Your Birth Story!!!

Dear precious baby girl,

As everyone knows, your due date was Saturday, September 6. The couple of weeks leading up to your due date, I kept telling everyone that I was SO ready to give birth to you because my tummy was HUMONGOUS, and I was so uncomfortable I could hardly move. My feet were swollen like sausages, I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep, my back hurt, my boobs hurt, and every time I ate something, I got really bad reflux. I thought for SURE that you’d decide to join us early, because for the three weeks before your due date, I was dilated to 5 centimeters (!!!), and my doctor told me that once I started having contractions, I’d probably have a really fast labor because my body was “clearly ready to go”. Your Nina even changed her plane ticket so that she could come from New Mexico earlier in case you were born before your due date!

So when September 6 came and went, you can imagine my confusion (and frustration)! Every day past your due date, I kept talking to you, asking you to come on out and see us, but like both of your parents, you were being stubborn and decided to stay where you were. My doctor told me that if you weren’t born by 41 weeks (1 week after your due date), they’d schedule an induction for Saturday, September 13.

On Friday night, September 12, your daddy, your Nina, and I were eating dinner (with pumpkin ice cream for dessert- yum!) and watching the show “Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”. I noticed that I was having some mild contractions, but wrote them off as just typical Braxton Hicks contractions, and not “real” labor contractions. But then starting at around 8:30pm, they started happening closer together and your daddy started keepimg track of how often they happenned and how long they lasted. Still, I thought they weren’t real contractions because they didn't hurt like I thought they were supposed to!

By 9:30 the contractions were coming every 10 minutes, so I decided to call the doctor on-call at the hospital. When I told him I was having contractions and was 5 cm dilated, he said "get here right away!". So we grabbed our hospital bag, hopped in the car and off we went!

We arrived at hospital at 11:35pm where we met up with our doula (we called her on the way to the hospital) and spent 1 hour in triage, where they strapped on a monitor and they discovered that the contractions actually slowed down. We were given the choice of going home and coming back the next morning for the induction as scheduled, or just going ahead with the induction right then, since we were already there. That wasn't a very tough decision :).

We arrived at the birth suite around 1am on Saturday (September 13), and at 2am, they started a pitocin drip and broke my bag of waters. When the bag of water was broken, the doctor noted that the amniotic fluid was slightly greenish, indicating prescence of meconium (this is when babies poop inside the uterus, which is a sign that a baby is in distress). When I heard that, I got really nervous because if a baby inhales the meconium during birth, it can prevent breathing and/or lead to a life-threatening lung infection. So I knew that right after you were born, they would have to whiak you off to the neonatal team right away so that they could suction out your lungs.

At 3am, I, your Dad, your Nina and our doula took a walk around the hospital floor for a while. By 4am, I wanted to go back to the room because I was getting really uncomfortable. By 4:30, my contractions were much stronger, and your daddy noticed that I was breathing a lot harder and needing some quiet when they happened. When they checked my cervix, It was still at 5cm, but had gone from 50% to 80% effaced.

By 6am, the contractions were coming on REALLY strong, and they seemed to go from very manageable to extremely painful. Everyone was trying to help me breathe, but it was difficult because when contractions are induced with pitocin, they are a lot harder and more painful then when they happen naturally. I remember gripping your daddy's hands and saying "oh, God, help me" with every contraction. Still, I was determined to have a natural birth without pain medication, and I was doing my best to stay focused.

A little later, my body started shaking and I couldn't control it. Our doula said it was a normal reaction to the pain and muscle tension. The contractions at this point were so strong that I couldn't stop crying. My back hurt so much I couldn't move (we later found out that it was because you were turned the wrong way, so all the pressure was going to my back). When they checked my cervix again, I thought for SURE I was at 8-10 centimeters because with that much pain there was no way I couldn't have progressed that much. But of course I was wrong! I hadn't progressed AT ALL- I was still 5 cm. At that point, I knew I needed an epidural- I was already exhausted from all the pain. So, reluctantly, I called for the anesthesiologist.

At 6:45, the epidural was administered, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (watching all the videos of it in our childbirth classes freaked me out)! After 20 minutes, I barely felt the contractions and I could relax and breathe normally again. I told your daddy that whoever invented the epidural deserves a Nobel Prize!

At 9:30am, the cervical check indicated that I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced. By 10:30, I was at 9cm and had bloody show (this meant you were on your way!). I don't remember much of what happenned around this time (I think because I was so tired and focused on what I needed to do), so it's a good thing your daddy was keeping track of everything that happenned. Below is an excerpt from his notes:

11am
Mom getting very hot, applying cold towels to cool her down. Nurse also mounted a fan close to Mom so she could cool off. Mom is complaining of nausea.

