Before my memory fades completely, I want to write down
exactly how our little girl made her way into this world. As you may know, Sophia was due on Wednesday,
May 8, 2013. At our Monday, May 6th,
appointment Dr. Black saw nothing that told us she was making her
approach. We waited patiently as her due
date came and went. At this point I had
already been on maternity leave for about a week and a half. Without a baby to care for I was on the brink
of insanity. Another concern that I had
was our doctor was going to be out of town from Thursday, May 9th, to Saturday,
May 11th. As a first time mother I was
riding on my doctor's reassuring manner to get me through the ordeal of labor
and delivery.
As we impatiently waited for her arrival, Chris had been
researching ideas to induce labor. We
tried all the traditional approaches: spicy food, walking (endless walking),
climbing stairs, eating pineapple, etc., but nothing was working! When Thursday approached we decided to lay
off the ideas in hopes that she wouldn't come until Dr. Black was back in
town. Thursday came and went, as did
Friday, with nothing new. It felt like
Sophia would never come. Nine months of
pregnancy and I would never meet my beautiful daughter :) (Can you tell the extreme mentality of
pregnancy was upon me?)
Finally in the early morning light of Saturday, May 11th, I
woke to some strange feelings. These
feelings felt like bad stomach pains or menstrual cramps. It was 4:00 am and I knew that if I woke
Chris up he would be ready to drive to the hospital. So I waited for 30 minutes
to see if what I was experiencing was false labor or not. As my contractions kept coming at a
consistent pace I braved up to wake Chris. Surprisingly he wasn't pushing to
head to the hospital right away. Instead
Chris was extremely calm and cool-headed. He suggested we time the contractions and
rate their intensity. I was so
impressed. So we did what we do when we wait, we put on a few of our favorite
shows to distract us and we timed those puppies!
After several hours and countless episodes of Chopped, we
decided to ask a few of our loved ones and the hospital what they thought was
happening as the contractions were still consistent but not getting
stronger. It was agreed upon that we
should head in since they weren't going away.
We made the 20 minute drive and we even had time to stop and get some
chewing gum. (Apparently when you are
about to give birth your body still has random cravings.)
At 9:30 am the nurse at the hospital checked me for the
first time. She was a beast of a woman
to get checked by. I have even discussed
this nurse with other mothers in the area and they agree! She declared that I wasn't very far along at
all, only dilated at a 2 and not effaced very much. I was heartbroken! We would be sent home after all. Thankfully the other doctor who works with
Dr. Black was at the hospital and willing to check me before the nurse had her
way and sent us packing. After an hour
and a half of consistent contractions, Dr. Jeppson came in. He was such a nice guy and I know we would
have loved to have worked with him throughout the pregnancy--although no doctor
can measure up to Dr. Black for me. Dr.
Jeppson checked me (painless with him) and decided that we would indeed stay
because I was more effaced that before.
Yay! We were on our way to
meeting Sophia.
After hanging out at the hospital for a few hours biding our
time, my contractions stopped on their own!
I was distraught to say the least.
We had come so far! I didn't want
to go home! We were past our due date
and so impatient to meet her! The nurse
came in at 2:00 pm and we admitted the change.
Fearing the worst we were pleasantly surprised when she hooked me up to
a bag of pitocin to get my contractions going again. At this point I asked if I should get my
planned epidural. I asked her opinion
only because I feared the epidural wearing off when Sophia's head was crowning. If only I would ignore my paranoia. The nurse was very adamant that I should wait
for the epidural since I was not feeling any contractions. I agreed and sat back to wait.
After an hour and a half of feeling the pitocin contractions
I was going crazy. They were so intense
and one right after the other! I was in
excruciating pain and could do little to calm myself. I would grab the soft tissue between Chris's
thumb and palm. It was the only place I
felt like he could feel some of the pain I was experiencing if I squeezed hard
enough. I guess I am not the nicest when
in labor :) At one point I felt like I
needed to use the restroom, so Chris helped me hobble over in between
contractions. As I was trying to do my
business a horribly strong contraction came!
It was so intense that I grabbed Chris's hand and bit him! Ha ha!
I don't know what came over me, but it seemed right at the time. Thankfully Chris got his authoritative voice
when the nurse once again tried to talk us out of getting the epidural. He truly was my voice in the situation and I
was extremely thankful.
