Baby Crosby is HERE!

Phew. So it's been a whirlwind of a week! Last week I wrote about all my feelings after my doctor's appointment and I honestly felt like this baby was never coming on his own. I really was convinced that I would have to be induced at 42 weeks of gestation! So last Monday was no fun. I was determined to shake it off and have a better day on Tuesday and that happened. But I still felt SO uncomfortable all day and after talking to Tony I decided to contact my doctor and ask our options for induction. He left for the day and the nurse assured me he'd give me a call Wednesday. I told myself if he didn't call by 2pm on Wednesday then I would call back again. Wednesday morning Molly woke up super poopy and had the WORST diaper rash! She had been super snotty with a cough the past several days and that seemed to be getting worse, too. After cleaning her up and having a relaxing morning and early afternoon being goofy at home we headed to the store to stock up on groceries and so I could make some more food for our freezer for when Crosby did make it here. Afterwards we stopped to see Tony at work... he told me he was having Tops BBQ for lunch and wished he had ordered the burger. Ever since he mentioned wanting a burger I pretty much had to have one and McDonald's oddly sounded the best! So on the way home I got a #2 and we headed home to have some lunch. I still hadn't heard from my doctor's office but by that point I figured we could give waiting a go... I wouldn't be pregnant forever. Blah blah blah.

I ate my food pretty much on the way home and I fixed food for the girls once we got home.  While they were sitting in their chairs eating and watching one of their shows or movies I got super uncomfortable and tired so I nodded off on the couch for a little while - as much as you can with two kids in front of you. I thought the uncomfortableness COULD be the beginning of labor, or it could be nothing. Once the girls were all done with their lunch I started having some contractions. Again, these could be false or real or could fizzle out so I tried not to get my hopes up. These are the contractions you can still walk and talk through but they were definitely more than just a little crampy at this point and seemed to be coming regularly so I started timing them around 4pm and they were lasting 50-60 seconds and were coming in about every 6 minutes. This kept up for 30 minutes but the contractions were coming in sometimes every 5 minutes and sometimes more like every 2-3 minutes and had certainly picked up in intensity! I don't remember the exact timeline but Tony left work early and I think got home around 4:45pm. I threw a few final things in my hospital bag and he grabbed a couple things for himself. I got the kids in the van and sat in the back with them and had a big contraction while waiting for him that really freaked me out! He hustled us to the hospital, thank goodness.

Tony dropped me off and I signed in while he brought the girls in from the parking lot. After a little time in the waiting room I headed back to triage where I found out I was 5cm dilated around 5:50pm, so they started to get all the paperwork and everything else going. I was having contractions the whole time but really stopped counting them and tried my best to calm my body and breathe through them. One of the nurses asked me to rate my pain because she was surprised with how composed I was! Score!! Unfortunately I was in triage for longer than expected because they had a hell of a time getting an IV in thanks to my small, rolling veins. The first nurse tried two different spots with the second place getting blood ALL over my arm, the floor, and even the wall! Thank goodness my mind and energy was focused on my contractions because otherwise I would have had anxiety through the roof about this. The nurse apologized profusely and I kept telling her she had a really tough job and there's no way in hell I could do what she does and to please stop apologizing! She called another nurse in who tried a different spot that once again, didn't work. I said a prayer to myself and asked God to help us out here... I asked my Dad to help out somehow if he could... he was a regular blood donor and seemed to be at ease with these situations. Lo and behold, the 4th time was a charm and they got an IV to stay and we headed back to a room!

They wheeled me out in the hallway and the first face I see is Tony's and I instantly felt so much better. The nurse who was wheeling me back to a room said Tony reminded her of her nephew and I said, "You must have a good looking nephew!" :) Seriously, just so happy to have him by my side again. At this point the girls were in the waiting room with my mother-in-law and were waiting to come back and say goodbye... this was about 7pm, I'd say. At this point the contractions were certainly coming in nice and painfully! I felt so reluctant to say goodbye to my girls but at the same time I felt a lot of relief with them going home so we could focus AND get that epidural! The girls handled it all like champs and made it so easy on me to say goodbye to them. They're so used to hanging with Grandmommy at this point that it's not a big ordeal which was another huge blessing.

Saying goodbye to my babies!

