Baby C's Arrival

Our baby is here and we are settling in as a family of 5!  This may be more information than most people need about Baby C's arrival, but I know if I don't write it down now I'll completely forget.

On Friday, August 1st I had my last scheduled appointment with my doctor.  I had been feeling tired, uncomfortable and like I might be pregnant forever before the appointment.  Thankfully, my doctor had good news.  She told me I was already dilated, and that when my contractions started things would probably go fast.  She also told me that she was on call Friday and Sunday, and my other doctor was on call Saturday and Monday, so I was hopeful that one of my doctors would actually be there when I delivered. 

I woke up Saturday morning, and had a few contractions about 15 minutes apart, but then they stopped completely.  My mom decided to come up Saturday morning anyway, hoping that I would have the baby sometime over the weekend.  I was a little cranky about still being pregnant on Saturday, but we had a slow day at our house... waiting.  While the girls had rest time, E and I decided to go for a walk, hoping that would get something started.  When we got home I did a little work on the computer and E decided to go for a run.  

Just before 5pm I felt my first contraction.  I didn't tell E or my mom because I didn't want them to get too excited.  I thought it might be for real, but it might just be a result of the walk, so I quietly started timing the contractions on my phone.  The contractions continued about 8 minutes apart, but not super strong.  Then they got a little more sporadic but still strong.  By this time I had told E and my mom that I was having contractions, and E convinced me to call my doctor around 6pm.  I called in to the nurse line and got a few last minute things ready for the hospital while I waited for a call back.

When my doctor called back, she told me to come in and she'd be in soon.  At this point I pretty much lose track of time for the night.  I stopped timing my contractions because I was going to the hospital, and I knew I was going to have the baby soon.  By the time we got checked in to the hospital and set up in our room, the nurse checked and told me I was dilated to 6.  She got me started on an IV so I would be able to get an epidural after my doctor got there.  

My doctor arrived, and by then my contractions were really intense.  She had the nurse call for the anesthesiologist, then went to get ready.  Thankfully the anesthesiologist got there fairly quickly (though I know I sent E to find out if someone was ever coming) and my doctor recommended a walking epidural.  Her thought was that I would deliver before feeling much relief from a regular epidural.  I went with her suggestion, and I was really happy with the results.  I could still feel and move my legs, but got a lot of relief from contractions.  

After getting the epidural my doctor asked if I wanted a break or if I wanted her to break my water and deliver quickly.  I opted to take a little break, so everyone left for a bit and let E and I relax.  Not too long after that my water broke on it's own, and apparently my bag of water was really big.  E says he could hear it pop.  When my water broke, E went to get the nurses, and everyone came pretty quickly.  

I don't remember perfectly what happened after that, but the doctor told me that baby's heart rate was dropping during my contractions.  She tried massaging baby's head to get the heart rate up, but pretty quickly told me I needed to start pushing.  I pushed on my side for a few contractions, then moved to my back.  During this time my doctor had me put on an oxygen mask to try to help with baby's heart rate (E told me later that it was dropping really low during my contractions... just a little scary).  I did not like the oxygen mask.  It made me feel really uncomfortable, not really sure why.

I'm not sure how long I pushed for, but I know that it wasn't long.  Baby came out "sunny side up
 at 9:48pm, and E told me I was right, it was a girl!  I was so relieved to have our baby with us, and to have had my labor and delivery go so quickly!  It was just under 5 hours from my first contraction to holding my baby girl, which was awesome.  Add in a positive experience with the walking epidural, and this was by far the most positive delivery experience of the three.  Baby girl (as we were calling her at the time) took to nursing right away, which was awesome.  I had some worries before delivery that I had forgotten what to do with a newborn, but no such problems.    

Unfortunately, while delivery went really well, this has been the most difficult post partum experience.  As soon as I got up to move from the delivery room to my recovery room, I could feel that my neck was really sore.  I didn't realize quite how bad my neck hurt until the next day, but it has been an ongoing issue (I'm better now, but it took 9 days).  

It was after midnight before we got settled in our room, and by that time we were exhausted.  E stayed with us for a couple hours, but choosing a name when we were so tired just wasn't happening.  We talked more Sunday  morning, and were pretty much settled on a name, but gave it the rest of Sunday before we decided on a name for sure.  

My mom brought the girls to visit their new baby sister on Sunday morning, and they were really excited to meet and hold her.  Here are a few of her first photos from the hospital.  I feel a little guilty that their aren't very many pictures of her from the first week, but holding my camera was out of the question for most of the time because of my neck pain.  I'm sure I'll make up for it in the coming weeks and months.