Alice is 1 month old today!
Finally, here is the story of how our very own miniature human being joined our family:
(If you don't want to read the whole story, you are welcome to skip down to the cute pictures at the bottom!)
I woke up early on Saturday (7/20) feeling like I had cramps-- but pregnancy is just weird so I didn't think very much of it. We went to the gym as usual. And took some silly pictures of ourselves before we left (NOT as usual).
I was 39 weeks exactly. Little did I know that I would be having a baby that day!
At the gym I noticed that I would feel kinda gross and crampy and then I would feel fine and then I'd feel gross again. I thought "Is this what contractions are like?" But at that point I had no idea I was in labor. I thought that maaaaybe I might be having Braxton-Hicks contractions or something (I never had any "false" or "practice" labor so I had no idea).
We got home from the gym and had lunch. Around 1:00 I started keeping track of when I felt cramps and when I felt fine. They were lasting 1 minute and 5 minutes apart. We played Rock Band for a while, and I rested for a while. They started getting more intense, but they weren't unbearable sharp painful "contractions" like I had imagined. It just felt like bad menstrual cramps. Around 3:00 I called my mom who said I should probably go to the hospital and the nurse hotline who said I was probably in labor and to come whenever I felt ready. But I wanted to "labor at home" as long as possible, and I was a little scared of getting to the hospital just to be turned away because I wasn't far enough along.
Finally at 4:00, Brian said he thought we should go, so we took our bags to the car and drove to Vanderbilt. I made Brian leave everything in the car because I didn't want to bring all our bags up and then take them back down if they didn't admit me. All I had was my wallet, my water bottle, and my iPod (we were using an app to time the contractions). When we walked into Labor and Delivery, the nurse at the counter asked me to fill out a form, but she would keep it in case they didn't admit me so I wouldn't have to fill it out again when I was really in labor. They took me back to "triage" and measured contractions, baby's heartbeat, and examined me. The nurse asked "Are you planning on getting an epidural or going natural?" I said I would like to have the baby un-medicated if possible. She said "Well, looks like you'll get your wish because you are dilated to 8cm, 100% effaced, +1 station." I was so relieved! I remember looking at the clock and it said 4:20.
We walked back to the Labor and Delivery room that they assigned me. The nurse recommended that I try the shower to help relax. I asked Brian to give me a blessing (a special prayer given by someone who holds the priesthood while laying hands on your head). I couldn't hear half of what he said because of the running water, but I felt much less nervous and more peaceful afterwards. I was very disappointed in the water pressure and ended up getting out of the shower after not very long. Right after getting out of the shower, my water broke during a contraction. It was very surprising! Not a trickle like you see on movies and TV shows. I would describe it more like a water balloon exploding. It surprised both of us so much that Brian and I started laughing!
After my water broke, contractions got more painful. I tried sitting on a "birthing ball" during which the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me. He said I could sign a paper in case I needed anesthesia later and would I like to sign that now? Brian was about to say yes, but I just said "NO." (I wasn't trying to be rude, I was just thinking "Well, if I need anesthesia later, I'll sign the paper then. No need to sign it now when I don't need it now." I just didn't have the energy to say all of that!) I didn't like the birthing ball, and ended up kneeling and resting my elbows on the bed (on all fours).
My vision got really blurry and I couldn't really focus on anything so I just closed my eyes most of the time. I was trying to do all the things I had read about-- visualizing contractions as ocean waves, picturing flowers opening, blah blah blah. I remember thinking "All of that is crap! This is painful and all- consuming!" I only had energy to focus on getting enough air into my lungs so I could breathe out long breaths.The nurse was in and out and while she was gone I told Brian I could feel something pushing down during the contractions. He got on a sterile glove and checked. It was her head! Brian paged the nurse and the whole team hurried in and set up. I moved to my side, then to a sitting/reclining position. Brian got scrubbed in or suited up or whatever he needed to do to "catch" the baby. That was such a neat experience-- Brian had just finished working with the attending physician who was there to deliver the baby, so the attending let Brian deliver her! The medical team coached me through 4 or 5 contractions of pushing (10 or 15 minutes) and after the last one they told me if I kept pushing even after the contraction was over, I could have that baby. So I did! Someone called out that it was 6:42pm. I saw Brian holding her and I heard her make one startled squawk, then she was lying on my chest! She had this thick dark curly matted hair and she was white-ish lavender, quickly turning pink. She didn't cry, she just snuggled in to me.
(this picture was actually taken about an hour later)
We really liked the name Alice, but we had a few others in mind, too. Brian asked "So are we going to name her Alice?" I looked down at her and said "I don't know, what do you think? Are you an Alice?" Right then, she tilted her head and looked up at me with huge wide eyes and opened her mouth into a big grin. So, Alice it is!
After all of the post-labor stuff (cutting the cord, checking up on my body, weighing and measuring Alice, etc), they took us to the postpartum unit. Alice was exhausted and zonked out, but Brian and I were starving! The cafeteria was closed, so Brian went scavenging for food and came back from the food court with pizza, hamburgers, and curly fries. It was the best meal I have ever eaten! My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.
It was at least 3 am before we could bring ourselves to put her down and get some sleep ourselves. She was so sleepy, but all we wanted to do was hold her and look at her. She is such a miracle!
We can't get enough of our sweet Alice Anne! We are so head over heels,
in fact, that we were total suckers and bought the professional pictures
that the hospital photographer took.
