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Baby Amelia is here!

1K views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  amaayeh 
#1 ·
I had my daughter on June 25 (Saturday) at 10:56 am after a pretty fast labor. My water broke around 10 on Friday night the 24th, so I called my midwife, Emily, and we arranged to touch base around 8 in the morning. Contractions started at about 12:30, but weren't yet very regular. We did get about 1 1/2 hours of sleep before they picked up again at about 5 minutes apart, and they weren't too painful at that point so I was able to labor by myself for an hour or so, I think that was 4-5 am, and let my husband get a little more sleep. Contractions were fairly regular at about every 3 minutes and getting more painful by about 6 so I called Emily again and also my husband called my dad to come take us to the hospital. Emily advised us not to come in yet because she thought I'd still have a while to go yet, so we called my dad back to put him on standby and labored for a while longer, but my contractions were getting more painful and closer together and we called my dad around 7:30 to come get us--at that point I wasn't getting more than 1 1/2 minutes between contractions, and my husband was going crazy running around trying to put the finishing touches on everything and running back to me at the start of each contraction. Emily called back about 8 and I said I wanted to come to the hospital. We were there by 8:20 and I probably didn't make it out of triage and into the room until 8:45. I was at about 5-6 cm in triage and by 10 they told me I was ready to push! She was born less than an hour later. She was born with her hands up by her head and I had only minor skid marks. 7 lb 10 oz, and 19 inches long.

I think I got off lucky--I wanted so much to go natural and I did, but HOLY HECK was that ever painful and it could have been twice as long as that, easy! (I think my mom is jealous because she labored 14 hours with me.) I'm not sure how I would have stood that. I remember thinking that I could totally understand why moms get an epidural and that maybe I should think about getting one in case it went longer because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take, but I knew I was progressing fast enough so intellectually I was like, well, okay, by the time anesthesia even gets here it could be an hour or more because sometimes that takes a while, and so it might be too late for me to get one anyway, and so I should try to stick it out. Laboring on the toilet was really good for me because it was the only position where I felt I could let go and really open up.

We had some trouble in the hospital getting breastfeeding established and learning to latch, but we're doing much better now. Came home around noon today. Both sets of grandparents are here and have done some running around for us, and it's been really helpful to have extra hands on deck--caring for her isn't that difficult, it just makes doing anything else about five times more complicated. And we have had to rearrange our bedroom and bring in a new changing table--the setup we had wasn't going to work.

I don't tend to get too emotionally expressive on this board, even though I'm normally a very expressive person. Not sure why that is. In any case, this is all still kind of surreal--I can't believe I made this little person, from scratch, and she kicked my belly from the inside for nine months and then I managed to push her out just a couple of days ago. It all is too big to be believed. But we're all very happy, doing great, and I think we're going to have an awesome time going forward.

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#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by erigeron View Post

I don't tend to get too emotionally expressive on this board, even though I'm normally a very expressive person. Not sure why that is. In any case, this is all still kind of surreal--I can't believe I made this little person, from scratch, and she kicked my belly from the inside for nine months and then I managed to push her out just a couple of days ago. It all is too big to be believed. But we're all very happy, doing great, and I think we're going to have an awesome time going forward.
Feel free to express away. Having a baby is very surreal. As a first time mom I definitely remember just staring at baby in the cosleeper in disbelief - like how is this person who didn't exist at one time here? Congratulations on your little one!
 
#8 ·
Congratulations and welcome to your little girl!

Quote:
Originally Posted by erigeron View Post
In any case, this is all still kind of surreal--I can't believe I made this little person, from scratch, and she kicked my belly from the inside for nine months and then I managed to push her out just a couple of days ago. It all is too big to be believed.
I TOTALLY understand this feeling! even now, 3 weeks later, I'll hold his little feet and think, "These were inside me a little while ago. These are the very same feet that kicked me all the time." It's incredible if you think about it.

Enjoy your babymoon!
 
#10 ·
Congrats Dr. Mama!!! Welcome Amelia!

I was just saying to my friend the other day that it just blows me away that I have the ability to make little people! And that feeling of awe does not go away. It is a threshold that once crossed, can and will never be the same again! Welcome to the other side!
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#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by erigeron View Post

I think I got off lucky--I wanted so much to go natural and I did, but HOLY HECK was that ever painful and it could have been twice as long as that, easy! (I think my mom is jealous because she labored 14 hours with me.) I'm not sure how I would have stood that. I remember thinking that I could totally understand why moms get an epidural and that maybe I should think about getting one in case it went longer because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take, but I knew I was progressing fast enough so intellectually I was like, well, okay, by the time anesthesia even gets here it could be an hour or more because sometimes that takes a while, and so it might be too late for me to get one anyway, and so I should try to stick it out. Laboring on the toilet was really good for me because it was the only position where I felt I could let go and really open up.
Congrats on lovely Amelia! I felt just as you did above for my birth with #1, except I caved and did ask for meds. Water broke at 9 pm, contractions were 2 mins apart by 11 pm and as soon as I got out of the shower, I wanted to be AT the hospital. Got there at 11:30, labored until 1 or 2, didn't think I could handle that intensity for hours more, asked for an epi 2-3x (enough that my doula took me semi-seriously and slooooowly called for the anesth. [fantastic doula!!]), and of course by the time he got there, I was at an 8 and knew I could do it. Started pushing at 2 and she was out by 2:30. SO glad that I did go natural, although I do feel a bit of guilt for asking for an epi, which I guess means I was doubting myself. I hope all goes well when #2 FINALLY decides to debut. Hanging in there at 40+5....
 
#13 ·
Beautiful babe! Our babies share a birthday :) I too went into labor on Friday 24th, but since this was a 6th baby, I'd had mine by 12:56 am on the 25th. Congrats on new mommyhood :) Enjoy!!!
 
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