Leah's Story...

She's here...and I'm finally updating! It has definitely been a big transition for Adam and I with her being here! A good one though! I thought I would post and tell about Leah's birth story.

It all started Saturday (Feb. 13th) night. I had been feeling good all day and then towards the end of the night I started getting really bad back pain with some contractions. I though Adam and I were headed to the hospital that night, but my contractions were too far apart...so we went to bed. Sunday morning I woke up normal. I was kind of disappointed because I was ready to go! All day Sunday I felt normal and Adam and I just stayed around our house and hung out. We went to bed that night and we woke up Monday (Feb. 15th) morning ready to go to work. As I was getting ready I started getting a dull ache in my back and didn't really think anything of it because Saturday's pains were so much worse! Well...

I got to work that morning around 7am and got everything ready for the day. My first class isn't until 8am. At around 7:30 I started getting cramps in my lower abdomen (kind of like menstrual cramps). They would come and go and 8 o'clock came around and my first class was coming in. Little did I know that these little "cramps" would soon turn into unbearable contractions! Well, I started teaching my class and as the class progressed, so did my cramps. Towards the end they were getting pretty bad, so when the class ended I went ahead and went down to the school nurse to see what she had to say. She told me to call my doctor and talk to them.

As I was on the phone with the Dr. my cramps were getting worse and worse and closer and closer. I knew that this was it! I had already had an appointment for that afternoon, but they told me to go ahead and come in. This was at 9am. So, I went down to Adam's room (thankfully we both work at the same school) and told him what was going on and he was excited! There was no panic or being scared, but excitement and readiness! Adam and I left the school and got to the Dr. at about 9:45am. He told me I was 3cm dialated and 90% effaced and that we needed to go ahead and head to the hospital! Keep in mind that I was in serious pain at this point and my wonderful husband, Adam, was doing an awesome job of "coaching" me though all of it!

We left the Dr. and went straight home to get our stuff. Everything was already packed, we just had to get a few last minute things together. I was in such a hurry to leave the house because I wanted to make sure we got to the hospital in time. We left our house at around 11am and Adam said I was climbing the walls of the Jeep. We got to the hospital at around 11:45ish and one of the first faces I saw was a nurse that Adam and I went to high school with. I felt relieved because I knew she would take care of us! We got all settled in the room and I got in my stylish hospital gown and the next thing I knew we were waiting for the epidural to come.

We didn't have to wait long...it came, but they had to do it three different times because the catheder that they put in my back kept kinking to where the medicine wouldn't go through. Finally they got it right and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.

The rest of the day I laid in the bed and watched my contractions I was having but not feeling :) Our family had all came to the hospital as well as some of our best friends! The nurses kept coming in saying I was progressing pretty fast...3 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, then the perfect 10 cm.

Like I said everything progressed pretty fast...I was 10 cm at about 5:45 and at 6:34pm Adam and I had ourselves a beautiful, perfect baby girl! Now, listen to this...as soon as she came out, I heard the Dr. say, "this one's a big one". All the nurses were taking guesses on her weight. They were saying, "8.3 or 8.5"...oh no...she was 9 lbs. 3 oz.! A big one indeed! I had no clue she would be that big. When you hear 9 lbs. 3 oz. you automatically think of a chunky little baby, but she was nothing near chunky. She was also 20.5 in. long which made her very proportioned. I can't get over how perfect she was.

So overall, my labor/delivery experience was great! It wasn't long, it wasn't too painful and we got to take home a beautiful baby girl!! I'll leave you with a few pictures...









[caption id="attachment_400" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="She loved getting her hair washed!"][/caption]