Ah. We're home. Life is different. Good. Hard. Strange. Exhausting. Sweet.
The story of Lauren's arrival began on Monday. We went and did our grocery shopping at Wal.mart. I was SO exhausted afterward, that I had to take a nap. I was feeling pretty crappy. I couldn't get comfortable sitting or laying down. Pregnancy wasn't much fun anymore. I was ready for it to be done, but I wasn't counting on her coming early. My due date wasn't until Saturday. After I woke up from my nap around 4:00, I went to the bathroom. The 'bloody show' had begun. I started to get excited knowing that labor was going to happen soon! Brian and I started rushing around, packing our bags, and he cooked dinner - we'd been marinating chicken all day and didn't want to waste it! I called the doctor because I wasn't having contractions and I wanted to make sure that the bleeding wasn't something to be concerned about. The doctor told me that if contractions started, that I should go to the hospital when my contractions are 5 minutes a part. About 5 minutes after hanging up the phone, the contractions started. They didn't hurt that badly...but by 5:00 they were starting to become a little more uncomfortable. We snarfed down our food, finished packing, and I sat down on the couch to time my contractions. By 6:15 they were already less than 5 minutes apart. Some were 2 minutes apart and others just went on and on with no relief for minutes. They were starting to get painful, so we decided to head to the hospital around 6:45. Once in a room, the nurse hooked me up to a monitor and checked me. I was only dialated 2 cm (and had been 1 cm for weeks) and she couldn't get a regular contraction pattern. She said she'd check me again in an hour to determine if I could stay or if I would be sent home. I was in some pretty serious pain and REALLY didn't want to go home, so we walked the halls until I couldn't handle it any longer. The nurse came and checked me again - no progress. I was bleeding quite a bit, so she let me stay another hour - and the next time she checked, I had changed to a 3 - so I got to stay!
The on-call doctor was at the hospital to check on someone else in labor so he came in, checked me and told me he could break my water if I wanted things to go a little faster. That sounded great. It was already 10:00 pm and I was tired, extremely excited and nervous. Once he broke my water, my contractions got really mean. They hurt. BAD. After another bag of IV fluid, I got my epidural, and the world returned to normal. It was fantastic. I can't imagine having to deal with that pain for hours and hours longer. Here is a pic AFTER the epidural... I'm very happy.
The nurses left me to rest and try and get some sleep. Around 2:00 a.m. the nurse came back to check me and I was at a 7! I hadn't felt any of it! I tried to rest more, but I was shaking uncontrollably and couldn't really rest much. An hour and 45 min later, I started feeling some intense pressure. The nurse checked again and I was ready to push! My contractions were never in a regular pattern, so sometimes I'd have 3-4 minutes in between pushes and at other times it was 30 seconds. After about an hour of pushing, Lauren made her arrival! The epidural was perfect. I felt NO pain, but all of the pressure. I could feel her head coming out and her body slide out, but it didn't hurt a bit! The nurses were impressed with how quickly the labor/pushing went for a 1st time mom. I'll admit, the whole process was a little easier than I thought it would be! I suppose 12-13 hours isn't really all that much compared to some people I know who've had to labor for days!
I was a little surprised at how tiny she was! (We think she looks a little like an alien in this picture.
Finally!!! She's in my arms! She was perfect - all ten fingers and toes! I couldn't believe she was actually on the outside!
Oh...I love kissing these sweet baby cheeks!
He's a great daddy! I couldn't have done it without him!
Hooray! We're getting ready to leave the hospital! I was a little sad to leave one of the nurses. She was so fantastic I jokingly asked her to move in with us as she was walking us out to the car. We were blessed by a great staff, and it was great to get to have the same awesome nurse for 2 days! It was a great experience!
I've tried to swaddle her, but she doesn't like her arms tucked in. She's been sleeping MUCH better since I've figured that out! She actually slept all night last night - other than the feedings at 1:30 and 5:00! I feel a little more human again after a few hours of sleep in a row! She's been nursing and pooping (so glad Brian is here to hold her squirmy legs) like a champ.
I'm excited to go to the doctor tomorrow to see how much weight she's gained! Here's one last pic of her in a super cute onesie her Aunt Alicia painted for her at my baby shower!
~ Lauren is a really good eater. We went to the doctor on Monday and she gained 12 oz in one week. She weighed 6lbs 14oz at birth, lost 7oz in the hospital and at two weeks weighed in at 7lbs 10oz.
