We are very close to having another baby, which means a new (hopefully not too exciting) birth story. I never want to forget these miraculous stories, and I want my girls some day to be able to read about their grand entries into the world, so I figured before I have the newest baby I should document the birth stories for my first two kiddos.
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| Nothing better than newborn snuggles |
So here is what I remember about the day(s) when my sweet Belle decided to make her appearance....
I was 10 days past my due date and starting to get a little antsy about having this baby. I woke up at about 5:00 am Saturday January 22 finally having contractions. The Officer worked the midnight shift back then, so he was at work for another hour or two. It wasn't bad yet, so I didn't call him home, but instead called my Mom to tell her I thought maybe I was having contractions (I was so clueless). When the Officer got home around 7:00, he said "I need to get some sleep first". He had just been up all night and he didn't know it.... but this was going to be a long process, so it's a good thing he went to bed. He spent the next few hours sleeping while I hung out alone having back labor (but I was clueless about that too). My Mom called me a few times wanting to come meet us at the hospital.... she kept reminding me that all the women in my family have very fast labors. HA. Finally, that afternoon around 2 or 3 I had been having contractions every 4 or 5 minutes for a while, so I woke the Officer up and said we should get ready to go to the hospital. My Mom, my Dad and my sister Martizi drove 2 hours to meet us at the hospital, and they beat us there! The Officer and I arrived at the hospital and had no clue what was in store for us.
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When we first got there I think I was only about 4cm and we found out that Belle was posterior or "sunny-side-up". That didn't seem like a big deal to me at the time, but I knew nothing about it. I was having back labor, but the pain wasn't too bad at the time, so I enjoyed having my family and the Officer's family stop by to make me laugh at this point. This went on all day, and I was becoming more and more uncomfortable and more and more tired. That night my parents and sister drove back to my house to get some sleep and thought they'd be meeting the little baby in the morning. Sometime that evening I got pitocin to move things along. Then I got an epidural and was finally able to sleep a little bit that night. The next day was more of the same.... horrible pain, kind family keeping me laughing, awesome husband, and very very slow progress in having a baby. My family and the Officer's family all went to Mass and came back to the hospital expecting to meet a baby, but no such luck. So they kept their vigil in the waiting room. Martizi kept everyone at the hospital entertained and tortured the rest of the family with facebook updates and made up information about my baby who was in no mood to make an appearance (I think Martizi texted my other sisters saying that I had a son and named him Pele).
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| Aunt Martizi spent two days waiting to hold this little baby |
Sometime late that afternoon I had about 15 nurses, doctors, and residents rush into my room in a complete panic because the baby's heart rate had dropped. In about 15 seconds I was rushed into the OR and ready for a c-section with the Officer by my side reassuring me that everything was okay. Then Belle's heart rate got normal again, so they didn't have to do a c-section and brought me back to my room, still with no baby in my arms. I think during all of that chaos Belle must have flipped over, because suddenly things started moving along faster and when they checked again she was face-down. It was now Sunday evening January 23, and I had been having painful back labor since Saturday morning. I was completely exhausted when they finally told me that the baby was ready, and it was time to push. I thought this part would go quickly. Wrong again. I pushed for almost 3 hours and felt like this baby was never going to come. Finally the doctor told me that this baby needed to come out soon. The Officer looked at me and said, "You need to find another gear or you are having a c-section"...... yes this is how the Officer coaches me, and it works perfectly for us. Two pushes later and little Miss Belle finally made her grand appearance. It was 9:14 on January 23, and I had been in labor for 40 long hours, but she was worth every second of it.
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| Finally holding my baby in my arms!! |
Belle's birth was long and painful, but fortunately, she was my first baby and I didn't know anything different. She also made up for it by being the easiest baby in the world. She immediately slept through the night, and when she was two or three weeks old she was sleeping about 8 hours a night. Like I said.... easiest baby in the world. Now I just hope that I don't have any more marathon labors like that one!
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| Belle meeting Grandma and Grandpa |
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