I figured it was time to post about our new baby Abby...now that she's eight weeks old! It has been such an amazing journey preparing for her arrival and bringing her into the world. We feel so blessed to have her in our family, and we love her so much already!
The month of February was dedicated to preparation for when we would meet our baby girl. Every weekend (if not every day) we were making sure that we had all of the essentials covered so we'd be ready whenever Abby decided to make her debut. We made list after list and checked each one twice to be sure. :) We were released as ordinance workers in the Oquirrh Mountain temple so as to give a few weeks of preparation time before Abby arrived.
At the end of January, we had enrolled in a third trimester child birth class at the hospital to help prepare us further and give us some useful information. Initially I was the one who really wanted to go so that I could have as much information as possible about what to expect in every detail. Going to the class really helped put my mind at ease and helped me to prepare mentally and emotionally for the big day. Matt ended up liking it too. It was divided into four sessions and was held on Monday nights so it became our FHE activity for a few weeks...not quite four though. We took a "final exam" the day that we were supposed to go to the last session of our childbirth class. :)
On Sunday, Februaury 12 we went to church and were told that it would be our last week as nursery leaders (nursery callings are a little hard to keep when you have a new baby). I had just finished taking my midterm exams a few days before, so those were out of the way and there would be nothing too major due for a couple of weeks. I had already decided that this coming week would be a pretty ideal time to have our baby. (I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it the full 40 weeks, but at the same time I didn't want to get hopes up too high.) That night we decided that we should probably finish packing all of the main stuff into our hospital bags just in case. I'd noticed over the last few days that "practice" contractions were getting more regular, but I hadn't bothered to time them or anything yet. While we were packing Matt suggested that I start telling him whenever I had a Braxton Hicks contraction so he could help me time them and know what was going on. I did this, and we were finding that they were definitely starting to get more consistent and closer together. At about 9:30pm they were consistently about 20 minutes apart, and then by midnight they were more like 7-10 minutes apart. They still weren't painful though, so at that point we both decided to just go to bed. I figured that if they were actually doing something to cause progression I'd wake up.
Even though we went to bed, I had a really hard time sleeping. I may have slept for a few minutes, but my contractions were close enough together that they were really obnoxious (although not painful yet) and I couldn't relax enough to get some good sleep. At about 2:30am I started feeling some cramping pain with the contractions and I remember thinking, "Is this what real contractions feel like?" I wasn't sure so I kept trying to sleep unsuccessfully. I kept track of the contractions on a notepad by my side of the bed. I finally decided to get up just before 3:00am and go eat some cereal and continue timing the contractions. I figured I might as well do SOMETHING since I couldn't sleep. I looked up a few things about labor signs and how to tell if it's "for real". Contractions kept getting closer together and stronger, and they didn't go away with walking or changing positions.
I finally decided to go back into the bedroom at 4:30am and wake Matt up, "Matt, just so you know we're going to need to go to the hospital sometime today. I'm going to get in the shower and get ready." Matt came in to check on me a few times while I was taking a shower, and then I decided to soak in the tub to help my body relax a little more if possible. Matt brought some of my favorite scented candles into the bathroom, and he sat and timed each contraction and helped me breathe through them. At this point I was in a fairly good amount of pain every 5 or 6 minutes. We decided it was time to finish grabbing the last minute things for our hospital bag, and head out. I think it was just after 6:00am at this point. I got out of the tub, got dressed, and started putting my hair up and out of my face. In the few minutes it took to do that, the pain and pressure of the contractions had GREATLY intensified!
After a couple of pretty hard contractions Matt and I were both decided that we needed to go to the hospital NOW. The only problem was that we still had a few things to pack, but I was finishing up really slowly because I'd start doing something and then another really hard contraction would come and I'd call foe Matt to come help me get through it, stopping the packing process temporarily. At this point I remember feeling like that was absolutely all I could do. I was too tired and in too much pain to keep going. I said to Matt, "I'm gonna have to get an epidural when we get there. I can't keep going like this!" I wasn't sure I could go natural as we'd planned. With the contractions coming now about every minute or two and lasting for a minute it took us quite a while to actually get out the door and to the car. The same was true when we got to the hospital. We had to stop a couple of times in the parking lot, in the hall, AND in the elevator to get through contractions.
