I am curled up on the couch with the most precious bundle laying in my arms as I settle in to write this post. Hard to imagine this baby is already 5 weeks old! It seems like just yesterday I was past my due date and thinking to myself that this pregnancy was never going to end. Thankfully at exactly 41 weeks our baby made an appearance.
I'm sure y'all would like to hear the story of our little ones arrival..
It started off with a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, October 8th. I was 40 weeks & 6 days.
They put me on the fetal monitor for 30 minutes to make sure babies heart rate was still holding steady.
I was then seen by my doctor and found out I was only a 2cm and 80% effaced with some contractions but nothing serious. Same as I had been for the past 3 weeks. But baby was not in any stress and I was holding up good, although I was feeling like my body couldn't become any more swollen. My doctor informed me that if I wanted we could induce labor that day or the next or just wait a week and see if my body would go into labor on it's own.
After hearing my options and a phone call to Doug and my mom (who lives 5 hours away and we wanted to have her at the birth). Thankfully Doug had finished corn harvest on the farm the day before so I knew he wouldn't have to worry about leaving work. So we decided to go ahead and induce labor. On my way home the hospital called and asked when I would like to come in and we agreed on 2pm. Doug met me at home and we finished loading up our bags, made sure the dogs were taken care of and off we went..excited and nervous all at once knowing we were leaving the house as a couple and we would be coming home in a couple days as a family. They admitted me into the hospital and around 3pm gave me cervidil to help get my contractions going. I had told my doctor I didn't want to use pitocin if at all possible so this was an easier way to allow my body to do what it needed to do on it's own without much medical interference. 4 hours after receiving the cervidil, at 7pm my doctor checked me and I was at 3cm & 90% effaced with stronger and more regular contractions that were about 5 minutes apart. He told me he would break my water right then and my body should just take over and keep labor going. Having my water broke was the weirdest feeling..it was like peeing your pants with gallons of water and you have no control over it. After that my contraction became even stronger and about 2-3 minutes apart. I was in the middle of a hard contraction when my mom arrived around 10pm. She walked up to my bed as I was laying on my side with my eyes closed. Once the contraction passed she said "hello Cec, how are you doing?" and I responded with "You are an IDIOT!! Why would you do this SEVEN TIMES??" of course this made everyone laugh, although I was serious.
Thankfully the nurse brought me a birthing ball to sit on and once I got out of bed and was sitting on that my contractions became much more tolerable. I sat there for the majority of labor. I had bad back labor at first but eventually it eased with the help of Doug and my mom rubbing my low back with each contraction. I discovered the most comfortable position to get through a contraction was leaning on my mom's shoulder with my head pressed into her neck. It was comforting and relaxing. Her and Doug took turns supporting me and reminding me to relax my body instead of tensing my muscles. Doug was such a trooper, encouraging me and reminding me how strong I was and that I could make it through the pain. Babies heart rate stayed strong through it all and we worked together to progress in labor and move her little body into position.
Finally at 2am I was fully dilated and could start pushing. Let me tell you..that was the best feeling ever!!! It brought so much relief to all the pressure and pain of contractions. The nurse discovered there was meconium in the water and we needed the NICU nurses to come in just in case she had ingested any. It took me a few pushes to figure out the right way to help baby come down and make the most progress. After pushing a couple more times babies heart rate was dropping and she was under some stress. With each contractions I pushed and with a few more pushes her head was out, we discovered she had the cord wrapped around her neck twice and it was cutting of her air way. The doctor had to pull the cord from around her neck which left a bruise under her chin and red marks around her neck from how tight it was. Once the cord was removed from her neck the doctor walked up to my side and told me "Cecily, you need to push this baby out right now!" - That's when I knew things were serious and my baby could be in trouble. Two nurses grabbed my legs from my mom and Doug and one nurse began pushing on my stomach to help dislodge babies shoulder which was stuck behind my pelvis. Thankfully with only about 2 pushes and only 7.5 hours in active labor, my precious (and blue) little girl was born at 2:26am - with the assistance of the doctor having to reach in and turn her body to release her shoulder that was stuck. Doug was able to cut the cord before handing her to the nurses. Within seconds she began breathing and let out a good cry which was music to every ones ears! they discovered to our relief that she did not swallow any meconium. Although she had to be monitored for 5 minutes before I was able to hold her. I couldn't see her, but Doug informed me she had a ton of hair! Finally after getting a clean bill of health she was laid on my chest where she made cooing sounds and her skin turned a bright pink.
She was perfect.
Everyone commented on the amount of hair and what a big baby she was. The nurse finally weighed her and we discovered we had a 9 lb 5.6oz and 20.5 inch little chunk!
And we finally could announce our name, which we had kept from everyone
Lynnden Dorothy Piovesan
(Lynn for Doug's moms middle name, Dorothy for my grandma that passed away in march)
It was such an amazing experience and you really do feel love at first sight. I was able to make it through with a drug free birth, which I had wanted and was determined to have. The feeling you get once your baby is born takes all the pain and discomfort away! Your body floods with endorphins and love for the pink, wrinkly baby that is yours.
We ended up staying 2 days so they could monitor Lynnden due to antibiotics I was given for the Strep B virus which weren't 100% preventive and they wanted to make sure Lynnden wasn't in danger. Thankfully she didn't get the virus, she was a good nurser and she only lost 3% body weight. After the 48 hours we finally got to bring our baby home.
She has been a really easy baby. As long as her belly is full, her diaper is clean and she is in someones arms she is perfectly content. And we are loving parenthood. Both of us our definitely wrapped around her finger. You quickly forget what life was like before this little person became your whole world. I am now able to stay home and be a housewife and mommy.
I am lucky to have such a hard working husband who makes it all possible and to have the family that I have always wanted.
The first pictures of Lynnden
We were able to have a friend document the birth in pictures, which I will treasure forever!
She made a beautiful slide show that has me in tears every time I watch it.
http://www.tonijohnsonphotography.com/blog/the-birth-of-lynnden-dorothy-columbia-basin-birth-photography/
Daddy and Lynnden
5 weeks old & such a happy baby!
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