Welcome to the World Sophia Rose

Our Birth Story....

     During the last week, I was so ready for Sophia to make her appearance. I was feeling miserable and felt like I could barely move. Thursday in particular, I felt even more sore. I felt so much pressure and it hurt to bend or squat. I knew it had to be close. On the way home I told me husband that we were going walking that evening. Thankfully it was the one day we had that week with nice weather. It was in the upper 60's and sunny. We walked about a mile that evening. That evening right after dinner I began to feel contractions, only these weren't like those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions I'd been having the past few weeks. These were different. Using an app I downloaded, I began to try and time them. By around 12:00 that night they grew stronger, however my app times were not consistent. I knew this had to be the real thing. I finally decided to wake my husband up. I had him time my contractions and he got around 2-3 minutes apart. It was finally time. We grabbed a few things around the house that we hadn't packed yet and then made our way to the hospital. 

    When we arrived they hooked me up to some monitors to read the contractions. When I arrived I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced and the contractions were about 2 minutes apart. I was told that I was in early labor but if I had not progressed more by the time the doctor came down to see me that they'd send me back home to wait. I was praying that something would happen quick. My nurse encouraged me to talk around the labor and delivery floor to help speed things up and to get the baby moving down. My husband and I walked several laps around the floor until the doctor came. Within that hour, I had progressed to 4cm and 90% effaced. He decided to admit me. I have to say that was one of the longest nights of my life. The DR broke my water that morning to help try and speed things up since I was still at a 4 around 5:00 that morning. 

      After they broke my water, I was in the most pain I think I've ever been in, in my entire life. My objective was not to get an epidural but for it to be available if I decided I wanted it. First I tried using an IV medication. That was a horrible experience! It made me SO sick on top of everything else. After that, I decided to give in and get the epidural. All along I was SO nervous about the needles and that whole procedure but I was in so much pain that I didn't even notice any of that. The rest of my labor went by much smoother now that I was "pain free." Later that afternoon, my nurse decided to check me on a whim. It was a good thing she did! At that point, I was at a 10! We started to push and by 3:04 our precious baby girl was here! She weighed 6lbs and 5.4oz and was 18 & 1/2 in long.

      As they placed her straight on my chest, I was so wrapped up in her that I didn't even notice anything else going on. Within a few moments I started to hear the words "lot of blood" and "stitches." 

Moments later the doctor told me that I had 2nd degree tearing and has lost a lot of blood. With quite a few stitches, I was taken care of. Within the next hour, we enjoyed swooning over our sweet girl. I was starting to feel a little better and decided to set my bed up so I could see her better. Immediately I began to feel like I was going to pass out. Jeffrey ran out and got the nurse who ran straight in along with the doctor. They laid me back down and I felt much better. My temperature was high and my heart rate was off. The next thing they worried about was possible clotting. The rest of the night I was being constantly monitored. I had bloodwork done and finally it came back good. That was definitely a scary experience! 

      Today makes our 4th day at home with our sweet girl. It has definitely been an experience. Everyone keeps saying it'll get easier. So far I have found that to be true with each passing day. There have been plenty of obstacles but with each day they manage to be easier. I am so glad to have my amazing husband by my side to help. He is such a good dad and I am so glad to have him to go through this journey with me.