So this post is going to be long. I want to remember every detail and I'm probably not going to record it in my journal or anywhere else so here we go. April 15, about 5:19 AM, Ayden woke me up because he was thirsty. I got him a drink and went to the bathroom (normal routine). I started feeling menstrual-like cramps which I had not felt at all until that point. I went back to bed and laid there for about an hour. Ayden wouldn't go back to bed so he was in the front room watching Thomas. He kept coming in and asking for random things like his Percy train or another drink or just to lay with us for a second then jumped back out of our bed. Finally, I fell asleep around 7. At 7:30, Brent go up to go to school, Ayden had fallen asleep on the couch so he left him there so I could get some more sleep. I told Brent I was having major cramps and wanted to sleep some more. I finally got up around 9 and woke Ayden up (all the while, I'm still have cramps). I started having contractions on top of the cramps as well as leg discomfort, backache, nausea and fatigue. I had read the night before that these were the symptoms of early labor.
My 37 week appointment happened to be that day at 10:45. I decided to wait and tell my doctor and see what she thought. When we got there, the nurse came in and asked me if I was okay. I told her I didn't feel very good and her reply was, "yeah, you don't look really good", I thought (thanks a lot!) So she went and told my doctor she thought I might be in labor. So my Doctor came and we had our normal visit, she checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 3. She said if I was still feeling like this by 2:00 to go to the hospital.
Ayden and I left the Dr and I called and told Brent we might have the baby that day if my contractions and stuff didn't go away. He said he'd come home after school and we'd go from there. I get home and Brent calls me to say that his truck had broken down in the school parking lot and I needed to bring him so antifreeze (I think). So Ayden and I drove up to the school, helped Brent for about 45 minutes then went home. I realized then that we'd probably have to go in. It was about 1:00 and I was still having contractions so I started packing our stuff. I packed Ayden's stuff, my stuff and Olivia's stuff. Brent didn't really think it was really going to happen so he packed nothing.....
Around 3, we drove up to McKay Dee, on the way I called to let my Dr know we were going and she said she'll probably see me there soon. When we got there, we went in through the ER entrance and they took us up to the maternity floor. I was checked in, changed, and monitored. They monitored my contractions for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then they said they'd called and told my Dr and she said to give me a room and she'd have one of the doctors she worked with (Dr. Hurst) come break my water. So at 5:10 pm, Dr. Hurst broke my water (at the time, I was dilated to a 4). My sweet, sweet nurse said that whenever I was ready, she'd page the anesthesiologist. She gave me some pitocin and then left. I wanted to see how far I could go before I needed the epidural. Well, apparently I shouldn't have even had the pitocin. My contractions were coming on there own and the pitocin made them so much for intense and a lot longer than necessary. After about 20 minutes, I was down being brave; I paged my nurse and told her I needed the epidural. She checked my monitors and realized how intense and long my contractions were so she turned off (or down) the pitocin and paged the anesthesiologist. My contractions were so intense by now and 3 minutes LONG!!! I had to wait about 25 minutes for the dumb guy to come in. I say dumb because he knew we paged him and he was just in the hall chatting on his phone!! I told Brent to go out there and punch him if he didn't come in soon. So a little after 6, he finally came in and gave me the epidural. It was so wonderful! After I had gotten situated and comfortable my nurse checked my cervix. In just that one hour of contracting, I had gone to a 7! My nurse was so surprised. Oh yeah, during all this Brent and Ayden were there hanging out. Before I got my epidural, my mom came and took Ayden to get some food. A little after I had my epidural, Brent's mom and sister came as well. So we all waited around making guesses about when she'd come and how much she'd weigh. I put down 7' 6" and she come at 9(wishful thinking). Brent wanted me to suffer (I think) and put 7' 11" and that I'd have her at 2:45 in the morning. 7' 11" wasn't too big of a baby but I didn't want to be in labor that long. About an hour and a half after my epidural, my doctor came in and checked me. I was already at a 9! She said she'd come back in 15 minutes and we'd start pushing. Brent and I were SO amazed at how fast this was happening. My water was broken at 5 and it was only 3 hours later that I had her. Everyone left the room except the doctor, nurses and Brent and I started pushing. I started pushing at 7:56 pm and she was born at 8:04 pm, 8 minutes later!! Our little sweetie dropped so fast that her face was all bruised. It was such an incredible experience!! All mommies know what I’m talking about. After she came and they were cleaning her up, I just laid there and bawled! She was so perfect and wonderful. She was fully developed and perfect for being 3 weeks early. We still didn't have a name for her at this point. Brent and I held her and I fed her for a bit then we let family in.
Ayden's reaction to her was so sweet and I will never forget it. He came in with the BIGGEST smile on his face and insisted on holding her first. He held her and just smiled the whole time. It was such a sweet experience for me to watch him hold her. I loved every second. As we were sitting there, trying to decided on a name, I said, "Ayden, what should we name her?" and he said, "Olivia" and that was that.
The next few days were just recovery and adjusting. We left the hospital on Friday. By the way, while we were in the hospital, Brent's parents took care of Ayden. He had so much fun while he was with them which was such a relief to me. I was so worried about how he would do having a sleepover. He doesn't have sleepovers so I didn't know how he would react but he loved it. I was so incredibly grateful to Renee and Steve for taking care of him.
If life wasn't crazy enough, I had a baby shower the day after we got home. I didn't want to miss it so I just had Brent come with me and hold Olivia the whole time. It was nice to be there and not be pregnant. The shower was absolutely amazing. Brent's sisters and mom threw it for me and they really did a great job. Thanks, guys! And thank you to everyone who came! I love you all!
