June 30, 2014

louisa's birth

Here's Louisa's birth story for anyone interested, and for my blog journal: On Tuesday (June 24th), I went to my OB appointment and when she checked me, I was dilated 2 cm. Even though I was just 39 weeks, I was really anxious to have this baby! Dr. Brass asked me if I wanted to have a baby that week and when I told her yes, she scheduled me for an induction on Friday. She really got things going when she checked me (ouch) and then we talked a little bit about natural things I could do. I wasn't excited about being induced so I scheduled myself for acupuncture in her office on Thursday to see if that would put me into labor. Dr. Brass also mentioned that some women don't have enough natural pitocin for strong contractions so she suggested that I take an epsom salt bath. I immediately went to the store and bought some epsom salts and a pineapple (which I heard helps induce contractions). David got home early from work and sent me off to use one of my Mother's Day gift certificates at the foot reflexology spa. He put the boys to bed while I relaxed and then I got into the bath with a bowl of pineapple and some lavender essential oils diffusing. At 9 p.m., I got out of the bath and my water broke! It was a slow trickle so I wasn't totally sure but it just kept coming so I called the doctor. My contractions were erratic and not very strong at this point.
I wanted to stay at home as long as possible since my labors tend to be really long but the doctor reminded me that I am Group B Strep positive (with all three babies - ugh) and that I needed to be on antibiotics for four hours before I had the baby. We got ready to go and left the sleeping boys with Ben and Jamie. They admitted me at around 10 p.m. after determining that my water had, indeed, broken. The nurse told me that they really  needed me to have at least four hours of the antibiotics to protect the baby and that if I didn't have it, they would have to draw her blood after she was born. I really didn't want that to happen so I was determined not to let my contractions get any closer.

They administered penicillin from about 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. David and I slept a little bit and I was feeling pretty good. Once the antibiotics were in me, I knew it was OK for me to have contractions really kick into gear. The nurse came and checked me at 3 a.m. and I was dilated to 4 cm. After she left and stirred things up from checking me, David rubbed an essential oil blend that I had made with clary sage oil to induce contractions onto pressure points on my legs. Between that and the nurse checking me, the contractions really started. Within the next hour, I was in a lot of pain and felt ready for my epidural. I had an epidural at 4 a.m. and started feeling really great. After about an hour, I was completely numb below my spine which I was kind of disappointed by at first. I couldn't move my right leg at all but I definitely had zero pain so it really wasn't anything to complain about!

The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm. By 6 am, I hadn't made much progress so she started me on pitocin at 6:30 to get things going. Within 30 minutes I felt pressure and thought maybe I should push. I thought that maybe I was wrong because it had only been half an hour and how could I have gone from 5 cm to 10 cm in 30 minutes with no pain? I called the nurse, who checked me and I was fully dilated and ready! She called Dr. Brass and got everything ready. We were feeling so excited and I was completely calm and relaxed - it was so nice! Dr. Brass was 20 minutes away and there was another patient down the hall who was also ready to deliver. It was a race of who was going to have her baby first... which turned out to be the other mother (which was fine - it was her first child and she was really anxious and scared). Since I had to wait a while and since pushing is an involuntary action, it was really hard not to push. When I did have a big contraction, and had the urge push, I just tried to hold back as best as I could. Then Dr. Brass arrived and was in a happy, cheerful mood which made me feel relaxed and excited. Then it was time for me to push and after 3 big pushes, she was almost completely out. Dr. Brass told me to reach down and pull her onto my chest. It was really cool to pull my own baby out of my body and lift her onto onto my chest. Sounds weird (or maybe gross to those of you who get squeamish about child birth) but it was amazing. I held her with the umbilical cord still attached for a few minutes and then they whisked her off to get cleaned up.
She was born on Wednesday (June 25th) at 7:30 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. She has lots of dark hair and has the same tawny skin that Fritz had at birth. Her cheeks are especially yummy and chubby and she is a really good baby so far.
My niece, Jamie, brought the boys to meet her the next day. I was really excited for them to meet her and William was thrilled (as seen in the picture below)! He calls her "Moo-isa". :) Fritz is less enamored and I foresee some tough times ahead as he adjusts to not being the baby anymore. 

11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness.....Williams face while holding Lousia is so precious! Congrats on your new baby girl she is beautiful, and I am envious of how amazing you look after labor!

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  2. That first picture literally brought tears. I'm so happy for you. I can not wait to meet her and see you and SNUGGLE! Good job Mama!

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  3. Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but could there be any prettier a person than you in that first post-delivery picture? It's as if you're a model, posing as a woman that just went through labor.

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  4. Precious little girl. ;) Congratulations!

    Country Girl's Daybook

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  5. What a beautiful family! Congrats to you guys and your baby girl!

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  6. That picture of William with lulu is the best! His happy face.

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  7. Sounds like everything went smooth! She is a doll. And that pic of will holding her is adorable! Good job mama!

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  8. What an awesome birth!! I'm so happy for you. :-) Your daughter is precious.

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  9. Congratulations! What I want to know is, how did you manage to look so stunning moments after giving birth! Amazing.

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  10. So adorable. Love the photos with the boys.... and you look beautiful.

    Congrats again to you and David. :)

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