Well, we made it home! We have been home since Sunday at about 1pm. It felt SO good to be home and sleep in my own bed. It was an eventful few days, that's for sure!
It wasn't at all like I imagined it to be. I'll be honest, I was TERRIFIED about giving birth. I think it was more of being scared of the unknown, never having giving birth before. I even told my nurse, "I'm scared" about ten minutes before we starting pushing. HA! She kind of laughed it off.
Wednesday I started having contractions about noon but they weren't at all consistent, so I just went about my day and did my best not to worry. At all about 3ish though, I started really tracking them because I was noticing they were coming more frequently and lasting longer. I called Dave and told him to go ahead and come home, "just in case". We headed up to the hospital about 5:30 after having called the doctor (my doctor wasn't on call) and this doctor said to come up when my contractions were 3 mins apart lasting for 30 seconds. Um, ok? We sat in the car about an hour because I wasn't too sure, even though they were already 3 mins apart lasting 30 seconds. I think I second guess myself too much.
We decided to go ahead and get checked out because I just had a feeling. We checked in and once they checked my blood pressure, they decided to keep me for observation. I usually have perfect blood pressure and it was kind of high, probably just because I was nervous. They ended up admitting me and putting me on a low dosage of pitocin, which quickly increased my pain shortly after. My nurse and I decided to go ahead with the epidural at about midnight, and let me tell you, it was worth it. I was in good shape after that!
This is me giving Dave the thumbs up because I was feeling awesome.
I labored for another 12 hours before we started pushing. I was seriously hoping we would have delivered before 7am with the night nurse I had because she was incredibly awesome. She just happened to be our Childbirth instructor (Rachel, it was Holly!), but Colbi had different plans. The day nurse was just as great though, thank goodness. Dr. D came in about 7:15am to check me out and broke my water. We were informed right after that my fluid had a greenish tint so they would be bringing in two people from the NICU for the delivery, just to be safe. Lucky they did!
I finally starting pushing at 12:15pm and she came out at 1:06pm. What made the labor stressful was not only the fact that Colbi had a bowl movement in the womb but her heart rate reached 207bpm right after Dr. D turned her (she was sunny side up). Basically, he wasn't feeling great with that, so with one more push and the help of a vacuum, Colbi made her debut. She was put on my chest for about 30 seconds before the NICU team got their hands on her. I can't even describe the feeling when I felt her come out. It was an overwhelming feeling of happiness, relief, joy, love.............and I was scared. It's not a super great feeling to watch your baby being worked on. She ended up spiking a fever as well, 103.9, so that was another thing they were worried about because it usually means an infection (which she had).
The doctor in the NICU came to talk to us about 2 hours after they had her to tell us what her status was. He said A LOT of unneeded information that was just plain scary, like worst case scenario. I told myself, I wasn't going to worry about it. I figured all would be okay and that I would pray for her. That's all I could do. Dave and I did the best we could to stay positive and just go with the flow.
We got moved into our room and then got to see her. She was hooked up to all these machines and I immediately started crying, so did Dave. But, they told us she was breathing on her own and that was a good sign. The next morning they took her off the CPAP machine and we got to hold her. It was the best feeling!
Our first picture as a family of three.
They took her IV out the next morning and we got "room in" with her Saturday night. The doctor wanted to keep her for another 24 hours for observation and we wanted the chance to spend some time with her. It was a good night, I think we each slept about 4 hours.
I am SO incredibly thankful for the staff we had at the hospital. I only had one NICU nurse I wasn't super crazy about, but EVERYONE else was just wonderful. Dr. D did an awesome job, the L & D nurses were amazing, and the post-partum staff was incredible. I can't say thank you enough to the NICU unit for all they did for my daughter.
Here Colbi is ready to go home!
The past few days have been amazing. Dave is so in love and I can't get enough of her. We both just sit and stare at what we created and what God gave us. It's so. much. fun.
We put her in the vibrating seat today and she loved it. She was non-stop smiling. We also took our first bath tonight, which she wasn't crazy about (might have had something to do with her pooping in the bath and us having to draw another one, LOL!).
She is almost a week old and I'm so sad already! It seems like time is flying by fast so quickly. I'm not ready for it!
Colbi,
You have already brought so much joy into our lives and we love you so, so much. Your daddy and I are amazed by you. We look forward to some wonderful times ahead and know that you have completed our family in a way that will never be the same. I absolutely love being your Mommy already. Just don't grow up too fast, ok?
Love,
Mommy
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