Eight weeks ago today, I was at the hospital getting ready to have my sweet baby girl. It’s crazy how fast time flies by. I thought that my pregnancy went by quick, but man is my girl growing up too quick! These weeks have been the most tiresome and overwhelming, yet the most rewarding of my life. There is no better feeling than to cuddle up with your child and to have them look at you and smile! Chloe has been an absolute blessing to our family!
It all started on Friday after my “sweep.” (Please don’t read if you don’t want TMI!!!) I began to notice a lot of discharge. Saturday it didn’t get any better, and Sunday I started to have strong contractions that we’re timeable or painful, but I needed to really concentrate on breathing. Shane had been coughing for a month and his chest really started to hurt him. We had decided to go to Urgent Care to get him checked out and sure enough, he had pneumonia. Of course he did, that’s just our luck! A few days before we were thinking about an induction to meet our baby girl, Shane is diagnosed with something that may make him wear a mask around her!! When we were at the office is when I had to really start breathing through the contractions. I also noticed a slight change in my discharge, but everyone told me that if it were my water, I’d feel like I was peeing myself or a small continuous trickle. So I didn’t think anything of it, because it didn’t fall into either of those categories, but was different than what I had the whole pregnancy and during that weekend. When I was waiting for Shane to drop his prescription off, I decided to call the hospital and see what the nurse had to say. She told me that if they are consistently 2-3 minutes apart and that she wasn’t concerned with the amount of discharge. Once we got done eating at Los Arcos, the contractions weren’t as intense. I brought up maybe going and being checked out, but Shane pointed out that if I went, there was the possibility of them keeping me and I did NOT want to labor in the hospital until I had to. I wanted to be at home until I absolutely had to go. Not only did I not like the fact that I couldn’t eat, but I wanted to be comfortable at home. For the remainder of Sunday, there wasn’t a whole lot that happened and my contractions had died off for the most part.
Monday morning, I went to work to finish everything I needed to and to run some errands while I was in town. I had planned on staying at home Tuesday and Wednesday before heading for an induction on Thursday. I went about my business during the morning with not many contractions, but the ones I had were very intense. Around lunchtime, I decided to call the nurse and let her know what was going on and see what she had to say. She told me that Dr. Womack wanted to see me whether it was in the office or at the L&D in the hospital. I decided to wait until after work to go over to the hospital because I wasn’t hurting at the time. Philip and I were working on a Model 30 (sign talk LOL) and I starting having some contractions that I had to stop working and stand still. I knew that I needed to go to the doctors now and not later. We finished the sign and I headed to the office. I didn’t think that I was going to have my little gal that day! I didn’t even call Shane to tell him I was headed to get checked out! Many days during the last bit of the pregnancy, I woke up thinking “Today very well could be the day! I’m ready to have this baby.” But, Monday I wasn’t thinking that AT ALL! After being hooked up to the monitors for a little while, Dr. Womack came in and asked what was going on and we talked. The only difference today in other days that I had made a visit to the hospital was that I didn’t feel CAM moving around a whole lot. She had moved a good amount that morning, but only kicked a few times during the day. Shane called about 3:45 and wondered what was going on and why I didn’t call him. I told him I was okay and not to worry, and I’d call him once I knew more. Soon thereafter, he came to the office. Dr. Womack checked my cervix, I was 100% effaced and 3 cm dialated. She took some of the discharge and looked at it under the microscope. It wasn’t 5 minutes after Shane came, Dr. Womack came in and said, It’s time to have this baby! Sure enough I was leaking amniotic fluid (my water) and I needed to go to the hospital to be admitted! I’ll never forget the look on Shane’s face! He asked, “are you serious? We’re gonna have a baby? I’m going to have a heart attack!” For about a minute and a half, he was in total shock and then he was fine. He started making phone calls and we were on our way to having a baby!
Once we got over to the hospital, it took them about 20 minutes to get me up to labor and delivery. Thank God I wasn’t in a lot of pain because I would’ve been furious! Once up there, they took us to room 9 (the big room that we toured in the birthing class). I had already knew the drill because of having been in there several times. Putting that big gauze belly band for a long time was not my idea of fun! We got settled in around 5 ish. Shane was reluctant to eat, but he decided it was best for him so that he had something in his belly for delivery. Silly me didn’t think about eating before I went to the hospital, so I wasn’t able to eat until after she was born. I did have some jello and a popsicle – but that didn’t stay too long. Once I got settled, they put an IV in so that they could start giving me the antibiotics for Group B. The first IV hurt more than I thought that they should, so I had her do another one. She was so funny – she said “It must hurt pretty bad if you want another one done.” Thank the Lord, the second one felt much better. I really think that because she tried to put it in my wrist where there’s no fat, the needle was way too close to my bone! The antibiotics had to be in my system for 2 hours before they would start the pitocin drip, so until 8:30 ish, not much happened. I sat on the ball to help work her down, did a lap around the birthing halls, and did some much needed relaxing. As you can see below, even though my contractions were strong and semi-close, I wasn’t in any pain.
