We have a beautiful little girl! December 7, 2013 Leta made her debut.
It all started when...
I had been having Braxton hicks and small contractions for the better part of 2 weeks. I was beyond anxious for this little girl to get here. I thought for sure we would have an anniversary or Thanksgiving baby but she was pretty stubborn (I wonder where she gets that from?). I was nesting and working hard to get the house ready and all my Christmas stuff up. I was determined to have it all done before she got here.
Friday night Michael and I went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with my mom. We definitely ate well :) I even got blueberry cobbler for dessert. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable through dinner but I just figured I ate eat too much. We got into bed at about 9pm as we were both pretty tired. I couldn't sleep and was busy texting and watching old movies when I felt this strange pop. All of a sudden I knew and jumped out of bed so fast so I could save my sheets- My water broke! Mike woke up and asked what was wrong and I told him my water broke and it was happening.
I called the doctor and she said we had a little while and I could take a shower etc. I told mike to go back to sleep and I got in the shower and did my hair so I would be pretty for my little one's arrival. I finished cleaning and getting everything ready and it was rather tricky with contractions building pretty quickly. At about midnight I woke Michael up and off we went to have a baby!
At the hospital...
We arrived and checked in at the desk. Filling out paperwork while having contractions is interesting- I couldn't remember my birthday :). The nurses kept asking if I was sure my water broke...I'm thinking to my self- " no I did not pee myself, can we get this show on the road". They checked me into triage and yes my water broke and I was 4cm! I was being admitted.
We moved into our hospital room and my mom came up for moral support. I was hooked up to the monitors and got to see Leta's heartbeat and my contractions. My contractions weren't terrible at first and I was working through them. After about 3 hours I was having really intense contractions and I thought there was no way I was doing this for 10 more hours (or however long it would be). I was very happy to see the anesthesiaologist at about 4am. He hooked me up and Thry checked me and i was only 5cm :(. I thought I was going to be in labor forever. I decided to get some rest while i could and took a 3 hour nap. When I woke up we realized the epidural worked too well. My lower body was far too numb and my hands and upper torso were going numb as well. It was 7am and they checked me again and I was 10cm! Unfortunately I was way to numb to push yet so they dialed back the epi and we waited for it to wear off. Around 9am I was still super numb but they decided to let me try pushing. I seriously couldn't feel a thing. They could have chopped my legs off and I never would have known. It was very surreal I couldn't believe my baby would be arriving very soon. I pushed for about 30 mins and at 9:44am Leta Kathleen was born :).
I was so overjoyed to see my baby! I couldn't believe she was here. I held her and looked at my husband and felt all the love in the world. She was so beautiful and all ours.
I got to cuddle with Leta while the doctor fixed me up. Things got a little scary because I had some bleeding but they got it under control after a little bit. They took her from me because I was shaking from all the meds they had to give me. They weighed her in and she was 7lbs 13 oz and 18.75 inches long. They got me all cleaned up and I was able to hold her again after a little while. I wasn't able to move to recovery until the epi wore off. I took about 3 more hours for me to be able to move so I had a nice long cuddle with my baby :).
Recovery....
We were given a very large corner room in the recovery wing. I was happy about this because there was plenty of room to spread out. We had a few visitors the first day. It was mostly family and a few friends. Sunday there was a snow storm and I was so happy to be able to look out the window and see the snow and be with my new baby. The snow also kept the visitors to a minimum which turned out to be very good because we were exhausted and struggling a little with breast feeding. It was certainly harder than I thought I would be and even harder because I kept getting conflicting advice and guidance from all the nurses and lactation consultants. I had a few lessons and we seemed to be getting the feeding down okay by the time it was time to go home.
Home...
We left Monday afternoon :). Our first stop was chick fila...we were starving. We got home and as soon as we got inside I started crying. It wasn't just the 2 of us anymore. We settled in and I honestly don't remember the first night. The next day it got rough. Leta wouldn't latch and I took over an hour to get her to eat and it was so incredibly painful every time I fed her. She was so hungry she just cried and cried. Michael was so supportive and wonderful through everything. I never felt so loved in my life and I definitely needed it. We went for 2 days before we realized that this wasn't okay. We went to see an LC who helped me and Leta get things sorted out. Leta went down to 7lbs 1oz. I was so scared and upset but once we had a few feelings with minimal crying (from both of us) I started to feel much better.
