What a week we have had!! I am going to split things into a few posts so it isn't so long and so you can just read what you are interested in!
First things first...
We are now a family of three! Baylie Elizabeth Griffin was born on Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 at 6:27 pm, weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces, 20 inches long, absolutely perfect!
Here is her story. Monday the 10th we went to the doctor with high hopes. The week before he had said that he would strip my membranes and hopefully that would get things going a little faster (I had been dilated to a 1 for about 3 weeks). Well when we got there he wasn't able to do that since I still wasn't dilated enough. I was crushed! I had totally gotten my hopes up that she would be born within the next couple days and then the doctor basically made it seem like nothing would happen ANY time soon and I would have to wait to be induced on the 21st. I may have been a little over-emotional (I'll blame that on the hormones!) but I definitely cried. I was so ready to meet our Lil Miss. Nate was so good about it and pointed out that this is such a good thing and we were both really healthy so she would come when she was ready. So that was a turning point for me. I decided to plan on the 21st and then anything earlier would be a bonus, but I didn't think there would be any bonuses.
Tuesday night we headed to Kaysville because Nate had some job interviews set up for Wednesday. I hadn't wanted to go to Kaysville for a while because I wanted my baby to be born in Logan. But now she wasn't coming until the 21st so we could take a trip down for the day, right? Wrong!
Tuesday night at dinner we had pineapple, I joked with my parents and Nate that supposedly pineapple induces labor. They made me eat half the bowl. I was sick!
Wednesday morning I woke up at about 5:15 having what I thought may be contractions (seriously, everyone kept asking me if I was having contractions and I was so confused.. how was I supposed to know what they felt like??) So I got out of bed so that Nate could sleep without me tossing and turning, he had a big day of interviews ahead! Well I sat on the couch in my parents' basement and watched the clock. They were coming five minutes apart, weren't they supposed to start out a lot farther apart and slowly work closer?? There was no way this could be happening. Nate had interviews, we were in Kaysville, and it was exactly what I wanted! (Let's be honest, I do love getting what I want!) I went to wake up Nate after about fifteen minutes, I couldn't just let him sleep through this! We were both hesitant and I think he thought I was being delusional, I maybe did too. So we sat on the couch together and timed them. They were not very painful but were very consistently five minutes apart. Now my parents had gotten up to get ready for work. We went upstairs to inform them what was going on. I've never seen two people so anxious not to go to work! Who knew if this was even the real deal?? At 7:30 Nate called the doctor and he said we should not only come back to Logan, but head straight to Labor and Delivery! My goodness, maybe it was real! We packed our bags and got in the car.
About halfway to Logan I looked at Nate in between contractions and said, "It's the PINEAPPLE!!!!" Now people, I'm sure it wasn't really the pineapple that brought on labor, but we can pretend it was and it'll make the story even better!
We got to Logan a little bit before 9:00, but I didn't want to go to the hospital yet. I was nervous they would send me home, I didn't want to spend more time than necessary sitting there in that nasty bed, and to be right honest, I was feeling weird about it! I was so excited to meet our baby, but also freaking out a little!
So what did we do? Go home to shower and get ready. I wanted to start out feeling clean and fresh because I knew that feeling would go away rather quickly! After we both showered we sat in the living room and waited.. just sitting there.. waiting and watching the clock. Finally we decided that was ridiculous and we might was well just go find out if today was the big day.
We got to the hospital at 10:30 and walked to the check-in window. I wasn't quite sure what we were supposed to say at a time like this! The nurse lady looked at me and said "Are you having a C-Section?" to which I responded "I hope not!" So then she asked, "Well are you being induced?" "Umm.... no.. I've been having contractions five minutes apart for the last five hours". She looked at me with one of those 'here we go again' looks. The other nurse lady looked at me and said "You are doing this for real on 12-12-12??" I smiled and said "Yes I hope so!"
They took me back and got me all checked in to my room. The nurse came in to check me and I was still at a one. NO! She said it was a "big" one, but a one still the same. She said they would check me again in an hour and hopefully I had made at least a tiny progress or else... maybe.. I would have to.. go back home. No! So we waited. An hour later, the doctor came to check me. I was at a TWO!
Barely a two, but who can argue with progress?? And then, I heard the best news, "I'll just break your water" YAY! We were here to stay!!
Sidenote: Having your water broken is SUCH a strange experience. I literally felt like I just wet the bed, right there, with all those people watching. Remember that clean and fresh feeling I wanted to start with? Yeah it was long gone now! Sick!
Back to the story. Shortly after that, I had my epidural. I love modern medicine! Nate made me a little nervous about it.. he HATES feeling numb. I asked the nurse if people go completely numb and can't even move their toes and she kinda laughed and said "Sometimes" as in "Sometimes but mostly only crazy people"... well folks, that was me! I was DEAD. Couldn't feel a thing or move my toes for anything. It was so weird. She would move my leg and I just laughed because I could clearly see it moving but had no feeling of it happening.
