I've taken a leave of absence for quite some time from my blog but many times in between I thought I should come back and write my thoughts, memories, and experiences down but never got down to it. After something that happened tonight, I'm serious about coming back and etching memories into a place that I can look back on and share with my children when they're older. I need a journal of some sort, there are too many great conversations that I have with my children these days that I can't afford to forget.
For instance, just tonight Eden woke up to use the bathroom. Daddy takes her to the potty and tucks her back into bed. After he says goodnight once again and gets ready to walk out the door, Eden asks him to "cover Elijah". I was just talking to a friend today about how blessed I am to have a daughter as a first child; she watches over her brother and takes care of him. And then she goes and shows me exactly what I'm talking about. She truly has a heart of gold and I hope that never changes.
My mom always reminds me that I was the same way with my brother... and then we grew up. The majority of my childhood memories are not happy, taking-care-of-my-brother type of memories. They're more the arguing, annoying type of memories and the reminder is one that I always smile at. I would like to think that I was a great big sister to my little brother but there's none of those loving memories that I can remember. I really do hope and pray that Eden is different and she continues to watch out after her brother and embrace having him to love and build a relationship with. Elijah really is lucky to have such a sister, he looks up to her and loves her so much. He mimics everything she does and you can see how much he tries to make her laugh to gain approval. Their relationship is precious and I hope to gather all those simple memories for them to cherish for the rest of their lives.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 31, 2012
Baby #2 makes a debut
This should have came about 2 weeks ago but time on a computer is basically nil when you have two children under 2. Let's go back, back to about 36 weeks pregnant and see what has happened since.
They day before Thanksgiving I was laying in bed about to go to bed when I couldn't fall asleep because of this ridiculously crazy pressure build up right under my stomach. It hurt, and on top of that I thought I was feeling contractions. I honestly couldn't remember what contractions felt like with Eden so I was laying there wondering if this was really what I was feeling or braxton hicks, which I've never felt before. After about 3 hours of this pain (I couldn't time it because it was just an ongoing pain from the pressure) I decided to call my doctor and see what was up. Guess who answered the phone? My doctor, luckily. I've met all the other doctors in the practice but I was somehow relieved that it was my doctor that was in that day. He told me to come in just to rule out preterm labor so at 1am, my brother got a phone call. He rushed over and E and I rushed over to the hospital. After checking me, my doctor admitted me and said I was going to have a baby. He told me to try and get some rest (I was only 4cm) and that he'd check up on me in the morning when he wakes up. Well 7am rolls around, I got zero sleep because of all the contractions and what happens? My contractions completely stop. Not only do they stop but after being checked again, I went from 4cm to 2cm... yes it really can happen. My dr discharged me and told me to keep on my toes and that this baby really could come any day, he swore he may see me that evening. Well days came and went and no baby was in sight. It really was a blessing, I was 36weeks and 5days, really close to being full term but not full term yet. God had other plans for baby E.
Not only did days come and pass but weeks came and went and still no baby E in sight. I went to my 37 week appointment, 38, 39, and 40 with still no baby. I was on my toes for 4 weeks wondering when this baby was going to come since my scare happened and one of my biggest fears was having a baby at home and not being able to make it to the hospital in time.
At my 40 week doctor's appointment, I asked my dr if he would strip my membranes just to see if it would help jump start anything. He said they don't strip membranes any longer because of infections so he asked if I wanted to set a date for induction. Well he set it for the next day, not what I expected but I went along with it.
I got to the hospital on December 14 at 7 in the morning. By 7:45, we were settled in the room with everything in place for my doctor to come and break my water. He then started "pitocin" though it didn't even start before my labor really took off. By 8:00, although I said I was going to go natural I asked for an epidural. That's how painful my labor was right from the start. I asked my nurse how long it usually takes for moms to get to 10cm and she said a few hours normally but definitely not any time soon. I was in for a ride.
Turns out, my labor was FAST; so fast that my doctor wasn't even able to make it to his first c-section appointment. When I initially asked for the epidural, my nurse kind of chuckled and said well your blood work hasn't even been submitted and you'll have to wait. By 8:20 she came back in and said that the blood work was finished but there was no anesthesiologist to come and give me the epi. I WAS IN PAIN! I told her I couldn't handle it any longer and I need her to do something, anything to get me the epi.
