Very Very Belated Baby is Here!

So I had the baby. It was not easy. I should have written about it sooner, but as I mentioned... I had a baby. Things have been a bit cray.

Soooo without further adieu... here's my birth story or what I can recall of it 4 5 months later :)

On April 18th, I went in to see my OB for my weekly appointment. I was 40+1 weeks pregnant and obviously super thrilled about it. See picture below for reference. I had one big contraction that morning, but that's it.

At the appointment, my doctor took one look at my hams for ankles and my elevated blood pressure and decided I'd been pregnant long enough and it was time to induce. She scheduled us to check into the hospital that night to begin the process.

So that night we checked in. I was given Cervidil to start opening my cervix and an ambien to help me sleep. I was so excited and insanely nervous. I was about to birth a human!

So that night I slept. Only waking up a couple of times to pee. The next morning I woke up and was having pretty regular contractions! WAHOO! The baby was coming! They started pitocin at 7 am and broke my water around 8. Unfortunately, she had meconium in her water, but at the time it was no cause for concern. So then we were left to wait and let labor do it's thing.

After a few episodes of House Hunters, I was getting antsy and wanted to move around. They strapped me up with a wireless monitor and I was on the move... kinda. I just paced back and forth in my room. I bounced on the ball and tried to breathe through the contractions. I was practically a model for childbirth classes. I had visions of laboring through the transition in the nice bathtub. I mean with contractions coming in so close I had to be about ready to push right? Not even close. I only lasted 4 hours before I was barfing and asking for an epidural. Ben was the only one who got to use the birthing tub. Lucky guy.

I got my first epidural (yes, I said first) and I wasn't transported to the sea of easy labor like I was promised. I don't remember how long it lasted. At this point my memory starts to get hazy. I developed a fever and a rapid heart rate due to an infection. I remember being told around 5 pm that I was almost ready to push. That was a giant lie. Part of my cervix was still blocking the exit ramp. Hours passed ,the pain returned and so did the barfing. How I was throwing up when I hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours is beyond me. I was visited by a second anesthesiologist. Poor man. I called him back to the room numerous times that evening. He tried pumping me up with more meds and that didn't last; so on to epidural #2. YAY! Nothing like being stuck in the spine twice in one day. The second epidural lasted longer than the first, but this time I got the shakes. I remember laying there shaking, rewatching the same House Hunters episodes from the morning, stating that I would never *BLEEP*ing do this again.

Ben was being a champ through the whole process. When my epidurals failed me, he was right there rubbing a tiny tennis ball in my back until his arms wanted to fall off. He stayed with me through dinner, which if you know my husband, says a lot. Luckily the nice nurse brought him a sandwich to tide him over.

So back to the home stretch. This part is a complete blur to me. I think somewhere around midnight they had me start to push and nothing happened. My OB was dealing with 3 patients whose labor had all stalled out. It was a night for babies that were too stubborn to be born. Anyways, my doctor had just completed 2 emergency C-Sections and I think she was conceding to me being the third. She came in a explained to me that they were going to try to vacuum her out. If that didn't work, we would head to surgery.

I was determined to get that baby out no matter how tired I was. The delivery room was packed with nurses. Due to the meconium situation, we had to have a full audience for the birth in case she needed assistance when she came out. I've never had so many people staring at my vagina. I hope I never will again. Who knows how long I pushed for. I remember my doctor promised she'd be out in 2-3 pushes. That wasn't true. Another highlight of my birthing experience was when the vacuum dislodged from the baby's head and smacked my OB in the face. She was such a trooper and told me to keep pushing despite my blood being all over her face. This is probably one of those "you had to be there" moments.

At last, the moment you all have been waiting for. The birth. 19 hours of active labor later. To be honest I have no idea what happened. I just remember pushing and being cheered on by my husband and nurse. And all the sudden there she was. All tiny and precious and covered in goo. They placed her on my chest and I remember thinking she looked just like me. Later when I was not in a delusional state of mind, I'd realize she was the spitting image of Ben. Somehow between doing skin-to-skin and my doctor stitching up my 3rd degree tear hours passed by. I must have slept or something. I remember asking for another popsicle after and some cheese and crackers. Not the feast I was hoping for after birthing a human being and fasting for over 24 hours.

The baby was whisked away to the nicu due to a fever. She had the same infection I had during labor. I felt like shit. I tried to see her, but ended up almost passing out and being wheeled back down to my room.

At noon the next day, Ben and I finally decided on a name. To be honest I kinda knew it was her name the whole time.

Meet Violet Elaine.