Birth Story

Now that she's almost two weeks old, it's about time I get around to writing down the details of Samantha's birth; both for you readers and so that I don't forget them!

 

To tell the whole story, I have to go back to my 38 week appointment.  I went in expecting to be told, yet again, that I wasn't getting any closer to Samantha coming and that she was just getting bigger and bigger.  (My doctor had been telling me the entire last trimester how I was always measuring big and that I would likely have a big baby).  However, I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that I was actually progressing well.  This is when she asked me if I wanted to be induced at 39 weeks.  This conversation totally caught me off guard since we had previously said we wouldn't consider induction until I was past my due date.  I told her no at that point in hopes that Sammie girl would come on her own soon.  I was actually a little scared to be induced.  I had read so many horror stories about inductions and I knew that the statistics of having a C-section were increased with induction.  However, I had also talked to women who had a perfect induction.  Every night, I'd feel a small Braxton Hicks contraction and wonder if I was in labor.  Nope... That week we had two big rain storms and a full moon, yet no baby.  At my 39 week appointment, we talked about induction again.  My doctor was getting more concerned about my little body delivering a big baby and I was having some significant pain from being so large, so we decided to go ahead and schedule it for that Thursday (39 weeks, 3 days).  Luckily, since I was already progressing so well naturally, I wouldn't have to go in the night before for overnight treatment like most inductions do.  Therefore, Thursday morning at 6:00, Josh and I woke up and go ready for the big day.

 

The morning we left for the hospital

 We checked in at the hospital at 7:00 a.m.  By 7:35, they had started me on Pitocin.  My doctor came in to check on me at 8:20 and went ahead and broke my waters.  This was the WEIRDEST experience.  I never imagined just how much water there would be.  I had actually been carrying a pad around in my purse in case my water broke while I was out and about.  That wouldn't have done a THING! 

All set up and on Pitocin.  Only having minor contractions at this point.

 By 9:00, my contractions were in FULL swing.  They went from a pain level of 3 to 10 in about five minutes and were coming every two minutes.  Just like I always assumed I would, I had all of my pain in my back.  At 9:30, the anesthesiologist arrived (my knight in shining armor) with my epidural.  The worst part was having to lie on my back to let the medication work with gravity while having these contractions.  All I wanted to do was sit up.  And lucky me... it didn't take!  After 15 minutes of lying on my back feeling every contraction (now about 1.5 min apart), they decided to redo the epidural.  Praise the Lord, this one took and by 10:00 I was numb and happy!

From here, Josh and I were just lying in our beds resting waiting for my body to do its thing.  At 12:15, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm.  She estimated I had about 4 more hours until baby would arrive.  However, when my doctor came to check me at 1:20, she said I was ready to push!  I was so surprised that it was happening so fast.  For goodness sake, my contractions had only really started 4 hours before!  (Remember how I talked about all those induction horror stories?  Most of them involved LONG labors!) They got the room set up for Samantha's arrival and I started pushing around 1:40.  (Pushing was definitely harder than I thought it would be and I'm SOO thankful I didn't have to do it for long).  At 2:07, Samantha was born!  They immediately laid her on my chest and let Daddy cut the cord.  Holding her for the first time was the most surreal feeling.  It's one thing being pregnant and knowing there is a baby inside of you, but actually seeing and holding her finally made it real.  She was 8 lbs 1 oz (actually smaller than the doctor predicted) and 19 3/4 in long.

After all my fears of how labor and delivery would be, it was actually much easier than I ever thought.  I would gladly be induced again with the next one!

Holding my baby for the first time

Her first weigh-in

Happy family!

Samantha had a lot of visitors on her birthday.  My parents, Josh's parents, and Josh's grandma all came down for her birth.  My brother, Stephen, and his family came to visit the next day, along with our friends Amie and Mandy. 



w/ PaPa

w/ Mop

w/ LaLa

Enjoying sweet snuggles

So precious!  And she already looks so different today than she did here.

w/ Nana

w/ Amie

w/ Uncle Stephen

w/ Aunt Trish

w/ Pops

Daddy's obligatory Aggie photo

Going home on Saturday, April 6

Her first car ride

She's been such a blessing!  Parenting has definitely been a challenge already and we are questioning ourselves nearly every hour, but she's absolutely worth it.  I will update more later about her life since she's been home.  It's only been two weeks, but there's plenty to write about!!!