Amelie-The WHOLE story

Soooo, even though I still haven't hit my due date, I've had my darling baby here for 2 weeks now. I'm sure many of you will already know the details, but of course, I have to blog the story of labor.

You should know that I was already dilated weeks before Amelie was due. My doctor and I jokingly decided that Monday (the 20th) would be a fabulous arrival day for everyone’s schedule, but I really didn’t think we’d go even that early. Well, it just so happens, that it was when I was at the computer typing my previous blog Friday the 17th post that my water broke. (I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I definitely felt a new sensation in the lower abdomen area.) I got up from the computer to go to the bathroom, and lo and behold-I just wouldn’t stop going to the bathroom! I waited a bit to make sure, but it was most definitely my broken water. It also JUST so happens that Jeff got off super-early from work that day and we had no plans, so we were all set and ready to head off to the hospital. We went in, and despite my wearing protection, I was water-ing down the front of my pants by the time we got to the hospital. (At the labor and delivery desk, they apparently always ask if you’re sure it was your water or was it possibly urine. However, they just took a look at me and gave me a room.) We got settled in there by about 5 (water broke about 4) and all exammed, prepped and waiting by 6 or 6:30. Well, by this time, I was still not having any kind of pain or sensation with contractions. We decided to wait a bit longer to see if I could get them going, as I was still dilating on my own (then about a 4-5, I believe.) So, almost aaaallllllllllll the family showed up by this point or another. (It was really nice to be able to see everyone and hang out in the beginning, but it did become sort of stressful by the time I was really laboring.)
Amelie kept having sketchy read-outs of her heartbeat, so I had to lay in specific positions, and eventually we had to put an internal monitor on her. (Her heart rate kept dropping during contractions, so I had to wear an oxygen mask throughout.) Anyway, after a few laps around the L&D and still not an ounce of pain in my contractions (I know, don’t hate me ladies) I started the Pitocin IV just after 8pm. From there, it was almost instantaneous-I started feeling those things right away! And it picked up really quickly, too. It was less than an hour later that I asked for the epidural. Well, actually my mother and Jeff asked for it when they saw me tearing up with contractions. (They knew because this was the only time during the whole process that I wasn’t making jokes and laughing with them.) The anesthesiologist took awhile, and I have to say that he was my least favorite hospital person of the entire experience. The epidural was also not the most pleasant thing, but I think it was mostly trying to deal with the painful contractions while holding the awkward positions and getting tubed in my back. It took a bit longer than normal for the epidural to kick in, but after I gave it an extra shot, it was smooth sailing from there on out. Really quick, too, actually. The only snag to slow me up was discovered when another nurse came in to place the internal heart monitor. Turns out that I was supposed to get a catheter with my epidural, but this happened right at shift change, so I never got one. This other nurse noticed, drained me (A TON) and then, it was like magic-all of a sudden, she was moving that head down! Not long after I was feeling good again, I started feeling lots of pressure, and I called in the nurse. She checked me out and said I was dilated to 8, so she prepped the delivery table and all that stuff. Once she left the room, it was only about 10 minutes more when I called her back in for super amounts of pressure. She checked me out and said I was 9+, time to call the doctor. She wasn’t at the hospital at the time, so she had to be called in. We tried pushing once to make sure I’d be ready to go when the doctor came, but the nurse instantly stopped me and said we were totally ready. That short time waiting for the doctor seemed like forever where I could feel her just pushing her way insistently out. The doctor finally arrived and we got right to work. (She said she would have been quicker, but she was behind a cop all the way here. Darn cops.) Once I began pushing, it was only 4 contractions before she was out! And the surprise we got at that time might explain why-she was only 5lbs. 14oz. I couldn’t believe it! Between Jeff and me, I thought she’d be huge. It was so strange and surreal to see her.
I’m not sure how, but everyone outside was notified and started pouring in the room. Having such a large audience was NOT my favorite, as I hadn’t delivered the placenta yet and still needed to be stitched up. My lovely husband then had the guts to usher everyone outside until my personal business was taken care of.
Amelie was checked out, and didn’t have any problems. Aside from a few precautions because of her small size, she was all healthy! While we were in the hospital, she had to have her blood sugar monitored pretty closely, since she preferred sleeping to anything, including eating, but she was a natural nurser and was good to go by the time we went home.
I have since been saying that if I didn’t have to go through the recovery, I’d deliver 100 babies! It really was nowhere near as unpleasant as I was anticipating. (I do get that it was pretty darn easy as labors go, though.) So, overall, I’m not sure how long you’d say I was in labor. If you count from water breaking to delivery, it was 9.5 hours, if you count from contractions to delivery, it was 5.5 hrs, and if you count the painful parts, I only had a blessed hour and a half or so. As for the recovery, I am 2 weeks past now, and still taking medicine and can’t be out more than an hour or so without super pain. But, I do feel human and wear regular clothes now.

Amelie is now awake, so I will have to come back with more pictures since the hospital. As for these, I don't even know who took them all, they're just on my camera!

I'm feeling good!


Woo-lots of oxygen.


OK, this is starting to hurt a little.


That is my baby!


Such a little thing.


Momma and Amelie both cleaned up and together at last.