A little background before I document Mina's birth story.
My due date was August 15th. James had accepted a job that starts August 20th. In Taylorsville. What if I didn't deliver early? What if I was late? What if I went into labor while James was in Taylorsville and he some how missed the birth? What if I was overdue by two weeks?
There were a lot of "what if"s that really worried me. I talked to our doctor and asked about our options. In the end we opted for an induction. James and I went to the hospital at 7:00 on Friday night and by 8:00 they started inducing labor. I laid in bed and watched "Arrested Development" while I waited. James sat at a desk in the room and worked on his thesis. It was pretty uneventful until a little before10:00 when another doctor came in and broke my water. THAT was a weird feeling. I didn't realize that the water just kept coming after the initial gush.
After that the contractions REALLY kicked in. I tried to be strong but I wimped out and got an epidural at 10:30. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The nurse had been checking my progress, I was a 5 at midnight, which meant I would probably start pushing around 5 AM or so. (The average dilation rate is about a centimeter an hour.) Next thing I know, the nurse checked me again and I was at a 7. By 2 AM I was a 10. They wanted me to wait an hour to push (I don't know why, maybe to get things ready.) The epidural was good until the pressure kicked in. It was awful. I called the nurse at 2:30 and said I needed to push. So I started pushing.
Meanwhile, my parents had been calling/texting during labor. I was getting really frustrated as things got closer. They left Kaysville a little before 2 AM and arrived to hear me deliver Mina. I'm not sure exactly when they arrived, I wasn't really aware of the clock, just the fact I was trying to push out a baby.
James was really great as I pushing. He was comforting and encouraging. There were a couple of times that I didn't think I could do but he kept telling me that I could. It was really hard and I don't think I could have done it without James.
After an hour of pushing, Wilhelmina Anne Beardall arrived at 3:33 AM.
7lbs 6 oz 20" long
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| Our family (I don't really care how terrible I look, at least the washcloth isn't on my head) |
My parents waited to come into the room until after I had been covered up. I'm really glad that my Mom took pictures because I wasn't really thinking about taking pictures at that point. She took a picture of some of the delivery team but its still on her camera. Oh well...
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| The proud Dad (he's so cute! |
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| Grandpa Brad |
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| Mina saying Hello! |
After a little recovery time we were moved up to another hospital room. James carried our bags and I carried Mina and rode in a wheel chair. I was still in awe that she had finally arrived.
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| Some skin to skin time |
A little later on Saturday a nurse helped James give Mina her first bath. She seemed to enjoy it!
We kept Mina in our room for the most part during the day. One of the times she visited the nursery she came back with a bow in her hair.
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| Looking cute with a bow in her hair |
We had a few visitors on Saturday; my parents, James' parents and my Grandma Keller and cousin Anthony. My parents stayed at our apartment Saturday morning, recovering from the middle of the night drive. They came back for another visit later that day.
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| Anthony, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Mina |
We left the hospital Sunday afternoon. I could get around pretty good and we both wanted to get home and sleep in our own bed. We have a pretty good bed. Jordan and Lindsey came a little before our discharge time so they helped us load up the car. They were a really big help!
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| Mina looks so chunky in this picture! |
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| Seriously, where did she get that double chin? |
Once we got home and settled, James' sisters came with their families. They not only brought dinner but a bunch of freezer dinners as well! It was really fun to see the kids interact with Mina. Zack said he couldn't remember her "long name," it was so cute! Mina is lucky to have such sweet cousins!
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| Her going home outfit |
SOO cute! Congrats guys!
ReplyDeleteShe is adorable! Congratulations!! I am so very excited to see more posts of her and you guys!
ReplyDeleteAnd not that it matters, but they probably wanted to have you wait the hour before trying to push so that she could move down further on her own. I know they had me do that with Marcus because he was still not "engaging" although I was complete. It causes less stress on both mom and baby if you don't have to push baby out quite so far.
Yay congrats!!!! And you don't look bad in that picture at all, I think you look great! And Mina is adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I know why they have you wait an hour! They usually only do it if you get an epidural and it is your first. This is because first time mom's don't usually know how to push correctly, and with an epidural you usually can't feel what you are doing. The hour wait is for your body to do a ton of the work for you, cause it will naturally push on its own. That way when you start pushing, you don't have to as long, thus making it so you don't get as tired, and also training your muscles to do what is right and kind of teaching you in the process. At least that is what they told me. Congrats! What a pretty girl!
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