Abigail’s Birth Story

 

After carrying her longer than I really thought I would have to, and even going through the process of scheduling induction with my doctor, Abigail Ruth decided to come into the world just a few hours before her due date! 9:55pm on October 30th she arrived, on her own perfect time. Following my usual pattern of quick deliveries, I had arrived at the hospital at 7:30 that evening. Contractions started irregularly in the morning around 7, then moved to about every 15 minutes—still not really painful—by about 2 or 3 pm. I cleaned the house a little, did laundry, went to the grocery store, enjoyed some time with my big kids…

Brett came home from work about 3, but I still wasn’t ready to leave for the hospital yet. I knew as soon as I got there, I’d be hooked up to IV’s and wires and I really just wanted to go about things as normal to make it through the early stages of labor. Finally, around 6:30 or so, the contractions became more frequent, about 8 or 9 minutes apart. My mom was almost at the house to watch Leah & Andrew, but we went ahead and called another couple from church to come stay with them for the last hour until she got there, and we left for the hospital. Once I got there, the contractions started coming every 4 or 5 minutes, and progressed quickly. I was at 5 cm. when they first checked. I was in the triage room the first hour and a half or so, since apparently the hospital delivery rooms were full, but once I got into the room, I was almost ready to push. Dr. Mock (a young female doctor who was really nice and personable—we loved her!) broke my water and I was still around 7 cm. but already starting to feel the need to push.

It was only about 15 minutes after my water broke that I started pushing, and then it only took about 3 pushes, less than 10 minutes, before she was out. This time I requested a mirror and though I did have my eyes closed much of the time, I was able to see her head before she came out, and it motivated me to keep going. I couldn’t believe it as they placed her on my chest, so perfect and beautiful. I had a superficial tear right where I tore during the last delivery, so they had to do some stitches. She weighed 7 lbs., 14 oz.—almost 2 whole pounds bigger than Leah was! And was 21 1/2 inches long—she’s a tall girl! While still in the delivery room, I got a chance to nurse the baby. She latched right on and has had no problems with nursing at all—it is such an amazing blessing after 2 difficult-to-nurse babies!

She does have some issues with gas and discomfort, and last night, our first night home, was pretty rough. She cried a lot and only slept when she was held.  She’s slept really well through the daytime, though, so it’s just a matter of reversing her day and night. Both Leah & Andrew adjusted to that pretty quickly, as I remember, although Andrew dealt with these gas issues the first 6 months of his life. I’m hoping that won’t happen this time around, though, and her issues will soon work themselves out so we can get some sleep. She really does seem to be very laid back—it doesn’t bother her when Leah and Andrew get all up in her face, and she really only screams when she’s getting her diaper or clothes changed. She did great on the car ride home (after she got over the initial shock of being in her car seat) and adapts well to different settings.

Big brother and sister so far love their baby Abigail! Leah keeps saying how beautiful and sweet she is, and Andrew just wants to kiss her all over her face. They both argue over who gets to hold her first, and they do well when they get to sit with her in their lap. Andrew is still learning how to be gentle, and both of them are having to learn that she’s not really going to interact with them like they want her to at this point. I’m hoping their love for her continues and I am able to divide my time in such a way that they won’t get jealous.

   

 

 

Andrew's Birth Story

He's here!! Monday, July 19th @ 1:00 in the morning, Andrew John Cody made his debut. Here's the gory details:

Sunday morning, the 18th, I was feeling okay, but just not 100%-- I had a slight stomachache, but no real contractions. Then, about 2 that afternoon, I had what I would consider the first contraction. I still wasn't really ready to call it real labor-- I remembered what contractions felt like, and I knew that was it, but it was just one, and it wasn't really measurable. I had another around 4 or so, and then they started picking up. By the time Brett got home from church around 6, I was ready to admit that I was actually in labor. Knowing how quickly Leah came, I didn't want to take any chances getting to the hospital late. So we went ahead and sent Leah to Brett's friend Steve's house for the night.

Contractions were coming about 7 or 8 minutes apart by this time, and quickly getting more painful. I could still walk and talk through them, so I was still not really ready to go to the hospital. Brett was eager, though, because he wanted to have a chance to get settled this time and not have to be so rushed! So we waited until about 9:30 or so, when my contractions were still about 7 minutes apart or so. Dr. Fisher was on call-- the dr. that delivered Leah that I had hoped would be there! She actually advised us to wait a little longer before coming in, but we went anyway, and were sent to triage when we arrived.

At first check, I was dilated maybe 1 or 2 cm. I was so discouraged because the contractions were definately regular and definately more painful! They couldn't admit us until I was a little farther along, but suggested I wait a couple hours to see where it would go. I chose to just lay in bed & watch a little TV. 2 hours passed fairly quickly, even though the pain was picking up. The contractions were more painful than I remembered. They checked me again after the 2 hours and I was already up to 5 cm.! They were able to get me to a room and by then I was requesting the epidural.

I got to the room about midnight, and when they checked again, I was already at 7 cm. They sent for the epidural, but 30 minutes later I was pretty much fully dilated and there was no chance of getting that epidural on time. I was definately in a lot of pain but determined to get that baby pushed out! Dr. Fisher had been called away to an emergency C-section so she couldn't make it and another hospital dr., Dr. Watson, had to do the actual delivery. She was great, though, and Dr. Fisher came by later, she herself even bummed that she didn't make it! I think it took maybe 4 or 5 pushes and out came the baby-- fast and furious!

It still didn't seem real as they placed him on my chest-- I couldn't believe he was actually here. This time we had the camera in the delivery room so we got to take lots of pictures during his first few minutes of life. He weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. (more than a pound bigger than Leah-- that extra week really added some weight!) and was 20 inches long. He's perfectly healthy and beautiful. We still don't know who he resembles more, although he has my nose. Though he looks a little like Leah did, he definately has his own look and characteristics, and he definately looks like a little boy!

There are more pictures on our family website!

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.

She's Here!