Tony walked them out and that's when I remember my contractions becoming extra painful. My nurses were getting ready for the anesthesiologist who would be coming by very soon. But Tony still wasn't back! And I didn't want to do this part without him because of the scary and horrible wet tap experience last time. I got my biggest contraction yet and that's when I knew I would be signing up for this epidural as soon as humanly possible with or without my husband!!!! Thankfully he beat the gas man to the room and I'm glad he did because it was peaceful having him there with me.

Have I mentioned the labor and delivery nurses yet? I believe their names were Margot and Michelle. And they were angels. So helpful, so calm, so informative and friendly and wonderful and attentive. So they introduced us to the anesthesiologist, David, who was also 100% an angel. He talked to us for a little while and one of the major things we talked about was the spinal fluid leak from my epidural last time. He asked lots of questions and offered a ton of insight. He was so warm and reassuring. Not to mention he was building up my confidence so much with his kind words! So it was finally epidural time and it went SO well and about 10-15 minutes later I was feeling much, much less already. This is when the story went from a battleground to a trip to the spa! Labor seemed to slow down a bit after getting the epidural but absolutely worth it.

Crosby's heart rate would dip down considerably during my contractions - this was happening back in triage as well. So I was on my side as much as possible. Around the time of my epidural I was around 6-7cm and when they checked me a while later (maybe a few hours?) I was still at 7cm so they brought back this gigantic ball that I put in between my legs while I was on my side - 30 minutes on one side and then 30 minutes on the next side. (Did I freaking mention my angel nurses?? They did everything for me and cared so much!) I'm a little fuzzy on what time it was but I know I was 8cm around 11:30pm and after that point we realized Crosby wouldn't have an October 5th birthday! Up until this point Tony was pretty sleepy but stayed up with me to talk and keep my mind preoccupied which I appreciated so much. We watched like four or five episodes of Modern Family together which lightened my mood so much! I told him to get some rest and that I'd let HGTV and Law & Order: SVU keep me company for a while. He had no problem falling asleep and nodded off right away!

I don't remember what time it was that my nurses checked me again but I remember she said she felt "no cervix" at that point which meant I was at 10cm and she said my bag of waters was bulging! All good things! They called my doctor who said he would be there in about 15 minutes... I think this was around 1-1:15am! Everybody was in and out of the room at this point getting things ready to go for when the good doctor got there. I still wasn't feeling much of anything - thank you epidural & David for administering it!!! Tony came over with my phone and took "one last" photo before we met Crosby and I remember Dr. Podraza walked in just as we smiled for the camera - the timestamp on that is 1:39am!

As soon as I saw Dr. Podraza I just felt so extremely grateful. He did such an incredible job delivering Molly and it was so comforting to see him here again... not to mention he was here in the middle of the night! Bless him and all the nurses and doctors who do the same thing for their patients! So I thanked him and he jumped right into all the hustle and bustle. He let me know that my bag of waters still - somehow - hadn't broken (just like my previous two deliveries) and I believe he went ahead and broke it. There was meconium so he let us know it could be an issue or maybe it wouldn't be... that if Crosby came out shouting and crying then it would be a great sign. If things were okay when Crosby came out then I would get skin-to-skin time with him immediately. He also let us know Crosby was posterior/sunny-side up just as my previous two babies had been and then proceeded to flip/spin him around right there in the birth canal. And then it was pretty much go time!!! I asked my nurse if they turned down my epidural for pushing because I still wasn't feeling very much and internally worried how pushing would go. Dr. Podraza jumped in and said they normally would turn it down and would have if he anticipated that I would push for very long but that he felt like this would go quickly so there was no need. My nurses and doctor did an awesome job talking me through pushing when I wasn't sure if I was doing it right or not (couldn't feel much!) and after about 2-3 rounds of pushing Crosby was out! And nearly immediately he was crying so loud and strong!!!! I remember looking at Tony and saying how great it was to hear him cry right away. They called out the time that he was born - 1:53am!

Next thing you know they're putting this soft, squishy baby on my chest. I noticed the dimple in his chin right away - just like Presley, my dad, my little sister, and my nephew! Doctor Podraza waited several minutes until the cord was done pulsating before clamping and cutting it which I was so grateful for because of the benefits of doing so. Tony cut the cord and that was that!

