Saturday, March 7, 2009

A Baby Story

A Baby Story...

A warning... This is the longest post in the world.

I decided to share the story of how Tuesday went down,
Partly for you
I always like to hear details
and partly because I know this is the only way I'll record it.

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Monday night, I went to sleep VERY excited and woke up TERRIFIED!
It finally set in that in order to have a baby, I needed to go through
the delivery part first.
And I have never heard anyone say how "fun" delivering a baby is.

Casey walked out of the bathroom and I just started cracking up...
He was in his church clothes!
He said he wanted to make a good first impression for Ginger.
He ended up changing in to jeans and a button up
but Im pretty sure Ginger was impressed with her daddy nonetheless.
We arrived a half hour late (of course).
I had an apple and a poppyseed muffin for breakfast.
I later regretted that this was all I had
since the rest of the day my diet would be ice chips.
My mom was waiting outside the hospital with a camera.
When we pulled up, Casey and I just laughed-
because this is a very typical "Sheila" thing to do.


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Speaking of typical Sheila... this picture pretty much sums up
my pregnancy experience with my mom.
I hated when she kissed my stomach!!


I walked in and saw a dear friend from high school Alexis Shmidt Sorensen
I was ELATED!
She was my labor and delivery nurse... how lucky!
I cant tell you how much comfort this provided throughout the whole process.
There was also another nurse that tag teamed with Alexis.

We got settled in our room.
Started at a 3.
Got the IV. Ugh.
Got the Petocin.
Felt a round of mild contractions.
Pain rating (1 to 10)... a 1.
Got the epidural.
I was freaked out, but all in all,
getting the epidural was not bad at all.
Better than the IV.

The next few hours I progressed nicely.
My mom works at the hospital I delivered out so she checked in hourly.
Casey was there and my mother in law Peggy.
Later my sisters and their boyfriends came and popped in and out.
It was a super mellow day.
I kept thinking...
really? this is it? this labor thing is a walk in the park.


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See how fun this labor thing is!

After a few crosswords and episodes of Oprah, The View and lots of court shows...
I started to change my mind about the "walk in the park" thing.
About 5 pm I started to regain feeling in my legs.
The thing about the epidural is that it numbs you from waist down
so you cant even lift your legs.
Anyway the feeling in my legs had returned to about 80%.
A nurse came in (not Alexis) and I told her I was starting to feel my contractions
She told me this was normal.
But I wasn't convinced.
I should have pushed it but I didnt.
about five minutes later a machine started beeping.
Casey looked and it said something to the effect of...
"bag is empty."
I looked up and my epidural bag was EMPTY!!

We called the nurse and about 5 minutes later...
HELL.
I started to feel very strong contractions.
The pain was about a 7.

The nurse came in and checked me...
I was dilated to a 9!!
A 9 and I run out of my epidural-
what the freak kind of luck is that?!
She called the anesthesiologist to come and give me more
but I knew that I was definitely in for some pain.
It took him 30 minutes to get there and then it takes 15
minutes for it to actually kick in.
So for about 45 minutes I felt contractions about every couple minutes
while dilated to a nine and progressing to a 10.
Pain rating 1-10... a 10.
This will forever be my litmus test...
my scale is now 1-10; 1 being no pain and 10 being
"having a contraction while fully dilated with no medication."

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Worst. Pain. Ever.
The first two contractions without any pain medicine
were ridiculous.
The problem was I never prepared myself to handle pain at the fullest extent.
So I wasnt breathing properly, I was freaking out inside.
Pain paired with psychological craziness does NOT work.

Finally I told myself, this is not going away any time soon so GET IT TOGETHER.
With every contraction after that
I squeezed the crap out of Casey and my mom's hands
and BREATHED and FOCUSED.
And I only said one swear word.
Which Peggy quickly admonished me for.
From then on it was just, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

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Here's Peggy cheering me on.

Finally the epidural kicked in again.
Dr. Lewis arrived about 15 minutes later.
It seemed like the longest fifteen minutes of my life.
the pressure is so strong.
I could totally feel her SO LOW.
I thought for sure she'd just popped out.

Anyway, Dr. Lewis came and I have to say she is an amazing doctor.
She came in cheering!

Alexis prepped me before.
She told me how to push and had me practice.
I knew that the better I pushed the sooner I'd see Ginger
and at that point I was SOOOOOO ready for her.

It took 3 rounds of pushes and she was out.
I pushed with EVERYTHING I had.
During the pushes everyone was cheering me on.
It was great motivation.

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All of a sudden she was in my arms and they were cleaning her off.
And this is what I'll never forget...
The first time we made eye contact!
What a magical, indescribable moment.
She also stretched her arm out towards me and it looked like she was reaching for me.
I was bawling.
It was so overwhelming.
It seems silly to attempt to describe this.
There aren't words for it.


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In retrospect, the fact that I went an hour without the epidural
turned out to be a cool experience.
An experience I never want to repeat but cool nonetheless.
The mind is very powerful and I have always had trouble because I allow
myself to be overwhelmed and lose control.
But I conquered that weakness.
It's nice to know what were capable of.

Whew...that was a tangent...
Anyway our families came to the hospital to visit
and it meant so much to have them all there.
I never visit mothers in the hospital because I always felt like it was an irritation...
but I was SO wrong.
It so cool to know that there are others eager to meet Ginger.
I know how much we love our nieces and nephews and
it feels great knowing she has lots of aunts and uncles that will love her like that.

It's been the best week of my life.
I've never known happiness like this.
Ginger is such a sweet baby.
I am very grateful that she is SO GOOD.

