Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Kate's Arrival

So I'm a little late getting this post up (been choosing to hold a precious baby instead of my laptop) but as you may have already heard, our sweet little girl is finally with us! Kate Aubrey Shaida was born on Monday, April 16th at 6:11pm. She weighed 8lbs, 12oz and was 21 inches long, with a head full of dark hair and crazy-cute chubby cheeks.

For those of you who have asked, here's some details of Kate's arrival!

My due date was originally April 17th. But back on March 26th, we found out I was 4cm dilated and 75% effaced. We thought for sure Kate would come early, so we scrambled to get the last few things in place and out-of-town family rearranged things to come sooner. We all waited with bags packed and emotions high... doctor appointments coming and going, but little progress happening. Come April 11th she still wasn't here, so we scheduled an induction for Monday the 16th. My doctor felt very comfortable with me being induced since I had been at 4cm for 3 weeks already.

John's family came out that Sunday night... we all tried our best to sleep (which I hadn't been doing much of for weeks, anyway). Then Monday morning around 8:30am, I was induced with an IV of pitocin. I hadn't had any contractions through the night or that morning, but the pitocin did it's job and they started up right away... but felt pretty mild. Then around 11am my doctor broke my water and immediately the contractions became very painful. We called for the epidural a bit after, but it took the anesthesiologist quite awhile (and 4 attempts!) for it to work. (I apparently have a slight curve in my spine that was creating issues.) Having to stay still that long, sitting indian style on a hospital bed, through very painful contractions... well it was awful. But once that 4th attempt worked, it was all worth it. :)

I rested for a few hours, watching TV with John and even trying to sleep a bit. At 4:30 I was 9cm, which was great... but my legs, feet and toes were 100% numb and we were concerned that I would have difficulty pushing. Apparently, the 3 failed epidural attempts each gave a "test" dose before we realized they didn't work... so I ended up with slightly more epidural than normal. We decided to cut my dose in half and see what happened. The pain soon set in, and at 5:30 it was very intense. So the nurse checked me and I was at 10cm and ready to push. (By the way, only one of my legs VERY slightly lost some of their numbness, so that plan didn't quite work. :) ) My doctor came in and at 5:55 I started pushing... and Kate was born quickly at 6:11pm!

*Side note - right before I started pushing, my doctor gave a final guess of the baby's weight... 6lbs, 7oz. Bless her heart - she was a bit off. :)

I got to hold her on my stomach right away, and then the nurse tended to her - with Daddy right alongside - getting her weight, length and John cutting her cord. I remember laying there watching them through my tears... overwhelmed and amazed. Seeing John elated and emotional - like he was on our wedding day. I asked him if she was Kate Aubrey or Jane Harper... and with a huge grin he said, I think she's Kate. I agreed and just like that, we had finally decided on a name.

Amazing, incredible, emotional, life-changing... all those words, even lined up together, still don't describe what that experience was like. I couldn't believe how connected I felt to her immediately; how deeply I loved her and how much I had longed for her. The entire experience is a gift I will never take for granted.

Leaving for the hospital!
Talking to my sisters... before things get started
Meeting my sweet babygirl
All cleaned up and ready to snuggle
Our first family picture  :)




4 comments:

  1. I've already read it three times even though I knew it all already. I love how you described loving her. She is a lucky baby.

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  2. Thanks for sharing the story! You three look great in your first family photo!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing your story! This is beautiful. And so is your precious family. :) Sending love. ~Emily

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  4. just read this again...still makes me cry. lyb

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