Alana's Birth Story

Our baby girl is one! WOW. thats crazy! Time has passed in a blink of an eye. And since it has been a year I thought it was time to share her birth story. So here is the honest truth in all its messy glory! 

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It was a Monday morning around 2am when I woke up to go to the bathroom. I felt what might have been some discharge start to come out so I moved a little faster to the toilet and as I sat down water literally gushed out. I yelled for Matt, it took a few times for him to get up and as he walked over to me I told him I thought my water broke. He didn’t believe me. Then we looked at my PJs and yep, it looked like it was time. We weren’t sure what to do since my due date was 5 weeks away. So we called the hospital and I explained to them what was going on and the nurse just said, “Yep, you’re in labor. Come on in.”

We quickly packed the rest of our hospital bag, I couldn’t stand for much more than a few minutes without feeling the need to sit and let the water gush out of me. I put a puppy pad in the car and hollered for Matt to hurry the eff up! I was pretty excited about meeting our little girl, not once did I ever think that 5 weeks was maybe a little too soon.

Since it was 2:30 in the morning the roads were clear, thank god, and we made our way to the hospital. I called my parents and told them to make the 4 hour drive over because their first grandbaby was on the way. We called my in-laws, who live 8 hours away, to head on down if they wanted to be there for the birth of their first granddaughter. And I texted my best friend who was visiting her grandparents not to leave town because I was in labor!

We got to the hospital and as I got out of the car you would have thought my lady parts had turned into a waterfall…all modesty was officially out the door as I walked into the Labor and Delivery Unit with soaking wet shorts.

I got all checked in, they checked to see if I was dilated by fisting me…something I was not aware of (since I never made it to my 36 week appointment). I was not dilated at all, so the waiting began. The nurses did a great job of warning me that I might not get to hold her right away because the NICU nurses would need to asses her first. Then if they felt like she was fine I could hold her for maybe 10 minutes before they took her back to the NICU for further evaluation.

My bff arrived and we asked her to go to our house and take care of the dogs for us and to grab some more things from the house and off she went, she is SUCH an amazing friend! Then my mom arrived (my dad would come later after his doctor appointment he had in the morning). And then my in-laws finally arrived. Everyone was here! I got my epidural sometime during the day even though I wasn’t dilated at all. I didn’t want to be one of those women who waited too long and then couldn’t get it.

The epidural was an experience to say the least. The B stuck me 3 times before she got it right. When they put the meds in only one side of my body went completely numb, and then my blood pressure dropped, I turned very pail, I couldn’t hear anything, I could barely keep my eyes open and they put an oxygen mask on me. They quickly stopped the epidural drip and brought a new anesthesiologist to make sure this didn’t happen again. They decided to only use a half dose. And then I vomited everywhere…

Everything was uneventful after that. My doctor came and checked on me a few times and before you knew it was 9pm and time for bed. I tried to sleep but it is had when you have to flip over every few hours and you have all these wires connected to you. They had started the Pitocin before my doctor left but I didn’t really dilate at all (p.s. after you’re water breaks they want you to deliver within the next 24 hours so you don’t have a dry birth). Around midnight, about 22 hours after my water broke they stopped the Pitocin and laid me on my side with my leg propped up on a table.  And badda-bing-badda-bom, I started to dilate…and fast! They called my doctor so she could make her way in and right around the 24 hour mark we started to push. The contractions didn’t hurt, it was the baby ripping out of my vagina that hurt! I didn’t really push for very long before she arrived at 2:54am Tuesday morning.

She let out the littlest cry, I looked up to see my husband shed a tear at the site of our little girl. She was 4 pounds, 13 ounces and about 19 inches long (counting her cone head). While they got her cleaned up and did what they do, I was having my placenta pulled out of me like one of those magician’s never ending handkerchiefs and I got 2 stitches. I was able to hold her for about 5-7 minutes, giving just enough time for both sets of grandparents to see her before she was taken to the NICU.

{these are my absolute two favorite pictures from the day}

After the epidural wore off and I was able to walk, we made our way down the hall to see out little angel.

Her time in the NICU was short but that doesn’t lessen the sadness we felt when we had to leave her there and head home without her. We spent two nights at home without our sweet girl. She was moved out of the main area and into sort of an “evacuation” room where they keep babies that are starting to do better and on their way out of the NICU. But once she moved in there she got jaundice and needed the UV blanket. I’ve read that most babies need this but for us it seemed like a one step forward and two steps back sort of situation.

We were able to stay at the hospital again for her last night because we had to do what they call Care by Parent. It’s pretty much the hospital making sure that you’re capable of taking care of the baby on your own. We must have passed because they let us leave the next day and we were on our way home as a family. Finally.

I honestly cannot believe it has been a year, it feels like yesterday. Does it always feel that way? Will it always be so vivid in my mind? Will she hate me for posting this later?! Who knows...