Had to get a photo of Doctor Podraza before he took off to start the rest of his day

We had some more skin-to-skin time and then eventually put the medicine on his eyes and weighed him and then it was time to get him to breastfeed! It took a little trial and error there but then he got a good first latch and started eating! Yay!! We waited about two hours and then it was time to move from our room in labor and delivery to a new room in the mother/baby part of the hospital. This is about the time that they took Crosby to the nursery to be measured - we didn't have his height yet - and they would give him his first bath and all that good stuff. We waited until he was back from that to announce on Facebook & social media that Crosby had joined us earlier in the morning!

Crosby Thomas - 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20.5 inches long!

It has taken me FOREVER to write this much... I'm thinking a lot of that has to do with my mind going in all directions these days and my lack of sleep! I plan on writing a little more another time about the girls meeting him for the first time, having my placenta encapsulated, and more of that great stuff. Thank you for EVERY kind wish, prayer offered, and encouragement from each of you along the way. He's finally here and I am so grateful that labor, delivery, recovery and breastfeeding have been going so well. Now it's onto surviving the newborn sleep deprivation and making the most of the small amount of time Tony's got off from work!

MEET MOLLY!!!!

You guys! Molly Lou Duggan is HERE! She is beautiful and healthy and perfect and I could not love her more. My heart was capable of this kinda love all over again after all!

I went in to be induced Sunday, June 29th @ 7pm, the cervadil was inserted around 8pm. I started having regular contractions right away and we never even ended up needing pitocin! I made it to about 2:30am without pain management and that's when I got the epidural - I was around 4cm. It took several attempts for him to get it in successfully which was terrifying and painful - especially since Tony was not allowed in the room. 

I felt so much better after the epidural but never felt total relief as I could still feel a whole lot. A couple hours later I was checked (about 5:15am) and I was at a 6cm. It was around this point I started to have extreme anxiety and really started freaking out. I called the nurse back in 15 minutes (about 5:30am) later and I was hysterical. I figured out why - I was feeling so much pain and pressure during each contraction and realized my body was pushing!!!!!! She checked me and my bag of waters was bulging- she told me that she thinks I'm at a 10cm and ready to go. She called the doctor and a bunch of nurses came in to prep. My nurse allowed me to push involuntarily at this point as my body was literally taking over. 

Dr. Podraza (my angel!) ended up being there in thirty or so minutes (roughly 6am) and he told me Molly was posterior (sunny side up... JUST like her sister!) and he flipped her - which did not feel great during contractions. I pushed 2-3 times, felt her crowning with the ring of fire, at which point he told me to stop pushing that she was going to fall out on her own with him guiding her. That happened just a few minutes later which was a WONDERFUL relief!!!! She cried right away, was plopped on my belly, and Tony cut the cord!!! I had one minor "scrape" that required one stitch to stop the bleeding. 

Molly was born at 6:12am and weighed in at 7#12oz - EXACTLY LIKE HER SISTER! She measured in at 20.25 inches and has black fuzzy hair. She looks somewhat like her sister and is just so tiny looking! She latched amazingly and breastfeeding is going so smooth. 

I've experienced what is known as a wet tap and lost some spinal fluid as a result of the epidural. This has caused extreme pain in my head and neck and has literally been debilitating. I had a blood patch (another epidural procedure where they put my own blood into my spine to fill up the missing fluid and block any leak) and it is supposed to help right away but it hasn't. They suggested having another but I am not doing that. I'm taking pain meds and drinking fluids and caffeine - all things that are supposed to help. Finally I've found a drug that offers a little relief! So I will be taking it every four hours until this gets better. 

I am so happy and will be even more happy once this pain hopefully goes away and I can enjoy my family even more.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers - they truly helped and gave me a labor and delivery to be proud of! Not to mention a gorgeous baby. 

Guest Blog: Anne Marie's Birthday Story

Let me start by saying that I have never blogged before, so this is a new experience for me. Hopefully I'm doing it right! :) Ali invited me to be a guest blogger in order to document my version of the birthing experience... so here we go! 2 months later! Haha! I started this a while back, but taking care of the baby got me sidetracked. Imagine that.

