She's here!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

A week ago at this time, Dan and I were at the hospital, listening to the baby's steady little heartbeat.

Baby Izzy at two days old.

Birthin' a baby was nothing like how I expected. While this isn't a baby blog (and I won't go into graphic detail, don't worry), I'd love to share my experience because the idea of birth was something I found really terrifying... and in reality is actually a pretty amazing, not that scary experience (and the best total body workout of your life)... even when things don't go quite the way you plan.

  I felt like I went in to this experience with no real birth plan, but as the big day approached I realized there were definitely things I envisioned and things I really did not want to happen. I had some vague vision of labouring in the jacuzzi tub, rocking around on the birth ball, getting massages from Dan. I really wanted to avoid an inductions, as I heard they increase the pain and possible medical interventions... and I really didn't want to be stuck in a bed. But ultimately my birth plan was "get the baby out in the most efficient and safe way possible." After all, no matter what you plan on, your body and your baby call the shots.
My water broke early on Sunday Morning.  It was not nearly as dramatic as in the movies. In fact, it took me a few hours to realize I'd better get by butt to the hospital.  We went in at about 8 and got looked over. My doctor just happened to be doing rounds so he was able to check us out and send us home, with a plan to come in for monitoring every 12 hours or so. Between hospital visits, I felt great. We went out for lunch, ordered pizza, watched movies, tidied up the house... went back and forth to the hospital for check-ups. Finally at about 1:30 on Monday morning I started getting contractions. Never in my life was I so excited to have horrible stomach pains every 10, 9, 8... minutes! We waited until they were about 6 minutes apart, called the hospital, then headed in.  We took a seat and waited to see a nurse.... and the contractions stopped.  Completely just stopped.

We waited around a bit. There seemed to be a mini-baby boom at the hospital (a result of a brutal winter?), and things were very busy. I kept hoping that things would just happen "the way they should" but after 30+ hours of waiting for labour to start, we decided we'd induce. The crappy part was it had to be administered by IV, and I'm scared of needles and being stuck in a bed. I was surprised by how disappointed I felt about being induced, but at one week past my due date I was also pretty ready to be done being pregnant. 
So, I got a few jabs, was set up in a delivery room, got comfortable in bed because I knew I'd be there for the next several hours, and we started the induction. Contractions started very fast, were regular, and we were rolling.  I took a shot of some pain medication and we literally just chilled out with the nurse for about 4 hours or so, chatting, watching tv, and really just having a good time! The pain medication didn't really do anything for the pain, but definitely took away any anxiety. Between that, keeping your mind calm, and some practiced, yoga breathing, labour was really manageable and not scary. 

I guess it must have been about 3:30 when the pain got really intense and I decided I'd give that epidural a try. I have to say, the pain wasn't the worst pain I've felt in my life, but I am of the mindset that if I can avoid being in really bad pain, why not? I was pretty freaked out by the idea of a spinal catheter, but in reality the procedure was quick and painless. By the time it was in place, the nurse looked at me and said "something is different, I think you're ready to have the baby." Sure enough, the epidural hardly had time to kick in and the baby was on her way.  I was terrified that the epidural would leave me numb, but I still had a ton of feeling (and was walking around an hour after delivering).  I pushed for an hour and a half, between which we were joking and laughing with our nurse and doctor, and at 5:36 pm my beautiful baby Isabel was resting on my chest. In total, I was only in active labor for about 5 and a half hours.

I wanted to share this story because as I was pregnant, I read a lot of scary things about "medicalized" deliveries. I had a very medical birth. Induction, pain medication, epidural, etc., and it in now way diminished my experience. I left the delivery room feeling so proud of myself for doing what I had done, and so happy with my experience... In fact, my experience couldn't have gone better and I've basically been raving about giving birth all week (ha! I never would have believed it). We were all calm, and relaxed, and most importantly, we ended up with the most beautiful, healthy baby girl.  My advice to anyone about to have their first baby, or planning on having a baby is to go into things with an educated but open mind, and most importantly, do what you feel will be best for you and your little one.

Since Monday, I have spent hours just looking at her thinking "How on earth did I ever create something so beautiful?"  I can easily say, she is the most amazing thing I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of...

