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Monday, September 6, 2010

The Birth Story- LONG!

Well, our baby girl is one week old now (how did that happen?) and I figured it was time to get some motivation & tap out the birth story of miss Claire Lula.

Here it goes, hopefully I remember all of the important details. All 15.5hrs of it were somewhat of a blur...

Sunday, August 29th was a perfectly normal day. I was feeling extremely anxious for the arrival of the babe, but wasn't having contractions or anything. My mom & sister came over later in the afternoon & we set up the pack n' play & told Claire she could come now as everything was completely ready for her.

Hubby & I went out for spicy wings that night with my family in hopes it would kick start labor, ha! We cheered to "hoping Claire comes tonight" as it was my sister's last few days in town before she left for college. After dinner, we went for ice cream & said goodbye with my family joking that we would see them at the hospital later that night. If we only knew....

Around 8pm, I was antsy just sitting on the couch, so I decided to take our puppy on a really long walk. I walked until I couldn't walk anymore & then came back to the house & had a hot cup of Red Raspberry Leaf tea along with my Evening Primose Oil Pill. I then took a shower, folded some laundry & climbed into bed & finished ready the Labor & Delivery section of my What to Expect book.

I turned off the lights and had a few strong contractions, but nothing worth timing (damn!). I said a few quick prayers & fell asleep. Around 12:30, hubby rolled into bed, which woke me up. I decided I had to pee. Right as I was about to sit on the toilet...GUSH. "OHMIGOD. My water just broke" I yelled to hubby. "What do we do?" he yelled. I called my mom & told her the good news. She was in shock. We all were. I couldn't believe this was actually it!

We frantically finished packing our bags, (because we are freaking procrastinators & didn't pack hardly anything beforehand) meanwhile I was leaking through pads by the minute (sorry TMI). I could NOT believe how much fluid there was. We got everything in the car & off we went to the hospital. Luckily I wasn't having any contractions yet because it took us about 25 mins to get there.

Hubby parked & we pranced (ok, waddled) into Labor & Delivery. Answered a few questions & were put into our room, all the while my pants are SOAKING wet. I changed into a gown as soon as we walked in & got all settled into bed, completely in a daze.

Around 1:30A, the nurse came in & checked me. 1 lousy centimeter dialated. Same as the week before. Since my water had already broken, the nurse wanted to start me on Pitocin to get the contractions going. They put me on the lowest dose & HOLY SHIT, the contractions came with a vengeance. I lasted until about 4:45A before I buzzed the nurse in tears & requested my epidural.

I didn't have to wait long & the anesthesiologist (who was AMAZING) came in & gave me the good stuff. Unfortunately, he had to up my dose 3 times because I could feel every single contraction for about an hour. Then I was SO numb, my legs felt like they weighed 1000lbs. It was a horrible feeling, but it was better than feeling those contractions.

About a half hour after I got my epidural, we started noticing that Claire's heart rate would drop very low every time a contraction would peak. She did this for about 15 mins & the nurse decided to stop my contractions so we could give baby a break. She was obviously under a lot of stress. The shot that she gave me (Terbutaline??) & stopped the pitocin which lowered the intensity of the contractions, but I was still contracting on my own. Claire's heart rate was doing alright, but not amazing.

By about 1pm, I was still contracting on my own. The doctor came in & checked me & told me I was 7.5cm & the baby's head was lodged in the side of my pelvis facing sunny side up. Grreaaatt. Her heart rate was still dropping with every contraction & that's when the Doctor decided a C-Section would be best.

I immediately started crying. I had been in labor for 14 hours. I was exhausted. I didn't want a C-Section at that point. But it was the best option for the baby's well being. At 3:45(ish) they rolled me into the O.R. & I was given lots of numbing medication. The doctor did a little test on my belly asking if I could feel anything. Yes. I could feel everything on my left side. More numbing medication. They then made the incision & I was instructed to tell the anesthesiologist if I was feeling anything. About 30 seconds into the procedure I screamed "I can feel everything on my left side. It is the worst pain I have ever felt!!"

That's the last thing I remember before being put to sleep. I was devastated. I wasn't conscience to see my daughter being born. I didn't get to hear her first whimpers or hear how much she weighed. It really was the last thing I expected with this labor process.

I was woken up by my sweet husband holding our sweet daughter with tears in his eyes. I was dazed & confused but so elated.

I was informed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Claire's neck 3 TIMES. So she was obviously not coming out on her own. Thank God we did a C-Section.

Claire Lula Davis was born at 4:01pm on Monday, August 30th. She weighed 6lbs 14oz & was 20.5" long.

Recovery has been alright. We were in the hospital from Monday night to Thursday afternoon. But it felt like years. Unfortunately, Claire's blood sugar was very low every time they tested it, so she needed to be fed formula most of my stay in the hospital. I was however, able to feed it to her via the nipple. It's called SNS. Look it up if you want, I don't feel like explaining it :)

We found out that Claire has a cleft pallet in her throat. You know that dangly thing you have in the back of your throat (the Uvula)? She doesn't have that, which makes eating rough for her. She isn't able to push the milk forward with her tongue to regulate everything, which causes her to cough & choke a lot. When she spits up, it comes out her nose. It's so sad, but we are going to get it surgically fixed very soon. Things could've definitely been worse.

