free time

My little munchkin is currently in the kitchen in her swing taking a nap looking like this....

So I thought... free time! I should blog. Now I'm here... blogging. I have nothing to even talk about. So for journaling purposes...

Isabel's Birth Story

The 11th was my due date and I was pretty depressed because I was convinced that I was going to have to be induced. Little did I know when I went to bed that night that I would go into labor. Troy had just started school and had 7:30am class so we had tried to go to bed early. I had a hard time going to sleep that night. I probably fell asleep sometime around midnight.
I woke up about 1:30am because I was uncomfortable. I thought I just had a really full bladder since lately if my bladder got too full it would start to be uncomfortable. I got up to go to the bathroom. I went pee and because I was so tired I just kinda sat there for a second afterward. All of a sudden I heard this gush of water or pee pour out of me. I thought "Did I just pee again?" I sat on the toilet really confused for a minute. I stood up to look in the toilet and all I could tell was that I had peed. I just stood there with my pants around my ankles trying to decide if my water had broken or if I no longer had control of my own bladder anymore. That's when I felt it again and pink tinged water dribbled down my leg. I was pretty sure my water had broken at that point but I was still not 100% sure, I wasn't having contractions. I decided to wake up Troy and call the doctor.

I called the doctor and they told me to come to the hospital. After I hung up I was pretty positive my water had broken for real. Troy and I tried to get everything we needed in disarray. We were tired and unprepared, we both had assumed I'd have to be induced. We drove to the hospital and I still wasn't having contractions. The hospital admitted me about 2am. I asked the nurse if I could take a shower. I hadn't showered all day and if people were going to be all up in my business I wanted to be clean. Of course I had forgotten shampoo and conditioner and the hospital only had conditioner. I ended up having to wash my hair with liquid hand soap. But it was better than greasy nasty hair.

My contractions started while I was in the shower. I have never been against an epidural or anything but I had always wanted to see how "tough" I was and to put off the epidural as long as possible. By 4am my contractions were pretty painful and while I could still breathe through them I knew I wouldn't be able to much longer. So the anesthesiologist came and gave me an epidural. My whole body was shaking because I was so nervous but according to Troy and the anesthesiologist I "took it like a champ." I had no adverse side effects from the epidural and after that everything was great. I tried to sleep but I had too much anxiety.

After 14 hours of labor I was fully dialated but Isabel's head still wasn't quite far down enough and she hadn't made any progress in several hours (I would find out later it was because she had a really big head). So I ended up having to push her down the birth canal. Pushing is some crazy hard work! It took me a little bit to figure out the whole pushing thing. I had a patient controlled epidural and was able to keep it pretty light. I was able to still feel my contractions and I still had some use of my legs. I was soo worried about pooping during delivery. The nurse finally told me that having a baby felt like if I was "constipated" and that it probably would feel like I was pooping my pants (or in my case lack of pants). I had to get over the fact that I might poop. And just in case you were wondering... I didn't!

I pushed for 2.5 hours and I got to a point where I was starting to be unsure if I would last much longer. The nurse finally told me it was time for the doctor to come and I was so relieved. I love love love my doctor. The doctor arrived about 5:30pm and Isabel was born at 5:59pm and 59 seconds. I had a mirror and was able to watch the whole process. It was the the coolest thing I've ever seen. That's when things went momentarily scary.

The nurse and my doctor kept telling me about how after I delivered they would put Isabel on my stomach and wipe her off and then they wanted me to have skin to skin contact with her. Isabel came out and they put her on my stomach. Troy cut the cord and my nurse and Dr. Holmes started wiping her off but she had yet to cry. They kept wiping and rubbing and saying things like "come on little girl." The pediatric nurse asked Dr. Holmes "Do you need me to take her?" There was a nod and someone flipped a switch and 4 other nurses came running in. Troy and I lost it. I honestly couldn't tell you how long it took for them to get her to breathe, it felt like forever. All I know is the second that she finally cried was the best feeling in the world. After that they took her to the special care nursery to be monitored. Troy went with her and after a half an hour they finally brought her to me and I was able to hold her for the first time.

The whole experience was so surreal. I still think it's insane that I have a baby but I'm pretty glad she is mine.