8:45, my nurse found an anesthesiologist from a different floor to come and give me the epi. By the time he was done at 8:55, I told them that I needed to push. I laid down, told them I wouldn't push until the epi started to work and was told that the epi takes time and time is what we didn't have. I pushed and since we were team green, my doctor asked me to look down to see what sex the baby was. I told the doctor to just get the baby out and he insisted I look. I quickly looked down and the nurse announced that we were having a boy. Elijah was born at 9:05am and I felt every single part of my labor.
Not how I expected to have a "natural" birth but it was an experience I wouldn't take back. My labor was about an hour long, definitely not normal and the nurse was absolutely surprised. My doctor made a joke that if I wasn't induced, I might of had the baby in the car since my hospital was 20 minutes away. Thank goodness God had a plan.
At my 40 week doctor's appointment, I asked my dr if he would strip my membranes just to see if it would help jump start anything. He said they don't strip membranes any longer because of infections so he asked if I wanted to set a date for induction. Well he set it for the next day, not what I expected but I went along with it.
I got to the hospital on December 14 at 7 in the morning. By 7:45, we were settled in the room with everything in place for my doctor to come and break my water. He then started "pitocin" though it didn't even start before my labor really took off. By 8:00, although I said I was going to go natural I asked for an epidural. That's how painful my labor was right from the start. I asked my nurse how long it usually takes for moms to get to 10cm and she said a few hours normally but definitely not any time soon. I was in for a ride.
Turns out, my labor was FAST; so fast that my doctor wasn't even able to make it to his first c-section appointment. When I initially asked for the epidural, my nurse kind of chuckled and said well your blood work hasn't even been submitted and you'll have to wait. By 8:20 she came back in and said that the blood work was finished but there was no anesthesiologist to come and give me the epi. I WAS IN PAIN! I told her I couldn't handle it any longer and I need her to do something, anything to get me the epi.
8:45, my nurse found an anesthesiologist from a different floor to come and give me the epi. By the time he was done at 8:55, I told them that I needed to push. I laid down, told them I wouldn't push until the epi started to work and was told that the epi takes time and time is what we didn't have. I pushed and since we were team green, my doctor asked me to look down to see what sex the baby was. I told the doctor to just get the baby out and he insisted I look. I quickly looked down and the nurse announced that we were having a boy. Elijah was born at 9:05am and I felt every single part of my labor.
Not how I expected to have a "natural" birth but it was an experience I wouldn't take back. My labor was about an hour long, definitely not normal and the nurse was absolutely surprised. My doctor made a joke that if I wasn't induced, I might of had the baby in the car since my hospital was 20 minutes away. Thank goodness God had a plan.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Baby Chon #2
Baby E,
I'm sorry that you're getting the shaft. Its so hard to keep up with writing and taking pictures of you in my belly when your sister is all over the place, as rambunctious as can be. She definitely keeps me on my toes and makes sure I don't have a spare minute to rest. You'll have so much fun once you come because you won't ever be alone. Eden will take good care of you and make sure nobody messes with you, I can already tell.
This week was a great week, I took out all your clothes, got them washed, hung, and ready for when you arrive. Its hard to really get things ready since I'm not sure if you're a boy or girl but at least all the clothes you can wear are out and ready. Eden made sure to help, taking all the ugly folded clothes to make sure I fold them a second and third time until I got it just right. She even helped get me hangers to hang your clothes.
I can't believe you'll be here in less than 17 weeks. Time sure is flying by when I've got a helper next to me awaiting your arrival and its not just dad and mom here. We can't wait for you to come and I'm so excited you'll be here for Christmas. You are seriously a gift from above and I can't be more thankful to He that made everything possible.
Till next time baby E,
your loving mom
P.S. I promise to take more pictures of you to post
I'm sorry that you're getting the shaft. Its so hard to keep up with writing and taking pictures of you in my belly when your sister is all over the place, as rambunctious as can be. She definitely keeps me on my toes and makes sure I don't have a spare minute to rest. You'll have so much fun once you come because you won't ever be alone. Eden will take good care of you and make sure nobody messes with you, I can already tell.