New mom lessons and feelings...
Being a mom is so amazing and different than I thought. It's definitely not all sunshine and rainbows but it is full of such joy. I love her so much it's crazy. I can't sleep at night because I just want to be
sure she's okay and sleep with my hand on her tummy to make certain she's breathing. I love to just look at her. The first night she was awake and wasn't crying was amazing. I got to look at her and sing to her and not be scared. I was reassured that I wasn't doing it wrong and it would be okay. Breast feeding is crazy hard and it's a daily goal to keep going. I wouldn't be able to do it without my husband and family backing me up. On the plus side after 1 week home I am down 25lbs and below my pre-pregnancy weight :). I also have a crazy cute snuggle bunny named Leta!
Week 2 coming soon...
We moved into our hospital room and my mom came up for moral support. I was hooked up to the monitors and got to see Leta's heartbeat and my contractions. My contractions weren't terrible at first and I was working through them. After about 3 hours I was having really intense contractions and I thought there was no way I was doing this for 10 more hours (or however long it would be). I was very happy to see the anesthesiaologist at about 4am. He hooked me up and Thry checked me and i was only 5cm :(. I thought I was going to be in labor forever. I decided to get some rest while i could and took a 3 hour nap. When I woke up we realized the epidural worked too well. My lower body was far too numb and my hands and upper torso were going numb as well. It was 7am and they checked me again and I was 10cm! Unfortunately I was way to numb to push yet so they dialed back the epi and we waited for it to wear off. Around 9am I was still super numb but they decided to let me try pushing. I seriously couldn't feel a thing. They could have chopped my legs off and I never would have known. It was very surreal I couldn't believe my baby would be arriving very soon. I pushed for about 30 mins and at 9:44am Leta Kathleen was born :).
I was so overjoyed to see my baby! I couldn't believe she was here. I held her and looked at my husband and felt all the love in the world. She was so beautiful and all ours.
I got to cuddle with Leta while the doctor fixed me up. Things got a little scary because I had some bleeding but they got it under control after a little bit. They took her from me because I was shaking from all the meds they had to give me. They weighed her in and she was 7lbs 13 oz and 18.75 inches long. They got me all cleaned up and I was able to hold her again after a little while. I wasn't able to move to recovery until the epi wore off. I took about 3 more hours for me to be able to move so I had a nice long cuddle with my baby :).
Recovery....
We were given a very large corner room in the recovery wing. I was happy about this because there was plenty of room to spread out. We had a few visitors the first day. It was mostly family and a few friends. Sunday there was a snow storm and I was so happy to be able to look out the window and see the snow and be with my new baby. The snow also kept the visitors to a minimum which turned out to be very good because we were exhausted and struggling a little with breast feeding. It was certainly harder than I thought I would be and even harder because I kept getting conflicting advice and guidance from all the nurses and lactation consultants. I had a few lessons and we seemed to be getting the feeding down okay by the time it was time to go home.
Home...
We left Monday afternoon :). Our first stop was chick fila...we were starving. We got home and as soon as we got inside I started crying. It wasn't just the 2 of us anymore. We settled in and I honestly don't remember the first night. The next day it got rough. Leta wouldn't latch and I took over an hour to get her to eat and it was so incredibly painful every time I fed her. She was so hungry she just cried and cried. Michael was so supportive and wonderful through everything. I never felt so loved in my life and I definitely needed it. We went for 2 days before we realized that this wasn't okay. We went to see an LC who helped me and Leta get things sorted out. Leta went down to 7lbs 1oz. I was so scared and upset but once we had a few feelings with minimal crying (from both of us) I started to feel much better.
New mom lessons and feelings...
Being a mom is so amazing and different than I thought. It's definitely not all sunshine and rainbows but it is full of such joy. I love her so much it's crazy. I can't sleep at night because I just want to be
sure she's okay and sleep with my hand on her tummy to make certain she's breathing. I love to just look at her. The first night she was awake and wasn't crying was amazing. I got to look at her and sing to her and not be scared. I was reassured that I wasn't doing it wrong and it would be okay. Breast feeding is crazy hard and it's a daily goal to keep going. I wouldn't be able to do it without my husband and family backing me up. On the plus side after 1 week home I am down 25lbs and below my pre-pregnancy weight :). I also have a crazy cute snuggle bunny named Leta!
Week 2 coming soon...