Besides that, she's a perfectly healthy 1 week old. She doesn't fit into most of her newborn clothes, but with all that she has been eating lately I doubt it will be long before she does. She breast feed like a champ, thank God, because I have SO much milk. I feel like a cow!

She's such a little peanut & an exact replica of her daddy. It's unreal. I seriously don't think she got any of my features except for my long limbs!

Motherhood has been a rough adjustment for me, but oh so worth it. The emotions & hormones are all over the place & I cry all of the time. I really am holding out hope that it's just the Baby Blues & not post-partum depression, but I have a suspicion that's what it might turn into from talking to my mom who dealt with it. Either way, we will figure it out & nip it in the butt.

Going through all of this has made me fall even more in love with my husband. It's a whole new love I never thought was possible. He is so in love with his little girl, it melts my heart every time he does anything with/for her. He has been SO good to me with helping me deal with my crazy emotions. I seriously would be lost without him.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I'm sorry this is so all over the place.

Claire has her 1st pediatrician appointment tomorrow, so I will update on how that goes...even if it's next week. Bear with me!

I will leave you with about a million pictures to look at. They aren't in any particular order. Just some randoms.































45 comments:

  1. OMG! Great birth story...welcome to Mommyhood! All your pictures made me cry!

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  2. Beautiful!!!! Congrats!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  3. What a birth story! So sorry that the delivery did not go as planned...but I'm so happy you are both doing well! She's just beautiful. Congratulations Mommy!

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  4. This made me cry like crazy. :) I'm so happy for you!

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  5. Congratulations on the beautiful baby!!! I am so sorry the delivery did not go as planned. I too had an emergency c-section due to a sunny-side-up baby. It was honestly very traumatic and I am still not over it at 5 and a half months. It is hard adjusting after such a huge medical procedure, but just look at that sweet little face and take it day by day, and soon you will be an old pro! Glad you all are doing well!

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  6. Thank you for sharing your birth story!! Claire is just beautiful!! I am so happy that you both are doing well!

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  7. Congratulations! I'm guessing when Claire has her surgery it will be done at Primary Children's, you'll love it there. Specially the infant unit where she'll be (I used to work there)

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  8. Sorry that labor did not go the way you wanted. It sucks how unpredictable it can be. However, you did and amazing job, and Claire is just beautiful!

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  9. Just wanted to encourage you in that I had emotions all over the place for a couple weeks and then was fine--no PPD for me. You might be just fine. Either way, your daughter is GORGEOUS!!!

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  10. congratulations! she is precious :)

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  11. You are so right, that child has some long limbs! But i love every one of them. :)

    Congrats on that beauty!!

    Im a little sad that you probably wont be telling me that my child is the cutest you've seen anymore! ;)

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  12. I think the first couple weeks were soo overwhelming for me. I know how you feel and I promise, it starts to feel beter once you start getting into a routine and know what claire likes/dislikes. I'm sorry your labor didn't go as planned. I'm also praying that you just have a little baby blues!

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  13. Congrats! I'm so glad she got out okay :)

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  14. Oh she is just such a beautiful little baby! I couldn't be more happy for you guys.

    I'm so sorry you had to labor for so long just to end up with a c-section. But I'm sure there was a good reason God did what he did.

    My prayers are with sweet baby Claire and her growing and health and with you and your adjusting. Its so hard. Don't think that your alone. I promise I lost it quite a few times in the first few months. I promise it gets so much better once you and baby get used to things.

    Congratulations again. You have such a beautiful family.

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  15. Why hello baby Claire! What a cutie pie! :-)
    I know how you feel about the C-section - I always rolled my eyes (to myself) when I'd read about women complaining about their birth experiences - isn't the baby supposed to be the ultimate most important thing? Who cares about the experience, right? Wrong! I do find myself feeling envious from time to time of other women who were able to deliver vaginally, or even at least who got to experience "going into labor". But I love my little one oh so much that I would have given birth to her out of my ear if that's what I had to do (I'm sure you feel the same). I hope you're able to kick those baby blues soon!

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  16. OMG, my birth story is almost identical! General c-section as well. Right down to my son being born with a soft palate cleft. This is too bizarre. First time commenter, but I simply HAD to say something.

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  17. Claire is beautiful! It seems like just yesterday we both became pregnant.....Congrats to your lovely family and thanks for sharing your birth story!

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  18. Congrats!!!! She's beautiful. I wouldn't jump the gun on the postpartum thing though. After you have a baby your emotions are all over the place. It's normal to cry at every little thing for a while. It's NOT normal when you have absolutely no interest in your baby at all even when she needs something, feel numb like you have absolutely no feelings towards anything or are having thoughts of hurting yourself or the baby. Coming from someone who suffered severely for a very long time I really hope everything works out for you and I can assure you to stay positive but with an open mind. It's not possible to accurately diagnose it this early so maybe what you're feeling really is just mommy emotions!