We brought Oliver home from my parents last night and had our first real night as a "family" together. Oliver is adjusting well to having  a very loud little sister, and Isabel doesn't seem to even be phased by Oliver's snorts and barks.

So, it's been an exhausting week, but I am so glad to have her out in the world with us! I'm sure I'll be spamming the blog soon with pictures... hope you don't mind. She really is adorable and has two very proud parents.

PS. I apologize in advance for typos, spelling errors, sentences that may just drift off... I'm running off of about 4 hours of sleep a day

27 comments:

  1. Congratulations! She's beautiful!

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  2. Congratulations! What a doll. Your story brought a fond tear to my eye. My son is 31 but I still remember every moment of his birth day. Happiest day of my life, and raising him was even better.

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  3. What a little sweet pea! I'm so glad all went well!

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  4. Congratulations Sarah!! She is beautiful and you guys picked a very lovely name for her. Glad to hear Oliver is adapting well! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. What a beautiful name you have chosen for her. I am one of those people who's pretty terrified with the idea of birthing so I'm very happy and glad to hear you had such a wonderful experience. Congratulations! And enjoy getting to know your adorable baby girl.

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  6. She has a beautiful name, and is so cute and teeny! Thank you for sharing your experience with us, I'm glad everything went well with you all!

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  7. Congratulations Sarah! Such wonderful news! Best wishes to you, Dan and your precious baby girl.

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  8. Congratulations, lady!!! She's so sweet! I love the name, too! So glad to hear your experience was such a good one! So glad you're enjoying such happy family time together!

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  9. CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy that everything is going so well and I have very mush enjoyed reading about your experiences. I wish you and your beautiful daughter the best!

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  10. Congratulations! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, your post has definitely put my mind at rest about a few things and it's lovely to hear such a beautiful birth story x

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  11. Congratulations!! I just love this post! :-) Thank you for sharing your experience with us :-)

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  12. Congratulations to you and your family with this new addition!

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  13. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your experience. :-)

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  14. Congratulations and best wishes to all three of you! Izzy looks positively beautiful!

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  15. Congratulations on your wonderful little girl, glad to hear you're both doing well and her birth was a positive experience for you.

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  16. Wishing you and your family a blessed life. God has given you a beautiful angel. Congratulations.
    You do beautiful work on your sewing. I am a designer/ sewer of vintage garments, swimwear. Thank you for your inspirations. I am acquiring a few of your patterns. You have helped me feel comfortable to sew swimwear, panties, bras. Thank you. Keep up the great work.

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  17. Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on your new little girl!

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  18. Congratulations. I am so proud of you for being proud of your birth. Every birth is different - and thanks to modern medicine we have choices. AT the end of the day you have a beautiful healthy baby - the rest becomes misty so quickly. She is absolutely beautiful and makes me want more and more and more! (I have 4 who are all in double digits now though and sleep is a wonderful thing).

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  19. Congratulations! So glad to hear you had a fairly positive birth experience and thanks for sharing your story. Think of yourself and your family first and foremost at this precious time, so if that means ignoring us for awhile. Then so be it.
    Congratulations again. :)

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  20. Aw Sarah, congratulations, she's beautiful! And thank you for sharing your birth story in such a positive way, I've been totally freaked out by most birth stories I hear!! xxx

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  21. Aww she is such a precious baby! Congrats on your new bundle of joy! Thank you for sharing such an intimate part of your life. Can’t wait for the picture overload!!!

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  22. Wow, congratulations!! She is adorable and you have chosen such a beautiful name! So pleased that everything went well for you and that Isabel is doing well :-) I had my little girl a few weeks ago following an induction. It really wasn't the way I had planned to give birth, hooked up to an IV etc (I have a needle phobia too) but I'm just so glad she's here and healthy. Like you, I found this didn't take anything away from the birth in the end. You

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  23. Congratulations!! She looks beautiful!

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  24. Thank you so much for sharing - it really is lovely to hear such an honest and heartwarming personal experience - congratulations to you and your family ^__^

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  25. Great post! I found it very useful. Love the final result. Thanks for the inspiration and the tips. www.babychortle.com

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  26. she's here but she's very cute,she's lovely , she's really baby. I like her. linu ar

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