It was Wednesday so I had the day to myself. Don texted early to ask if Tyler could babysit him. Cute. (That is from Isaac's Easter book, "How to Babysit Your Grandpa." So I took Tyler over to Don and went to my OB appointment. I was not dilated and the baby was high still. (See this post for more.)
I went to the craft store to get a Mother's day item, some ribbon, some small wood boxes for the boys to paint, a canvas for Tyler to paint for his and the baby's room, paint, a better frame for one of our wedding photos, etc. I also went to Publix to get dinner stuff for that night and the next.
I considered taking a tripod profile photo in my black pants and black shirt then black sports bra, but figured I should do my hair first and would have more time the next day since I was not going to work.) I took the month of May off and the next day would be my first official day of maternity leave.
My day was busy, but I did take a nap. I didn't get everything done but the nap was necessary. I picked up the boys from school, went to Don's to get Tyler, and Don had a big spread of trail mix for the perfect snack for us. So many kinds of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits with chocolate and yogurt chips too! Don asked how my appointment went. He asked if I thought they could take just one car to Orlando since there were no signs of labor. What? I still could not believe they were going. 2 cars please.
We went home, sorta cleaned, I got the baked ravioli in the convection oven, and we were off to Tae Kwon Do.
They had me help with timing the sparing matches. I was already timing my own cramps on my phone app. But multi-tasking is a mom's specialty, right?!
We came home, ate, and I thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and dining room floors. Before dinner, Steven said tonight is the night for getting everybody's overnight bags ready. Our neighbor had just told him about somebody who waited too long to go to the hospital. So I knew he would pack his bag. He had the kids finish their homework and pick out PJs etc. He was in no rush but neither was I. It was getting inconvenient to go over to my phone so frequently to start and stop timing each contraction though. I didn't think I was in labor since they did not hurt that badly. I didn't even tell Steven until like 8:30 when we were ready to take the kids up to bed. I told Steven how many contractions I had had thar past hour and he sorta freaked out! He was like "And you're just NOW telling me? This is what I was talking about, you need to tell me when this starts! I need time to prepare! We're not ready! What are we going to do with the kids? Where is your mom, is she really out of town? You need to call her too. Why didn't you tell me?" He was sorta happy freaking out, but more irritated with not knowing about each contraction when they started. I had told him that I had some the other morning but none the rest of that day. He actually called me to see if there had been more, as if I wouldn't call him. I assured him that I would tell him if he needed to come home. Good, he said, because he had a lot of things to do at work and cases to transfer etc so he would probably need a few minutes heads up. He also asked if I would ask at my Wednesday appointment if they would schedule her birth for Monday (her due date, Cinco de Mayo) so he could finish things up on Friday. That would be easiest for him. Ha! I did mean to ask about their induction policy but didn't want to be induced on her due date, I was planning on going as natural as possible. Another note, that morning Steven was looking up baby names by meaning, and he was looking up "stubborn" and things like that because Steven was ready to be off work already! I told him he should look up nick names for himself by the term "impatient!" I still had some things to do. And I didn't ask about the induction b/c I forgot. But the midwife did say that my baby wouldn't go past 41 weeks and might come tonight. So I wasn't worried. She would be here within a week and a half :)
Anyway, so I finished putting the chairs back under the dining room table, texted Corrie and Darren to be on call for if the baby came tonight or the next night. (I still had my doubts about being in real labor.) We had to figure out what to do with our kids since our Plan A was for Don to come watch them over night. So we would take Tyler to Darren and Corrie. I told them Vicki (Darren's step-mom) could watch them over night if Darren wanted to go to the hospital with Corrie. Corrie was invited to the delivery but Darren wouldn't want to be there for that grand finale. Darren decide to just stay there and sleep. Good choice. I told Corrie she should take a nap b/c it would be a LONG night if it was that night. She didn't listen though. I texted our neighbor to see if she could spend the night and take the boys to school in the morning. She said yes even though it was her birthday!!! Oh I know she told me before but I didn't even write it down or remember. I knew it was sometime near my due date. I felt so horrible. AND I found out later that her oldest dog is sick and she's having a hard time dealing with that news too. Oh AND it's the first time the dogs would sleep alone. I'm a horrible friend. But she's the best neighbor and happily said yes. She, when I initially texted her at 9:04, said that she actually was going for her phone to check up on me and to offer a hand. She's so thoughtful.
