On Friday (the 16th) I had a doctor appointment after school and we had an official check of how Grace was doing. Doctor Davolio told me that I was effaced, which basically means my body was getting ready for delivery. I was excited, but knew this was one of many steps that had to happen for Grace to be here. She told me that since I was 37 weeks along, I could go into labor at anytime and it would be fine! How exciting..getting down to the wire!
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| Mom and I at 37 weeks! |
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| Little did I know...the day before my delivery!! |
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| Mom and Dad at Oktoberfest--having one for me! |
*DELIVERY! Fair warning-I'm giving all the graphic details! ;)
On Saturday, at Oktoberfest of course, I started noticing that I was 'leaking' quite a bit. I felt like every time I would get finished using the restroom, it felt like I just poured a small glass of water in my pants. The doctor had told me on Friday some signs to look for in labor, and she said if my water broke it would be a large amount of water--enough to soak my clothes. This is not what was happening to me. I felt like it was definitely not normal to be leaking fluid for hours, but I didn't know what to expect being the first child and all! I also googled it, and one lady online said that she was having a similar problem and went to the doctor and the doctor told her she was actually losing control of her bladder and sent her home. I didn't want to call the doctor just to have her tell me I was peeing myself! I really didn't think I was peeing myself, however, because this fluid was as clear as water and I knew it was coming from another hole...if you know what I mean! So, throughout the night and all day Sunday, I was having the same problem. I was having to change my underwear numerous time and didn't know what was going on. Then, on Sunday evening, around dinnertime, I started getting mild stomach cramps (like period pain). I didn't think much of it since I had just eaten, and just figured it was something I ate.
I got up on Monday morning, and luckily we had a test in class that day because my stomach still hurt. Gradually, throughout the day, my cramps got worse and worse and I was still leaking fluid. I told a few teachers, and of course everyone just thought is was Braxton Hicks or just some pre-labor pains since I was getting so close. I thought they were probablyright, but since I had a volleyball game that night, I figured I might as well call the doctor just to be on the safe side. Luckily, they had an opening at 3, so I left during athletics just to get checked out. Naturally, my doctor was off on Monday, so I had to see another doctor in the practice--but it was no biggie because I had seen her before and really like her too. She was feeling around, and I wish I could remember what she said--something about be thinned out or something. She said it so chill and calm, so I figured it was nothing big. I asked her what she said meant and, as chill as before, she said, "It means you're having this baby today." Apparently I had been in early labor all day at school! Well, I freaked out a little bit, but was also super excited! I was just a little worried about being 3 weeks early!
Luckily, I had literally packed my hospital bag the night before. I asked her if I would be able to go home and get my bag or at least go down to my car since I had all my hospital paperwork, and she said I had to go immediately to labor and delivery---whoa! All I kept thinking was, 'I'm glad I didn't go the volleyball game tonight! Could've been an embarrassing situation!' As I walked to labor and delivery, I called Mike and the conversation went a little something like this:
MIKE: 'Hey babe, what's up?'
ME; 'Oh nothing, just having a baby.'
MIKE: 'Um, are you serious?'
ME: 'Yep, walking to labor and delivery now! I wasn't feeling well, so I made an appointment to see the doctor and they said the baby is coming!'
MIKE: 'Shut up! I'm on my way!'
CLICK
I also texted my parents with this text message: 'in labor'. Thought it would be funny to hear their responses. Well, mom called freaking out, naturally. Her and my dad were both at work, so they had to go home, pack, and then make the 90 mile trip during rush hour traffic.
Well, the check in and preparation process was easy. I had the most fabulous nurse, Melissa. Around 3:30, I changed clothes and sat there and watched some T.V. while they prepped me--gave me an I.V., got me hooked up to all those machines, and gave me some Potocin to jump start the labor. As soon as I got changed and hooked up, they checked me, and I was dilated to 2 cm.
Around 4:30, Mike and Patsy were with me in the room, and I was really starting to notice my contractions. They just felt like really strong period cramps. The good thing about contractions is that I knew they would be over in about 30 seconds! Just when they were starting to really get uncomfortable, my favorite lady (the one with the epidural) showed up! For me, the hardest part of the epidural was having to sit still for about 5 minutes while I was having contractions. I didn't think the shot was that bad at all because I was so focused on my contractions.
