Birth Story part 2

Yesterday I posted part 1 of Third baby's birth story, and now I get to write about the exciting part where I finally meet the little lady. Warning: this is the birthing details that I want to remember, but if you don't like that sort of thing then just stop reading now. So, I was at the hospital laboring, and the Officer had gone into his awesome support coach mode (this time he didn't need to tell me to find another gear ;). I had done Bug's delivery with no epidural, and I was hoping to do that again, because I thought the physical recovery was so much easier than Belle's. When we first got to the hospital the pain still wasn't too bad, and having the Officer just massage my back during contractions was enough to get me through them. There were still little breaks between the pain where I could watch some of the World Cup (fortunately it was only the 3rd place match) and talk to my MIL and SIL who had met us at the hospital. At that point I was just trying to offer up each contraction for others who are suffering, which helped me, but after an hour or so things got really painful, and I remember thinking "this is exactly what purgatory will be like". I got in the shower and the Officer used the shower head to spray my back, which helped the pain. Then things suddenly got intense, and I was doing the embarrassing screaming/moaning thing that the Officer later lovingly referred to as my "Hulk Smash" yell.

Worth every second of pain

After a few of these extremely painful contractions I told the Officer that I felt like I needed to poop, which during labor would be code for "I need to push". So the Officer told me we should go back to the hospital bed. The Doctor said that I was complete and ready to push anytime, but I informed her that "I didn't want to" (who actually "wants" to do anything involved with giving birth?!?!). I thought the hospital bed looked like a form of torture (I never want to sit at all when in labor), and the idea of sitting in the bed and pushing made me want to cry. I told the nurse I didn't want to get in the bed (I imagine I sounded like a bratty 13-year-old girl with all of my "I don't wannas"). She was so amazing and said it was okay if I didn't get in the bed and made it seem like no big deal at all (she must not have realized that I was about to start pushing whether anyone was ready or not). Then I very loudly informed everyone that I needed to poop (again, code for I'm about to push), and everyone realized I was about to push the baby out in the middle of the floor. The nurse threw down some blankets, the Officer helped hold me, and the Doctor caught the baby, as I just squatted down and delivered the baby. Well, there were a few more "Hulk Smash" screams involved and three incredibly painful pushes, and I think I yelled something like "Just get the baby out!!!!!!!!!", but then there in the middle of the floor my beautiful baby arrived at 6:18pm. The Officer got to announce that we were blessed with yet another little girl, and I was surprised. not. at. all.

I love finally holding a new baby

I got to snuggle my sweet little baby (now I was completely fine with chilling in the hospital bed). Then as they took her away to clean her up, I was shocked to see little rolls on her arms. The nurse said "wow that's a big looking baby", which surprised me since she does this for a living, and then she announced that our daughter was 9 lbs 12 oz. What?!?! Belle was only 7 lbs 11 oz after being 10 days late and Bug was 6 lbs 15 oz, so I thought I only had nice little reasonably-sized babies. She barely fit in newborn diapers, but that girl was absolutely perfect. I just sat there holding her for an hour telling her over and over again how much I love her.

the big baby girl =)

My sweet Third baby came out very late and very big, but her labor and delivery went smoothly and for that I'm grateful. So far she has been an easy baby, who loves to eat, sleep, and smile at her big sisters. Just like every sweet soul that God has entrusted me with so far, I can't imagine my life without her.

With my three beautiful girls

The birth that finally started....

I'm finally typing the birth story for my Third little baby girl. I guess procrastination runs in the Mikfamily, because baby girl took her sweet old time deciding to arrive (little lady was 10 days late). On Friday July 11 the Officer and I went out on a date for the first time in months. It was wonderful, but halfway through I definitely thought I was going into labor. I started to get very uncomfortable and have some random pain and shortness of breath (one might consider these contractions, but I never like to say that I'm actually having contractions until a baby is about to appear). We got to dinner and I was in a lot of pain, and the Officer and I both began to think that maybe baby would come that night! Then halfway through dinner all of my pain, discomfort, and shortness of breath ended completely, and it was obvious the baby would not be coming yet.

Saturday morning the Officer was gone at his prayer group, and I woke up with a sudden uncharacteristic surge of energy. I knew that one way or another this baby would be coming very soon, so I frantically cleaned the house. I was trying very hard to be patient while I waited for baby to arrive, and most days I did okay, but I also tried everything I possibly could to induce labor. That morning, as my final attempt to encourage this baby to arrive before my Sunday night induction, I made myself a "Midwife cocktail" (thank you Miesha for the recipe!). Of course about 15 minutes after I started drinking it the Officer came home and informed me that my in-laws would be coming over that afternoon for a cookout. Awesome. There is nothing like the idea of being in labor in front of a house full of people. Oh well.

