys the first time! The anesthesiologist took over an hour to arrive, despite their original assurance that he would be there within 20 minutes. Needless to say, I was a little frustrated by this, which was exacerbated by the nurse checking me right before and saying "Oh, you're at 8 cm, no wonder you're in pain!" Really, lady? My frustration turned to anger when they made James leave the room while they started the epidural. So instead of leaning on my husband's arms and having him talk and love me through my anxiety about the needle I was leaning on a nurse I'd never met. 

My parents arrived after that with my hospital bag, but Mom had to leave to pick up G pretty quickly. Dad stayed until Dr Shoemaker came in to check me, when I kicked him out. I was at 10 cm, but my water hadn't broken yet, so he broke it for me. I was incredibly shocked at the results, because I wasn't really sure how he would break it, or what the result would be. Embarrassing at the time, hilarious in hindsight, it was very much like the movies and the doctor had to change his scrubs (and I hope his beeper was waterproof). James was out of the room for a few minutes (getting my dad keys and showing him to the car), so he missed the first push. Dr Shoemaker was there and James came in right after. I pushed again, and the doctor said he had to do an episiotimy (if you think you might ever want to birth children, don't Google this!!) I wasn't too hot on the idea, but he explained that I was going to tear again, and along the same line I tore last time, which would result in more painful scar tissue after I healed unless he did an episiotimy. I consented, and on my third push, Ainsley Grace Lawrence was born! We hadn't even had time to put on music!

Ainsley Grace Lawrence was born Wednesday, September 24, 2014 at 12:45 pm, less than 4 hours after labour started. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, and was 19.25" long.


I wanted to wait to cut the cord until it stopped pulsing this time, and they laid her on my chest while we waited. James cut the cord and she pooped on me. She had a spike in heartrate and temperature, as well as some trouble breathing. It turns out there was a little meconium in the amniotic fluid, and she inhaled a little, causing some mucus in her nose/lungs as she coughed it up. They asked me to wait on feeding her until she was breathing easier, and I asked to hold her skin to skin to help her temperature. Within a half hour, her temperature had normalized and I got the ok to feed her, because she seemed incredibly hungry. She latched on immediately and nursed on both sides for 30 minutes each!  As soon as she ate, her breathing and heart rate normalized.

As soon as G woke up from his nap, Mom brought him to the hospital. He wasn't too interested in the baby, though he did give her a kiss. He wanted to sit on the hospital bed and watch "TB" and play with his new puzzle, a gift "from the baby."

Differences this time:
-3 hr 45 min vs 12+ hr
-3 pushes vs 2 hrs pushing
-The epidural kicked in within 1 contraction instead of taking 25 minutes
-I was still able to move my legs this time
-Contractions with G were front and center, but with A, they started in front and as the contraction subsided, my back would ache indescribably
-Though possibly more painful than G's contractions, I wasn't screaming myself hoarse with each contraction
-The shaking was much more pronounced this time, though that might have been because it took so long to get the epidural. In fact, I could tell when I was having a contraction because it was the only time I stopped shaking.
-The recovery was easier and I wasn't half as sore. I had more energy and wasn't as out of it. I can remember so much more about her birth than about G's.
-I didn't have to pump at the hospital at all and she was an amazing nurser!

Quick loose end points:
-She only lost 5 oz of her birth weight, and had gained it all back by her first appointment, when she was only 6 days old!
-Dad broke his foot just by walking. He said he heard a snap, but he didn't tell anyone for three hours, because "[I'd] just had a baby!"
-They did save my placenta, and my parents took it home that night. I came home from the hospital just as the encapsulation lady was finishing up. I got 194 capsules!
-The hospital and nursery protocols weren't ideal, especially compared to St. Joseph's, but I don't really feel like rehashing that. Suffice it to say they didn't bring me dinner that first night and they kept A in the nursery way too long, and she was beyond way too hungry when they finally brought her back.

Daddy and his little girl
Mommy gets a snuggle before leaving the hospital
With Daddy's toy, sleeping peacefully

40 Weeks

Time to play catch-up!

How far along: 40 weeks
Total weight gain: +26 lbs
Favourite clothes: Do blankets count?
Sleeping: Not so great--between Braxton-Hicks contractions and lying on my side, I don't get much rest
Best Moment: Dad's here!
Worst Moment: Have I mentioned that I hate waiting?
Miss anything: The ability to be still. I'm so restless!
Cravings: Bagel with lox
New symptoms: Nothing new
Looking forward to: By Monday, I'll be meeting my baby girl!
Crafting: Can't settle, so I don't have the attention span to work on anything

On Sunday, James was preaching at a church in Niceville, FL, so Mom and I were on our own with G. It was pretty good, and we made all the lumpia to freeze for the future while we watched the first Hobbit movie. The movie was ridiculously boring, though G enjoyed yelling "oh no!" at the screen during fight scenes. Mom made schnitzel (the ultimate comfort food) for dinner and though G didn't eat much, he went down pretty easily.

The rest of the week was full of errands. On Monday, we had someone come by to give us an estimate on blinds, painters came by to work on the ceiling, more construction and more everlasting laundry. Mom watched G while James and I got an oil change and ran to Target and Publix, by which time I was totally worn out and ended up falling asleep on the couch when we got home. On Tuesday, I went to the hardware store while Mom got her nails done, and then we went to Ulta (fun!) and had to get some more groceries before picking G up. We took him to Bed, Bath & Beyond when he woke up from his nap, and had a pretty good dinner. We had a friend on call just in case I went into labour while Mom was picking Dad up from the airport. We wanted to be asleep before he got home, but we were still finishing up some last minute things when they got back. Inconsistent contractions every night were driving me NUTS.

Wednesday, I had a morning OB appointment, and I was having some contractions, but I didn't think much of it since I'd had plenty of them every night this week. We dropped off G before heading to the doctor's, and James had to take a call right as we got to daycare. I carried G since I didn't want him running back across the parking lot to Daddy, but a pretty strong contraction made me put him down as soon as we got inside. I dropped him at his class, and the teacher said "Today's the day!" We headed to the doctor's and my contractions were still irregular, but getting stronger, and making my back hurt. Dr Shoemaker was running a little late, and I was about to send James out to get him when he came in. My first words? "I think I'm in labour." He checked me, and sure enough, they loaded me up into a wheelchair and wheeled me down the corridor to the hospital. Though I was in pain, I didn't lose my sense of humour; when asked if I wanted an epidural my reply was "HELL yes," which made everyone (except for me) laugh.