The girl just had her 3rd birthday. The day she was born was the happiest day of my life, maybe even more so than getting married. I wish I would say my son't birth was such a happy event, but the circumstances were not so great. This time it went great, and having pain meds was a big help too.
I woke with Eddie at 5 am for work and had some OJ and a breakfast bar. I felt pains that were worse and a bit different than what I'd had the past 2 weeks. Still, I sent Eddie to work, because I'd had so many pains in the last weeks who knew? They were about 7 mins apart. Took a shower and they seemed a little less intense, but closer together. At about 7 am I called the on call doc cause they were hurting more again. She told me to come in, either to the office or the hospital. Call when we got closer. I called Eddie to come home from work. I hoped this was not a false alarm, and that we were gonna waste a day of vacation. Shortly after I KNEW it was for real. I called Tiff to come get the boy for the day. She arrived about the same time as Eddie. Eddie got our stuff in the car while she got the boy ready for school.
The pains were so bad as soon as I got in the car, and jumped to 3 mins apart. I thought,"Oh please don't let my water break, or this baby will be born in the car." Eddie drove 100mph to Houston with the flashers on. We called the office and those idiots told us to come to the office. Eddie told them our situation, and they insisted we come to the office. I was so upset. Did not know how I would get up the elevator. I just wanted a bed and an epidural.
We hobbled up the the office. Got lots of looks in the parking garage and elevator. I had to stop every couple of minutes and bend over and try not to moan! One lady said, "you look like you're in a lot of pain." I think the office staff was surprised at this was the real thing. They took a fetal heartrate. I spent about 15 mins there. I could tell the doc was not even there. Then they directed us to go downstairs, get our own wheelchair, and head to the hospital. Sheesh. We saw Dr Thompson on our way there, who said she had been waiting for me in L&D. I was crying as we got in the elevator, but tried to control it. A nurse pushed the button for us. I told her, "I'll bet you know where we are going," and she said yes, and that I "met the criteria." I guess meaning I was huge and crying, must be labor ward time!
Got to the room and undressed, stopping several times for contractions. Hooked up to monitors and checked... 2 cms and 100%. I was afraid they would deny my epidural. But they didn't. I was so afraid of not being able to get still for the epi. It was not bad at all. I felt a contraction come on right as they got it in. It just began and then just eased up. Heaven!!! Suddenly I was not so afraid, and had time to marvel that our little girl was coming that day! An hour later I was 3 cms. Dr Thompson came and broke my water. Then we had some trouble. Her heartrate began dipping. They tried turning me, oxygen, and an amnio infusion. Finally it improved, and then it was a non-issue cause it was time to push! Arrived at hospital about 9:45 and was pushing at 2:30 ish. Doc said, "OK this is the last push of your pregnancy." One more push and the girl was here at 2:58 p.m. She went right up on my tummy and just feeling her warmth and weight there was awesome.
They took her to the table for weight and measure... 6lbs 4oz and 18.5 inches. I got to hold her and be with her for an hour or so. I think I tried to nurse her, but she was not interested. Then they took her to the nursery and I waited to be taken for my tubal ligation. Oddly, Eddie had left the room to move the car when they came and got me. I was so happy with the baby I was not even scared of being about to go into surgery.
I got to the OR and they hooked me up to the monitors and put oxygen on. Then they sedated me. I woke up to dr thompson saying, "OK Amanda, no more babies." And that was fine with me. I got very uncomfortable in the recovery room. The nurse offered me Demerol and phenergan, but I wanted to be awake to see the girl in my room. Got a Percocet which did nothing. Eddie walked in and looked upset cause I was hurting so much. Plus, I think he'd been waiting awhile and had not been told much about me. Soon we went to the postpartum room, where I had an overly cheery nurse. She was nice about trying to get my pain controlled. We discussed demerol again, but I did not want to be that knocked out. Made the first trip to the bathroom, with Eddie helping. Any guy who can help his wife to the bathroom, watch her ooze horrible postpartum body fluids, and set her on the toilet is a keeper. They let me have some clear liquids to drink which was nice. The girl came to the room finally and we gave her a bottle I think. Sent her back to the nursery for the night because Eddie and I were beat and I was feeling pretty awful. Woke up during the night suddenly in a lot of pain, and crying. Scared poor Eddie to death. They took the IV out at about 1 am, which at least made going to the bathroom easier.
The nursery told us they would bring the baby back at 8:00 am. We got up and ate, and then our princess arrived in our room. She stayed all day and we had such a good time with her. She ate so little; only about 20cc at a time. The nursery said this was fine. I tried and tried to latch her on the breast but she would not open wide. We had several visitors... Vickie, big brother, Suwanna, Raquel, and Todd. We got a sibling cake for the boy and sang Happy Birthday. It was so cool. At about 1 am we went to the nursery to watch our girl get a bath and weight. She was 5 lbs 13 oz the night before we came home.
The next day we got ready to come home. The hospital said we did not have to hurry and leave... the room was ours till midnight if we wanted. So we tried to rest a little bit and practiced breastfeeding some more. I really enjoyed the time with just Eddie, me, and the baby. No housework to worry with. My only job was to rest, have meals brought to me, and love my new little girl. We got home about 4 pm, and Eddie's mom was at my house tidying up and scrubbing my bathtub! My dad brought us dinner. All the grandparents made it by that day and it was so great.
I tried to nurse her for several days, but she would not latch properly and it was so painful. I decided after 9 months of pregnancy, 4 months of morning sickness, two surgeries, and childbirth, I was done being in pain. So I reluctantly stopped after about two weeks. But at least I felt I had a chance to give it a real try.
Things I will miss about her being a baby.... chubby baby hands and cheeks, holding her in my lap while she slept, dressing her up girly and not having her complain. I'll miss seeing her toddle around the house in just a diaper, with her still pudgy belly sticking out.
But three is going to be a great age. She talks lots, loves and plays and pretends with her stuffed animals. She understands so much now. Her eyes lit up when we gave her the birthday cupcake. She blew out the candles and clapped her hands. She is so social at times. We were stopped at a corner where they were doing street construction. I noticed some of the workers were smiling in our direction. I realized she was in the back seat, smiling and waving at them. I heard her say," Hi, mans, " softly.
Happy Birthday my precious girl!