The girls were enjoying some pool time with their cousins, while I was inside being "crampy"

Either I was already about to go into labor or that "Midwife cocktail" is a miracle worker, because 2 hours after I drank it the contractions began. Of course, I don't like to say I'm having contractions until I'm 100% sure, so instead I just told the Officer that I was feeling "crampy".... at 41 weeks "crampy" would be code for "I'm in labor, but too dumb to admit it". My sweet SIL Mantha stayed with me and a few times kindly informed me that, "Those are definitely contractions", but I just kept going with the idea of "crampy". Around 2:00 it was time to put all the children down for naps, and I finally admitted that I was having regular contractions. I was reading Belle a book before her nap, and I had to stop and stand up twice in the middle of it to breath through contractions, but again for some reason, I figured it was still early labor, because it just wasn't that painful yet.  My wonderful SIL was still keeping a close eye on me and my contractions, and around 3:00 started urging me to go to the hospital. The Officer was not sleeping this time, but was watching Golf with his family :)

Gonna meet this baby soon....

I hadn't been timing any contractions, but Mantha was paying attention and knew they were only a few minutes apart. She just kindly kept urging me to go to the hospital and making sure I had everything I needed. The Officer and I got to the hospital around 4:00, and it was the perfect time to get there. When I got all checked in my contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart and I was 6cm dilated. After my delivery with Bug, I was thinking things might go pretty quickly at this point, and I was right.

Part 2 coming tomorrow.....

Bug's surprising birth story

A few days ago I finally typed out Belle's birth story, and now it's time for Bug's. My labor and delivery with Bug was pretty much the exact opposite of Belle's in every way.  I had Belle 10 days past my due date, so I was assuming Bug would come late too. Bug was due March 7, so I figured sometime mid-March I'd be meeting my baby. My pregnancy with Bug was my easiest one, and everything was going smoothly a week before my due date. I spent that day teaching preschool and that evening at David's Bridal with Belle picking up her flower girl dress for our friends' wedding. In my normal procrastinating fashion I had nothing ready for Bug's birth.

It was February 28th at about 10:00 pm, and the Officer and I were getting ready for bed. I was so surprised when I started having some contractions. I told the Officer that it must just be Braxton Hicks, since this baby was surely not coming for another week. The Officer laughed at me and said, "This baby is coming, so I better get some sleep". His need to sleep while I'm in labor seems to be the only thing my labors had in common :) Then he went to bed. I was still in complete denial and decided I should go to bed, since I had to teach in the morning. I tried to sleep, but my contractions every five minutes would not allow it, so I got up and called my SIL around midnight, since she was in a different time zone. I realized that not only might I be having my baby in February but that it was a leap year, so this baby could be arriving February 29th.

She was a pretty chill little baby

I started realizing that this baby might actually be coming soon, so I decided I should write some lesson plans for the remainder of the week and pack a bag for the hospital. Around 2:00 am I woke the Officer up, since I had been having steady contractions for hours. He called his Mom, who drove the hour to our house to stay with Belle so we could go to the hospital. His Mom arrived around 3 or 4 in the morning, and I was still in denial. After my marathon labor with Belle I assumed I had a long time until this baby actually arrived. I finished lesson plans and took a shower, when my sweet MIL kindly said, "ummm I think maybe you guys should head to the hospital".  I told her I felt like a wimp, because these contractions were already so painful, and I probably had a long way to go.

Dads and their daughters are just the sweetest..... Bug was a tiny little peanut

We left for the hospital just before 5 am, and luckily the Officer got us there very quickly. We got our ticket for the parking garage timestamped at about 5:15am, and Bug was born at 6:17am! When we arrived at the hospital I still thought I must have a lot of laboring left, so I refused the wheelchair and waddled my way to the room, stopping every 10 feet to breath through a contraction. We made it to the room, and they tried to get me hooked up to monitors and start an antibiotic, but I was completely freaking out by then. I was 7cm when I got there, and I was definitely panicking about the pain. All the nurses trying to talk to me and mess with me were making me mad, and I looked at the Officer and begged him to "please help". Then I yelled, "Something's happening to me!", and a nurse said, "yes, you're going to have a baby", and my water broke. I tried to tell them that the baby was coming right NOW, but in my mind nobody seemed very urgent. The Doctor never made it to the room, but there was a Resident there to catch Bug as she came out in 2 pushes just one hour after we had parked our car.

Grandma has 30 Grandchildren, and is ALWAYS there to meet them. 

It was definitely a very intense and painful hour right before Bug arrived, but it was much better than the 40 hour ordeal with Belle. My recovery after Bug was super easy, and she was a pretty easy baby other than some reflux issues. She was a good sleeper, similar to her sister. Bug surprised me in every single way. She surprised me when she came only 13 months after her sister, she surprised me coming a week early, and she surprised me with her fast and easy labor, but once I was holding my sweet little Bug and for every moment since, I can't imagine our lives or our family without her.

Blessed

Now I'm 38 weeks pregnant with our newest peanut, and I have absolutely no idea what to expect! I'm hoping things will go as smoothly as they did with Bug, but hopefully I give myself a little more time to settle in at the hospital. No matter what, I just can't wait to finally hold this little baby and find out what child God has blessed us with this time!

Belle's marathon birth story

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.

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.

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). 

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.

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!

Belle meeting Grandma and Grandpa