I WILL ADD PICTURES SOON!!
*note: although I won't go into a lot of details, I am telling the full birth story, so if you want you can just scroll through the pics and skip the long boring story :p*
We had finally settled down for the night around midnight. I was so so SO tired that I was asleep the minute my head hit the pillow. As I was just drifting off to sleep I thought to myself, "I'm glad tomorrow is sunday and that our church doesn't start till 1. That will give me time to put all of Millie's presents away and to finally pack my hospital bag." Well my intentions were good but apparently fate had other plans...I awoke at 2 a.m. sharp with pretty strong contractions. I had not felt ones like these with Bentley because by the time they were getting that bad I had gotten my epidural, so I was almost confused by the pain. I had a lot of lower pressure that made me think I just had a really upset stomach and that I needed to go to the bathroom. Not to go into details but I sat on the toilet for a half hour in total and I came to the conclusion that I can better understand how someone could deliver a baby in the toilet. Haha As crazy as that sounds, the pressure was so strong that I couldn't tell if it was my bowels or actual contractions, it was really weird.
This whole time I had been timing the contractions just in case they actually WERE contactions, and after about an hour of breathing through them and having them be 5 minutes apart, I told Jayson we needed to go.
Remember that fleeting thought I had just as I was falling asleep??? Yea.....I had NO hospital bag packed for us to go. *sigh* Story of my life. So for that hour of knuckling through the pain I managed to pack my bag with (hopefully) all that I needed. By 3:05 a.m. we called my sister-in-law Kira to come up to stay at the condo, and by 3:15 we were at Lakeview Hospital. Thank GOODNESS for wheelchairs!! I don't think I would have been able to walk far, the pain and pressure were increasing by the minute and I was already super emotional because I just didn't feel ready. I cried on the whole 5 minute car ride to the hospital. I hate not having everything planned out. I was SO close to being prepared, if only I had one more day. haha
Anyways, so I was checked in and hooked up to the monitors by 3:30 a.m. and when they checked me I was at a 5-6 and 100% effaced. Right as she was finished checking me, I felt some lovely liquid start to flow out.....and realized my water had broke. Sweet! Although the down side to this...it made the contractions even worse! They had notified my doctor that I was there and I told them that I REALLY needed the anesthesist asap. :)
They ask you to tell them where the pain is at on a scale of 1-10. Honestly when I had first woken up to the contractions, they felt already at the 4-5. No joke. Now I would like to think that I have an ok pain tolerence, and I was doing ok with the contractions for the most part, but the hardest part about them was that since they had started out so strong to begin, I couldn't really allow myself to build myself up and prepare for the harder ones. So it was difficult having to manage so much pain all at ONCE.
They told me the anesthestist was 25 minutes away....and that was the hardest most confusing 25 minutes of the whole delivery. I was a little frustrated by the nurses when they needed to know certain info that only I could give them. I understand they needed the info but at that time I just wanted to close my eyes and shut all of them out. Again, because the contractions were coming so fast and strong I was struggling with just maintaining my composure. Jayson was awesome at holding my hand and reminding me to breathe. He helped me roll on my side when I felt I needed to be there and then 2 minutes he would help roll me back. haha He was great, I definitely could not have done that without him.
Finally, the anesthesist showed up and he became my new best friend. :D After the epidural was in, I finally felt like myself again. It was nice to feel like I could finally get "settled" and mentally prepare myself for delivery. What I liked about this epidural was that I was able to still lift my legs a little on my own, and I would get just enough pressure to know I was having a contraction. I really liked that better compared to feeling like a big numbed sack of potatoes. It also helped me monitor the contractions and move around enough to get comfortable. By 7:15 though the pressure was getting really intense! Almost at a level 7-8 pain again! So I asked if the anesthesist could come and give me a "booster" shot. Now after going through this, I learned that I should have had them check me before I got the booster, because once I recieved it....I went completely sack of potatoes numb. :( I was bummed because I liked being able to move my legs and feel as if I had some inkling as to what my body was doing. Well they checked me right after and found that I was ready to go! (If I had know that, I would not have asked for the booster and would have braved the pain) My doctor arrived, they checked me, and got ready for delivery.
Now, when Bentley was born, he swollowed some fluid just as he was coming out, so they laid him on my chest for about 15 seconds, then had to rush him over to clean out his lungs. Although I still had him on a my chest for a quick time, I wished I could have had him longer. So for this baby, I asked the delivery nurses if all went well and she was fine, that I wanted her on my chest for at LEAST the first 5 minutes. They were great to oblige and said "no problem". They brought in my mirror so I could see what I was doing, and the pushing began! *insert dramatic music*
I started pushing at around 7:40 a.m., and after 3 sets of pushing, Millie Rose Alexander was born at 7:49 a.m. weighing an even 6 lbs and measuring 17 in. She looked SOOO teeny to me! I couldn't believe it! Even her umbilical cord was small and short, so the dr. just quickly cut it and.....laid her on my chest! It was awesome having her for that long with me. I helped the nurse clean her off and we cleared her nose and throat. (honestly I think Jayson was a little grossed out, but I loved it haha) I finally let them take her to get finished cleaning up and by that time my doctor was all done sewing me up. Sweet :)
Millie was healthy but for some reason she would stay warm! They brought her back to me and had me do skin-to-skin with her to help get her temp up. I had her for about 10-15 minutes and they took her temp again, still a little cold. So Jayson went with them to the nursery to put her under the heat lamp until her temp could get back up to where it should be.
*a fun little fact. Bentley was born at 7:57 p.m. and Millie was born at 7:49 a.m.!! Apparently I'll be having all my babies before 8:00.....*
After Millie got her temp up, they brought her back to me and I was able to start nursing her. What a champ! She does awesome at nursing and it's such a relief. By 10:00 I was all settled in my recovery room and we told my family and Jayson's that they could come and visit their new granddaughter! She got lots of the love that day and it was great seeing all the happiness that she brought into our families lives.
It's truly been a blessing having her, and I'm constantly grateful for the easy delivery and recovery that I was able to have. I know never to take that for granted. The nurses were absoluetely wonderful to us and my doctor was amazing. I could never thank them enough for the love and time they put into taking care of me and Mille.