1pm
Mom not feeling well, vomits twice and feels better. Dr Johannsen comes in and says that Mom might be completely dilated. Nurse Sheryl doesn’t agree, does a full (painful) cervical exam. For a brief period, the consensus is that we may need to do a C- Section. An electrode is placed on the baby’s head (which will later result in a scratch when she is born) to help monitor heartrate, this really helped because the earlier heart rate readings were being confused with Mom’s. Once we are focused just on baby’s, they are much stronger. The worry had been that with a slow heart rate, the baby might be too tired to make her way down. Even though the contractions are not as hard as they would want, from 60-80 when they are 40-60, Dr. Johannsen wants Mom to try and push. Mom’s pitocin drip is increased to help with the pushing.

2pm
Mom starts to push, with the help of Sheryl, Barb (the doula), Dad, and Nina. Mom has to push from above, hold her legs up high and wide, and push for 3 sets of 10 seconds each.

4:30pm
After 2 ½ hours of pushing, Dr Johanssen returns and says that if Sophia isn’t born by 5, she is bringing the vacuum. Mom tries a few more hard pushes. Sophia’s head is visible during the pushes, and then disappears. She doesn’t quite crown.

5pm
Dr comes in with the vacuum. She also has paged the NICU team because of the meconium. She attaches the vacuum to the baby's head and does 4 strong pulls.

5:11pm
Sophia is born! She has chubby cheeks, big eyes hands and feet, and is grey and purple when she is born. She also has a head of dark, curly hair. Dr J delivers the head and shoulders, Dad gets to help with the delivery of the back and bottom. Sophia starts to cry before the NICU team can extract from the lungs. She is quickly whisked to the warmer where she is extracted and cleaned up. Mom and Nina are so happy they are holding each other and crying. Sophia is placed on the scale, 8lbs and 9ozs, with an APGAR score of 9. She is cleaned up (she had pooped on the nurse!), swaddled, and placed on Mom’s chest for some bonding time. Mom had a tier 2 tear, which was sewn up while Mom was bonding with Sophia.

(end of Daddy's notes)

I have to say, kiddo, your daddy was an incredible support coach throughout your birth. Even though he hadn't slept for almost 36 hours, he kept me going and helped me stay focused. He was SO excited that he got to help with your delivery. Your Nina kept crying whenever I felt pain, but by the time I started to push, she was right there holding one of my legs and helping me count (that is, when she wasn't answering her phone when your aunts and uncles and cousins were calling! Everyone was so anxious to hear if you had been born yet!). And although I don't remember alot of the specifics after getting the epidural, I do remember very vividly holding you in my arms, looking into your eyes, playing with your little fingers and toes, and thinking to myself that I am the luckiest woman on Earth because I get to be your mom.

Welcome to the world, my precious baby girl. :)

Love,
Mama

P.S. Here are a couple of pictures taken right after you were born! :

And.... Still.... Waiting...

Dear precious baby girl,

I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, and guess what? I am still dilated at 5 cm. So, only a little progress from last week, and apparently you are happy as a clam inside my tummy right now. But it must be really fun in there, because you are dancing all around in there and don't let your mama get any sleep. *yawn*

The good news is, if you aren't here by this Saturday, we're going to go to the hospital to have a non-stress test. This test will involve hooking me up to a bunch of monitors that will track your heartrate, your movements, and all of my contractions to make sure that you aren't in any distress. Even if everything looks good, my doctor said that if the Labor and Delivery unit isn't very busy that day, she will probably induce labor by giving me a drug called pitocin.

Generally, when pitocin is used to start labor, the contractions will be a LOT stronger (because it's a synthetic form of a human hormone called oxytocin, it works a little differently on the body so contractions aren't as natural as they would be otherwise). Luckily, because I am dilated halfway already (I still can't believe it!), labor with you will be pretty short. In fact, if I have any major contractions at ALL before Saturday, I am supposed to rush to the hospital instead of waiting until they're 5 minutes apart.

So right now, I'm just waiting for your arrival! Everything is ready for you to come home with us, we just need you to decide to join us. At the very least, it looks like you will be with us by Saturday at the latest! Wow, I can't wait :).

Love,
Mama

Still Waiting....

Dear precious baby girl,
Well, your due date came and went yesterday, and it seems that you are reluctant to come out and meet us! It must be really fun in my tummy, because you are wiggling around in there a BUNCH! We were hoping you would be born this weekend, because your aunt Marie and uncle David drove up to visit us from Portland. It would have been so fun if you decided to be born when they were here. Next week, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack are flying to Seattle from Albuquerque, and they would love to meet you in person. I wonder if you'll be here by then?

Could you please be here by then?

Please?

(your mama's gettin' really uncomfortable as you are growing bigger and bigger, is all I'm sayin'.)

