Bringing Bailey Home

We were finally released from the hospital on Monday around 3:00 pm. We were so excited yet terrified to leave. It was such a crazy feeling being wheeled out of the hospital with the baby in my lap just like in the movies. Then even crazier to place her in our car for our trip home! I sat in the back seat with her just in case she needed me. When we got home, Andy carried her car seat upstairs to our living room and set it down in the middle of the room. She was sound asleep so we just sat there on the floor and stared at her. Neither one of us had a clue what to do next. It was really amazing thinking that all of these months wondering and dreaming about what our baby would look like and how it would feel to have her at home with us and now here she was, as beautiful as ever sleeping peacefully in her car seat.

The next few days were both wonderful and exhausting! Andy was off work until Thursday so he was able to help out as much as possible. We were up all night and slept a lot during the days. It was really fun when we gave her a bath for the first time. She was so cute and tiny so we bathed her in the kitchen sink. Unfortunately Andy had to go back to work that Thursday and I was so scared to have her by myself at home. Thankfully my sister Niki came over and stayed the night with me just to help out and offer advice. My mom stayed the next night and my other sister stayed another night! I'm so lucky to have family like that is willing to come over to help me out (even if it is to see Bailey and not me :))

I had to take Bailey to the pediatricians 3 times in the first 2 weeks. I know that its normal for babies to lose weight at first but she lost weight over the course of 2 visits so I had to keep going back. I was having trouble getting her to latch on one side and was worried that she wasn’t getting enough to eat. She was eating almost every hour which is so exhausting because by the time she is done eating and I change her; I have maybe a half hour before she is ready to eat again. By the 3rd visit she had gained a little bit of weight so we were no longer worried. Breast feeding is so tiring and I was almost ready to quit a few times because I felt like I couldn’t do anything and that I wouldn’t ever have a life! Well that is somewhat true at first but I have to say it is the best feeling in the world! It does make it difficult to go many places because by the time you get anywhere she is ready to eat again and then trying to find a place to feed her is even harder. But in the long run it is so rewarding. I love the time I get to spend with her cuddling her and the sweet faces she makes at me while she is eating makes all the trouble worth it. They are only little for such a short period of time. I'm going to do my best to pump while I'm at work but if it doesn’t work out then on the bright side, Daddy can help out more too :)

Welcome to the World Little Bailey Girl!-June 8, 2013

It has been forever since I last posted. The week before Bailey was born was crazy and since then it has been a whirlwind. So I'm going to catch up bit.

The week of the 7th was very interesting. I wasn’t feeling so great since Saturday the 1st. I was just very tired and out of it. I went to church on Sunday only to turn around and go back to bed. I ended up taking the day off on Monday and by Tuesday, I was feeling terrible. I was just plain sick. I was supposed to have my weekly OB apt in the afternoon but felt so bad that I called to have it earlier, right about 10 am. When I went in they checked me and I was still at a 1 but 75% effaced. They hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having any contractions. I was perfectly fine. By Tuesday night at 11:00 pm I ended up with something so bad that I was in the bathroom all night every 25-30 min until Wednesday at 8am. So I called the OB and they had me come into the hospital to get checked out. I was worried that throwing up as much as I did was going to hurt the baby somehow. When I got to the hospital they hooked me up to an IV in order to get fluids in my system. I really had thought that maybe this was it and I was going to be able to have Bailey early or something :) But instead they sent me home at 3pm with a prescription and ordered me to drink lots of fluids and to rest. They had determined that I just had a bad viral infection. I took it easy on Thursday and was off work again on Friday.

Friday was our 5 year anniversary! I still can't believe that we have been married for 5 years. Since I still wasn’t feeling 100% and really hadn’t eaten much we decided to head to Bread Co. for soup and sandwiches and then off to see a movie (Star Trek). We knew we had to see a least 1 more movie before baby came since it would be difficult to do so once she was here. All night I kept feeling strange. I could feel lots of movement down low and my belly felt unusually tight. I could hardly breathe sitting in that darn movie theater chair. I knew that something was going on and thought that I would probably have her by the end of the weekend.

12:30 AM Saturday June 8-I'm still awake watching TV and think I have to use the restroom....it was just a trickle so I wasn’t sure I was going to the bathroom or if my water broke. I kept trying to make it stop when I realized it wasn’t my imagination! It was finally time to meet our baby girl. I yelled for Andy to wake up and in disbelief we both got ready to go to the hospital. It was the strangest feeling getting ready knowing this was it. I was so nervous and excited. We called our parents on the way and we were both very calm.

