You're braver than you believe! : March 2016

How is it that the nine months you carry your children seem to be the slowest of your life but her first year has flown by? I have loved all of it. Jordan and I often talk about how blessed we are to have this sweet little spirit in our home and lives, she has made being a mother everything I ever thought it would be and nothing I thought it would all at the same time! The last year has taught me more about myself than almost any other experience in my life. I have loved seeing her grow and seeing us as her parents grow. To celebrate her birthday I'm going to share her birth story because I failed to do that after she was born and then some big markers in her first year.

The Story

Before I start the actual story I need to back up and explain what led up to the day she was born. On March 1st in the evening I started to feel pretty intense cramps, not knowing any better I ended up going to bed figuring they would just go away. Around 3 AM I called my doctor, Mom and Labor and Delivery at the Hospital because the pain had not gone away. All three told me to go in a get it check out. At this point I was pretty upset and crying because I didn't feel like I was in labor and I didn't want to have it be nothing, but I went in.

It ended up I had been having regular contractions all night and probably should have gone in sooner. They gave me three shots of something that started with a "T" that made me feel like I was wired on caffeine. The drug was meant to stop contractions and it seemed to do the trick so they sent me home with a prescription for Procardia, another drug to stop contractions, and orders of bed rest. At this point I was only 34 weeks along so baby wasn't quite ready to come yet. I wasn't home 6 hours before the pain came back, so back we went to the hospital.

This time they increased my Procardia, when that didn't work they admitted me and put me on Magnesium, not fun... I couldn't eat, drink, get up, go to the bathroom, etc. It also makes you feel like you have a nasty fever that won't break the whole time you are on it. Nurses had to come check on me every two hours, take my blood pressure, and give me more meds. During the hours between check ups if the baby's heart rate monitor moved they had to come in a adjust it back into place. On top of that I was still having contractions and was being given shots to make sure baby's lungs developed just in case she came early. Let's just say I didn't sleep much that night. It took most of the next day to stop the contractions, I ended up spending two nights at the hospital then the doctor sent me home with a higher dose of Procardia and strict bed rest.

I ended up back at the hospital later that day because the contraction had come back. Even with all the contraction I had only dilated to a 1, so I ended up going home with the understanding that these contractions were to be noted but I was not in labor. Eventually the contractions slowed down and dulled out and my two weeks of bed rest gave me more time to get prepared and a lot of time to binge watch Netflix.

On March 16th I went back to school, the following day I was taken off the medication because baby was far enough along to be okay if born early. That night the contractions started up again but stopped a few hours after, so I went to school feeling frustrated by the false alarm. The next day I got the stomach flu. By Friday though I was feeling back to normal and excited for my baby shower on Saturday. During all the hospital visits and bed rest I just wanted her to come, I wanted all the exhaustion and pain to be over, but now I had finally come to the point I wanted her to wait until after the shower to come. I knew though she had other plans and that she was ready now. This brings me to the actual birth story.

On March 21st I woke up at 3:30 in the morning feeling like I was leaking, nothing crazy but enough to get up a check it out, there ended up being enough water that I thought my water had broke and right after I started having contractions, feeling excited we headed to the hospital. Once we were there the nurse said my water hadn't broke but I was at a 3/4. The contractions were starting to get more painful but they decided to watch me before they admitted me. I had gone to the hospital wanting to have a natural delivery but as the time passed and the contractions became stranger I was feeling the weight of the previous three weeks kick in, I was tired and I didn't want to have a negative experience. Jordan being a sweet husband encouraged me to stick with my resolve but I decided I wanted to enjoy this experience and with all that had happened I was not mentally ready for a natural birth. I got the epidural and was grateful I did. Part of me was sad I couldn't stick it out but overall I was glad of my decision. I went from uncomfortable, unhappy pain to calm, joy and the ability to rest.

Around 5:30 I was at a 5 and being admitted. They then prepped me for the epidural which didn't come until 8:30 followed by the doctor breaking my water at 9:00. From that point it was a waiting game, they checked on me every so often each time I had dilated more and was progressing nicely. By 12:30 in the afternoon I was at a 10 and ready to push. The nurse had me push 3 times and then stopped me because we needed to wait for the Doctor to come for the delivery part. Once he showed up it was less than 5 pushes and she was here. Our sweet baby girl was born Saturday March 21, 2015 @ 1:38 PM weighing 7 Lbs and measuring 18 Inches. After a simple labor and delivery of nine hours they put her on my chest and I was hooked. Jordan even cried a little. We were her parents, the Lord had trusted us with his daughter. She was beautiful then and she becomes more so everyday, she is the sweetest little girl and she is always happy. I love my baby and I love being a mom. Though some days (more so at the beginning then now) it can be hard and scary I am grateful for the knowledge I'm not doing it alone I have my husband and more importantly the Lord.