In case you were wondering, I am Ali's oldest sister and my name is Amanda. I am 27 and I live in Nashville with my husband, John. I teach kindergarten and have to go back to school in exactly one week. I AM DREADING IT!!! I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and it scares me to death to go back to work. Teaching is just one of those professions that takes everything out of you- I'm nervous about balancing teaching and motherhood. I've always been the type of person to demand excellence from myself and I just don't see how I can do a good job in both areas at the same time. And I don't want to do bad in either one! But back to baby...

Anne Marie's due date was July 28th, which happened to be the day after teachers reported back to school this year in the Metro Nashville Public Schools (CRAZY early, I know!) I worked for several weeks in July at the very end of my pregnancy, feeling very hot and very big, scrambling to get my room together for my substitute, worrying/wondering the whole time about who she would be and how she would handle my classroom while I was gone. She wasn't hired until July 24th, a mere 3 days before she was supposed to start her interim position!! We met together in my room on Wednesday the 25th to go over important details, and thank goodness, she is a great person- straight out of school with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. She has taken the anxiety off of my shoulders so that I can focus on being at home with my daughter. The 25th was a Wednesday, and before I met her at school I had gone to see the new Batman movie with my husband. I fell asleep during the movie because I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and I woke up to a crampy-type feeling. It wasn't painful, but I noticed it would happen, go away, and then happen again. Because of that, I figured that maybe they were contractions. I nudged John and told him about it, so he kept glancing at me throughout the rest of the movie. I'm sure he was nervous that I was about to go into labor right there in the theater. We'll have to put the movie on our Netflix queue because I'm pretty sure neither of us were paying attention to the details after that! I felt a bunch of different emotions all at once- I was apprehensive, excited, and wondering how everything would turn out. The crampy feelings kept happening until we got home, but then I didn't feel anything for the rest of the day. I was pretty let-down that evening because it was such an adrenaline rush thinking that I was finally going into labor.  Ultimately I was glad that it didn't happen because I would've hated to go into labor already feeling tired. Even so, I was a BIG crybaby all day Thursday because I felt sooooo bored compared to the excitement the day before. I pouted to everyone that would listen, which unfortunately didn't help a thing!

I continued my pouting into Friday, until that afternoon I started feeling the crampy-type sensation again. I started trying to pay attention to when I felt them come and go, and wrote it down on an index card. I had told John's parents that I would come over for dinner while John was at work, mostly because I knew they were feeling anxious and wondering how I was doing. All throughout the dinner I kept feeling the crampiness, but like I said, it wasn't painful, so I just talked and ate a little bit and they had no idea that I was pretty sure I was having contractions! I couldn't tell them because I was afraid they either wouldn't let me leave the house or would freak out and take me right to the hospital!! After dinner I went back home and kept making note of whenever I felt the "contractions". Even though I thought they were contractions, I had no idea if they really were. I thought it was weird that they didn't hurt and weren't extreme, but the fact that they came and went on a pattern made me think that they were in fact contractions. I knew John was supposed to get off work at 9pm, but around 9:05 he hadn't called yet to say he was on his way home, so I called the restaurant. Apparently he was right about to walk out the door, but he came to the phone and I told him what was going on. I could tell he was really excited and nervous for me, and he still had a 45-minute drive to get home! He promised to drive carefully and headed on his way.

We relaxed around the house, and at midnight I decided that we should head to the hospital to figure out what was going on. I wasn't entirely convinced that I was having contractions, but I knew something was happening. We decided that even if they sent us back home, at least we'd know if I was really in labor or not. Shortly after we got in the car I wasn't wondering anymore- I knew it was happening. I started having obvious contractions, with the pain mostly radiating from my back. Looking back, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I wasn't really in any pain until I was already on the way to the hospital. When we got there we waited a short bit and then went into a triage "room" which was really just an area separated from others by a curtain. I had to pee in a cup when I got there, which was really hard to do because 1) I hadn't been able to see down there for quite a while because of my big belly and 2) It is not easy to squat while having contractions or when your hand is shaking from being nervous! But once I accomplished mission impossible, I noticed that I was bleeding quite a bit and from then on nurses mentioned to each other that I had a significant bloody show and that always made me nervous. Anyway, back in triage the nurse told me that I was 2-3cm dilated and that if I kept progressing, they would keep me at the hospital. When she left the "room" I turned to John and told him I didn't care what happened, they were keeping me!! The contractions were getting progressively more painful and it really hurt my back. I had John apply pressure on my back and that helped a bit. I didn't do any fancy breathing exercises- who can remember something like that anyway? I just took deep breaths in and out, after some reminding from the nurse and from John. The nurse checked me again, said I was at 4cm and that they would keep me at the hospital! My prayers were answered! She took some of my blood and said she was taking it to the anesthesia people for "whenever I was ready for an epidural". I told her that I was ready right this minute and to please let the anesthesiologist know, lol. I did not want to feel that pain a minute longer!!