When we finally made it to the desk to check in it was 6:55am. We told the receptionist that we were ready to have our baby and we needed to check in and have a nurse check me. (It was a little difficult to tell the receptionist my name and info in the middle of a few more contractions!!) We waited for a nurse to come for what seemed like an eternity to me. Matt was a wonderful help talking me through the discomfort and reassuring me that I could keep going and was doing a great job. I could never have given birth without him and his support!!
The nurse eventually got there and proceeded to check and find out how dilated the cervix was. Up until this point, I'd been telling myself that we'd come in and get checked and they'd probably tell me I was dilated to a four or five. Even though I was in more pain than I'd ever experienced I figured it would still have to get worse. The nurse said, "I'm not feeling the cervix." She kept feeling around trying to find a head and said,"This doesn't feel like a head. It almost feels like fingers or toes to me... " She told us she was pretty sure the baby was turned the wrong direction and we'd probably have to have a C-section, but she'd go get another nurse to check and make sure. the second nurse came in, checked me again, and said, "Yep, that definitely feels like some kind of digits." The two nurses left the room to get equipment for an ultrasound to see where the baby's head was since it obviously wasn't down where it should have been. While they were gone Matt asked me, "When a baby is breeched isn't there a way the doctor can help them change position so you don't have to have a C-section?" I'd heard that before, and I thought we'd talked about that briefly in our child birth class. We decided to ask the nurses about it when they came back in. When we asked them a few minutes later the nurse looked at me and said, "Oh! It's too late for that--you're fully dilated! We have to do an emergency Cesarian right away."
Before too long I was whisked away in a wheelchair (still having painful contractions mind you) to the operating room. Because they were in a hurry they had to do a spinal block which goes a little further into the spine and makes the anesthesia kick in almost immediately instead of having to wait 15 min. or so like with an epidural. This was probably the hardest part because you're supposed to hold very still while they put the needle in. It made my contractions five times worse not being able to move during them. I was also resisting the incredibly strong urge to push at this point, and that WAS the hardest part! Again, I was so glad to have Matt by my side helping me. I was more than grateful and relieved when I couldn't feel anything anymore. The operation only took a few minutes. But, it felt like a long time to me. Besides being anxious and excited to meet our baby girl, I was beyond exhausted and also really cold because of the anesthesia and the cool temperature of the operating room. Even though I was shivering uncontrollably during most of the operation, I had the hardest time staying awake for my own child's birth! Matt was alert and asking the doctors questions while he watched them cut me open. I for one was glad that I didn't have to see that, but Matt loved it and thought it was really cool.
Our sweet little daughter was delivered at 8:12am on Feb. 13th. Matt was the first one to hold her while the doctors stitched me up. Abby Jean weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and measured 17 1/2" long. It was such a miracle to see her for the first time and hear her cry. :) I was able to stay awake long enough to see her and watch the nurses do a few tests a couple of yards from the bedside where I was still being stitched up, but after that I gave in to the sleep and was in and out of consciousness until we were about to leave the operating room.
Once Abby and I were both cleaned up, the nurses handed me our baby girl and we were wheeled into another room where our little family was left alone for a precious few minutes. Despite being tired, Matt and I held our tiny child in awe at the events that had taken place and our new responsibility. It's amazing how you can love someone instantly, and that love has only continued to grow stronger. We wouldn't trade our Abby Jean for the world!!
Abby is now 8 weeks old. It's been a wonderful and often tough time of adjustment for all of us, but we're slowly working into a schedule and getting back to normal life. We love our new addition, and watching her grow has been so fun! She's now weighs somewhere around eight or maybe nine pounds. (We'll find out on Friday when we take her in for her two month doctor appointment.) She's also started smiling a little on purpose and cooing occasionally. We're excited for her to move into this next stage of more interaction. Parenthood is incredible and very rewarding. We couldn't be happier! (except maybe if we had a little more sleep...;)