This week was a great week, I took out all your clothes, got them washed, hung, and ready for when you arrive. Its hard to really get things ready since I'm not sure if you're a boy or girl but at least all the clothes you can wear are out and ready. Eden made sure to help, taking all the ugly folded clothes to make sure I fold them a second and third time until I got it just right. She even helped get me hangers to hang your clothes.
I can't believe you'll be here in less than 17 weeks. Time sure is flying by when I've got a helper next to me awaiting your arrival and its not just dad and mom here. We can't wait for you to come and I'm so excited you'll be here for Christmas. You are seriously a gift from above and I can't be more thankful to He that made everything possible.
Till next time baby E,
your loving mom
P.S. I promise to take more pictures of you to post
Win a $25 gift card to Sweet Bottom Boutique
To all my friends who cloth diaper or would like to try, Sweet Bottoms Boutique is giving away a $25 gift card RIGHT NOW. Check it out :)
www.sweetbottomsbaby.com
www.sweetbottomsbaby.com
Thursday, January 5, 2012
great customer service deserves an applaud
I decided before having Eden that I would make my own baby food for her for a few different reasons.
1. I know exactly what she is eating.. let it be veggies, fruits, pasta, meat. I'd rather have make it myself then to feed Eden something someone else made that I had no control over. Plus, meat and pastas in a jar are plain GROSS.
2. Cost - with just about anything in this world, convenience costs money and inconvenience saves. Some may think that making your own baby food is inconvenient but because of this you save so much money. I bought frozen organic peas, 2 packs for $3.00. I made the equivalent of 15 jars of baby food peas. If you bought Earth's best or another organic brand, 1 jar would be about $1.00 = $15.00 and saving you a total of $12.00!
3. Mixing flavors. After freezing different veggies and fruits, all you have to do is mix 2 cubes of fruit/veggie together to create a new flavor at each meal time. Totally easy and so much fun! The big plus is that little one can try something new and doesn't get tired of the same old veggie/fruit blend.
With creating my own food for Miss E, I bought some freezer trays that are 1oz each. There were a few things that I needed to make sure my freezer trays had.
1. A cover - I wanted to make sure that each freezer tray had a cover so if for some reason there was a spill, it would be contained. Also, with a cover, you can stack your trays on top of each other and freeze a few trays instead of only 1 or 2 at a time.
2. Measurement - Knowing exactly how much each cube contained was important so that I know exactly how much food I'm giving Miss E.
3. Price - I didn't really care to spend more than $10 on a freezer tray, I'm not THAT crazy!
With all that, I found one brand that I really liked and met all my criteria - KIDCO.
Well two days ago, one of my freezer trays broke. It didn't break all the way where I wouldn't be able to use it, but I wasn't happy and I wanted to see if Kidco would do something about it. I decided to contact them. Within 5 minutes of contacting them, the man in charge telling me to send him a picture of my broken tray, I was given a confirmation that I would be receiving a new tray. TWO DAYS later, what do I receive in the mail? A brand new package of freezer trays. Just one of my freezer trays broke, a package contains 2 freezer trays.. so I got a whole new package and I couldn't be happier. They truly sold me and showed me exactly what customer service should be like, and for that I am giving them a little bit of my time to applaud them as well as give them two thumbs up for all my readers to see.
(a side note: KidCo is based out of Libertyville which is only about 10 miles away from me, which I think is pretty awesome.. and hits so close to home)
1. I know exactly what she is eating.. let it be veggies, fruits, pasta, meat. I'd rather have make it myself then to feed Eden something someone else made that I had no control over. Plus, meat and pastas in a jar are plain GROSS.
2. Cost - with just about anything in this world, convenience costs money and inconvenience saves. Some may think that making your own baby food is inconvenient but because of this you save so much money. I bought frozen organic peas, 2 packs for $3.00. I made the equivalent of 15 jars of baby food peas. If you bought Earth's best or another organic brand, 1 jar would be about $1.00 = $15.00 and saving you a total of $12.00!
3. Mixing flavors. After freezing different veggies and fruits, all you have to do is mix 2 cubes of fruit/veggie together to create a new flavor at each meal time. Totally easy and so much fun! The big plus is that little one can try something new and doesn't get tired of the same old veggie/fruit blend.
