The Big Arrival

Hard to believe my peanut's big arrival was a week ago now!

As with any story this could get long winded, and I actually had already written it and got halfway through and deleted it all because it just got boring...full of details that only I care about got bored re-reading, ha!  So here's the condensed version -

I had written on here last Friday that I just hadn't felt well all day - my back hurt, I just felt icky, but figured it was the way I had slept or that maybe I was even coming down with a little bug.  I had taken a couple baths that day to ease the pain in my back, took Tylenol, rested a lot, and nothing really seemed to help much.  On Friday evening Brad and I headed over to his parents house because he had some family in town, and I was glad for the distraction from my discomfort.  But once we got there I started feeling increasingly worse, and no matter how I sat, I couldn't get comfortable.  Around 11pm I told Brad I was definitely ready to go, and walking to the car I noticed how the pain I was feeling seemed to be coming in waves.  I mentioned it to him and he got the "deer in headlights" look and asked if I thought I was in labor.  I was certain I wasn't and that what I was feeling was just your typical end-of-pregnancy discomfort.

However, once we got home and sat down on the couch, I couldn't deny that I was feeling contractions.  I decided to take my 3rd bath of the day and start timing them, and I was slightly alarmed to see that they were coming at 3 minutes apart and lasting for 55 seconds to a minute.  I called L&D at our hospital and asked them if I should come in, and the nurse asked me how much water I had drank that day.  I said 2 glasses (yeah, I suck) and she quickly told me that I was just having dehydration contractions and to drink 2 or 3 liters of water, and that should clear it up (afterwards I wondered what planet she was on, hello, I was 39 weeks pregnant!)  But she said if they didn't clear up then to call back.

I drank and drank water until I couldn't drink anymore, and yet the contractions continued.  Around 12:30 I woke Brad up and made him sit up with me - even though they weren't going away and were so close together, I was pretty certain that they were going to fade off and all would be fine.

But then they didn't go away, and finally around 1:30am I called L&D back and said we were coming in.  At that point I still wasn't convinced this was it (still not sure why) but I figured that if it WAS labor, that I didn't want to wait until it was too late and then have to do this crazy emergency C-Section.

So we get to the hospital - and sit through registering, which really ticked me off cause I asked numerous times if I would have to go through it if I was in labor and they said no - and the nurse hooks me up to the monitor.  Hadley's heart rate was around 180, which freaked me out, but the nurse said that it was common when women were in labor for the baby's heart rate to be high.  She let me sit on the monitor for about 30 minutes and then did my internal exam.....which brought the HUGE surprise that after having contractions for about 3 hours, I was dilated to 5 centimeters.  At that point she announced we would be having a baby that morning!

Funny side note - because I didn't think I was really in labor, all I took to the hospital was my wallet.  And then once we got there and found out that we were having the baby and wouldn't be leaving, BOTH of our cell phones were dead and we had one - ONE - family member's number memorized and her phone was off.  Figures!  So while I was getting prepped for surgery Brad was out sitting in the car trying to get a phone to charge to let people know we were in labor.  Note to anyone who reads this - it's probably common sense but definitely take EVERYTHING you need with you if you go to the hospital for suspected labor!  We actually don't live far from home so for Brad to come back it wasn't an issue, but still.

So after that they did the surgery and we got to meet our baby girl and honestly, the first day felt like an eternity to me, yet seemed to be a bit of a blur.  I guess that's cause I had labored through the night and they did the surgery around 4am, and during the day I didn't get any sleep cause, hello, I had a new baby girl to stare at all day long.

The recovery from the surgery has honestly been far easier than I ever thought it would be.  I read so many articles online about having a C Section because I always want to know what I'm going into, and seriously, the things people had to say had me freaked out to the point that I had to quit reading.  But having a C Section truly could not have been easier.  Obviously it's still a major surgery and even today - a week later - I have pain from my incision.  But after the first couple days I was up moving around easily and being home has been pretty easy, as well.  It's a pain to not drive, but honestly, where would I go??  So it hasn't been that difficult.  Brad and I also went out to dinner last night (we sat outside to keep Hadley from any inside germies and curious hands) and so overall, while I do hope that my next delivery can be vaginal, I would definitely not be torn up about having to have another C Section.

This week I've just enjoyed being a momma.  There's literally no words to express the incredible, deep, consuming, fierce love that you feel for your baby.  It's scary to me at times how much love I feel for her.  She's a super content, sweet baby that rarely cries and when she does she's easy to calm down.  Her little breech legs might be one of my favorite things about her - they're so long and delicate and she'll get herself into these positions that Brad and I just laugh at because they're so sweet.  She loves to  stretch them out straight, and when we swaddle her sometimes her little feet will poke out the top of the blanket cause that's where she likes them :)

So needless to say, this new chapter of life is such a sweet blessing and I am loving every single minute of it!