Welcome, Baby Leah!

I have been meaning to do this blog post since Leah was born, but my priorities have shifted a bit. J  However, I have already switched all of her clothes over to 0-3 months and she is starting to hold up her head already, so I realized I better get it done!  She’s already growing up too fast.  Here’s a little bit about what’s happened since March 20^th. 

At about 2:00 AM Wednesday (March 20^th) morning, I woke up having contractions.  This had been a normal occurrence ever since my fall, so I wasn’t too concerned about it… just a little bit annoyed.  I laid awake until about 4:00, when I decided that I should get up and walk around.  All of the other times that I had contractions, activity would make them stop.  So, for about two hours, I did laundry, swept, mopped, and planned a grocery list before deciding that perhaps these contractions weren’t going to actually go away and maybe I should try to get some rest in case this was real labor.  The contractions were about every ten minutes, so sleep wasn’t really working.  When Justin’s alarm went off at 7:30, the contractions picked up to about every five minutes in the half hour that we laid around talking, and I told him that I thought maybe these contractions were different.  He wanted to stay home, but I sent him off to work because I figured that it was going to be a long day…

Getting ready that morning took me quite a while, as the contractions were just bad enough to make me pause for a bit.  I had really thought that I would dust and vacuum my house one last time when I was in early labor, but that was not happening. J  I called my mom and my sister to tell them what was going on, but decided not to call the doctor for a while.  I actually thought I was being pretty patient, waiting until about 1:30 to call.  By that time, it had been 6 hours since my contractions started being 5 minutes apart, so I was told to go right to the hospital. 

Justin took me in and I was taken right up to the labor and delivery triage area, put on a monitor, and checked by one of the residents.  At that point, I was only dilated to a 2, so the resident sent me and Justin walking for an hour to see if I would make any progress.  After that hour (and three fire drills later), I was checked again, only to be told that I was still only a 2.  I was sent home and told to come back in if my contractions continued to be 3-5 minutes apart and when I could no longer walk or talk through them.  At that point, I was already pretty much there, so the thought of going home was daunting and a little scary.  After some tears, Justin and I headed home at about 3:30.

Since this was a Wednesday night, and Justin hadn’t gotten anyone to open up church for him, I had Mom come over to be with me while he went to church.  After eating some dinner, I made myself a nice warm bath, since I have heard many people say how much it helps the pain.  I’m not so sure that it really works all that well, but I spent a good two hours soaking, while my mom sat with me, timing the contractions the whole time.  When the water cooled down too much, I tried bouncing on an exercise ball some and mom gave me some massage, but eventually, I had to get up and start moving around.  When I started leaning against the walls, squatting, and crawling on the floor, Mom texted Justin to tell him to come on home.  It was starting to get really bad, so I called the midwife, who, hearing me pant through a contraction, told me that I sounded pretty uncomfortable and should probably go back to the hospital. 

On the way over, I was really nervous that they were going to send me home again because I only had two contractions during the 15 minute drive.  However, on the wheelchair ride up to labor and delivery, I had three contractions, which really freaked out the transporter. J  It was about 10:00 when I was checked again, and this time I was dilated to a 5!  I was incredibly relieved that I was not going home this time!  There was not a labor room available right away, so we waited in the triage area for about an hour.  The nurse was really great, allowing me to do whatever I needed to do during contractions, as long as I was close enough for the monitor cords to reach.  I was asked if I wanted an epidural and I was so tired that I almost said yes, however, the anesthesiologist was in a C-section and was not available, so that helped make my decision a little easier.  Basically, I was told that I was probably going to go fast enough that there wouldn’t be time for one anyway. 

I’ll spare you all of the little details, but at about 11:00, we were finally put in a labor room, where Justin and I “slow danced” for a quite a while until I was too tired to stand and I decided to try sitting on the toilet.  The contractions became excruciating, so the midwife decided to have me go back to the bed so I could be checked.  I had made it all the way to 8cm!  My water still hadn’t broken, so she decided to go ahead and break it for me, which was the point of no return, with contractions one on top of another.  When I thought I wasn’t going to make it anymore, it was already time to push, and thankfully, I only had to push for 20 minutes and Leah was born!  There had been meconium when they broke my water, so unfortunately, Leah had to be taken right away to be examined and suctioned out, but she was perfectly healthy. 

Honestly, people are right when they say that you forget the pain when the baby is born…not right away, maybe, but right now, my memory of the whole labor is pretty happy actually.  I was very thankful that I went into labor on my own because I was supposed to be induced the morning of the 21^st and since I really wanted to have a natural birth, an induction was not the way I wanted it to go.  My time at home with Mom was a nice bonding time, my nurse and midwife were great at coaching me, and Justin was a champ, holding my hand and cheering me on the whole time.  I had even made a birth plan and didn’t even have to get it out because things just fell into place.  I wasn’t as calm and collected as I had wanted to be, and my throat was sore the next day…but I made it. J  I feel so blessed that after a rocky pregnancy, starting out with a subchorionic hemorrhage, then uncertainty with preeclampsia, and finally a fall, God allowed me to have a smooth labor and gave Justin and I a perfect baby girl!

Since Leah and I were both doing so well, we only stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon.  When we got home, it was so nice outside that we went for a little walk around the neighborhood!  Our first days at home were a little bit rocky, mostly because I had the baby blues something fierce, but Justin’s parents stayed with us for the first couple of days and we had lots of help.  Justin’s mom did night duty for the first few nights and then my mom took over night duty off and on for several weeks.  My grandma Vogel was in town from Florida and she did grocery shopping for us, did laundry and dishes, came over in the afternoons so I could nap, and also took a night.  We had it so good! 

Leah has been a great baby.  She nurses like a champ, and already weighed 8lb 11oz at her two week visit!!  She is starting to do more eye contact and coo every once in a while, and we are just enjoying each milestone.  Justin is a great dad, taking her out of the room after her early morning feeding so I can get a few hours of really good sleep before he goes to work.  Then, he comes home from work, showers, and takes her again.  He is so smitten with his little princess!  I like to take her out on walks most days, if the weather permits, and am trying to figure out how to fit in things like housework and shopping in between her frequent feedings.  If you come over anytime soon, just be forewarned that things are far from perfect around here.  We are enjoying every minute of it though!  She seriously is growing up way too fast, but we love her so much and are so glad she is in our lives!

 

My last pregnant picture.  This was me mustering up a pathetic smile in between contractions right before we headed to the hosptital the second time.

 

Leah's very first picture.

This is in our postpartum room.  A very tired, but happy daddy!  He wanted to hold her a lot. :)

Memaw is holding her and she is so content. 

Our first family photo. 

The second morning in the hospital, Leah was very fussy!  Her cry was so shrill, Justin said she sounded like a pig.  Thankfully, she isn't fussy very often and she lost that shrill cry very quickly!  The nurses called her a diva. :)

She has such bright eyes!  They are pretty blue right now, and Justin is really hoping they stay that way.  With all of the brown eyes on my side, I'm not sure she has a chance, but we'll see.  We'll enjoy them for now!

A common sight around here.  Daddy comes home and takes over.  Even though she can't smile or interact much yet, he loves to talk to her and tell her how pretty and cute she is. It warms my heart!  I think it helps that she looks so much like him!

This is Leah in the swing all swaddled up.  Also a common sight.  She loves to be swaddled! 

This was her first day going to church.  It was Good Friday and even though she was only a week old, I had to get out of the house!  Justin took her down in the basement away from all of the germy people. ;)  *protective dad*

On a walk with Leah in the moby wrap.  I love having her close!  Next best thing to having her inside me. :) 

So peaceful!