At 4:45 pm, the anesthesiologist came to administer the most
wonderful medicine in the world. It took
him a bit and it wasn't the most pleasant experience, but it did its job. He was very nice and when I felt pain in my
right hip he adjusted the catheter immediately.
I was pain-free in under an hour.
I was starting to mentally get ready for the inevitable. Delivery!
(As a side note: I had been fearing delivery for most of my adult
life. I couldn't imagine what it would
be like and I was too chicken to watch a birthing video before my due date. My mind conjured up images from the TV show
ER. Chaos, screaming, and patients dying
left and right is what I thought was waiting for me. Now-- I am sure-- you can imagine why I was
so scared.)
At 7:30 pm Dr. Black stopped on his way home from Salt Lake
to check on us. His family was literally
waiting in the car for him. Can you see
why I like this doctor so much? After
driving back from Salt Lake, he thought enough of us to stop and check on our
progress. While he was there he also
broke my water. My mother also got to
meet him at this point and, after seeing him at work, shares our opinion. Dr. Black told us that as a first time mother
he would assume that I would continue laboring for up to 8 hours putting Sophia's
arrival around 3 am on Mother's Day. I
wouldn't have minded the timing--how awesome to become a mother on the day
dedicated to mothers-- but we were impatient and in disbelief. 8 more hours!! My mom decided to go to Blanding to care for
our dogs and to take a nap. Chris
convinced me to sleep as much as I could.
I have no clue what Chris did because I fell asleep quickly.
At 9:30 pm my favorite nurse, Tara, came in to check my
progress. Assuming it wasn't going to be
much, we chatted nonchalantly with her.
When she finished and declared I was fully dilated, we were in
shock! Those 8 hours melted into 2
hours! She called Dr. Black and we
called my mom. Dr. Black got there
around 10 and the show started!
Starting at 10:15 pm, Dr. Black and the nurses, Tara and the
baby nurse Roxy, taught me the finer points of pushing. The fun started immediately with the next
contraction. I pushed and pushed with
each contractions and it seemed like the progress was going slowly. Even though the epidural had not warn off, I
could still feel a contraction coming on and I was often the one to get the
group together to push. Dr. Black was
great at keeping us updated on the progress, and the heart monitor showing
Sophia's heart rate kept me calm. At
11:15 pm, Dr. Black said if I hadn't gotten her out in 10 minutes he was going
to use the vacuum because I was getting pretty tired. That was the motivation I needed! I kept pushing until at 11:35 pm, when our
little miss Sophia came into the world!
Chris was able to watch her come out and cut the umbilical cord. After she arrived, he couldn't seem to take
his eyes off of her. It was adorable to
see him fall in love with his daughter.
I have been told that this moment is the most amazing moment
for women, and I agree. (However, I was
most amazed by the feeling, and lack of feeling, when she literally came out.) She was checked by the doctor and then placed
on my stomach. When I looked down at my
purple, squirming baby I could only think, "She was inside me!?" It
was such an unbelievable feeling to see her for the first time and such a
relief to hear the doctor and nurses say that she was as healthy as could
be.
Sophia was extremely alert after being born. Her big, dark eyes were watching everything
and everyone. She didn't cry much, even
when she got her Vitamin K shot. I was
nervous that the lack of crying meant something was wrong. Everyone reassured me that she was just too
interested in the world to cry. Chris
was by her throughout it all. After she
was checked up and measured, she was finally given back to me! We took copious
amounts of pictures and then we sat and adored her. Although she looked like a
grumpy old man (she was still swollen
from birth), we could see how truly beautiful and perfect our darling was. My
mother was also besides herself! Her first grandchild was finally here! She had
waited for so long. My mom was treasuring every moment!
Although motherhood has been a tough transition for me--who
knew breastfeeding would be so difficult--we have enjoyed seeing Sophia change
ad experiencing all of those important firsts with her. Chris was able to take a week off from work
and then to slowly transition back into full-time. My mom stayed for 2 full weeks. Chris's mom
was able to drive the full 12 hours and see Sophia on Mother's Day. She was also able to stay for 2 days and
snuggle with her new granddaughter. It was sad to see them go, but I am so
thankful they could come. I love my
family so much!
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