They took me up to a delivery room and I didn't have to wait too long for the anesthesiologist. It was about 2:30am at that point. He asked me to move around on the bed so that he could give me the injection, and he commented on how "nimble" I was even during contractions. I told him I would do anything he asked me if he would just give me the medicine. Haha. And WOW what a relief it was!! I could just relax and talk to John and take a second to savor the moment and think about the fact that our baby was almost here. It was the first night of the Olympics, and once I had the epidural, John felt safe to turn on the TV. Cycling was on, which was pretty boring and lulled me right to sleep. I woke up a few hours later- my eyes were still closed but I heard the song "Call Me Maybe" and I wondered what in the world had come on after the Olympics. Haha. But it was Missy Franklin and the other Olympians lip syncing in their little music video that was so popular. To this day that dumb super-silly song has a special place in my heart because right after that a nurse came in to check me. Keep in mind, the last time I was checked was around 2:30am and I was at 4cm. It was about 6:30am when the nurse came in next- they had let me sleep, which was amazing, but I was sooo curious to see how or if I'd progressed. She told me that I was at 10cm and she would go call the doctor!! I couldn't believe it!!!! I had been expecting the worst, partially to protect myself from being let down and partially because of Ali's crazy birth experience. But instead, it all seemed to be happening pretty fast! I had heard that lying flat slows down labor, so once I got the epidural I made sure to lay almost sitting straight up in bed since I couldn't get up and move around. Wonder if that helped?

By the way, the doctor she was calling was someone I'd never met before. Because my doctor chose that one time out of the whole year to go to Disney World. Of course. It was about an hour and a half from the time I found out I was 10cm to when the doctor got there. Apparently the hospital was very full of women going into labor and giving birth. But in that hour and a half I pushed a little with just a nurse or two, and they seemed to think that everything was going great and that I wouldn't have to push too long once the doctor arrived. I turned to John and told him I felt really hot and asked if he thought so. He felt my forehead and said no, that I felt pretty normal. I should've known better, I think the forehead trick is a woman thing. The nurse felt my leg and said I was really warm and that she wanted to take my temperature, and sure enough I was at about 101. She wanted to make sure I took some antibiotics before the doctor got there and before I gave birth. That way the baby would get some of the antibiotics before she was born, too. It made me VERY nervous for the two of us, because a fever could mean all sorts of crazy things. Part of the wait was just waiting on the medicine, which worried me for a little while. But the medicine came and they added it to my IV, and then soon enough, the doctor was there. She was really nice, but at one point when I was pushing her cell phone rang and she asked a nurse who it was. If I could've felt my legs I would've kicked her in the face. My nurse and a lady that I called the cheerleader-nurse both noticed that I was distressed at the fact that she was concerned about her phone and started reassuring me. I never caught cheerleader-nurse's name, but she made me feel like an absolute rockstar, like I was the best person at giving birth on the whole planet. Like her only job was to cheer me on and tell me I was doing a good job. It was SO FUNNY but at one point when I was pushing the doctor said, "Look at all that hair!" and I thought she was talking about me and the fact that I wasn't ummm, completely groomed, if you know what I mean. I was so embarrassed for about half a second until I realized that she was talking about baby Anne Marie once they could see her head!! Hahaha! But while I was pushing I didn't feel any pain because of the epidural, but it had worn off just a little so I could feel the pressure from the contractions. I felt like that helped me to know when to push and kinda helped keep me into the whole process. But essentially, I pushed for about 30 minutes and our beautiful baby girl was born at 8:29am on July 28th! Her due date! She was 7lbs 9oz and 20 1/4in. long. She had a fever of 103 when she was born which freaked me out, but sure enough, both of our fevers came down. They handed me that slippery baby and I sure didn't know what to do with her! Haha! But it was such a rush and such an amazing feeling. John snapped her very first picture while they were weighing her, and then they brought her straight back to me for some skin-to-skin time. 

