On Sunday we went to church and everyone would ask me, "You're close, right? When is your due date?" My response, "Tomorrow." Then a couple of ladies caught me in the hall and started talking about our various birth experiences. They asked if the doctor had talked about inducing me and I said that my last appointment would be tomorrow and I am sure we'll talk about it then (all the while thinking "of course he is going to induce me." They started trying to give me advice on how to get labor started, stripping membranes and such, while I listen and nod my head politely. A typical Sunday afternoon followed and then a typical not very restful night followed that....UNTIL about 3 in the morning. I woke up to contractions about 10 minutes apart that were not feeling very well. I had to start getting out of bed as a contraction started so that I could stand through the contraction, sometimes hunched over the bed, sometimes rocking back and forth. Then I would climb back into bed and try to sleep for a few minutes in between. At some point all of these shenanigans awoke Jeber. He was going to have to start getting ready for work in a few minutes and asked if he needed to stay home. At first I told him to go ahead and go because I didn't want him to miss work if it was a false alarm but it only took me a few minutes to change my mind and tell him he needed to stay. I took a shower and the water seemed to take the edge off of some of the contractions. They gradually got closer and closer. About 5:50am I text my mom to give her a heads up what was going on since she would be coming to watch Handsome. No answer. 6:10 am I text her that they were 7 minutes apart. No answer. By this time Jeber was completely up and organizing the closet and such while I tried to survive and kept alternating between standing and laying. I tried to call mom--nothing. Called dad--nothing. Called their home phone--nothing. Called mom again and she finally answered while at the grocery store. She said she would finish up at the grocery store and get my dad off to work and then she would be on her way. I guess I thought the contractions were pretty bad because at 7 am I text her to let her know I was ready for her to come and then at 7:30 when she still wasn't there I text her again to let her know I wanted her to come. Jeber took a shower, got ready, and then ran to the grocery store to get some juice for Handsome to drink when he woke up since we were out. All this time I couldn't help but think about my cute little handsome and how his life was about to change forever and I was sad because of it. I was so excited to welcome Princess but sad for Handsome. I snuck in his room to take one last picture of him before everything changed.
He woke up not too long after that and I tried to spend time with him, get him dressed, and wash his cup while enduring intense contractions. Mom arrived a few minutes after Handsome woke up, and Jeber got back from the store a few minutes after that. With contractions five minutes apart it was time to go....but I didn't want to leave Handsome and was feeling VERY emotional. I was very grateful to have my mom there to help Handsome handle the new changes. We left for the hospital around 8am, they checked me out and I was dilated 8cm so they admitted me. (Can we just take a minute and discuss the purpose of pre-registering with the hospital. Cause I did it and I am not sure how that benefitted me. When you walk into the hospital with contractions five minutes apart and very little rest in between after no sleep all night, the last thing you want to do is sit there and confirm all of the answers you already gave when you registered before they will even let you through the doors. Anyway.....) By 9am I was in the room where I would deliver, the epidural was in, and the nurse was saying she thought it wouldn't take very long for Princess to come. At 10am, my water hadn't broken yet and the contractions seemed to start slowing down. The nurse contacted the doctor and he told her she could start me on petocin at 11 to keep the contractions moving along since she would have to give me petocin for after anyway (something new that they do now to help you with all of the after-birth nonsense). The nurse figured that the doctor didn't want to move things along too quickly because he had a full schedule at his office and wanted to be able to come over at his lunch break instead of messing up his schedule. Not much happened for a little while. Jeber left to get something to eat. Mom had been on her way with Handsome but he had fallen asleep in the car so she drove around for a little while so that he could get a little nap. By 12, the pitocin had been going for a little while and the contractions were frequent again. I had been fully dilated for a while but my water hadn't broken so we were just waiting for the doctor to come break it so Icould start pushing. When they first put in the epidural, it gave me a dead leg. She had turned it down to wake my leg back up and by this point contractions were starting to not feel good again. I mentioned it to her and she assured me that contractions should be a little uncomfortable. A few minutes later I told her that my contractions were more than just uncomfortable and she pressed the button. Just about that time, around 12:30, the doctor came in and broke my water, had me push a couple of times, and then said to keep pushing he would be back in a few minutes. Mom text me at 12:50 to say she had just seen him walk down the hall like he was going to go eat lunch or something. A few minutes later he came back and we were down to business. I guess she was turned a little bit so while I was pushing he was pulling and turning her and it was not feeling good. I do not think the epidural was doing it's job becuase I did not remember pushing hurting that much with Handsome. I was yelling/groaning VERY loudly as I pushed. Jeber mentioned that she had just as much hair as Handsome had and a push or two later, a few minutes after 1pm on her due date, Princess was here. I was exhausted and not feeling very well but it was awesome to hold her right away (in spite of being stitched up at that same time and feeling way too much of it).
A few minutes after she arrived, grandma and Handsome came in to meet her. First family picture:
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| He is checking out this weird baby on HIS mom's chest |
He dropped the baby's hat on the floor so then it became his.
He is not sure why there is a weird baby with HIS mom.
Getting her first bath. This picture is for everyone who asks, "Did she come out with all that hair?"
Dad and big brother with Princess after her bath and with a little curl in her hair
Daddy cuddling his new "indian baby"
Mel came and visited that night and then Jeber slept while I tried to. Then the next day she had her visit from the pediatrician, her hearing test, the ob checked on me, and that afternoon we were ready to go home.
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