Love,
Mama :)

Getting There.... Slllloooowwwlllyyyyyyy

Dear precious baby girl,
It's become painfully (literally) clear to your daddy and I that you are already exercising your stubborn nature by staying in my tummy and teasing us mercilessly with this whole labor thing. Today we went to the obgyn, thinking that you MUST have made progress, since I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced for TWO WHOLE WEEKS before today. As it turns out, I am now 4-5 cm dilated, but STILL just 50% effaced. You are also kind of high in my pelvis still, and stuck at the -2 station (see below image):


(image courtesy of Nuclear Medical Art)





















The good news, I suppose, is that I am dilated almost halfway, which means that when my actual labor contractions start regularly, there isn't much more left to go (at 10cm you will be ready to meet us!). So most likely, labor will go pretty quickly once those contractions start. Thank goodness for that!!! Apparently for women whose contractions start when they are at 0-1 centimeters, the most difficult part of labor is GETTING to 4-5 centimeters, so I basically have made most of the progress already with only moderately painful, irregular contractions for the last couple of weeks. I can't really complain about that, can I?

The doctor said that she would let me go one week past your due date (which is this Saturday, can you believe that???) before suggesting an induction. We would REALLY prefer not to induce you, so could you please come out soon and join us in the world? We would be MOST grateful. Thanks! :)

Love,
Mama

I Don't Think Baby Murphy Knows What Day It Is

Dear precious little girl,
Today is Labor Day, and your mama here thinks that perhaps you didn't get the invitation to come out and join us in the world. You've been giving me the signs now for over a week- lots of contractions (but not regular ones), less frequent movements (since you're running out of room in there), pelvic pressure... but still you've decided to stay put for now.

But I'm still hoping that sometime today, on LABOR DAY, you'll let us actually go INTO labor, because wow, am I ready to give birth to you!

Love,
Mama

Almost There!

Dear precious baby girl,
I know it has been FOREVER since your daddy and I have updated this blog! We're bad parents already! The truth is, though, that we have been so busy lately, between traveling to New Mexico for your cousins' weddings, to having people visit, to getting your nursery ready, to finishing up our childbirth classes, to getting things done at work so that when we're home on maternity leave we won't have people constantly calling and emailing us for work stuff... it's been crazy around here! Not to mention that your mama here is seemingly trying to set a world record for number of naps taken in a day because I am JUST. THAT. TIRED.

There is alot to report since the last time we wrote a post here, but first, PICTURES!

Here is what I look like at the 38 week mark:























I would just like to note that up until a couple of weeks ago, I was all kinds of excited that I hadn't had any stretch marks, and was even teasing some of the other expectant mamas in my pregnant mama's group that neener neener, I didn't have any stretch marks ha ha ha ha! And then last week, WHAMMO. Serves me right. Look how many I have now! *sigh*

Here are a couple of pictures of your nursery under development:








































Your daddy has been doing alot more work on it in the last week, though, so it will look more finished very soon! It's been so fun watching your daddy put together the nursery- he did all the painting, he put together your crib, he hung the drapes, hung up the light fixure, put together the bookshelf, painted the rocking chair, painted the letters above your crib, picked out the rug/lamp/hamper/nightlight combo, and hung up the pictures. My job has been to wash and fold all of your clothes and bedding, organize the little decorative items, and generally tell your daddy- "Yeah, that looks great! Right there! No, a little to the left! Perfect!".

Your daddy has also been busy putting together your stroller, carseat, and pack n' play:
















So as you can see, we are getting ready for your arrival!

ABOUT YOU:
You are now 38 weeks old, which is something your daddy and I almost cannot believe! Your due date is in only two weeks and you are now considered full-term! Wow! We have a feeling, though, that you will probably arrive before then, because at my doctor's appointment last week, I found out that I'm already 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced (effaced refers to the thinness of my cervix)! Plus, I've been having mild contractions now for almost a week, but they aren't regular yet, and they don't hurt too much. Of course, that will change when I go into active labor, but for right now we're just playing the "watch and wait" game.

At this point, you weigh about 7 pounds, and you are about 21 inches long. I can definitely tell that you're getting bigger, because not only is my tummy a LOT bigger, but I also can see you move around in my tummy a LOT! We've been trying to catch your movements on video, but every time we get the camera turned on and ready to go, you stop moving. Apparently you're camera shy just like your mama!

For the last couple of weeks, your biggest job has been to gain weight and put on lots of body fat which will keep you warm after you're born. All the rest of your organs have been fully formed and ready to go for a while now, and you have just been hanging out, practicing breathing, blinking your eyes, and probably sucking your thumb or maybe even your toes since you're all squished up in there!

According to my doctor, your heartbeat is nice and strong, you're already in the perfect head-down position for birth, and you're measuring at exactly the right size for this week. So everything looks great! Now all that's left is for you to decide when you're ready to come out and meet us!


