Birth Story

Warning! This post might get a little graphic. But it gets mushy at the end.



Leah decided to make her entrance into the world about 12 days early, and she decided to make it quickly! Tuesday I had my 38 week dr.'s visit (with Dr. Fisher again) and left slightly discouraged because I was still only 1 cm. dilated and the baby still hadn't dropped. Everyone was telling me it was common for first babies to be a little late. So I made myself content with the waiting. Thursday morning I woke up and I was having what felt like really bad cramps. They were minor, nothing timable, just not feeling too well. So I went to work that day anyway. I even went to the Pregnancy Center where I volunteer Thursday night. I didn't see any point in hanging around home just being in pain. By that point, I realized these might be contractions.

I didn't really sleep at all Thursday night, and the contractions started coming every 10 minutes or so. I let Brett sleep, though, and just kept occupied watching TV & trying to read a book. Soon it started getting a lot more painful, and they were coming every 7 minutes or so. The dr. had said to call her when the contractions were 5 minutes apart, so I waited. But they never got to 5. They skipped straight to 3 min. apart. By 6 a.m. I knew that I needed to call the dr., even though I still wasn't 100% sure this was actually labor. I guess I thought that contractions would involve more, well... contracting. It was really just a crampy feeling. So at 6 I woke Brett up and called the dr. She suggested I had better go ahead & come on in. I went ahead & took a shower and put on some makeup, figuring if I was going into labor, I at least wanted to look decent to start out with!

We got to the hospital, which is thankfully only 5 minutes away. I called my parents on the way, and said, "Don't rush here just yet, but it might be time, I'll call you if/when we get admitted." I got checked in & taken to the delivery room and as soon as the nurse checked me, she said, "I hope you were planning on a natural delivery, because you are 10 cm. dilated!" That baby was coming and she was coming immediately. I couldn't believe how quickly things were moving. By this point I certainly wished I could have had some drugs, but was grateful that since I couldn't have them, it would be quick.

Pushing was so much more difficult than I imagined, and I know I must have screamed at different times, "I can't do this...!" "Okay, I can do this..." "You see her head? Okay, I'm not stopping until she is out!" And Brett was amazing, encouraging me not to give up, and the nurse that was helping me, Helen, was also very amazing, being sure to use my name when talking to me & never allowing me to get discouraged. Dr. Fisher, my favorite in the practice, ended up just coming on call when I got there, so she ended up being the one that delivered my baby. It took about 30 minutes of pushing before Leah was born. We had arrived at the hospital around 7:20 and her time of birth was 8:42-- barely 1 1/2 hours! I was still in shock and everything was completely a blur as they placed this squirmy, slimy human being on my chest. It didn't sink in that she was actually here, and she was mine-- this was the person I'd felt growing and kicking inside me for 9 months. Brett got to cut the cord and I'm pretty sure we both had tears in our eyes even as they delivered the placenta and stitched me up (I had a small 2nd degree tear). It still hadn't sunk in though.

She weighed only 5 lbs. 15 oz. (and apparently it was a good thing she was a little early, because the drs. said they weren't sure I would have been able to deliver a much bigger baby naturally) and was 20.5 inches long. She has a full head of blonde hair and hair all over her body! My mom arrived just as we were moving to the recovery room. As I held my newborn baby in my arms as they wheeled me down the hall, it still hadn't sank in. I know everyone always says you will fall instantly in love-- a type of love you have never known before. I can say that is true, but I didn't really feel it instantly. I think all of it was just so quick that I was merely existing, going through the motions.

It's still that way as I am getting home & beginning to recover. In the hospital, we had the nurses take the baby to the nursery so we could get some sleep. I felt a little bad, but know I won't get a chance to do that again. It was so great to have someone there around the clock to help with the baby, and I loved every one of the nurses at our hospital. Breastfeeding was, and has been very rocky. She has a lot of trouble latching on and we've had to try a lot of different solutions. There was one nurse that came in the middle of the night and stayed with me about 30 minutes trying different things to get Leah to eat, and I was so grateful just to have the support! We had to give her a bottle once, and that was really discouraging as I had promised myself I wouldn't do that in her first few weeks, but she was so fussy because she was so hungry, and my primary concern was just making sure she was fed. Already my thoughts were consumed with her and her well-being. I just wanted what would make her happy. I imagine that's what they mean by the unconditional love you feel when you meet your new baby.

Now my parents are here with us at home to help out some, and I'm scared to death of the adventure ahead but also ready to accept the challenge. This beautiful miracle that God allowed us to bring into the world, happy and healthy, will now forever be a part of me, and I can't wait to see what joy she will bring.