Birth Story

So here's the story. Pictures are at the bottom. If you are grossed out by the birthing process or simply don't want to read this, feel free to ignore it. It's long and detailed mostly because I haven't written this in my journal so I need to record it somewhere.

On June 15 I was 40 weeks exactly, and since I know exactly when she was conceived, I wasn't worried about the due date being miscalculated. Besides being generally uncomfortable and sick of work, my mom was already in town and I was anxious for the baby to come before other family came in town. I was having contractions but never regularly and never lasting more than 10 seconds. Up to this point I had been at work every day, but on the 15th I made arrangements to continue working at home. So at my OB appointment on the 15th, my doctor suggested scheduling an induction date for a week later. I really didn't want to be induced, mainly because I have heard that pitocin (the drug used to induce labor) makes contractions come really fast and hard. So I asked my doctor if there wasn't something else we could try before being induced. He volunteered to strip my membranes (separating the baby's sac from the cervix), which I've heard is painful but was most willing to do. It actually didn't hurt me at all but was mildly uncomfortable. However, my blood pressure was also high so my doctor ordered a non-stress test for the next morning. I left the doctor's office hoping I would not be waiting much longer.

I wanted to go walking or something that night but was ordered to take it easy because of my blood pressure being high. I started to feel more frequent contractions before we went to bed at 10:30 pm, but they still didn't last very long. I woke up at 1 am with very hard contractions and realized I should probably be timing them. So I got up and started walking around the condo and timing the contractions. They were lasting 20-30 seconds and were 5 minutes apart. I timed them again every 15 minutes or so and by 2:15 am, they were 4-5 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds each. I decided that this was probably real labor, but I really didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home. I woke Greg up at 2:30 am and told him I thought I was in labor and he needed to wake up so he would be awake enough to drive by the time I felt like we needed to leave. By the time we were ready to leave at 3 am, the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and 30-40 seconds long. We arrived at the hospital at 3:30 am and checked in. They checked me and I was dilated 4 cm, so they wanted to call my doctor and see what he wanted to do. Luckily my doctor was the one on call, and since I had just seen him that day, he wanted to wait and see if I progressed. At 5 am they checked me again and I was 5 cm dilated so they admitted me. They had me on monitors and now hooked me up to an IV for antibiotics because I had tested positive for group B strep.

Once the antibiotics were done 45 minutes later, I was finally allowed to get up and move around. I felt the contractions slow after I was able to use the tub and, sure enough, when they checked me at 7 am I hadn't progressed at all. I got up and started walking around then and immediately the contractions came very strong and hard. Within 10 minutes they were 2-3 minutes apart. Then my doctor wanted to break my water to help speed things up. This made the contractions even worse. Whereas before there had been some rest in between each contraction, now my muscles didn't have time to relax before the next contraction started. I entered transition (noted by me throwing up suddenly) and was 7 cm at this point. I had to get more antibiotics, so I was stuck in bed again. I asked for an epidural and the anesthesiologist arrived. Having the epidural set up was strange (the electric shock to my hips and knees really hurt) but I was very pleased with it. I was scared of being stuck in bed and not able to control moving or pushing, but I was still able to move my legs, help move myself from side to side, and control pushing. This was all around 9 am. By 11 am I was throwing up again and had a horrible headache from my neck being misaligned on hospital pillows. They checked me again at 11 am and I was fully dilated (10 cm) so they went to call my doctor. He told them to go ahead and have me start pushing. The nurse came back and helped me get ready and I started pushing just after 12 pm, and again I needed more antibiotics. The monitor that is supposed to pick up the contractions was only working intermittently, so after about 15 minutes the nurse just told me to tell her when I wanted to push. This is where I was very grateful for the epidural to let me still feel the contractions without them being painful. I pushed for about 45 minutes until my doctor came. Aurora was born at 1:10 pm.

So far Aurora has been a wonderful baby, sleeping and eating almost exactly as all those baby books describe the average newborn. She was jaundiced for about a week but didn't need to be under lights at all and now it is hardly noticeable. We weighed her yesterday and think she's back to her birth weight or maybe even closer to 7 lbs. She stays up for about an hour and a half twice a day and then sleeps well at night, eating twice and only waking when I change her diaper. Our poor cat has been seriously traumatized by her and by all our visitors, but he's coming to terms with the fact that she's not leaving. Here are a few more pictures:

Still newborn in the hospital.

