I have had a few requests for the details of the delivery...so if you don't enjoy reading words like mucus plug and epidural, feel free to skip ahead to the pictures.
So it all started when I hit 38 weeks and I was tired of being pregnant and ready for Kerrigan to be here. I started eating spicy foods (spicy Doritos were my spice of choice), pineapple and taking LONG walks. Thursday (12/4) I walked (or waddled) to Jared's work, 2.6 miles away, and he drove me home. That night I started having mild contractions (so mild I didn't ever really wake up, I just remember being vaguely aware of them as I slept).
When I got up at 10:30, I discovered I had lost my mucus plug so called my doctor (after a panicked call to Brooke where she explained what it was), and he had me come in for some monitoring. We left a little disappointed because while my contractions continued to get worse, I was only dilated at a 1.
By 2 my contractions were about 15 minutes apart, and starting to hurt. I called Jared around 4:30 and asked him to come home, and by 5:25 my contractions were between 2-5 minutes apart and lasting for 30 seconds-1 minute. We got to the hospital at 5:45- I was dilated to a 3 or 4, and by 6:45 I had my epidural.
After that it was all happened very quickly. By 8 my water had broken and I was dilated to a 6. Kerrigan's heart rate dropped once, so I had to have an oxygen mask for the rest of the time. At 8:30 the doctor came in and told me he had to go somewhere for a few minutes, but he would be right back. I told him I was feeling some pressure, so he decided to check me before he left- good thing since I was fully dilated!
After 15 minutes of pushing, the doctor got ready to give me an episiotomy. He had the needle ready to numb me, when his eyes got really big. He threw down the needle and I swear caught my baby mid-air. I guess when she decided it was time to come out, it was time to come out. I am still amazed at how easy the whole thing was, I had really braced myself for a horrible experience. And look what I got out of all of it- definitely worth every contraction!
While we were there, 2 other women from our ward had their babies as well. Here is a picture of all 3 babies (Kerrigan is the teeny one on the left- the other 2 were8 and 9 lbs). Also, one of my dear friends had her baby 20 minutes before me in Washington...Dec. 5th is a hot day to have a baby!
We also had tons of friends come to visit us in the hospital. We really appreciated the love and support- it made it so much easier to do this so far away from family. Thank you everyone for coming to see us...and thank you readers for understanding why my face is so fat and swollen!
5 comments:
I'm glad you had a great labor and it was "easy". My face is always fat and swollen and I didn't push out a baby.
I loved holding Kerrigan she is so tiny and petite and beautiful
i'm glad you had an easy time! actually, a little jealous. :) i went over my due date, was induced, pushed for almost 2 hours, and birthed an almost 8 lb baby. STILL WORTH IT none the less. :) however.. thank goodness for epidurals, and i never hit excruciating pain. i LOVED the experience of having a baby, and it sounds like you did too! she is too precious, enjoy the sweet, teeny tiny moments. once she hits 3 months you will forget she was ever little. merry christmas!!!
Congrats again! Thanks for the details...I was one of those that requested to hear it all!
I'm glad things went well for you. That's kinda how I felt about Brody. There were a few bumps along the way to delivery, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much better it was compared to what I thought it would be.
You look great after having a baby!
So pretty much we just switched due dates! You had your baby on mine and i had mine on yours. or maybe a day later. I can't remember. WOO HOO FOR BABIES!!!!!!
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