I decided to surprise my mommies last Friday by making an early appearance into the world! While I do plan to write most of this blog from my perspective, my mommy insisted on writing the "birth story" in her own words. So while she writes, I guess I'll nap...
Maggie joined us on Friday, December 11 at 5:20 PM. On Friday morning, I woke up at around 6:30. I was working from home that morning, so I laid around for a minute trying to motivate myself to get my big belly out of bed. I finally decided to get up and go to the bathroom in the hopes that it would wake me up enough to start my day. As soon as I got to the bathroom, I felt a gush. I questioned it for a minute, but I quickly realized that my water had broken. I immediately called Tina, but she didn't answer. (she was already at work) I sent her a no-nonsense text stating simply "CALL ME!". She called a few minutes later, and dropped everything she was doing to race home to get me. In the meantime, I was still feeling pretty good, so I went ahead and showered and gathered a few additional items for the hospital that we hadn't packed yet.
Once Tina got home, (about an hour after my water broke) we left the house to take Joey (our dog) to her parents' house. It was in the car that the contractions started to hit. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of months, and I soon realized how nice those were compared with the real thing. :)
Once we got to the hospital, they had to run a test to make sure I was truly in labor. I "passed" the test, and we were admitted to labor and delivery. They brought us to our room and we met our first nurse for the day - Mirena. We weren't too fond of Mirena. We think she might have been new or something, but she questioned everything she did and kind of had a negative attitude about things. (luckily, but the time we were actually pushing later, the nurses had changed shifts, so we got a new one) Things went pretty well at the beginning. They started me on a saline drip. (after 4 failed attempts at finding a good vein - ouch!) After about an hour, they checked me, and I had only dilated 1cm. (same as I was a week before when my doctor checked me) So basically, no progress. They decided to start me on pitosin (sp?) at this point. (I quickly nicknamed pitosin the "devil's feed" because it made the contractions come on quick and far more intense) After a couple of hours w/ the pitosin, I started to dilate very quickly. Up to this point, I was managing the pain without medications, but I then had the "contraction of all contractions" that caused me to cry and nearly vomit. I decided after this point, it was time for an epidural. (I was around 4cm)
The doctor came in to give me an epidural. It was kind of scary a scary sensation when he was giving me the shot. At one point, he told me I might feel a little "zinger" in my leg, but it was important for me to remain still. I felt the zinger and jumped. Luckily, the epidural still worked and I'm not paralyzed. :) Who could sit still during a "zinger"?!! Once the epidural went to work, it was smooth sailing. I heard a rumor that the contractions became really big and close together, but I didn't feel a thing. :) I went from 4cm to 10cm in about 2 hours. (it was during this time that our nurses changed, and Mirena left & was replaced by Liz) Nurse Liz was great! Once I got to 10cm, we were told that the doctor on duty had a surgery, and I needed to try to wait for 30 mins. It wasn't too difficult since I had the epidural, but I did start to feel some pressure and felt the need to push. At around 4:45, I told Nurse Liz that I needed to start pushing. I pushed for about 20 mins, then the doctor came in. Two contractions later with the doctor, and Maggie Jane was out! She weighted 7 lbs, 15.5oz. I know, sounds like 8 lbs, but it's not. :)
Below are some pictures from labor and Maggie's first moments in the world:
My mommies - early in labor. (Mommy is still smiling, so this is obviously before the contractions became too intense) :)
Mommy post-epidural. My heart rate had dropped a little, so I think that's why she looks concerned. Or maybe she's just scared about what's about to happen. :)
Mommy's first glance at me.
Me before my first bath!
Me and Mommy. Doesn't she look happy?
My first bath. I don't look too happy.
Clean and warm and sporting my new "Maggie" hat thanks to Grandma McNamara.
Exhausted after a long day of hard labor. I wonder if I'll get paid for all of those hours I put in today?!
Me and Nurse Liz. She was so nice, she actually came to visit me the next morning to say hi!
While Dr. Callanan took care of my mommy while she was pregnant, Dr. Ozel was the one who delivered me. She was really nice and mommy thought she had a good, calm energy. (mommy forgot to take a picture of me and the doctor!)