So we tucked the kids in bed and told them the potential plan. Dylan and Isaac were fine with it. Tyler wanted to go to Granddad's though, not to Ivy's house. We had planned on him going to Granddad's so he wasn't sure of the change of plans. He was so tired. He hadn't taken a nap that day since he played so much at Granddad's all day. Poor baby. He went to sleep though. On my bed I think.
9:53 Corrie returned the text and said she could take all of the kids if needed. Very excited.
I showered. Steven packed his bag. I was going to dry my hair but cleaned up a little and finished packing my bag. I continued my "is this labor?" blog post then dried my hair. Steven was pacing and was rushing me.
10:30 I texted my mom to say we were going to the hospital. She called a little bit later to say she would get back in her car to drive back. They had JUST checked into their hotel. They had waited to cross over to Orlando until after they had gone to eat here to avoid the rush hour traffic. I guess I should have told my mom about my contractions frequency earlier too. But I really didn't think it was labor people! Anyway, that was nice of my mom. She had gotten up early to get to work early then worked all day and would stay up with me all night. Thank you mom!
10:48 My mom said she was back in the car and was driving here.
Steven showered too.
11:12 Steven vacuumed the living room. I texted my mom that the contractions were stronger by a bit but were less frequent, 5+ minutes apart.
11:30 I texted Eirit to come over in a half hour and to bring a pillow. Where is our guest room pillow?
I really wanted to just stay home and either do more things around the house or try going to bed, but realized that we had too many people involved. AND Steven was in a rush. He would rather get sent home from the hospital than have a baby in his car. I wanted Eirit our neighbor to get some sleep so we had her come on over. Then we left so Eirit wouldn't have to listen to me in pain if/when the contractions got stronger.
12:17 We took sleeping Tyler T to Corrie. He woke up when Steven got him out of his car seat. He was still SO tired but was sad. He wanted me to sleep with him on the bed Corrie made for him next to her bed. I layed down with him for 3 contractions. Corrie couldn't believe I was hitting the "start" and "stop" button while laying there. She was with Steven thinking we should rush to the hospital. She left the room to go tell Steven I was crazy and they were in agreement. Their quiet talk kept Tyler from getting to a deep sleep. Poor baby. I would have labored there next to him but Steven and Corrie were pacing and I wanted Corrie to go back to sleep for a while. She was too excited and said she would wait for Tyler to be more sound asleep before following us to the hospital.
12:54 We left Corrie's. My contractions were 2 min apart. I could still talk through them.
1:08 We signed into the hospital. Somehow I forgot my ID! I figured it must be in the back pocket of some jeans or something. Since I was the pregnant one in labor, they let me in. I had my business card w/ my photo on it but no other photo ID. They took my photo and let me in. The guard was nice about it. Later, I realized that my ID was probably in my camera bag - which I had with me right there. Yep, I had taken it out of my wallet and placed it there so I had less to carry in when I went to visit baby Kyriakos (Selene's baby boy) at that same hospital. We went up to register and the lady only had me sign things when I was in the middle of a contraction. And she was quiet but not compassionate. Oh well. Then we went to triage where I peed in a cup and got into the gown.
1:37 The nurse checked me and I was at 4cm. Ouch. She said they would probably check me in another hour and would call my OB doc. I told them to call Dr. McNeill. They didn't seem to want to. I was happy to be at 4cm. I knew I wasn't at 7 0r more yet. but I was nothing this morning, so I was progressing some! I wanted to be more than 3cm. With Isaac, I was at 4cm and got sent home though.