With creating my own food for Miss E, I bought some freezer trays that are 1oz each. There were a few things that I needed to make sure my freezer trays had.
1. A cover - I wanted to make sure that each freezer tray had a cover so if for some reason there was a spill, it would be contained. Also, with a cover, you can stack your trays on top of each other and freeze a few trays instead of only 1 or 2 at a time.
2. Measurement - Knowing exactly how much each cube contained was important so that I know exactly how much food I'm giving Miss E.
3. Price - I didn't really care to spend more than $10 on a freezer tray, I'm not THAT crazy!
With all that, I found one brand that I really liked and met all my criteria - KIDCO.
Well two days ago, one of my freezer trays broke. It didn't break all the way where I wouldn't be able to use it, but I wasn't happy and I wanted to see if Kidco would do something about it. I decided to contact them. Within 5 minutes of contacting them, the man in charge telling me to send him a picture of my broken tray, I was given a confirmation that I would be receiving a new tray. TWO DAYS later, what do I receive in the mail? A brand new package of freezer trays. Just one of my freezer trays broke, a package contains 2 freezer trays.. so I got a whole new package and I couldn't be happier. They truly sold me and showed me exactly what customer service should be like, and for that I am giving them a little bit of my time to applaud them as well as give them two thumbs up for all my readers to see.
(a side note: KidCo is based out of Libertyville which is only about 10 miles away from me, which I think is pretty awesome.. and hits so close to home)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
now, where to begin
5 months later I finally decided to sit behind my keyboard and restart my blog. It's been quite a journey with little Miss E, the first 3 months were ridiculously hard and of course that would be the case for me. As a first time mom but nanny to 4, I thought having my own child would be a breeze - and of course that wasn't the case. Eden loved to cry. Plain and simple. She would cry waking up, cry going to sleep, cry anytime in between. For 3 months, could you imagine the only sound being cries? It was pretty horrendous but finally we are out of the "colic" stage and now into a much more lovely, active stage.
Miss E is 5 months old and hardly rolling over. At first I was worried that she was hitting her milestone but the DR basically said that she's on the heavier side so there's more weight to move around which could be hard. From what she has seen, heavier babies tend to roll over later than those that are light... well isn't that great, her weight already is holding her back! kidding, of course. I"m so glad she's a healthy, happy baby now.
This is my hello back to the blogging life.. and with that, I leave you with these pictures that tell more than 1000 words.
Miss E is 5 months old and hardly rolling over. At first I was worried that she was hitting her milestone but the DR basically said that she's on the heavier side so there's more weight to move around which could be hard. From what she has seen, heavier babies tend to roll over later than those that are light... well isn't that great, her weight already is holding her back! kidding, of course. I"m so glad she's a healthy, happy baby now.
This is my hello back to the blogging life.. and with that, I leave you with these pictures that tell more than 1000 words.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
6/26/11 changed my life
8:30am - woke up and took the dogs out for a mile walk
9:30am - woke Eugene up to take a shower and got ready for church
10:00am - about to walk out the door to church, I start getting a little cramp and decide to sit on the couch for a second to make sure it wasn't something more. 10 minutes later I realize that this may be the infamous contractions everyone was telling me about. I decide to time them, why not! Well 30 minutes later I realize that yes, these were most likely contractions and they're 5 minutes apart (I mean what the hell do I know, I've never felt a contraction!). My doctor on Thursday said there were three things that might happen for me to go to the hospital: 1. I would have a bloody show, 2. My water would break, 3. I would feel contractions 5 minutes apart.
Well, my contractions were 5 minutes apart so I decided that I might just have to go to the hospital to figure all this out. Well since I was up since 8:30 I decided I would eat something before I go in, just in case I do deliver and I can't eat anything for the day. Eugene and I ate some breakfast.
11:45am - I called my doctor to tell them I think I'm in labor (OMG I'M IN LABOR?, LABOR what a huge word that I thought I wouldn't have to use for another week or so)
12:00pm - Eugene and I put our bags, pillows, blankets, and most importantly the baby seat into the car and headed over to Labor&Delivery at Northwest Community Hospital.
