After what seemed like a very long wait to her mother, Eliza Cree made her debut into the world on Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm. She weighed 9 pounds even and measured 21 1/2 inches long.
I had been having pretty regular contractions for the previous few days.
They'd be 5-10 minutes apart for a couple of hours and then they'd stop. This happened starting on Lucy's birthday (May 29th) and continued off and on for the next two days.
That Friday I had a doctor's appointment and she said I was at a 4+ and 70% effaced, which I had been for the past couple of weeks.
She also stripped my membranes, hoping that would speed things along a bit. Needless to say, I was getting quite anxious for our little bundle of joy to make its appearance!
Saturday, the 1st, they started getting a bit meaner. They were still 5-10 minutes apart but they were stronger and I could feel them in my back, a much surer sign for me. Saturday night they kept me up until 12:30 and I had a feeling that the real thing would be happening soon.
I woke up from strong contractions the next morning at 4:30 and started timing them again. After about a half hour, I knew it was time to go to the hospital. It was so nice to have that confidence.
None of my other labors started with contractions. Lucy was induced and my water broke with Sammy, so I wasn't sure I'd know when to go to the hospital and I sure didn't want to get sent home!
I guess the advantage of trying to go natural with the other two though, was that I really did know what true labor contractions feel like. I just had to be patient enough to wait for them.
So after Spencer was done scrambling around, grabbing last minute things, calling my dad, and getting the kids in the car, we drove them over to my dad's place and then headed to the hospital.
They checked me and I had progressed to a 6 1/2 and 95% effaced. This was great news! They admitted me and I got the epidural about an hour later. My blood pressure dropped after the epidural (to 53/25) and I felt nauseous and dizzy so they gave me some more meds and fluids.
After that weirdness, I settled in and took a bit of a nap. It was so nice! If there is one thing I've learned about my labors, it's that they take forever, I have lots of back pain, and big babies. The combination doesn't lend itself well to unmedicated birth.
I still love the strategies I learned to relax and work through contractions - that helped a lot before the meds kicked in, but I'll be getting the epidural from here on out!
About noon I was at an 8 and the doctor broke my water. By one I was more than ready to push and at 1:12, we found out our little bundle of joy was a girl! I had a mirror again, which was awesome. Spencer announced the gender and cut the cord. We bonded with skin to skin for the first 45 minutes, and she nursed right away.
It was amazing! Birth is such a sacred experience and I am so blessed to have been able to experience it again. Spencer and I both decided she looked like an Eliza and we had decided the middle name would be Cree long ago.
We spent the rest of the time in the hospital getting to know our little girl, sleeping whenever we got the chance, and recovering.
We had some visitors as well - Our moms (mine was there for the birth as well), my dad and Patti, all three of my grandparents, and my aunt Kay. Oh! And Lucy and Sammy of course! They both seemed so amazed by their new baby sister.
When Spencer called to tell them she was a girl, Lucy said, "I know Dad!" She's said the baby would be a girl the whole time, and she was right! We are so blessed to have these wonderful children in our lives!
1 comment:
Lovely! I'm impressed you blogged about the birth so soon with a newborn and two others running around. I'm still working on mine with only one baby. My little cluster feeder isn't giving me much time to type!
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