1:53 Corrie is here and my mom is in the parking lot. Steven went out to check and came back to report that news. His phone didn't get reception in the triage room. I tried to text Shannon b/c Dr. McNeill wasn't on call and wasn't answering his phone. I thought about calling their house phone but didn't really want to.
2:37 (Sure enough, and hour later) they checked me and I was only at 4.5cm dilated. I was on the baby monitors and saw thar my contractions were only half way up their allotted space so I asked for the epidural. It was still going to be hours and I probably would not get a chance to sleep. My mom came in and saw me in pain. Corrie came in too I think. I asked if the nurses had to wait for my doctor before they could admit me to a room and they said yes. They said that Darlean (the on call midwife at the practice) had gotten a hold of Dr. McNeill for me and the hospital talked to him finally at about 2:45 and he said they could admit me. Hallelujah!
So I walked over to my labor and delivery room. I only had to stop once on the way over for a contraction.
3:30 I was in my delivery room, LD07.
The nurses were great and moved things right along. The only not good part was the first poke for the blood work "blew" and was a big bump on my left forearm. It bruised and was ugly and painful for 2 weeks. They did an IV in my left hand then did blood work in my right arm because I'm too "valvy" and they couldn't get enough from my hand. They had to redo all of those viles.
It was about an hour later when I got an epidural. I tried messaging my friend and asked if he was working to see if he could do it, but he wasn't there. I was going to trade photos to make sure he would be the one doing my epidural but we never did the photos so I guess I'm off the hook since he didn't reply 'til the next morning. There was a lady who did the epidural then a matter-of-fact sorta full-of-himself guy who came in to supervise. The lady seemed confident. But that guy made me wonder if she was using me for a guinea pig. He did not come in until the last phase of the procedure. I wondered again when it didn't seem to be working on my left side. Then I rested on my left side to see if gravity would help. It did but it still wasn't equal. But it was fine.
My mom, Steven, Barbie, and Corrie came back in after the epidural. Barbie took selfies with me. We were happy.
Anyway, so I finished putting the chairs back under the dining room table, texted Corrie and Darren to be on call for if the baby came tonight or the next night. (I still had my doubts about being in real labor.) We had to figure out what to do with our kids since our Plan A was for Don to come watch them over night. So we would take Tyler to Darren and Corrie. I told them Vicki (Darren's step-mom) could watch them over night if Darren wanted to go to the hospital with Corrie. Corrie was invited to the delivery but Darren wouldn't want to be there for that grand finale. Darren decide to just stay there and sleep. Good choice. I told Corrie she should take a nap b/c it would be a LONG night if it was that night. She didn't listen though. I texted our neighbor to see if she could spend the night and take the boys to school in the morning. She said yes even though it was her birthday!!! Oh I know she told me before but I didn't even write it down or remember. I knew it was sometime near my due date. I felt so horrible. AND I found out later that her oldest dog is sick and she's having a hard time dealing with that news too. Oh AND it's the first time the dogs would sleep alone. I'm a horrible friend. But she's the best neighbor and happily said yes. She, when I initially texted her at 9:04, said that she actually was going for her phone to check up on me and to offer a hand. She's so thoughtful.
So we tucked the kids in bed and told them the potential plan. Dylan and Isaac were fine with it. Tyler wanted to go to Granddad's though, not to Ivy's house. We had planned on him going to Granddad's so he wasn't sure of the change of plans. He was so tired. He hadn't taken a nap that day since he played so much at Granddad's all day. Poor baby. He went to sleep though. On my bed I think.
9:53 Corrie returned the text and said she could take all of the kids if needed. Very excited.
I showered. Steven packed his bag. I was going to dry my hair but cleaned up a little and finished packing my bag. I continued my "is this labor?" blog post then dried my hair. Steven was pacing and was rushing me.