12:30pm - We got to the hospital and they took all my information and checked me in. They started timing my contractions, I was excited to see if these were real contractions or if this was just cramps that I was feeling (they felt like period cramps by this time). Well lo and behold, they were real contractions so they decided to check my cervix. They checked and I was still just about 4 cm, which means no change from Thursday's doctor appointment. Well they decided to call the doctor and let him know and see what he had to say.
Doctor said that since I have no change that they can observe me for about 2 hours and if there is still no change that I'll have to go home. If there is a change, they'd figure out what they would do. Yes, you read that right.. even if I was to get dilated, if there wasn't that big of a change I would have to go home (WHAT A BUMMER).
Here is the problem behind everything. On Sunday, I was 38 weeks and 3 days. The hospital doesn't do any type of intervention until 39 weeks because from their experience if they do intervention before 39 weeks it usually concludes in a c-section. Because of this they wouldn't break my bag of water that was bulging and ready to pop, they couldn't give me any type of pain medication to ease the labor pains and they couldn't emit me until they were 100% sure I would have the baby without interventions.
2:30pm - They did a cervical check on me to see if there were any changes, turns out I was 5 cm dilated so just a little bit of change but a change nonetheless. By this time, my contractions were pretty painful so I told them there was no way I was going home and that I wouldn't even be able to make it out the door with how much pain I was in. The nurse told me they would call the doctor and see what he wanted to do.
Oh by the way, the doctor was not even a doctor I've ever met. There are two different practices that go through the hospital and take shifts during the weekend. Well of course the weekend I'm went was a weekend that the other practice covers.
3:30pm - Word from the doctor is that I didn't change that much so that they would be able to give me some nubain which would take the "bite" out of the contractions and make me feel tired and "drunk". They then would see if my water would break on its own.
Doctor was finally on his way in and I was now going to be admitted to the hospital.
4:00pm - Now that I was finally admitted and the news of me having a baby on the way settled in just a little bit, I was able to relax and finally text my family that I was officially in labor.
4:30pm - The nubain wasn't doing too much for me so I asked them if I could have the epidural, especially since I was going into full on labor and I didn't know how I would be able to handle it.
5:00pm - Got my epidural and a nurse came in to break my water. They checked my cervix and I was at about 6-7 cm dilated and labor was about to really hit hard since my bag of water was now broken. Thank goodness my epidural was in and I wouldn't have to feel much pain.
5:30pm - My mom and brother made it to the hospital and kept me company while I tried to "relax" and get myself prepared for the pushing that was going to come in the future (near future if I had any clue).
6:20pm - Doctor finally comes in and introduces himself to us. He checks my cervix and says that it's time to push. I hit 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced in just a little over an hour. Doctor said he would be back since he needed to change. The doctor reminded me that I needed to be ready to push for about 1-3 hours on average for a first time mom and if I pushed hard, I would be able to hopefully push for just an hour.
6:30pm - I started to push with my nurse and she said that they would get another nurse to also be in the delivery room with us. Pushing was HARD and I had no clue if I was doing it correctly or if I wasn't really pushing anything at all. Eden started sorta high so I had to push a little more than usual since I had to push her down. The nurse said I was doing it correctly (even though I kept doubting myself) so I kept pushing. Now pushing is 3 sets of 10 second pushes during each contraction. Between contractions is about 2 minutes which means you get to rest for 2 minutes and then push for 30 seconds. I was exhausted after 5 pushes so I definitely didn't know how I would be able to push for 3 hours if I had to.
7:00pm - The doctor came in and checked to see how things were progressing. You know when you look at someone and can kind of tell if they have "gentle hands" or more of the "rough and tough"? Well when you look at my doctor, you can tell he's not gentle and more rough and tough, let's get things on the road type of guy. Well great, he came in and looked at the progress and started stretching and moving things around down there to really get the show on the road. It was PAINFUL. Okay so I couldn't feel pain but the pressure was so intense I could feel how painful it was. The doctor as rough as he was though, was a pretty great motivator. Throughout the next 2 pushes he motivated me to push as hard as I could and gave me so much encouragement that I was doing it right. By the 3rd push he said that I was there and I just needed to push one more time and I'd have a baby. I couldn't believe it and I didn't. I gave my last push as much as I had and well he was right, I had a baby by 7:05pm.