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| My wonderful nurse, Melissa! |
I was feeling like a huge baby about the contractions, BUT I felt better after the epidural because as soon as I got my epidural they checked me again and I was already dilated to 8 cm! This was around 6..only two 1/2 hours since I got there! whoo hoo! It was funny because Melissa checked me, and had this look on her face that freaked me out. I asked her what was wrong, and she just couldn't believe I would already be dilated to an 8 so she got the doctor just to double check! Melissa told me that she got off at 6, and I was like, "No!!" So, she ended up staying! Yay! At this point, the doctor had to leave because she had two other patients in delivery, but Melissa told me I could go ahead and start pushing because it usually takes at least an hour of pushing. Around 6:30, with Mike on one side and Melissa on the other--(and my mom and Patsy with cameras ready) I started to push. Well, I think I pushed through 2 contractions before Melissa told me I had to stop until the doctor came! So crazy! After waiting for about 30 minutes, the doctor and about 10 other people came in ready to go! I pushed through about 2 more contractions and out came baby Grace! It literally had to be the easiest and best labor that ever was. Even the doctors and nurses were like, "That was the best labor!" Everyone told me I needed to have like 10 other kids because my body apparently handles labor very well---Mike didn't think this was very funny! :)
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| Grace staring up at her daddy! |
Lilly Grace Bolding was born at 7:17 PM (Just under four hours of actual labor)
6 lbs 11 oz
19 1/2 in.
As soon as she came out, she sat up and looked right at Mike for a good 10 seconds! It was so cool!
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| He's already so in love! ...wrapped around her finger! |
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| Love her so much! |
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| Our little bundle of joy! |
After two nights in the hospital, we got to go home. Let me tell ya, you definitely don't go to a hospital to rest. There were so many people in and out of our room and so much going on. Not only was I recovering FROM BIRTH, but I also had to get like 10 shots (it felt like). Since I have negative blood and Grace has positive, I had to get a Rhogam shot and that thing hurt!! It was literally worse than the epidural....geez! We decided not to have Grace in the room with us at night. They just brought her in when it was time to eat. I'm breast feeding her, and -of course- she's doing wonderful. I am SOO blessed to have had such a wonderful pregnancy/birth experience! On Wednesday morning, we got to go home. The discharge process was a stressful one for me. You feel like you are so close to going home, but there are so many things that have to happen first. First, my doctor came in and did a check up. Then, the pediatrician came in and told us all about Grace's status- we had to bring her to the hospital for the next two days to get her blood drawn to test her billy rubin levels since she was so close to being Jaundice. After that, my nurse came in to read me my 5 pages of discharge information and then, the nursery nurse came in to read me my 5 pages of baby discharge information. Ugh! So many things that need to be done! Finally, we were ready to leave and we were getting Grace into her car seat when she got so upset. It was so sad :( Luckily, my parents were there to help us out, so they took flowers and things down to their car while Mike went down to get our car. As I'm waiting at the elevator in my wheelchair, the nursery nurse (who I did not like--absolutely NO bedside manner) stopped us and said we had to wait because she wanted to test Grace's respiratory system again. WHAT?? Why did you not do this during the last two days. Since my water officially broke on Saturday, everybody was worried about infections so they wanted to make sure her breathing was normal. Of course, I'm crying by this point because I just want to go home and I don't understand why this wasn't checked earlier! Well, 30 minutes later, I was on my way and everything was fine...thank goodness!
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| Going home! |
We've now been home a week, and Grace is just perfect! Her breast feeding is going great and even night time is a breeze. During the day, I feed her every 2-3 hours and at night she sleeps about 3 1/2 hours before she wakes up ready to eat. I usually feed her at 11 PM, 2:30ish, and 6ish. She doesn't even wake up crying! I can just hear her making sweet little noises! The only time she really cries is when we're changing her diaper or swaddling her--doesn't like being naked! (good sign! lol) We even forget to change her diaper sometimes because she doesn't even cry when she had a poopy diaper. We've had to take her to the hospital 3 times to get her blood drawn, and she just sleeps right through the heel prick!
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| Proud daddy! |
I still can't tell who she looks like or what color her eyes will be, but she sure is a pretty little thing! I am so unbelievably blessed to have such a fabulous family! Mike is an absolutely fabulous father. I could watch him with Grace all day. He just stares at her, and tell her how beautiful she is all the time. I'm so excited to raise this precious little thing with him. He is so helpful too. He always wants to change her diaper, do the laundry, or do anything he can to help. He is definitely the better swaddler of the two! We were saying today how we could never imagine our lives without her. All those things people told us about how wonderful it is to be parents, and how you can't even explain it--were right!