10:30 I texted my mom to say we were going to the hospital. She called a little bit later to say she would get back in her car to drive back. They had JUST checked into their hotel. They had waited to cross over to Orlando until after they had gone to eat here to avoid the rush hour traffic. I guess I should have told my mom about my contractions frequency earlier too. But I really didn't think it was labor people! Anyway, that was nice of my mom. She had gotten up early to get to work early then worked all day and would stay up with me all night. Thank you mom!
10:48 My mom said she was back in the car and was driving here.
Steven showered too.
11:12 Steven vacuumed the living room. I texted my mom that the contractions were stronger by a bit but were less frequent, 5+ minutes apart.
11:30 I texted Eirit to come over in a half hour and to bring a pillow. Where is our guest room pillow?
I really wanted to just stay home and either do more things around the house or try going to bed, but realized that we had too many people involved. AND Steven was in a rush. He would rather get sent home from the hospital than have a baby in his car. I wanted Eirit our neighbor to get some sleep so we had her come on over. Then we left so Eirit wouldn't have to listen to me in pain if/when the contractions got stronger.
12:17 We took sleeping Tyler T to Corrie. He woke up when Steven got him out of his car seat. He was still SO tired but was sad. He wanted me to sleep with him on the bed Corrie made for him next to her bed. I layed down with him for 3 contractions. Corrie couldn't believe I was hitting the "start" and "stop" button while laying there. She was with Steven thinking we should rush to the hospital. She left the room to go tell Steven I was crazy and they were in agreement. Their quiet talk kept Tyler from getting to a deep sleep. Poor baby. I would have labored there next to him but Steven and Corrie were pacing and I wanted Corrie to go back to sleep for a while. She was too excited and said she would wait for Tyler to be more sound asleep before following us to the hospital.
12:54 We left Corrie's. My contractions were 2 min apart. I could still talk through them.
1:08 We signed into the hospital. Somehow I forgot my ID! I figured it must be in the back pocket of some jeans or something. Since I was the pregnant one in labor, they let me in. I had my business card w/ my photo on it but no other photo ID. They took my photo and let me in. The guard was nice about it. Later, I realized that my ID was probably in my camera bag - which I had with me right there. Yep, I had taken it out of my wallet and placed it there so I had less to carry in when I went to visit baby Kyriakos (Selene's baby boy) at that same hospital. We went up to register and the lady only had me sign things when I was in the middle of a contraction. And she was quiet but not compassionate. Oh well. Then we went to triage where I peed in a cup and got into the gown.
1:53 Corrie is here and my mom is in the parking lot. Steven went out to check and came back to report that news. His phone didn't get reception in the triage room. I tried to text Shannon b/c Dr. McNeill wasn't on call and wasn't answering his phone. I thought about calling their house phone but didn't really want to.
2:37 (Sure enough, and hour later) they checked me and I was only at 4.5cm dilated. I was on the baby monitors and saw thar my contractions were only half way up their allotted space so I asked for the epidural. It was still going to be hours and I probably would not get a chance to sleep. My mom came in and saw me in pain. Corrie came in too I think. I asked if the nurses had to wait for my doctor before they could admit me to a room and they said yes. They said that Darlean (the on call midwife at the practice) had gotten a hold of Dr. McNeill for me and the hospital talked to him finally at about 2:45 and he said they could admit me. Hallelujah!
So I walked over to my labor and delivery room. I only had to stop once on the way over for a contraction.
3:30 I was in my delivery room, LD07.
It was about an hour later when I got an epidural. I tried messaging my friend and asked if he was working to see if he could do it, but he wasn't there. I was going to trade photos to make sure he would be the one doing my epidural but we never did the photos so I guess I'm off the hook since he didn't reply 'til the next morning. There was a lady who did the epidural then a matter-of-fact sorta full-of-himself guy who came in to supervise. The lady seemed confident. But that guy made me wonder if she was using me for a guinea pig. He did not come in until the last phase of the procedure. I wondered again when it didn't seem to be working on my left side. Then I rested on my left side to see if gravity would help. It did but it still wasn't equal. But it was fine.