The rest of our hospital stay went really well. I actually enjoyed the experience of being there! Exception #1- The hospital didn't bring meals for John, just me, and those weren't great anyway, so the only minor inconvenience was that family had to bring us our meals. But I don't think they minded too much! :) Exception #2- My first night there, the nurse kept waking me up all the time! The second night we had a different night nurse and I liked her a lot more. Exception #3- The ultimate annoyance of how difficult it was to just go to the bathroom! I hated the pads and disposable underwear and peri bottle!! But overall I loved the nursing staff, I loved how John never left and was so so sweet and watching out for me and the baby, I loved trying to get the hang of this parenting thing while still under the supervision of other people who actually knew what they were doing! :) Side note: I was SO GLAD that my sisters were there. I don't know what I would've done if they weren't there. Ali and Ashley made me feel so loved and taken care of. It was like their very first priority was taking care of me, even though I know they had to both be wanting to spend time with the baby! They were so selfless and great at the hospital, and then also especially when we went home- they made food and just did so many things to make me feel so comforted.

This is my favorite picture of us from the hospital, taken by Selena, Ali's mother-in-law, who we all absolutely love. I loved it when John climbed in the bed with us, our new little family of 3.

By the time Monday morning rolled around, I was ready to go home. Ready to be back in my bed. Ready to not have quite so many visitors all at once. But still in shock that they were actually letting us take a baby home and keep her!! We took this picture as we were leaving the hospital- she looks so different! Newborns always do.

Well, that's my story, or what I can remember of it! :) Anne Marie is a great baby and I am so blessed to be her mom! I can't wait to see the person she will grow into and to be there all along the way. My prayers and thoughts go out to other moms out there- pregnancy, birth, and motherhood is such a journey and such a difficult, rewarding, crazy, unique, amazing experience! And we all have our own special stories to share.

Welcome to the world, Miss Anne Marie!

So, as (most of) you guys know, my sister found out around Thanksgiving that she was pregnant!  I can't remember if her original due date was August 1st or July 31st, but it soon got moved up to July 28th and stayed there.  It was such exciting news and it was pretty sweet that our pregnancies would overlap three months together.  Amanda came to visit in December...

These were taken after a trip to Chicago. (The city is not as fun when you are in your third trimester...)

Amanda put this in a "grandchildren" frame for our mom to tell her that she was expecting!

The next time we saw her was in May when her and John (and my little sister, Ashley) came in town for Presley's baptism.

John & Amanda (P's Godparents) and Tony, Presley & I at her baptism
at Christ the King -- the church where we were married at in May 2011!

Presley and Amanda :)

While Amanda was here we also threw her a baby shower!

And I had to throw this one in there! ;) Pregnant Amanda & not pregnant Ashley!
(She's got a balloon under there!)

And that was the last time I got to see Amanda while she was pregnant!  She was glowing, extremely laid back, and happy as usual; pregnancy definitely looked good on her.  Not to mention she had a healthy pregnancy and remains stretch mark free!  (Try not to hate her, ladies, she is very deserving of her good fortune!)

So, the week of her due date, she started to experience what she assumed were pretty light contractions.  They came and went and she was frustrated that it hadn't progressed into labor.  The day before her due date, she started having light contractions again that stayed around pretty consistently.  She and her husband, John, went to get checked out at the hospital around midnight and she found out she was 2-3 cm. already!  They kept her around for another hour to see if she would progress and she had progressed to 4 cm. so they admitted her and administered her epidural - which she said was magical! :)  She pushed for less than an hour (I can't remember how long exactly, sorry if I'm butchering your story, Amanda!!!) and Anne Marie was born at 8:28AM on July 28 -- HER DUE DATE!

A 7 lb. 9 oz. beauty born with a head full of brown hair!

Anne Marie (3 days old) and Presley (5 months old) during their first hangout.

My sisters, myself, and our kiddos!