Once they started the pitocin drip, the contractions started to get more and more intense and closer together. I still wasn’t in any pain, just felt a ton of pressure. I kept saying that if this was all the pain I’d be in, I was easily going to have a natural child birth! About 9, I realized that I hadn’t called Tina McCarty yet, and she kept saying at the end of my pregnancy, that no matter what time it was to call her. So I had Shane call her, and she didn’t answer. I got on facebook and she was on, so I asked where the phone was and then had him call again. I didn’t want to tell her on facebook, I wanted her to be told on the phone. Shane says that she kinda screamed and then hung up and rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t 30 minutes later and she was there. And boy was I happy she was there! She was a tremendous support during the middle of my labor! I was still progressing well and was anxious to have my water broke the rest of the way because I knew this would speed things along. Finally, at 10:30 Dr. Womack came in. I was already 5 CM so she broke my water! But, let me tell you something – that was the turning point of labor, and I then knew why they call it labor! I was instantly in a ton of pain and I couldn’t handle it. Maggie came in around 11 and had me some pain medicine via IV. This helped a fair amount, but it wasn’t going to stick around for long, an hour at most.
Let me tell you how much of a God send this delivery was! Maggie was our teacher for the first half of our birthing class. She is an amazing gal with a super personality! She usually doesn’t work nights and especially not in labor and delivery. But, on that night, she was working! We had asked about her when we were admitted and requested that she be our nurse once she started her shift. The second amazing thing was that our baby nurse was Lana Mitzell, who I went to school with! What are the odds of knowing 2 faces!?
So back to labor now! Once she told me that it would wear off rather quick and that we weren’t going to be having a baby before it wore off, I knew I needed an epidural. Shane was extremely supportive! He knew that I was in a lot of pain and it killed him to see me like that. So Maggie ordered the epidural. From the time that the IV pain med wore off and the anesthesiologist came in, I was in a TON of pain! I was sweating profusely and Tina and Lisa did a great job keeping the washcloths coming to help cool me down. Not a minute later, I was freezing and shivering. I was taking short breaths and not really going to my happy place. As much as they kept trying to keep me calm, the pain was so intense, I couldn’t even think about breathing deep and slow like we had been taught. Finally the anestigiologist came in with the epidural. Shane did an excellent job of keeping me calm and still during the contractions while I was getting the shot. As much as I feared the shot, it wasn’t too bad. In comparison to the contractions I was experiencing, it was a breeze! Once I got the epidural, Dr. Womack came back in to check on us and I was already 8 cm. I guess because of the Pitocin, I was progressing quickly. I really couldn’t feel the contractions too bad, only the intense pressure. About this time, Maggie had a hard time finding CAM’s heartbeat. It had slowed due to me not breathing right, so I had to have some oxygen. I’ll tell you what – that was no fun! By 1 AM, I was already 10 CM and it was time to push. They brought in a cart of supplies and Lana was then in the room pretty much the whole time now. Around 1:30, the epidural started to wear off and I began to feel what was going on and I was able to push more successfully. Around 1:45, Maggie said that she saw hair, it was not light and that there was a lot of it! By 2:10, baby Chloe made it down the birth canal and blessed us with her presence. Boy what a feeling – I can’t even describe it! I thought I would be an emotional wreck, but she was so beautiful, I just smiled. Shane cried which made me cry, but not as bad as I thought. They let Shane cut the cord and then took her off my chest. Maggie had seen some meconium in the fluid, so the respiratory specialist had to come up to make sure none had gotten in her lungs. A third familiar face was that doctor – Marty who Shane worked with at the Restore. So when they had to take her, I was okay and not a wreck because I knew she was in good hands.