My mom, Steven, Barbie, and Corrie came back in after the epidural. Barbie took selfies with me. We were happy.
4:54am, my support team! Relaxed yet still a bit tired. 
5:11am Dr. McNeill called.
Oh, and Andre came in the first part of the room when I was getting the epidural. I heard his voice. He came before Barbie since they had to drive separately so Barbie could stay if it lasted dor Ande having to go to work. They also had Clara so had to take turns watching her in the waiting room. She stayed asleep until about 5am. My mom took a turn holding her and we took a group photo.
Dr. McNeill called me to see how I was doing and how the epidural was. He told me he's just 15 minutes away so if I feel anything then to call him.
6:30 I felt more pressure and was at 8cm.
6:45 I sat up to let gravity help but Barbie's notes say that the baby didn't like it do I laid back down again.
There was a nurse shift change, sad.
There was a nurse shift change, sad.
Dr. McNeill came in about 7am and checked me himself. He asked the nurses for my temp and the poor nurses had tried about 15 minutes before to get one but I told them I had just eaten ice so it would be off. They rushed to get my temp so he could have my latest vitals.
7:12 I was at 9 cm and Dr. McNeill broke my water.
He told me we would probably push by 8am!
Andre had to leave to get Clara to Elisabeth's so he could get to work.
He asked if my water had broken when he walked in the room and I told him no but he could do it for me. I remember with Dylan that my contractions started getting crazy strong after that and I had wished I had had an epidural before that. So I had my epidural and was ready to do this! He broke it. He said that there better not be Meconium in the water. Well guess what. there was. SO disappointing. There was with Dylan and the whole Bayflight medical crew had to come in to take him away to the ICU before I could hold him. That was horrible. This time, they had the nursery come in and since the baby was breathing well, they didn't care about the poo in the water. Wow, what a change! I guess it wasn't as bad or as thick or as much or something as with Dylan. Thank goodness! Dr. McNeill said I would still probably have to stay 48 hours. I don't know if it was for me or for the baby and nobody seems to remember, but he did warn us of that.
7:30 I started really feeling the contractions. They didn't hurt that badly but I sure knew they were happening. We noticed they were off the chart. Strong!
Then I was uncomfortable. Pain was more intense. My mom called the nurses to tell them I was in pain and asked why since I had an epidural. They told us that I was just uncomfortable starting to feel the changes and pressure. I didn't really want to argue or talk so I just grabbed the crib mattress over my head with one hand and my left thigh with the other. Why does the pain go into my thighs with contractions? It did with my other babies too.
Steven came up to me. I also grabbed the bottom of my tummy too, then it hurt all over. Even in my back. I closed and squoze my eyes together with each cramp. I was thankful I had put waterproof mascara on.
Andre had to leave to get Clara to Elisabeth's so he could get to work.
He asked if my water had broken when he walked in the room and I told him no but he could do it for me. I remember with Dylan that my contractions started getting crazy strong after that and I had wished I had had an epidural before that. So I had my epidural and was ready to do this! He broke it. He said that there better not be Meconium in the water. Well guess what. there was. SO disappointing. There was with Dylan and the whole Bayflight medical crew had to come in to take him away to the ICU before I could hold him. That was horrible. This time, they had the nursery come in and since the baby was breathing well, they didn't care about the poo in the water. Wow, what a change! I guess it wasn't as bad or as thick or as much or something as with Dylan. Thank goodness! Dr. McNeill said I would still probably have to stay 48 hours. I don't know if it was for me or for the baby and nobody seems to remember, but he did warn us of that.