It was awesome to be there during Amanda's first few days as a mom and throughout Anne Marie's first few days on the outside!  I've only been home a couple days and I already can't wait until the next time that we can be all together.  Not to mention, poor Uncle Tony didn't get to meet his sweet niece!  So although that drive was NOT fun, I think we will have some serious motivation (Anne Marie!) to do it again soon.

Perhaps I can talk my sister into guest blogging on here in case she wants to share Anne Marie's birth story/her first few days as a mommy from her perspective!

Until then, hope you enjoyed hearing about my sweet niecey-poo... babies are just so wonderful.  Thank you Amanda and John for bringing such a sweet baby into this world and thank you Miss Anne Marie for giving me the privilege of being your auntie!!!  We plan on loving and spoiling you until you can no longer stand it.

Presley's Birthday Story!

So, the more time that passes between now and the day we met Presley, the more I forget about the details!  It makes me so sad as well as angry with myself for not making time to type out all the happenings from those few days!  But I plan to try my best to remember all the important (and less important) details from that weekend... so here we go...


It all started on a Saturday morning.  It was February 18th around 4 AM and Tony was getting up and leaving for work that morning (he had to be there at 5AM).  I got up to use the restroom and tried going back to bed but around 4:30 AM I started to feel very uncomfortable, almost like Presley was moving around really oddly inside of me.  I started to realize that the uncomfortable feeling would come and go pretty regularly so that's when I enlisted the help of a trusty iPod app to help me time what I was assuming were contractions.  Sure enough, the pain was coming in about every five minutes and lasting for a minute.  At this point I was WAY too excited to go back to sleep so I stayed up and timed the contractions.  Considering that this was my first time going through this, I had no idea if I was supposed to go in and get checked out or what, so I called my doctor's office and the on-call doctor suggested I go in just to get checked out.  So I did and I hadn't progressed any since my last doctors appointment -- 1 CM & about 70% effaced.  They hooked me up to machines, monitored me for an hour or so, checked me again, and same thing.  I told the nurse on duty that my doctor was out of town and that they were supposed to contact my doctor's midwife because that's who I preferred if my doctor was absent.  The nurse kinda dismissed that and told me I was stuck with the on-call doctor.  Nothing was progressing, so I went home to labor there because although my contractions were uncomfortable, they weren't unbearable.

This is when things were still "fun" and "exciting"

Tony was home from work when I got there and since we planned on spending the weekend cleaning and getting ready for the baby, that's what we did.  And at this point in the story, Tony and I really don't remember a whole heck of a lot.  We don't really remember what we did all day and don't remember the timing of things very well.  But the general consensus between the two of us is that we ended up going back to the birthing center late Saturday night (about 10 pm?) when contractions were still consistent and getting more painful.  We got checked in and again I got hooked up and monitored.  I think at this point I was only 1-2 CM dilated and had effaced more than 70% but I don't remember the specifics.  This was so frustrating.  So we walked around the hospital to get things going but not much was happening.  We stayed overnight and they gave me a pretty heavy sleeping pill so I could relax and get some rest.  Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep at all.

Of course, my doctor was out of town, and OF COURSE, the on-call doctor was a huge ass hole and scared the crap out of me talking about pitocin and needing to get things going -- it all sounded so scary and painful!  It was at this point that I pulled the nurse aside and asked her to contact the midwife that worked closely with my doctor.  Finally, they contacted the midwife and she was upset they hadn't called her sooner.  She came to check me out and it was at this point that I heard for the first time that Presley was flipped the wrong way.  Although she was head down, she was turned to face the wrong way in a "posterior" position, and that this was not a good thing.  This explained why I was more uncomfortable than I should've been and also explains why a week earlier I was certain I felt Presley move into an uncomfortable position (I thought she had moved into a breech position, though).  The midwife and her apprentice had me get onto my knees and chest in hopes to get Presley to flip.  I remember being extremely uncomfortable at this point, felt exhausted, and just felt kinda hopeless as my body wasn't doing what it needed to do.  I don't remember specifics, but I know we stayed in the hospital until about 2 PM (on February 19th) and then got discharged because things really weren't happening, despite consistent contractions and being in a great deal of pain at this point.  I was distraught and cried all the way home, I think, because I really felt so scared.  Thankfully, before we left, our sweet nurse told us to come right back in if things got to be too much or if I couldn't sleep again, etc.

