Yes, the baby finally came! She (that's right, we had a girl!!) is about a month old now and this is the first time I've been able to do a blog post...
Cora was born on August 29th at 11:58 am. She was 6 days past her due date at that point and still wanted to stay in! She weighed in at a petite 6 pounds 9.5 ounces and was 18.25 inches long. I was in labor with her for 30 freakin' hours. Pictures coming soon!
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At around 5:30 am on the 28th, I started having contractions, again. They were light and around 10 minutes apart until about 2 in the afternoon, when they stopped. Bean got home from work around 5 pm and it was like a flip switched - contractions started again and they were much stronger and only 7 minutes apart. This went on until about 8:30 pm and then they became way more intense and slightly closer together. By 9:30, we were out the door and on the way to the hospital at my midwife's request. We were admitted to the hospital at around 10:30 that night. Because I desperately wanted to have a natural birth, I chose not to do an epidural and tried to power through it. At around 4 am on the 29th, my contractions were strong but still 5 minutes apart and I wasn't dilated enough - I was going to have to have my water broken and be induced. I was, of course, heartbroken but also excited because this baby was coming without a doubt.
The pain was really amping up around 3 am, which made me try the whirlpool tub for some relief - didn't work for me, unfortunately. The midwife broke the news that we needed to break my water soon because she was worried that the baby would be in distress if we waited too much longer. After a half hour of intense deliberation and tears with Bean, we decided to go ahead and do the epidural and have her break my water. At this point, I had been in labor for just shy of 24 hours and was physically wiped out. The pain med guy appeared and he put in the needle/catheter. I am absolutely terrified of needles so you can imagine the sheer panic racing through my mind at this point... Thankfully, the worst part was the numbing shots and it was over relatively quickly. Soon after my epidural started to kick in and I was finally able to sleep for a few hours. At around 6:30 am, we started the Petocin drip to get the baby coming. The contractions started coming faster, lasting longer, and hurting much worse, even through the epidural haze. My mother, who I asked to be in the room when I delivered, arrived at the hospital at around 9 am and at that point I was in a lot of pain and I just wanted it over with. The nurses and midwife had been monitoring my and baby's heartbeats all night and had noticed that when I had a contraction, her heart rate dropped more than it should have... there was a chance that either her cord was around her neck or that she would not be able to fit through my pevis. My midwife told me that unless we were able to go into labor before noon, I would need a C-section. I bawled... like uncontrollable style. That is the very last thing I wanted and in my heart/mind, nothing about this delivery was going according to plan.
Thankfully, one of the most experienced (and sweetest) nurses tried a technique to get my pelvis to open up - she rolled me to my side and put one leg up on the little bedside table/trays for an hour. This TOTALLY worked like a charm - I was 100% effaced and 9 cm dilated within the hour. At approximately 11:15, I started to feel a lot of pressure not only in my bottom, but now in the front as well. I asked my husband to get the midwife because I felt like pushing... she walked into the room to check me and found that the baby was already half way down the chute, as it were. I pushed along with my contractions and by 11:58 am, I had my beautiful daughter! Bean even got to announce the gender, which was the most amazing thing ever! I, of course, bawled my eyes out right away and my mom was in a state of mild hysterics - she had thought the baby was a girl from day one and was right!
Immediately, they slapped her on my chest and Bean cut the cord. From the very first minute I laid eyes on her, I was absolutely in love. Bean was beside himself with joy, it was a beautiful moment. Later, I found out that yes, her cord was wrapped around her neck but my midwife handled it like a pro - she took it off the moment that it was physically possible and with a speed not normally seen.
She is a perfect, healthy baby and brings us an unending supply of joy and love (and some stress too). It's funny how life before her seems so long ago now but it's only been a month. Cora really completes our little family and we couldn't be happier.
Much love to all of you!
Cora was born on August 29th at 11:58 am. She was 6 days past her due date at that point and still wanted to stay in! She weighed in at a petite 6 pounds 9.5 ounces and was 18.25 inches long. I was in labor with her for 30 freakin' hours. Pictures coming soon!
-----------------
At around 5:30 am on the 28th, I started having contractions, again. They were light and around 10 minutes apart until about 2 in the afternoon, when they stopped. Bean got home from work around 5 pm and it was like a flip switched - contractions started again and they were much stronger and only 7 minutes apart. This went on until about 8:30 pm and then they became way more intense and slightly closer together. By 9:30, we were out the door and on the way to the hospital at my midwife's request. We were admitted to the hospital at around 10:30 that night. Because I desperately wanted to have a natural birth, I chose not to do an epidural and tried to power through it. At around 4 am on the 29th, my contractions were strong but still 5 minutes apart and I wasn't dilated enough - I was going to have to have my water broken and be induced. I was, of course, heartbroken but also excited because this baby was coming without a doubt.
The pain was really amping up around 3 am, which made me try the whirlpool tub for some relief - didn't work for me, unfortunately. The midwife broke the news that we needed to break my water soon because she was worried that the baby would be in distress if we waited too much longer. After a half hour of intense deliberation and tears with Bean, we decided to go ahead and do the epidural and have her break my water. At this point, I had been in labor for just shy of 24 hours and was physically wiped out. The pain med guy appeared and he put in the needle/catheter. I am absolutely terrified of needles so you can imagine the sheer panic racing through my mind at this point... Thankfully, the worst part was the numbing shots and it was over relatively quickly. Soon after my epidural started to kick in and I was finally able to sleep for a few hours. At around 6:30 am, we started the Petocin drip to get the baby coming. The contractions started coming faster, lasting longer, and hurting much worse, even through the epidural haze. My mother, who I asked to be in the room when I delivered, arrived at the hospital at around 9 am and at that point I was in a lot of pain and I just wanted it over with. The nurses and midwife had been monitoring my and baby's heartbeats all night and had noticed that when I had a contraction, her heart rate dropped more than it should have... there was a chance that either her cord was around her neck or that she would not be able to fit through my pevis. My midwife told me that unless we were able to go into labor before noon, I would need a C-section. I bawled... like uncontrollable style. That is the very last thing I wanted and in my heart/mind, nothing about this delivery was going according to plan.
Thankfully, one of the most experienced (and sweetest) nurses tried a technique to get my pelvis to open up - she rolled me to my side and put one leg up on the little bedside table/trays for an hour. This TOTALLY worked like a charm - I was 100% effaced and 9 cm dilated within the hour. At approximately 11:15, I started to feel a lot of pressure not only in my bottom, but now in the front as well. I asked my husband to get the midwife because I felt like pushing... she walked into the room to check me and found that the baby was already half way down the chute, as it were. I pushed along with my contractions and by 11:58 am, I had my beautiful daughter! Bean even got to announce the gender, which was the most amazing thing ever! I, of course, bawled my eyes out right away and my mom was in a state of mild hysterics - she had thought the baby was a girl from day one and was right!
Immediately, they slapped her on my chest and Bean cut the cord. From the very first minute I laid eyes on her, I was absolutely in love. Bean was beside himself with joy, it was a beautiful moment. Later, I found out that yes, her cord was wrapped around her neck but my midwife handled it like a pro - she took it off the moment that it was physically possible and with a speed not normally seen.
She is a perfect, healthy baby and brings us an unending supply of joy and love (and some stress too). It's funny how life before her seems so long ago now but it's only been a month. Cora really completes our little family and we couldn't be happier.
Much love to all of you!