Daddy's girl (that's what the shirt says) on Father's Day. She arrived just in time. :)

Rajah and she made friends about a week after she was born. His paw is in the air, not in her face, by the way.

Her preferred sleeping position. This outfit says "Mommy and I agree: Daddy's charming." I love it!

Our little strawberry.

A Sweet Introduction

Aurora Lynn Greenland

was born June 16, 2010 at 1:10 pm,

weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz., 20 inches long

She has slept a lot, is content as long as she's swaddled, and loves to stare at everthing and everyone around her. She's perfect and we're thrilled she is finally here. I'll post details of her birth in a few days. In the mean time, here are some pictures:

Last Pregnancy Picture

This was at 39 weeks, and I'm 40 weeks today. I've made progress (still 3 cm dilated but 80% effaced) and, as evidenced by the below photos compared with previous ones, she has dropped significantly. My doctor agreed to strip my membranes today after he wanted to schedule an induction and I questioned whether there was something that could be done prior to induction. We'll see if it does anything.

Finally

No, no baby yet :) We finally completed the nursery, crib bedding and all. Here are some pictures:

When you first walk in the room, the crib is on your left and the dresser is straight in front of you. Here is the crib view while standing in front of the dresser.

Another view of the crib with the door closed.

A view of the only unobstructed wall so you can see the paint colors.

Standing at the door looking at the corner of the crib, recliner, and dresser with changing pad. Greg and I didn't like most gliders we tried out, so we went with this recliner instead.

A close-up of the crib detail and crib bedding.

It was fun to decorate but exhausting to organize. What you can't see behind the dresser drawers and closet are mountains of diapers, clothes, bibs, burp cloths, blankets, and toys. And just so you know, yes we're aware that this is the last time the room will look this way. :)

Just three days left (if I'm lucky)!!

Getting Ready and More Baby Shower Fun

When we realized I was already dilating, I went into a minor panic over making sure we were ready. The showers definitely helped ease my anxiety, as did each doctor appointment in which nothing had changed. But that didn't stop me from making three lists. One of things I needed to find before the baby came (like a pediatrician), one for things we needed to buy (like a crib mattress) and one for things we needed to do (like pre-register at the hospital). There were thingns on each list that were top priority (like the pediatrician) and others that were lower priority (like me getting a hair cut). I am happy to say that we have now accomplished all of the essential items and most of the non-essential items, which unfortunately just makes us very anxious for her to finally arrive.

One of the non-essential-but-definitely-wanted-done items was building Rajah a new cat house. There were three major problems with our original one. 1) It was too small for an adult cat, 2) it took up too much floor space and 3) it was not a safe spot from little kids. Rajah understands that little kids are not adults and does not hiss, bite, scratch, or bother them. However, loud little kids do not generally understand why the cute, furry kitty is scared of them when they come over. We saw one we liked in Petsmart (for a mere $160), took the measurements and design, and then came home and built it (for about $40). It's 5 1/2 feet tall and takes up half the floor space as before. He loves it more than we expected and now sleeps on the middle shelf quite regularly, which is great because that means less fur on the couch. Sorry to my nieces and nephews who are coming to visit at the end of June and will want to play with the kitty. If you're quiet and gentle, he'll let you pet him. If you're loud and excited, he'll run terrified.

We've also finished assembling, buying, and organizing everything for the nursery except the crib bedding. Buying crib bedding was an experience I will not willingly relive anytime soon as I have very specific tastes and did not want a lot of pink. We finally found something we liked enough (still didn't love it) and it should arrive in a couple days. After we get it, I will post pictures of the finished nursery. After Greg's family's baby shower, I also had one for work, one for my family, and one for the ward. I am still amazed at the amazing stuff we received. Everything is going to be so useful and we only received 1 duplicate item, which was awesome. While we got the essential items at Greg's family's shower, we got all the items we wanted to have at the other showers. We are definitely ready now. And after excruciating back labor in the middle of the night a few nights ago, my only problem with her coming any day now is that my doctor is out of town till Friday.