So, we were at home, COMPLETELY exhausted and my pain was getting so much worse.  I tried to be on my chest and knees as much as possible and Tony was helping me as much as he could.  He was just as tired as me with the only difference being his body was telling him to sleep because he wasn't in any pain!  But since I was in so much pain I needed him to stay awake with me to help keep me calm.  I got into the shower to hopefully help relieve some pain and just couldn't find any relief.  It was around 5 PM (on Sunday, February 19th) when I started freaking out saying this was too much and we needed to go in.  We went in and I had progressed a little more (about 3-4 CM and nearly 100% effaced) but not a whole heck of a lot.

I look awful! I needed oxygen but I don't remember why!

 This is when they THANKFULLY decided to let me have an epidural so my body could relax, sleep, and hopefully progress.  I was so scared to get an epidural but at this point I just wanted the pain to go away.  The procedure was fast and pretty much painless and in minutes I was smiling and laughing again and in no time I was getting some sleep!  A few hours later they checked me and decided to put me on pitocin because things still weren't happening.  As soon as they did that, my body started to respond and by Monday very early AM, my water finally broke!!!!  They told me that there was some meconium in the water and this wasn't favorable for the baby but they also weren't too worried about it.  At this point I was somewhere between 7-9 CM dilated and fully effaced and the midwife's apprentice came in and asked if I'd be willing to have my meds turned way down so I could get some feeling back in order to push.  She told me this would be better and things would go faster this way so of course I was alright with it.  Over the next 1-2 hours I started to feel that awful pain again and the contractions were absolutely unbearable!  Along the way I asked her what pain medication options I had and she said, "None.  You are having a baby, it's gonna hurt."  And I've never wanted to kill someone more than in that moment!!!!!

Finally, around 6 AM we were ready to push... and the fun REALLY starts!  Thank God for Tony and our fabulous nurses... I could not have done any of it without their support.  And thankfully, I didn't want to kill Tony throughout all of this... mostly because I was terrified and knew that I wanted him right next to me.  I remember telling the midwife's apprentice (she was the one delivering Presley) that I couldn't do it anymore and I was way too exhausted.  She told me I had to and I could keep going so I did and finally we were making some progress.  I remember the point that the baby started to crown (OUCH) and they asked if I wanted to see her head in the mirror to give me some motivation and I quickly shot that down, I just wanted her out of there and to be done!!!  So I kept pushing and it seemed like it all started happening so fast and at 6:49 AM they pulled her out, I felt SO much relief, we heard her cry, and they plopped this squirmy baby on my chest!

Such a wonderful moment for me!

 I will never forget how warm and soft she felt and how unprepared I felt!!!!  She was crying and I felt like I could hardly move, let alone take care of her.  Thankfully, she calmed down and just laid on me while they took forever to stitch me up.  (I ended up with two 2nd degree tears... ouch!)  She also pooped on me in that time period!!!  But thankfully it was just on the blankets and not so much on me-- woohoo!  After a while I was able to get up and go to the bathroom and I even got to soak in the bathtub for some time which felt absolutely amazing.  They weighed her and she was 7 lbs. & 12.7 oz!

Presley and her daddy getting some time together!

Shortly after that we had some breakfast and our family was there to visit (our parents & my Gramma) and just after that we moved to the mother/baby wing and into the room where we spent the next two days.

Moving us to our new room!

Holding this strange baby I have yet to get to know... so surreal!

I remember breastfeeding those first days hurt so bad and Presley was really having a tough time latching on.  I was having trouble sleeping in the hospital and felt like I could never relax again in addition to feeling like I didn't know how to take care of my own child.  This is when the baby blues started because everything just seemed to be so much harder than I ever imagined it being.  I was having trouble seeing that things were going to get better because I didn't know that they would!  But since then, things have really settled down and we are doing so great with breastfeeding.  I still feel like I don't know a whole lot about being a mom, but I feel more confident in taking care of my baby girl.  I'm getting to know her everyday and each day I'm finding more to be positive about.

So, that is pretty much the story of her birthday!  From beginning to end, labor lasted 50 hours and while I had no idea that our story would go anything like this, I am so glad it's all behind us and just a memory at this point!