7:30 I started really feeling the contractions. They didn't hurt that badly but I sure knew they were happening. We noticed they were off the chart. Strong!
Steven came up to me. I also grabbed the bottom of my tummy too, then it hurt all over. Even in my back. I closed and squoze my eyes together with each cramp. I was thankful I had put waterproof mascara on.
7:45 "the works" began according to Barbie's notes. I started crying. I opened my eyes between just to look at the clock. It would skip 5 minutes at a time but one time it didn't seem like it was moving, that was at about 10 'til. The others assured me time was moving but I couldn't wait for the scheduled 8am push time. I told them that besides it hurting everywhere, that the baby was coming. I felt her moving down. It never felt like the urge to go #2 like they say, it was just that I felt her moving down down down. I then felt burning and knew she was almost out.
7:42
8:00
8:02
7:42
7:51, eating ice in a little break
Dr. McNeill told me to look at him. He wanted me to pay attention. I wasn't in control though. I felt weak and in pain. It was like a never ending contraction, there wasn't really a break in the pain. Barbie told me that the contraction was going down but later disclosed that it never really went down. I don't care, her reassuring voice helped me and I remember saying "Okay" to her. It was hard. I wasn't quiet. I wasn't screaming I don't think, but I was telling them that it hurt all over.8:00
Dr. McNeill told me to look up at the ceiling and to blow up at it. I figured he was trying to get me not to push. I remember saying "I'm not pushing, she's just coming!" I had pushed a little before when I knew that I was having a contraction but nobody was paying attention to me. I wanted to get more dilated to prove that it was time by the time they checked me again. I didn't want to do strong pushes b/c I didn't want to tear or get hemroids. I knew that pushing could strain me and wasn't planning on pushing too hard when it was time. Well, I didn't have to push! My mom said that Dr. McNeill actually pushed her head to hold it in while he got his last booty on over his shoe. My mom sat on the couch out of the way. She knew that we had one more person in the room than was really aloud. And with two nurses, a doctor, Corrie, Steven, and Barbie, my bed was crowded. I wanted to tell my mom to come over but realized that she had to sit down for Dylan so maybe she should stay there. Barbie was a good coach, telling me that I could hold her soon, it was almost over, that the contractions were going down, etc. I remember hoping that nobody would blurt out "that's a big contraction you're having" and me thinking "thank you captain obvious." But nobody did with this one. They were all aware of me and were so good to me. I kept my eyes shut for most of that last half hour. Barbie thankfully used my camera to take some photos until Dr. McNeill told her to put it down. Thankfully again, she picked it back up. It was intense. I don't think anybody held my legs even. I think I did curl up once on demand which squoze her out. Miraculously, the pain stopped right after she was born! How does my body know to do that? They stopped the dud-of-an-epidural at that time too. At 8:04am. That's when she was born.
Steven cut the cord.
Steven wanted Barbie to take a pic of the clock but they were not communicating well. Later Barbie said she was so frazzled that pic might be a minute late. Sorry I made it so stressful! Why don't more people get the epidural?! When propperly done, it removes so much stress! Anyway, I was holding my baby. Phew, it was intense but now my baby was perfect, I was holding her, and she didn't have to get rushed away from me.
I asked if I tore but Dr. McNeill said he did not know yet. He was fixing me up down there.
Dr. McNeill delivered all 4 of my babies. I knew I was in good hands. It all worked out.
Baby peed on me on me left side. Her system was working fine.
I nursed her and she nursed a long time. I was so happy about that. I do not want to take it for granted that I have had such good nursers. I know so many people struggle with that. She knew what to do! So sweet!
We still didn't have a name for her. Steven decided to flip a coin. I think Daisy won. But we weren't convinced. Still no name.
They cleaned her up and weighed her and took her foot prints.
The nurse asked Steven if he wanted to change her diaper. He declined so Barbie did it.
