A Day in the Life of Mamma: Our New Baby!!

I guess I need to introduce our new baby and tell the story of his birth! We are so excited to have this baby here with us finally! It's no secret that his pregnancy was a bit rough on me, and that I was quite impatient for it to be over and for him to come. And especially after his due date! By then I was really ready!

I had an appointment on his due date, and my doctor had me do a baby stress test in the office. And for whatever reason, baby's heart rate dropping, or something, she had me go in to the hospital for a more in-depth stress test. Everything turned out okay, though, and I was sent home.

On Saturday, the 22nd, I started having very irregular contractions, like, hours apart. Daniel and I took advantage of Gramma being here to go car shopping, to get an idea of the kind of van we want to get in the summer. And I kept having contractions, all during car shopping, dinner, putting the girls to bed, and playing a game of Dominion with Daniel and Mom (we got Mom into Dominion, she wanted to play almost every night she was there, after that first night we introduced it to her). But the contractions were so far apart and irregular, I couldn't really say I was in labor.

After we went to bed, and around midnight, my contractions became more regular and closer together, about 20 minutes or so apart, and getting closer together. I labored all through the wee hours of that morning, trying to rest, but having contractions too often to get any sleep. Eventually I gave up and started doing other things while laboring. At one point, I went downstairs to watch a movie with Mom. She was nice enough to let me come disturb her sleep so I could distract myself. Plus, it's not easy to labor all that time by yourself. And Daniel came down at one point to be with me as well.

At around 5 or 5:30 in the morning, I called Heather Delhoyo to come sleep at our house while we all went to the hospital. We got to the hospital and all checked in around 6 or so, and I was a little worried that they would send me home, because once we got into the car, and as they were wheeling me up to the maternity ward, my contractions stopped completely. I'm sure it was at least 10 minutes that I didn't have a single contraction, and I thought, "Oh, no! I've stopped laboring! I've been laboring for 6 hours, and I'm probably not dilated to even a 3 yet, and they're going to send me home!"

The nurses got me all set up and checked me, and I was at a 7! I was a little surprised, because it felt a little different than Camille's labor, a little slower, even. But then ... at that point, labor starts to get faster and more intense, and I had a hard time deciding if I should get an epidural or not. Labor was hard, but it wasn't SO hard that I had to have drugs. It hadn't gotten to that point, like it did with Camille, where I really was struggling. So I paused. And in that little time that I paused, I proceeded very quickly, and the next time they checked me, I was at a 9. Dr. Ardalan came in to see me, checked me and broke my water. AND THEN ... labor got really bad. I don't know how long I labored from a 9 to pushing time. It felt like a long time, I would guess an hour. And it was really hard. Really hard. As I'm having these awful contractions, I have 2 thoughts: 1) Damn. Why didn't I get an epidural?! Never again. Next time, I want the drugs! and 2) Heavenly Father, I need more strength. Please. More strength. I can't do this on my own anymore! I was so, so tired. I'd been laboring all night with no sleep at all, and I was exhausted. I was worried that when the time came to push, I would have no energy or strength left to deliver a baby.

Eventually, that time came, and I REALLY felt the urge to push. It was incredible! I pushed once, and the nurse said that I wasn't pushing good or strong enough, and that next time I had to really bear down and give a good push. So, next time, that's what I did. I really bore down and pushed. And baby started coming ... before Dr. Ardalan was even ready. Daniel and Mom told me afterwards that she was still putting on her gloves when he started emerging, and that she said, "Wait, hold on!" and had to run up to catch him in time. So, it was basically a half-hearted push, and then a couple of really hard pushes, and he came!

It was so hard, and so exciting! They immediately put him onto my chest and gave him a quick wipe down while Dr. Ardalan got started putting me back together. I'd torn fairly badly, upward and downward, and, although she applied a local anesthetic, I felt EVERYTHING SHE DID down there. I'm not sure why the anesthesia didn't work, but it sure didn't. I was a little shell-shocked from labor and delivery, and I just wanted to be done with all the pain. I wanted to be able to calm down and loosen up for my baby (who was screaming on and off this whole time); but I couldn't do it, because I was still in such pain from her stitching me up. They put a catheter in for a couple of hours, as well, which was supremely uncomfortable.

So, not only was labor and delivery so hard and exhausting, but even the few hours afterwards weren't much of a comfort because I was still in such pain.

But I was so happy and excited to finally have my baby! He was born at exactly 8:30am on Sunday, April 23rd, 2017. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz., and was 21 inches long. And he was absolutely perfect, with big old hands and a perfect little head of dark hair. He felt so tiny to me, laying in my arms. After Dr. Ardalan finished her work, the nurse immediately had me try and nurse my little baby, and he did really well at first. He seemed to have a real desire to nurse, he latched right on and started sucking.

I was so glad that Mom could be there for the birth. She was so worried that she would miss everything. But he came right before she had to leave. She stayed with me and Jack in the hospital for most of that day until the afternoon, when she had to leave to catch her flight. We were both sad to see her leave. She even cried as she walked out the door.

The next couple of days in the hospital were wonderful, but painful and a little troublesome (nursing problems, what else?). We had so many friends help us with the girls, watching them so that Daniel could come and be with me in the hospital. And fortunately, Daniel is getting 6 weeks of paid paternity leave, which he started last week, after he was born. We, of course, hemmed and hahed over a name for about a day or so, but finally landed on Jack Joseph Holbrook, which I was a little uncertain about at first, but now I really love. Just so long as people don't call him JJ. Bleh.

The girls came to visit every day, and, typical of little kids, Camille was wary and didn't want anything to do with him. But Brooke was enchanted! She wanted to know everything, had a ton of questions, and could hardly wait to hold him. She was so sweet. It was so wonderful to have them come, I just love all my little kids!!

We're pretty over the moon about our new baby, Jack. He's just perfect and so sweet!