For the next few hours they checked me once an hour and I was dilating about one centimeter each hour. The nurse told me that people with "cervix's like mine" (whatever
that means!) tend to go really fast once they get going. I asked her what that meant and she said she thought once I got to a four I would start progressing really quickly. The big four finally came and I was getting excited! When she came back to check me an hour later I was hoping for a six, I told her let's just skip five and go right to six. She laughed and said "Okay let's see!" Then she got a funny/weird look on her face. Oh no. Okay, please at least just be a five, five is good enough. "You're going to be surprised" she said. Hmmm.. What could this be? "You're at a nine." Wohooo! A nine!
And then, an hour later, a ten! We were ready! But now they wanted me to do what they call rest and descend. They have you rest for an hour once you are at a ten so the baby can drop all the way down (But she had been waaay low for weeks!) and it also helps stretch things out so first time moms don't have to push as long. I was all over that! We waited about 45 minutes and then the baby's heart rate started dropping pretty low with each contraction so it was time to start pushing! I started to push at about 5:45. I didn't feel like I was doing it right. I mean, wasn't this supposed to hurt and make me scream and cry? Wasn't I supposed to at least grunt with the pain and pressure? No... none of that was happening. I must be doing it wrong. I asked the nurse if I was even pushing and again, she laughed (we had the best nurse ever, by the way!) She told me I was doing great, just keep doing the same thing. Twenty minutes later she told me I better stop pushing. Wait.. what? Why? Was something wrong?? Nope, she just needed to call the doctor because Lil Miss was coming! She made the call and then had to sit and hold Lil Miss's head in while we waited for the doctor. We laughed and chatted for about ten minutes while the doctor made his way in. He walked into the room all calm and cheerful like normal, then looked down and went into rush mode! He was kicking his shoes off and rushing about getting ready because this baby was READY! I pushed three more times and there she was! They laid her on my belly and it was just like they say, love at first sight! I had waited so long for this little girl and there she was! I couldn't stop smiling! They took her to get her all cleaned up and it was amazing. Nate got to cut the cord and was right there holding her tiny hand as they got her all washed off. He was so cute! I knew he would be the best daddy, but I don't think I was prepared for how much love I would feel to see him with our baby!
The nurse asked him if he wanted to hold her and he rushed over, saying "I've only waited my whole life for this!" Love that man! He was so great throughout the whole thing. Except when he kept leaving and coming back with breath smelling like candy and treats from my parents in the waiting room. That was not cool. I mean really people.. I didn't eat for 12 hours! That is unacceptable!
Anyway... We spent about an hour and a half just enjoying Lil Miss Baylie. It was amazing to have that time with her all to ourselves before letting our families share in the excitement, even though they were dying! My parents had been at the hospital since about 11:00, they just couldn't stay away! And neither could my brother and Lindsay, they couldn't wait to be an aunt and uncle! Nate's parents were also there, anxiously awaiting the arrival of grandchild #17! We are so lucky to have so much love and support!
Finally, we were ready to head up the Mom and Baby floor. The nurses told me there were two ways to get me there: a wheelchair or a gurney... Umm remember how I couldn't move my toes? Yeah that wasn't going away any time soon! So two poor little nurses had to roll me like a sack of potatoes from one bed to another. I felt so hopeless!
Once we got upstairs, my mom was literally busting down the door! The nurses had to tell her to stay back for just another minute while they got me all situated. Patience is not her strong suit! But then, everyone finally got to come in!
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| Baylie meeting her Mimi and Aunt Lindsay |
Again, it was love at first sight! We didn't do super great at taking pictures of all the visitors... we still need to round up all the different cameras! But it was a lot of fun seeing everyone love on her for the first time!
And then...
My wonderful, fantastic brother saved me! That was probably the tastiest Spicy Chicken Sandwich that Wendy's has ever sold! Mm mm good!
We had a little time to just enjoy Baylie and everyone get to know her and then it was bath time! They set her up right on the end of my bed so I could watch the whole thing and then Nate got to wash her hair.
He also got to change his first diaper ever...
Yes, those are rubber gloves. He could NOT risk getting poop on his hands! Not only did he wear rubber gloves, he sanitized up to his elbows when he was done. And no, that wasn't just the first one. Every diaper he changed while we were in the hospital looked a lot like this one! Silly boy. I would have thought with so many nieces and nephews he had done this before.. nope! But he's a pro now! Practice practice practice :)
We had a great couple days in the hospital. She is an angel baby. She slept at night great, only waking up a couple of times to eat and then going right back to sleep. I had a really rough first night. Everything had just been too easy,
something had to be hard, right? They asked me to get up and go to the bathroom and that's when things took a turn for the not-so-good. I could still barely feel my legs, but I could feel enough! I was in a lot of pain and feeling tons of pressure. The nurses came in and started right to work. They got me on all sorts of IV things and helped everything stay calm. Looking back now, they handled it SO good! I was hemorrhaging a bit and was WAY swollen. They were so calm and took great care of me. Later, when I was feeling a lot better, a different nurse mentioned that I had hemorrhaged a little and some panic set in. People! That is something women die from! But no, they didn't use that term at the time and it made all the difference. Now, everything is totally fine and I'm feeling a lot better! Thank goodness for nurses who know just what to do! All of our nurses the whole time were really good! I was lucky in that area!
Friday morning we were in a rush to get home! We really wanted to be out of there at 8:00 so that we would have time to get ready for Nate's commissioning ceremony at 10:00. Talk about a rushed day! Read on to post #2 for the details on that if you'd like!
