Birth Day

Like I said, the contractions started in earnest around 12:30 AM on Thursday morning. Although they were consistent, they were still pretty far apart. We called the doctor at 8:30 and she said to come on in to the hospital.So Rock and Fix bought me a big Panera breakfast since I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat once we checked in at the hospital. We left Rock at home with Juju...But not before we got a “Everyone-stick-out-your-bellies!” shot.In triage, I kept entering the contractions on an Excel spreadsheet Fix had set up for me. But they told me that I was having more contractions than I could feel and since I was at 5 cms and most importantly, because I needed the penicillin drip (I have Strep B which is a very bad thing to give to a newborn baby) to be in my system for 4 hours before the baby was born, they checked me in. At this point the contractions (or at least the contractions I could feel) were still 10 minutes apart so they were totally manageable. I slipped into the hospital gown that I made…And sat around admiring the hot pink pedicure I’d given myself the day before and the beautiful day passing by out the window. We invited Juju and Nana Kerry to come over and keep us company.I love this picture of the two of us decked out in pink for our baby girl’s arrival!

WARNING! THIS IS THE BIRTH STORY! I’LL TRY AND KEEP IT PG-RATED BUT IT COULD BE TOO MUCH INFORMATION FOR SOME! IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ IT, SKIP DOWN TO THE *** BELOW!

At 4:30 (when the penicillin had been in my system long enough) they checked and I was at 7cms but the baby’s head wasn’t engaged. So they sat me upright to use gravity to help. The contractions were getting stronger and closer but they still felt like they were five minutes apart so I bypassed the offer for an epidural. When the doctor came in, the head was engaged enough to break my water. This was around 4:50.

With the first contraction after they broke my water, I thought “Wow, that’s a quite a bit stronger.” By the third contraction I asked for an epidural. Suddenly I could feel each and every one of them and they were close and they were painful! I sent my mom and Kerry out of the room. The nurse called over, but the epidural man was in surgery and wouldn’t get there for 20 minutes. She said by that point it would be too late to help. I mentally FREAKED OUT but tried to keep my cool as the contractions got even more intense.

Maybe ten minutes later I was begging to push. They called the doctor who (according to my mom and Kerry) came running down the hall. She barely had time to put on her gown and gloves before I was pushing our baby out. I pushed (and screamed) maybe three times. Everyone kept saying “You’re doing really great!” but I know they say that to everyone so I didn’t think I was really making much progress. I just thought I was going to die. I turned to the nurse and said “I can’t do this.” She said “Actually, you can and you are! It’s 5:10 now and this baby will be born by 5:12.” Now THAT was the encouragement I needed! I braced myself to push once more and…

She popped out! Literally. The head and the body all came out in one push! Her birth time was recorded at 5:10 so I didn’t even have to wait another two minutes!

They placed her on my belly (completely dirtying my pretty pink gown!) and my first comment was “SHE IS SMALL!” Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and around her chest and back around her neck again. AND it had a knot in it. AND the doctor said it was about half as thin as it should be. These factors were all probably the result of her being a VERY active baby in utero and they probably contributed to her tiny size. Although she did make a weak cry, she was pretty purple in color so they took her away and beat on her back and gave her oxygen to try and get her wailing.

And I just sat their shaking. I couldn’t believe that A) it was over B) I gave birth naturally and C) that she was SO SMALL!***But she was here and she was beautiful! At 5 lbs 12 oz she was quite a bit smaller than her 8 lbs 1 oz brother but she beat him in length. While he was a mere 19.4 in, she measured in at 19.6 in. Now up until this point, we hadn’t picked a name – just narrowed it down to two that we liked best. We wanted to name her after we met her to ensure that the name ‘fit’ her. And it turns out that our #1 pick was perfect for her. Louisa Theo Fix

We are so glad you are here!