I feel such a sense of purpose now.
Like Casey says, its a blessing to be in the presence of such a perfect being...
straight from heaven.


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16 comments:

Ashley Outnumbered said...

Great post Ali!

And awesome pictures too. You look great even all layed up on the hospital bed.

Your sweet one is adorable. Love the big pink flower.

Oh, and Casey and the church clothes had me laughing out loud. What a sweetheart!

Unknown said...

I loved this post! I'm glad Ginger was born Healthy and to such an amazing mother! welcome to motherhood!! you did it!=) ps: Atleast you had the epidural..I had to do the whole thing with demeral which is like taking tylenol it did nothing! lol But i made it through it.. i'm glad you got to experience the best blessing in the world! Congrats!

lacie tidwell said...

It is really an amazing experience! Great job! Getting induced is not an easy thing- and I'm glad it went ok for you!:) I know what you mean about eating- I had half a bowl of chicken noodle soup at 5pm on Tuesday- nothing after that but ice chips until 8am Thursday- ugh- nonetheless would do it again! Live and learn right? (oh and I feel for you in going an hour without meds- same here-a cool experience I never want to repeat again!) soak it up now- it goes by sooooo fast- and congratulations! and great job:)

Victoria Elder said...

I LOVE long posts they are a rare thing from you! I am soo glad everything went ok with Ginger, she is amazing, I am so happy for you being a mama now, it's the best experience ever! So did you only push 3 times then??? WOWza

Nikki, Cody, and Tessa said...

I am soooo happy that Ginger finally made her debut. She's a beauty, and I love her so much already! And, sooo happy all went well. What a relief, always. p.s. I just saw on here that you forgot all that stuff for Ginger's first dr. appt with Sirsy...did you have to reschedule?!!! How did you like him?

The Bells said...

Awe, this post made me laugh SO hard (Casey in his church clothes) then totally had me crying near the end too. Thanks for the long and detailed post, I'm like you, LOVE the details.

Lindzie said...

Thank you for sharing your story. I actually started crying when you said Ginger was finally here! I'll blame the crying partly on being pregnant and partly because you pretty much described how I feel about giving birth...and I'm still a long ways off from that! :) I'm hoping that I have the strength you did to make it through. But I'm definitely getting the pain meds...bring it on! Congrats on a your beautiful little girl!

Anonymous said...

i loved hearing your whole story...i have to admit i totally teared up!! it reminded me of my whole experience.

all the pictures are great. you look amazing! and ginger, well she is gorgeous!!

enjoy that sweet baby and post more stories again soon!

Aubrey said...

Wow!! She is so beautiful! I am glad you had a relatively positive experience with your delivery! It really sets you up for the rest! And Casey in his church clothes....that's so funny! You had me laughing so hard!

ABBOTTLAND said...

Thank you for sharing your birthing experience. It won't be the last time you share it either. You will find yourself comparing stories with other moms. It sounds like you did a great job. The same thing happened to me with the epidural when I had Niamh. Although I never want to experience that kind of pain again, it made me realize how much control we really do have over our minds and bodies and how we have the power to push through the pain. It's all definitely worth it once you see your little miracle. She is absolutely gorgeous! I think she is the image of you at first glance, but then I can see Casey in her also. Enjoy your sweet baby!
~Mandy

Corynn said...

Ali, I love your story!I'm so happy for you. Seriously so happy. Being a mother is the best thing in the world. I hope I get to see her soon. Love you!

kurt and ash said...

picture this... its midnight, im sitting here at my kitchen table, reading this amazing post, bawling my eyes out...

I am Soooo happy for you ali... ginger is ADORABLE! Seeing you as a mother is so emotional for me... probably because I love you so much and I know what an amazing mother you are going to be...

The pic's you have here are so amazing... they capture the moments so well!

Seriously crying right now.

i love you Ali!

The Sorensen Family said...

I am so glad and feel very lucky I got to be with you on your special day. You did amazing job. Kiss "my" sweet ginger for me. Keep me updated on how you and baby are doing.

Nikki said...

Congrats, Congrats, Congrats!!!!!!!!!! She is so beautiful and I think that she looks a ton like Casey. I must admit that you story totally freaks me out! My nurse never turned the machine on. Luke finally realized it 90 minutes later. But I was hours away from a 9!!!! Holy Cow, I think that that sounds worse than going natural because it would hit you all at once instead of leading up to the pain. You are a real trooper for sure. My mom will never shut up about knowing lamaze and breathing because you just never know. It really is true though, anything can happen. I am so excited to talk to you about everything!!! But, I know how the first 6 weeks are so call me when you are feeling up to it. Sending all of our love from all of us. Although Luke did say that the headband is too big though:) Feel blest if Casey likes them. I would practically get yelled at by Luke and my Dad if there was ever anything on her head, I guess that its a guy thing. This makes everything so much more "real" for me. They will be the best of friends and I can't wait!!! LOVES...

Whitney R said...

I have NO idea how in the world I missed this post! Ali! This was great, the whole describing, the pictures, all of it. I'm sorry about the epidural running out. Now you can relate a bit with those women who want to do it "natural" (the crazies). She is beautiful and I was very moved by your describing of the first moment. I never thought a whole lot about labor until recently and your story makes me feel a bit better :) Whenever that time will come for me.

I really hope I get to meet her sometime somewhat soon. I miss you! I love you, too :) And Ginger!!

Brandi Lyn said...

ok, i'm crying. That was beautiful.