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  19. The pictures are beautiful! I am so happy for you and your family. I am sorry things didn't go as smooth as you had hoped, but hopefully your recovery is going good. Don't beat yourself up about all of your mixed emotions you are having right now. You just went through one of the most beautiful/stressful physical, emotional and mentally demanding things you will ever go through in your life. Just remember that everyone has harder times and also better times. I am sure your husband will be your rock through anything you need. Enjoy your new family!!

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  20. Almost the same thing happened when I had Brayden. I was yelling so much during the first part of the C-section that they had no choice but to put me to sleep. I didn't wake up until about 30 minutes after he was born. It's hard to deal with, but she is here and healthy! And that is all that matters! :) Congratulations!

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  21. Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl! My niece was born with both a cleft palate and a cleft lip. I will keep you and Claire in my prayers. xo

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  22. You made me cry again! But I'm so glad she is here & healthy. I love you both!

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  23. Oh my goodness, I have tears in my eyes just looking at her. what an incredible story. So many blessings and congratulations!!! She is beautiful and you are amazing.

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  24. You are one tough chick going through all of that.

    My emotions were insane after Ryann was born. Seriously, I would cry because I didn't know what I was doing, then I would cry harder because I wasn't 'enjoying every precious moment' like I was supposed to be. I was in love with my daughter, but pretty much EVERYTHING made me cry. It got better. It will get better, and easier, I promise.

    BUT, if it feels like too much to handle, don't be afraid to seek help. That is the best thing you can do for you and your adorable little family.

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  25. Congrats!! Love the birth story :) & really love the pics of you and your hubby holding hands during the c-section! too sweet!

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  26. Congratulations!! Claire is beautiful, I'm so happy for you! Even though you didn't plan on a C-Section it was best for you and miss Claire :) A positive is that with your next babies, you will know the day that you are having your section and will be all prepared. The first week is a roller coaster ride, hang in there :)

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  27. Congrats!! She is absolutely beautiful!! :)

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  28. Many, many congrats to you and your family! I'm so happy to hear your little Claire arrived safe and sound - she's precious!

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  29. Congrats! She's gorgeous :)
    Oh, and I had a c-section too. I was induced and after 10 hours of rough labor, I was making no progress, so my doctor decided it was best to slice and dice me.
    Although I wanted a vaginal delivery so badly, it was the best choice for my son because he was wrapped up in the cord AND holding onto it. Umm, yeah, he wasn't going to go anywhere without a c-section.
    The fact that he and I were both healthy and happy made the surgery worth it and I'd do it all over again.
    Congrats! She's adorable!

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  30. I came across your blog looking for birth stories (I'm 36 weeks along). Thank you for posting this! Love your blog!!!

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  31. Congratulations! She is beautiful. My hormones were crazy too. I would cry everyday and cry my hardest when DH would come home from work! He was scared I had lost it, but it all evened out around 6-7 weeks. It does get easier, I promise. But if you think you have PPD definitely do not be afraid to get checked out and get help. It is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about!

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  32. Congrats! What a story! Deliveries never go as planned but she's here and that's all that matters. :) She's gorgeous!

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  33. Congrats! What a beautiful story and such a beautiful little girl! She really is the spitting image of her daddy!
    My daughter, who shares the same bday as yours, was born sunny side up with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice...naturally. Be glad you had the C-section! It's not a pleasant experience. And all that really matters is that you got your baby out safe and healthy!
    Congrats again on your gorgeous little girl!

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  34. She is a spitting image of her daddy!! She is beautiful and I'm so sorry that her birth didn't go the way you hoped...

    Congratulations!!

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  35. Congratulations Mama! Way to go!

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  36. Congrats, this was a beautiful story. Enjoy every minute!

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  37. What a great story {minus the surgery-that stinks! Praying for you to feel better soon and that your tears turn into more joy than sad. I know that I cried at everything after delivery and I was fine. It was just the hormones for those first couple weeks {about 3}. Claire is GORGEOUS! Congrats. You are going to be one amazing mama!!!

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  38. Congratulations! She's beautiful!!!

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  39. WOW! Very rough delivery, but Im soo happy she came out healthy. I completely understand your feeling about the baby blues/postpardum...things will turn around though, just keep on truckin' mommas! You did good!

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  40. She is beautifully perfect & congrats again!!

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  41. I have been thinking about you!!!! I hope you are doing well. :)

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  42. Awww, congratulations again! She's just adorable :) What a rough delivery-you were definitely stronger than I would have been. I probably would have thrown a fit that things were definitely not going according to plan-I sort of really like having a plan!

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  43. wow that was like reading mine except for the 'omg i can feel you cutting me' part ..shesh girl ...that would have given hubs a fright!

    like claire ...my first was born some issues too....ive yet to blog about it...he's 14 now and would prob be pissed..haha

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  44. ohhh and his bday was aug 27th...what is it about aug births!!!!

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