Looking back from now, I can hardly remember those days before the little ladybug’s birthday. I can, however, remember all too vividly the endeavor that was bringing her into this world. August 5th, our official due date, came and went. I went from being sure that she’d be here early, to convinced that I’d be pregnant forever. My parents came into town on the 3rd so that they’d be sure they would be here to see the littlest chicken into the world.
Much of birth week was spent hanging around the house trying to remain as comfortable as possible. We had a nice dinner out for Jen’s birthday and again for my dad’s birthday and a trip to a Matchbox 20 concert but really, all I could think about was not being pregnant anymore. I received a call on Thursday the 8th to schedule my induction for the upcoming Monday. With that on the books, at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
All day on Thursday the 8th I was having cramping and was just generally not feeling great. Fast forward to dinner time and that cramping was coming at regular, time-able intervals. By 11pm my contractions were 7-10 minutes apart and we knew that we’d be having a baby in the near future. I headed to bed to try and get whatever sleep possible and was laboring through the early morning.
At 4:45am on Friday the 9th, my water broke, we called the doctor and we prepared to head to the hospital. I gathered anything we needed that wasn’t already packed and Phil decided it was time to shave and take a shower…
We were in the car by 5:45 and at the hospital by 6am. We got to the hospital and contractions were about 3 minutes apart. We went through the whole triage process and were checked into our Labor and Delivery room by 8am. 8:30 the epidural was placed and the rest of the morning wasn’t so bad. Mom and Dad came by to visit, Phil’s parents stopped in for awhile and I dozed in and out and munched on ice chips. By 12-1pm I was 10 centimeters but the doc wanted to wait to see if she’d drop a little bit more before we started pushing.
At 2:30pm we got the go-ahead to start the eviction process of Miss Annabelle. I’m pretty sure that 20 minutes in I thought we’d be wrapping it up pretty soon but I was oh.so.wrong. Fast forward 2.5 hours. She still wasn’t dropping, she was face-up, I was pushing like crazy and they were trying to turn her and it wasn’t happening. I was exhausted and miserable (and everyone on the floor knew it…) and it was time to make a decision. The doc gave us our options and before he even had the words out of his mouth, I picked the c-section. Come to find out the next day, she never ever would have come out no matter how long I pushed.
We wheeled (screaming…) into the OR, Phil went to go get his scrubs on, and they started placing the spinal block in. There was immediate relief and I laid down so that they could get started but then all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe and that’s the last thing I remember. Evidently the spinal spread too high and affected my diaphragm/breathing so they had to knock me out completely. When that happens, it immediately becomes an emergency procedure because they have to get the baby out as quickly as possible. When there is general anesthesia, dad isn’t allowed in the OR so Phil was stuck outside waiting and not really knowing what was going on.
Annabelle was born at 5:28pm on Friday the 9th. She had some immediate breathing issues due to the anesthesia that had to be taken care of but she was okay within a couple of minutes. Phil wasn’t able to be there when she was born but as soon as everything was okay, he was brought to her and watched her first bath and then got to snuggle her while I was in recovery.
A couple of hours later, I woke up in recovery and was told that I had a beautiful and healthy 9 lb, 9 oz. baby girl. Some undetermined amount of time later, I was wheeled up to our new room and Phil brought the baby in so we could meet. It was just so surreal. The look on his face was adorable. He was so proud and so in love. I saw her and absolutely couldn’t believe that she came out of me. She was just so beautiful and perfect and BIG! Shortly thereafter, our parents came in to officially meet her (Phil had been holding them off until I got to hold her…sweet boy) and the rest of that night was just a blur for me.
Here are some of the first pictures of sweet Annabelle Louise…