Even though I have had a bunch of kids, Barbie saved me a hundred times this pregnancy and delivery. I used her phone charger b/c mine was in the diaper bag we had left in the car. I am wearing her maternity clothes right now and her nursing bra. She thinks of everything!! More on her later.
I declined the eye ointment and had previously signed that I had been urged to do it anyway. I almost didn't do the vitamin K shot b/c the nurse assumed I would also decline that. But the paperwork for that refusal changed my mind. It's a vitamin and she said it helps with clotting bla bla bla so I did it. Steven got to hold her then I think my mom did.
I went to the bathroom to pee out the IV fluid and sat in the wheel chair. I felt pretty darn good. No numbness so I could walk just fine. I held Julia and shaded her from the breeze of our brisk walk down to the recovery room. I pished the lullaby doorbell. Sweet sounds.
They wheeled us to Mom and Baby room MB37. Corrie and Barbie left. My mom stayed while Nurse Susan gave us the never-ending instructions.
My eye lids wanted to close so badly. She was nice but thorough. Once she left, I fed the baby, we ordered our room service breakfast, then Steven took a nap.
I then fell asleep and took a good 3 hour nap with the baby. She was in her bassinet. They have a strict rule about no sleeping with the baby. Thankfully nobody interrupted us. The nurses were annoyed that the baby hadn't eaten in hours though. So I had to feed her.
Steven brought up her name again. He liked Julia better b/c it's his maternal grandma's name. I sorta liked Daisy better b/c I had thought of her being Daisy for so long and Tyler was convinced that was her name and I liked being able to think of her as somebody with a name before she was born. Steven didn't think it was a grown up name, rather just a little girl name. But I know an adult Daisy and still liked it. But a family name is good. Steven said that should be her name. So I agreed. He considered changing the middle name to May or thinking of something else, but I didn't budge on the middle name. It's perfect. Rebecka. He sent out a text. I hadn't texted or notified anybody yet. But before my nap, I sent out a selfie with my baby girl to Instagram and Facebook. I love her. It was just about an hour after she was born.
The following is the detailed print out of my contraction history with the most recent on top. I stopped marking the intensity b/c that got annoying. It's a great app called Full Term. It's free. It's better than the nursing app I downloaded too. I adapted it for nursing to time when I started (not caring when I stopped) and marked Very Mild for the left side and Mild for the right side. It has graphs too to help me remember. The app stays open (as in the screen doesn't shut off or lock the phone) so it's easy to just click "start" or "stop" without thinking.
Steven wanted Barbie to take a pic of the clock but they were not communicating well. Later Barbie said she was so frazzled that pic might be a minute late. Sorry I made it so stressful! Why don't more people get the epidural?! When propperly done, it removes so much stress! Anyway, I was holding my baby. Phew, it was intense but now my baby was perfect, I was holding her, and she didn't have to get rushed away from me.
They cleaned her up and weighed her and took her foot prints.
They wheeled us to Mom and Baby room MB37. Corrie and Barbie left. My mom stayed while Nurse Susan gave us the never-ending instructions.
Steven brought up her name again. He liked Julia better b/c it's his maternal grandma's name. I sorta liked Daisy better b/c I had thought of her being Daisy for so long and Tyler was convinced that was her name and I liked being able to think of her as somebody with a name before she was born. Steven didn't think it was a grown up name, rather just a little girl name. But I know an adult Daisy and still liked it. But a family name is good. Steven said that should be her name. So I agreed. He considered changing the middle name to May or thinking of something else, but I didn't budge on the middle name. It's perfect. Rebecka. He sent out a text. I hadn't texted or notified anybody yet. But before my nap, I sent out a selfie with my baby girl to Instagram and Facebook. I love her. It was just about an hour after she was born.