Now for the nitty, gritty, dirty details. At the end of pushing Eden out and having a baby, I wasn't able to hold Eden because when they broke my water they saw some meconium (baby poop) in the bag of fluid and they wanted to make sure that she didn't swallow any and there was nothing in her lungs. They said that if she cried that there was no way she swallowed it and that she would be fine. But either way they would test her and make sure everything was okay. Well she cried when she came, but they still took her away and while they took her away...
I was stitched up. And I was, what you call "man-handled" to get my placenta out and to make sure I don't hemmorhage. Now when I say man-handled, I mean the doctor was totally pushing down on my stomach with all four fingers with all his might for about 5 minutes. It would have been nice if I couldn't feel it but I felt every bit of it and it was probably more painful than the contractions I was feeling before my epi. Both of these two things, the stitching and the man-handling to get the placenta out, was painful but I got through it thankfully.
So at the end of my delivery, the status is that I have stitches, they didn't tell me how many but he showed me how long of a cut he made (he didn't even tell me he cut me and I had no clue he did) and I have swelling in my bottom area (some nurses say swelling, some will say I have minor hemmroids). Monday was a painful one. I couldn't sleep very well because I was in pretty much a whole lot of pain and it was hard to just lay down without feeling pressure and pain all throughout my bottom region.
Through it all though, Eden is in this world and I would do it all over again in a second if I had to. Ever wonder how it feels like to fall in love at first sight? Have a baby.
9:30am - woke Eugene up to take a shower and got ready for church
10:00am - about to walk out the door to church, I start getting a little cramp and decide to sit on the couch for a second to make sure it wasn't something more. 10 minutes later I realize that this may be the infamous contractions everyone was telling me about. I decide to time them, why not! Well 30 minutes later I realize that yes, these were most likely contractions and they're 5 minutes apart (I mean what the hell do I know, I've never felt a contraction!). My doctor on Thursday said there were three things that might happen for me to go to the hospital: 1. I would have a bloody show, 2. My water would break, 3. I would feel contractions 5 minutes apart.
Well, my contractions were 5 minutes apart so I decided that I might just have to go to the hospital to figure all this out. Well since I was up since 8:30 I decided I would eat something before I go in, just in case I do deliver and I can't eat anything for the day. Eugene and I ate some breakfast.
11:45am - I called my doctor to tell them I think I'm in labor (OMG I'M IN LABOR?, LABOR what a huge word that I thought I wouldn't have to use for another week or so)
12:00pm - Eugene and I put our bags, pillows, blankets, and most importantly the baby seat into the car and headed over to Labor&Delivery at Northwest Community Hospital.
12:30pm - We got to the hospital and they took all my information and checked me in. They started timing my contractions, I was excited to see if these were real contractions or if this was just cramps that I was feeling (they felt like period cramps by this time). Well lo and behold, they were real contractions so they decided to check my cervix. They checked and I was still just about 4 cm, which means no change from Thursday's doctor appointment. Well they decided to call the doctor and let him know and see what he had to say.
Doctor said that since I have no change that they can observe me for about 2 hours and if there is still no change that I'll have to go home. If there is a change, they'd figure out what they would do. Yes, you read that right.. even if I was to get dilated, if there wasn't that big of a change I would have to go home (WHAT A BUMMER).
Here is the problem behind everything. On Sunday, I was 38 weeks and 3 days. The hospital doesn't do any type of intervention until 39 weeks because from their experience if they do intervention before 39 weeks it usually concludes in a c-section. Because of this they wouldn't break my bag of water that was bulging and ready to pop, they couldn't give me any type of pain medication to ease the labor pains and they couldn't emit me until they were 100% sure I would have the baby without interventions.
2:30pm - They did a cervical check on me to see if there were any changes, turns out I was 5 cm dilated so just a little bit of change but a change nonetheless. By this time, my contractions were pretty painful so I told them there was no way I was going home and that I wouldn't even be able to make it out the door with how much pain I was in. The nurse told me they would call the doctor and see what he wanted to do.
Oh by the way, the doctor was not even a doctor I've ever met. There are two different practices that go through the hospital and take shifts during the weekend. Well of course the weekend I'm went was a weekend that the other practice covers.
