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| Audriana Belle |
Monday, December 10th, I went in for my weekly doctor's appointment. (Our doctor is actually in the bishopric in our ward, and we are good friends with him and his family. Weird? Well, it wasn't weird once we got over the first 'exam'. I was in Charlie's one year checkup and felt very strongly that he was supposed to be our doctor for the next baby....little did I know, I was pregnant at the time.) Anyways, I was dilated to a one, 39.2 days pregnant, and we had decided that we would try stripping my membranes. Two hours of cramping, and stronger but not regular contractions went by. I thought this would be the night. I loaded Charlie in the car and we went to stroll around our town's tiny mall. The contractions stopped, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.
Sean came home from work to a grouchy and very disappointed wife. Poor Sean and Charlie-- full term pregnant women are not fun to live with! My mind was consumed by one thing-- I was so anxious to meet this little lady! At 7:15 pm we sat down to have Family Home Evening. By 7:30 my contractions came back. It wasn't until 8 that I realized they were regular, slightly painful, and not going to stop. I started taking notes.
My doctor has a 5-1-1 rule. Wait to call until you have contractions that are 5 minutes apart, 1 minute in length, and continuing for 1 hour.
After an hour I realized that we probably needed to get Charlie to our friends' house, the Watkins, for the night. I was anxious about how he would handle his first sleepover (not at grandma and grandpa's), but knew we had no choice. We dropped him off at 10 and decided to hang out for a little while before heading in. My parents decided that they would be coming down and left their house around 1 am.
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| Dr. W |
My doctor said to come on in to the hospital. I told him I wasn't feeling pain yet, just discomfort, but he wanted to check me anyway. Since he was already there he decided to keep me, even though I was only at a two. I felt like a wuss. I was a woman in labor, only at a two, and checked into the hospital. Embarrassing.
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| Lovely... |
After five hours of being at the hospital, I had only dilated to a four. I tried relaxing in a hot bath, different positions to help breathe, and anything else to keep my mind off of the intense pain. I'm a real pansy. Thankfully I wasn't sent in the 1800s or 1970 for that matter. I gave in to the drugs. My husband was appreciative. I was appreciative. Our nurse was appreciative. Again, embarrassing!
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| A wonderful and supportive husband. |
The glorious angel came floating in with the magic stuff around 4:30. I was dehydrated and my blood pressure dropped down to 60/something. I couldn't see anything but fuzz and my hearing was muffled. They had to pump in the fluids and get me stabilized with other drugs. I started having traumatic flashbacks of Charlie's birth and was suddenly scared that I would go through the same thing. After 30 minutes my heart was beating rapidly, my blood pressure had stabilized, and I was in a happy place. The ironic thing about this whole delivery is that my Dr., Anesthesiologist, and nurse were all LDS. I was lucky and was able to receive a blessing.
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| Very grateful to have my parents there. |
My parents showed up around 5 and we got to visit with them for a bit before they decided to head to our house for a nap. We made sure they put their weight guesses up on the board and sent them out. I thought they would be able to get a good nap in.
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| Our amazing nurse Danielle-- none of the others could compare. |
Sleep came for all of us around 5:30. It was wonderful.
At 7:30 I was checked. I was expecting to be at a five or maybe six. Nope. I was at a ten and ready to push her out. We called my parents, which woke them from a dead sleep, and they headed on in. Luckily it's only a five minute drive from our driveway. Small town blessings.
I am a lucky girl. My friend (also our doctor's wife) Brittany, came to take pictures. With Charlie I don't really have any because they rushed him on out to the NICU. My mom was up at my head taking a video (which I have watched daily) and my friend, the professional photographer, was snapping away.
I pushed three times with every contraction. On the fourth contraction, tenth push, out she came. Our doctor let Sean deliver her. They laid her right on me and I bawled. Again totally different than with Charlie. With him I sat there numb, completely unable to cry. The first question I asked, through tears, was if she was really a girl. It was confirmed and I cried some more.
She was perfect! She screamed and pinked up so quickly. It was a perfect delivery.
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| So happy they didn't have to take her from me. |
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| Embarrassing, but I like this picture-- says so much. |
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| look at that hair!! |
We were playing around with two names and decided that we would know when she came which one to choose. As she was clearing her lungs with great screams, I knew it would be the stronger name of the two. Audri.
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| Love this picture! |
Sean likes formal names that he can shorten, so her name is Audriana Belle. She weighed in at 7.l3 lbs and was 22 inches long. She came out at 8:28 am on December 11 with chubby cheeks, a head full of hair, and a hefty appetite.
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| So happy! |
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| Still so happy! |
Charlie came in to meet his sister around 1 pm. She had a gift to give him (a train). He was soft and loving with her from the beginning. He is a great big brother!
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| All day every day. |
Audri is so sweet. She sleeps, only waking up to be fed and changed every three hours. She is a blessing.
I am leery of germs-- tis the season, I guess. I am nervous around germy little hands. Charlie has to wash his hands so often. Poor kid! He thinks it's a good trade, if I let him hold his sister. He runs up and says 'hold you hold you?' or coooot beebee (cute baby).
This was such a wonderful birth experience and recovery; it makes me feel like I could have ten kids. (I can't tell Sean that-- he would be all over the idea.) We can't stop kissing her sweet cheeks. We love her and love this small family of ours. We truly have been blessed!