The following is the detailed print out of my contraction history with the most recent on top. I stopped marking the intensity b/c that got annoying. It's a great app called Full Term. It's free. It's better than the nursing app I downloaded too. I adapted it for nursing to time when I started (not caring when I stopped) and marked Very Mild for the left side and Mild for the right side. It has graphs too to help me remember. The app stays open (as in the screen doesn't shut off or lock the phone) so it's easy to just click "start" or "stop" without thinking.
| StartTime | Duration (mm:ss) | Freq. (mm:ss) | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 01, 2014 2:10 AM | 00:52 | 03:48 | - |
| May 01, 2014 2:06 AM | 00:48 | 04:02 | - |
| May 01, 2014 2:02 AM | 00:48 | 04:35 | - |
| May 01, 2014 1:57 AM | 01:01 | 03:39 | - |
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| May 01, 2014 1:18 AM | 00:28 | 03:55 | - |
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| May 01, 2014 1:01 AM | 00:40 | 04:18 | - |
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| May 01, 2014 12:04 AM | 00:56 | 05:13 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 11:59 PM | 00:29 | 02:18 | - |
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| Apr 30, 2014 7:52 PM | 00:17 | 02:56 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:49 PM | 00:30 | 01:58 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:47 PM | 00:16 | 02:09 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:45 PM | 00:20 | 03:37 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:41 PM | 00:10 | 06:55 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:34 PM | 00:22 | 03:44 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:30 PM | 00:15 | 02:25 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:28 PM | 00:24 | 03:22 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:25 PM | 00:17 | 03:30 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:21 PM | 00:13 | 07:17 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:14 PM | 00:11 | 04:23 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 7:09 PM | 00:16 | 23:43 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:46 PM | 00:14 | 07:21 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:38 PM | 00:26 | 08:05 | - |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:30 PM | 00:20 | 05:27 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:25 PM | 00:09 | 05:27 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:19 PM | 00:20 | 06:34 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 6:13 PM | 00:11 | 13:25 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:59 PM | 13:20 | 00:54 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:58 PM | 00:20 | 05:23 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:53 PM | 00:12 | 05:08 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:48 PM | 00:18 | 30:29 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:17 PM | 00:08 | 06:56 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:10 PM | 00:26 | 08:20 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 5:02 PM | 00:21 | 04:21 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 4:58 PM | 00:25 | 05:23 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 4:52 PM | 00:13 | 06:41 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 4:46 PM | 00:27 | 04:48 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 4:41 PM | 00:35 | 171:23 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 1:50 PM | 00:29 | 70:02 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 12:39 PM | 00:53 | 514:06 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 4:05 AM | 00:16 | 27:09 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 3:38 AM | 00:34 | 04:15 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 3:34 AM | 00:52 | 05:41 | Very Mild |
| Apr 30, 2014 3:28 AM | 01:22 | 297:48 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 10:30 PM | 00:15 | 65:06 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 9:25 PM | 00:41 | 1169:49 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 1:55 AM | 00:25 | 11:52 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 1:44 AM | 00:27 | 03:27 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 1:40 AM | 00:40 | 04:15 | Very Mild |
| Apr 29, 2014 1:36 AM | 00:35 | 00:00 |
Posts
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1 comment:
Wow, that was intense! I'm amazed they let so many people in your room, and I'm amazed YOU let so many people in your room! I was SO bugged when my brother-in-law tried to come in, but you let yours and smiled in photos! And Barbie did an AMAZING job with the photos even if Dr. McNeill didn't want her to. Yay! And Steven cut the cord? Wow! And why in the world do nurses have to do the ridiculously long instructions speech when you are obviously exhausted from just giving BIRTH??? My favorite picture is the one of Dr. McNeill passing Julie to the nurse to wrap up and Julia's crying and you're wiping your eyes but the nurse is calmly waiting to wrap up the baby with a little smile and a cross necklace. So peaceful. And you could WALK less than an hour after the delivery because nothing was numb? So your epidural had worn off?? Yikes!
Wow. I'm so happy she's here! And you're okay. Amazing miracle of birth.
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