Now that my sweet baby is 6 months old I should probably take the time to document her sweet arrival. We found out that a baby would be joining us pretty early, and Steven and I cannot keep secrets so everyone else found out early too! It was a long 9 months to wait! I had her in the hottest summer Utah has ever seen! I was huge and miserable! We went to the ultrasound not knowing if it would be a boy or girl. With Claire I knew it was a girl and I knew it would be Claire. As we watched the ultrasound I couldn't believe how photogenic this baby was. She happily posed and wiggled the way we needed her too and quickly found out that she was a girl! She was also a tiny girl and my due date was pushed back to August 9th. The date sounded familiar to us but we couldn't connect anyone's birthday to it was pushed out of mind. As we waited for my follow up appointment we narrowed down a name for the peanut.
I like to know what we are naming our kids before they get here. Call me a planner but I refused to leave the office without deciding for sure. We have a few boys names and are going to name our first boy after my grandpa Glen, who passed away a few years ago. We had been discussing girl names but every name I brought up Steve would respond with, "Yeah I like that, I just wouldn't name my kid that!" WHAT!? Leah had been a name we both liked but couldn't find a middle name that worked. As I was sitting in the doctor's office the thought came to me, "if we were going to name the boy after grandpa, why not name the girl after grandma?" And as a result the buggy was named, Leah Raye Bonney, after my grandma Raye Dean Campbell.
In the doctors office we also realized that the 9th was our anniversary! And I refused to share that day! We also found out my doctor would be out of town for that day. I had Claire 6 days early so I was determined to have the baby sooner than the expected date of arrival. My doctor was leaving on the 28th of July and I was ready to have the baby before he took off! My mind started planning for a July baby.
I was plagued with Braxton Hicks all throughout my pregnancy so I was sure I had progressed by the time my first internal exam came up. NOPE! Not at all! I was so disappointed. And as I returned week after week the disappointment grew. Not much of anything was going on and I couldn't believe it!!! I wanted a July baby and all signs were pointing to August. Every day I woke to find irritation at STILL being pregnant. On the 3rd my siblings, Steven and I were sitting on the back porch enjoying the cool evening and I announced that I wouldn't be attending church the next day. I didn't want to deal with all the people commenting on "when is that baby going to get here?" and "you're still pregnant huh?"
At 3 the next morning I had a contraction that felt pretty mild. Then Claire woke up at 4 and I had another one. By the time I laid down after putting her back to bed my contractions were speeding up. They were still pretty tame but I hoped and prayed they were the real thing. I woke Steve up and he started packing a bag. By 6 o'clock we were getting ready to head out and suddenly my contractions slowed down to 15 mins apart. I refused to be in labor all day and wanted to have a baby before the day was through so I grabbed Steve and my walking shoes and we went up the trail behind our house. By the time we got back my contractions were about 3-4 mins apart and Steve thought we should go. They weren't super intense at that point so I was hesitant but decided it would be best if we did head to the hospital.
When I was having Claire I felt really confident. I felt confident in the hospital staff, my doctor, and my own body to just know what to do! I found that said confidence helped me through my delivery. With Leah my hormones reacted in a way that on the downhill of a contraction I was flooded with anxiety. I cried and cried after leaving Claire for the hospital. I thought it might be the last time I saw her. It was frustrating because I knew that was unlikely, but I just became so nervous!
When we got to the hospital my contractions were still 4 minutes apart and not too intense but (I'm assuming) because it was Sunday they checked me right in. I really liked the first delivery nurse we got but she had other responsibilities and wasn't able to help the rest of the delivery. My second nurse wasn't that fantastic, but I didn't hate her. :) My doctor was also out of town so I had the on call doctor. Her name was Dr. Evanson, young and really great to work with. I was happy with her and if/when Dr. Terry retires I'll be able to use her as back up.
I asked for the epidural and called my parents to come to the hospital. My first epidural was really rather painless. The doctor described things well and I didn't feel too much of anything. This time was much different. I felt ever pop and snap he described and it was not pleasant! But by the time my contractions really started up I didn't mind too much.
I'm not super clear on the time line of the delivery, I remember being tired and trying to sleep, but not really finding success. Then I remember feeling some pressure while the nurse was in the room and telling her that I'd like to start pushing. She told me I had to wait, which did not make me happy so I asked for her to call the doctor in. Again I felt a lot of pressure and started pushing without her permission. She noticed and came over to check to see my progress, then called the doctor like I asked.
I pushed for maybe 5 minutes and had just gotten comfortable when I heard my mom tell me that our little babe had a head full of blonde hair! Interesting enough I'd had a daydream a couple of months earlier that our Leah bug would be a lot like my cousin Hallee. Very beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes, lovely personality, and a very very sweet girl. When I heard that Leah had blonde hair I was so excited. One push later my tiny little buggy joined the world and we were parents again.
I remember waiting in the delivery room for a long time, holding the baby, ready to move into recovery and it took forever! When we finally got to our room we had a ton of visitors and Claire was ready to meet her sister. I was so exhausted! I probably looked so out of it, because that is how I felt. I was also pretty hungry and really dislike hospital food!
It was a beautiful day to have a baby. Very peaceful and calm at the hospital. We realized Sunday is the day to have a baby. It really invites a tender spirit, which was incredibly fitting for our sweet Leah Raye. We love her so much and cannot believe how much love and beauty she has already brought into our home.
No comments:
Post a Comment