Anyway, sorry this post was SOOO long. Way to go if you've made it this far. I'll post pictures of my sweet new family soon.
My 37 week appointment happened to be that day at 10:45. I decided to wait and tell my doctor and see what she thought. When we got there, the nurse came in and asked me if I was okay. I told her I didn't feel very good and her reply was, "yeah, you don't look really good", I thought (thanks a lot!) So she went and told my doctor she thought I might be in labor. So my Doctor came and we had our normal visit, she checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 3. She said if I was still feeling like this by 2:00 to go to the hospital.
Ayden and I left the Dr and I called and told Brent we might have the baby that day if my contractions and stuff didn't go away. He said he'd come home after school and we'd go from there. I get home and Brent calls me to say that his truck had broken down in the school parking lot and I needed to bring him so antifreeze (I think). So Ayden and I drove up to the school, helped Brent for about 45 minutes then went home. I realized then that we'd probably have to go in. It was about 1:00 and I was still having contractions so I started packing our stuff. I packed Ayden's stuff, my stuff and Olivia's stuff. Brent didn't really think it was really going to happen so he packed nothing.....
Around 3, we drove up to McKay Dee, on the way I called to let my Dr know we were going and she said she'll probably see me there soon. When we got there, we went in through the ER entrance and they took us up to the maternity floor. I was checked in, changed, and monitored. They monitored my contractions for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then they said they'd called and told my Dr and she said to give me a room and she'd have one of the doctors she worked with (Dr. Hurst) come break my water. So at 5:10 pm, Dr. Hurst broke my water (at the time, I was dilated to a 4). My sweet, sweet nurse said that whenever I was ready, she'd page the anesthesiologist. She gave me some pitocin and then left. I wanted to see how far I could go before I needed the epidural. Well, apparently I shouldn't have even had the pitocin. My contractions were coming on there own and the pitocin made them so much for intense and a lot longer than necessary. After about 20 minutes, I was down being brave; I paged my nurse and told her I needed the epidural. She checked my monitors and realized how intense and long my contractions were so she turned off (or down) the pitocin and paged the anesthesiologist. My contractions were so intense by now and 3 minutes LONG!!! I had to wait about 25 minutes for the dumb guy to come in. I say dumb because he knew we paged him and he was just in the hall chatting on his phone!! I told Brent to go out there and punch him if he didn't come in soon. So a little after 6, he finally came in and gave me the epidural. It was so wonderful! After I had gotten situated and comfortable my nurse checked my cervix. In just that one hour of contracting, I had gone to a 7! My nurse was so surprised. Oh yeah, during all this Brent and Ayden were there hanging out. Before I got my epidural, my mom came and took Ayden to get some food. A little after I had my epidural, Brent's mom and sister came as well. So we all waited around making guesses about when she'd come and how much she'd weigh. I put down 7' 6" and she come at 9(wishful thinking). Brent wanted me to suffer (I think) and put 7' 11" and that I'd have her at 2:45 in the morning. 7' 11" wasn't too big of a baby but I didn't want to be in labor that long. About an hour and a half after my epidural, my doctor came in and checked me. I was already at a 9! She said she'd come back in 15 minutes and we'd start pushing. Brent and I were SO amazed at how fast this was happening. My water was broken at 5 and it was only 3 hours later that I had her. Everyone left the room except the doctor, nurses and Brent and I started pushing. I started pushing at 7:56 pm and she was born at 8:04 pm, 8 minutes later!! Our little sweetie dropped so fast that her face was all bruised. It was such an incredible experience!! All mommies know what I’m talking about. After she came and they were cleaning her up, I just laid there and bawled! She was so perfect and wonderful. She was fully developed and perfect for being 3 weeks early. We still didn't have a name for her at this point. Brent and I held her and I fed her for a bit then we let family in.
Ayden's reaction to her was so sweet and I will never forget it. He came in with the BIGGEST smile on his face and insisted on holding her first. He held her and just smiled the whole time. It was such a sweet experience for me to watch him hold her. I loved every second. As we were sitting there, trying to decided on a name, I said, "Ayden, what should we name her?" and he said, "Olivia" and that was that.
The next few days were just recovery and adjusting. We left the hospital on Friday. By the way, while we were in the hospital, Brent's parents took care of Ayden. He had so much fun while he was with them which was such a relief to me. I was so worried about how he would do having a sleepover. He doesn't have sleepovers so I didn't know how he would react but he loved it. I was so incredibly grateful to Renee and Steve for taking care of him.
If life wasn't crazy enough, I had a baby shower the day after we got home. I didn't want to miss it so I just had Brent come with me and hold Olivia the whole time. It was nice to be there and not be pregnant. The shower was absolutely amazing. Brent's sisters and mom threw it for me and they really did a great job. Thanks, guys! And thank you to everyone who came! I love you all!
Anyway, sorry this post was SOOO long. Way to go if you've made it this far. I'll post pictures of my sweet new family soon.
4 comments:
Shal! I am soo happy for you and your family!! I can't wait to see more pics of your little princess!!
YAY!!! I am so happy for you and your beautiful little family! I can't wait to see pictures!
P.S.
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RAndom.
Shal you are amazing girl! I am so happy for you and your sweet family! I got the chills when I read that part about Ayden holding her and his smile and then saying "Olivia" for her name. SOOO sweet! I can't wait to meet this beautiful little Olivia Marie!
Shalamar! Wow what an amazing experience :D Can't even tell you how happy I am for you. Having a baby is definitely one of life's greatest miracles. What a quick delivery!! I hear they get faster after your first? I can't wait to have another and seeing all your fun pics just makes me more anxious. CONGRATS!
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