They checked us in and had to verify that my water did in fact break. Once they determined that it had broken they moved us to a delivery room. The nurse said that it looked like only a portion of the bag of water broke so they would have to finish breaking it with this long tool. My contractions hadn’t started yet. My mom and sister had met us at the hospital at 2 am to show their support and excitement as well. The nurse checked me and said that I was 100% effaced and only 1.5 cent dilated. Basically they didn’t expect me to deliver until later that afternoon at the earliest. We sent my mom and sister home to get rest while Andy and I got as comfortable as we could and tried to rest as well. The nurse brought me a popsicle and a drink and we turned down the lights to try and sleep. Of course I didn’t get an ounce of sleep! Then the nurse came back in to break the rest of my water. It was very painful when they used the tool but they realized that Bailey was so low that her head was just blocking the water from coming out. They moved her around a bit and sure enough lots of water gushed out. My contractions started up a little bit but nothing too crazy. It just felt like uncomfortable menstrual cramps. Again we tried to get more sleep. By about 5:30 they checked me again and I was only at a 3. They decided to give me pitocin to speed up the dilation. I guess it took instantly because by 6:15 I was dying! The pain was so intense. My cramping came in waves and was like the worst menstrual cramps you could ever imagine. I was leaning up on the side of the bed in more pain that I had ever thought. I called for the epidural and I was being prepped before I could blink. It was really difficult to sit up and hunch over a pillow while they put the needle in. I didn’t look of course but honestly it wasn’t that bad at all. Once it was in, I could feel the medicine coursing throughout instantly. I did feel it more on my right side then the left at first. Since I had epidural I could no longer get out of bed so they were going to send someone in shortly to put the catheter in. I was able to settle back in the bed and relax again. Well so I thought....my contractions didn’t get better but they did get shorter. They were just as painful but they didn’t last as long. At 7:00 my day time nurse came in to introduce herself. She said she was planning on checking me again at 7:30 and that they would be in at that time to put in the catheter. As soon as she left I began to have the worst pain in my rear and it felt like I was going to have to go to the bathroom. I felt about 3 waves of contractions before I told Andy to call the nurse back in to check me. At 7:05 she came in and much to all of our surprise I was at a 10! She looked at both of us and said, "Were about to have a baby!" There was no time for the catheter and everything went into action. When she left the room to get the on call doctor Andy and I were in total shock! We couldn’t believe it was all about to happen and that it was happening so fast. He called all of our family to let them know to head back up to the hospital.

When the nurse came back in she started prepping the room. First she lowered the sides of my bed and then raised me up so that the bed would be eye level with the doctor. Then she removed the lower portion of the bed. I felt like I was going to fall off! Next came the fun part....my legs were put in the lovely stirrups. Poor Andy was about to get a real show. Next she put down plastic on the floor and then had me start a few practice pushes. Apparently I did really well, so well that she had me stop pushing so that we could wait for the doctor to finish delivering. Bailey's little head was crowned in just a few pushes. It was so painful to feel her just sitting there. I couldn’t believe I had to wait for the doctor with my baby in the most painful position. At one point I even asked the nurse if she could just deliver her! Since we were waiting on the doctor the nurse was trying to stall and keep my mind off of the current situation as much as possible. She convinced Andy to check out Miss Bailey's little head and he actually looked!

Finally the doctor came in and put on these boots that looked like wader boots, gloves that came up past her shoulder and a giant face mask with a big plastic shield. It was pretty comical actually. The doctor was really wonderful. Once she was ready to go I started pushing during a few more contractions. I was ready for Bailey to make her way into the world (and out of my....haha). It was very painful but honestly it felt much better to push. It was sort of a relief. I think that the contractions were worse that the pushing part of labor. In total I pushed through 6 contractions and it only took about 20 mins. I was very lucky. I just remember on the last few pushes when she was almost here. I could feel her making her way out, I took one last breath and pushed with everything I could. The instant she was out I saw her sweet little face and thought to myself, she looked just like me! It was so strange. She had so much hair that everyone was in complete shock. Then I heard that wonderful cry and they wiped her off and handed her to me. It was the best and most amazing feeling in the world. Andy and I both teared up in awe looking at our beautiful baby girl. We did it! Andy kept telling me how great of a job I did. It was such a wonderful bonding moment for the 3 of us. Bailey has the best features of both of us. She has her Daddy's eyes for sure. We are just so incredibly in love with this little girl. It truly is an instant love that I never knew I could have for someone.

They took her from me to clean her off a little bit more and then brought her back to me to start breastfeeding. I really thought it was going to be weird but I really loved it. She knew what to do right away. It is so crazy that they know how to do that when it is their first time too. Our families came in to celebrate with us shortly after we were done feeding. Then they gave her the first bath. Andy helped clean her up a bit then the nurse had to actually wash her hair for the first time. She had so much hair that she had lots of bubbles on top of her head. It’s probably one of my favorite first pictures of her.

The time in the hospital was such an overall wonderful experience. I did have some trouble getting her to latch to my right side for breastfeeding and the nurses and lactation consultant did everything to help me out. I wasn’t fully prepared for the after birth experience. It was somewhat painful and you get to use a fun little squirt bottle. I never thought I would love granny panties as much as I did afterwards either :) I can't even imagine those that have to go through a c-section. I feel really bad for them and feel lucky that my labor was so easy.

The hospital staff was amazing and they took such great care of us. We had lots of friends and family members visit us and we felt truly blessed. The first 2 nights were so great with our sweet beautiful baby. It is such a miracle. I don’t know how anyone can't believe in God when you go through the experience of having a child.

k