And Baby Makes Three! (very long!!)

Amber Skye is here! She arrived September 18th at 2:14 after 38 hours of labor, weighing in at 5lbs 4oz and 19 inches tall, a long skinny baby! We were not expecting her to come so soon, her estimated due date was October 4th and we had just had the baby shower 6 days before!
A Labor of Love
Thursday September 17th. I woke up at 7:30 with contractions that were 6 minutes apart. I had had days before where I would have tamable contractions for most of the day but eventually they would go away. This morning I knew it was different because these contractions felt stronger. I spent the morning washing and putting away baby clothes and trying to figure out what we still needed before Amber arrived (thinking I had weeks finish all of this). We spent most of the day at the mall and I was still having contractions between 8 and 6 minutes apart. At 3:30 my contractions slowed down to about 15 minutes apart and I figured they would just go away at this point. We had our last makeup Childbirth Class and left early to go to Marshalls to find my husband some new sneakers and me a nightgown. At 4:45 (on our way) my contractions went back to 6 minutes apart and they were a lot stronger. I found out that night that it’s very hard to practice good Lamaze breathing in class when you’re at a peak of a real contraction and supposed to be breathing for the beginning of a mock contraction. During class we watched a video called the Stages of Labor. This is when my husband and I realized that maybe I was actually in labor right then. We got home around 9 and I decided that maybe I should have a bag packed, because at some point the baby was coming (I did not think it was going to be the next day) My contractions at this point were still 6 minutes apart but they had started to take my breath away, so I decided to call my midwife Amy, she told me to come down when I got to point where I couldn’t talk through them for an hour. Well an hour or more went by and they were getting stronger but I was managing. I really didn’t want to go until my water broke but my husband decided that we should probably head to the hospital. We got there around 1, they hooked my up to the monitors and my contractions went down to 8 minutes apart. I was really discouraged because they had slowed down and weren’t really showing up on the monitor. My midwife came in a few hours later, she felt my stomach during a contraction and decided that it was more intense than she had expected so she needed to do an internal. Well to my utter shock and surprise I was almost 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced! At that point they realized the monitor was not working right and fixed it. I continued to manage my contractions really well even as the intensity grew; I just did what came naturally. I breathed how my body told me to and/or focused intently on something in the room and talked myself through it. I didn’t do it on my own though! I had a lot of help from my husband; he’s apparently the perfect doula. Amy was a lot of help to, she had my sitting on the ball (which was amazing!) and she spent hours talking to us and talking me through contractions. Some time after 7 Amy checked me again. She was worried I wasn’t progressing because my contractions were still 8 minutes apart. At this point I 7cm dilated and 100% effaced. I was so happy because if I had not progressed she would have broken my water. At this time our nurses changed. Our new nurse was Patrice and she was amazing! She had me get in the shower to see if it would speed things up. It didn’t but the hot water combined with my husband massaging my back was wonderful (at this point you could feel my tail bone sticking out). The contractions were getting more intense but still 8 minutes apart. At it must have been after 8 because my mom arrived and our midwife changed to Anne. Anne decided to check me and I was still 7 cm dilated so she decided to break my water. My aunt arrived at some point after this but from this point on the rest of my labor is a little fuzzy and I lost all sense of time. My contractions slowly got closer and closer together. They were really erratic time wise, some came close together other were far apart. I was starting to have a hard time managing them especially as I got closer to the transitional stage. At one point they had me stand up and try to sway back and forth as I held on to my husband. Once I got up I felt like the baby was just going to fall out there was so much pressure and the contractions were very intense. The baby started to show signs of distress so they had me drinking lots of water and lay on my side. I was in full transitional stage by this point and completely freaking out. Now I know why people get drugs during labor! I started doing really shallow breathing at this point which was really not good for the baby. They gave me oxygen and finally ended up giving me an IV of fluid. Somewhere in there they checked me again and said I was about 8/9 cm dilated but very stretchy. This was good because it allowed me to push a little without doing any harm. Transition just got worse and worse, I was not coping well at all. Midwife Anne sat down on my bed and told me that it was my choice to go drug free and that I pretty much needed to get my act together. It was a polite slap in the face and just what I needed from that point on I did a lot better. I’m not sure when but shortly after Anne spoke to me it was time to start pushing. For me this felt like the worst part I couldn’t tell when my contractions were starting and ending and I didn’t have a super urge to push. I felt like I was making no progress, my husband would say “oh she has hair!” or they would say she’s almost here but there would still be more pushing to do! Finally her head was half way out, the worst feeling in the world but also the most exciting and I just pushed with everything and didn’t stop till she was out! They put her up on my stomach and she had the sweetest little cry and big curious eyes! I won’t lie it was hard work and I screamed through most of the end! I know I couldn’t have done it without my husband and I’m so grateful that my mom and aunt stayed it was wonderful to have all that love and support!
Welcome to the World Baby Girl!
I can’t believe she’s almost two weeks old now! It’s been touch and go for a little bit. Even though she was born at 37 weeks they consider her a “near term baby” but say she acts more like a preemie. She had a lot of feeding issues in the beginning from showing no interest in eating to latching on problems. But we’ve come a long way this week! As long as I use the nipple shield she’ll nurse like a champ and we don’t have to do any bottle feeding! We’ve been to the Dr’s almost every day since she’s come home because she lost 8% in the hospital and then some more when we got home. But as of yesterday she up to 4lbs 15oz so almost at birth weight! She has some breathing problems which caused her to fail her car seat challenge twice. Meaning she stops breathing when put in a car seat or if she’s in a similar position. So she has to ride in a car bed that keeps her flat on her back. She also has a serious spit up problem similar to acid reflux that requires her to be kept in an upright position for almost an hour after she eats. She is the sweetest little baby so calm and peaceful and hardly ever fussy, I know I’m so lucky!
The Mamma
I’m doing really well! Almost everyday I surprise myself with how much pain and/or discomfort I can put up with. I think because it’s for such a wonderful little person it makes it a lot easier. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and 6 stitches but after 5 days I felt almost back to myself with minimal pain. I’m beginning to think that maybe I was a blue ribbon milk cow in another life. I’ve got enough milk for 8 babies and no room left in my freezer! I love being a mom despite all the hard work its something I wouldn’t trade for the world! And Baby Makes Three!
My husband is an amazing dad, not that I had any doubts! It just seems to come naturally to him and it so beautiful to watch them together! It’s been so nice to see both of our families enjoying the new addition. She has been blessed with very loving and caring aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, grandparents and great grandparents!