3:30pm - Word from the doctor is that I didn't change that much so that they would be able to give me some nubain which would take the "bite" out of the contractions and make me feel tired and "drunk". They then would see if my water would break on its own.
Doctor was finally on his way in and I was now going to be admitted to the hospital.
4:00pm - Now that I was finally admitted and the news of me having a baby on the way settled in just a little bit, I was able to relax and finally text my family that I was officially in labor.
4:30pm - The nubain wasn't doing too much for me so I asked them if I could have the epidural, especially since I was going into full on labor and I didn't know how I would be able to handle it.
5:00pm - Got my epidural and a nurse came in to break my water. They checked my cervix and I was at about 6-7 cm dilated and labor was about to really hit hard since my bag of water was now broken. Thank goodness my epidural was in and I wouldn't have to feel much pain.
5:30pm - My mom and brother made it to the hospital and kept me company while I tried to "relax" and get myself prepared for the pushing that was going to come in the future (near future if I had any clue).
6:20pm - Doctor finally comes in and introduces himself to us. He checks my cervix and says that it's time to push. I hit 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced in just a little over an hour. Doctor said he would be back since he needed to change. The doctor reminded me that I needed to be ready to push for about 1-3 hours on average for a first time mom and if I pushed hard, I would be able to hopefully push for just an hour.
6:30pm - I started to push with my nurse and she said that they would get another nurse to also be in the delivery room with us. Pushing was HARD and I had no clue if I was doing it correctly or if I wasn't really pushing anything at all. Eden started sorta high so I had to push a little more than usual since I had to push her down. The nurse said I was doing it correctly (even though I kept doubting myself) so I kept pushing. Now pushing is 3 sets of 10 second pushes during each contraction. Between contractions is about 2 minutes which means you get to rest for 2 minutes and then push for 30 seconds. I was exhausted after 5 pushes so I definitely didn't know how I would be able to push for 3 hours if I had to.
7:00pm - The doctor came in and checked to see how things were progressing. You know when you look at someone and can kind of tell if they have "gentle hands" or more of the "rough and tough"? Well when you look at my doctor, you can tell he's not gentle and more rough and tough, let's get things on the road type of guy. Well great, he came in and looked at the progress and started stretching and moving things around down there to really get the show on the road. It was PAINFUL. Okay so I couldn't feel pain but the pressure was so intense I could feel how painful it was. The doctor as rough as he was though, was a pretty great motivator. Throughout the next 2 pushes he motivated me to push as hard as I could and gave me so much encouragement that I was doing it right. By the 3rd push he said that I was there and I just needed to push one more time and I'd have a baby. I couldn't believe it and I didn't. I gave my last push as much as I had and well he was right, I had a baby by 7:05pm.
Now for the nitty, gritty, dirty details. At the end of pushing Eden out and having a baby, I wasn't able to hold Eden because when they broke my water they saw some meconium (baby poop) in the bag of fluid and they wanted to make sure that she didn't swallow any and there was nothing in her lungs. They said that if she cried that there was no way she swallowed it and that she would be fine. But either way they would test her and make sure everything was okay. Well she cried when she came, but they still took her away and while they took her away...
I was stitched up. And I was, what you call "man-handled" to get my placenta out and to make sure I don't hemmorhage. Now when I say man-handled, I mean the doctor was totally pushing down on my stomach with all four fingers with all his might for about 5 minutes. It would have been nice if I couldn't feel it but I felt every bit of it and it was probably more painful than the contractions I was feeling before my epi. Both of these two things, the stitching and the man-handling to get the placenta out, was painful but I got through it thankfully.
So at the end of my delivery, the status is that I have stitches, they didn't tell me how many but he showed me how long of a cut he made (he didn't even tell me he cut me and I had no clue he did) and I have swelling in my bottom area (some nurses say swelling, some will say I have minor hemmroids). Monday was a painful one. I couldn't sleep very well because I was in pretty much a whole lot of pain and it was hard to just lay down without feeling pressure and pain all throughout my bottom region.
Through it all though, Eden is in this world and I would do it all over again in a second if I had to. Ever wonder how it feels like to fall in love at first sight? Have a baby.
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