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January 2011 Moms
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January turned December baby birth story (long)

hsharick12hsharick12 member
in January 2011 Moms

This is what I wrote as a facebook note for people to find out...enjoy it if you can read that much! (-:

 Thursday at 2 am I got up to go the bathroom (maybe TMI!)...when I got back in bed, I felt a small gush a water. At first I thought I peed again!! I went back to the bathroom, came back to bed, and it happened again...I woke Adam up and we had an amusing discuss about the possibility that I was peeing in bed. When it happened the third time, I began to be pretty certain that my water had broken. The only reason I didn't think it was sooner was because Evangeline was not supposed to come for another 4 weeks!

I went to call the midwife, and explained to her what happened. I had only had a few contractions, but they were not very painful and were about 15 minutes apart still. This was at 3:30 am. The midwife said to wait until the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and then call her back, or to call again around 8:30 am...she said I should eat a light snack and maybe try to get some more sleep. So...I decided to have my idea of a light snack-- 2 waffles with peanut butter and syrup! I wanted to make sure I was nourished for labor...Adam still can't believe I did that, since it did come back to 'haunt' me later.I let Adam know what was going on. Thursday was supposed to be the day we were going to 1. Install the car seat 2. Pack my bag 3. Buy the last few things we needed 4. Get tested for Group B Strep. Since I was obviously not going to get all day Thursday to complete my to do list, I decided to start packing and Adam got the car seat in the car. I also called my parents to let them know that my water broke. While I was talking to them, I realized that my contractions had gone from 15 minutes apart to less than 10 minutes apart...it was about 4:00 am then. They decided to start driving right away...my dad thought he might be able to get here by the time she arrived!After I talked to them, I tried to finish packing and take a shower. When taking a shower, we realized that my contractions were now about 4-5 minutes apart. It was about 4:30 am...that happened a lot faster than we thought it would! No sleep for us. They were also painful enough that I had to stop what I was doing and lean on Adam to breath through them. We really started rushing at that point (in between contractions), and I called the midwife back at 4:45. She said to meet her at the birth center at 6am...it takes about an hour to get there, so we threw all the last stuff we thought we might need into the car (including a bunch of towels, just in case!), and started driving. Laboring in the car was NOT FUN. When we were about 10 minutes away from the birth center, I got really nauseous...that's when those waffles came back to 'haunt' me...I threw up out the car window on the highway!The contractions were very painful and between 2-3 minutes apart when we got to the birth center. The midwife, Sarah, checked me and I was about 6 cm dilated. Since I was only 36 weeks pregnant, I wasn't allowed to give birth at the birth center, so we had to head to UNC Hospital, about 5 minutes away. When we got to the hospital, we walked in and  I had to stop about every 1-2 minutes for my contractions. They offered a wheel chair, but I refused...it was much easier to stand or kneel and lean on Adam than to be sitting.We finally got up to Labor and Delivery...it was about 6:30 am. The nurses weren't expecting me to be going so fast, but my contractions were coming about every minute and it was hard to get me prepped. Since I hadn't been tested for the Group B Strep, I had to be on the penicillin as if I had it, just in case, so they got that IV in. I was laboring on my hands and knees on the bed...the contractions were super painful and Adam was doing great talking me through them. The midwife checked me again and I was 9-10 cm dilated! That was around 7 (I lost track of time around then)...she had me push through to get to 10 cm. Contractions were coming really often now...Sarah and the nurses told me to just let them know when I felt the urge to push. By 7:20am, I started pushing. Pushing was the most terrible part...so much pressure and pain! I pushed on my hands and knees almost the whole time, and then at the end they switched me to my side. I screamed really loud a lot! They told me not to, and I tried, but sometimes I just had to. Adam kept reminding me to breath, and I clung to his arm the whole time except for a few seconds to let him see her head crowning. I remember hearing him ask how long most people push, and the midwife saying it could be 2 hours, but that 'Hannah won't take that long'...what a relief! Evangeline Zoe was officially born at 7:54 am! It was so good to be done with labor and to see my little reward. The let me hold her right away and Adam cut her cord. She was 7lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long (imagine what she would have been at 40 weeks!!). She cried, but she was having some trouble breathing. After trying to get her to cry more and get the stuff out of her lungs, they took her over to make sure she would be ok. They weren't overly concerned, but since she was a preemie the pediatricians decided to take her to the NICU to be observed. I sent Adam with them while I spent a little time recovering. When the nurse moved me to the maternity ward, I went to visit her in NICU. She was so beautiful! It was really hard to leave her, but Adam was with her and I needed to rest.She ended up staying in the NICU for only about 5 hours. She got to come to my room around 1:30pm and stayed there with me until we went home yesterday (January 1st). She does have some jaundice, which is common for preemies, but we brought the billi blanket home (a blanket that makes her look like a little glow worm, but allows us to hold her and everything while she is being treated). She has also lost a tiny bit more than the normal 10% of her birth weight, so we're watching that too. She has started to get the hang of breast feeding, so that's good! We're so happy to have her here...there were a lot of benefits to her coming early, despite the troubles. My whole family except Josh and Jamie were able to come up with a few days. They helped so much to get my house clean and ready, and shopped for some of those last items for me. My mom is staying for a week, and then Adam's mom is most likely coming for a little less than 2 weeks. Thank you everyone for your prayers!! The Lord is so good and allowed her to come in His perfect time...she is such a sweet baby and I love being a mommy so far. Please keep praying for her and for Adam and I as we adjust to parenthood and try to take care of her the best we can. 
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