She's here: BIRTH STORY

WARNING:

I kind of like birth stories so I'm writing a light recap of how Cutie Cakes (J's current moniker for her) came into this world.

PLEASE feel free to skip this post if you don't want to read it!

Following my OB appointment on Friday, I felt quite a bit of pressure and cramping. I didn't think much of it until around 10 or 11 PM (truly cannot remember now!) and would glance up at the clock every time I felt that pressure. Sure enough, it wasn't just consistent cramping--it was ebbing and flowing in regular intervals.

I didn't really think that I'd truly be in labor (I resigned myself to the fact that most likely i'd be LATE delivering #2 since I hadn't felt anything until then!) so J and I headed up to bed around 11:30...which is when I decided to do some last-minute nesting: I rearranged my hospital bag, put away all of my laundry, and tidied up Cutie Face's room.

Finally, a bit after midnight, I downloaded a great (and FREE!) iPhone app that lets you time contractions. As I fell into bed, I started the timer and saw that the contractions were regularly occurring at ~2.5 minute intervals and lasting 45-60 seconds.

When J asked about our plans for the next day (Saturday), I finally told him that he should probably think about packing HIS clothes as I thought we'd most likely be having a baby!

The contractions quickly picked up and were soon 1.5 minutes apart and almost a minute long. That put me into extreme nesting overdrive and I promptly got up and did a load of dark clothes laundry (i wanted to bring my robe and my jeans to the hospital with me!) AND a load of cloth diapers (i didn't want my diapers sitting around for an extra three days and reeking! blech!).

{riveting so far, isn't it?}

Around 2:30, the contractions were getting longer and more frequent...and i felt nauseous. I didn't want to be in the transition stage while we were driving to the hospital so I told J that we had to leave the house within 30 minutes. We called my parents and our doula, J packed up the car, and then we grabbed a fast-asleep Cutie Face.

Cutie Face was wide awake within minutes and thought it was pretty great that there was a ball (my exercise ball, aka birthing ball) and a big body pillow riding along in the seat next to her. When we told her she was going to go see Mimi and Poppy she got even more excited. It was hilarious to see her 3 AM awake self--super funny that i wish I had a video of her running dialogue!

We got to the hospital and my dad came to pick up Cutie Face and take her home. By 4 AM we were checked in, our doula had arrived and we were hooked up to an IV (i had to get a dose of antibiotics) as well as an intermittent monitor to check #2's heartbeat and my contractions. I was also checked and was already at a 6--YAY!

Finally, the monitors and IV came off and we were able to walk around in the hallways. It was so nice to move around, especially since I could take my birth ball with me--I used it during contractions and would just roll up and down the wall while squatting. It helped SO much--my favorite birthing tool for sure! {Needless to say, my legs are a little sore today!}

Around 7 we were back in our room to be checked...we never left because after I was checked, I felt like I had to get that baby out of me! Needless to say, the room went into a buzz, the birth bed dropped down, the birthbar was installed {sidenote: I really enjoyed using the birth bar!}, the baby station was set up, and the doctor was called...it was really happening!

Literally two pushes and no more than 4 minutes later, there was a screaming-not-so-happy bundle of joy lying below me! WOW. Talk about fast.

All in all, I thought this labor and birth went really well. I was in labor for less than half the time I was with Cutie Face and pushing was MUCH faster and more manageable. I cannot thank everyone enough, though, for their prayers for safety, strength, and stamina during the birth. I told J as we embarked on the labor that I was exhausted and needed LOTS of prayer. God answered abundantly and I have not stopped thanking Him for such a wonderful labor and delivery.

Okay! stay tuned for a much nicer post with pictures :-o