About 20 minutes later, I was able to nurse her for the first time. It was another indescribable moment! Neither of us had any idea what we were doing and it was nice to have Maggie there to help. After we worked on it for a little while, Shane was finally able to hold his little girl! Lisa and Jason left with the kids shortly after I began feeding her, so they were unable to hold her at all that night (well morning). Dad left around 3:30 so that he could go get some sleep before he had to come to the house to take the dogs out and go to work. Someone had to keep the shop open! About 4:30, the nurses came in and took her official measurements and weight. They gave us the option to have her bathed in the room or back at the nursery. If it would’ve been in the middle of the day, we would’ve had them do it in the room, but it was early in the morning and late at night (without any sleep), so we decided to let them take her. I think it was 7ish and they brought her back in the room ready to eat! The first day in the hospital was amazing! We had quite a few visitors including Jeff, Linda, Aunt Charlotte & Uncle Dipper, Michael & Ashley, JoJo Knapp, and even Patty Huffman. Tina came back to be able to hold her since she left pretty much right after she was born without even seeing her. The food wasn’t that bad considering it was hospital food. They had some AWESOME muffins! The rest of the food I picked at and ate most of it, and then Shane finished most all of the meals. Because I had Group B, we had to stay at the hospital for 48 hours after she was born. And because she was born in the middle of the night, we had to stay a few extra hours! So the second day was filled with more visitors and the first time of just me and Chloe. Shane left around 9 to go get breakfast and to run by the shop to make sure everything was going smooth. While he was gone, we took our first nap together. Looking back, I think that was the hardest and soundest I slept for the first 2 weeks of her being alive!! Unlike the day before, I was able to get up and walk around. I didn’t leave the room, but I was up out of the bed. I even put some real clothes on! And I didn’t have a huge belly to deal with!!
That evening we enjoyed a dinner for 2. They had either hamburger steak or chicken with a baked potato, salad, and vegetable. Apple pie was for desert. They gave us a bib and a handmade hat on the table. It was a wonderful meal! Chloe let us eat the majority of it before she started fussing for attention. Later that night, Mema and Papa arrived. This was the first time since I met Shane that she had come to visit. She didn’t even come up for our wedding, so Chloe’s arrival must have been a big deal for her! She stayed with us while she was here, so Shane went home to stay that night. I was going to keep Chloe with me in the room that night, but being Shane wasn’t going to be there to help, I decided that it was best for me to get one last good night of sleep. The nurses brought her in every 2 hours or so to feed, but it still was nice to not have to worry about her.
We were wide awake at 7am, so I had a little bit of mommy Chloe time. Shane didn’t arrive until sometime after 9 claiming that the alarm didn’t go off. Too bad I’ve been with him for 7 years and know that he doesn’t hear the alarm! But its okay because he got a good solid night sleep before coming home with a newborn! The lactation consultant, Melanie, who taught the breastfeeding class and part of the labor class was back at the hospital so I was able to talk to her about the few issues I was having with nursing. Since she had been born, she chose the left side and latched on so much better than the right side. I was so worried about having one really big breast and then the other being so small, so I was desperately trying to get her to latch on the right side correctly. Melanie gave me some good pointers and encouraged me to keep at it and it would get easier as we both learned. Overall, I felt comfortable to feed her at home without any help from the pro’s at the hospital. Sometime around 11, the pediatrician had seen Chloe, Dr. Miller did her final check on me, and the nurses were processing paperwork for me to leave. When it was finally time to go home, we felt excited but apprehensive since we had no clue what we were doing!
During the first few weeks at home, Chloe and I didn’t do much but lounge around. I tried to keep her awake as much as possible while I was awake that way when I was ready to take a nap, she’d rest too. We slept in most days until around 10 and not get out of bed until noon. It was so nice to be able to just relax and enjoy her company. The first week after she was born, I felt that we didn’t get much time for just mommy – baby – time, other than nursing, so it was nice to have her all to myself and not have to share all day! When Shane got home in the evenings, we spent a little time as a family, and then I went to bed around 8 so that he could have quality time with her (and so I could get some good sleep 
). And we’ve ended up sticking to this schedule because it’s worked so well!
) and several other items. We ended up spending somewhere around 100 bucks for probably $200 – $250 worth of items if they were bought brand new. Shane missed the first half of the panthers game, but he was okay once we got home and he was able to watch his game!! Because of the amount of stuff that people wanted to sell and the amount of people who come to purchase the items, they do a restock on Monday night. So I left work for a little while on Tuesday and got some more awesome deals. I didn’t get many things, but did get a tub thermometer, bottles, and some other odds and ends. Overall, the sale had great items and I can’t wait to go back in November to score some more stuff! 