ABOUT YOUR MAMA:
In additionto being super tired (both from not sleeping well at night and also lugging around about 28 extra pounds), the last month or so has been pretty tough on your mama here. It's getting almost impossible to get in and out of a car or stand up from a chair, I am going to the bathroom every 15 minutes (or so it seems), I have swollen feet and ankles constantly, and I get literally out-of-breath exhausted by walking just 50 feet! Plus, all kinds of things are leaking out of all kinds of places, which is REALLY weird. I'm also pretty sure that we'll have to buy a wheelbarrow sometime soon, because I think that's the only thing that will carry around my HUMUNGOUS boobs. And I haven't even started lactating yet! Aggghhh!

Emotionally, I'm all over the map. There are some days when I am so excited about seeing you that I can't STAND it! And then there are some times when I get worried about what might happen during labor, about whether you'll be healthy, and about how much our lives are going to change after you're born (and whether I'm *truly* prepared for that). It's a good thing I married your daddy, because he has so much confidence in me getting through labor and being a good mama. His calm nature and faith that everything will turn out great has been a huge help to me. I know I've said it a million times before, but I am SO glad that he is going to be your daddy, and I cannot wait for you to meet him.

I think your daddy and I are prepared as much as we can be for labor. We have our hospital bag packed and ready to go, our birth plan written out, we have hired our doula, and we've practiced different ways to cope with pain during labor. We're going to try and have a natural childbirth with no interventions (we have lots of reasons for this), so it's important for us to have lots of strategies for dealing with pain. Of course, I have always been kind of a wimp when it comes to pain, so if it really gets bad, I'll probably choose to have an epidural. Of course, I could end up with a C-section too, because there are so many unpredictable things that happen during birth! So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

When we head off to the hospital, your daddy and I will send out an email to all of our friends and family, and we'll call our parents and siblings. We'll also be sure to update this blog as much as we can (yes, we're bringing our laptops with us to the hospital), because we know everyone will be excited to hear about what's going on and see pictures of you after you're born!

Very soon, baby girl, your daddy and I will have you home with us, and we'll be able to hold you and tell you in person how much we love you. How special is that?

Love,
Mama

Woah, baby!

Dear precious baby girl,

Alot has happenned in the last few weeks! We went to your cousin Andrea's wedding in New Mexico earlier this month, and had such a good time with everyone. Andrea looked absolutely beautiful on her wedding day, and she and her new husband Johnno look so happy together! Many of your aunts, uncles, and cousins hadn't seen me pregnant, so you got lots and lots of belly rubs. Your daddy and I also got to meet your brand new cousin Amelia when we were there, and she is absolutely adorable! You will meet her during Christmas vacation when you, your daddy, and I travel to New Mexico for the holidays.

We also had our baby shower while we were there! All of your cousins, your aunts and uncles, and some of our friends came to celebrate with us, and it was so much fun! You have so many new things for your nursery now, and so many new clothes- everyone was so generous, and we are now all set with all the supplies we need for your arrival! Your aunt Marie had your daddy and I play a game where we had our backs to each other so we couldn't see how each other answered, and then she asked us a bunch of questions about which of us will be more responsible for things like waking up in the middle of the night to feed you, who will teach you your first curse word, who will be more strict with you, who will spoil you the most, etc. It was really funny to see how many times your daddy and I agreed and disagreed with each other.

Last week, I flew to Texas for some work training (you are one well-travelled little girl already!). While I was there, I was able to visit with alot of my friends from the hospial where I used to work. They surprised me with some baby gifts for you, so it was like an impromptu, unexpected baby shower! It was so thoughtful of everyone to come and bring such adorable things for you. Your daddy and I will definitely have to go back to Texas after you are born so that you can meet everyone who took such good care of your mama when she was pregnant with you :).

I am now 33 weeks pregnant, which means that you are getting really, really big! All of your organs are fully formed, you can feel, hear, and see, and you are about 16 inches long and weigh about 4 1/2 pounds already! From this point forward, you will gain a half pound each week until you are born in JUST 7 WEEKS! Your daddy and I can't believe that in less than two months, we will have you here at home with us! We are busy finishing your nursery, so that everything will be ready for you when you come home for the first time.

Our doctor says that everything is looking great- your heartbeat is really strong, and you are measuring right on target. I feel pretty good for being at this stage, having only gained 21 pounds so far. In the past couple of weeks, I have started to have some shooting pain from my lower back into my left hip, which makes walking a little more difficult these days, but other than that and some occasional heartburn, I have no complaints :). My belly seems to be growing so much each week- this is what I look like at this point:























Can you believe how much bigger my belly is since the last time we took a picture?

Next weekend, we will take our last trip before you are born. Your cousin Melanie is getting married in New Mexico, and luckily, I am still able to fly on a plane. It is so weird to think that this is the last time I will see most of my family without a baby in my arms... the next time we see everyone, you will be about 3 months old! Wow.

Love,
Mama